Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds
| Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | NEXON Inc. |
| Publisher(s) | KRU Interactive |
| Platform(s) | Windows |
| Release | KR 1997 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 an MMORPG, currently run in the US by Kru Interactive. Nexus began as a U.S. version of the Korean game 바람의 나라 (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 1997. That year, 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 subsidairy were laid off but the management remained the same as it was when the company was a subsidairy 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.
Interesting Nexus Facts
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.
Storyline
The Setting
Nexus takes place in a land called the Kingdoms. The Kingdoms are then divided into three actual Kingdoms: The Empire of Buya, the Kingdom of Koguryo, and the Kingdom of Nagnang. (These kingdoms are located on the land mass that includes China, Korea, and sections of Russia.) There is also a popular fourth Kingdom, called Han, that is not yet open in the game, but to which players and the storyline often refer to for roleplay purposes. Each Kingdom has its own monarch, army, and various clans and subpaths. The Kingdoms may have feuds amongst themselves, and often have roleplay disagreements or alliances.
Buya
The Empire of Buya is officially ruled by Emperor Aino Senshi, but is actually governed by his daughter, Princess Lasahn. The current General of the Buya Imperial Army is General Bullmunk, though all Buyan Imperial Soldiers will forever remember General NightRaven as their commander. Buya is home to the Do, Shaman, and Muse subpaths. The cities that take place within Buya are Buya, Sanhae, Arctic Village, Tok-Do, Naju, Kimchon, and Yu Ryang.
Koguryo
The Kingdom of Koguryo was officially ruled by King Yuri (after whom the years are named) until he passed away in Yuri 82, Fall ((June 28th, 2006)). Koguryo was actually run by his son, Prince Mhul. Because of King Yuri's death, Mhul is now King. The current General of the Koguryo Royal Army is General Nykid. Koguryo is home to the Chongun, Spy, Merchant, Diviner, and Monk subpaths. The cities that take place within Koguryo are Kugnae, Hausson, Masan, Onyang, and Kangnung.
Nagnang
The Kingdom of Nagnang is ruled by Prince Kija. The current General of the Legion of Nagnang is adragonsclaw. Nagnang currently hosts no subpaths but has several clans of its own. Nagnang is a country divided into two by separate institutions, and could therefore be thought of as having multiple regions. The two powers are Prince Kija and the Nangen Army, as well as the Forsaken clan. The cities that take place within Nagnang are Kusan, Chunchon and Kyongju.
The 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 Wilderness is home to the Barbarian, Geomancer, Druid and Ranger subpaths.
Hunting
Hunting (for experience, and also money and items) can be done in a large variety of areas of various themes and moods. Very popular is the Mythic Nexus, where each of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac have a cave or dungeon, each of which is instanced three times at vast variance in difficulty. Mythic hunting is popular with players no matter what their experience, though some players above level 99 may favor the Vortex area, particularly for its lucrative items.
Leeching
Leeching, i.e. the practice of raising a character's level by unconventional means, usually attractive to players because it is typically a much faster method of levelling, is a problem in Nexus. Unlike some MMORPGs, there is a relatively small experience penalty for having members of a much higher level in your hunting group. Therefore, players can abuse this by grouping with a powerful high-level player who can kill larger monsters than fighters of the player's level. This causes great disbalance in the game, disaffecting more honest players and upsetting the balance of paths.
Calendar
The Nexus Calendar has an 8:1 ratio with real time. Hence a game day takes up 3 hours of real time, and one year is 45 real days. Dating before transition between versions 3.0 and 4.0 is rather inexact, and often simply referred to as "before the Great Shift." Years in-game are often called "Yuris" because dates are officially noted as "Yuri XX" etc., meaning the XXth year of King Yuri's reign. For example, the Great Shift occurred in Yuri 23. Also, births, quest completions, and the like appear as "Yuri --, season" in character legends. Innkeepers refer to months as "moons" and use a 24-hour clock.
Free Trial
A free trial is offered in NexusTK which allows a player to attain level (insight) 49 before they must pay for play. At the end of ten days, the character's trial is over immediately and cannot be logged into again unless registered. An account costs US$9.95 a month for four characters. During the free trial period players are able to do many quests, join a basic path, as well as chat and interact with all other players.
Paths
Paths are the Nexus equivalent of character classes in other games. All players begin at level 1, in a tutorial, and can choose a class once they reach level 5.
Peasant
The Peasant is the class before a class. In the tutorial, and prior to level 5, you are a peasant. You can only learn one spell (a basic self-heal spell), and have very poor abilities. A Peasant MUST choose a path before he can advance to the sixth level.
Many items are marked as being for "level X Peasant" This actually means that a person of ANY path can wield the item once they reach level "X".
Warrior
The Warrior is the basic "tank" class. Warriors can use a wide variety of weapons, and have a wide variety of armors available. Of special note is their ability to hit enemies on all four sides, which distinguishes them from the other melee class, the rogue. They can gain numerous special abilities, treated as spells, available to boost their damage. With the advent of polearms, a still-controversial class of weapon, warriors and rogues roles in groups have been largely homogenized, with a few exceptions: Warrior vita attacks do not consume mana for their damage calculation, warrior's don't need to concern themselves with losing their invisibility (unless they are a Do, or are using a faded stone), and warriors using Chung Ryong's Rage at level 6 will be reduced to 1 vita and 0 mana when their spell duration expires.
Rogue
The Rogue is the other melee class. The Rogue's specialty is dealing massive damage to a single enemy. Rogues have special abilities which make them harder to hit. Notable is their ability to ambush an enemy and appear behind it (strikes from behind do more damage). They can also become invisible, causing their next strike to do 8x the normal damage. A Rogue can also transform into certain creatures, which used to prevent enemies of that type from attacking on sight (though they will attack if attacked first).
A particularly deadly combination is a Rogue with a Polearm weapon. The Polearm is extremely powerful, does not take away invisibility, and has a damage multiplier when hit at range. Using a Polearm, a Rogue can also strike up to 3 enemies at a time. Unless the rogue has the spell "Cunning" which after casted 4 times allows the rogue to strike all directions enabling them to hit up to 8 monsters simultaneously. So technically speaking Rogues do it from the back and that's the way it's always going to be.
Mage
The Mage is the overall magic user. Mages have a relativley high damage output at low levels, however at higher levels in groups, their primary task is to immobilize and incapacitate enemies, which allow warriors and rogues to more effectivley deal with them. When mages amass very high amounts of mana, and the 5-way inferno spell, they can once again focus on providing the group with a high damage output. Mages can also cast protective spells on their adventuring group and have a limited ability to heal others. The Mage can also transform into certain enemies, preventing those enemies from attacking on sight (though they will attack if attacked first).
Poet
The Poet is the healer class, similar to the Priest or Cleric classes in other games. Poets have extremely powerful healing spells as well as protection spells. In addition, they have access to the most powerful curses in the game, and can at higher levels become invulnerable for a short time. They are also the closest thing Nexus has to a pet class, with the ability to summon creatures which will fight any opponent their summoner attacks, or that causes damage to the summoner.
Subpaths
Nexus TK has what is known as the subpath system. Each path has four subpaths, these subpaths bestow additional abilities and promote roleplay amongst the community. One of the subpaths is not player controlled (known commonly as NPC subpaths) and can be joined by anyone of the base path. The other three are PC subpaths: they are run entirely by the players, and are responsible for holding a huge number of events and enhancing roleplay.
Warrior
Chung Ryong
The Chung Ryong path is the Warrior NPC subpath. The Chung Ryong is the Blue Dragon, the Warrior Totem. Warriors who join the Chung Ryong can obtain a weapon called a Chung Ryong Scale, and learn a spell called Rage. The Rage spell is incremental and can be re-cast every 120 seconds, stacking up to six times. Each time it is cast the warrior's attack damage is multiplied. At the highest level of Rage, attack damage is multiplied by 81x. It has drawbacks, however. When it is stacked three or more times, the warrior's armor class is weakened, and hence the warrior takes considerably more damage when hit. Also, when the cumulative duration finally expires, the warrior loses a percentage of hit points, how many depending on the highest level of Rage reached. This can be fatal.
Chongun
The Chongun are the warrior nobility of the Kingdoms. Founded by the female warrior Madog (Who also founded the Bear Clan), the path was based on the principles that one's motherland came before all else. Values such as courage, valour , and honour are all founding ideals set forth in the Chongun Creed, and recorded in the Kwanhonsagje (The Chongun Scroll). The home of the Chongun is situated in the city of Kugnae, in the kingdom of Koguryo, though the path consists of members from all regions of the known world.
Do
The Do are weapons masters. Though they are expected act humbly, they are the most skilled and knowledgeable warriors in the land. They can train others in becoming mastery of weapons, and also host the Do Masai Tournaments.
Barbarian
The Barbarian Horde is a group of warriors who have renounced the Kingdoms and live in the Wilderness. They are not a path as much as they are a family: they are like a clan in some respects. The Barbarians can train others in Wilderness Survival, and the Guides may perform Blood Oaths.
Rogue
Baekho
The Baekho is the Rogue NPC subpath. Baekho is the White Tiger, the Rogue Totem. Rogues who join the Baekho obtain a weapon called a Nimble Blade, and learn a spell called Cunning. Cunning is similar to the Warrior's Rage in that it is can be stacked, with the benefits increasing with each cast. Cunning will improve protection and damage with each cast, and at its highest, will provide 85% more defense and 12x the normal damage, also adding the warrior spells, flank and backstab.
Merchant
The Merchants are a path of traders and sellers. In addition, they police the Marketplace, removing those who attempt to scam others. As part of their path activities the Merchants go on Treasure Hunts and perform other tasks for the community. Merchant Guides can also engrave items.
Spy
The Spy path is extremely secretive, and few outside of their ranks know the extent of their influence and power. What is known is that they are buyers and sellers of information. Many are also great (if somewhat sneaky) fighters, and they will often hold tournaments for the community to compete in.
Ranger
The Rangers are woodsmen: they live in the Wilderness and live in harmony with nature. They are particularly skilled with the Bow. The Rangers may train others in the arts of Foraging, Archery, Camouflage, Cartography, Security, Trapping, and Tracking. In addition, they will sometimes go on scouting expeditions with individuals or groups.
Mage
Ju Jak
The Ju Jak is the Mage NPC subpath. Ju Jak is the Red Phoenix, the Mage Totem. Mages who join the Ju Jak obtain a staff called the Ju Jak Staff, and learn a spell called Evocation. Evocation, when cast, will restore all of the Mage's mana (similar to Invoke), and will also heal them up to 1/3 of their maximum vita.
Diviner
The Diviners are Seers and Oracles for the Kingdom. They can read karma and can tell the future in a myriad of ways. They will often hold events at which any person may ask a question, and they will seek the future. They also have the ability to purify marriages. In addition, the Diviner Guides can perform an I Ching reading that can have an unknown number of effects on absolutely anything, including items, karma, money, appearance, or even life and death.
Shaman
The Shaman are those who commune with the Spirit World. They are secretive and often seen as menacing by those who do not know them. The Shaman host a games called Grave Robbers, where creatures will appear and one holds a token: whoever finds that token wins, and extemporaneous storytelling competition called Mudang Sori. Shamans also have the ability to reveal Totem Spirits for people and grant several quests, including that which gives the Ceremonial Fire. All Shaman Guides and a few members also have the ability to perform marriages.
Geomancer
Geomancers are essentially Taoists and Feng Shui masters, mages of the earth. They seek the ultimate balance. They have the ability to perform Ba Gua readings that can reveal truths about the past, present, and future. The Geomancers also hold events where, by finding certain tokens at their House of Chi, one can win many sorts of prizes. They can teach the making of elemental orbs.
Poet
Hyun Moo
The Hyun Moo is the Poet NPC subpath. Hyun Moo is the Black Turtle, the Poet Totem. Poets who join the Hyun moo obtain a staff called a Life Lance and learn a spell called Hyun Moo Revival. Revival, when cast, will restore all of the Poet's health and all but 10,000 of his mana. In addition, if he is dead, he will be brought back to life.
Druid
The Druids are Poets who seek to live in harmony with nature. They celebrate the passing of the seasons and know great amounts of Herbalism and of the Wilderness. The Druids can help you discover what element you are aligned with.
Monk
Only the most patient and humble make it within their walls. They strive to find the truth in all things veiled by deception and illusion. They believe the route to enlightenment and Nirvana lie in the Eightfold Path and meditation. Although they are peaceful, they are trained to fight and defend.
Muse
The Muses are artists and actors. They often put on performances of all sorts in their Theatre. In addition, Muses can dye people's clothing in a myriad of colors.
Alignments
In addition to choice of path and subpath, players can further specialize their character with alignments. There are three alignments available: Ming-Ken (Light), Ohaeng (Balance), and Kwi-Sin (Dark). These alignments may in turn have different interpretations within a particular subpath (for example, a Dark Druid is prohibited from being 'evil', while a Dark Shaman may be).
Clans
The clan system in Nexus is a sort of guild system, except very rigidly enforced. Clans, as opposed to subpaths, operate more as a family than anything else: members are encouraged to know each other and participate in many clan activities. There are currently 16 official clans. Each official clan exists in one city, and receives a Clan Hall and a number of other special things, such as Clan Helmets, a Clan Bank, and so on.
National Armies
Each Monarch of the Three Kingdoms (Koguryo, Buya and Nagnang) has their own respective Armies, which provide formal protection for their respective Kingdoms. Each Army functions in a similar manner to a clan, with players having potential access up until the Rank of General (which is for most purposes the same as Clan Primogen), with The rank of Commander reserved for the Nation's respective Sovereign.
The Commander interestingly and arguably holds no power over each Army's day to day running, but may request actions via their Nation's General.
The Buyan Imperial Army is currently under the control of General Bullmunk.
The Koguryan Royalist Army is currently under the control of General NyKid.
The Nagnang Army, renamed the Legion of Nagnang in 2004, currently is under the control of General Adragonsclaw.
Player Positions
Because of the unique nature of Nexus's development, players often have positions of true power within the game. Some official positions that can be held by players are Judges, Tutors, Archons, and Carnage Hosts.
Judges
Judges are players with the ability to enforce many of the laws within the Nexus Kingdoms. They read over cases and summon defendants, victims, player witness, and sometimes a player jury in order to vote on the outcome of the case. Vini is currently the head judge.
Tutors
Each town has its own tutors for each path (class). Tutor is also a player position which can be sought by any experienced or skilled player. They have their own special training arenas in which they have many powers to summon a number of training beasts, sweep traps, turn magic on and off, kick out unruly players, and so forth. Tutors regularly hold open and private classes for those interested. They also maintain their own boards which collect the majority of information required for each path.
Archons
These are players who are essentially assistant game masters. They are granted special anonymous characters in order to aid in the running of the game. They perform many functions, some of which are to test bugs, help deal with player problems, and develop major events. There is a great deal of speculation about their actual powers, which are also known to have changed over time. It is known that they can walk through walls, teleport anywhere in the game, and are untouchable by any attack. They are appointed by the Archon Primogen, a direct appointee of the company that runs the game, and great secrecy is attached to the selection process. It is a position achieved by only a handful of people.
Carnage Hosts
There are several types of organized PK events, collectively called "Carnages", within Nexus. These are large scale battles which take place between great numbers of players. Interested players can apply to become Carnage Hosts and assist in running the Carnages. They have certain special abilities within the Carnage arenas, such as assigning players to teams, ejecting unruly players, etc. The current Head Carnage Host of NexusTK is WorldWalker.
Controversy
The game, of course, has not been without its own controversy. Central topics are perceived corruption in the actions of the Archons and others who run aspects of the game, and the subpath quota.
Marama and Tip
Much of the controversy regarding the Archons centers around the actions of the previous Archon Primogen, who goes by the handle "Marama". After Nexon U.S. (now known as Kru Interactive) broke from the Korean Nexon, Inc., Marama was given control of Game Master activities and responsibilities. Her actions and decisions have received criticism from the Nexus community. Marama's mortal character was a member of higher society, and chose many personal friends to become archons, leading favoratism towards them, such as avoiding justice, and having their problems solved quickly. Marama also chose to supervise the subpath elders, which led to controversy. Marama's real life husband Tip, who was the head judge, had the power review, reverse, or change sentances given by others for breaking laws. Therefore, both Tip and Marama, real life husband and wife, had virtual control of every aspect of the game. By controlling new Judges and Archons, these two people held a huge amount of control in the game, and were known to hound players who crossed them completely out of Nexus by constant arrests, or deletion of Community Board posts they disagreed with, or even banishment and deletion of the character. After Marama became the Archon prigomen, new laws, and changes to current laws were introduced. One was to ban any mention of alcohol products, which was controversial due that alcohol exists in the game, as well as herb pipes. Another was the ban of posting on the board with an all capital name.
Archons
The Archons in general have also been subject to controversy because there is virtually no way to appeal an Archon's actions. The "real" characters of any Archon are unknown to the general populace, and it is in fact against in-game law to reveal. It is reported that all requests to Kru Interactive regarding the actions of the Archons have been ignored.
Carnages
Carnages are claimed by hosting by some hosts that run from favoritism. Whether a rule-breaking participant is banished, or if teams are unfairly balanced), or even grudges. One of the previous Carnage head, named Dethsgift, was found guilty of stealing money from the carnage department, and was replaced by Sindella. Most people of the staff disliked her and believed she wasnt ethical enough to be put in such a position, so most quit, leaving only a few hosts. She was replaced within one week by a veteran host named Worlwalker. Such actions caused much controversy in the community.
Subpath Quota
The quota was introduced, which required 10% of each characters in the subpath's root path to be part of a subpath. The shadow subpath thought this was a direct opposition to the group's roleplaying desires, so they disbanned and were replaced by the rangers. Other subpaths were forced to admit players with poor roleplaying in order to keep the subpath alive.
PvP Combat
A popular feature of Nexus is its PvP capability. There are four sorts of PvP-like games, but only two are true PvP. The Carnages are run by players called Carnage Hosts, who are then overseen by an Archon. These may have special rules, such as the forbidding of certain weapons or armor, which can be found on the boards outside each of the arenas.
There is also unbridled PK action in the areas called the Vale and the public arenas. These are not overseen by Hosts, and do not follow a schedule.
Carnage of Riches
Carnage of Riches, generally just called "Carnage", is the oldest of the games. It was initially run by Bringer, a Nexon character, then turned over to player management, either by known or anonymous players. Riches is a straightforward team PvP battle. The players are divided into teams (usually two) and fight two out of three battles.
Bloodlust Carnage
Bloodlust works similarly to a Carnage of Riches except that there is no item or experience reward at the end. Until Bloodlust wins were made a requirement for Sam San status, Bloodlust existed solely for the fun of a team battle. The Bloodlust arenas are more widely varied than the Riches arenas, having such things as obstacles, walls, areas with limited access, etc. In addition to the simple team vs. team battles, Bloodlust is also known for its unique and interesting theme games where special rules, goals, or victory conditions are established.
Elixir War
A game similar to Capture the Flag. There are two teams, red and blue. Each team member is automatically issued a bow and arrows that dye their team's color. If a member of the opposing team is hit with your color, he is dyed and must stand perfectly still until hit by his own team, which restores. If he moves while dyed he is sent to the sidelines, out for the round. Elixir War winners have the choice of a number of dye potions (Do not want) or sleep arrows as an award.
Fox Hunt
A Fox Hunt is a team event wherein teams of six players, all riding horses, compete to capture the opposing team's fox, which follows that team's captain. The basic idea is to form a box around the opponent's fox or captain before the opposing team does so to your team. Success at Fox Hunt requires a lot of strategy and cooperation.
Other PK Combat
Not related to Carnage, but still worthy of note, is pure PK combat. This is unregulated free-for-all PK, and can happen at any time in certain areas. Vale is a very large PK-enabled map, any person may be attacked by any other. However, due to the fact that some important locations are here, some subpaths have rules prohibiting Player killing, especially initiating PK combat, in the Vale. The Sire Pit is one of the public arena rooms in the Buya city arena. It is the most popular of the arenas due to its convenient location near East Gate and the fact that there are likely to be at least a few PK-minded players hanging around there at almost any time.
Contests
Nexus hosts two sorts of literary competitions: The Poetry Revels and the Story Contests.
Poetry Revels
The Poetry Revels are hosted weekly by Kru and the Archons who are assisted by Poems. There is a different them each week, such as "Love," "Danger," etc. There are six placings in each competition: First Place, Second Place, and 4 Honorable Mentions.
Story Contests
Story Contests are hosted by the Clans and Subpaths. contest open every two weeks. Winners of these contests will often receive material rewards (provided by the sponsor), and the First Place winner will receive a Legend Mark. There are usually three winners for the Story Contests
Homes
Nine villages, three for each kingdom, exist containing houses which players can rent. Many floorplans and features are offered for houses. First a player chooses house based on the location, size (large, medium, or small), and external appearance of the house. Players can choose from a number of maps, depending on its size, for the interior appearance. An NPC is included with the house and manages many features.