This time, it's Ragnarok.

[randomness]

I'm in another Internet/Net Game parlor filled with high-school boys. This one's in Thailand, not Botswana. On one side of me is a kid playing some first-person shooter (could be Counterstrike), and on my other side is one playing Ragnarok, or some other similar Korean game.

Ah, the rattle of simulated automatic weapons fire. Brings back fond memories of Julian's basement, and those massive Halo-fests. :)

So, anyone ever play one of the Korean games? I'm under the impression they're like EverQuest or Asheron's Call, but I don't know this for sure. Have they arrived in the States or are they just all over Asia?

Comments

[bryant]

You can play Lineage in the US -- it hasn't done well at all, because a) US gamers look at the interface and go "Jesus, I could just play Ultima Online if I wanted 2d isometric graphics" and b) the game depends on highly organized webs of affiliation which we have trouble joining. But you can play.

Ragnarok has a smallish US following.

NCSoft has hooked up with Richard Garriot, and he's working on the American version of Lineage 2 to some degree. I don't expect it to succeed, just cause Lineage got a bad rep, but you never know.

Um, lesse. The Final Fantasy MMORPG has done very well in the US after a year of success in Japan.