Posts by Ponurniak

First of all, I apologize for the rather large number of posts I've made in this thread recently. I don't want it to come across as me constantly throwing new ideas at everyone or trying to flood the discussion with my own plans. I'd simply like to gradually share and work through my thoughts about what a potential Classic+ project could look like, while also responding to the ideas and arguments brought up by others.
With that said, there is one more thing I think would be extremely important if a Classic+ project were ever created: marketing.

Nowadays, I don't think simply putting a banner on the NosTale website would be enough. If the goal is to bring back former players, you would need to reach people who haven't even thought about NosTale for years.

One way of doing that could be through YouTubers, TikTok creators and streamers who used to make NosTale content.

For example, in Poland there is a YouTuber called Yoshi, who used to build a large part of his content around NosTale about 10 years ago. Today he has almost 2 million subscribers and makes completely different content.

Imagine someone like that suddenly making a video saying: "I played NosTale again after 10 years."

I think a lot of people who haven't played the game in years would click on that purely because of nostalgia. And this wouldn't have to be limited to Poland. There are probably former NosTale creators in Germany, Italy, France, Spain and other European countries who could reach different parts of the old player base.

I think this could create a much bigger initial wave of players than traditional advertising alone. The important thing would be to advertise not only to the people who currently play NosTale, but also to the people who used to play it.

Because if the goal of Classic+ is partly to bring veterans back, then we shouldn't only ask "What would make them return?", but also "How do we make sure they even hear about it?"

We're all sitting here discussing ideas, developing concepts and trying to figure out what a potential Classic+ could look like — but where is the other side of the table? Everything we're discussing here is great, and honestly, I think a lot of the ideas being brought up actually make sense. It's really interesting to see how this discussion has developed from simply asking for a Classic server into discussing how a potential Classic+ could actually work. But I think there is still one major issue: we don't really know whether anyone on the Gameforge side who is actually responsible for the game is paying attention to this discussion. At this point, we have around 17k views and five pages of discussion, with players, veterans and even Team members contributing ideas and sharing their experiences. We're discussing progression, monetization, QoL, multi-accounting, the economy, family systems, old content and many other aspects of what a Classic+ could look like. But we still haven't really heard anything from the people who are actually responsible for making decisions about NosTale. Of course, we can keep exchanging ideas and developing the concept among ourselves, and I'm glad we're doing that. But at some point the question becomes: is any of this actually reaching the people who could do something with it? I'm not expecting Gameforge to announce a Classic server tomorrow. I think most of us understand that decisions like this take time and require much more than community interest. But even a short statement from someone higher up, acknowledging that the discussion has been noticed and that the feedback will be considered, would be really valuable. Otherwise, we're basically sitting here designing a Classic+ together while having no idea whether anyone on the other side of the table is even listening.

I also wanted to add something about the NosMall, because I think this could be an important part of making a Classic+ server financially viable without making it heavily P2W.

Personally, I don't think the solution is to remove the NosMall. The bigger problem with the current NosMall, in my opinion, is that only a few specific items have real value to players, while a large part of the shop is basically ignored.

One system I would seriously consider is something similar to Warframe's Platinum. The premium currency could be bought with real money, but it could also be traded between players. This would mean that a player who doesn't want to spend real money could still obtain premium currency by playing the game, obtaining valuable items and trading with other players.

At the same time, players who have more money than time could buy the premium currency and use it to trade with players who have more time than money.

Gold could remain the normal in-game currency for NPCs, upgrades, crafting and the regular economy, while the premium currency would be used for NosMall-related things.

This way Gameforge could still have a profitable NosMall, while F2P players would also have a way to participate in the premium economy. It would also make the NosMall feel more like an actual part of the game's economy instead of a shop where only a handful of items are worth buying.

And sorry for comparing NosTale to Warframe so much in this discussion 😅, but I think they genuinely did their homework when it comes to P2W and monetization. Their system gives players relatively equal opportunities when it comes to in-game strength, regardless of whether they spend money or not. I think there are some lessons that could be taken from that approach.

Tibia also has a somewhat similar system with Tibia Coins. They can be bought with real money, but players can also buy them from other players using in-game currency. This means that someone who wants to spend real money can do so to save time, while someone who doesn't want to spend money can simply grind and earn enough in-game currency to buy Coins from another player. They can then be used for things like XP boosts and other premium features.

I think something like this could be a good middle ground between keeping the game profitable and avoiding the feeling that you can simply buy your progression.

Quote from SolidMicky

I have played Nostale for a long time, starting maybe more than 10 years ago when seeing someone being at level 99 was like witnessing a VIP. Personally, I think the new generations of players have moved away from MMOs, and in its current state I'm pretty sure Nostale can't attract new players, meanwhile older players are quitting and the player base is probably shrinking to a critical point. In my opinion, having a Classic+ server, with of course a lot of QoL updates and settings from the start, could give Nostale a new appeal, not only to older players, but even to the new ones. Yes, I am aware that a new Classic+ server cannot be free and GF and Entwell would have to evaluate a lot of things before doing something like that, but if I were them I would at least consider thinking about it.
For me, the new server should be like this:

• Level capped at 99;
• Starting from Act 1 to Act 4 or 5;
• Multiaccount is not allowed at all;
• New acts and raids progression is tied to all players' progression. Slower progression = slower updates;
• The best and most useful QoL features are already implemented;
• Events giving a few non-saleable items, such as pets or upgrade scrolls (Nosmall should always be the first source of items, otherwise the game would die);
• For future updates: champion level won't ever be added, so players won't have to spend months farming for exp, and when new acts are added they will already be ready for new raids (who likes fomo?). I know ancelloans are (probably) the best-selling item, but I also think that a lot of players quit because of this levelling system (and then move to illegal servers... so maybe cutting off champion level could even help with this). Pets, partners and items with exp effects would be adjusted. There would be enough time to balance champion level acts and raids to a non-champion level game.

This new server could start as a test, being a "Nosfire classic+ server". If this succeeds, it's good for both us and GF/Entwell; if it doesn't, the server could be merged like they always do. Again, this is the honest opinion of a player who grew up with Nostale: I know it can't be unbiased, but please take it for what it is.

I don't really agree that players are moving away from MMOs as a genre. I think it's more accurate to say that players are moving away from MMOs that rely heavily on P2W mechanics and aggressive monetization.

There are still plenty of examples showing that people are willing to play MMOs when the game itself is good and the monetization isn't constantly getting in the way. Warframe, for example, still has around 60k concurrent players on average, despite being over a decade old. Tibia is another great example — a game that's more than 20 years old and can still reach tens of thousands of players online.

So in my opinion, the problem isn't that people don't want to play MMOs anymore. It's that they don't want to invest their time into games where their progress or competitiveness can simply be bought.

That's why I believe a game like NosTale Classic could still work. If you give players a fair progression system, a strong community, meaningful content and, most importantly, avoid turning the game into a P2W shop simulator, there is still an audience for this kind of MMO.

Deleted, i posted 2 times same thing miss click

In my opinion, if a NosTale Classic were to launch, it would need some specific quality-of-life improvements and a proper anti-cheat system. These days, it’s far too easy to run bots while managing multiple accounts simultaneously, and I think this is something that would need to be addressed from the beginning.

The item shop would also need to be handled sensibly. It shouldn’t become another heavily pay-to-win environment, because I think that would drive a lot of returning players away very quickly.

I also think the job XP rates should be increased. After all, it’s 2026, and most players simply don’t have the time or patience to sit around grinding beans for hours every day. The game can still have slow progression without making certain parts of it unnecessarily tedious.

And definitely no Champion Levels. In my opinion, they were one of the worst ideas ever introduced into NosTale’s progression. I would much rather see a level 99-based progression system where the focus is on improving your character through gear, SPs, upgrades and other classic systems instead of constantly pushing the level cap higher.

I think there is also something worth considering when it comes to the people who would actually play a Classic server.

I started playing NosTale when I was 9 years old. I’m 24 now, and I would genuinely enjoy playing a slower, low-dopamine RPG again. I don’t necessarily want a game where I have to constantly chase the next upgrade, level or piece of content. Sometimes I just want to log in, make some progress, do some activities with other players, chat with people and slowly build my character over time.

That’s what I remember enjoying about old NosTale.

As for my previous post about Dragonveil: I actually found out about that server through friends. It spread almost entirely through word-of-mouth, and the hype surrounding it was absolutely massive. A lot of people I knew came back specifically because of that hype and the feeling of starting fresh together.

That’s why I think there is potentially a much larger pool of former NosTale players who could be interested in a Classic server than the current community numbers might suggest. Many of those people simply aren’t active on the official Discord or forum anymore, so they wouldn’t necessarily be included in the usual feedback.

I think the best solution would be to run an official poll and actually test the idea properly. Something along the lines of:

“Would you be interested in an official NosTale ‘Classic’ server with these specific rules and features, or do you consider such a server unnecessary?”

The poll could also include different options for things like progression, Champion Levels, quality-of-life changes, monetization.

That would give Gameforge a much clearer picture of the actual demand, especially among former players who aren’t part of the current community anymore.

I don’t think anyone can say with certainty how many people would come back, but I think the only real way to find out is to actually ask them.

think a lot of people would come back I remember when the Dragonveil server launched a few years ago and the huge influx of returning players. Unfortunately, many eventually left, largely because they noticed that new content was becoming all about pay-to-win mechanics and playing multiple characters simultaneously.