By Alex Villafania, hackenslash reporter
INQUIRER.net
NEARLY three months after showing a glimpse of Perfect World, Philippine online game publisher Level Up! has announced that it has started its closed beta test of the massively multiplayer online game in the Philippines.
By early July Level Up! will start Perfect World’s open beta test and finally, a commercial launch of the game by August.
In a telephone interview, Level Up! CEO Jane Walker said they are expecting between 10,000 to 12,000 accounts to be activated in at least 250 Internet cafes for Perfect World’s closed beta test.
Perfect World was developed in mainland China by Beijing Perfect World. It is a full 3D game that plays similarly to Blizzard’s extremely popular World of Warcraft. One of Perfect World’s main features is its character modeling aspect wherein a player can create a unique character down to the facial appearance.
Walker said that while Perfect World is considered a premium title, it will not compete with Ragnarok Online, currently their oldest and most popular game to date. However, she said some Ragnarok players may shift to Perfect World while others might go back to Ragnarok after playing Perfect World for a while.
“There would be loyal players to Ragnarok and some would be loyal to Perfect World. What’s important to them is not just the gaming experience but the community of players that they have built,” Walker said.
Walker said they are awaiting the arrival of Ragnarok II, a totally new game from South Korean firm Gravity.
“We would be launching it before the end of the year,” she said.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:09 am
WoW is better kaya nga lang may monthly fee pero its worth it kasi sa PW mas malaki pa ang gastos mo pagreach mo ng level 60+ lalo na sa 90 ang isa pang kalokohan sa PW yung pinagsasabi nila na no grind dito! anong kalokohan ito? at isa pa yung experience chart grabe yung kailangan mo sa level 103. Takte yan. Ano gagawin sa end game? Lipat na ng ibang laro? Kaya wala talagang laban ang PW sa WoW kasi sa simula at lalo na sa endgame ng WoW madami kang pede gawin. Mapapansin mo nga na medyo magkaparehas ang WoW at PW pero madaming kulang sa PW. Advantage ng WoW over PW, PvP at PvE system (ok nga sa pw kasi kahit nalipad ka pede ka umatake pero parang land fight na din siya kaya wala din at isa pa strategy? anong strategy ano yan bili ako ng Amulet? Nasan ang strategy dun? LMFAO! Compute niyo nga mga high level (80+) ang nagastos niyo at compare niyo sa WoW players. Try niyo maglaro ng WoW baka magquit na kayo sa PW.), Honor points, Battleground, Arena Points, Raid (up to 40 members), Advanced AI that will challenge you (meron bang ganito ang PW? NONE!), support, fast updates (Well, World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King will be released this year at isa pa pag may nakitang bugs sigurado maayos kaagad nila) and etc. Siguro nga medyo cartoonist ang graphics ng WoW pero hindi siya panget! Bakit ba kayo ng lalaro ng MMORPG? Dahil ba sa graphics o gameplay? Dahil ba sa madodominate niyo yung game dahil sa sa dami mo ng pera? LMFAO! Baka pag nalaro kayo ng WoW mga rich player ng PW, magquit kayo kasi hindi niyo magamit ang pera niyo para palakasin ang character niyo. Hahaha!
June 11th, 2007 at 4:33 am
It shares a lot of features with wow but it is still it’s own game.
@rak
you can not compare it with RO, not by a long shot.
@cruncher
everyone is looking forward to the next generation of MMORPG’s and one way or another older ones will meet their ragnarok. PW is by far the most advanced MMORPG in the market, not to mention the most PC unfriendly. You would need more than 1g memory for this one
May 31st, 2007 at 9:47 am
they are looking forward releasing RO2 while their ROSE Online is going to its DOOM and be DUMPED soon!
May 31st, 2007 at 6:39 am
i’m a cbt player.
@endlesone - PW is not a WOW imitation…
it’s been discussed already…
what if i say PW is a RO imitation because avatar can be customized…
May 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
i am a CBT player of the game all i can say about the game is definitely this is the proof that the chinese really are good in imitation its the WoW clone if ever there was one, so i reddomend this game for those who keep on asking for a WoW philippines this is as close as you can get on playing WoW interms of gameplay style…+