Valhalla, in Norse mythology, means “the hall of the slain”. It is the place where all warriors slain in battle go. Eventually, their souls will be used as fighting machines called einherjar. If you have played the Valkyrie Profile series, you’ll know what I mean.

Those who reside in Valhalla server however, are all but slain. They are very much alive but still have the same tenacity to fight as the einherjar, and I’m definitely one of them.

What puzzled me most when I first stepped foot in Valhalla was the relatively small number of players there (around 800-900 compared to 2500-3000 in other servers), despite it being a free-to-play server. There are several reasons that I can enumerate. First, it was a relatively new server, so it is not as densely populated as the old ones. Second, with the advent of flashier 3D MMORPG’s, fewer players appreciate the old but quaint 2D-and-3D style games like RO. Third, few are willing to play on all possible servers unless they have the time and determination to manage all their characters. One disadvantage I can think of when associating with fewer players is fewer customers for Merchants, Blacksmiths, and Alchemists, and also fewer candidates for suitable party members.

If there are disadvantages of having a small number of players, there are also advantages. First, there is fewer competition among players and guilds. Second, dungeons and fields are not as crowded, so you can slay all the monsters you want, and pick up all the items for yourself. Third, there is less lag (and consequently fewer complaints about lags, which is against player etiquette anyway).

Valhalla may be the place of the slain, but here, I’m very much alive and kicking. (And, oh, here’s my shameless plug: I have a Merchant named VeigueLungeberg in Valhalla. See me there, folks.)

**The opinions and viewpoints published in this article are not necessarily those of Level Up! Inc, its games and its licensed products or services.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 10:40 am and is filed under Community. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.