Ragnarok Online (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인), 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 has been influenced by Christianity and Asian cultures. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World.
Setting
Ragnarok Online is divided into a series of maps, each of which has its own terrain and native monsters, though many monsters are native to 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[3] and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11.[4]
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,[5] and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.[6]
Areas from Norse mythology are also included, such as Niffleheim, 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.
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 includes a total of 39 different jobs, divided into 6 categories: Novices, Super Novices, First Job Classes, Second Job Classes, Transcendent Classes and Extended Classes. First classes consist of six basic archetypes; Swordman, Magician, Archer, Acolyte, Merchant, and Thief. Each specializes in certain skills, and uses class-specific weapons and gears. The list of job classes are as follows:
Novice
Novice
Super Novice
First class
Swordman
Acolyte
Mage
Thief
Merchant
Archer
Taekwon Kid
Ninja
Gunslinger
Second class
Knight
Crusader
Priest
Monk
Wizard
Sage
Assassin
Rogue
Blacksmith
Alchemist
Hunter
Bard / Dancer
Star Gladiator (Taekwon Master)
Soul Linker
Transcendent
High Novice
Transcendent first class
High Swordman
High Acolyte
High Mage
High Thief
High Merchant
High Archer
Transcendent second class
Lord Knight
Paladin
High Priest
Champion
High Wizard
Professor (Scholar)
Assassin Cross
Stalker
Whitesmith (Mastersmith)
Creator (Biochemist)
Sniper
Clown / Gypsy
Third classes
Rune Knight
Royal Guard
Archbishop
Sura
Warlock
Sorcerer
Guillotine Cross
Shadow Chaser
Mechanic
Genetic
Ranger
Minstrel / Wanderer
Class progression
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. Once reaching a level goal, 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, and relevel 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.
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]
Player vs. Player (PvP)
Player vs. Player in Ragnarok Online takes place on a series of maps identical to the game's major towns but devoid of all exits and non-player characters. Access to these maps is restricted to players level 31 and above and comes in two modes: Yoyo Mode and Nightmare Mode. The primary difference between the two modes concerns the penalties for dying; Yoyo Mode has no penalty for death, while Nightmare Mode has the experience point loss found in all non-PvP/town maps and the additional risk of the loss of a piece of equipment.[9]
War of Emperium
Also known as the "Guild War," for two hours on any day of the week (depending on the server) an event called War of Emperium (commonly abbreviated "WoE") takes place. Guilds that have obtained the Seal of Approval skill may attempt to enter and gain control of a series of castles available in-game. On the fourth floor of each castle lies the Emperium; if a guild breaks another guild's Emperium, that guild gains control of the castle. If a guild can maintain control of a castle until the end of the War of Emperium it will retain control until the next War of Emperium and may gain a variety of benefits for victory, including access to special 'Guild Dungeons' if certain castles are controlled, which give the members of the holding guild a definite advantage in gaining experience and items.[10] During War of Emperium hours, the castle maps are set in PvP mode and behave much the same as the standard PvP maps with a few exceptions, in particular the lack of damage indicators and a large decrease to the effectiveness of magic, skills, and ranged attacks. War of Emperium is the most popular feature of the game[11] and most players participate in it at least once per week.[12]
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.[13]
[show]CD Vol.1 Special edition (74:13)
#
Title
Length
1.
"Title" (composed by Kwon Goo-Hee and sung by Seo Ji-Hae)
2.
"Theme of Prontera" (composed and lyrics by Lee Seock-Jin and sung by Lee Seung-Yeon)
3.
"Steel Me" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
4.
"Ancient Groover" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
5.
"Theme of Morroc" (composed by Kwak Dong-Il)
6.
"Wanna Be Free!!" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin, lyrics by Lee Seung-Yeon, and Lee Seock Jin, and sung by Lee Seung-Yeon)
7.
"Desert" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
8.
"Christmas in the 13th Month" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
9.
"Through The Tower" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
10.
"Noblesse Oblige" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
11.
"Theme of Payon" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin and lyrics by Kwon You-Jeong)
CD Vol.2 Original edition
#
Title
Length
1.
"Theme of Al de Baran" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
2.
"Everlasting Wanderers" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
3.
"Nano East" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
4.
"Theme of Juno" (composed by Jang Seong-Woon)
5.
"I Miss You" (composed by Kwak Dong-Il)
6.
"One Fine Day" (composed by Park Soo-Il)
7.
"Lastman Dancing" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
8.
"Peaceful Forest" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
9.
"Streamside" (composed by Kwon Goo-Hee)
10.
"One Step Closer" (composed by Kwak Dong-Il)
11.
"Divine Grace" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
12.
"Plateau" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
13.
"TeMPorsche" (composed by Lee Seock-Jin)
14.
"Hamatan" (composed by Kwak Dong-Il)
15.
"Purity of your smile" (composed by Park Jin-Bae)
16.
"You & I" (composed by Kwak Dong-Il and sung by Lee Seong-Yeon)
Ragnarok Mobile
Gravity Co. Ltd. released 8 separate games for the mobile phone allowing players to experience the game on the road. 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.[14]
Kafra Shop
As Microtransactions have become an increasingly favored revenue stream over monthly subscriptions for online multiplayer games, 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), idRO (Indonesian Ragnarok Online), pRO (Philippine Ragnarok Online) and kRO (Korean Ragnarok Online), using the currency of the respective countries for points instead of U.S. dollars, of course. In addition, upgraded forms of normal equipment can be rented using Kafra Points.[15]
F2P server
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 you 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. 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.
There are also numerous free servers which have altered the game so drastically that it is hardly recognizable with things like new gears, levels, and clothing/hair dyes and styles. Though mostly considered "free to play", many of these free servers rely on donations for items only obtainable through donations. Since this offers a huge advantage to those who donate over those who dont, most players are compelled to pay for items.[citation needed]
Private servers and emulation
This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (September 2008)
Ragnarok Online's official server software is called AEGIS, which is used by iRO, kRO, euRO, phRO, bRO and other local versions. Several server emulators have been developed for use in hosting private servers. Regardless of the legalities, many private servers are active today, and it is debatable whether or not their existence has created a loss of revenue for legitimate official servers. With many official servers changing over to a Free-to-Play with cash shop revenue model, their future viability is called into question. Although many private servers have no donate-for-advantage models, some players feel more secure in the environment. Server emulation follows the development of the Korean version, thus they often contain more recent updates than other local versions, although quality is often far below that of the official servers.
One of the main differences between official and private servers is that the rates are often modified in private servers to make it faster for the players to level, or to obtain specific items. Sometimes private servers also modify original content, add new items, and implement a donation system to make money out of these custom items. There are servers that implement a new job by deleting an original job (e.g. Padawan, Jedi). Adding or deleting maps is also very common in private servers, as well as relocating NPCs (Non-Player Characters) to a common area. In addition, there are some private servers that try to imitate official servers by staying as true as possible to the original game.
While the legality of private servers may be debated, it is against the Ragnarok Online EULA to be a founder or owner of a Private server (commonly referred to as a "p.server"). On the iRO (International Ragnarok Online) game policy page of their website it is listed as a felony, and if the owner/founder is currently a member of the iRO community and playing on a Pay to Play server (or P2P), it will result in their ID being deleted.[1]
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