| Sho Online | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Lizard Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Windows 95/Windows 98/Windows Me/Windows 2000/Windows XP/Windows Vista |
| Release date(s) | 2008 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy, MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Massively multiplayer online game |
| Media/distribution | Client |
| System requirements
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4Ghz, Ram: 256MB, DirectX 9.0 or higher, Hard Drive Space: 2Gb+, Internet Access |
|
Contents |
Sho Online is a free-to-play MMORPG game developed by Lizard Interactive that is based on one of the four Chinese tales, 'Fengshen Yanyi'. .[1]
'Fengshen Yanyi', is a story that is created based on real historical events. It merges the conflicts between the Yin and Zhou era to the imaginary world of Taoism. Players must choose to play either on the Zhou or Yin faction and each player's avatar is positioned within the nation that they choose to be in. Players must sometimes fight other players avatars that are on the opposing faction and help each other to progress their avatar and gain War Fame(determines avatars War title and ranking).
Players complete quests and kill NPC monsters to gain experience, Mun (Sho Online's form of currency), and gear. While this is how the game is played for the beginning of an avatar's journey, later quests become scarce and players must grind to obtain experience. There are also NPC monster bosses that have higher HP and do higher damage to players than average NPC monsters. These bosses provide more Mun, gear, and experience than normal NPC monsters and some drop Pets.
At any level players may choose to participate in the War System. This is the substance of Sho Online's PvP game play.
Currently there are two servers to play on, one for Korean Sho Online(1000do.com) and the other one for global Sho Online (shoonline.net). There have been some plans to increase the number of servers but due to financial difficulties and low CCU and ARPPU, the number remains unchanged.[2] The game strives for the second golden period as it announced the coming of the Beginning of Chaos trilogy.[3]
Yin became a new power in the continent after destroying Ha, the old country that ruled the continent. Yin was established by Tang, who was a subject of King Geol, after he employed Lee-yun the Wise to raise an army and defeated Ha armies in Myeong-jo overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Geol, the 17th king of Ha. Yin was ruled by 31 kings, but as King Ju, the last king of Yin, tyrannized over the people, Hui-bal, the son of Seo-baek-jae-hu Hui-chang, raised Dong-beol Army and destroyed Yin. However, Mu-gyeong who was a descendent of King Ju revolted against Zhou. Yin was reestablished after fierce battles and is now as powerful as Zhou.
Zhou is a new country that became a new power in the continent after overthrowing Yin. After King Mun, the founder of Zhou, mustered lords of the same mind and had a big meeting in Maeng-jin, he destroyed the Yin armies that were several times stronger than his armies in Mok-ya. The policy of King Mu, who tried to embrace the migrants from Yin, ended in a failure because of a revolt led by his three brothers and Mu-gyeong, a descendent of King Ju. Parts of Zhou territory stretching to Cheon-un Gate were occupied by newly established Yin in the end. The people of Zhou, which is ruled by King Seong, the son of King Mu, are working hard to unite the continent to realize the dream of the late king.[4]
One of Sho's most unique features is its war system. Every 8 hours, a general from one of the dynasties spawns. A group of people from the opposite dynasty must try and assassinate this general. When this has happened, the war countdown begins. All players are warned that the war will start in 5 minutes, so they can prepare and create "war parties" to increase experience. Any player may join the war, as long as they have a way to get to the war zone (war zone portals can be bought for a low price from the war shop). When the war starts, one dynasty is given an objective and a timer (usually 15 minutes), while the other dynasty attempts to stop them. If the objective is met within the time, the attacking dynasty advances to the next territory and is given a new objective. If not, the attacking dynasty retreats back a territory, and the other dynasty becomes the attackers. After an hour, the war ends and everybody goes back to normal gameplay. Everybody who participated gets extra experience and fame points depending on how they did in the war, and even more bonuses are given to those in the winning dynasty (whichever dynasty gained more territory).
Pets are NPCs that fight alongside avatars that deal damage and cause NPC monsters to attack them instead of avatars. Players can obtain a pet at level 35 by doing a quest, but pets can also drop as loot from bosses. Pets gain levels quicker than avatars, and also change size and shape at certain level benchmarks. After reaching a certain benchmark pets may be mounted to increase avatar movement speed.[5]
Making an account and playing Sho Online is free. There is a Cash Shop where players can purchase game items with credits that cost real money. Some examples of items that are for sell in the cash shop: items that increase experience gained for a limited amount of time, items that prevent loss of experience when your avatar dies, gear for PvE and PvP.
Purchasing items from the cash shop is not required to play the game, but many players purchase items to increase experience gained and items to prevent experience loss upon death because gaining experience past level 50 is challenging. [7]