Of the four classes in RAN, Luakian says the Swordsman class has the most to look forward to with the expanded weapons inventory. "There are so many Swordsman in the game that just by the law of supply and demand, their inventory of weapons is the most expensive in-game," she explains. "The new stock will give them a choice of whether to purchase it outright in-game or rent it from the item shop. Currently, we are only renting out 1-day weapons but, soon, we will be releasing 7-days as well as 15-day weapons."
GM Austere seconded Luakian's assessment, adding that Power-build Swordsmen, in particular, will benefit from the new weapons, which cater specifically to their Spartan build. "I think the Swordsmen benefit the most compared to other classes because Power-build Swordsmen are restricted to POW weapons only, whereas Intelligence or Dexterity Swordsmen can interchange weaponry. Same goes for the other classes. They can all use their class weapons (Staff or Spears for Shamans, Gloves or Gauntlets for Brawlers, Short or Long Bows for Archers) regardless of build (POW, DEX, INT)."
To help showcase the new weapons RAN will be hosting several in-game tournaments and events in the upcoming weeks. "We have the ongoing School Wars pitting the three schools of RAN—Mystic Peak, Phoenix, Sacred Gate—against each other ever Friday night," says Luakian. "Also, this June, we are kicking off the Club Wars every Wednesday and Saturday. This is a club vs. club format (club being the equivalent of clans or guilds in other MMORPGs) where the winning club gets to control the Student Council and can therefore change the tax rate on a given map, not to mention the prestige that comes with being the most dominant club of a school."
RAN is also gearing up for a special GM-made event called Berdugo Royale. According to GM Austere, Royale is unlike any MMORPG event he's seen. "As far as I know, this has never been attempted before. It's basically an event where all the participants will be given negative 5,000 attribute points and they need to maintain a negative attribute of 4,000 otherwise they are disqualified. We also have two servers (Havoc and Strife), and with these attributes, there is no way you can enter a non-PK (player-kill) channel."
The new weapons, he says, will be instrumental to the players' survival during Royale because all the players will be handicapped with a negative quotient regardless of level, essentially putting them "in the red," hence the scarlet-themed title.
"It's a one-week event. The registrant with the highest level or highest experience will be declared the winner," explains Austere. "It's gonna happen on the PK channel where they can be killed by anyone because they're red.
This encourages players to buy the new weapons, especially when we release the 30-day weapons, which cannot be dropped even when you're killed off. The event is a kind of survivor mode. Also, when your attribute points near -4000, you need to kill humans in order to stay in the game and within the required negative cap."
With so many weapons being released, Luakian says RAN's next item rollout, tentatively planned for June, will not be weapon-heavy. "We'll be releasing premium accessories instead, such as baseball caps, hats and maybe even Destiny Boxes, like the Power-Up Box which increases the attack of a character for five minutes, which is very useful during PK time."
The Destiny Boxes originally functioned as wildcard stat amplifiers in the Korean version of RAN Online. What stats were amplified (health, attack speed, damage rate, etc.) would not be revealed to a player until he/she opened the box. To help bolster the game's strategic element and lower the luck factor, the boxes have now been given specific labels, so players will know exactly what box to use and at what time.
And if this new batch of weapons wasn't enough to give Swordsmen the figurative edge on their competition, Austere hints at at least least one new weapon that Swordsmen can look forward to in June. "On our client, the names aren't decided yet but there is a ‘Kitchen Blade' weapon (similar to a butcher's cleaver). This weapon is a POW-type weapon that is gonna be a definite must-have for Swordsmen."
Also in the works is a new, two-part map called simply The Carpark, located inside the Trading Hole area. As its name implies, The Carpark is a sprawling open lot ideal for picking off high-level monsters such as the Skating Master (level 86), the Hodel (level 96) and coldly grotesque Freezing Clowns (level 100). "This is the perfect place for players level 86 and up to level quickly because of its wide-open space," explains Luakian. "Players will have an easier time luring mobs out."
Commercial e-point shopcards are currently on sale at most internet cafes and computer retail shops. The RAN item shop can be accessed at the RAN homepage: www.ranonline.com.ph, complete with full details and price list for the new weapons.
.jpg)
