RF Online (Rising Force Online)

RF Online, originally named 'Rising Force', (Korean: 라이징 포스) is a 3D MMORPG developed by CCR. The first version of the game was released in South Korea and was later followed by Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Portuguese and English translations. The North American/European version of the game launched its retail phase on February 21, 2006. A mixture of science fiction and classic fantasy, RF Online is set in a distant planet in the Novus system where magic exists alongside high technology. Like most MMORPGs it follows the typical fantasy setting complete with swords and sorcery, but it also emphasizes the three-way Race vs. Race vs. Race (RvRvR) concept and modern/futuristic technology such as mecha and nuclear weapons.

The NA/EU game service was brought down as of November 9, 2008, due to licence expiration. However, the developers, CCR have started to relaunch the game hosting it themselves for NA/EU. RFO is currently a free-to-play game.

As with many MMORPG, the player will select one race and fight monsters to gain experience points. RFO is populated with many different monsters across many areas.

At the start of the game, a character will be led through an in-game guide of the basic commands for the game. From there, the character will be exposed to a series of quests which will familiarize him/her with their character's headquarters. As the character progresses in level, his/her quests may take them out to aggressive maps, where he/she will be exposed to the player killing Features of the game. One quest given in the Sette Desert on low levels makes players aware of constant presence and danger of enemy races.

Races

There are 3 character races which the player can choose: Bellato, Cora and Accretia.

Bellato are small elves which use Force (similar to magic), physical combat, ranged combat and specialize in creating and maneuvering massive armor units also known as MAU's.

Cora are elves which use Force, physical combat, ranged combat and specialize in summoning or calling out pets known as Animus.

Accretia are Cyborgs which do not use Force. They are balanced between physical combat and ranged combat. With their technology level they specialize in grenade launchers, and rocket launchers.

Every race has their own special sub-classes of characters to play based on warrior, ranger, specialist and each race's special classes. It is also possible to cross-class a character within the races for a wide variety of options.

Political System

Each race is led by the archon, a player voted into power by other players. Below the archon are four councillors. These councillors are determined based on the number of votes received during their run for archonship. Archon positions last one week, at the end of which voting will commence again.

As of Episode 2, Giga 1.5 (Crimson Dawn), four additional councillors were introduced. These four are assigned by the archon.

In addition, each position is granted special abilities to help their race. These abilities range from increases in defense, increases in attack, or affect auras to increase the statistics of racial members around the councilor.

In the event the number of archon aspirants is not enough to populate the council position, the top racial characters will be placed into the vacant council positions by default. Racial standings can be seen by checking with the respective race manager NPCs.

Economy

The game's economy can be divided into two parts - production and consumption. The mine is a new field where resources are produced as a part of and in support of economic activity. Mining for minerals and processing the products of these produce many kinds of items. These form the basis for conflict within the mines.

Chip War

The battle for resources is actualized in an all-out war among the three races termed as Chip War. Chip War happens three times in a day, where the winning race obtains the right to control the guardian of the mines - the dreaded Holystone Keeper.

The war is led by the respective racial leaders, whose goal is to break at least one control chip owned by the opposing race. Once broken, the player who has dealt the last blow on the chip must touch base at the center of the mine caverns, to earn his race an extra 60 minutes of mining time guarded by the Holystone Keeper.

As of Episode 2, Giga 1 (Crimson Dawn), the Holystone Keeper will be vulnerable for 30 minutes after a control chip has been broken. The winning race must defend the guardian, or risk losing his guardianship over players who will opt to mine for resources until the next chip war. In addition, only characters who have been able to obtain a HolyMental Scanner during the battle will be recognized by the guardian as a valid member of the controlling race. Connectivity issues, however, have been seen to cause problems with this new feature.

PVP

Unlike most MMORPGs, RF Online revolves around PvP (also called PK or Player Killing). Only the racial headquarters, and the settlement towns, are considered as safe areas from enemy races. Player killing comes into play because of the battle for resources between the three races. By default, opposing races members may engage in combat at any point in time on aggressive maps. Same race players may not engage in combat, unless by virtue of an item called the Chaos Potion, or during a special in-race competition called the Guild Circle Zone Scramble, also known as Guild Wars.

Website: http://rf.lytogame.com/