Typing this as a new patch is being applied while the servers are down. I've been quite hooked on this game again recently. Went from lvl28 to 34 in a week. You'll find that lvls come MUCH slower after 20, so this is saying a lot. I really hate how the offline stamina gain was removed for non-paying customers (rather, those who don't pay the hidden village pass or tent items with real life money).
So I figured, what the hell. I gave em $10 and bought a day pass to the hidden village for $1.50. I think it's worth it. You can buy the fearsome Lydian mount, pictured here, for 20000 ruppees and ride it for 72 game hours, not real world hours. Much better than the 6 hour bird mount. It has superior stats to the bird mounts, and with my 25% speed buff, the damn thing is a race car.
You also get free teleporting services to all 4 towns, as well as certain field locations near those towns for quick enemy farming.
All the stores are also selling items much cheaper than normal.
There is also a person giving out plotless quests for superior rewards compared to the same types of NPCs in the towns. That's handy for when you are in a position where you have done all the quests available up to your current lvl, and must farm the slow way to get that extra exp you need.
On top of all this, for as long as you have the pass, your stamina gain is 200% in towns, while offline I believe as well as online. I think originally, you had a 120% gain in towns, before they removed that feature for non-payers.
Overall, I think it's worth giving them a tiny bit of money for this pass. The pass can be bought as 1 day, 7 day, 1 month, or 3 month I believe. The longer the pass, the more the savings. But I suggest just getting a day pass once a month, and just doing your business you've been waiting on.
There are other items that might be worth spending real money on. There's a mask for 9.50, and masks are VERY hard to find in game. They give a nice permanent stat boost, and it's a shame to leave that empty face equipment slot like that. I might go for it, if only to donate what I feel the game is worth, really.
Oh, I joined a very small guild now. I tried some others earlier, but they were just worthless. The leader of this current one was super nice and loaned me his fairly strong pet, so now I can finally solo when I need to and actually survive. He's been generous, and really strives on teamwork. I suggest if any of you are ganna get into Rappelz, join our guild. Here's his site, though it's not finished yet:
http://gammelgaard.nu/majestic/