This MMORPG lets the player act out his medieval Tolkien-influenced fantasy. Here a player can either choose a character that already exists in the game series or create a new avatar. As in most MMORPGs, there are classes of characters and creature types to choose from: human, dwarf, orc and troll avatars. This game also lets you play three online real-time versions: One that pits various players against each other; another that lets the player fight opponents who are guided by the computer; and finally a quest mode that lets the player complete various missions that are given to him. The quest mode also lets each player gain experience points (which help during the other two modes) and find rare items (which can be traded or sold to other players).
Like most such online worlds, WoW is also a pay-to-play world—a credit card is mandatory for each player. This world is solely for fans of the preceding computer games or people who are familiar with the games’ plot lines.
Ragnarok Online (RO)
As the name implies, this MMORPG has a lot of Norse influence, with manga-inspired animation. Paralleling the rooms in Lively, Ragnarok has a series of maps upon which the action evolves. These maps support different missions and a wide range of native monsters, which a player must respectively complete and kill in order to get a higher rank. These maps are usually influenced in style and setting by different regions of the world. The three distinct areas are: Rune Midgard, where the player begins the game (resembles grassy European plains); the heavily industrial Schwaltzvalt Republic (Germany); and the religious Arunafeltz region (Turkey).
One thing that differentiates Ragnarok from other MMORPGs is the job system—the selection of a character type (out of many complex categorizations) is called a “job” in RO. As in other online worlds, each player has to choose a character class, each with a different progression and unique strength/weakness set. Like WoW, players can battle other players, although they must attain a certain skill level before they can face off. Another feature is that each player can directly buy more weapons and other useful items from the in-game store—this costs real money, as does the game.
Guild Wars
This differs from other game worlds in two basic ways. First, it doesn’t need a subscription. Second, it can be played on computers too slow or outdated for most games. But there is catch on both counts. While it is free, a player can access this world only with a code given on the purchase of the full-fledged PC-playable Guild War games, called Campaigns. Also, it still needs a stable and suitably fast Internet connection. In India, we call a 512kbps connection “broadband”. This is just not good enough for online gaming—what you need is the global standard of about 1MB. The Guild Wars world also belongs to the fantasy genre, letting players choose an avatar from various classes of characters, with unique skill sets. Players are placed on the world of Tyria, which routinely falls prey to various evil characters. You can choose from two modes: One lets several players fight the evil creatures as a common goal or take up a quest; the second mode lets you fight other players directly.
Guild Wars is noted for its well-built graphics which look equally good when players are in fast motion and even on a lower-configuration machine. Its sequel, Guild Wars 2, is slated to carry on this tradition.