Ragnarok Online (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인, alternatively subtitled The Final Destiny of the Gods), 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 2002 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. 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: Legend of The Second, is in development. Player characters exist in a world with a player environment that gradually changes with the passage of time. Major changes in the features and history of the world take place as episodes in the RO timeline. Player characters interact in a 3D environment but are represented by 2D character sprites for front, back, side and diagonal facings.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Setting
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[4] and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11.[5]
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,[6] and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.[7]
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.
Recently, all of the official Ragnarok Online servers are undergoing massive game system changes, which has been titled "Renewal". Renewal brings along a lot of changes to current game mechanics, perhaps the biggest ones being the revamping of the stat system, by changing what each stat does and what it affects, and also the introduction of 3rd Classes. There are various other changes that come with Renewal, including interface and hotkey alterations, as well as skill changes.
Renewal has different versions, according to the server it is being implemented in. The 2 major versions are called the kRO (Korean Ragnarok Online) and jRO (Japanese Ragnarok Online), titled after the server in which the version was created. The differences between each version were made by the corresponding branch of Gravity in order to please their players, rather than having an overall brand of Renewal, which might only please a minority.
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[4] and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11.[5]
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,[6] and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.[7]
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.
Recently, all of the official Ragnarok Online servers are undergoing massive game system changes, which has been titled "Renewal". Renewal brings along a lot of changes to current game mechanics, perhaps the biggest ones being the revamping of the stat system, by changing what each stat does and what it affects, and also the introduction of 3rd Classes. There are various other changes that come with Renewal, including interface and hotkey alterations, as well as skill changes.
Renewal has different versions, according to the server it is being implemented in. The 2 major versions are called the kRO (Korean Ragnarok Online) and jRO (Japanese Ragnarok Online), titled after the server in which the version was created. The differences between each version were made by the corresponding branch of Gravity in order to please their players, rather than having an overall brand of Renewal, which might only please a minority.
Job system
Jobs are one of the most important aspects of Ragnarok Online, as the job a player chooses will have profound implications on his or her strengths and weaknesses, both in a party, and outside of one. The job system initially consisted of 13 classes, which has increased to over 50 via several updates. Each class specializes in certain skills corresponding to archetypes in a role-playing game. Additionally, some equipment are exclusive to particular classes, altering the play style of such characters.
All players start in the game's first class, the novice. Novices are, as their name implies, largely a tutorial class built for allowing new players to get the general feel of the game. Upon reaching a certain level (dependent on their desired job), players can change to one of six first classes, or choose one of the expanded classes, along with Super Novices. Upon reaching another level goal, first classes can then change into one of two second classes. Once the player reaches base level 99 and job level 50, they can elect to "rebirth" their character, (not applicable to expansion classes and Super Novices) and re-level as a transcendent class, which has more skills and a larger number of status points to work with, although the experience curve is much higher.
The Korean servers have added a level 3 job class that can be taken from either level 2 or a transcendent level 2 class. If the player skips rebirth and goes directly into the 3rd jobs, the skills and stat bonuses that come with rebirth are lost forever in exchange for reaching the final stage faster.
A player will change jobs multiple times over the course of playing, though the number of changes will be determined by choices made by the player.[8]
All players start in the game's first class, the novice. Novices are, as their name implies, largely a tutorial class built for allowing new players to get the general feel of the game. Upon reaching a certain level (dependent on their desired job), players can change to one of six first classes, or choose one of the expanded classes, along with Super Novices. Upon reaching another level goal, first classes can then change into one of two second classes. Once the player reaches base level 99 and job level 50, they can elect to "rebirth" their character, (not applicable to expansion classes and Super Novices) and re-level as a transcendent class, which has more skills and a larger number of status points to work with, although the experience curve is much higher.
The Korean servers have added a level 3 job class that can be taken from either level 2 or a transcendent level 2 class. If the player skips rebirth and goes directly into the 3rd jobs, the skills and stat bonuses that come with rebirth are lost forever in exchange for reaching the final stage faster.
A player will change jobs multiple times over the course of playing, though the number of changes will be determined by choices made by the player.[8]
Audio
The background music of Ragnarok Online currently consists of over 100 individual tracks, composed, arranged, recorded and mixed by SoundTeMP and Hankook Recording Studio, with some tracks by NEOCYON and others. The game's music spans a wide variety of genres and musical styles, including trance, techno, jazz, rock, and orchestral. New tracks are added to the soundtrack as with every new area added to the game world.
"The memory of RAGNAROK" Ragnarok Online Original Sound Track is a best-of soundtrack album featuring background music in addition to remixes and vocal arrangements of certain pieces. The game's official theme song, "You & I," is also included. It was developed by SoundTeMP and released by Gravity in 2006. The album features vocal arrangements of certain pieces, performed by Lee Seung-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Hee and Seo Ji-Hae. The album's booklet features text in Korean, Chinese, English, and Japanese
"The memory of RAGNAROK" Ragnarok Online Original Sound Track is a best-of soundtrack album featuring background music in addition to remixes and vocal arrangements of certain pieces. The game's official theme song, "You & I," is also included. It was developed by SoundTeMP and released by Gravity in 2006. The album features vocal arrangements of certain pieces, performed by Lee Seung-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Hee and Seo Ji-Hae. The album's booklet features text in Korean, Chinese, English, and Japanese
Licensing
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.
Ragnarok Mobile
Gravity Co. Ltd. released 8 separate games for the mobile phone allowing players to experience the game on the road.[12] Each version focuses on the main aspect of the acolyte, thief, merchant, mage, archer, and swordsmen class based on the version of the game they have. Players are able to advance their characters using the attributes STR, AGI, VIT, LUK, INT, and DEX. Though not placed in the server, players control their character and complete a series of quests or tasks. As players earn zeny, (the in-game currency), they are able to send the zeny to their real accounts. Along with that, a ranking is present where characters are ranked by the amount of zeny the character has
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