2008 Woodie Awards
Insomniac Insider
Why children don't do their homework: Ragnarok Online
Paul Davis
Issue date: 4/22/04 Section: Arts & Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
The Koreans have dabbled in Norse mythology. This crack addiction from Gravity, for those who like massive multi-player online role playing games (MMPORPGs), has just about nothing to do with Norse mythology, except for names such as Ragnarok (the end of the world). This game has actually been around--it's just taken time for people to find it. It's earliest copyright is 2002.
A thousand years ago, there was a war between Man, gods, and demons. It eventually ended in a truce, and Midgard (the fortress the gods made around the earth in Norse mythology) became stable. Man became arrogant in time, and this stability is quickly lost.
Throw all that out because it doesn't come up too much. The world at first is going to seem massive, but as you get to higher levels and you travel more, you'll realize that the world is small. The thing that'll be hard to get sick of is the beautiful environment. The one flaw is that they recycle a lot of the models.
The job system is decent. Leveling is slow, and when you see the high level characters in action, it's awe-inspiring. When you reach that level, you just snicker as you wipe out mobs of monsters.
When you start out, you kill cute little pink balls that bounce around. Later on you fight things more normal, like orcs and goblins. But when it gets weird you slay toy soldiers, elves, and dancing dolls that light themselves on fire.
There's a variety of visible head wear--from a Santa hat to bunny ears--which will keep you busy hunting for the next head piece. You can gather dyes to continuously change a once boring look.
You can buy presents such as flowers, mirrors, and diamond rings. With diamond rings, there's one more step; you can get married in the game with a wedding dress, veil, and the wedding bouquet to toss over your shoulder.
The actual purpose of this game, other than to look cool, is the War of Emperium. You make guilds and try to take over castles. In order to make the guild, you need an item called Emperium, and to capture the castle you need to break its Emperium. It's a big game of capture the flag--just you want to smash their flag to pieces. This only happens for two hours a couple times a week, so possession isn't always changing. He who has the castle has the last laugh, for he has the most toys. With castles come rare items, along with staff. The war is an incredible even to watch, as high level characters clash.
If you're still reading go to www.ragnarokonline.com. Happy gaming, and may sleep eventually grace your eyes...maybe.
A thousand years ago, there was a war between Man, gods, and demons. It eventually ended in a truce, and Midgard (the fortress the gods made around the earth in Norse mythology) became stable. Man became arrogant in time, and this stability is quickly lost.
Throw all that out because it doesn't come up too much. The world at first is going to seem massive, but as you get to higher levels and you travel more, you'll realize that the world is small. The thing that'll be hard to get sick of is the beautiful environment. The one flaw is that they recycle a lot of the models.
The job system is decent. Leveling is slow, and when you see the high level characters in action, it's awe-inspiring. When you reach that level, you just snicker as you wipe out mobs of monsters.
When you start out, you kill cute little pink balls that bounce around. Later on you fight things more normal, like orcs and goblins. But when it gets weird you slay toy soldiers, elves, and dancing dolls that light themselves on fire.
There's a variety of visible head wear--from a Santa hat to bunny ears--which will keep you busy hunting for the next head piece. You can gather dyes to continuously change a once boring look.
You can buy presents such as flowers, mirrors, and diamond rings. With diamond rings, there's one more step; you can get married in the game with a wedding dress, veil, and the wedding bouquet to toss over your shoulder.
The actual purpose of this game, other than to look cool, is the War of Emperium. You make guilds and try to take over castles. In order to make the guild, you need an item called Emperium, and to capture the castle you need to break its Emperium. It's a big game of capture the flag--just you want to smash their flag to pieces. This only happens for two hours a couple times a week, so possession isn't always changing. He who has the castle has the last laugh, for he has the most toys. With castles come rare items, along with staff. The war is an incredible even to watch, as high level characters clash.
If you're still reading go to www.ragnarokonline.com. Happy gaming, and may sleep eventually grace your eyes...maybe.