Philippine Ragnarok Online
Taking Over the World!
You've probably heard of the latest online gaming craze that's sweeping all over the Philippine, rendering adolescents and grown men and women alike unable to get up off their butts from the computer, spending the rest of the day staring at multi-pixel mini-versions of themselves, traversing through colorful maps and battling monster after monster in a harried, virtual quest for dominion, prestige and power.
Ragnarok! The mere mention of it would send shivers of delight among the hardcore gaming youth, who would immediately launch into a heated discussion of items, job skills, quests and boss monsters.
How has this seemingly innocuous online game transformed the culture and identity of the Philippine people as we know it?
Ragnarok Online started off innocently enough, a small-scale computer game developed by international teams of gaming companies.
The name is derived from the ancient Norse expression for the "end of the world" or "Armageddon", and in fact most of the quest and map concepts of the game come from Norse Mythology.
The theme of worldwide destruction sets a somber overtone upon the entire universe the Ragnarok player revolves around in, although the players largely ignore this theme as they remain engrossed by the game play itself.
Although Ragnarok Online was largely unheard of a few years back, that all changed once the game was adopted by the Philippine people, who let it grow and evolve into such great proportions.
pRO (Philippine Ragnarok Online) was classified as an MMORPG, or a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. This categorization alone brought the art of online gaming to new heights.
Thousands upon thousands of gamers-both amateurs and professional players alike-jumped on the Ragnarok bandwagon.
And throughout the years, the game developers have introduced several versions of the game which boasted brand new maps, improved job skills, more challenging quests and dangerous boss monsters.
All this was accomplished-successfully of course-to attract even more players and expand the already extensive Ragnarok culture.
The major game concept of Philippine Ragnarok Online is simple enough to understand-posing as either boy or a girl avatars, players start off as novices at Level 0, who must fight and defeat monsters in order to gain experience points, learn new skills, and "level up", as it is popularly termed.
Once the avatar reaches Level 10, the player can choose from any one of six major jobs, each with unique skills and abilities of their own: mages, with increased magical capacity; swordsmen, perfect for short-range one-on-one attacks or melees; thieves, agile, quick and dangerous to cross; acolytes, able to heal other "wounded" avatars; merchants, experts on buying and selling all sorts of items on the market; and finally archers, with long-range damage attack skills.
(Players can also opt to remain novices, and progress to the legendary "super-novice", the Ragnarok equivalent of the Renaissance man.)
Characters can also form small parties or guilds with other players in order to tackle monsters or go on quests together. The characters move through colorful maps, each with their own brand of monsters, scenery, and even background music.
Ragnarok is as famous for its well-defined character jobs and skills as it is for its elaborate geography, along with realistic graphics and 360-degree visibility.
Characters can bash monsters and at the same time marvel at the natural breathtaking beauty of their scenery.
Of course, Ragnarok isn't simply about admiring the 3D environment. One of the greatest appeals of the online game is the relative freedom and independence it gives its players.
Gamers are free to apply for the job they want, explore all the maps and become an expert geographer, acquire lots of Zeny (the local currency) and become a wealthy businessman, or stock up on various skills and take on the toughest boss monsters in the game.
Theoretically, the goal of each player is to reach Level 99, an honor shared by very, very few (presumably the hardcore gamer addicts who never see the light of day and instead hole up in their bedrooms to play for two weeks straight).
Along the way, players can ask guidance or assistance from the NPCs (non-player characters) stationed strategically all around the major "cities" in the maps. But the most useful help, as many users will attest, come from Ragnarok veterans, fraternizing with whom in parties and guilds is one of the major purposes of the game.
Although a major promoter of back strain and a sedentary existence in front of the computer, Philippine Ragnarok Online has elevated the art of game play to a whole new level. True to form as a "role-playing game", Ragnarok enhances the player's imagination and helps him fulfill fantasies and desires in a virtual arena, an act which would otherwise be impossible in the real world. After all, scores upon scores of hardcore players can't be wrong.
So what are you waiting for? Register, log in, and be part of the country's most massive and highly developed online gaming craze!
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