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Student_______Philip On___________________ English 1000C Essay Number____3____

ESSAY COVERSHEET

Instructions: For each essay, complete a coversheet after you have written a discovery draft and then submit the coversheet with all subsequent drafts of the essay, revising the coversheet as needed if your approach to the essay changes. You may write on the back of this sheet if you need more room.

1. In a word or phrase, describe your topic. __________Mabinogi_______________________________

2. In a word or phrase, give your working title. ______________Mabinogi: Fantasy Life________

3. Complete the following sentence that tells why you are an insider on this subject; that is, what qualifies you to write on this subject.?

I am an insider on this subject because I play the game daily and learn more about it every day.

4. In two to four sentences complete the following, which should describe your target audience in specific terms: class, gender, race, age, educational level, geographical location and the like.

My target readers are gamers, casual gamers, those that are bored.

I have chosen this specific audience because they’re the most likely to try a new game.

5. Complete the following statements that indicate (a) the purpose that you want to achieve in writing this essay for this specific audience and (b) the response you expect from this audience.

My purpose in writing this essay is to get more people to play Mabinogi.

I hope my audience will respond by trying Mabinogi at least.

6. Complete the following sentence to indicate what value your essay holds for its readers.

My readers will benefit from reading this essay by having a new game to play.

7. In a word or phrase, identify the role you are playing as the author of this essay: Are you writing in your role as a university student, new parent, concerned citizen, dedicated worker, or what?

Bored university student.

8. In a complete sentence, state your thesis. Be sure that this statement is the same thesis that appears in your essay.

Despite the steep learning curve of the battle system, lackluster customer service, and somewhat rude community, this game is a jewel that deserves to be looked at.

GRAPHICS

The beautiful grass lushly extends before your eyes as you take your first step into the wonderful world of Erinn, taking note of the pristine water as you observe your own reflection. You marvel at how huge this world in which you are now considered a resident of. It took four years, but the Nexon team has graced us with the gift of a polished jewel, localized straight from Korea.

Mabinogi begins with an incarnation of your character, completely customized by you. Although there are limitations of the way you can customize yourself at first, as you get more involved with the events and activities in Erinn, you are on your way to becoming an individual that stands out from most crowds. With the vast selections of clothing, the colors they come in, and accessories, you can feel assured that no two individuals look alike.

For those who love to watch anime, they are in for a treat; most of the graphics, disregarding the beautiful landscape, the wondrous effects of mystical magic spells, and the wondrous realistic weather, are anime-based. Non-player characters (NPC for short) come to life with detailed portraits, as if you were actually face to face with them.

GAMEPLAY

Mabinogi fulfills what it promises in the title: a Fantasy Life. It skillfully avoids the trap of being repetitive, one of the biggest flaws plaguing most Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG for short) today.

For those familiar with Korean-made MMORPGs, at first glance, they may feel as if Mabinogi is “just another clone” of all the current games that are out, such as Flyff, Ragnarok Online, and an honorable mention, despite it not being of Korean origin, the browser-based game, Runescape.

These aforementioned games fell into the trap Mabinogi avoided. Instead of providing the player with a weapon and telling them: “Ok, you’re on your own. Kill stuff, get stronger, and get rich,” Mabinogi lets the player, well, live a Fantasy Life.

The source of other games’ repetition revolves around the gameplay. All the player has to do is click anything that moves, watch their character kill the opponent, and move on to the next. There is little to no interaction during the battles, unless you count pushing the same button every 30 seconds interaction.

Mabinogi brings us a battle system that rewards careful planning and strategy. Every attack and stance matters (and you get a lot of them!), as if it was an epic rock-paper-scissors game. Rushing into this game will only bring about death, as indicated by the level 60 player next to me dying to a level 1 monster.

Needless to say, this battle system may overwhelm newcomers at first, and may get frustrating. A common problem with online games is the latency issue; this is crucial in Mabinogi, as lag for even one second can throw off your strategy and get you killed. Regardless, practice makes perfect, and lag will always happen at one point.

For the ones that just can’t let go of the way they play in aforementioned MMORPGs, or are just new to these games in general, Mabinogi offers the option to simulate the same simple battle system offered in those MMORPGs.

Another common trap MMORPGs fall into is the lack of things to do, to get anywhere. In most MMORPGs, the only way to progress in these games is to kill anything that moves. Combining that with the repetitive battle system, most casual players may get frustrated and quit the game immediately.

Mabinogi avoids this trap as well. Rather than giving the player only one thing to do, it lets the player decide on what they should do. They can do simple part-jobs for money and experience (to get stronger) rather than just kill stuff. They may then use the money to invest in many things. They may become a farmer and supply others to make even more money; tailor clothes and become a salesman; create weapons and sell to adventurers; the possibilities of what to do are endless!

The one that stands out is playing music; players can use an outside program to produce songs in MML (Music Markup Language), the basis of how midi files work. This game is the perfect chance for those prospering musicians; they may create their own original song and have it evaluated by other players; their audience.

Mabinogi draws in many players with this premise of gameplay; even casual players. This game is easy to pick up, and easy to put down. There are many activities in Erinn do not require an extensive time investment; you could just log on, do one or two part-time jobs, and stop playing right there to go on to do other things. Congratulations! You’re accomplished something in a small time-frame!

STORY

Unlike most MMORPGs where every house, object, living being is simply there to help the player progress and get stronger, Mabinogi carefully fleshes out a back-story for just everything in the world of Erinn.

Yes, that Giant Spider that tries to eat you as you attempt to explore dungeons has a story behind it too.

For those seeking to learn more about the history of Erinn, a challenging but rewarding mainstream quest is out there for people to tackle. The deep story encourages players to overcome these challenges to sell if they can be called a true citizen of Erinn.

And if anyone is wondering, Mabinogi is loosely based on the Mabinogion, a collection of oral and written Welsh prose stories, hence the similarity between Mabinogio and Mabinogion.

SOUND

The game seeks to immerse its player even further into its world with simple, yet satisfying to listen to sounds. When you receive your first reward from a part-time job or a quest, you feel as though you have accomplished something. When you hear the sound of a critical hit with your weapon landing on an opponent, you can feel the power at your hands. When you have successfully defended against an attack, the convincing sound of your shield taking the blow for you makes you feel as if you were in battle as well.

The soundtrack is very well-crafted. As you step into the town of Tir Chonaill, your first home, the music welcomes you to its humble hospitality. As you transverse the deep reaches of a dungeon listening to the dark tempo accompanying it, you feel as though you are really in the dungeon.

With such variety in music, you can be assured that you won’t be sick of the music as you near your first ten-hour mark in playing this game, despite the few hit-and-miss tracks that can drive people crazy.

Every NPC has their own theme too, distinguishing them from the rest. From the upbeat tempo of the Bookstore lady’s song to the humble tone of the Blacksmith, you can really feel like you can know each NPC better.

Despite the steep learning curve of the battle system, lackluster customer service, and somewhat rude community, this game is a jewel that deserves to be looked at.

I am currently approaching the two-hundred hour mark, and I haven’t even scratched the surface of what this game has to offer.

Did I mention that this game is completely free?

Go download it right now and try it for yourself.

This game takes a little while to get used to, but you will soon be able to call yourself a resident of Erinn, just like I am.

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