TalesRunner

Tales Runner
Developer(s)	RHAON
Publisher(s)	NOWCOM(2005) RHAON(2010–2011) Funtown(2006) FunTown(2006) Shanda(2007) TOT(2007) gPotato(2008–2011) nowcom(2012) Winnerhub(2013-2015) OGPlanet(2014) Gemscool(2014) Nurigo Games(2014)
Platform(s)	Personal computer, Microsoft Windows, Massively multiplayer online game
Genre(s)	Racing Game, Platform game, Casual game, Fantasy
Mode(s)	Single Race, 30 Player Race, Relay Race, 1 Player Race (Time Attack), Tournament
Distribution	Internet Download, download

Tales Runner is a Massive multiplayer online game created by the South Korean company Rhaon Entertainment and published by Nowcom.^[1] It combines the genres of social, fantasy and racing games; players compete by running, jumping, dashing, skiing and climbing across different magical fairy tale settings. The game setting is centered on Eastern and Western fairy tales.

The Korean name for Tales Runner is "테일즈 런너" (Teiljeu Reonneo, a transliteration of "Tales Runner"). In Hong Kong, it is known as 跑Online (lit. Run Online), in Taiwan, "新衝天跑" (lit. Run to the sky), in Mainland China, "超级跑跑" (lit. Super Run), in Japan, Teiruzu Rando (テイルズランド^?, lit. Tales Land)

in Thailand, "เทลส์รันเนอร์" (Tales Runner).

Tales Runner has local servers for various countries including Korea, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Mainland China and Japan. On November 16, 2011, gPotato announced that their North American servers would permanently shutdown on December 21, 2011. As of October 29, 2012, Nowcom, the primary company hosting TalesRunner, released their global server of the game again.

Storyline

King Henry is the king of a beautiful country. To make the people happy again, he started the "Fairyland Sightseeing Racing Competition" with a fairy tale theme. The winners of the competition will be awarded a stone that can fulfill any wish. Each contestant is called a "Tales Runner".^[2]

World Servers

Server	Language	Country	Local Publisher	Remarks
Korea	Korean	Korea	nowcom	IP from China, Hong Kong etc. is blocked.
Japan	Japanese	Japan	NEETS (2006-2007) RHAON Japan (2010-2011)	NEETS stopped operating on April 30, 2007. RHAON Japan stopped operating on June 22, 2011.
Taiwan	Traditional Chinese	Taiwan	FunTown(2007-2015)	Using Internet Explorer to login.
Hong Kong SAR/Macau SAR	Traditional Chinese	Hong Kong SAR Macau SAR	Funtown	Using Internet Explorer to login. Includes Keroro, Tamama, Giroro, Dororo and Kululu (from Japanese manga series Sgt. Frog) as playable characters.
China	Simplified Chinese	China	Shanda
Thailand	Thai	Thailand	TOT	Have to provide a correct Identification Number to register.
North America	English	USA USA Canada	gPotato (2008-2011) nowcom (2012) OGPlanet (2014)	Officially closed on December 21, 2011. Official closed-beta version was released on October 29, 2012. Official closed-beta version will be released on March 20, 2014 - April 3, 2014. The second closed beta is set for April 22, 2014. Officially opened on April 24, 2014.
Vietnam	Vietnamese	Vietnam	SGame (2013)	Officially open-beta version was released on July 11, 2013.
Singapore	English	Singapore	WinnerHub (2013-2015)	Officially open-beta version was released on August 13, 2013. WinnerHub stopped operating servers on 10 March, 2015.
Indonesia	Bahasa Indonesia	Indonesia	Gemscool (2014)	Officially open-beta version was released on July 9, 2014. IP outside Indonesia is blocked.
Brazil	Portuguese	Brazil	Nurigo Games (2014)	Officially open-beta version was released on September 18, 2014. Includes Monica (from Brazilian comic book series Monica's Gang) as a playable character.

Gameplay

Racing

Racing is a key part of Tales Runner. Players race though various racing maps in an effort to finish the map and collect money, experience points, Alchemy Cards, and various items. There is a variety of map styles ranging from training maps resembling sports facilities, fantasy maps themed around fairy tales stories, or survival races with monsters to conquer.

The game supports several racing modes, including individual races where each player runs for himself, team mode with two teams, and relay mode with up to six teams of three players. There's also a mode for up to 30 players racing as well as a Tournament Mode for special events, and also a 8 players co-operate to finish the race. Racing rewards differ dependent on the position at which the player or its team finished. Rewards consist of game currency award, experience points award and randomly in other items used in other game features.

Characters

Tales Runner currently supports eighteen different customizable playable characters with different stats. Players may have as many or as few characters as they wish, and once purchased are permanent additions to a players My Room. All game servers don't support all the playable characters. In addition, there are transformation characters used to "disguise" a playable character as a person from a fairytale, as well as special characters for the character Maki, in the shape of ghosts.

Characters are purchased in game using either TR, or Astros (USA Tales Runner) currency.

Leveling and Experience

Experience gained in racing or using other means allows the player to level up. Character abilities can also be improved using special equipment or clothing items, or with buffs from NPCs, event prizes, or fortune telling.

Experience gained via racing is also used in improving some player's belongings or allow special interactions with the items, for instance, Experience gained can level up pets, farm animals, and growable farm crops. Farm animals and farm crops can be harvested for various items, Experience, or money.

Currency

There are two currencies available in the game: A 'cash' currency, which can only be obtained using real money, and the in-game currency called TR, which can be obtained via racing, with a variety of farm items, or purchased by tickets with cash currency. Shop items available for purchase are usually only available for one of the currencies.

The game does not support trading, but players can buy items for other players. After the purchase of an item, the item can never change owners.

Playable characters used for racing are also inventory items - new characters can be bought in a shop, and the selection of active character does not change the player's in-game name, experience count, or money balance.

Alchemy

Alchemy allows players to create new items by combining various cards obtained via racing with items bought in shops. The alchemy system also supports upgrading lower level equipment to a higher level. Each alchemy item supports a different stat, and is able to increase that stat.

Couples, marriage, and family

Players in Tales Runner can have couples, marriages, and family. They can purchase it with cash currency.

Guilds

Players can form guilds with other players in addition to being in families; these are similar to the guild system in some other MMORPGs. There are daily quests and race battles that are exclusive to only Guilds members. Details vary depending on the servers.

Farm

Farms are miniature maps a player can own, maintain, and use for meeting with other players. It is possible to use permanent items on maps for decorative purposes, or growable items which produce other useful items the player can use. Growable items use experience points obtained by the player in races but don't prevent or slow down the character leveling up. Growable items expire after certain amount of using and either disappear or must be renewed to continue working. The farm needs a farm ticket to be used so it doesn't expire; this ticket is bought with ingame currency, TR.

Achievements

Achievements are small quests or tasks which player can accomplish while playing the game. Examples are racing certain number of races, performing certain number of racing tricks, or buying certain number of items in the in-game shop. Completing an achievement is rewarded with various amounts of in-game currency.

Emblems

Emblems are a special type of Achievements, where the award is a medal and a trophy.

Tournaments and events

In tournaments and events, players compete against each other for points and prizes, varying depending on the server and event. Usually, a GM (Game Master/Manager) will host the event from in-game and dispatch the prizes.

The 2013 Tales Runner World Championships was hosted in a Mall in Hong Kong.

References

External links

• Tales Runner official website, North America