From BBC News via Slashdot: Ragnarok Online, the Asian sensation, now has three-quarter million users in Thailand alone. The government's crackdown on adolescent gaming after 10pm does not seem to be affecting user numbers - more evidence that virtual worlds are the playpens of grownups, not kids.
"Over-18s can still play on into the small hours. After registering at a post office, they are given an adult user ID that will work day or night."
Attention aspiring entrepreneurs: a new black market has just opened up in Thailand...
Posted by: Euphrosyne | Nov 25, 2003 at 13:40
The Korean MMORPG, Ragnarok is over 12s MMORPG in its homeland.
While Lineage 2 is also over 18s MMORPPG in Korea, and lineage 1 is over 15s.
There is a steady increase of friction between the Korea Media Rating Board(it is a quasi-goverment agency unlike USA)and MMORPG companies, nowadays.
On one side, the voice for self regulation is getting rise,
On the other side, It is reported yesterday that NcSoft is condidering adopting so-called TimeOut system which kick out players who have been logged in over 10 hours from game, and make them interval time for rest.
Anyway, it's true that the number of adult player is rapidily increased and take some possession in Korean MMORPG market, since 1996 when the first MMORPG-Kingdom of the Winds lauched.
Posted by: Unggi Yoon | Nov 25, 2003 at 18:34
Unggi, this is very interesting. May I rephrase this, to make sure I understand correctly?
"Because of increasing pressure, especially from the quasi-governmental Korean Media Rating Board, NCSoft is considering a policy of disconnecting any account that has been logged in for ten hours continuously, and keeping it disconnected for a period of time afterwards, so players can rest."
Fascinating.
Posted by: Edward Castronova | Nov 25, 2003 at 18:48
I'm somewhat having argument with my roommate here. So I ask you all, in terms of the 10-hour policy:
I feel that it's a very bad move. The hard-core gamers who want to play more than 10 hours, in my opinion, are the customers that these companies need. If a player sees that he or she cannot play for more than 10 hours, it seems to me they're likely to say, "Well... Then what's the use?" Then decide not to play.
My roommate believes that this is a good policy. He feels that parents, especially, will be happy about this for obvious reasons. He also feels that it won't affect the working people who don't get the chance to play for 10 hours solid.
So what do you all think? What could be the reasoning behind such a decision? Is the act of gaming truly corrupting the 'youth'? Is it a cultural difference that I am completely missing?
~Kenny
Posted by: Kenny Dembner | Nov 26, 2003 at 00:58
Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say you will lose that customer base. Sure, they'll make a lot of noise about the rule, but if they actually like the game they'll still play it. And they'd probably just buy 2 accounts so they can alternate, heh. In the end, maybe a way to increase revenue by raising avg accounts/player.
Posted by: Tek | Nov 26, 2003 at 01:18
Dear Castronova
:Thanks. Your understanding is correct.
All:
In Korea, There were a few accident that MMORPG-holic player died in PCbaang during his game play.
And lastweek an elementary schoolboy stole his parents' money (20,000,000 won = 17,000$)and ran away home to play an MMORPG freely.
So called Real PK(Robbing players of its in-game itemes)is a big social problem that the Korea Media Rating Board usually categorize MMORPG allowing both PvP and item dropping systems as over 18s.
-Unggi Yoon
Posted by: Unggi Yoon | Nov 26, 2003 at 01:48
Kicking someone off based on a RL time or limit violates several design elements that are common today.
How does it relate to death penalties, corpse retrieval, trading, group balance, etc?
Character time online isn't necessarily related to the RL person's time online. Current games give plenty of reasons (automated bazaar trading; spawn camping) to leave characters unattended.
As suggested above, I would bet the behavior is simply being driven underground, rather than changed...
Posted by: Ian McGee | Nov 26, 2003 at 12:15
Oh, and one question; sadly uninformed...
What the heck is up with the US market that Thailand (googlized population 60.6 million) has 700k subscribers for an MMOG?
I spent some time in Korea looking into this, and I know of the differences in payment structures, internet cafe integration, broadband, etc. Is that really all it takes, or is there more going on?
I'll admit to near-total ignorance of the Thailand market. Still it strikes me that there could be a large number of "dark seats" in that number...
Posted by: Ian McGee | Nov 26, 2003 at 12:20
Ian,
Have to agree with you that the 700K figure does not represent subscribers. The article calls them, "users," most likely in reference to registered users, as opposed to subscribers. Also, it is somewhat of a misnomer to call Asian players, "subscribers," because a significant portion play from PC Game rooms and buy game time with a prepaid card. They have to opt-in whenever the card runs out of time. This helps explain why the prevailing metric used by Asian game companies is concurrent users rather than subscribers. And given that the highest peak concurrency of any current MMOG is still well south of 200K, the article surely does not refer to 700K concurrent users.
Posted by: bark | Dec 08, 2003 at 13:58
Hi everyone! Could someone be kind enough to explain to me (in more understandable words) the issue about MMORPGs prophesied crash - i'm doing this mini-research about Ragnarok and it's effects on Filipino adolescents (specifically in our school). thanks in advance...! Please e-mail me some time...:-P
Posted by: Rick Gerard | Dec 09, 2003 at 01:35
Hey, i forgot, my e-mail ad is [email protected] It's a big help...really.
And uhm, Any news about other ill effects of playing Ragnarok?
By the way, I'm not taking sides, and to be honest, i haven't tried playing the game... i will in the future, to have a first-hand experience. Any tips? thanks again.
Posted by: Rick Gerard | Dec 09, 2003 at 01:39
good
Posted by: gunnerz | Dec 13, 2003 at 18:38
i play RO sometimes i only have 4 accounts my characters are wizard lvl 78 assassin lvl 86 hunter lvl 93 priest lvl 73 and another priest lvl 81 i don't have a knight & blacksmith but i'll have a knight soon i have a swordsman it's lvl 63 i'll make its job lvl 50 it's job is only 48 i need 2 more thats all bye!
Posted by: leonard | Apr 06, 2004 at 21:18
im curious... i hvnt plyd RO,,, i think its fun... i want to know how to play... is there anyone out there kind enough to teach me... my email [email protected]
thanx...
Posted by: ainess | May 16, 2004 at 03:44
can i play RO now?
Posted by: Cedric | Aug 11, 2004 at 08:02
how do u play RO at the moment? Is it free please reply ASAP.
Posted by: david | Apr 24, 2005 at 15:46