Can ‘The Kingdom of the Winds Classic’ be beaten in the long run just by reproducing the original? [딥인더게임]

Nexon recently released his landmark work, first published in 1996. ‘Land of the Winds’classic server ‘Kingdom of the Classic Winds’ As it enters the open beta, it attracts the attention of gamers.

Kingdom of the Winds is the first game published by Nexon and is the world’s longest running online game still in service today, celebrating its 28th anniversary. In 2011, it was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first massively multiplayer online game (MMORPG). In 2005, during its heyday, it set a record of over 130,000 concurrent users.

It’s been a trend for a long time to release classic servers where you can replay versions of popular classic games that have been loved by many, either from the early days of release or from the day of – today. This became worse after Blizzard launched the classic ‘World of Warcraft (WOW)’ server, which is considered to be the heyday of the MMORPG genre.

With the news that the number of concurrent users exceeded 270,000 after the start of the open beta, it seems that this Kingdom of the Classic Winds will be enough to give a passing grade in terms of box office success. original. So, can the classic server achieve long-term success?

WOW, which led to the aforementioned classic server box office hit, adopted a strategy of introducing early versions. However, Kingdom of the Winds Classic is not an early version. 2003 versionintroduced the classic server.

This is because, unlike WOW, which was a box office success from the start of its release, not many users played Kingdom of the Winds in the early stages of its release due to technical and pricing issues.

The first version of Kingdom of the Winds was released in 1996. At that time, to enjoy online games, you had to use a dial-up modem. If you played a game for a long time using a modem, you could experience a huge bill that would make you happy if your parents slapped you in the face. In addition, you had to pay a monthly fee​​​​ to play the game, which is said to amount to 50,000 won. Considering the prices at the time, it was very big.

The 2003 version was just before Kingdom of the Winds was converted to a paid version, and the number of users exploded around this time. That is why it is very likely that the Kingdom of the Winds that most users remember is from this time.

▲ Kingdom of the Wind classic beginner hunting ground. (Source = Screen capture of classic game Kingdom of the Winds)

Kingdom of the Winds Classic retains the early 2000s user interface (UI) and graphics almost unchanged. From the tutorial to the high-level hunting areas, it’s implemented just like it was back in the day, so there’s no problem taking a trip down memory lane.

I also played the game, recalling the memories I played in the past. It deserved the classic name, with leveling up, learning magic, strategies for each hunting area, and friendly NPCs.

However, while it’s great to inspire nostalgia among gamers, It is noted that too much attention has not been paid to the change times.also appears. The point is that taking it too literally makes it difficult to play the game for long periods of time.

The balance issues for each class, which had been continuously built, were implemented almost as is without any additional work. Currently, there are four jobs on the classic server, but there are big differences between jobs in the level up speed and power balance, so it is indicated that users focus on jobs with grow fast.

Another problem is that the level-up system, also known as ‘labour’, is introduced almost as is. Although Kingdom of the Winds is a successful game, it has long been criticized as taking too long to reach level 99, the final level, and the level of difficulty is also very high. . This has come as a major inconvenience for gamers who have enjoyed modern games characterized by fast-paced game progression and automatic hunting mode.

Not that Nexon hasn’t prepared supporting elements. He wasn’t there at the time ‘King’s Quest’We tried to reduce level up fatigue by implementing . Although hard work is still necessary, completing this quest repeatedly provides additional experience points, slightly reducing the time needed to reach full level.

In addition, one of the main features of the ancient Kingdom of Winds is that when a character dies, everything he or she owns falls to the floor. In the early 2000s, many disputes over the recovery of dropped items often caused more strife than fun. Accordingly, it seems that the system was not implemented because it would be difficult for gamers these days to suddenly lose the items they worked so hard to collect.

Disputes over hunting grounds have also decreased. In the past, all players on the same server shared a hunting ground, but now Limit of 100 people per channelThis has greatly reduced these disputes.

▲ View of the classic Buyeo Castle Land of the Winds hotel. (Source = Kingdom of the Winds classic game screen capture)

You can see many reviews online from users who have played the classic server. What many users commonly say is, “It’s fun because you can feel the emotions and memories of those moments. However, if there are few updates and convenience improvements, the success is unlikely to last long. “

The labor level-up system and work balance, which is out of sync with the current time, are problems, but the level of 100 users per channel in the server has been identified as problem too. In an MMORPG game Interaction between usersSometimes it leads to conflict and causes discomfort, but as long as it is not excessive, it is considered one of the important fun elements in the game. However, since there are too few people in each channel, it is difficult to enjoy such fun.

The management side A continuous renewal plan was put in placecan’t see On the 21st, it was announced that the first promotion, ruins of the 12 zodiac gods, Sanjeok Cave, and polar regions will be updated, followed by the implementation of the Japanese map and the second promotion, etc., in order. The success of the update will likely be determined by user reviews and the game’s long-term success.

At the Media Day held last month, Nexon announced that ‘Kingdom of the Winds 2’ is in development. Attention is focused on whether Nexon will be able to successfully expand Kingdom of the Wind’s intellectual property (IP) rights, starting with the opening of the classic server.