SilkRoad Online Acquired By Level Up Inc.

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Level Up! Incorporated has recently announced its latest addition to its Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) portfolio, Silk Road Online.

Silk Road Online (also known as SRO or Silk) is based on historical events in the 8th century when China used a network of trade routes in Southern Asia known as the “Silk Road” to barter goods and services to their counterpart Islamic and European civilizations. On the open expanses of the Silk Road, the merchants are constantly on the move to trade and transport their goods while thieves and burglars are likewise bent on divesting these businessmen of their cargo. In addition, there are hunters who specialize in guarding caravans and putting an end to thieves and burglars. The constant violence and excitement along the trade routes create the backdrop where exciting adventures await the Pinoy gamer.

Players can pick a job at level 20 in the game: a merchant, a hunter or a thief. Merchants buy goods for normal price in a city and attempt to bring them to another city, where they can be sold for higher prices, thus making profits. Thieves attempt to rob the merchant and steal the goods so that they can sell it to the Black Market. Merchants may hire player hunters to protect themselves from thieves. Note that characters can switch freely between jobs and are not locked into any role – something not found in other MMO games. However, switching between opposite jobs will result in a loss of some job experience. After choosing a job, players can form guilds so that they may plot their own strategies and participate in guild wars for total control of the trade routes.

Meanwhile, “Stars” represent the value of the goods a merchant carries, with one star being the lowest value and five stars being the highest. NPC thieves are generated to attack all merchants; the higher the value of the goods, the more thieves that are generated. When a merchant’s transport is killed, the Item trading Players can set up stalls to sell and advertise their items they may have found from killing monsters, trading, or buying. The seller determines the price at which to sell each item, although it is possible for buyers to communicate within the stall window. As NPCs sell a limited selection of items, stalls are a popular way to acquire high level or unusual items, such as those with seals, which are special attributes or stats added to the weapon or the clothing.

With cutting-edge game content and exciting game features, SRO truly has the makings of a epic MMO experience.

“What’s awesome about Silk Road is that it’s based on real myths and legends such as Arabian Nights and Greek mythology. Characters in SRO can fly around in magic carpets and spin their own adventures with their friends or nemesis. It’s the stuff of legends,” says Mon Macutay, Marketing Director for Level Up.

“Level Up is proud and excited with this new game. I’ve actually played the game and when I saw the graphics and the quests - I was blown away! Without a doubt, SRO has the content, the graphics and the features to go toe-to-toe with any full, immersive 3D MMO in the market today.” Macutay adds.

Silk Road Online is a free MMORPG created by South Korean company Joymax and was launched for international Beta testing last February of 2006. Level Up! is now making SRO available for local players. The game is hosted abroad and is played by users from across the world. Currently, it has a total of 1M active unique users. In the Philippines alone, it has 100,000 active players. Level Up! will now allow local players to purchase “Silk” (the online currency to buy items) through an online payment system.

The game itself is FREE to play. Players can opt to buy in-game items through the Silk Road Online Item Mall for their characters (with “Silk,” game currency bought with real money via Level Up top-up cards).

Silk Road Online will be available in the first quarter of 2007. http://www.levelupgames.ph/silkroad/

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Published:
02.07.07 / 9pm
Category:
News, SilkRoad Online