The cat is finally out of the bag.

Barely a week ago, Level Up! Games marketing director Jake San Diego hinted in an interview with Inquirer.net’s hackenslash that they “are actually asking all players to stay tuned for an announcement … that would raise the bar in online gaming in the country.”

Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the announcement (although I’m already late in posting it). Simply unprecedented.

Here’s the scoop from Inquirer.net’s Relly Carpio:

The Ragnarok World Championships will be held for the first time outside South Korean developer Gravity’s motherland, and it will be here in the Philippines at Level Up! Live 2008 at the World Trade Center on October 18 and 19.

“We are flying in 10 teams from different countries. It’s going to be the first international online game tournament to be hosted by the Philippines,” San Diego said.

This is definitely one event this year worth waiting and watching out for.

Here’s the official video trailer of RWC 2008, courtesy of The Waukster:

I thought Granado Espada, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game published in Southeast Asia by Infocomm Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, was the only one experiencing problems with anti-virus programs interpreting MMORPG anti-hack programs as viruses.

It turns out the problem is universal that even seasoned MMORPG developers and publishers are being plagued by it. Take, for instance, the inclusion of RAG.EXE, the executable file of Gravity’s popular Ragnarok Online, in the virus database of AVG. The Waukster, Level Up! Games Philippines head honcho for Ragnarok Online and its upcoming sequel Ragnarok Online 2, has already taken a swipe at the issue.

Here’s the official announcement of Level Up! Games about the issue and a list of possible measures to counteract the problem:

AVG anti-virus issues and conflicts

To all Ragnarok Players,

We would like to inform you that we are aware of the AVG anti-virus issues and conflicts with regards to the Ragnarok.exe files. We advise everyone not to be alarmed, as the virus alert is merely just a false alarm.

We are already working with the developers of AVG to remedy this, but as a temporary solution we advise everyone to try the following measures:

1. You can turn off your AVG anti-virus (reminder: you will be open to any virus once this is done) before patching Ragnarok.
2. You can turn off your AVG anti-virus and replace it with another anti-virus for now.
3. If all Ragnarok.exe files are already in your virus vault, please uninstall your client then turn off your AVG anti-virus.
4. Reinstall Ragnarok client without AVG anti-virus.

Thank you very much.

Not very reassuring, but at least they came out with an announcement, unlike another MMORPG publisher I know.

If the list of Top 15 Most Expected Online Games in China is to be believed, the popularity of South Korean-made Ragnarok Online 2: Gate of the World is starting to flounder.

Is it because of its delayed release? Last year, the online gaming markets in several Asian countries were abuzz with news about the release of Ragnarok Online 2 that had been originally slated for December 2007 (at least in the Philippines).

Closing the gates to the refurbished Rune Midgard in the ancient land of China are three upstarts, namely Dungeon and Warrior, SGC Online, and Fun Online. Ragnarok Online 2, or RO2, has been knocked down in the rankings from 9th place to 12th place.

Here’s this week’s Top 15 Most Expected Online Games in China:

1. Chinese Paladin Online, developed by Softstar and operated by 9you

2. Jian Wang 3, developed and operated by Kingsoft

3. Cang Tian Online, developed by Wemade and operated by Shanda

4. Wushuang Online, developed by Koei and operated by Tianxi

5. Cibi, developed and operated by Perfect Space

6. Fantasy Journey Online, developed by Lingo Soft and operated by 9you

7. Dragonball Online, developed by Ntl-inc

8. Aion, developed by NCsoft and operated by Shanda

9. Dungeon and Warrior, developed by NEOPLE and operated by NHN

10. SGC Online, developed and operated by Gamlaxy International

11. Fun Online, developed by Tqdigital and operated by Netdragon

12. Ragnarok Online 2, developed by Gravity and operated by 9th City

13. Gear War Online, developed by CYKAN and operated by DDTONG

14. Cross Fire, developed by SmileGate and operated by Tencent

15. Kingdom of Warriors, developed by Webzen and operated by Ourgame

A little introduction, please. Very well. Every Thursday, I will strive to post a list of Top Ten “anythings” related to Asian MMOs, from the games themselves to gaming quirks. I’ll start off with this handy list of Top 10 Most Expected Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games from the land of my ancestors, China.

1. Chinese Paladin Online, developed by Softstar and operated by 9you

2. Jian Wang 3, developed and operated by Kingsoft

3. Dragonball Online, developed by Ntl-inc

4. Cang Tian Online, developed by Wemade and operated by Shanda

5. Aion, developed by NCsoft and operated by Shanda

6. Wushuang Online, developed by Koei Games and operated by Tianxi

7. Fantasy Journey Online, developed by Lingo Soft and operated by 9you

8. Ragnarok Online II, developed by Gravity and operated by 9th City

9. Gear War Online, developed by CYKAN and operated by DDTONG

10. Kingdom of Warriors, developed by Webzen

How about you? What online games are you waiting for?