Enter Ragnarok Online. Developed by the Korean game company GRAVITY Co., Ltd., Ragnarok has been going strong since 2002. I remember playing the beta back in the day, thinking that this was something special. Apparently, after nearly a decade of serving up experience points, Ragnarok has convinced others of the same thing.

The idea behind Ragnarok is not unlike any other MMORPG; you have a character that you must engage in battle in order to gain experience and level up. You must find and upgrade your weapons and armor, and there are various characters you can talk with to take on new tasks and advance the plot of the game. Ragnarok takes place in a medieval setting, with a modern spin. The game area is laid out with maps that the player can roam around on, encountering enemies and other players (yes, there’s even PvP).

The artistic stylings have a  Japanese influence, drawing on anime and the Square-Enix style of super deformed characters. The characters and enemies are all drawn in 2D on a 3D map. This, combined with the great amount of detail in the environment, make this a unique experience, even if the premise isn’t exactly groundbreaking.

Ragnarok Online’s audio is a mixed bag. On the one hand, you’ve got a brilliant musical score, full of varying tunes for every environment. On the other hand, the sound effects are repetitive and cheesy. It’s an unfortunate combination, to say the least.

Ragnarok is one of those games that you waste months playing, only to get tired of it and stop. A few months go by, and you forget why you stopped playing, so you pick it up again and the process repeats. I encourage you all to make the same mistake I’m about to make – again.

Once your attack, strength, and defense levels reach 40, you’ll need thousands of gold coins in order to buy a full set of rune armor, complete with a rune sword or scimitar. In fact, you’ll need at least 100k before you become even remotely close to buying your full set of armor. Luckily, making money in Runescape isn’t as difficult as some people think. Of course, earning your first 100,000 gold coins won’t be easy, but it won’t be impossibly hard either.

Sell Cowhides

Any Runescape character, whether yours is a mage, fighter, or ranger, should be able to make a decent amount of money by selling cowhide. In Lumbridge and Falador, you will find a pen full of cows. Once you reach a combat level of around level ten, you will be able to fight these cows with very little difficulty.

When killed, cows drop beef, cowhide, and bones. Each cowhide that you collect will be able to sell for about 140 gold coins. That means a full inventory of cowhides will net you 3,920 gold coins. If you manage to get yourself 100 cowhides, you will get at least 14,000 gold coins.

You can sell the cow’s bones at about 80 gold coins each, but it’s recommended that you just collect cowhides while burying the bones to improve your prayer level. If you have the time, you can also buy thread and a needle to improve your profits. Just go to Al Kharid and get your cowhides tanned by the tanner for a fee. Regular leather sells for about 180 gold coins, while hard leather sells for about 170 gold coins.

Collect Hill Giant Droppings

If you have a brass key, you can head to the Edgeville Dungeon area where you can hunt hill giants. These hill giants are usually level 28, so it’s best to have a combat level of 30 to 50 before fighting them. Since free-to-play worlds are usually crowded, it’s best to go to a member world when trying to make money off hill giants.

Hill giants are most widely hunted by players because of their big bones. Each big bone sells for about 500 gold coins, but some players bury them instead because of the huge prayer experience gained. If you collect 28 big bones, you will make at least 14,000 gold pieces. Sometimes, hill giants drop limpwurt roots as well. These typically sell for about 950 gold pieces.

Chop Willow Trees

Get your woodcutting level to 30 and buy an adamant axe once your woodcutting level reaches 31. Head to Edgeville in an unpopulated world to chop willows, which are located by the Edgeville bank.

Each willow sells for about 20 gold pieces. Although these may not sound like much, you are making 20,000 gold pieces per 1k willow logs. Besides, you are also gaining experience that will allow you to chop maple logs in the near future. These maple logs sell for about 80 gold pieces each, or 2,240 gold pieces per full inventory of them.

A top contender for my favorite video game of all time, Earthbound and I spent an entire summer together as I mastered the game’s many towns and various weapons and attacks. Oh, where are my manners? I should take this opportunity to formally introduce you.

Earthbound is a RPG about a young boy named Ness who finds out one day that he (along with 3 others) is chosen to save the world from a great cosmic evil known as Giygas. Unlike most other RPGs of its day, Earthbound is set in modern times and the characters use weapons like baseball bats, frying pans and yo-yos instead of the traditional sword and shield gameplay. That, along with the tongue-in-cheek comedy sprinkled throughout the game makes it a very charming and satisfying adventure.

The plot can be described in one word: epic. You can easily clock over 40 hours in this game while exploring the wide variety of towns and “dungeons” as you make your way through the insane number of quests. The best part about it is that even though the game is long, the story is so engaging it stops being a video game and becomes a true narrative. Compare that to games like Final Fantasy VII, where the plethora of quests served to simply prolong the inevitable and didn’t add much true value to the story’s progression. Oh, and by the way, this game came with its own strategy guide in the box and I can tell you without shame, it was a welcome help.

Earthbound’s music is some of the most interesting and unique of any game of the 16-bit era. The composers really understood the characters and the settings and were able to set the mood perfectly. Whenever I think of Earthbound, I can’t help but hear the New Age Retro Hippie’s battle music in my head. It’s a music that sticks with you forever.

All that said, it’s no surprise that Earthbound has a huge cult following. While it didn’t garner nearly the level of success in the United States as it had in Japan, it still managed to capture the hearts of adventurous gamers everywhere. It sure has mine, and may very well have saved my collection.

The answer is that I am completely fascinated by the very idea of 3D gaming; so much so, in fact, that I’m seriously pondering a pre-order of the 3DS (for those unaware, I’m staunchly against pre-ordering when it comes to video games). You see, 3D movies and television doesn’t impress me. I don’t care about filmmakers having knives or characters jumping out at me. Don’t ask why — it just doesn’t impress me. However, the idea of being able to actually interact with a 3D object instead of just watching it? That excites me. If done properly, we may see the big gaming companies usher in a new era of gaming. Instead of being a dumb gimmick, this could really turn heads and make games truly revolutionary as a form of entertainment.

I’d like to tell you about an idea I had a few years back for a game on Nintendo’s Wii system. The idea was simple: A massive, multiplayer, online role-playing game done in first person (with a 3rd-person option). You control the left and right hands with the Wii remote and nun-chuck and battles are in real-time. You would have employees devoted to the maintenance of the gaming world and the managing of new and old quests. The game would be ever-expanding, and would be supported with a monthly subscription fee. Given the proper amount of story-telling and quest-incentive, this could be a very lucrative and fun project. Why hasn’t this happened yet? The Wii is perfect for this kind of thing and it pains me to see an opportunity like this wasted. But how awesome would this game be in 3D?

My hope is that the next iteration of consoles (or the current consoles, if technology allows), will embrace 3D as a real means of immersion and run with it. Making concept games won’t cut it; if you talk a big game, you’d better bring it.

Instead of getting to play a truly epic Pokémon game, we had to suffer through various “versions” of the game, which were never huge deviations from the original. New creatures and characters are great, but we want something really new. Something that we can really sink our teeth into. Look, I don’t know how else to say this, but I am begging you to let me give you money. I want to pay a monthly fee for this game, and I want to waste countless hours of my life collecting and training Pokémon!

It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’ve given us so far. Most of the Pokémon games have been great. It’s just that they’re now so damn cookie-cutter that I’m wondering where the creativity went. Don’t get complacent in your old age, Nintendo. We’ve got needs, and those needs aren’t going to fulfill themselves.

I know there are plenty of fan-made Pokémon MMOs on the web, and I could play any of those. However, I want a game with the spit and polish of a Nintendo first-party title. I want the kind of gaming experience only Nintendo knows how to deliver, and I want it yesteryear. In my opinion, this is something that should have been done long ago. Unfortunately, Nintendo didn’t (and still doesn’t) see the value in online gaming.

I get it; it’s better to be interacting with folks in my living room than it is to be doing so across a copper wire, but playing with folks across a copper wire sure beats playing alone, doesn’t it? C’mon, Nintendo. At least think about it… please?

Released in June of 2000, Diablo II has been a game I come back to about once every three years or so. Things have changed significantly since I last played it. With the latest patches (dating from 2003 up to 2010), your stash has increased its size, you can now reset your stat and skill points once after completing the first quest, and there are a host of new bosses and quests have been added to the online game.

In some areas, the difficulty has been lessened. High runes now drop with increased frequency, the lesser enemies seem to be more balanced, and character skills seem more powerful in most instances. Likewise, in some areas, difficulty seems to have been ramped up. Some enemies (bosses especially) are a lot stronger than in the first few iterations of the game and rare items seem to drop with less frequency.

In most aspects, however, the game feels like the same classic that I played years ago. Still fun and engaging, the only thing that has changed is that the amount of online players has seemed to taper off. It’s only to be expected as the game is a decade old, after all. The only gripe I could find with that is that now I’ve had to put up with an unusually large amount of spammers who love to advertise their Geocities-era Diablo II websites and annoy you by filling your entire screen with text as you’re fighting a boss for the third time.

Fans of the game who haven’t played in many years will no doubt enjoy getting back into their old war-boots and slaying some demons again. For folks who haven’t had the pleasure of playing Diablo II (they exist?), Diablo II, the expansion and the original Diablo can be had for a paltry 40 bucks at most stores. And since Diablo III is still on the horizon (read: a loooooong way off), Diablo II and Lord of Destruction should keep you waiting with baited breath.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDSRdp6Ar3M[/youtube]

Borderlands is a new Role-Playing/First Person Shooter game for the PC, 360, and PS3 coming out this November.  It looks fantastic, as the game seamlessly blends the two of the most popular game types.  Here are descriptions of four characters you can play as:

• Brick: A massive beast of a man who has the ability to beat the daylights out of anything! He wears a necklace adorned with the paw of his beloved, but deceased, dog. He fills in for the the walking tank role and can take quite a beating, and can chug berserker-state inducing pills for short bursts of power.
• Lilth: Once a human, Lilith at one point was turned into a siren. One of only six known Sirens, they are a group of people with amazing powers but no way to control them.  She can affect time and become invisible.
• Mordecai: Mordecai comes to Pandora in search of a man from his past named Demosthenes. When he learns Demosthenes has died, Mordecai sets off to learn how he died and what he was carrying.  He specializes in sniping and hunting players.
• Roland: A former member of Crimson Lance, a sort of highly trained private military that disregards laws, he is here to fulfill a decade old vendetta.  He is the support player.

There are four more playable characters that haven’t been anounced yet and will have individual roles and stories.

The guns l0ok like the best part and amaze me!  There are to be more than one hundred thousand guns in Borderlands.  In fact, the latest count of the number of guns in Borderlands is 17,750,000.  Holy shnikies!  According to Gearbox producer Simon Hurley, “Silver weapons have greater chance of achieving an extreme critical hit, while black weapons will fire quickly, but lack accuracy”.  A poster on the Gearbox site says that the color of a weapon signifies its type. Yellow is high explosive, green is acid, and blue is electrical.  You may never see the same gun again!

It looks amazing!  I am definitely buying it!

Below I have a little Q&A I did with the developers.

1. In your opinion, what genre of games will see the most growth in popularity in the coming months?

Margaret:  I think that right now Facebook games hold a lot of promise in terms of being able to establish an immediate audience. Of course, being dependent on the Facebook platform leaves you a bit vulnerable, what happens if they suddenly change their policies or access to your games for example, but having a presence on Facebook for most content creators is an essential part of any online strategy.

Tom: It may be more than a couple months out, but I think that motion controllers have a long period of growth ahead, especially since  Sony and Microsoft are both releasing their own versions of the Wii-type motion controller.  This is not to say that the standard couch-potato game controllers won’t still be used, but there is still a lot of
space for game developers to explore, and new ways to get people seamlessly engaged with the game experience.  In the computer space, I think the OnLive system that is being released is very exciting.  It could re-invigorate pc gaming because it would allow developers to develop for one platform and have it distributed to all computers,
tvs and hand-held devices.  It could also cut down on piracy so it would increase the profit margins for games.  In the pure online space, I think the introduction of micro transaction systems that any amateur or professional game developer can use will spur further growth and creativity within games.  The main problem to date with
being a small independent flash game developer has been monetizing a great game. Many have tried to do this through ads, but it was hard to make real money.  Micro transactions, however, could be a very successful way for developers to cash in on great simple addicting flash games.
Shane: It seems that a bunch of casual companies are trying to do casual MMOs or virtual worlds, and online multiplayer. Those are huge buzzwords right now but there are very few success stories in the field.  I’m afraid that the market is going to be flooded with them, and there is really only a market for a few of them to be successful. I’ve had some experience with one on one real time multiplayer at MTV, and the results turned out to be fairly disappointing. I’m a bit more interested in the turn based multiplayer games I’ve seen on Facebook.  I’m thinking they make much more sense with people’s busy lives these days. I also feel there will be another shift back to fun, simple single player experiences that are designed well.

2. What is the coolest advancement in gaming you’ve seen since you began working in this industry?

Margaret: There are so many things to consider. On a very simple level, increased broadband penetration in the US and across many parts of the world have really made it possible to deliver all sorts of fun experiences online. WhenI started making online games, if your application was 1 MB, you were pushing it. Can you imagine? Those sorts of  extreme restrictions just don’t exist anymore. I am also excited about what online gaming platforms like Monkey Wrench offer because it makes it possible for anyone to build their own gaming world or deploy really deep real-time and asynchronous multiplayer games on Facebook or anywhere they want online. Monkey Wrench supports traditional head-to-head games and these team-based co-operative games like you see on CampFu, which I believe is totally unique for casual gamers.
Tom: It’s not a technical advancement, but I think the coolest thing to happen to gaming since I started is the broadening of the user base. When we started, people were still shocked that women actually played online games. Then over the course of the last several years, women and older gamers have become major parts of the industry.  Arkadium develops games successfully for such diverse demographics as those found on AARP, myYearbook, Seventeen, ESPN, and National Geographic, and we’re constantly broadening that reach.  We recently did quick
questionnaires with people walking in front of our building about what games they play.  Only a few of them said they didn’t play games, but then later admitted to playing games like Solitaire and Sudoku online.  There were many women between the ages of 21 and 35 who said they love video games, and went on to describe Wii or online titles. This whole section of gamers didn’t really exist 6 years ago.
Shane: The coolest advancement I’ve seen is sort of a regression. Online games and downloadable content, through channels such as Steam, XBLA, PSN, WiiWare and the iPhone, have made it possible for a small group of developers to reach a wide enough audience so games that take risks have become commercially viable again. This has lead to some much needed innovation and originality that due to cost constraints large publishers and large developers are not willing to undertake. Alien Hominid, Braid, the BIT.TRIP series, PixelJunk’s Eden and Topple are all great games that have come out of this new independent spirit. I look forward to many more.

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To take part in this drawing you need to sign up for the Wasabi Media Group Advertiser Newsletter by using the form here: http://www.wasabimediagroup.com/advertiser_subscribe1.php. By signing up and confirming your email, you will receive 5 tickets.  As a bonus, everyone that enters gets an automatic $50 in free advertising on our network!

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Yes, Chrono Trigger is an RPG. But this game had so much in its time (and still does) that either the term “RPG” is underrated, or CT is much more than a role-playing game.

The story is about a boy living in the year 1000 A.D. named Crono…for about the first five minutes before traveling six hundred years back in time. After his friend accidently creates a time-machine, the group must travel across different eras to change the course of history and eventually face off against Lavos, a giant parasite plotting to suck the life out of Earth. You’ll be following this adventure with a live action battle system similar to Zelda games, as opposed to Final Fantasy’s command-based style and seven playable characters.

All friends and foes were designed by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest/Warrior), on top of graphics that will still make your spine tingle, even thirteen years after its original release. Besides all of these great aspects, the remake will be cheaper than its chunky SNES predecessor.

Now, I use the word “remake” loosely. The only real differences between this incarnation and the SNES original are few but drastic:

-The bottom screen acts as a map for whatever area in which you are located. In dungeons, the unexplored areas remain blank until explored. Also, these maps contain icons that can access functions, such as a bestiary or a character swap.

-The party can either be guided by the D-pad or stylus.

-During a battle, the touch-screen can be used to command attacks, techs, or other options.

-Each character now has two bars (one for health and one to measure the time for his or her turn) in a battle.

One last item: There was a remake of Chrono Trigger for the PlayStation in 2001.

I would like to mention that it is probably a cheaper and better option than the CT PSX version if you like muffled sound and choppy graphics…not to mention slow loading time.