Most of us have had experience with gaming, from "Mario" and "Pokemon" to "League of Legends" and "Dota." The wide variety of games dominated childhoods and teen years.
The Korean MMORPG "Blade and Soul" has gained much popularity in the past two weeks since its release on January 19. Players could purchase the starter pack for around $25 for a five-day head start on the game, and premium membership packages later on starting at $5 for other benefits and in-game items.
The game has high graphic qualities, thus it is recommended for players to run it on computers that have good specs for the full experience.
"Blade and Soul" lived up to its expectations when its queue time reached as long as 90 minutes and up to 3,000 people in the first week of its launch. By the end of January, the queue time has approached zero. However, as the release date for the new patch for increasing the level 45 cap to level 50 comes closer (Feb. 10), players are bound to return for the new attraction.
Currently, the game has seven classes and four races: "Blade Master;" "Summoner;" "Destroyer;" "Force Master;" "Kung Fu Master;" "Assassin;" and "Blade Dancer" as the seven classes, and Gon; Lyn; Yun; and Jin as the four races. Races significantly vary on character customization, such that Lyns take on tails,
and Gons have a stronger than normal build.
This makes character customization one of the main attractions of the game.
Aside from this, the PVP system is also quite compelling. The game allows 1v1 and 3v3 matches ranking players from bronze up, and opposing factions in which players can be involved in large-scale PVP battles outside the game arena by wearing different uniforms. Of course, this system can be abused by some high-level players who simply want to interfere with low-level players who are trying to complete quests, but even this aspect can be fun if you’re on the winning end of the table.
Since the game was released previously in China and Korea, the classes themselves are generally balanced out. Each class may counter another or be countered against another, but none is too strong--except, some may say, the Destroyer class. With decent mechanics and timing, the Destroyer’s opponent may remain under cc for an extended period of time. But again, the "Blade and Soul" World Championship winner was the Warlock class that has not been added to the NA server yet.
Crafting maintains the economic system of this game. The crafting system itself is time-consuming and expensive, but its returns are necessary and appreciated by many. However, as more and more players are hitting the level cap, and making more money through the daily quests that can only be completed by them, inflation is said to become unavoidable.
Regardless, game producers are still looking to a bright future as players are still expecting the new patch.
