Silkroad Online

Overview
Silkroad online is a Korean MMORPG currently in open beta. Players start in Jangan (Chang'an), China and gain skills and fight enemies based on mythology from China, other Asian countries, the middle east, and Europe. At level 20, players can become Merchants, Hunters or Thieves (Merchants trade along the Silk Road for money, Thieves try to kill them and take their money, and Hunters travel with the merchants to defend them from the thieves).

Story
Several characters have different goals on the very long path that is know as the Silk Road, and set out to adventure, kill monsters, and generally find fame, glory and power on the Silk Road.

Community
The game has a wide and constantly growing player base and therefore new servers are in high demand in the English-speaking community. As Silkroad is an MMORPG, all players on the same server play in the same environment. Players can fight alone or join parties (4-8 players), sell items using a Merchant Stall, or trade items directly. The Three main areas so far developed (China, Western China, Oasis Kingdom) consist of Main towns, open areas for travel/battle, and "caves"/unique areas. Silkroad also has an extensive guild feature, allowing large groups of people to join together as a guilds. As guild members fight, they gain "guild points" that progress their guild to higher levels (which allow for more members and other benefits). Guild trades and hostile guilds can also be established.

Graphics/Sound
The game is rich in graphics and game play, and the sound is above average with unique new age oriental tunes that invokes strong theme and relevant ambiance. Almost all skills/attacks/abilities were given unique animations and/or sounds, and items and equipment items all have unique and distinguishable models.

Character Development
There are several "elements" in the game you can level to use to your advantage. These "elements" consist of Force Masteries (and techniques): Fire, Ice, Lightning, Force, and Weapon Masteries (and techniques): Spear/Glaive, Sword/Blade, and Bow. There is a lot of decision making in the game and there are no fixed professions. Skills can even be reclaimed, for a price. Skill points and experience points increase independently, so you could have added and/or upgraded many skills between each character level. When creating a character, you can even choose from several difference characters (male and female) as well as their body types, including characteristics like height and weight.

Weapons
The weapons in the game fall into 5 categories. There are swords, better for using with magic than on their own, and allow you to equip a shield. Blades are the same as swords except in appearance and the fact that they are stronger than swords without magic. Spears are good with magic, and stronger than the sword, but you cannot equip a shield. Glaives are to spears as swords are to blades. Bows are good with magic, and most players use them for the ability to attack an enemy at long range. You cannot equip a shield with these and you need to buy arrows. They are also very fast and ideal for players that choose speed over damage. The same weapons will not always have the exact same stats as some are heavier and some have more defensive power. They are also in need of "repair" from time to time and can be broken.

Clothing/Armor
Defense Equipment is split up into 6 body areas: feet, legs, chest, hands/arms, shoulder, and head. Players can also equip 2 magical rings, 1 magical necklace and 1 pair of magical earrings (these however do not show up on the world view). Types of defense equipment fall into 3 categories. There is 'Armor', 'Protector', and 'Garment'. Armor has the highest physical defense, but the lowest magical defense, and can be mixed with protector class armor. Protectors have a balanced physical and magical defense, and can be mixed with Armor. A full suit of protector class armor provides the user with a 10% bonus in movement speed and a 10% reduction in mana usage. Garments have the lowest physical defense but the highest magical defense. Garments cannot be mixed with protectors or armor. A full suit of garment class armor provides the user with a 20% bonus in movement speed and a 20% reduction in mana usage. These 3 types of defense equipment are well balanced and the different sets / combinations are suited for different character builds and world environments..

Quests
There are several quests in Silkroad Online, virtually all of these quests involve killing a number of monsters, taking items that the quest NPC has asked for, and bringing it back to the NPC. The rewards for these quests are mostly money, experience points, and skill points, but in some quests you will receive items as a reward, mostly HP/MP recovery items and one quest give a weapon.

Transport
In Silkroad Online, a character can run and walk. Also, from level 10 and above, characters can buy horses. When your character dismounts the horse, it will disappear and you will have to buy another one. These horses are generally faster than running, and therefore are a preferred method of transportation on long journeys. Your horse can be attacked while you are riding it, by aggressive monsters. Your horse has a set HP depending on which horse you buy. Better horses can be purchased at later levels. There are also camels, which are slower than horses, but can carry items, as your inventory can get full. This makes it an ideal transport for Traders. There are a few 'Ferries', but as in other MMORPGs, you do not ride it, it is simply a teleport across the water. Some spells allow you to run faster on foot.

Combat
Combat is very good, visually and gameplay-wise. You character's damage, attacking speed, and weapon range depend on the weapon and your stats. After your enemy is defeated, they drop items and money, for you to pick up. If another player kills a monster and the monster drops items, you cannot pick them up until a minute has passed. This allows for players not to get their items stolen. After level 4, when a character dies, they lose some exp and respawn in town. Alternatively, another player can revive you, but only if they have mastered the "ressurect" skill. If you die several times, your character loses items too. Characters are highly dependant on HP and MP recovery items. There is a 'Beserker' mode, where if you kill enough enemies, your Beserker Gauge fills, and your character can transform into a glowing demon-like being, where your running speed, attacking speed, defence and strength will be enhanced for a short amount of time. Because of this, it is mostly used in emergencies and taking down strong enemies. After the timer has ended, your character will transform back to normal and you will have to fill the gauge again to receive Berserker mode. Many spells allow for your character to enchant their weapon. You can enchant them with ice, fire, or lightning. This generally increased your strength, and the different elements have different effects on the enemy. These spells use MP, and end after a very short time.

Elements
The 4 elements are Fire, Ice, Lightning and Force. Force class provides healing and passive bonuses. Fire provides stable damage as well as a chance to burn targets (steady amount of damage over time). Ice has relatively low damage but has a chance to "frostbite" targets (slowing down their attack and movement speed) and / or freeze them (render them immobile from moving or attacking). Lightning has a highest magical attack and can inflict the "lightning" effect on targets (lowering their "parry rate", which results in higher damage being dealt to them). Non-offensive skills follow the offensive attacks with similar attributes. Many ice skills increase defense or slow enemies down. Fire skills increase damage and cause burns. Lightning skills increase movement speed and parry rate. Skills are relatively balanced for PvP fighting, but certain skills are better suited for certain weapons, thought it is all up to the user. Any combination of elements can be used at the same time, so players aren’t restricted to one element for use.

PVP
There is also PVP (Player Versus Player) in Silkroad Online, at level 10 and over you can purchase capes that allow you to attack any player outside of a town wearing a different coloured cape. You do not gain or lose anything in PVP in Silkroad. At level 20 and over, you can attack any player also 20 or over, but killing enough people gives you a "Murderer" status where your character's name goes red, and any player can attack you. This results in a large mob of players running after a "Murderer", attempting to kill him. If a player dies while in "Murderer" status, they risk losing exp and/or money/items. Players of different professions (Theif, Hunter, Trader) can attack each other, both in defence or to defeat other players for experience, items and money.