LU! India has released its official statement last 18^th of May 2008, announcing that they, in coordination with LU! Philippines will be merging Indian Ragnarok Online to our very own Philippine Ragnarok Online. According to their statement, the said move was done “to ensure that the quality of experience does not suffer“. Starting May 20, 2008, Ragnarok India’s servers will be down to give way to the start of the migration of the Indian Ragnarok Servers to Philippine Ragnarok Servers. The full details of the said merger are yet to be announced soon.

As LU! India released its official statement; concerns have been raised both from the Indian and the Filipino Ragnarok players. Ragnarok India now is only currently at Episode 11: Einbroch, The City Of Steel, while Ragnarok Philippines is now getting geared up for Episode 17: Nameless Island. The big gap between the patches of Ragnarok India and Philippines will mean that Ragnarok India players will have much coping and adjusting to do, in terms of character builds, weaponry and armor, and other in game concerns. Another of the concerns is the language and cultural barrier that both sides will be experiencing once the merger has been done. How would the two factions communicate with effectively to each other? Using English may be an answer to this concern, but we know that not all Indians and Filipinos are well versed with the language, and this might cause misunderstanding between the two factions. Both Ragnarok India and Philippine players are also concerned about the server in which Ragnarok India will be merged, for it will greatly affect the server’s performance, population and economy. Meanwhile, one of the biggest concerns of the Ragnarok Philippines players is the effect of the said merger to Ragnarok Philippine Championships 2008, for if the current Ragnarok India server will be merged with one of the Ragnarok Philippine servers now, it will surely make a big change for the championship season of that server. These are just some of the issues accompanying the said merger.

As of now, LU! Philippines is yet to release their official statement about the said merger. According to a reliable source, the said merger is indeed going to happen. The details are still being finalized both by LU! India and LU! Philippines.

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