If you're wondering where I've been these past months, there is a simple explenation. I have returned to my favorite MMORPG, Ragnarok Online. Over the last four or so years I've played RO on and off, registering on various private servers and contributing to the development of new ones. If you've never heard of this game, let me give you a brief summary.
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Ragnarok Online, often referred to as RO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by GRAVITY Co., Ltd., and was first released in South Korea on 31 August 1998 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 styIe has been influenced by Asian cultures. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World.

The Ragnarok Online world 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 and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11. 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, and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.

Areas from Norse mythology are also included, such as Niflheim, the land of the dead, and Valhalla, where players can become Transcendent cIass. New map content is constantly being added to game in the form of Episode updates.

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 cIasses, Second Job cIasses, Transcendent cIasses and Extended cIasses.
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Normally you'd have to pay to play RO, on the official international servers run by Gravity. However, you can also choose from hundreds of private servers run individually in order to have a free experience. This way you can custom pick the gameplay you are most comfortable with.

Typically there three types of servers; low rate, mid rate and high rate. This corresponds to the experience rate of leveling and drop rates of items. All three have very different playing habbits but are enjoyable equally for different reasons. Anyway, while I don't encourage you to start playing an MMO - since it can be addictive, I invite others bored with their World of Warcraft or Lineage 2, to give this a go.
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VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR RO GAMERS

+ kRO Sakray Client Download
+ Top 200 Private Servers
+ Game Info Database
+ New Player Guide