Controversy[]
Hi there! I'd like to give a few clarifications regarding this topic, as well as to add some additional information.
Towards the end of the closed beta testing for the original Korean servers of RO (kRO), it was announced that the game will be released as a subscription-based game, much like many other MMORPGs in 2002. Some of the beta testers were upset and made numerous hacks on the RO servers. The hacks crippled the game so much so that Gravity Co. pretty much went bankrupt.
It is worth noting that the hackers destroyed the original Aegis software. Which is why the officials are using an artificial Aegis(so an emulator of an emulator, essentially!) It is currently unsure if the hackers took it and is simply hiding somewhere, or if they tossed it after leaking the the source code of the closed Beta Test. As it is outright prohibited to distribute game data in Korea of any kind, and no matter how old it may be, they are not allowed to talk about datamining. All we can do is speculate whether a "real" version of Aegis currently exist. This is why you never see datamining talk in Hangul, but rather, all of these topics are in jRO.
About the bankruptcy, it wasn't just the fault of the angry Korean hackers. The Chairman at the time has a history of pocketing company money. They weren't prepared for this kind of event and had little to no money left, which caused the development to slow down nearly to a halt, this comes into play when Samsung saw potential in Ragnarok Online: In an effort to save the company, Samsung Electronics offered to buy them out.
To watch over their new investment, Samsung appointed a manager to oversee development on RO. This manager wished to reshape the game into his own idea. This caused many of the original developers and the lead designer of the game to quit mid-development in rebellion.
This is false. There was a myriad of problems before Samsung Electronics arrived. It is not confirmed why Kim Hakkyu himself left the team. He did write an open letter to the players before leaving(the others followed him shortly). There is speculations that a side management by Samsung harassed Kim to quit. This is concurrently all gossip.
Kim Hakkyu's public letter in 2002.
As such, many of the original concepts for RO were never fully implemented into the game. The game continues to suffer issues from the games troubled development.
Yes. Even with the investment money, they were forced to hire people who — at the time — had no experience in coding and 3D scenarios. This caused a rubber band aid to mend together the unfinished pieces. Which created a lot of server side issues.
Have a nice day! ~ RoboKienna (talk) 00:05, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
- If you feel the information should be updated on the page, you can go ahead and make the appropriate changes with the proper citations. I no longer actively update the wiki, but I still stick around to deal with vandals and spammers. People seem to not want to help on the wiki simply because I ask that claims should be supported with citations. ZeroTigress [Lorekeeper] 04:57, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
- Oh. Really? I tried to see if I could edit things and found the Wiki to had been locked(Protected? Not sure. I'm not used to Fandom sites) which is why I wrote in this discussion thread. Is there a way for me to be added? I would like to help out wherever I can! ~ RoboKienna (talk) 10:06, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
- How long have you had your account? Some pages have been locked down from brand new editors due to excessive vandalism, including the RO page. There's a certain cooldown after account creation to edit those. ZeroTigress [Lorekeeper] 04:26, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
- That explains it! This is a fresh account. Sorry for the wall of text! I've now updated the Controversy page. By the way! I may make another edit in the future regarding a controversy with GungHo Entertainment, but to be frank I don't know Japanese very well, so I'll do some research regarding this. For example, this is a Japanese website that details how jRO came to be from my understanding, and how a Game Master generated Zeny through the Zeny dupe rather than just spawning them in to fuel RMT and encourage players to bot to generate more income for himself. Do you think this website is okay to citate from if I could find reliable information about it? RoboKienna (talk) 15:21, 22 June 2021 (UTC)
- If you believe that website to be a reliable source of information, then by all means go for it. Just be sure to keep GungHo information on the GungHo Online Entertainment page. Also keep in mind if another editor disagrees with the validity of certain sources, the information may be changed accordingly. ZeroTigress [Lorekeeper] 04:44, 25 June 2021 (UTC)