Ragnarok Online History

HISTORY:
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 exist, 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 Niflheim, 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

AUDIO:
The background music of Ragnarok Online currently consists of 127 individual tracks (Track numbers start at 1 and end at 128 but number 32 is missing), composed, arranged, recorded and mixed by SoundTeMP and Hankook Recording Studio, with some tracks by NEOCYON. 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.[14]


Developer(s) GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s) GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
Engine AEGIS and Granny 3D
Version 12.1 (NA)[1]
Platform(s) Windows
Release date(s) KO August 31, 2001
HK /TW October, 2002
JP December 1, 2002
TH March, 2003
CN May 20, 2003[2]
NA June 1, 2003
PH September, 2003
ID October, 2003
IN April, 2004
SG /MY April, 2004
AU December, 2004
BR February, 2005
SP /CHIL April, 2006
FR June, 2007


Genre(s) MMORPG
Mode(s) Multiplayer
Rating(s) GRB: 12+
aDeSe: +13
CERO: B (12+)
ELSPA: 11+
ESRB: T (Teen)
OFLC (AU): M15+
SELL: 12
USK: 6+

Media Download/CD
System requirements Intel Pentium 500 MHz equiv. CPU, 128MB RAM, Internet access, DirectX 8, 8MB graphics card, sound card, 1GB+ hard drive space
Input methods Keyboard, mouse