The game features unique systems such as the “Soul Mate System” and “Real Costume System” which have boosted its popularity among female gamers in Asia. The Soul Mate System allows two players to become soul mates, which allows for special costumes and new skills. The Real Costume System, as its name implies, offers gamers some of the most extensive character personalization tools available in any MMO.

To gamers wondering if it will we be worth playing, Gamescampus is so confident players will enjoy the game that they are offering the The Guaranteed Fun Promotion. All they ask is that players spend 30 days playing Asda Story and attain a minimum level of 40 by September 4. If they are not satisfied, they can submit feedback as to why they didn’t like the game, and they will be paid thirty dollars for their time and input.

“We chose to bring this game to the west because we believe in its potential. The Guaranteed Fun Promotion is our way of showing our belief in the game and is even better than a money-back guarantee because you don’t have to spend a penny to play Asda Story,” said David Chang, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Gamescampus.com. “We are just asking you to invest your time in playing our game, and if after playing for 30 days you don’t feel it has been the great game experience we feel it to be, we want to hear your feedback and we’ll give you $30.00. It is as simple
as that.”

For full details of the promotion, please click here.

(Honestly, this has relevance to RPGs. Just not yet. Hold on…)

It made me think upon the evening prior, when a couple friends and I broke in a new copy of Rock Band. There were nail-biting passes of songs, screams and cries of “HOW LONG IS THIS SOLO?!?”, and speculations as to what would be in the next set list. Now, I’ve felt these emotions before in the comfort of my own home and under my own power, but it was the cooperative effort that made this particular experience exceptional. Horns were thrown up and high-fives delivered upon sightreading “Run to the Hills” or “Tom Sawyer”. We were operating as a unit rather than three gamers. We were not T.J., Chris, and Trevor.

We were Opening Act.

It’s an interesting feeling, going toward a common goal, especially given the competition-based heritage of the video game as a medium. However, it’s especially compelling given the nature of the Role Playing Game, a form derived from – ironically – similar feelings of unity and cooperation forged around tables and over character sheets. A party of adventurers back in 1982 may have cheered a companion’s dice roll the same way I cheered Trevor’s drum solo. They were the brave, we were the rock.

However, the console RPG as we know it has veered away from this sense of togetherness. No longer does the player have to coordinate with their peers to complete an action. Parties are under one player’s control; actions are micro-managed by an omnipotent overseer. A lonely omnipotent overseer. If only there existed an easier way to connect to like-minded individuals…

Enter the MMORPG. Many consciousnesses, one game. Thousands of the aforementioned like-minded individuals, protected by anonymity. While it’s undenyable that there’s an allure to gaming in such a massive forum, I find that any experiences I’ve had online pale in comparison to those I’ve experienced with my flesh-and-blood cohorts. “/em high-fives <t>!” only goes so far, and doesn’t make your hand sting with that beautiful sting of victory.

I started MMORPGaming with a group of existing friends. How I long for those days of exploring a new world at night and debriefing the rest of the group over lunch! Even though the world has grown significantly since those days, with new experiences, enemies, jobs, zones, and quests added with each passing update and/or expansion, it still has never managed to recapture the magic of interacting with real human beings of your close acquaintance.

I knew that the whole of Steelers Nation, from Polish Hill to Pensicola, from Blawnox to Boston, and from Shadyside to Seattle, was feeling the same deflating defeat and frustration that I was feeling. However, despite this knowledge, I didn’t identify with them so much as I did with every Hines-Ward-jersey-clad patron, waitstaff, busboy and barback in my immediate proximity. I could see, hear, and feel their discomfort, and I was in tune with them.

RPGs are, by and large, single-player affairs. They are for in-depth, conscientious gamers who appreciate control and are focused on enjoying a storyline by way of number-heavy gameplay. Few and far between are the RPGs that encourage cooperation among a non-one quantity of players. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, hardware requirements aside, came the closest to this ideal. (That being said, I’m waiting with bated breath for the DS iteration of that series.) This generation of systems, with the Wii’s group-centric focus and ad-hoc wireless networking available on the DS and PSP, seems to be in a great position to really expand these concepts. Imagine, if you will, a portable pseudo-MMORPG wherein a character you develop can play either standalone on the title itself, or connect to the internet or an ad-hoc group for cooperative dungeon-crawling or PvP activity.

Yeah. It’d be that good.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go test my SNES multitap and arrange a Secret of Mana night.