by Cyber Warrior
Member Reviews: Review Rubies of Eventide Yourself!
Pros
? wide selection of races and classes
? support available 24/7
? deep character skill advancement system
? a MUD turned into a MMORPG
? combines depth with nice graphics well
Cons
? needs more people playing
? lacks a good manual
? install program takes a while to start
The Bottom Line – A relatively undiscovered gem that deserves more attention from MMORPG players.
Links: Official Site – Interview
Review
If you ask gamers what they are looking for in a MMORPG you will most likely hear answers like great graphics intense character customization freedom to do what you want to when you want to do it 24/7 support and deep game play similar to old school RPGs. Well Rubies of Eventide hits most if not all of those qualities right on the head. While more and more MMORPGs focus on action and graphics over game play depth RoE plays more like an old school RPG on graphical steroids. That should not come as a total surprise though since Rubies of Eventide started as a MUD (basically an online RPG in text only) several years ago. Now RoE can suck you in with not only its game play but its lush graphics as well.
Want to get an idea of how deep this game is? Just go to make a new character and you will get a good look at RoE’s depth. Besides the usual selection of races such as human dwarf and elf you may also be an orc gnome leshy (a hovering creature best suited for magic) or GameOgre.com’s favorite an ogre. However 7 races is nothing compared to the number of classes available. You can play over 100 classes and it can take a while if you want to learn about each one. Some of the classes are mainstays in fantasy RPGs like the wizard warrior and ranger while others like the tailor poet and dark paladin add a certain spice of life to the game. Next you will need to choose what skills (over 50 in the game) you should focus on. This is where you can really customize your character the way that you want him or her to be. Want an ogre poet that can handle himself or herself in combat? Then put as many points in the sword skill as you do language skills. Simply put the possibilities are endless.
You would think that a game with great graphics deep game play and heaping amounts of freedom would be packed constantly right? Sadly that is not the case with Rubies of Eventide. While I have enjoyed this game over the likes of larger MMORPGs like Dark Ages of Camelot and Asheron’s Call 2 this game currently lacks a large fan base. As I write this review there are a total of 36 players on the main server. That is not a typo just 36. Despite the fact that the install program seems to take an extraordinary long time and the game lacks a solid manual online this lack of players is the only reason Rubies of Eventide does not receive a higher score in this review. Hopefully this game will gather more support as people try it because RoE stands out remarkably well in the industry as an old school style RPG with MMORPG graphics.
Game Ogre’s Rating (out of 10):
8.75
It’s a medieval fantasy MMORPG from 2003, but it seems kind of abandoned. I think this game was initially shut down, restarted, and then shut down again in 2009, so it doesn’t seem like it would be a successful game. It was also donation-funded, so that’s kind of cool to see a game funded (before sites like Kickstarter even existed). And looking at the game from a graphical perspective, it’s not the best graphics either; it is kind of understandable that the game would have low polygons and not the best lighting since it is from 2003, but I think there were already better MMOs at the time, so it would be hard for this game to compete with other MMOs. But overall, I’d rate this game a 3.4/5; definitely lacks a good playerbase which was probably the main reason this game was discontinued.