Hero Online

I began Hero Online during open beta and played to level 70, then I left and played many other mmorpgs for about 1 year and  half .  I recently came back to hero and found a lot of changes that for the most part are a breath of fresh air . They have added a ton of content and features and have also implemented a few new maps .

This game has always been one of the worst grinders in the history of mankind however , they have made some changes that make it easier to get exp and have doubled the spawn rate of the mobs also .  There are faction wars several times a day that reward the winning faction with an increase in exp for about 3 and a half hours at a time  which also helps . I found leveling much easier over all since I came back .

This is an interesting game in that it is extremely Asian in theme as well as game play , I am a fan of Chinese themes and Hero is by far the best that I have seen in this department , 9 Dragons is good but nothing compared to the authentic environment that Hero is based on . There are a lot of hidden elements and many intricacies to the game that  become meaningful at high levels . They are planning for more content and maps etc that will primarily be geared toward players over level 100 which will be released in the near future .

When I left the first time , there were very few people that had Master skills ( lvl 60 )  and now there are many people with Divine skills (lvl 70 ) which have also been implemented in the game . These skill books are considered rare items with the sword skills being the most expensive based on supply and demand .

There are new items called Drakonian that are extremely rare and are limited to 200 per server channel . When someone gets a Drakonian item, Sword , Armor bow etc , from a monster drop ,  their name appears on all channels announcing their good fortune to the entire community . 

They have also increased the amount of rare item drops in general and have allowed for cash items to be sold in game for gold . Unfortunately , there is now a large influx of noobs who are selling cash items and using billions in gold to purchase the high end gear , things that at one time were owned by a few hard working players are now everywhere including Black Dragon weapons and armor and divine skills which run about 70 million per book . The real humor in the situation is that even after spending that much money to be awesome , they dont know how to pvp worth a crap lol .

Hero for me has a lot of sentimental aspects to it since I was one of the original players from the days of open beta , there were a lot of wild and dramatic things going on back then and a lot of good times . The game has progressed quite a bit and is still putting new things on the plate for people .  With the ability for anyone to buy anything including a leveled character though , I`m not sure that all of the changes are for the better , as always he who has the gold makes the rules .

Originally posted by zaltar

I began Hero Online during open beta and played to level 70, then I left and played many other mmorpgs for about 1 year and  half .  I recently came back to hero and found a lot of changes that for the most part are a breath of fresh air . They have added a ton of content and features and have also implemented a few new maps .

This game has always been one of the worst grinders in the history of mankind however , they have made some changes that make it easier to get exp and have doubled the spawn rate of the mobs also .  There are faction wars several times a day that reward the winning faction with an increase in exp for about 3 and a half hours at a time  which also helps . I found leveling much easier over all since I came back .

 

This is an interesting game in that it is extremely Asian in theme as well as game play , I am a fan of Chinese themes and Hero is by far the best that I have seen in this department , 9 Dragons is good but nothing compared to the authentic environment that Hero is based on . There are a lot of hidden elements and many intricacies to the game that  become meaningful at high levels . They are planning for more content and maps etc that will primarily be geared toward players over level 100 which will be released in the near future .

When I left the first time , there were very few people that had Master skills ( lvl 60 )  and now there are many people with Divine skills (lvl 70 ) which have also been implemented in the game . These skill books are considered rare items with the sword skills being the most expensive based on supply and demand .

 

There are new items called Drakonian that are extremely rare and are limited to 200 per server channel . When someone gets a Drakonian item, Sword , Armor bow etc , from a monster drop ,  their name appears on all channels announcing their good fortune to the entire community . 

They have also increased the amount of rare item drops in general and have allowed for cash items to be sold in game for gold . Unfortunately , there is now a large influx of noobs who are selling cash items and using billions in gold to purchase the high end gear , things that at one time were owned by a few hard working players are now everywhere including Black Dragon weapons and armor and divine skills which run about 70 million per book . The real humor in the situation is that even after spending that much money to be awesome , they dont know how to pvp worth a crap lol .

 

Hero for me has a lot of sentimental aspects to it since I was one of the original players from the days of open beta , there were a lot of wild and dramatic things going on back then and a lot of good times . The game has progressed quite a bit and is still putting new things on the plate for people .  With the ability for anyone to buy anything including a leveled character though , I`m not sure that all of the changes are for the better , as always he who has the gold makes the rules .

Anyways perhaps u ll find many worse games than this, good luck!!!

There are A LOT more worse games then this and about the grind all games have it play some other games and youll find crap that your making of this. this game was pretty good compared to the crap some games do . also GMs work hard

Hero has an unique atmosphere, unmatched by any other asian MMO (I know, I've played most of them). Grinding might seem excessive, but after playing a lot of other MMOs, I came (surprisingly) to the conclusion that Hero has actually a pretty fair xp curve and grinding really sets on only from 65 - 70 lvls up (starting either from Bamboo Mountain or Silent Valley - depending on your build...or should I say: on how gimped your build is). Hero used to have a very active and tight community and some of the best GMs I've ever encountered in a MMO - these things made Hero stand out, not the game's features themselves. A lot of that old "flavour" faded away maybe for veteran players like you an me, but for the new ones, Hero might offer a very enjoyable gaming experience.

I would have still played it if it wasn't for the lousy work PayByCash did for the item mall; to me it seemed illogical not being able to spend my real money due to their tedious and unsecure way of activating & verifying accounts. Just so we'd be clear: it's (almost) impossible to level up as a solo player pass lvl 80 without a full Black Dragon suit (+ weapon) and maybe a Divine Skill book and a good item shop costume. These cost a lot of in game money - so in order to make that ammount of money you are forced to start spending real cash on the game, because item shop items are maybe the only things besides Black Dragon gear and other ultra rare things (such as Draconian) that can get you a serious ammount of gold; the market is literally flooded with what used to be considered "rare stuff" (Sky Cleaver / 5 Dragon / Violet & Toxic weps / Master Skill Books / crafting materials, etc) and these things don't sell as good as they used to. So if you want to be able to train with little to no pain in places such as Cimson Sky and Crystal Summit you need very good gear (not to mention Desert Temple ans stuff). You could of course risk training in PvP maps (since you'd get increased xp), but you'd be a sitting target - you really can't PvP with crappy gear, and in Hero PvP all too often means getting killed in just 1 hit (or 2).

All in all, I have no problem in recommending the game to other potential players: if you're into asian MMOs, look no further :) Hero is a very good & enjoyable game - if you have some friends to play along with.

No there are plenty of other free to play mmo's that are better

For example take Rappelz

The pet system is far better and pets have alot more skills and usefulness

They even added an achievement system where you can get a free non-tradable uncommon pet. So just by playing if your not lucky enough to get one or bought it you can still get it just by playing the game

The the classes

The classes have more skills and uniqueness and play style

The game is also soloable for all classes. You dont have to have the best of the best gear but doing so will make things alot easier both for you and for other players you party with.

The grind might be the feel the same

In the end the points you brought up about hero i feel only point to flaws

Their are plenty of games out their that you can play for free that are in the end better. I am sure if you looked up all the ones you played and the ones you didn't play you might well find a few that still have a leg up over hero. Also are you inculding Anarchy Online in that because the free verison i think is better then hero and rappelz.

Sorry to burst your bubble but I've played Rappelz and IMO it sucks big time. There is no comparison to Hero whatsoever.
Anyway, I've recently returned to the game to try the new character and I must say a lot of changes (for the better) were made: lots of new items, new war & duel system, they've almost tripled the mobs, some discreet graphic changes were made too, leveling is quicker, some old GMs are back, etc. Last, but not least, the new female character is astonishing to play! It levels extremely fast, it makes a hell of a dmg (more than the old male rod), and it's fun to toy with and get in PvP. It brought the joy of playing back to Hero and I'm glad that after more than a year I came back and discovered the game was alive and well. The simple fact that it feels in way like a new game ('cause of the many new things implemented) says a lot...but feel free to play whatever you like. It's called diversity...

PS: solo leveling firendly? LOL, I've NEVER felt like I need a party to lvl. EVER! You can get extra xp/stats points without being forced to party with a bunch of ppl.

@ Feldron: yup, you're right, that should be the way to go (constant new content, expansions, etc).

However, the problem with these asian MMOs is that the western publishers are not the devs themselves - they're just taking an already running game, translate it and release in USA or Europe. And these games were not tailored for the western market (inluding the item shops).

Now regarding Hero, at first things were going in the wrong direction, because they were selling just a handful of items that were negligeable if you weren't that desperate to level up (instead of the xp statues you could have used a cryptic set and still level up faster than normal). So in order to force players into buying these they lowered the xp rates, crafting success rates, etc. But after a while they've released the HT robes and bingo, they were an instant hit. Now the item shop's offer is quite varied so they don't need to force you into buying stuff so much (ppl buy 'em like crazy anyway) and that really transformed Hero into quite an enjoyable game...again. There's a certain inner dynamic, the game feels after many months alive again. Hero lost a lot of high lvl players because there was nothing left to do , now many returned - and this confirmes you theory: keep ppl busy and they'll stick around :)