GRAVITY FESTIVAL 2006
By GM Tristan III
From August 11 to 14, 2006, I was in Seoul, Korea to attend the Gravity Festival 2006, the 5th annual Ragnarok Festival and also the event where Gravity showed off its new games. It’s a MMORPGer’s paradise!
With me were GM Phage and the 2 lucky winners of the RagnaREUNION SMS promo, Gelacio Emas, 30, from Las Pinas (from the Lydia server) and Kriz Joaquin, 20, from Taytay (playing at the Odin server). Joining us were the 2 winners for the ROSE Online Gravity Festival quest event, Ronel Parpan and Pepe Mariano. Together, we were the official Philippine contingent in an international event attended by Ragnarok players from 13 countries including the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, China and Thailand.
The event was held all-day Saturday, August 11, 2006, at the gigantic COEX Convention Center in Seoul. The booths were all elegant and huge. Greeting you by the façade was a huge castle replica from Prontera. This was done in the new style and colors of Ragnarok 2. There, you could pose with porings or, if you’re lucky, pretty cosplayers for free.
Throughout the day there were videos and behind-the-scenes demos of Ragnarok 2 on stage, one of the highlights of the event. And boy, we were all in awe of the videos and the many new developments for Ragnarok 2! Exciting!
Flanking the main stage were demo areas for the other Gravity games like Rose and Requiem. To the right of the stage was the massive RO SHOP where you could buy all sorts of official Ragnarok products. Right beside the RO Shop were the fan-made sections (similar to our LU Town booths) where hand-made fan items were for sale. You could find anything from a keychain, cell phone strap, clock or even a t-shirt for reasonable prices.
Noted anime sound composer Yoko Kanno also graced the event. Yoko is currently busy working on the background music for Ragnarok 2. Her credits include compositions for Ghost in the Shell and Vision of Escaflone. She wowed the audience with a behind-the-scenes look at producing sound and music for Ragnarok 2.
To cap the fun-filled day, our hosts from Gravity took us to a traditional Korean dinner where we sampled great Korean dishes, and yes, almost a dozen varieties of kimchi! Whew! Hot! Anyway, on behalf of RO and ROSE players, I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Gravity for a successful event, and thank them for their generosity and hospitality.
Gamsa Hamnida!
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