Conquer Online

Conquer Online is a Chinese Fantasy themed MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) for Windows PCs, developed by TQ Digital.

Downloading and playing Conquer Online is free, because the operator's revenue comes entirely from selling virtual "Dragon Balls" to players willing to pay for upgrades to their in-game avatar's powers. The operators also sell the Conquer Online installation disks for those who cannot easily download it from the internet, a hefty 521 megabytes. The developer & operator is NetDragon WebSoft Inc, a leading Chinese producer of net-published MMORPGs, that also runs the (now free) Monster and Me MMORPG.

Conquer Online, like most MMORPG's, has a variety of servers located in different parts of the world like China, Japan and USA, allowing players from all over the world to play together in real time.

The Conquer Online landscape is a 2D rendition of mythical China, allowing straightforward combat-focused gameplay. The operator updates the game about twice each month, and there are server maintenances every two days. There are not many quests, most of which are typically 'treasure hunts' or based on inter-guild warfare. Much of the game is based on its free PK system and the guild wars which occur every week between all the guild in a server. Since the game is designed to be simple to play it doesn't include many professions or character classes; the player has a choice of only four avatar types, essentially differentiated only by fighting skills and items used. These character types are:

· Archer
· Trojan (dual weapon wielding melee, similar to Warrior)
· Warrior (has the ability to use a Shield)
· Taoist (spell caster), progressively upgraded to:

o Water Taoist (Specialized in healing and support magic)
o Fire Taoist (Specialized in destructive, more powerful magic)
Archer

The archer class is a very popular class for its ability to 'hunt' for items faster than any other class, flying, swift leveling, and armour appearance. Hunting for items is killing monsters repeatedly until they drop a worthy item, which can be kept or sold for money in the market. The archers primary hunting attack is the Scatter, fires one arrow at every monster within an area while using only using 2 or 3 arrows. Because an archer can hit multiple targets it can gain a progressively large of experience points faster than any other class. Another good aspect of an archer is its ability to fly for 40-60 seconds (depending on level) making them impervious to all melee attack. Finally, archer armour is quite elegant starting at level 87, with sweeping capes and dashing wings. The cons of the archer class are its weakness in both attack and melee. Because archers can usually level quickly damage has been reduced in order to prevent archers from leveling too quickly. Experience points are based on amount of damage done on a monster. Also, in any RPG, archers are never wearing heavy metal armours. The same occurs on Conquer, for all archers wear light and flexibly but also weak armour.

Trojan

Trojans are immensely powerful melees because of their dual wielding of weapons and rate of stats increase. They gain a large amount of hitpoints quicker than any class. Their armour is quite flexible yet it is still strong. Their weakness is their magical defense, allowing the Taoist class to have the greatest advantage over them, usually.

Warrior

Not as powerful as trojans, but with a great defense attributed to their unique ability to wield shields and heavy armours. They carry no specific weakness to any class, but the best way to defeat them is with a trojan. Their armour is typical of Chinese warriors but also mythical. The high level armours are quite a sight to behold.

Taoist

A special class, being the only one to use mana and the only one to wear traditional Chinese robes as a standard armour. The player has a choice to become a Water Taoist or a Fire Taoist at level 40. Water Taoists have just as much defense as Fire Taoists, but their main attack spell is limited to 'Fire' whilst Fire Taoists can use 'Tornado'. Water Taoists are welcomed by anyone mainly for their large selection of stat boosting spells, and reviving spells. They are a great addition to any Team and a must for Guilds. Their disadvantage is leveling, the spell 'Fire' becomes a very slow way to level after a while. Not to mention their weak defense, as they are only wearing robes. Fire Taoists are similar to Water Taoists except in the selection spells, Fire Taoists also learn a great amount of spells but they are limited to attacking. They also learn at level 65 an attack allowing them to strike many creatures at once. But not nearly as fast as an Archer's Scatter. They too, after a while become slow to level, while they are still faster than Water Taoists.

While limited, Conquer Online has many important attributes which set it apart from other free MMORPGs. First, the game has a wide array of weapons which allow several avatars of the same level to look significantly different. Weapons and wearable items, such as rings,necklaces,boots and others, come in several grades of quality (Normal, Refined, Unique, Elite and Super) and are upgradable. Fixed items are numerically more powerful than Normal ones and even Super ones of the same type. Gems can be mined and used to give socketed items other abilities,such as increased damage,weapon proficiency, overall experience gain and much more, which add new dimensions to the game. Also, there are several types of abilities aside from pure spells classified into skills, stamina skills, XP-skills, and Kung-fu. Avatars can purchase and outfit customizable houses. There is an active market, in which players can sell their items, with a balanced gambling system implemented within the area. Avatars can marry and receive benefits for interactions with other players. There are functional record boards and forums for each server.

However, this game has some flaws, often hated and loved among players. Those flaws lie in:

1. The PK (Player Kill)-anywhere policy. 2. The ability to instanly become rich beyond other fellow users,through the online purchase of DragonBalls, allowing certain players to "buy" their way through the purchase of powerful, rare items.

Those who can not or will not spend their money ($ 7.99 for 2 Dragon Balls, 15.99 for 5, and $340 for 125) are put in a certain disadvantage. The PK-anywhere policy allows players to kill anyone anywhere, with the exception of cities and towns. Cities and towns are "surveilled" by guards, but sometimes even there it is possible to circumvent their protection in order to kill other players. The only PK-free zones are the Market area, player houses, and the Training Grounds.

Conquer Online 2.0 has been released on November 14, 2005, see http://www.conqueronline.com for more details.

Qonquer or more formally known as the Conquer Online Server Emulator (a.k.a. Private Server) is, as its title indicates, a personal, private emulation of the official servers. Private Servers (PS) are known to a more closed circle of online gamers. Other famous games whose servers have been emulated are Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Ragnarok Online, Phantasy Star Online. PS's offer different advantages not featured in an official server. Such advantages are the ability to play without paying a fee (if the game is officialy required to), higher experience points (faster character leveling), higher item drop rates (rare items are found more often), custom maps and/or levels (even the ability to upload and share your self-made map/level), custom characters/avatars, custom items, etc.

In Conquer Online's case, Qonquer wishes to create an environment free from paying for Dragon Balls, and also offers "better customer support and service towards players" as well as new maps, events and more.

The creation of Private Servers, even though it is possible, is not welcome by the makers of such games and it may lead to prosecution, computer confiscating, Private Server deletion and such.

Conquer Character Online Display

A service run by a Conquer player, Chov on the Kylin Server, allows other players to create an online display of their Conquer character. The display includes basic game stats and an in-game replication of the character menu, showing all worn items. The item graphics have been copied, with credit, to authenticate the in-game menu. Game skills and spells are still underconstruction.

External links
· Conquer Online Official Site
· Conquer Online Official Forums
· Conquer Online at MMOSITE
· Qonquer (Conquer Online Server Emulator/Private Server)

Resources

Wikipedia