I was a chatter, an mIRC addict. I refused to welcome any other lure the internet has, for fear I couldn’t handle such. Until my guy stopped logging onto our channel. I was informed he’s hanging out in a place called Midgard. Clueless to what it really is, I asked. Then I was introduced to a world that is Ragnarok Online. It’s from Korea, he said. An MMORPG sensation that’s about to grip the nation. Neither did i know what an MMORPG is back then. I resisted it for some time. Till I noticed he hardly ever gets up from his seat whenever he plays. I assumed it must be quite interesting. I watched. First thing that caught my eye were the sprites. Unlike those of the fave network games, DIABLO, CS and WARCRAFT, RO’s are uber cute. To say they are gender-friendly is an understatement. And then he turned the speakers on, and the BGMs did it. I got my own account and started my RO life. I was an acolyte. A clueless acolyte. But I enjoyed it. Back in those days, almost everybody’s a noob. I learned I could level up by killing monster, get rich by selling the loots and get stronger by getting myself equips. Even more interesting was the way one’s gotta think about one’s build, which would spell whther your RO existence would be worthy. And the best feauture of the game for me? What else, but the availability of social networking. People were nice, they lend you things, they trust you to return them. You get useful and honest tips, and more often than not, free tanks.

          My support/hybrid TU priest reached as far as lvl 79 before I stopped playing. Before I stopped, I was able to be with a really nice guild, DP. Their bunch is one of the nicest group of guys I’ve ever met. Distance did not hinder our firendhip, and wherever they are right now, I hope they know they made my stay worth it. I was also able to lead my own guild, Legion of Angels, composed mostly of brods from my own academic org back in college. Needless to say, the guild got dissolved when my account got locked, errr deleted. I got pregnant you see, and my protective and superstitious mother did not want her ‘apo’ to bore any resemblance to any RO monster, and so I had to stop Circa ‘04.
          Even on a hiatus, I got updates from friends. The series of patches after another was quite intriguing, and inviting, but my job sadly permitted no time to come back. By the time I had the leisure, me and my guy were no longer in communication, and RO market started to spiral down. Year 2005, with the birth og one too many different game brands, RO population diminished by at least 90%, shops closed and rumor had it that the game was dying. And I got discouraged all the more to go back.
           Then my guy and me got back together, we talked, about our lives and RO, we had our second child, and during those nights we try hard to stay awake for the newborn, we finally decided to go back. February of this year was the only time we found out for ourselves that our home, dear old Chaos, is gone. He stayed in Baldur since his account has been luckily preserved. I tried Valhalla. After a while, I found myself longing for the old environment, and we decided I’d go back to Chaos, now Baldur. 

There was no stopping since then. I started from scratch but was no longer a noob. And I enjoyed and still am enjoying myself immensely. My battle HP is slowly gaining strength. I have experienced the new addends to Midgard, there were a lot of them, including the overpriced items, PHP schemes and scams. But there was no stopping me since then, except when I have to devote my time to my family. All the better since me and my partner enjoys the game together, and we’ve taught our 3 yr old. She’s now got an acolyte pummeling porings away in Valhalla.
            I have relinquished my denials. I have surrendered to the truth that I have loved the game. It is most probably due to the fact that it was introduced to me by the love of my life, or maybe though I am not confirming this, I am one of those good ol’ beta addicts.
              I am now in the game. Though I have gotten used to the 15k population of Chaos server, and I know that Baldur is now being survived by the few 2k faithfuls, I am still in the game. It was good to hear that Valkyrie is gaining fame with around 11k population but moving out of my server never crossed my mind. Simply because that’s how I’ve come to know and love the game, and so I am in it. while other women of my age while away their weekends shopping and painting their nails, I am either Boss Hunting, Dead Branching or simply leveling up. I am back in the game. I am here.