Hakkyu Kim

Well, if this is true, we may be looking at the start of something big. Hakkyu Kim is, after all, undoubtedly one of the best online game designer out there, with Ragnarok Online and Granado Espada, or Sword of the New World, tucked in his wide belt.

Proof of the popularity and potency of Kim-designed games can be seen in the continuing adoration for Ragnarok Online. In my corner of the world, the game still retains a certain charm that pulls in gamers both old and new. I’ve quit playing the game several times, but I keep coming back for more.

Granado Espada is a different story. Although the game has depth, it’s three-character system doesn’t appeal to some MMORPG players. I for one am an off-again-on-again player. Hey, I haven’t uninstalled the game from my gaming rig yet. So there must be some merit to keeping it there.

So what else can Hakkyu Kim say about these upcoming titles? Let’s turn to Gamasutra for the answer:

“It will be more action-oriented, but still an MMORPG,” he said.

Post from: MMOtaku

Not.

Actually, I’m just a little flustered after a few hours of playing my merchant TikaWaylan on Valkyrie, the free-to-play server of Ragnarok Online Philippines. Oh, yeah, she’s now a blacksmith. Damn job change quest!

The source of my frustration is, as you may have already guessed, the Blacksmith job change quest. The Merchant job change quest is a walk in the park compared to that of the Blacksmith.

Nah. It’s easy, really. The problem with the way I did it was I followed the instructions of a guide published before all the important updates were introduced. In hindsight, I should have consulted online resources prior to going on the quest. It would have saved me a lot of zeny, the in-game currency, not to mention time and exertion.

If you’re a Ragnarok Online old timer like me, you probably think the Blacksmith Guild, the place where you begin the quest to change from merchant to blacksmith, is still in Geffen. Well, it isn’t. It’s now in faraway Einbroch, and the only way to reach it is to ride a damn zeppelin.

My Ragnarok Online merchant character on board the zeppelin to Einbroch, home of the Blacksmith Guild.

The quest still starts with a conversation with Guildsman Altiregen (Altazen) at the Blacksmith Guild (ein_in01 18, 28). Finding him is the easy part. It gets muddy after that. He refers you to an NPC named Geshupenschte (Getsufenst) who, in the old days, stayed in Alberta. Nowadays, however, he “lives” in nearby Einbech (ein_in01 201, 27).

This was where I got lost.

Anyway, I won’t bore you with the other details. Suffice it to say that I have learned my lesson, but don’t care to do everything all over again. I’ll leave my Ragnarok Online characters to my daughter, who has taken a liking to romping in my old MMORPG flame.

Post from: MMOtaku

The update, which was launched on August 5, 2009, on the Philippine server of Ragnarok Online, promises great features, including new maps, monsters, guild dungeons, and a quest to gain one of two godly items, Asprika and Brynhild.

Oooh, where to start. Let’s begin by checking out the description and stats of the new godly items.

Asprika is a garment just like your basic hood and muffler. It gives five points to your defense and is wearable by any Ragnarok Online character level 94 and up. What makes Asprika, or the “Light of the Gods,” special is the 30-percent resistance bonus to all elements, 30-point increase in flee and five-point rise in magical defense. It’s also indestructible. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the fact that it gives characters Level 1 Teleport.

Brynhild, on the other hand, is body armor that increases maximum hitpoints by 20 times your character’s base level. So if your toon is level 99, this godly armor raises your MaxHP by 1,980 points. It also boosts MaxSP by five times the base level, physical damage by 10 percent, and magic attack power by 10 percent. Whoever dons Brynhild in battle cannot be knocked back.

Great, eh? So is the quest to get them. The first stumbling block to players wanting a shot at the two godly items is that the quest is only available to guild masters who own any of the two new Agits, Valfreyja in Rachel and Nidhoggur in Juno. The second catch is that the Agit must have Level 60 Economy and Level 40 Defense. Tough order, that.

Regardless of how you manage to start the quest, it is highly recommended that you bring along 16 to 20 guild members for the dungeon. Ragnarok Online’s Okolnir is a dark, foreboding place which only gives a guild an hour to complete the quest. If you fail, you face a 12-hour cooldown before you can access the dungeon again, and that’s a long time considering other guilds come knocking on your Agits doors twice a week.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a Ragnarok Online character to level.

Post from: MMOtaku

At the moment, my toon, Brighid, is ahead by four levels, 29 to 25, to Jake’s character, `Sugo. I guess mages level at a more decent rate than swordsmen. Or maybe our choice of training spots make the difference. My preferred training ground is mjolnir_09, which is northwest of Rune Midgard’s undisputed capital, Prontera. Monsters in that map are pretty strong for low-level characters like Brighid, but with the right spells, she does okay.

`Sugo, on the other hand, is leveling at the Prontera Culvert. Although the mobs there aren’t strong, some of them are mobbers, meaning they gang up on your sorry behind, and a few are aggressive and attack on sight. This is the reason why Jake’s `Sugo gets killed almost as often as he gains levels in Ragnarok Online. One wrong sword slash on a seemingly easy prey like the Thief Bug and then you suddenly find yourself in the middle of three or more of the little buggers.

I have also revisited some of my previous characters, the Knight Tika`Waylan and her “twin,” the Merchant TikaWaylan. For the meantime, I’ve asked someone else to train the two Waylans to free up a few hours to play the new character. If I don’t, I’ll lose the bet. The wager: 10 million zeny, which is probably how much both our characters will earn at the end of our little race.

Reaching Level 99 in Ragnarok Online has been a frustration for me. Out of the dozen or more RO characters I’ve played, only two gained the once-coveted aura, an Acolyte-Monk-Champion and a Merchant-Alchemist-Creator, both of which are in Ragnarok Online Philippines’ Urdr, the player-kill server.

Let’s see if I can finally get rid of that frustration by getting this mage to Level 99 in preparation for the coming of third jobs.

I’ve put the Merchant TikaWaylan on hold to give way to a Race to 99 project between me and another Ragnarok Online fanatic.

Check out previous MMOtaku articles on Ragnarok Online:

Ragnarok Online Population Booming?
That is the question. If recent screenshots are any indication, then Ragnarok Online is definitely RoK’ing on.

MMORPG: Revisiting Ragnarok Online
A couple of months ago, I revisited Ragnarok Online in a bid to rekindle the flame. I guess by now we all know how that turned out.

Post from: MMOtaku

What piqued my renewed interest in the game was Ragnarok Online Philippines’ Ultimate Game Guide, which features everything a player needs to know about the game, from characters to stat and skill builds to handy charts that clue you in on what monsters to hunt.

So with book in hand, I set off into the virtual world of Rune Midgard in search of more adventures for my swordie, TikaWaylan. In past incarnations, Tika, a name my wife and I borrowed from the popular fantasy adventure novel series Dragonlance by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, was always a merchant or blacksmith. That was way back in 2003, when Chaos had been the Philippines’ only server for Ragnarok Online, and in the following year, when publisher and operator Level Up! Games opened additional servers to accommodate the game’s growing population.

In Philippine Ragnarok Online’s free-to-play server Valkyrie, TikaWaylan is both merchant/blacksmith and swordie/knight. So with two TikaWaylans roaming the virtual world, a lot of players often mistake us as bots.

My first day back in Ragnarok Online was great. Tika had a relatively easy time transitioning from swordie to knight, thanks in part to the Ragnarok Online Ultimate Game Guide. It’s like cheating, just lifting answers from the book for quests, but in today’s fast-paced world, the faster you level up means fewer chances of getting bored.

Come to think of it, that’s what threw me off the path to greatness in Ragnarok Online. Leveling was—and still is—a chore. In this old school game, grinding is the name of the game, and offers little to players who have a limited amount of time to grind their way to the top. So unlike today’s generation of MMORPGs that allow leveling characters even when the player is away from the keyboard. No, I’m not talking about bots! I’ll tackle this topic in a later posting.

So TikaWaylan the Knight is now in her second job and I plan to play Ragnarok Online in the days and months to come, or until boredom sets in again. There are a few agenda on my Ragnarok Online plate, among these is changing Tika`Waylan the Merchant’s job to Blacksmith and setting both characters on the Path to Heritage.

Many thanks to Mon Macutay, GM Tristan of Philippine Ragnarok Online, for the image of the Ultimate Game Guide.

Post from: MMOtaku

Yes, as I’ve said countless times in the past, I’m a fan both of tabletop RPGs and massively multiplayer online RPGs. Despite spending hours upon hours of rolling dice, taking down notes, and pumping my mind to produce images and play out scenarios, I find the allure of playing tabletop role-playing games nearly irresistible. It’s too bad I don’t get to play anymore, since most of my AD&D buddies are living about 900 kilometer northwest of my residence.

That’s probably why I shifted much of my thirst for RPGs to MMORPGs, despite the lack of any real role-playing in online games. I managed to lure two of my AD&D friends into MMORPGs. Louie, who now lives in Shanghai, China, hacked his way through Rune Midgard until Ragnarok came in 2003. Relly joined me in exploring the mythical world of Pangu when Perfect World was launched in 2006.

Of course, being tabletop RPG players, we opted to name our avatars after AD&D characters, either pre-generated (or characters that appear in various AD&D novels or adventure modules) or rolled (yeah, as in using a dice). To date, I’ve used quite a number of AD&D character names, including Tika Waylan from the AD&D Dragonlance series for my wife’s blacksmith in Ragnarok Online and Storm Silverhand from the AD&D Forgotten Realms series for my hunter in Ragnarok Online, and for my wife’s ranger in Fly For Fun and her Half-Elf archer in Rohan: Blood Feud.

It’s disappointing that other players always beat me to Drizzt Do’Urden, the name of the famous Drow ranger in the AD&D Forgotten Realms setting. Sigh. Anyway, going back to the topic …

I spotted a familiar name and somewhat familiar, uhmm, face while playing Atlantica Online. Check out this screenshot:

Egad, it’s Tasslehoff! Wait, you say, who’s Tasslehoff? Let me clue you in:

Tasslehoff Burrfoot (often called Tas) is a fictional character of the kender race from the Dragonlance series of novels, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. He was born in Kendermore. His parents are unknown and he has few known relatives. He has a sister, and also claims (like many other kender) to have an Uncle Trapspringer. He has three uncles, by the names of Remo Lockpick, Berties, and Wilfre. He also has a cousin, Latchlifter Furrfoot.

As you may have probably surmised from the brief background on Tasslehoff, the kender is a race of cutpur … uhmm, borrowers, meaning they are fond of borrowing things but tend to forget to return what they borrow.

Can’t relate? Watch this video:

Post from: MMOtaku

Here’s a(n edited) screenshot:

Of course, I have my friends up at Level Up! Games, local publisher of Perfect World, to thank for posting a nifty thumbnail, brief blog description, and a link to MMOtaku on the game’s website. I’d like to extend gratitude particularly to Chino Yray, the ineffable GM SamHok, the beautiful Marjo, also known as GM MeiShen, Mon Macutay, the irrepressible GM Tristan of Ragnarok Online, Carlo Ople, known better as The Waukster, and Kevin Codamon, my mentor, colleague, and confidante.

Post from: MMOtaku

First off, I’d like to thank MMOtaku’s avid readers, those who visit the blog every day, those who come and go for a dose of MMORPG news, reviews and what-have-yous, and those who have dropped in just to take a gander at what we have to offer. Without your constant support, MMOtaku would have floundered a long time ago.

Second, I’d like the acknowledge the inputs and help of several key people in the life of MMOtaku. To Mike Leaño, former b5media Video Games Channel editor, for putting trust in my abilities to bring the blog to life; to PJ Punla, pioneer blogger and player of Granado Espada Southeast Asia, for showing me that love for video games extends beyond playing them; to Siege Malvar and Alcarcalimo, for keeping me on my toes, a constant reminder that MMOtaku does have readers who crave insights on MMOs available in the market today; and to Joyce, my wife, for being the rigid wall off of which I throw my ideas to see if they stick.

Third and last, I salute the growing online games industry in Asia for giving us topnotch games (yes, despite Mike Leaño’s opinion that MMOGs developed in Asia are, ehem, excrement. These games are getting better, and they’re grabbing the attention of MMOG players in different parts of the globe.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I give you the best of MMOtaku:

November 2008
Granado Espada SEA pioneer pooh-poohs IP e-Games’ ‘mishandling’ of game
Zhu Xian: I came, I saw, I … got disappointed
Endless fun with Perfect World character customization

October 2008
Beach Volleyball Online: The latest craze
Florensia: Kill-stealers and other dregs of society are moving in
RF Online to go offline in November

September 2008
E-Games clamps down on Cabal botters
Perfect World: Bots popping out of the woodwork
NBA Street Online: Soon, real soon
Requiem Bloodymare: New race, yes, but what’s there to like?

August 2008
MMO Etiquette: Stop poking me!
Granado Espada fails to please Chinese market

July 2008
9you crushes Audition shutdown rumor
China’s online games market: 147 million players!
Dragon Nest: The King of MMORPGs

June 2008
Perfect World inks deal with IP e-Games
Requiem Bloodymare launched
Perfect World: Jump hack? Stop crying wolf

May 2008
MMO Etiquette: Pay it forward
Fly For Fun Penya Hack!
Khan Online Philippines bows out

April 2008
Philippines to host Ragnarok World Championships
In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
Pandora Saga to grace Philippine shores

March 2008
Fantasy Westward Journey online posts 166 million concurrent users
They’re cute and cuddly, and they’re coming to your PC
Not so supa anymore

February 2008
RF Online Crimson Dawn is now online
Blog post on Perfect World clan too hot to handle?
Third job classes coming to Ragnarok Online
Blog post on Perfect World clan’s struggle stirs hornets’ nest

January 2008
GigaMedia bags license to operate Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Reign of Revolution: No rules, just power
Counter-Strike Online to give other online shooters a run for their money
Top Ten Thursdays: Best MMORPGs in the Philippines

December 2007
China’s Perfect World claims strong presence in Asian MMORPG capital Korea
What’s in a(n MMOPRPG) name?
The Vista Trap: How to make your Asian MMOs work on Microsoft’s latest baby
FlyFF Philippines launches Volcane Legends
MMO war: Korea versus China

November 2007
Craving for a slice of Zhu Xian
Asian MMO, meet world

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Perfect World, developed by Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in the Philippines by Level Up! Games.

Post from: MMOtaku

Anyway, overall, it’s been an amazing event, what with all the powerpacked competitions that occurred. Let’s count ‘em: Ragnarok World Championships, RF Online Novus Elite Squad, Perfect World Phoenix Council Wars, Fly For Fun Heroes of the Dragon Emblem, and Freestyle All Stars ‘08.

That’s five online games and five competitions, with the Ragnarok World Champions topping the list because it’s on a global scale, with a dozen teams from 20 different countries. Whew!

Sigh. To wrap up, I’m here to announce the winners in some of the competitions I’ve managed to catch on Level Up! Games’ live streaming of LU! Live 2008:

In the Ragnarok World Championships, Team Thailand took home the crown—again—after beating South Korea in an epic battle of heart, determination and strategy. Team Indonesia, on the other hand, bagged third place after defeating last year’s third placer, Team Philippines (known locally as The Bozanian Beast Fighters).

Here’s a better overview from Ragnarok Online Philippines overlord Carlo “Wauks” Ople:

Thailand pulled off a historic win over South Korea, making them back-to-back world champions for two years in a row. The defending champions literally bulldozed all of their opponents and showcased how good they were by constantly changing their tactics depending on their opponent. The finals between Thailand and Korea really proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were strong contenders deserving of slots in the finals. I don’t know if I’m calling this right but I think the main difference for the fight was when Thailand used the Gypsy. Apparently, Korea had low VIT characters and they almost often found key players stunned, which disrupted the overall flow of their teamwork.

Other Ragnarok World Championships participants include the United States, Russia, Japan, Brazil, France and Germany … at least, that’s all I can remember. For more information about Ragnarok Online, click here.

Ragnarok World Championships match: The Philippines versus Thailand

More Level Up! Live 2008 news and views after the jump.

In the Fly For Fun Heroes of the Dragon Emblem competition, on the other hand, Fly For Fun Philippines Shade server’s The Pink Paradise trounced Rekta from oldest server Bubble. Honestly, I was rooting for Rekta, since I’m a Bubble habitue and because I have an acquaintance in the team. Unfortunately, experience wasn’t enough to save Rekta from a downward spiral as The Pink Paradise (what a name for a clan/guild!) zoomed ahead to snatch the coveted crown.

I can’t seem to find a video of the match, so we’ll go on right ahead to the last competition I watched, Perfect World’s Phoenix Council Wars. This was just one competition I couldn’t afford to miss since I helped found one of the clans that duked it out.

It’s unfortunate the Guardians of Perfect World Philippines Tiger server failed to make a dent in their opponent, The Holy Order of Light from the Dragon server. Still, it’s nothing to be ashamed of since, after all, they beat all other clans that participated in the eliminations and came out on top.

In my honest and humble opinion, the members of the Holy Order of Light are just too damned powerful. Needless to say, the competition wasn’t really founded on equal footing. If they—the honchos at Level Up! Games and the players—really wanted a more or less equal match, they should have given the contestants pre-generated characters to that experience plays a bigger part than brute force.

Regardless of the outcome, however, let’s congratulate both Holy Order and Guardians for giving us a spectacular slug fest.

Post from: MMOtaku

Fortunately, Level Up! Games, the local online games operator and publisher that first introduced massively multiplayer online games in the Philippines through Ragnarok Online and OzWorld, has prepared well for the event, encouraging players who know how to blog to write live from the Level Up! Live venue. Of course, the company is, even as I write this post, providing live streaming of the event.

At the moment, the Ragnarok Online team from France and China are preparing to duke it out in their elimination match in the 2008 Ragnarok World Championships. Earlier, the Philippine Ragnarok Online team trounced its counterpart from Germany. Check out the video:

I’ll post more news about LU! Live 2008 in the next few hours. Stay tuned!

Post from: MMOtaku