MMORPGs Launching Quickly in North America

New MMORPGs and MMOs that launched in South Korea and China are making their way fastest to the West than ever before. Just recently Perfect World Entertainment launched their newest game – Forsaken World into closed beta here in the West. The game is STILL in closed beta testing over in China. So the game was localized and launched in BOTH regions at around the same time. I say “around the same time” because it was out in China first, but not by much. Nexon, the company best known for MapleStory and Dungeon Fighter Online, launched Vindictus in North America within 6 months or so of launching it in South Korea. The time it takes for an Eastern game to reach Western shores have been decreasing steadily for quite a few years now. Loong: The Power of the Dragon from Gamigo is yet another example. Unfortunately, things haven’t always been this way.

Digimon Battle from WeMade Entertainment for example, launched in North America some 5+ years after it launched in South Korea and China. Darkeden from JoyMax launched in the States nearly 8 years after it originally debuted in Korea. Just recently PWE launched Heroes of Three Kingdoms in North America, but it had been available in South East Asia as “Redcliff” for numerous years. It’s only recently that games have begun launching in different regions at “around” the same time. Black Prophecy, an upcoming MMORPG from Gamigo is scheduled to launch in both North America and Europe at around the same time too.

Unfortunately, there are still hundreds of games available only in South Korea and China which haven’t launched in the West yet. Luckily, some of these games – JX2 Online, Battle of Destiny, Super Dance Online and Hot Dance Party (Steps) are all playable from North America, even though they are published in South East Asia. Most games not released in America have IP restrictions preventing foreign users from logging in. Beanfun for example has half a dozen games available in Taiwan that aren’t yet available in the West. Luckily, they’re bringing the Japanese MMORPG Lucent Heart to North America real soon. But there are so many other games available in Asia that have yet to be announced in North America.

Even though the gap between new MMORPGs announced in Korea and coming to the West is decreasing, I feel that a lot of the older games are never going to make it to Western shores. It’s unfortunate because many of them would probably be really successful here. I mean just look at games like Silkroad Online from JoyMax and Conquer Online from TQ Digital – both of these Eastern games are huge hits in the West. Legend of Edda, FreeJack and Zentia for example are all really popular here in the West. These titles are new, but even older games “relaunched” here are big. Just look at Fantasy Earth Zero from GamePot USA. It’s an older Japanese MMORPG but it’s a big hit!

Bring some older Chinese MMORPGs and Korean MMORPGs to North America! After all, American MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons Online are available all over Asia already!

Eudemons Online vs Conquer Online - MMORPG Comparison

TQ Digital publishes a bunch of free to play 2D MMORPGs, but out of all their games I think Eudemons Online and Conquer Online are the best, with Zero Online a close behind. Eudemons Online focuses more on pet based gameplay while Conquer Online is more of a PvP MMORPG. Both games have only a handful of playable classes, but they’re both good MMORPGs if you can look past their graphics. People looking for really nice 3D MMORPGs with top notch graphics won’t be a fan of either game, but those who actually care about fun gameplay will likely enjoy both games.

Graphically speaking both games are extremely similar. In fact, I would say that both games run on the exact same graphics engine – in the same way Dragon Oath and Blade Wars run off the same graphics engine. So neither game really wins any points in this department. Plus, both games are 2D meaning that the developer spent more effort on gameplay than graphics.

Gameplay wise I feel that Eudemons is much faster paced. The experience rate is fast paced, so players will be able to get to the fun late game content in a relatively short period of time. In Conquer Online, it’s the opposite. Leveling up takes a while, but players have a stronger sense of progression, as each level feels more rewarding. The skill system in both games are pretty similar and the core gameplay mechanics are also very similar.

In terms of system requirements, both games can run easily on lower end machines. I believe the system requirements only a demand a Pentium 3 CPU and a low end graphics card. The benefit of a game with low end system requirements is that the game is more accessible by players. Games like MapleStory from Nexon and RuneScape from Jagexy are as successful as they are because they have low system requirements.

Both games are fun and worth checking out. I prefer Eudemons Online over Conquer Online, both games are worth the download.