Ragnarok to go Free to Play?

I’ve been receiving a lot of questions and requests about when Philippine Ragnarok Online will finally join almost all the MMORPGs here and go Free to Play.

Players have been asking, our sales people have been bugging me and even people here at the office have pointed this to me a lot of times.

And yes, there ARE rumors out there about pRO going F2P. This post is both a “yes and a no” and hopefully, clarify everything at the end of the day.

Let me give you an inside scoop about the top secret “Valkyrie Project”.

This post will explode in 10 seconds, agent, if you don’t click below… tick…tick…tick…

GOING FREE?

Some may have heard about the “Valkyrie Project”. Here’s what’s real;

3 months ago, our CEO tasked our department to look into the idea of RO going free to play. Upon much deliberation, late nights at the office and trying to pull out our hairs; Wauks then started research on the how the other countries with Ragnarok were doing.  I already heard about “something strange and peculiar” in RO China. True enough, Waukeen came back to me and found out the China had all F2P servers – with a twist.

The drop rates were different, the Item Mall setup was also slightly different. Although it was STILL the same RO gameplay and feel, the mechanics of the China servers was what excited us all.

We then burned the midnight oil trying to glean more information on the subject. With the help of our friends from Gravity and the Game Gurus (the GMs from our Product Developement dept), and yes… after a million meetings – Project Valkyrie was born.

Valkyrie will be a FREE-TO-PLAY server. We will launch this commercial server on October 10! Yey! The other commercial worlds (Baldur, Tyr and the rest) will still retain their old business model (subscription + item mall). I’ll have to see first how the Valkyrie server does.

At any rate, the pRO team will be announcing the teasers and put up the marketing materials about Valkyrie (you may have seen the loading screen inside the game na) this week.

Here are some more teasers and bullets about Valkyrie:

  • Boss and MVP monsters DO NOT drop boss cards
  • Slotted items, weapons and gear are also NOT dropped
  • Some maps are PVP enabled
  • Ori and Elu are almost NOT dropped, quested or found
  • You can buy these and other items at the ITEM MALL
  • We will release a CD for this patch (3 CDs)
  • Valkyire already has Rachel (whatever the commercial worlds have, Valkyrie has)
  • If you already have RO installed, you just need to download a 5MB fix.
  • Characters CANNOT be migrated

Before the violent reactions, let me inform you that we have tested this thoroughly and gathered feedback from key players – both current players and those who already quit Ragnarok.

The item prices are fairly reasonable. For example, slotted mufflers cost P10 and various slotted weapons cost from P10 to P50. Even PVP cards such as Tharas, Raydric, and Hydras are anywhere from P20 to P100. And don’t worry about the boss cards, we’ll REGULATE it and will sell a limited supply only. And no, they won’t be released all in one blow – we have an item and card release schedule: think “Magic: The Gathering” boxed sets and you’ll know what I mean.

I also want this server to be dupe and bot-free. So constant testing and confirmation is being done now. We want those items to have value so duping, cheats will be absolutely be unacceptable.

More on Valkyrie in the days to come.

Enjoy!

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  • http://desquallie.blogspot.com DeSquallie

    Bakit magiging bot free yan kung Thor was promised that first? If that server has a system, will that be implemented as well to Thor? Just curious since Thor is still having problems with bot.

    But on a brighter note, the F2P server idea is a great way for people to get into the game without paying game time but with certain limitations. :)

  • freyan kame!!!

    awts..f2p nga pero parang ganon dn..kasi bibilihin mo ung mga gamti n nid mo like sloted muff..sokung bibilihn mo lahat ung mga gamit n sloted para may bayad n dn ung pag lalaro mo..hahaha..sugapa tlga..dun n lng ako sa 100 weekly..hehehe

  • Hitori

    I agree with DeSquallie said….
    You might only kill your Thor project with that

  • workingdude

    Hi Sir GM Tristan! Hmm actually its my third time in here only i was “is” fan of sir wauks! bait kasi e…

    bait ka ba? hehe … ok yan it will bring some of players back to RO… since its free to play… pero pero pero… sana wala nga bot… i doubt na walang bot to since thor is advertized as non bot pro pero until now meron pa rin…. and sana wag namna 100pesos= 1 muffler awwwww.

    maybe the right prize will be like 5pesos=1M… yugn parang ginagawa ng mga illegal sellers…

    but the whole idea is good! at least po mas marami ulit lalaro…. ^_^

  • http://forums.roempire.com/ Yralyn

    The concept looks OK, although one potential problem is that if any bots get past the bot system of Valkyrie — which I hope also is implemented in Thor — all of them would end up in maps with high zeny income, since the motivation behind botting would be for either levelling or income-making… and what better way to make money than to 1) sell zeny, 2) trade items for zeny, and 3) sell the items for PhP? I hope that LU makes this anti-bot feature REALLY anti-bot, and make the feature also work in Thor, which many feel has been abandoned by LU.

  • Indulgence

    Things will even out in the long run. You just kiss the ‘Yay I can save up the money I use for load’ dream and you’d be just fine.

    Can’t wait for October 10. Thanks GM Tristan.

    I damn hope that the farking Anti-bot would really keep those scumbags out. We’ve had enough of stinking padded packets, more than enough actually. >.

  • olympians

    SANA NGA WALANG BOT PARA MAGING MASAYA… kapag nagkataon parang babalik ang old ragnarok waaahhh i mis dat day…

    kakamis ung mga nagpapa level sa payon cave n party party mga aco, archer, thief and novice hehehe… kakamis din ung mga aco sa pront na warp to gh 1k, tapos biglang magteteleport kapag nakuha na 1k ahahahaha… kakamis din ung lahat ng masasalubong mo sa mga daan or sa town lahat ay hindi bot hehehehe… kakamis din lahat ng naka vend eh hindi bot hehehhe… kakamis din lahat ng nagpapalevel sa alde sa orc dungeon ay hindi bot hehehhe… kakamis din ung time na may makikita kang ganito R>party level 24 me hehehhe…
    R>party Priest level 55 me hehehehe… waaaaaaaaahhh sana nga WALANG BOT!!!!!

  • Noa

    Bot Free??? LU! Also stated that pRO Thor would be bot free, but to our expectations, they can still enter. I do hope that the security system in Valkyrie is tougher than that of Thor.

  • Anna

    Bot free or not, I’m really interested in the Valkyrie Server. The question is,what about consumables such as slims and biochemist bottles? Will they also be bought? Sayang I was planning to make a brewer pa naman.

    Keep the news coming GM T! A lot of my RO friends (who have either quit or migrated to another game)are “curious” as to what will happen in this free to play server. Ü

  • http://ennuigaming.blogspot.com Castigador

    This is quite nice to hear, though I probably wont be coming back to RO anytime soon. RO2 nalang.

    The prices are a bit steep, and I’m sure upgraded slotted equips will be highly priced in the zeny market. In the long run though, if you’re really gonna stay there, the investment will be worth it.

    Also, any news about the exp. rates? Other f2p servers actually have reduced drop/exp rates, and Teleport/Bwing/Fly Wings/Creamy Card are non-existant.

    And I do hope the anti-bot works, and like many others said, also give it to Thor.

  • Fliptop

    GMT, OT lang… is there a possibility of a character migration service in the near future? i.e. My account from freya to tyr? /?

  • elmer0224

    “I also want this server to be dupe and bot-free.”

    Want lang? meaning, pwedeng bot-free, pwedeng hindi. nadala na kayo sa Thor nang sabihin nyong magiging bot-free no? nice… safety na LUG!

    Sana, kung gusto nyo mang gawing bot-free ang Valkyrie, unahin nyo munang gawing bot-free ang Thor. why? we deserve it. you advertised Thor to be bot-free and we’re PAYING for it.

    pero knowing LUG, di na kami aasa. you fooled us once in Thor and shame on you. now, you’re going to fool us twice w/ Valkyrie? di na uy! shame on us na s min un.

  • Boky

    no elu/ori dropped?

    dapat yang elu at ori na yan 100% success rate.

  • Boky

    …and Sir Mon please don’t disable teleporting, OMG how can we escape against PKing thrillseekers who want to mess up with othe rplayers? at ang lakas pa naman ng monsters ngayon di na tulad dati nung RO beta 200 dmg lang malakas na

  • Maxz

    May this time this will be really bot free because
    the site of the bot program said they will not support botting at Thor anymore and may be likewise in Valkyrie..
    except for the experts who have a “know how”.

    But please be reasonable on prices, slotted muffler for 10 pesos!! thats too expensive i wonder how much money can i consume for a +7muff[1].

  • archaven

    woah! COOL! it makes me want to play RO again! aww… i miss my priest.. daymn! kaya lang, mashado na mabigat yung RO for my PC.. :(

  • Striddle

    The concept of F2P server is quite good. But lets just hope that it would really be “ALMOST bot free.” I am sure that it won’t, some would still try to hack into the system.

    And comparing it with thor, I THINK it’s a better server but we’ll just see. hehehe

  • http://sakray.forumer.com IC DeaDPiPoL

    I’m hoping that once Valkyrie gets breached by bot the server will be rolled back depending on the analyzed date of breach and shutdown until a patch is made.

    *Wonders what armor/weaps would I get for a Php100

  • FTW

    bkit hindi man lang magReply yung author sa kahit isang comments? hmm… gawin nyo muna BOT FREE ANG THOR!!!!!!

  • Erick

    help naman po.. i want to have RO installer kaso dko po lam kung san idodownload. meron po ba kayong link para madownload RO? thanks in advance po

  • Burke™

    Bot free? Let’s wait and see.

    Sana lang, kahit minsan magkaroon naman ng “haven” for non-botters.

    Suggest ko lang gawin nang X2 sa Thor at ausin gAwin talagang bot-free.

  • sidsawyer

    a new dawn for roquiters because of the bot.
    sana magbantay 24/7 ang mga vanguards.
    RO bot developers always crack that data.grf to know the ipaddress ang hexing Rag.exe to bypass gameguard wala ba kayong magandang solusyon para makontra ganitong gawain? (itago nyo ipaddress nyo nakikita sa sclientinfo.xml pag na extract ung data.grf!!)

  • Henie

    Bot-free Valkyrie server? Like “bot-free” Thor? Asa pa tayo

  • Ayekah

    Well, I highly doubt that this initiative will bring back the former RO players who quit. After all, no character migration means starting yet again from scratch. If those old high-level RO players with godly items who quit before can have the willpower to leave it all behind, I doubt enticing them with a supposedly bot-free F2P server with level1 characters will do the job.

    Also, items might be moderately-priced piecewise, but how many slotted equips and elus/oris do you actually need to achieve a successful upgrade? Taking the minimum price of P10 for a slotted armor, you will already need to shell out P100 for 10pieces of that. What more about the elus? This P100 load will already get you a week’s worth of unlimited gametime/botting/and items in the normal servers.

  • -LeeFangHee-

    aw sir gm tristan sana nga wlang bot >..

  • dodge113

    Thor before Valkyrie in becoming Bot-Free, please? The players have ALL been disappointed in the late anti-bot action in Thor, and as a result, our numbers dwindle.

  • former ro player

    grabe prang gnun din mas mgnda na ung may load kesa mag item mall…P10 ung [1]muffler?????eh kung aku un kya kung magkaron ng mga 4 ng [1]muffler eh sa P100 kong load..anu ba yan lukohan??sana mga boss card lng ang hindi droppable…..for sure ang mgging mlkas sa ragna eng ung mga MAYAYAMAN lng…/sob

  • AYONG

    E DI MAS MAGANDA MAG BLACKOUT-RO NALANG,.! /PIF

  • Ermita Knights

    I expect that this server would really be bot-free, considering that it’s already free. So banning and deleting accounts wouldn’t be too much of an impact to LU right? :D

  • john

    Why do you guys still play ragnarok? its a fun game but Level up sucks. Di ba kayo nasasawa dayain ng level up? Every desicion level up makes is for the MONEY and NOT for the GAME. So kung ako sainyo watch out kung sasali kayo sa server na to kasi im sure kadayaan lang lalabas diyan, LU pa? 100% kadayaan lalabas ng valkyrie na yan ^__^

  • pd_trash

    ang korney

  • Thorians

    Why is LUG making another server where we almost made a real game with Thor? It’s true that Thor server have some problems with bot, duppers, etc., and MPs, for me are making a great job from preventing it, diba?

    LUG should face these problems and never turn away from it. Kung gagawa pa kayo ng server na exciting, bot free, or bug free, y make another server? iniiwasan nyo naman ung problema. Please improve thor because for us manual players, ito a REAL GAME, ang fulfullment, satisfaction. Pero, kung iniiwasan nyo man ito lalong may katumbas na problema ang dadating. Siguro naman kung palpak ang valkyrie, may other server na naman ang susulpot na parang bula. amp naman!

    Moral lesson para sating lahat: Harapin natin ang problema at d iiwasan.

    Dismayado ako sa inyo.

  • SL

    bakit d nagrereply c GM T…? siguro para sakin gawin nyo munang BOT FREE ANG THOR to be fair on your promises bago nyo ilaunch ang valkyrie… or kung ndi nyo kaya gawin ang promise nyo wag nyo na ilaunch ang valkyrie… kasi kng ggwin nyong 100% bot free ang valkyrie na F2P, ang thor ndi F2P pero ung promise ndi natupad… unfair dba?

  • http://OT:woweverythingelse. Mimizilla

    Boss and MVP monsters DO NOT drop boss cards

    ;and the point of boss hunting would be????

  • aiyionman

    i am a fan of pRO but lost the passion when BOT-ting came up.

    nakakawala talaga ng gana pag pinaghirapan mo ang isang bagay at ang iba na naka-BOT eh tulog lang tapos pagkagising eh trice pa ang nakukuha.

    well up for GM tristan for popping these out.

    i’ll wait for these at baka manumbalik ang pag ka adik ko sa pRO. he he he!

  • SerVantes`

    Are these final?

    Skill Changes
    - Teleport Skill is removed completely.
    - Acolytes will no longer have the option to get this skill. It will not appear in their list.
    - Acolyte Skill Tree is changed – Pneuma leads directly to Warp Portal
    - Same changes applies to Super Novice
    - Flywing and Butterfly Wing are removed from NPC Vendors

    Source: Waukster Site

    This is what many have been asking for!! (since the old days of Urdr). The best strategy to combat bots!

    I just hope there’s something for both Urdr and Thor. If not, it’ll turn out that these servers was used just for observation to help you create something bigger and better. What will happen to those who ate your bait?

    # Boss and MVP monsters DO NOT drop boss cards
    # Slotted items, weapons and gear are also NOT dropped
    # Ori and Elu are almost NOT dropped, quested or found
    # You can buy these and other items at the ITEM MALL

    Although these will discourage botting (and inc earnings) – (IMO) its better if you can both buy and hunt for them.

    But WTH, for all you care. XD

  • raine

    here’s my view about Valkyrie:

    not a good server to play,
    walang teleport, walang butterfly wing. paano kung napalayo ka sa savepoint mo at naubusan ka ng potion?
    how can you save yourself from strong monsters without teleport? that is the only way to avoid death.

    mabibili ang mga cards for Php? Its business nga talaga. Pooooooooooring card wala na rin.

    pwede ba dyan ang mga: @go, @storage, @warp ….???

    Mas maganda pa ang features ng mga private servers na Free to Play.

  • http://www.atmaxplorer.com/ sylv3rblade

    @raine
    uhh raine from GZP o.O

  • Anna

    Ako rin, feel ko ang unfair naman ng walang Butterfly Wing. Kung high level ka na, wala ka nang pots at nasa delikadong dungeon ka, papadeds ka nalang?
    Sana meron bwing, pero make it pricey, mga 10k isa. Para hindi pede abusuhin haha.

    Saka pala kung ihyhypermart na yung mga slotted equips, sana +4 na kagad pag binili namin. Taasan nalang presyo, kesa pakahirap pa mag ups. Korni ng suggestion ko. Rofl.

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  • kEn

    bOt fRee??…ang sarap pakinggan pero parang close to impossible xa gawin kc inallow na nga sa mga commercial servers ang pagbbot para d mamatay ang RO ang advantage naman nito is f2p xa pero just like i said close to impossible na gawing bot free ang valkyrie.

  • Ryu

    Two words – As-a. Asa na maging bot-free ang Valkyrie. Just look at the so-called bot-free server Thor. What happened to that? I don’t think I’ll play on Valkyrie server; I got a trauma over LU’s neglect on the game.

  • Insanity Soul

    Ang di lang maganda sa server na to lahat malakas hahaha..

  • Dude that likes the idea of F2P

    may suggestion ako dun sa bot free part…

    maging super strict kayo sa mga bot
    kahit 1st time lang bigyan nyu n ng 1 month na suspension
    pag 2nd time na either 1 year or perma ban (wag ip ban… wawa shops)

    pde nyu kaya i-implement un?

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  • RagnaBoy Online

    come to think of if.. in 1 yr magkano ba nagagastos nyu sa pag bili ng RO cards? mas ok na para sakin ung item nalang ang bibilin.. kasi pag na complete mo na ung mga desire item mo edi wala kanang gastos and beside pede ka naman makipag trade ng Item to Item sa iba eh, ang tanong ko lang para san pa ang Zeny kung di nadin magagamit since pera pera na ang bilihan?

  • Dhan

    free nga load haha.. ung sloted bucks and shoes nman nid mong buy thru rockpoints haha… lol.. dun cla nbawe

  • Pingback: Community Feedback on Ragnarok Valkyrie | gmtristan.com

  • nakum tarub

    ‘ ‘bka nmn mas malaki p gastos nyan s 100 weekly,
    eh mas mura p nga s php eh., san p nmn ga2mitin un zeny kung my item mall n..?? bka sugapa p lalo yan..??

  • Hiraga Saito

    Sir sa tingin ko po di po dapat i benta ang mga boss cards dahil di naman patas kung ang me mga mekaya lang ang mag kakaroon dito lalo na po yung mga Class-S type card like Gr and abysmal…

    salamat po…


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