f13.net forums - RF Online Beta from Fileplanet

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July 19, 2025, 04:21:59 PM

we're back, baby

http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/rfonline/

I don't think you need to be an FP subscriber.

Edit: I take it back. I think you DO need to subscribe to FP or pre-order the game.

I don't know what the hell I'm talking about again, do I? huh

Re-edit: I forgot to mention that this may or may not have StarForce in it. If it does, I'm sure it's well hidden because that's what people who spread malware do. I can't be sure, though, because Codemasters' seems to be deleting all posts that refer to StarForce from their forums. However, with the magic of Google, you can still read them. I think the safe road is to just avoid Codemasters and UbiSoft games until they get a clue.

Just saw an add on Stratics today claiming RF Online to be "the most anticipated MMO of 2006". Where the hell did this game come from and is it worth anticipating?

It's either Korean or Chinese, I forget, and really big over there... where ever "there" is. Codemasters is bringing it to the Western world, I guess. I think it's the same sort of deal with that Archlord.

I hear it has all the korean trademarks, it's practicaly Lineage 2 in the future according to my source.

I can only assume it's very grindy and anti-customisable, like most Asian MMOs. I'll never know for myself, however, because regardless of whether or not it carries the StarForce virus, I have no interest in this sort of game.

I played L2 for like a month in the Taiwanese beta. I've played Ragnarok Online and ROSE. I kind of like Asian games. But RF is just beyond hideous. Awful. The world's longest tutorial. In Engrish! And teaches you nothing about the game!

I thought Codemasters' were going to wrap it up nice and pretty for the US market. I guess they're not doing a very good job.

Alright, I payed for a month of fileplanet and picked it up out of boredom even if I knew it was going to be a very korean experience.

The first 20 levels are really good, especialy the first 10. The level pace is good, drop rate is also very good. It's a Diabloish loot system with color coded loot with life steal, mana steal and stuff. There's also a socket kind of system on weapons directly relating to the crafting system in some way. I never did get a hang of that part since mining is extremly fucking stupid.

Mining consists of going through the portal to the open PvP area and then AFK mining close to the defense towers at the gate which 1 shots all people of the enemy factions. It's quite an experience to zone into that place and be faced by the HUGE collection of AFK miners.

There's 0 downtime, pots are on a 3 second timer and very inexpensive. Sadly the fights aren't very intresting, put on auto attack and use the 1 special attack which you are initaly granted with. This is where the game just as every other korean MMORPG falls very very short, there's very few skills available.

After level 20 the game turns into your usual korean grindfest with piss poor drop rates and xp rates. The RvR which this game claims to be the core of the end game seems very week since there seems to be very few active skills even when you're maxed out combined with inexpensive pots. Focus fire is the only way to kill someone, don't even consider 1on1, it's a battle of who brought the most pots with him.

Might do better than expected due to the timing. I'm guessing some of the people who started out with WoW as their first really hardcore MMORPG is looking for something new just about now, and there's nothing really around to suck them in except for this litle pos.

I think RF is fps right? Doesn't sound like it though, and if it isn't you should really just go play Silk Road, which is actually a very good korean EQ clone with open pvp once you've leveled up and very perty attacks. Oh and every once in awhile you can turn into a demon and just own everything for a limited amount of time which is also fairly kick-ass.

RF Online is _NOT_ fps. Functionally, it will remind most people of old Anarchy Online. Only with less features.

My short review is: 99% of all RF Online players would like Anarchy Online more.

The 'potions' of RF Online are a weird element that rewards stupidity, while the party and XP system actually punishes you for teamwork. PvE is boring, the quests are stupid, chat will cause you actual physical pain, the user interface requires a manual, and something as simple as physically moving your character around can take up a while to figure out. If you want scifi, go play AO. If you want a complete MMO, go play WoW. If you just want better PvP, go play Planetside. RF does none of those well.

If people were actually interested, I would write a full and proper review.

I am actually interested in a full and proper review. I'm not being snarky either... I really am interested.

Okay.

***
RF Online Review...

MMOs are a hard game to review. Getting to know the basic elements of the game can take hours, days, and even more. There are some games you may, in fact, never master, aspects you may completely miss, and gameplay that simply may not appeal to you.

I recognize that games, especially MMO games, appeal to different kinds of people. That's why I am going to focus on some of the basic features of the game, rather then apply some arbitrary numbering scheme.

The problem I have had with RF (Rising Force) Online is that the game simply has too many negatives. Sure, it looks nice, but other games look nicer and deliver better gameplay.

Worst. UI. Ever.:

Most games realize that MMOs are a difficult game to pick up and play, and try to simplify their interfaces while letting the content itself grow more and more sophisticated over time. Games like World of Warcraft and EVE Online are the best examples of this concept: starting easy and gradually moving to ever-increasing complexity.

RF Online is the other way around. In RF Online, the game immediately confronts you with a tutorial. A lengthly tutorial. And there is a reason for this length, one you will recognize five minutes in.

The user interface for this game is TERRIBLE. I think RF Online may win the award for worst UI in an MMO ever.

Basically, the UI looks like someone took a brief look at Diablo (the first one), and tried to copy that. Then they realized that the Diablo UI didn't handle chat so well, so they made the worst chat interface.

When I started playing this game, I brought the user manual into work. So, at the end of the day, I could STUDY.

And I have only begun to cover the problems the user interface has. I have a simple barometer I use in measuring a UI: if a user interface cannot properly handle Word Wrap, something is not finished yet.

Style over Substance:

This game looks pretty. Anime-pretty. Characters and textures have good detail. Surfaces usually have natural ridges. Dust blows in the desert. Etcetera. On a Radeon 850, I was impressed as I first inspected my racial HQ.

The problem is that the style doesn't hold up that well. The armors people wear make everything look alike. What very little customization available has to be sacrificed for better fighting performance. And after awhile, all those fancy textures start to run together, and everything looks the same. Sure, it looks great when your Accretian warrior draws his rocket launcher and lets a smoking rocket smash into an enemy, but after the 1000th rocket it doesn't look as impressive anymore.

Much like Word Wrap, I have another simple test of a game to determine if its combat system is done. If the game does not support collision detection, the game is not done yet. RF Online does not support any collision detection, except with the terrain.

Your faction needs you (to kill ten rats)!:

Once you've finished your tutorial and read the fine manual, its time to get started in the world. Start with your obvious changes to RF Online's weird hotbar, stock up on potions, and get moving on your first quest.

RF Online's quest system, much like the UI, is terrible, but not in a way that requires all upper caps. Quests are extremely, extremely simple: I have yet to see a quest that was not either kill 20 X' or 'Kill X until 10 special items drop'. It says something about an MMO questing system when they don't even have delivery quests.

Potions:

One of the ways in which RF Online varies from the norm is in its use of potions. In most games, Potions or other disposable items are a kind of 'ace up your sleve'. But in RF Online, things are different. See, RF Online basically has no healer class (until you reach high levels). So, all players heal through potion use.

This, initially, sounds interesting. An MMO with no downtime!

Except for the facts that:
1: You can drink a potion every 2-3 seconds.
2: Potions are so cheap, they are practically free.
3: You carry potions in stacks of 99. Many people will carry dozens of such stacks.

You can probably imagine how such a mechanic would affect classic MMO fighting. Which is how this game's combat system works.

PvE combat is better described as 'Potion vs. Environment'. And PvP combat has been nicknamed 'Potion vs. Potion', since you have to either kill someone by depleting all their potions, or do more damage then their potions can heal. If you are the kind of person who like 1v1 PvP dueling, this game may be the worst choice possible.

Grinding:

Potions and their use affects everything in game. PvE combat is the best example of this. Because of the potion mechanic, the game encourages you to take on monsters above your level. Combat against monsters in the environments then becomes an issue of making sure your challenge is something your potions can endure.

Which gets to part of the problem with combat in this game: it is boring. VERY boring. At least in Diablo, you could sort of maneuver a little. But in RF Online, you have to plant your feet and let the bad guys beat on you while you hit your hotkey to drink a potions and another to do a slightly stronger combo move. Again. And Again.

This game clearly shows its Korean roots: the combat is boring and the grind feels like it won't end. Fortunately, the whole process looks kind of pretty, but you'll still find yourself zoning out while you turn off the ingame music in favor of your MP3 collection.

Gibberish:

One of the weird aspects of this game is the monsters and items. I can accept the fact that this is a scifi setting and things might have weird names. But as you look at some of the monsters and resources, you'll be struck by how nonsensical some of the names are. Names for weapons are translated right, for the most part. But a lot of the resources, armor, and especially the monsters are total gibberish, often to the point of being misleading.

My personal favorite is the 'Arghol Drone'. 'Arghol' is the name of what looks vaguely like a Praying Mantis. The Arghol Drone is actually a 'boss' type of that same creature. Which is guarded by large bipedal armored things that look like ogres, tiny flying robots, and things that look like a cross between silverfish and cockroaches several orders of magnitude too large. All of this takes place in a giant ancient temple.

Naturally.

In other cases, the quests you undertake feel like they have been translated poorly, or written by someone in grade school.

This weirdly-cobbled-together feeling pervades the game. Certain things look ridiculous and nonsensical. It's not that the artistic feel is off: its that the purpose behind how the world looks is off.

AFK. Its not just a job, its an adventure:

In many games, AFK actions are one of the dirty little secrets. But in RF Online, AFK actions are often encouraged, if not actually required.

'Specialists', the game's crafter class, practically need to enter PvP areas to acquire resources. But in order to acquire those resources, specialists will need to spend hours and hours gathering those resources. During this time, they will basically be spending their time staring at the screen. Doing nothing. So, most people will be AFK while their avatars gather the wealth their empire needs and the economy demands.

Everyone knows this. And accepts it. PvP players prey on AFK miners to advance themselves in status. And miners make enough in wealth to afford recovery items to recuperate from the loss that accompanies death.

This aspect of the game is 'Progress Quest' bad. At least Puzzle Pirates had minigames.

PvP:

RF Online's fanbase basically agrees that the game really doesn't start until level 25, when PvP begins. PvP is the name of the game in RF Online, the game's story is about three feuding factions opposed to one another trying to run the featured world.

The problem is that PvP really is just more of the same, only with more people. The nature of potions means that PvP is really just a matter of focusing all your attacks on one person before moving onto the next. Since there is no collision detection and you have to hold still to attack, most people being attacked may just run around to stay out of range while they drink potions. The 'capture the flag' elements of PvP combat are interesting, but slow and boring compared to other online games.

Worst of all is the gang-up nature of the game. You would figure that the three factions of RF Online, being not only physically but psychologically opposed to one another, would not work together. But alliances to gang up on weaker factions are the rule, not the exception.

Trying to sum it all up:

The worst part of the game is that the game does have some nice elements. The Race Leaders are an interesting idea that future games like 'Archlord' will be implementing. The game lets you switch between classes in a fairly painless manner. The skill-driven nature of the game means that you can make a character who is as versatile as you want. At higher level, the 'prestige class' nature of the game lets you customize yourself further. And the nature of potions and PvP combat means that ganking doesn't really exist. But the game's basic flaws and problems outweigh its virtues, making the game feel less like a form of entertainment and more like a job.

But this game simply does not feel finished. And I'm not talking about simple ingame bugs, which do exist in the forms of drop rates and equipment you cannot use. I'm talking about fundamental concepts for the gameplay being broken.

In conclusion, I don't recommend RF Online to anyone other then those who enjoy grinding to nice graphics. Other games handle similar content far better. People who are looking to fill a scifi MMO itch have many far better choices. Planetside, Anarchy Online, or maybe even Star Wars Galaxies offer a better experience, with most of the same advantages and a lot fewer problems. Shadowbane is a world that works according to vaguely similar rules in a more traditional fantasy setting, and that is a superior game to RF Online.

Somebody who has the power should front page the above.

Does the chat interface still include liberal use of untranslatable special characters that come out as boxes and apostrophes? And is it still in courier?

During beta I got as far as making a cool looking character and entering the game. The UI felt so cumbersome and ackward that I didn't get any further. Also... I had read that it was very much like an FPS, which is a sort of game I'm not particularly interested in. I also have read that this game has been out for sometime in Asia and is very, very popular. This really just confirms my feeling that Asian games are just not for me. They give you very little room for customisation, either in character creation or in game, and they're grindy as hell. The cutsey look of the other sort of Asian MMORPG just completely turns me off.

Thanks for the review! Someone really should take out the blue paint and stick this on the elusive front page. It's even timely!

Hehe, I initially looked into this game when those nice looking glamor shots were posted about. The more I read, the more I could sense that I needed to stay far, far away.

The whole potion mechanic seems really bizarre, I wonder if it was planned like that all along or just kind of thrown in as some sort of band-aid at some point that just stuck. Strange.

Quote from: Numtini on March 01, 2006, 04:43:52 AM

Does the chat interface still include liberal use of untranslatable special characters that come out as boxes and apostrophes? And is it still in courier?

I believe the font is still courier. But I do not see any special characters that are shown as boxes.

Worst.
Game.
I.
Have.
Ever.
Played.

Instant drink coaster.

I'm firmly convinced Codemasters survives on sheer tenacity alone. There's nothing in that catalog that makes me think they should still be around. I know they make their moneyz off of TOCA, but their catalog is total shit. When your shining jewel is Second Sight, there's a fucking problem.

Quote from: Hoax on February 14, 2006, 01:27:53 PM

I think RF is fps right? Doesn't sound like it though, and if it isn't you should really just go play Silk Road, which is actually a very good korean EQ clone with open pvp once you've leveled up and very perty attacks. Oh and every once in awhile you can turn into a demon and just own everything for a limited amount of time which is also fairly kick-ass.

So what's the skinny on Silk Road then? I gather it's a free Korean MMO grindfest or something. An old friend of mine mentioned that he and some of his friends recently started playing this and they liked it but I would like the snarky, cynical yet useful and insightful f13 shakedown plzkthx.

Silk Road sucked, your friends have bad taste in games, and they are obviously closet japanophiles. I could get into more detail. But it's not worth it. I'm too busy playing the sequel to Mary-Kate and Ashley Fuck a Horse.

...Mary-Kate and Ashley Give a Badger A Rimjob.

That one was no fun.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Donkey Puching with Donkeys II was the best.

They don't do sequels. They only do new species. You just made up a game. The real third one was Mary-Kate and Ashley Give a Panda a Portuguese Breakfast.

Quote from: schild on March 02, 2006, 11:41:03 AM

Silk Road sucked, your friends have bad taste in games, and they are obviously closet japanophiles. I could get into more detail. But it's not worth it. I'm too busy playing the sequel to Mary-Kate and Ashley Fuck a Horse.

...Mary-Kate and Ashley Give a Badger A Rimjob.

Heh, well that was easy. And nothing closet about it; dude is flaming japanese.

Quote from: schild on March 02, 2006, 10:48:57 AM

Actually, I think RF Online, despite being a crappy game, will still be a success.

IIRC, RF Online is nothing more then a localized copy of a Korean MMO. It looks like the localization was done for about $20 and a case of mountain dew. The way I figure it, Codemasters probably spent almost nothing on getting this game to the US and Europe.

Its easy to make a profit on something that didn't cost you anything to make. I think Codemasters is counting on making a fast buck off box sales and letting the game run itself into the ground in a year.

I think what I said was:

If RF-Online isn't fps (I thought it was for some reason) then you might as well play silkroad if you want to play a pretty Korean grind-fest. At least Silk Road has open pvp and pirates who attack other players camels. Oh and you can turn into a demon once and awhile and that is hawt. Other then that its just a huge grind, with stupid badly translated quests, no character customization, an annoying economy and hella sparkly attacks.

Quote from: Rhonstet on March 02, 2006, 01:25:42 PM

Isn't Codemasters responsible for the international servers and billing and services?

AFAIK, Codemasters serving as publisher and distributor. They are hosting the servers and collecting the money.

The game itself was created by CCR, a South Korean software company.

What happened was, CCR created the game, then licensed Codemasters to distribute it. Codemasters did the localization required to bring the game to a western, international audience.

So Codemasters is the one actually running the game. I'm not sure what the behind-the-scenes scenario is like for patching and server maintenance.

Now, I'd bet that Codemasters paid CCR a pretty penny for the rights to distribute their game. But even so, I find it difficult to believe that someone would pay anywhere near as much money to license an existing game as it would cost to develop their own.

Quote from: schild on March 02, 2006, 10:48:57 AM

You'd be surpirsed.
Brian Lara International Cricket was on top of the UK charts 4 or 5 fucking months this summer.
the Colin Mcrea Rally series sells pretty good in Europe (no idea about the US)
They got one of the better Football (as in Soccer) managers - LMA, and these things sell like crazy in Europe.
They got a snooker game, that sells well in the UK.
And, ofcourse, Worms. This sorry ass joke of a game makes pretty decent money.
They also had some sort of Caraoce thing for PS2 and are now releasing some sort of Dance, Dance whatever thing. These sell amazingly well. Plus they got a shitton of strange soccer games licenced from ONE club. Soccer always does well in Europe.

All in all they're an OK publisher.

Too bad they can't make, ya know. Games. But then, my opinion of sports games ranks just blow my opinion of gangster rap post 1998.

However it may pain one, Wolf is right. Codemasters games are extremely popular in Britain and Europe. They have a never ending series of football titles. I'll never play one of their PC games again, however. Not until they get a clue about the whole StarForce shit. It seems they're doing something with another Asian game, too... I forget it's name. I guess they have some sort of weird plan.

Hey, Worms is fun with friends.

Also, keep in mind that these people also handled the Operation: Flashpoint games, which were not horrible.

Quote from: Rhonstet on March 02, 2006, 01:25:42 PM

Quote from: schild on March 02, 2006, 10:48:57 AM

You may be right about them letting it run into the ground. It is identical to multiple other asian MMO attempts. If this has been released in other parts of the world, it is a piss poor product to be sure.

As for the graphics, they're crap. Total crap. There is nothing special about them and they look like shit. The textures are low-res and the poly counts are low and there is no artistic direction whatsoever. And they seem to be the same as several other asian MMOs that I've tested in the past. I think they just repackage the same engine and textures and sell it to companies to make games. Since the mechanics seem to be the same as other previous asian MMOs, I wouldn't be surprised if they sold packages of scripts to use with the engine as well. Buy an MMO kit cheap and name your own races and classes and viola! Release your game. It's actually alot like downloading the Diku or ROM codebase and creating your own customized MUD. RF Online. Same shitty game, different name.

Quote from: Strazos on March 03, 2006, 06:16:30 AM

Hey, Worms is fun with friends.

Yeah, it's a decent party game.