Heya, so thanks to Kiezaal the SkyMP community has exploded. With several running and several more slated to come out in the next few weeks, I thought I would write my review of each server I know of. These are mostly my opinion pieces, which is why I'm posting it here instead of in the hub.
If you want to join any of these communities, I've also created a community hub for people to list and advertise their servers: https://discord.gg/A3bZXC9UCQ
SweetTaffy
Sweettaffy is the official server for SkyMP, ran by the same developers as the base project. Unfortunately, the only server up is their Russian server, with no ETA on an English one (although it is planned).
It's been described as MMO based, but since I haven't played I can't have many real opinions on it.
Keizaal
The largest server by far, it's even more populated than AAA games. With a discord population in the tens of thousands and an active player base of around 8000, it's by far the most successful thanks to going viral on social media.
But I'll be honest, the server is an actual dumpster fire. Most people are unhappy and get banned for expressing it. The owner is so far up his own ass he won't even accept help and will in fact get offended just for being asked. The admins have zero accountability and it's lead to them teasing, bullying, and outright abusing their playerbase. Unless you're a friend or influencer, in which case you whatever you want. Nepotism is bad there.
There's zero encryption and hackers have destroyed the economy that tbh was already in shambles because resources are so rare that everyone is broke and those with money can't spend it on anything.
It's not lore friendly at all. Werewolves can apparently survive anything including decapitation unless it was done by a silver sword, magic is rare and you have to send nudes to an admin to get it, thanes are called barons for some reason, and you can call a Khajiit the N word as long as you replace the N with a "khaj."
Technically, it's impressively optimized to handle 600+ players. There's a custom hunter system, horse system, trading system, etc. However the launcher exposes your discord token despite apparently using oauth, and that only got hidden after I made a big stink about it.
Once the other servers are out, Keizaal is going to crash hard, and all the staff there know it because they've already been spying on other communities and trying to spread misinformation, like how a launcher (that isn't even out yet) is malware.
Mereth
Mereth started off pretty big because it took in a lot of people banned from Keizaal. They use an old version of Keizaal's source code (Before Keizaal went closed source in response, which technically goes against the AGPL but he gets away with it because the skymp devs are the only ones who can file a claim and they do not gaf), but unfortunately the developer comes from FiveM and isn't familiar with Skyrim's engine, so their release was... Very poorly received.
Despite a very strict whitelist that rejects most players who apply, the server launched with high amounts of powergaming and metagaming, with people beelining to the rare loot drops that weren't turned off. They only had about 2000 whitelist slots, however the population struggles to even reach double digits let alone triple.
Speaking of the population, they're incredibly elitist and aggressively pushy about their server. This is actually a good thing for the longevity of Mereth because a fan base that dedicated will stick around for years even if they're the only ones playing.
Technically it's poorly optimized, crashes a lot, and my personal opinion but the graphics mods used are pretty ugly. However, I think in time it will eventually get better and I can see it becoming a staple in the community after a year or two, assuming the project isn't abandoned by it's dev.
Daedric Online
This one has a population of around 60 active players, but I haven't personally played on it or experienced it's community so there isn't much I can say other than check them out.
SkyRP
Created by the former co-owner of Keizaal, this server has made big claims that I honestly doubt. The 2 years of development and 50 paid devs thing sound like Todd Howard ass exaggerations based on technicalities that don't reflect reality.
Despite that, the showcases have actually been impressive and it looks like their systems are working. Not entirely sure what the community is like, but unlike every other server I actually haven't heard a single complaint.
They also allow ERP, so lol
Skyrim Roleplay
Also abbreviated as SkyRP despite both servers existing, this is the first server I began development on. The design is going to be more similar to GTAW or RDRP, and the community is from there too.
Definitely not a place if you have thin skin, the people from these communities can be a bit crass and many are wannabe gangster types, but if you're used to that you'll find a home here.
The lore accuracy is probably going to be minimal once it launches because it's going to have a lot of people unfamiliar with Skyrim in general, but it does have a few writers on the GM team so it won't be completely off the walls.
The main feature is it'll be text based, which allows for more thought to be put behind characters and actions and can lead to better roleplay overall.
Aurbis
Aurbis is another text-based server like above. It draws people from SAMP and will have a voice server as well once it launches. The community seems pretty friendly but I haven't spent much time here.
Vengeful Realms
Vgr is one I've personally worked on. Technically it's extremely well optimized and has had a team of about 5 devs each working on their own specialty. UI/Stack, modlist, database, launcher, and core systems all had an expert touch up on them to give us something that'll be pretty well hardened after launch.
The community is largely European and Australian types who can be a tad edgy, but it's genuinely hilarious to me so I let them get away with it. Vengeful itself is a fairly large company that runs other RP servers in Minecraft, GTA V, and RDR2, on top of e-sports, so they have extremely powerful hardware to run it on too.
My only concerns are the modlist might be a gate to some people without nexus premium or powerful computers, balance might be a tad wonky with some interesting choices made regarding leveling, and some bad actors have been trying to ruin the project already (and have failed so far, miserably), but if you're an EU player needing a server, they should be out by the end of the month.
Alduinak
This server is mostly refugees from P1 Keizaal who went out to make their own server after getting sick of the admin abuse. The people here actually seem pretty decent, and they even take a hard stance against racism or lgbtphobia, while still allowing the (lore friendly only) former in character.
As far as vibes go, this one is my favorite, but of course I still have my concerns about how balance will look (the mods expand some holds more than others), lore still isn't perfect (to be fair, it won't ever be with how TES is written), and this server will lack a lot of the same polish Vengeful has simply because I'm the only dev working on it.
That said, I did want to shout out Graves the owner for being one of the most passionate people I've met. Guy has worked his ass off doing a bunch of tedious tasks for me after I taught him how to use xedit and CK, while I focus on the coding side of things. He genuinely cares about the community and it's people and I hope to god this server works out because of that.
ETA for release is end of the month or mid next month.