Ragnarok Online PH: The MMO Nostalgia

On June 21st, Ragnarok Online Philippines opens its doors once again to the Filipino gaming community. I am sure a lot has heard of the game that debuted way back August 31, 2002. And surely, it was THE MMORPG that took the Philippines by storm at that time. Even though we had to top-up the game in order to play, it surely caught the attention of many different gamers, from the younger generation (I was a highschool kid at that time) to college students (guildmates) and even those in the working class (never thought my computer teacher at that time played the game).

So yes, Ragnarok Online was massive back then. The question now would be, would it be the same as it was now? With the evolution of so many games, we are yet to wonder, why would I still be playing this game at this point in time? I have come across the epitome of MMORPG, World of Warcraft. I have played RF Online in PH Servers, Guild Wars 1 and 2. All of those have better graphics, better content, better stories to tell than Ragnarok Online. So why play the game?

Nostalgia, the same reason why people are still playing the first Crash Bandicoot on Twitch Stream. The same reason why people still play Super Mario Speedruns. The same reason why people wanted to play Diablo 3 in the hope that it would bring them the same feeling Diablo 2 gave them.

Or an even better example would be as to why Blizzard remade the 1998 game, "Starcraft" with the addition of enhanced graphics and 4k resolution but with the same mechanics, maps, same everything. Source

So yes, Ragnarok online is back and I believe people are playing it out of Nostalgia. Would it be a game that can be restored to how it was a decade ago? I don't know, I don't think so. But just thinking about downloading the game and playing it, leveling a character up, already makes my fingers itch already.

So before I jump to the bandwagon, here are my expectations that the GameMasters need to do in order for this to be better the 2nd time around:

• Bot Protection - Yes, we need to play the game and play with real people.

I was a botter once, and it was a very easy thing to do. But me and my friends always recalled the felling of getting the character to Max lvl yourself. It was ridiculously difficult, time consuming but it was extremely satisfying. And it all were made easy with Bots. But I think this time around, it would be better to getaway from BOTs all the way, with the computers we have nowadays, a single computer could run 100-200 bots easy (I maybe exaggerating here, I did not do the math).

• Free to play - Topping up at that time burned my wallet as a student.

Now that I am a professional, I wouldn't want to pay for a game that I intend to play casually. Let alone the fears of it going down the drain and fast.

• Updates - Ever since it was made, it has gotten to a point where it had a series of "expansions" already. Where classes have transcended multiple times. I hope that they would be able to set a timeline for this and make sure that they do stick to it.

-In game puchases - The Ragnarok franchise needs to earn. So yes, I agree with them having these in game purchases ready. Is it necessary? I don't know, I have not checked it out TBH.

-Increase XP gain? - As i mentioned, It was tiring, tedious, much of a chore to get to level up a character to MAX. So yes, please have this experience boost.

That's that for my expectations for "Ragnarok Online PH 2017". But does the thought of it give out the same feeling that it had when I was back in high school? hell yeah!

So the moment I am finished with this Blog, my download is right about finished.

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I would like to share my experience reliving the nostalgia of 2002 with Ragnarok Online. So please stay tuned by following me! If you enjoyed the post, please upvote and resteem!

Till next time!