[greenfourth]

Well I'm using the 15-day trial at the moment and I was wondering (if I wanted to keep playing) if anyone had some suggestions as to what I should do. I've already looked into the jobs and the ninja seems to be the way to go and I've already started ambling my way towards the path of the AGI theif.

I've heard a lot about private servers and if I'm interperecting this correctly then they are free and there are some out there that are accelerated for ultra-nooblets such as myself?

Forgive my lack of knowlege but I figure the best way to decide what to do would be to go to people who seem to know so much about it. ^_^;

[ChrnoXIII]

There are hordes of private servers out there.. I'd assume that most of the people here have played one at one point or another if they found this site through ratemyserver.. Private servers are free but, the process is semi-difficult cause problems like patching and getting the Korean Rag/Sak files you need.

Private servers have different rates then the official servers which are 1/1/1 (Base Exp/Job Exp/Drop Rate.. i think) other servers may have 5/5/5 meaning 5 times the base exp,job exp and drop rates compared to official standards... the rates can range from 1's to like.. thousands depending on your preference..

Higher rate servers are generally geared towards pvp and such.. a lot easier to level and you learn about the classes but, it's likely you'll get bored of it quicker then a low rate server..
Low rates are usually more.. quest based? It takes a lot more time to do stuff but, you get more out of the game that way.. It's also more balanced then high rates..
I suggest a high rate to begin with.. it'll let you get a feel for the classes so that you aren't clueless.. (or just go to the ratemyserver test server thing..) otherwise it's up to you...
Oh.. and hopefully i didn't misinterpret your post.. but, thieves and ninjas are separate jobs.. unless you meant assassin which is the 2nd class for the thief.. ninjas are their own 1st class
Hope this helped?

[Panty Thief]

Private servers aren't the way to go. They can be alright, but more often than not, they lack a lot of things that make the game fun. eAthena, the software that runs most servers, is beginning to recieve less and less updates which leads to less enjoyment.

Thief is a great class to start when you're new. They get good flee, attack pretty fast, and can dish out some nice damage. They can be a bit tough to level without gears, but they're worth it in the end. If you decide to go Assassin, it will be tough, because the gear required to level at maps with good exp is pretty expensive.

I say you should just stick to the officials. The grind to level goes by fast if you find yourself in a good guild, which once your higher level you can fight other guilds on Saturday and Wednesday to obtain castles for items and dungeon access. Plus, the officials have a lot more players on their servers than almost all private servers, and it's not hard to find people selling items you want. Also, if you do stick to the officials, play on the Loki Server. Chaos isn't newbie friendly at all.

[chuudra]

If you decide to play iRO and are on the chaos server, PM me on Gale Ironheart and ill pop you a few tips, maybe some gear etc.