Philippine Ragnarok Online servers to close by March 2015
GamingNews February 15, 2015 Jason Dayrit 0
Back in 2003, a Korean online game was released in the Philippines. It’s name was Ragnarok Online and it instantly became a hit, and changed the local gaming landscape forever. But all good things must come to an end, as Level Up! Games broke the sad news that local servers will be closing down by March 2015.
In the Philippines, Ragnarok Online (RO) became a pop culture phenomenon. Everyone either played it or has heard about it. For kids at that time, Philippine RO (pRO) was a game that had to be played and played hard. It spawned a new game term: the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, or MMORPG. It had cute graphics, classic roles/professions for the RPG fan, a rock-solid PvP set-up, and was so culturally pervasive that it crossed over to music, fashion, anime, manga, food, and even opened the doors of cosplaying to the local mainstream. It also paved the way for other games of its kind to be developed and planted the seeds for local e-sports.
Playing RO meant countless hours spent in-game, killing monsters (sometimes cute-looking ones) for experience points, engaging other players, and basically joining a community. A lot of friendships were forged while playing RO, and for most people, those friendships last to this day. Which is why it was a sad day for gaming when Level Up! Games announced the conclusion of local servers come March 2015. However, all is not lost, as local accounts will be migrated to the International Ragnarok Online (iRO) servers by April 2015. For players who opt-in, a new iRO server will be opened, allowing you to keep your character you’ve worked so hard on over the years.
Level Up! Games will be announcing details about the migration as they come, and we’ll be on hand to make sure and post the details!
From Prontera to Morroc, Glastheim to Payon Cave level 4, and to Orc Village and beyond, thanks for the memories, pRO. ROK ON!
Jason Dayrit
Jason is a gadget junkie, a gear head, and an aspiring Internet Supervillain. He is also the EIC of twenty8two.com.
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