While Ragnarok Online is both developed and run by Gravity in South Korea, its various official overseas versions are licensed and run by regional ventures. This has led to a multitude of regional differences in the game, such as localized or translated text, special in-game events, and the payment model.
P2P servers
The original payment model, pay to play, is still in use by all regional versions. Depending on the version, users can pay by a monthly subscription or buy pre-paid cards.
Kafra Shop
Microtransactions and virtual freemium shops have become an increasingly favored revenue stream over monthly subscriptions for online multiplayer games, especially in the Asian MMO market. As such, the Kafra Shop (an Item Mall) was added to iRO (International Ragnarok Online) on June 19, 2007. Users are able to purchase Kafra Credit Points with U.S. dollars as a currency for the special items limited to the Kafra Shop.
This service appears on most other localized servers of Ragnarok Online such as jRO (Japanese Ragnarok Online), mRO (Malaysian Ragnarok Online), pRO (Philippine Ragnarok Online), rRO (Russian Ragnarok Online) and kRO (Korean Ragnarok Online), using the currency of the respective countries for points. In addition, upgraded forms of normal equipment can be rented using Kafra Points.[10]
F2P servers
There are official "Free To Play" servers where players can play Ragnarok Online free of charge, with a few differences in game play. Major differences are the limited use of the Kafra Teleport service, upgrading weapons and armor never have a "safe zone" in which the player cannot break the Weapon/Armor, items have had their costs changed or been removed entirely from the game, the Acolyte skill Teleport has been modified, and prices on certain NPC items received a moderate increase. Notably, characters may be any job class, access any map, attain all skills, wear any gear, and progress to all levels without payment of microtransaction fees. Changes vary from server to server.
The use of free servers has resulted in a higher reliance on the Kafra Shop item mall for revenue stream. Many localized versions of Ragnarok Online have implemented free servers during 2007-2008.
P2P servers
The original payment model, pay to play, is still in use by all regional versions. Depending on the version, users can pay by a monthly subscription or buy pre-paid cards.
Kafra Shop
Microtransactions and virtual freemium shops have become an increasingly favored revenue stream over monthly subscriptions for online multiplayer games, especially in the Asian MMO market. As such, the Kafra Shop (an Item Mall) was added to iRO (International Ragnarok Online) on June 19, 2007. Users are able to purchase Kafra Credit Points with U.S. dollars as a currency for the special items limited to the Kafra Shop.
This service appears on most other localized servers of Ragnarok Online such as jRO (Japanese Ragnarok Online), mRO (Malaysian Ragnarok Online), pRO (Philippine Ragnarok Online), rRO (Russian Ragnarok Online) and kRO (Korean Ragnarok Online), using the currency of the respective countries for points. In addition, upgraded forms of normal equipment can be rented using Kafra Points.[10]
F2P servers
There are official "Free To Play" servers where players can play Ragnarok Online free of charge, with a few differences in game play. Major differences are the limited use of the Kafra Teleport service, upgrading weapons and armor never have a "safe zone" in which the player cannot break the Weapon/Armor, items have had their costs changed or been removed entirely from the game, the Acolyte skill Teleport has been modified, and prices on certain NPC items received a moderate increase. Notably, characters may be any job class, access any map, attain all skills, wear any gear, and progress to all levels without payment of microtransaction fees. Changes vary from server to server.
The use of free servers has resulted in a higher reliance on the Kafra Shop item mall for revenue stream. Many localized versions of Ragnarok Online have implemented free servers during 2007-2008.
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