I have to admit the title is very clickbait
, but please don’t just focus on the title and read the whole post. Let's talk about: veteran retention, campaign motivation and long-term progression.Well, I think some of you already know me quite well, either because we have fought shoulder to shoulder, or because we have faced each other on the battlefield.
I have been playing Return of Reckoning since 2019, if memory serves me right, and I have been watching the evolution of the server since then. Since 2020, when we founded Tercio de Estalia, and now with Los Autónomos, I have also been quite involved in promoting the game, helping new players, recruiting, organising groups and, in general, trying to contribute something positive to the community.
I have always felt free to speak openly on these forums. I have done so both to share my point of view, even when it was not aligned with the general consensus, and also to recognise the enormous amount of work done by the whole team behind the server: developers, GMs, community managers, designers, artists, and everyone else who keeps this project alive.
I think the time has come to write another post with a critical point of view, but always with respect and admiration for the work being done on the server.
Of course, this is only my personal opinion. I am speaking purely as a player, from outside any staff or support team, and based only on what I have seen and experienced over the years.
My impression is that veteran players who are already here are not being taken care of enough, while a very large effort is being made to attract new players. The problem is that many of those new players try the game, reach RR80 with one character — if things go well — and then stop playing.
I would like to expand on this idea.
Over the last few years, many of the improvements we have seen on the server seem to be focused in a very clear direction:
- Much faster renown progression.
- Simplification of different parts of the game.
- Reduction of class identity and specialisation, with more and more careers being able to perform functions outside their original role. One example, from my point of view, would be the Warrior Priest, where single-target DPS builds have gradually received tools to also work in AoE environments.
- Removal or reduction of exclusive content linked to specific types of RvR content, while PvE still keeps exclusive content tied to specific dungeons.
- Token unification.
- RR80 as the practical point of player equalisation.
However, my concern is that, in that process, long-term motivation for veteran players has been greatly weakened.
From what I can see, many new players see RR80 as the main goal. They try the game, level one character, reach RR80 — perhaps RR81 if they keep playing a little longer — and then lose motivation. Once the main gear and stat milestones have been reached, the feeling of long-term progression is greatly reduced.
Right now, a casual player can reach RR80 in roughly two months of regular play. In the past, that same process could easily take four or five months.
This is not just a vague feeling. Looking at my own gameplay statistics, with a very similar amount of active playtime in both periods, the difference is enormous.
To go from RR87 to RR88, I needed 7,558,010 renown points. That took me from 2 May 2022 to 15 March 2023: 317 days.
To go from RR89 to RR90, I needed 9,558,010 renown points. That took me from 12 January 2026 to 1 May 2026: 109 days.
In both periods, my active playtime was approximately the same: around two hours per day, Monday to Friday.
Obviously, this is only my personal case and it is not meant to be a perfect statistical study. But I think it works as a useful example of how much renown progression has accelerated.
However, these very fast renown gains, combined with how easy it currently is to unlock gear through PvE and reach RR80 with full Sovereign in a very short amount of time, are creating another problem.
Many short-term players are being created. Players who reach RR80 very quickly, but without having developed a strong long-term attachment to the game. They reach that milestone, feel that they have already achieved “the important part”, and simply leave.
On top of that, there is the current state of RvR, where the experience is often reduced to blob versus blob on both realms. There also do not seem to be enough incentives — or enough willingness from many players and warband leaders — to break that dynamic. The blob is the easiest and safest way to obtain renown and War Crests, so it is logical that many players end up following that path.
The result is that some veteran players, people who truly love this game and have invested thousands of hours into it, are starting to wonder whether it is still worth continuing to play.
In fact, I have contacted several veteran players who used to play a lot. Many of them do not even consider coming back anymore. They still read our WhatsApp groups, forums or channels where we talk about the state of the game, patches, news and where we still keep in touch, but they no longer feel motivated enough to return to the game.
As I said at the beginning, this is only my point of view, but I think the game currently needs several important adjustments.
First, there needs to be new progression beyond RR80.
Let us be objective: RR80 is now extremely easy to achieve compared to the past. Many new players stop playing shortly after reaching that point. Adding new gear, new progression systems, or meaningful rewards at RR90 or RR100 would give players a new long-term objective. The game needs another carrot. And not just side content, but a clear progression path.
Second, the campaign system needs improvements.
Blob-RvR needs to be controlled somehow. I know this is not easy, and I do not claim to have a perfect solution, but I sincerely believe that the current dynamic is slowly killing the game. Not suddenly, not dramatically, but steadily.
Third, the scenario queue system should adapt better to low-population hours.
The new scenario queue system works well when there is enough population. But during low-population hours, when scenarios can take 45 minutes to pop because the system is trying to create balanced teams, I think the old system should be applied. A flexible solution could keep the current system during high-population hours and return to a simpler system when the population is too low.
Fourth, I think some kind of campaign structure connecting fort captures with city sieges should return.
For example, a city siege could be triggered after taking two forts within an eight-hour window, as it used to be. The realm that wins the campaign could receive a global reward, such as a +10% renown bonus for 24 hours. Players who also win the city could receive an additional +15% renown bonus for 24 hours, stacking with the previous one.
Another additional possibility would be to add a loot roll similar to zone locks, with a small number of gold bags containing full Invader or Sovereign pieces. I am not talking about flooding the server with gear, but about something limited: perhaps a maximum of 10 gold bags per realm.
Something like this, even if it seems small, could motivate both realms to fight for a real campaign objective. It would make people care again about winning the campaign, not just farming for hours the easiest source of renown and War Crests: the blob.
In marketing, it is often said that it is always cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one.
I think a similar logic can be applied here, even though we are talking about a community and not a company. Attracting new players is important, of course, but keeping the players who are already here motivated should also be a priority.
Veteran players are the ones who organise warbands, teach new players, create guilds, maintain external communities, explain mechanics, answer questions and give continuity to the game once the initial novelty disappears.
Let us take care of the players we already have. If veteran players remain motivated, active and involved, the new players who arrive will also have many more reasons to stay.
I am not writing this as a destructive complaint, but as a sincere concern from someone who has been playing for many years, organising people, and wanting this server to remain alive for a long time to come.
