9Dragons

9Dragons is a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) published by Korean game company Indy21 and remastered for the Western Market for Acclaim Games by best-selling American author Steven-Elliot Altman. The game features 3D graphics and traditional MMO control schemes. Set in China during the Ming Dynasty, it includes actual Chinese geography and historical features such as the Great Wall of China and The Famous Shaolin Temple.

The Clans a player may join in 9Dragons are based upon various schools of Kung Fu and are separated into two major factions, The White Clans (loyal to the Imperial Emperor) and The Black Clans (who have no allegiance to him). The White Clans include: Shaolin (male disciples only), Wu-Tang Clan, and The League of Beggars. The Black Clans include: Sacred Flower (female disciples only), The Brotherhood of Thieves, and Heavenly Demon Clan. Each Clan has its own separate but very similar requirements for admission.

Development and Distribution

Indy21, a game developer in Korea, originally created the video game 9Dragons, then they made agreements with both "Persistent Worlds" and "Acclaim", to allow them to market and sell 9Dragons to the European and American markets. The original In-game story for Indy21's Korean version was written by best-selling Wuxia novelist Jwa Baek and then Steven-Elliot Altman was hired by Acclaim to rewrite the game in its entirety so that it would become accessible to Western audiences. Both companies released the game in "Open Beta" to the public in January 2007. The deal that Indy21 has with both companies allows them to market and sell the game using their own method of choice. Acclaim (American) then stated that the game will continue to be F2P (Free to Play) when Open Beta comes to an end, they will integrate advertisement and an Item Mall to obtain their profits. Later Persistent Worlds announced that they would cease trading and that their servers would be shut down. Indy21 has now granted European Rights for 9Dragons entirely to Acclaim.

Version History

The commercial Acclaim version of the game is at version 31 (as at 4 January, 2008), where some new functions have been added, some minor user interface enhancements have been made, and some previously inactive functions are now active (such as the Yin, Yang, Body and Soul elements in the character screen) as well as some new advertisements. Critically however, the ability to 'keyjam' has been removed leading to many users complaining that they would no longer be able to train buffs as high level buffs require as many as 32 casts to gain .01%. It is unclear yet as to what effect this move will have on the popularity of the game. Versions 20 and 21 were patched in October 2007 and the level cap was raised from 120 to 159 in version 21. A notable inclusion in the previous version 19 was the long-awaited second episode of the "Road to the Dragon" quest series. While this quest in itself is a relatively low level quest, it possibly heralds the beginning of the next phase of the game. Recently, skill exp had been increased by 5 times, amounting to 10 times during double exp events and also bringing AbOUT more discussions about the fairness of such an increment towards existing users.

Patch 30, however, has reduced this skill exp increment to 4 times (8 times during double exp hours).

Classes

After reaching Opening Chi 1, the player can then choose a role in the clan. They all go by different names but they fall into 4 distinct classes:

• Warrior: Masters of the clan's main weapon. (Main stat: Constitution, Strength, Dexterity)

• Strategist: Buffer and healer, also known as a "Priest" (Main Stats: Strength, Dexterity and to a lesser extent Essence)

• Chi Kung Caster: Long-range attack specialists, also known as a "Nuker" (Main Stats: Wisdom and Essence)

• Hybrid: The soloist fusion of Strategist and Chi Kung User with adequate physical capabilities with the clan's secondary weapon (Main Stats: Constitution,Essence and to a lesser extent Strength and Dexterity)

These are the unique names each clan has for each role:

• White Clans
  • Shaolin
    • Luohan Monk (Warrior)uses poles
    • Diamond Monk (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses gloves
    • Deva Monk (Hybrid)uses gloves
    • Exocrist Monk (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
  • Wu Tang
    • Blue Dragon (Warrior)uses swords
    • Red Phoenix (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses gloves
    • Black Tortoise (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
    • White Tiger (Hybrid)uses gloves
  • The League of Beggars
    • Vanguard Beggar (Warrior)uses staffs
    • Strategy Beggar (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses gloves
    • Dragon Beggar (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
    • Spirit Beggar (Hybrid)uses gloves
• Black Clans
  • Sacred Flower
    • Mistress of War (Warrior)uses wheels
    • Mistress of Heaven (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses gloves
    • Mistress of Spirit (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
    • Mistress of Cloud (Hybrid)uses daggers
  • Heavenly Demon
    • Blood Demon (Warrior)uses sabers aka falchions
    • Phantom Demon (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses gloves
    • Storm Demon (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
    • Fire Demon (Hybrid)uses gloves
  • The Brotherhood of Thieves
    • Warrior Bandit (Warrior)uses spears
    • Gold Rogue (Strategist AKA "Healer")uses axes
    • Armored Bandit (Chi Kung Caster AKA "Nuker")uses bracers(weapons u channel energy through)
    • Taishan Bandit (Hybrid)uses axes

Advanced Clan Roles are still under production

The names of which are

Iron Fist(White clan or black clan,this is not certain)
Black Dragon(Black clan)
Union Of Noble Families(neutral)

Gameplay

Leveling

The game uses a unique leveling system, in which each level has 12 Cheng as a kind of sub-level system. Each time a character receives a title change (such as when leveling from Losing Self 12 to Gathering Chi 1) a mini-game is required to level, and extra stat and skill points awarded.

Combat system

In 9Dragons you have the Player-versus-Player (PvP) system, and Player-versus-Environment system depending on which server and which map on the server you are located. When in PvP areas, such as Bloody Plains, you can attack any other player except the players who are in your own clan. If you kill someone in a PvP area you can get karma. If you kill a member of a white clan when you're black clan you get 30 Good Karma, and vice versa if you are white clan. If, however, you kill a member of a black clan when you too are black clan then you will get 10 Bad Karma, and vice versa if you are white clan. When you have collected enough karma you can get karma epithets. There is also an area called Cave of the Conqueror. This area has 5 levels. 4 are accessible and 1 is a secret, hidden floor. In this area you can have both PvP and PvE. When you enter the Cave you will get poisoned by the Conqueror's Mist. You need certain herbs to protect you from it and if you don't have them you will slowly die.

Blood Essence

There is a rare material in the game known as Blood Essence (BE). It can be obtained as rare drops from [...] monsters or gaining 999 Blood Count. When the Blood Count, a number derived from how many kills a character has, reaches its maximum of 999, the player will receive a Blood Essence and the Blood Count is reset to zero again. Blood count is also reset to zero whenever a player dies from being killed by a monster. Blood Essence can be used to refine or strengthen weapons (they glow brightly when this has been done). Weapons can be refined until +9 on the Nirvana, Asura and Bardo servers. For levels 1 and 2 of refinement, success is 100% guaranteed. However, from level 3 and above, there is a chance of the weapon breaking, resulting in the loss of the weapon as well as the Blood Essence used to refine it. However, half the Blood Essences used on the failed level will be returned. Blood Essence is often sold or traded at different values depending on the server. On Nirvana(US) the price is around 350k-400k thousand in game gold (as of November 23, 2007). On Bardo(EU) it is around 3005-35880 thousand in game gold and on Asura(PK server) it is around 2600k - 4000k game gold (as of December 30, 2007).

• - levels 10, 11, 12 are not implemented yet in the Acclaim version of the game

Elixirs

There are also elixirs in 9Dragons which can affect stats and skills.

Events

• Acclaim holds weekly events which includes a double XP(experience point) event. For two hours all experience points are doubled for the event. The rewards for quests ARE NOT doubled during this time. The double exp events always start on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 16 PST for Asura (US) and Nirvana (US) and at 16 GMT for Bardo (EU).

• The second weekly event is a war between the rival clans in which the two opposing sides fight each other (Black VS White). The basic objective for both sides is to eliminate the opposing leading NPC(Non Playable Character) while trying to defend their own leading NPC. The winning side receives a powerful buff which includes 3 hours poison free passage to the Conquers Cave which contains many rare items and the strongest bosses, Increased damage and 3 hour access to the secret level in the Conquers Cave. This event is always held on Saturdays right after double XP.

External links

• 9Dragons homepage (Acclaim) (North America and Europe)

• 9Dragons homepage (Nexon) (South Korea)

• Cửu Long Tranh Bá homepage (Vinagame) (Vietnam)

• 9Dragons homepage (PFamily) (Taiwan)

• 9Dragons Designer Steven-Elliot Altman Interview at mmosite.com
• Acclaim CEO Howard Marks Interview at mmorpg.com
• 9Dragons MMOsite Professional game database with original and authorized guides, Clans, skills etc.
• 9Dragons wiki
• 9Dragons forum 9Dragons fan-forum; many guides and prompt answers
• 9Dragons Trailer The non-commercial 9Dragons Fan Trailer from MAM Entertainment
• 9DragonsWiki

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