Ragnarok Online: How it shaped the course of MMORPGs
Ragnarok Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and released by Korea-based Gravity in the early 2000s, isn’t exactly an old video game, but it is a classic in its own right. Ragnarok Online has, for me and thousands of other MMORPG players in my little corner of the world, shaped the course of online games in most parts of Asia.
The game is based on the manhwa (Korean comic books) Ragnarok by Lee Myung-jin. Ragnarok Online was first released in, of course, South Korea in August 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Much of the game’s mythology is based, loosely I might add, on Norse Mythology, but its style has been influenced by Christianity and Asian cultures.
Yes, it’s not the first MMORPG, not by a longshot, but it was my first, and it would forever burn in my memory. Proof of its classic video game status is its longevity. No other MMORPG, I believe, can claim the distinction of running for over seven years in more than half a dozen countries worldwide. Ragnarok Online has also spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World, which, sadly, has yet to be released.
Just recently, the Ragnarok World Championships was held in the Philippines with Team Thailand besting 11 other teams from different countries to bring home the crown. If that’s not a great fanbase for an online game, I don’t know what is.
Personally, Ragnarok Online became the basis on how I choose the online games I’m going to play. Animé-style or chibi-looking characters aside, the gameplay and how a community forms around the game are two factors that heavily influence the future of an online game.
So next time you log in to that new MMORPG, think back and relish the memories imprinted on your mind, heart and soul by your first online game.
For more MMORPG goodness, you may want to check out MMOtaku, your source for news and reviews on Asian-made and operated online games.
Artwork features a male and female ninjas, a character class in the online game Ragnarok Online copyright Gravity.
“No other MMORPG, I believe, can claim the distinction of running for over seven years in more than half a dozen countries worldwide.”
Removing “in more than half a dozen countries worldwide”, the answer is Richard Garriott’s Ultima Online and NCsoft’s Lineage 1. Richard Garriott, the father of PC RPG and MMORPGs. Both games since 1997 and are still kicking hard to this day. That’s 11 years and counting.
Now, if we are going to include “more than half….”, the question is, “what type of business model and strategy plan?” Ultima Online is played in more countries than Ragnarok Online, however, they restricted their server “hubs” to a few. See what I mean? :p
“Personally, Ragnarok Online became the basis on how I choose the online games I’m going to play. Animé-style or chibi-looking characters aside, the gameplay and how a community forms around the game are two factors that heavily influence the future of an online game.”
I definitely agree with you on that – Gameplay and Community. I’m glad you didn’t mention “graphics” :p
With that said, then it is safe to say that you will like Ultima Online? It has a great gameplay, a gameplay you will NEVER see anywhere else. And it has a great community, far beyond any game-specific community today.
No, I’m not giving UO too much credit or exaggerating it, but those are real, just stating the facts.
But, look at me, I left UO some years ago, I am playing World of Warcraft even though I miss a great deal of what UO has to offer, and I only pray that someone out there look back and implement those great gameplay features the game offers. (No hints :p ) Guild Wars tried – very limitedly.
And speaking of RO, have you seen Aurora Blade? :p
That’s exactly what I mean. This is the reason why the sentence “No other MMORPG, I believe, can claim the distinction of running for over seven years in more than half a dozen countries worldwide” was preceded by:
Okay, I concede that Ultima Online and Lineage have both been running for a long time, longer than Ragnarok Online, but go around the block (yes, the local city block) and ask each Tom, Dick and Harry you meet about Ultima Online and you’ll get a dumbfounded “Wut?”
Lineage? “Oh, Lineage II? The game published/operated by Asian Media Development Group?” No, no, no, Lineage! Lineage! You know, the game that came before Lineage II!
Hmmm, come to think of it, not many online game players in the Philippines know about AMDG.
So, yes, for me and thousands of other MMORPG players in this corner of the world, Ragnarok Online trumps all other MMORPGs (particularly those we’ve come across in the past, what, eight years) in terms of longevity, and no other MMORPG can claim that distinction.