Woow. Somehow chatting about Ragnarok makes me smile. I don't know. I feel like jogging my memories about Ragnarok makes me happy. Haha. I get what you are saying about the language barrier thing. I'm actually from the Philippines but I prevent speaking my mother tongue because a lot of players from my country can be uncouth. I don't blame them for it because they grew up not knowing better because a large chunk of our population is below poverty line. Sorry, that sounded harsh.
Anyways despite having tried different online games I think Ragnarok is still fun. I am actually thinking of maybe visiting DreamerRO and see if the people I knew are still there. Haha. I can still log in to my forum account but I left no traces whatsoever.
I did not post nor PM anyone. Haha. I saw the GMs tho, Panda, Haze and Cell.
If you dont mind me asking, why did you stop playing in DreamerRO? Are you thinking of playing again?
Also, this has been a question I always had but never had asked any "how did you become a GM?"
It does kind of have that effect to it, doesn't it? : ) I think it's the nostalgia that kicks in. I have a lot of fond memories of the game and all the people I met through it.
Haha, well, truth be told, they were rude/difficult people from ALL parts of the world. I met plenty of nice Filipino players when I was there. There just weren't too many that spoke English well, so sometimes communication could be difficult or at least challenging.
I think the 2D sprite charm of RO is something that isn't likely to die off, even in the face of all the 3D stuff coming out now. There's really something specially about it and no other MMORPGs that are much like it out there. It's a very colorful and vibrant world and cast of characters. I always find myself gravitating back after awhile. No other MMO out there has successfully dragged me back time and time again. It has a timeless appeal to it.
I haven't been on the forums since my post taking my leave and saying my goodbyes. I stopped mainly because it became too stressful (as a GM, you hardly get a minute to yourself and I would literally have to sit here for hours upon hours on end just answering questions for players and going on bot-hunts, taking care of banning, responding to other rule-breaking, etc.). Aside from the stress, it also became a lot less fun for me once all my friends left. There's still people that I know there, since I know a ton of people, but those I was actively friends with or guildmates with in my guild Mirage had long since flown the coop. I may join back again sometime, but if/when I do, it may be a new server for a fresh start.
As for becoming a GM, that's a pretty loaded question. Hahaha. Well, about 4 or 5 months after I started playing there, they started accepting applications for Support Players (SP for short). They're basically a level 1 GM that helps with answering questions via their @request system. Well, I decided to apply, seeing as I had about 8-9 years of experience with the game under my belt, and GM Palk (the one who did the hiring process) asked to have an interview with me after reviewing my application. He was apparently so impressed that he offered to make me a GM level 20 right away and skip the support player business completely. At that time, I actually declined his offer. I felt that I would rather be an SP for awhile and learn more about the server and its needs instead of immediately going to GM level. Some odd months later during another SP hiring, he said he was very impressed with my work and effort as an SP and asked me then if I would step up from SP to GM, and I accepted at that time. That was it, basically. I had the knowledge, I knew the maps and monsters inside and out, I learned the commands, I gave many hours of each of my day into the game, and basically gave it my all to improve the server and help players.
Contrary to popular belief, becoming a GM doesn't happen by asking or currying favor with other GMs. I had never once asked to become one. My intentions from the start were to help the server and to serve the players with information and guidance that I had from playing RO all those years. That's more important than just 'being a GM' and 'having powers'. GMing isn't about popularity or playing around with 'fun' commands. It's about helping a community to strive to be the best it can be, keep the peace and enforce rules, to make people feel welcomed, and most of all, for them to know that there is a staff that cares about their problems and questions. It's a thankless job. Most of the time, you receive grief for it, mountains of complaints, and many other unpleasant things. But you're not doing it for you---you're doing it for the server and its community.
