Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
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| Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | NEXON Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | KRU Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release date | KR 1996 NA 1998 |
| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds (Korean:바람의 나라), alternately known as Nexus TK or simply Nexus, is a Pay to play MMORPG, currently run in the US by Kru Interactive. Nexus began as a U.S. version of the Korean game 바람의 나라 (Baramue Nara, or simply Baram) developed by NEXON Inc. of Korea, and is loosely based on Korean mythology and on a series of graphic novels by an artist named Kim Jin. Development of Baram began in Korea in 1994 and the game was released in 1996. One year later, it also entered Beta in the United States, going commercial in 1998. In 2005, the US subsidiary of NEXON changed its name to Kru Interactive and took over running Nexus, Dark Ages, and Shattered Galaxy as an independent company. Most of the employees of the subsidiary were laid off but the management remained the same as it was when the company was a subsidiary of NEXON.
A few features that distinguish Nexus from other MMORPGs are its 2D tile graphics, intense player involvement, a central storyline, and its anime-like style. The highly popular game Lineage was based on a fork of the Nexus server software; its developer, Jake Song, was one of the original developers of Baram. Nexon pioneered distributed game servers in 1999 and set a record of 12,263 simultaneous users in a single world.
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[edit] Setting
NexusTK is set in a land similar, geographically, to the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Other lands such as Han and Ilbon, though not present in the game itself, are often referenced. In addition to the three kingdoms, there are nine villages in which a player may live. Three exist for each kingdom, containing houses which players may rent for a fee. Homes may be customized as a player sees fit using "floor plans" offered for homes of different sizes.
[edit] Koguryo
Koguryo is loosely based on an historical kingdom of Korea (Goguryeo) and was the first cultural center of NexusTK. Koguryo, whose capital city is Kugnae, is home to the Chongun, Spy, Merchant, Diviner, and Monk player subpaths. Kugnae is the largest city in the Nexus. The Kingdom is ruled by King Mhul, son of the late King Yuri, and several clans reside within the Kingdom and swear loyalty to King Mhul. These include (chronologically), SunMoon Clan, Bear Clan, Enigma Clan, Oceana Clan, Destiny Clan and Tiger Clan. The Kingdom also is home to the Royal Koguryian Army and the Royal Ministry of Koguryo. The official call of the Koguryians is "Onwards, Azure Koguryo".
[edit] Buya
The Empire of Buya, which is popularly called the "Shining Jewel of the East" by its more aristocratic citizen-players, is loosely based upon the historical kingdom of Buyeo. In NexusTK history, it was a small village that grew into a flourishing empire. The Do, Shaman, and Muse player subpaths reside in Buya. It is ruled by Emperor SenShi and his daughter Princess Lasahn, several clans swear their loyalty to Emperor SenShi. These include (chronologically), Heavens Clan, LostKingdom Clan, Phoenix Clan, Dharma Clan and Elendhirin Clan. The Empire is also home to the Buyan Imperial Army and the Imperial Ministry of Buya.
[edit] Nagnang
The Kingdom of Nagnang is ruled by Prince Kija. Nagnang currently hosts no subpaths but has several clans of its own including Silla, Kurimja, Forsaken, Pegasus, and Alizarin. Nagnang is a country divided into two by separate institutions, and could therefore be thought of as having multiple regions. The villages surrounding the capital city within Nagnang are Kusan, Chunchon and Kyong Ju. It is ruled by Prince Kija, the son of the late King Zhou and is home to the Legion of Nagnang and the Royal Ministry of Nagnang.
[edit] Wilderness
The Wilderness is a broad expanse owned by no one. It is home to a large number of creatures, locations, and natural resources. The Barbarian, Geomancer, Druid and Ranger subpaths reside here.
[edit] Character Development
NexusTK has a flexible character development system. There are four "basic" paths to choose from, each of which has one non-player-controlled subpath and three player-controlled subpaths. When a player reaches a certain level, he may also choose one of three alignments; Kwi-Sin, Ohaeng or Ming-ken (symbolizing death, balance or life respectively).
Leveling up is not the only aspect of character development, however. Nexus:TKOTW has a very tight-knit social structure, and has many different social cliques. Sometimes a positive, sometimes a negative, Nexus' community has been the lifeblood of the game to many. Unlike many other MMORPGs, in NexusTK most players are known by others and are treated with a general amount of respect by the average player.
Like in nearly every MMORPG, there are different armor dyes, armor types, hair choices, hair colors, and character models to choose from. There are also many different types of weapons, some players choose to wear items that assemble a certain 'look' that defines who that character is. Others simply choose to wear functional outfits, and still others choose to display wealth by having many expensive items on.
Unlike many other RPG's, character development does not end when the level cap (level 99) is reached. Players can continue to hunt and gain experience, which can then be traded in for permanent gains in health and mana capacities.
[edit] Social and Political Structure
[edit] Player Prominence
Perhaps the most distinctive "feature" of NexusTK is the ability for a player to gain positions of influence in the community, including official positions such as judges, tutors, archons, carnage hosts, subpath guides, elders, ministers, clan councilors and primogens.
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[edit] Controversy
The unique social and political structure of NexusTK does not come without its share of controversy.
[edit] Black Sunday
Originally, the Poetry Revels were hosted by the Muses. Each week, the poems sent in to Revels would be filtered so that the Muses would not know who they were voting for. A board in the original Subpath area (which was then switched to Poetic Justice inside the Muse Garden) would then contain the poems for the Muses to read. Each Muse would then go through every poem, then vote for honorable mentions, first and second place.
Unfortunately, some Muses found a way to corrupt the system to make profit. Poetry wins were needed for Ee san (A culture mark, rather) and therefore they could charge ludicrous amounts of money to vote for their poem. If the poem won, the Muse would then be paid and the winner would walk off with a Revels mark, and generally Ee san.
A ring of Muses were caught doing this at one point, and after months of investigation by the then Muse Elder Kiyone and a group of his most trusted, they caught those who were accepting bribes and cast them out of the path, branding them. Those who they accepted bribes from were also branded.
After this, the Muses gave Poetry Revels back to Nexon (who later became KRU) .
[edit] Abuse of Judge and Archon Positions
"Marama's" real life husband plays the character "Tip", who for many years (1999 until March, 2006) was the Head Judge, with power to review and reverse or change sentences given by other judges for law-breaking. Tip also had a huge influence in choosing new judges or dismissing "unfit" judges. This was compounded by the fact Marama's "mortal" character, Sarina, is the head of the Mage Subpath "Diviners", leading her to choose many Diviners as Archons, giving them a huge advantage in settling inter-subpath and non-subpath disputes, plus many instances of claims of favoratism in cases where Diviners were involved in "crimes" or where other characters insulted or otherwise gave offense to Diviners, facing "justice" retribution by both the Judges (led by Tip, Sarina's real life husband) or the Archons (led by Sarina's alter-character, Marama, plus many Diviners as Archons). It also led to cyclical authority loops, where Marama (Sarina) chose an Archon to supervise the Sub-Path elders, meaning Marama chose the person to oversee her Sarina/Diviner elder character, essentially supervising herself. Therefore, both Tip and Marama, real life husband and wife, had virtual control of every aspect of the game with virtually no outside supervision or possibility of being over-ruled in any of their decisions.
By controlling new Judges and Archons, these two people held an amount of control in the game, and were known to hound players who crossed them completely out of Nexus:TKOTW by constant arrests (leading to inability to progress as a game character or to be involved in many facets of the game) or deletion of Community Board posts they disagreed with, or even banishment of the character.
[edit] Poetry Revels
[edit] Subpath or Player Hosted Events
In addition to "official" events that are supported in the game's structure, some players and subpaths take their imaginations beyond the technical limits of NexusTK and create their own events. New event ideas are conceived and implemented on a regular basis by the player base.
