It's the game that started this whole MMORPG craze in the Philippines. Admittedly there were already quite a few EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot players here long before RO came out. But these were a piddling minority compared to the hundred-plus thousand Filipinos who play RO.

And it's quite obvious why RO made such an impression with the Philippine gaming community.

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Simple... but cute.

RO takes pride in its shamelessly cute chibi-style characterizations. The same cute characters seem to have taken quite a few players globally as Ragnarok has been successfully deployed (and localized) in no less than 11 countries today. Despite the lack of full-3D graphics and minimal character customization (you can only look different in terms of headgear), the cute factor seems to have even gotten to that elusive sub-market segment called girls. That's right! Lotsa girls online, boys. And yup, the *sisters and I still have a happy home in the RO Universe. :)

The gameplay itself can be a bit simplistic and monotonous--level as much as you can by endlessly killing monsters. That's about it. What passes for "quests" in RO usually amounts to little more than avoiding a few obstacles in the map and harvesting a grocery list of items from the environment. Of course, by harvesting we mean... endlessly... killing... monsters.

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But wait, there's more.

Despite the lack of full-3D graphics, the game has quite a bit going for it. It's extensive class system (called jobs in RO-verse) features no less than 7 base job types with 13 secondary jobs for a total of 20 possible classes! Rumor has it that a new set of jobs are currently being developed in Korea (where the game was originally designed).

In recent months, new content and updates have added a fresh flavor to Ragnarok Philippines. It started with Guild Wars where Guild Houses were introduced to be fought over and acquired by the strongest teams and guilds. More recently, a full Player-Kill (PK) server was launched for more advanced players.

All-in-all, it's a fun place for brainless fun. As always WHO you play with can make a huge difference in your gaming experience. Rok on!

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	RAGNAROK ONLINE TOOLKIT
external resources:
Ragnarok Online Empire The definitive resource site for Ragnarok Online! iRO Stat Calc An excellent online stat calculator / simulator! RO on GameFAQs FAQs and in-depth Guides from GameFAQs!s
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