the long answer:

on java servers trains never behave properly and this is the very first test i do to understand if i will stick with a server

i gather 10-15 mobs and if i stop in the middle of an open space and all mobs stack together in 1 point then theres no point to play it. i supose you understand what big difference it makes in the gameplay if you can stop your train anywhere and you do not neeed to master timing, aligning and corners. same goes for mage aoe pts

geodata is another problem

finally hlapex, l2phx, you name it whatever packet hack you want is easily applicable to the java server platforms out there (not a guarantee that l2off is immune to this, as l2off Gfinal PTS leak showed)

furthermore dagger damage is always bugged on java and servers that claim to have fixed it, have a developer who has just tinkered around the formulas and did something to them that doesnt look way too wrong and they just implement it like "FIXED DAGGER DMG" yeah sure...

if you spend some time on l2off and l2j development forums you will understand for yourself

there are also numerous small things like if your target is outside of your range and u click a spell you will not run to it to cast but you will get out of range error in the system msg window (some l2j have this fixed but the vast majority-no)

i also remember in c4 l2j it was widespread to copy items by rapidly trading them (as a bd that was the only safe way for my broke ass to enchant my duals to +4 ) and i havent managed to do this on l2off servers no matter how i have tried

DISCLAIMER: im not an experienced developer, im still beginner/junior level
l2j is --> take original code written in another language and translate the formulas in the scripts into java
and as we know from the "broken telephone" kiddy game each translation carries with itself deviation from the original
both languages while similar, approach different problems in a different way so it would take great skill and understanding to efficiently translate whatever you got your hands from the base blueprint to an l2j build

dont get me wrong - i find classic fork to be a very decent java build and good java builds definitely exist

in conclusion i would say that since L2DC fell apart java server build hasnt seen much love from the dev community, just money making

About the trains - well to be fair I haven't really played on any java servers, but is it really widespread issue that remains to this day? I'll have to check for myself when I get more time I guess Geodata - while I do remember geodata always being better on off servers, I don' remember ever wanting to quit a server because geodata wasn't good enough... Also, I feel like the "bugging" geodata worked better on off servers because when you clicked beyond and obstacle, the character "kept running" so if you restarted you ended up beyond that obstacle... I think on java servers the character just stopped so you couldn't do such bamboozles... Hacks - again, not my expertise, but I seriously doubt you could pull some advanced hacks on the modern large servers, I mean I randomly checked this thread and they guys didn't really look like the haplex is a thing in modern days, e.g. "Most of variables are normally taken out of server and not from client, meaning most of those hacks simply can't work." - I don't understand what he's talking about but it doesn't sound very optimistic... Dagger damage - lol I sometimes check on L2classic club, which is probably the biggest european classic OFF server, and the people are still reporting that the dagger damage is wrong, so I guess the daggers aren't exactly exclusive to java servers... Error message when out of range - I remember this happening on Asterios too which is (I believe) off server... Never thought much of it tbh.

tl;dr - I'd probably have to check to see for myself, but even like 10 years ago when I was playing a lot of servers with various files, I never really felt like some server was unplayable because the files weren't good enough...

you are correct about restarting while running through an obstacle and this is known issue for l2off and it is one of the tests i perform to verify if the server is indeed l2off as advertised

easiest way to do it so to bug yourself at the bottom of the stairwell near the gk in gludio and rr -> i usually appear on top of the stairwell

since the quarantine started ive been checking some servidors and literally nobody put any effort to fix any of the bugs and exploits i stumbled upon back in the days - they only added custom stuff which break all the time because they are built on top of a crap build

and yes hlapex is not so easy to get working nowaadays but phx is defo still working

classic club is not l2off its java regardless what that dickhead san0 says

i cant argue about asterios unfortunately, i didnt have all this haxor knowledge back in the days
however on the l2offs i played you could always run towards an out-of-range target(including the pack ive tested personally)

Care to elaborate on the Club not being OFF? I've played for some time there and while I'm not really knowledgable about the java/off differences, I think the mobs behaved normally during taking trains (i.e. they didn't stop at one place as mentioned before) and the geodata was quite exploitable (I remember I always bugged my shop with the post-restart running to appear on one of the boxes in Giran Harbor to appear higher).

IIRC the official story was that while it's not Classic OFF per se, it is some official G.o.D.+ chronicle that was manually 'cut' in content to match the Classic, or something along the lines... Would that be plausible?

theres too much to be went over
you can start from here:
https://l2classic.club/forum/topic/4088 ... les-never/

anyway 99% of the shit you are told is a lie so research and doubt 4 eva

there u go a classic build to download and test:
https://maxcheaters.com/topic/231570-l2 ... he-kamael/


aaand if u search on the russian internet you will find tons of builds that probably all contain malware
https://forummaxi.ru/topic/61863-l2-classic/


basically take any of those, do some fixes, claim its pts-->profit

https://www.vlemon.info/article/1409-so ... assic.html

Watching streams how they farm drakes aoe at FOG lower with ease on l2Reborn x1 makes me puke.
On PTS files u cant even do 1 room train there - you simply die because u cant stack the mobs.Even with Hero spear and items +10 is not possible. Even if u manage to survive the slow while training u should die from Explosions/multiply only from a single room, but on reborn they not only stack the mobs, they do 3 rooms at once... LOL

On every java server Ant queen works different way aswell. You should test it and comeup with Custom strategy to kill her because custom behaviour. custom custom custom custom. Thats valid for 90% of the mobs and their skills/behaviour in general.

I wont even comment on Debuff/Stun formulas. Up to this day when ppl play PTS files i see complains all the time for Stun being op/landing 80% of the time,saying its bugged., WELCOME TO L2. U PLAY DARK ELF -U DIE IN STUN. U PLAY WITH -9 CON -U DIE IN STUN. Thats how it works.

Catacomb mobs are also bugged on EVERY java server. From insa stun use when starting them to perma cancel/nuke spam , ive seen it all. 7sings Seal "bonuses" or game changes are not working properly on about 100% of the java servers out there. Only Dusk seal of strife is fixed

Bonus damage/accuracy when hitting from behind also broken on most of the javas. Therefore dagger dmg even more broken on top of their broken formulas already.

If we ignore the huge number of minor bugs in java the biggest NO NO for me is the mobs behaviour in general and AOEing. Its just broken on every server. Hitting 40 mobs at once or fighting basically custom mobs everywhere is BS.

Played talkingisland on start (nowdays classic club) and trust me , its not PTS. Idk if its java or what it is but its not Offi files. The only official classic files ive seen was Gamecoast and 1 more Ru server forgot the name. Up to this day i still log to classicclub sometimes and its still the same old files. Are they really pretending to be L2OFF???? The fcking admins couldnt even fix the 100%adena drop for 10 days on start

Asterios nowdays idk but for the last 10 years up to 1 year ago it was anything but offi files. It was full of sh1t. I dont think its even possible to customize so heavily Off files like that.

To really notice the difference u must play 1-2 years only PTS files and then switch to java. It will not feel like Lineage.

i completely agree with bemyfrag on this one and he pointed out the main key aspects every low-rate player immediately sees with java gameplay (how could i miss AQ, indeed it is a totalyl different raid on every l2joke)

atm i am testing Grand Elmore and i have to say this shit is good
i tried to cause the java-jump around rocks and mountains, no way
i did a train and when is topped the mobs started shuffling around and alligning to surround me and not to stay in 1 line
the skill animations are perfectly alligned with the character movements while casting so ur windstrike doesnt get stuck for 1 second spinning around u after u finish it

the pathfinding is fantastic and the aglorithm that actually does it is very good(atm im working on mastering the very same algorithm with python so i can clearly see the difference in the files from coding standpoint)

next step is to check raid bosses

one thing i wanted to mention is that even on a good server like l2mordor with decent l2off interlude build the raids werent working properly. they either werent casting their skills or just getting into casting sprees just like bemyfrag explained for cata mobs:), this has been fixed later i believe?

1more thing that makes a lot more sense in pts files as opposed to java is kiting both in pve and pvp

@bemyfrag: I may start sounding like a java fanboy, but... Asterios was from the technical point probably the best server I've played, or at least one of them. I really don't care what files those were, but those Ruskies have done an enormous ammount of work on it and I just couldn't find a single thing that I'd miss; they've just had everything from always-kind-of-wanted-to-see things like that 'time travel' teleporter that allows you to visit pre-updated locations (like when NCsoft changed e.g. Lizardmen Plains from being 30-40 to 80+ loc... On Asterios you can both visit the new location via normal GK and the original location via the special GK) to I-never-knew-I-needed-this things like letting you to set an exact position at which your pet/summon follows you (right behind you, beside you, behind you a bit to the left etc.). And if Asterios really is java... I don't know, to me it just feels like java - in this case - allows developers to do the things they simply couldn't on OFF... Do things work differently than on traditional servers? Yes. Does it make it worse? I can't say I feel this way. So I guess the question should be something more like "is really good OFF server better than really good Java one?", which imo is much harder to answer than "is average off server better then average java server", to which an answer is an absolute yes.

@GoDs3nD: Well I'm glad you're enjoying our czech Grand Elmore haha I'm actually going to join that server with my bro - he's going to be in CP, I'm going to be a bit less active so I'll just make my usual bishop and farm with him occasionally (he'll make destro so we can do some trains). Are you planning to stay on live, too? I'd be happy to have some more farming buds tho, what would you run?

yeah ill most probably join with my brother too
ill play spoiler main


on the topic of asterios:
if it has so much custom stuff its java 2 different teleports to literally 2 different game worlds.. waa wee exciting and yet java fosho

definitely proper l2off files developed by a professional team of game developers is better than pirated and freely interpreted version made by garage heroes , with all due respect to them because we all played l2 alot thanks to them and they are indeed heroes

If u used to l2off there is no hard answer, for me atleast. No doubt Asterios is probably the most successfull server,they've customized their server so everyone can enjoy playing whatever they want on daily basis enjoying the game and also fixed some of the NCsoft nonsence but for me java is java. Some general mehanics are simply wrong and it feels really weird/bad to me. Like gods3nd said - kiting. Its probably the biggest difference in l2j vs off. On pts files mobs interupt skills ( not all skills) when u outrun them, it even interupt their basic attacks if u run fast enough. On java this simply doesnt exist. On any server. Same goes for PVP and skills/kiting mehanics.

On the other hand Java offers much easier editing/fixing/adding stuff but some of the general base mehanics are just lacking, sadly. Im not saying ppl should play only l2off and ignore java, not at all. If it was that bad it would not exist , right? Most of the top $$$ making servers are java aswell.
What im saying is, when i play l2 it feels much better all core mehanics to work retail like so i actually know i can do and what i cant, not learning l2 all over again on every server just to abuse its broken mehanics or to fit my playstyle around custom l2j stuff.

Im definitely trying l2cz server aswell, been so long since good epilogue server. From what i heard files are top top. Gonna try the beta these days so i can see for myself.

THIS:


grand elmore is defo running on good files but the donations system is very questionable and i might just change my mind and join afterlife

Did you switch a donate with vote shop? I think 1 eur for 7d VIP is a good trade. They have very friendly donate. It's not like others "buy full B" cashgrab and server end in 3 week. Last year i was buying vips and stuffs just by trades

The priorities for most players were different back then. Everyone was aware they were playing on freeshard, you didn't need to pay monthly fees to play the game, so people were more willing to just accept it for what it is...

I also believe the people that played mostly java could never really tell apart the difference to l2off files, so that helped as well in keeping those projects alive. If I recall correctly some of these projects had much more success than l2off projects.

i havent "switched" anything it is all clearly written on the donate page of the website and the casual VIP/Premium account is not a concern at all, anyway that is far from the l2off vs l2j discussion:)

Hi guys,

I was digging around the Internet and this is probably the only topic where it is discussed the L2 servers.
I am just wondering, so many years have passed since the first leaks of L2off files, how is it possible that you still can't find a decent pack to deploy of a L2off Gracia or HI5?
I mean for me it looks like the business community of L2off server owners is only keeping the knowledge for themselves and it's kind of sad.

Any idea where you can buy a decent L2off gracia ready to deploy server pack?

Thanks guys!