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Friday, December 18, 2009

Ragnarok Online

Ragnarok Online often referred to as RO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG created by GRAVITY Co., Ltd. based on the manhwa Ragnarok by Lee Myung-jin. It was first released in South Korea on 31 August 2001 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. Much of the game's mythos is based on Norse mythology, but its style and settings have been influenced by a wide variety of international cultures. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World, is in development. Player characters interact in a 3D environment but are represented by 2D character sprites for front, back, side and diagonal facings.


Ragnarok Online is divided into a series of maps, each of which has its own terrain and native monsters, though many monsters are present in multiple regions. Transportation between maps requires loading the new map and monsters cannot travel from one map to another.

There are three major nations in Ragnarok Online, the first of which and where all players start is Rune Midgard. The Schwaltzvalt Republic, an industrialized neighbor to the North, was added in Episode 10 and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11.

A series of other, minor nations also exists, generally modeled after an ancient society in the real world, examples such as Amatsu, which is modeled after ancient Japan, and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.

Areas from Norse mythology are also included, such as Niflheim, the land of the dead, and Valhalla, where players can become Transcendent Classes. New map content is constantly being added to game in the form of Episode updates.


Gameplay:
Ragnarok Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, where players can create several characters per account, but can only control one character at a time. Basic gameplay involves killing monsters wandering around the game world in order to gain experience and level up. This is referred to PvE combat. Players can accept optional quests from non-player characters for special rewards and to flesh out the game's fantasy world. An extended series of quests have to be completed for most job advancements. There is no main narrative, and players are free to explore the game world in a non-linear manner.