La Tale

La Tale
Developer(s)	Actoz Soft
Publisher(s)	ActozSoft OGPlanet Gamepot Shanda Aeria Games
Platform(s)	Windows (98/2000/XP/Vista)
Release	SK February, 2006 CH February, 2007 JP April, 2007 NA September 18, 2008 EU July 30, 2009 (Open Beta)
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

La Tale is a 2D side-scrolling online game developed by Actoz Soft. Gamers take the role of adventurers in a mythological fantasy world.

It was launched in South Korea in February 2006 where it was well received. In February 2007, Actoz entered into an agreement with Chinese game operator Shanda to open a server in mainland China. In March 18, 2008 OGPlanet signed a contract with Actoz Soft to bring La Tale to North America. Aeria Games launched La Tale in Europe on July 30 2009.

Sign-ups for North America closed-beta testing began on July 10, 2008. Testers were selected from 22 July to 30 July. Closed-beta testing began on July 31, 2008 and ended on August 6, 2008. An open-beta test was held for fileplanet subscribers from August 15, 2008 to August 18, 2008. Official open-beta testing began on August 21, 2008 and ended on September 3, 2008. La Tale was officially released on September 18, 2008.

Gameplay

Gameplay of La Tale is based on most MMORPGs. Players control a single character that combat monsters, obtain and complete quests, and participate in other activities. The game has a 2D side-scrolling setting similar to MapleStory and Ghost Online. The keyboard is used to hotkey character actions while the mouse is primarily used to speak to Non-Player Characters (NPCs).

There are two types of currency in the North American version of La Tale: Ely and Astros. Ely is the normal currency, used to buy equipment and other usable items. Ely is gained through killing monsters and completing quests. Astros are the currency used to purchase fashion-shop items. Astros must be purchased through OGPlanet, similar to buying NX Cash for Nexon products. Astros were not introduced during closed-beta testing but were tested in open-beta (and is now added in the game). Note that the clothes you buy from the fashion shop are permanent and will never expire.

Gameplay and characters

One player account has up to three slots for characters. Players have the choice of choosing their character's gender, class, and appearance. Names are also given to characters at this point (be warned that names are final and cannot be used again, even if the character is deleted).

Hit points (HP) are displayed on the top left corner of the screen. Reaching zero hit points gives the player an option of returning to the nearest town or returning to the nearest saved waypoint. There is also a death penalty of 2~3% of both experience and Ely. Spirit points (SP) are also displayed on the top left corner. This notifies the amount of SP, or points for skill usage, the player has left. Both HP and SP are regained by consuming HP and SP potions/consumables or by sitting. Since Wizards and Bards have the ability to heal, they are able to substitute SP for their own HP or other players' HP.

Experience points (XP) states how much experience points the player has to acquire in order to reach the next level. Experience points are gained through killing monsters and completing quests. Experience points are also influenced by combos, which are series of attacks that do not fail or miss the target. The higher the combo, the more XP (and Ely) the player receives. Status points, or "stats", are preset and are automatically added to the character upon leveling up.

Classes

Warriors can wield two-handed swords, spears, or knuckles. Although they lack defensive capabilities, Warriors excel at dealing high amounts of physical damage in the frontlines. This class is best for beginners, and are very nice in solo battles. At level 80, they can advance into Warlords or Bladers.

• Warlords are able to wield large swords, called greatswords, or spears and specialize in brute force.
• Bladers wield dual swords, and focus on increased attack speed.

Warriors are used for the sole purpose of dealing physical damage from short range. They are the strongest of all the classes, making them excellent for players who prefer powerful attacks. They are usually paired in the frontlines with Knights. Warriors are the only class that can use greatswords and spears.

Knights wield either a sword or blunt weapon in one hand and a shield in the other. They can wield knuckles, but like the Warrior class, they cannot use daggers. Their exceptionally high physical and magical defenses allow Knights to withstand large amounts of damage. At level 80 they can advance into Templar Knights or Guardians.

• Temple Knights, or Templars, wield the same weapons as Knights but receive a substantial increase in defense.
• Guardians only wield knuckles. For that reason, their attacks are martial-arts based.

Knights are the most balanced of all the classes, having average offense and increased defense. They are commonly used as tanks, players that absorb most, if not all, of the damage to keep other members of the party away from harm. Templar Knights even have healing abilities.

Wizards wield staves, daggers, and knuckles. They mainly deal area-of-effect damage by using their magic, which is divided into four elements: fire, water (which is further broken down into damaging water skills and healing water skills), wind, and earth. Wizards are great for damage and support at a distance. At level 80, they can advance into Sorcerers or Bards.

• Sorcerers wield staves, daggers, and orbs. They specialize in high attack magic. This class is the most destructive.
• Bards wield stringed instruments, mainly guitars, and focus on supportive magic for party members.

Wizards can either be entirely offensive, entirely defensive, or a mixture of both. Fire and earth tend to be more offensive, while water and wind tend to be more defensive. Players can also choose to become healers by using healing water skills as a Wizard/Sorcerer or song skills as a Bard.

Explorers wield daggers, bows, crossbows, and knuckles. Most Explorers deal damage from a distance. They lack the damage output of the other classes, but they are compensated with very high attack speed. At level 80, they can advance into Treasure Hunters or Gunslingers.

• Treasure Hunters wield daggers, bows, and crossbows. They possess passive skills that increase item and Ely drop rates.
• Gunslingers are the only class able to wield guns and specialize in attacks that hit multiple opponents.

Explorers mainly deal supportive physical damage from long range. Their long range is also accompanied by increased attack speed, making them perfect for players who prefer distanced combat. Treasure Hunters are the best class to find rare items and Gunslingers have the fastest attack speed of all the characters.

Engineers only wield toolboxes. Their special abilities involve using contraptions from their toolbox, which gives them a varied set of skills to chose from. They also can plant a totem which deals constant damage to any enemies around it for about ten seconds. At level 80, they can promote to Meisters.

• Meisters ride mechs, and function very similarly to Bladers. Meisters also have very high stats in both strength and stamina.

Skills

Skills are split into five categories: Weapon, Magic, Miscellaneous, Action, and Emoticon.

Weapon skills affect the use of weapon-based damage. Magic skills, which is mostly exclusive to the Wizard class, affect the use of various spells. Miscellaneous skills are other skills that do not fall into any other category and are generally supportive skills. Some Miscellaneous skills, such as dig and ignite, must be unlocked through various quests. Weapon, Magic, and some Miscellaneous skills require the use of skill points, which are obtained through leveling up (1 skill point per level up).

Action skills are simply those the character performs in general. These skills include jump, sit, guard, etc. Action skills do not require any skill points, as they are already at the character's disposal. Emoticon skills are as they imply: emoticons, which are facial expressions/actions the character can perform. They also do not require the use of skill points. Instead, emoticons are gained by using emoticon guidebooks, which are found randomly from any monster. The guidebooks are of varying difficulty, and some may fail.

A player may use a skill by clicking the skill symbol on the skill menu. A simpler way is set a button on the keyboard to that particular skill. Skills are also color-coded. Blue stands for Weapon skills, purple for Magic skills, gray for Miscellaneous skills, red for Action skills, and green for Emoticons. Symbols without a colored background (white) are consumable items.

Some skills have cooldown times, which are noted by the skill symbol being shaded. Once all the shading has disappeared, the skill is able to be used again. Also, some Weapon and Magic skills can be chained into combos. They are noted by the flashing word "Combo". Chaining these skills together allows the player to use them quicker, ensuring the combo will continue. However, only skills of the same tree and of the same vertical branch can be used in combos.

There are secondary skills such as alchemy, weaponcrafting, and armorcrafting. They were not introduced in closed-beta or open-beta testing.

With the release of Mecha Empire and the Engineer and Meister class, new skills called "Ely Skills" were introduced into the game. The skills are made of luck, strength, magic and stamina. You can purchase these skills with ely. It costs 10,000 ely to learn and 100,000 ely per skill point afterwards. Each skill can reach a maximum of 50. The skills require a certain level so you can't get all at level one. With second jobs the ely skills are reset as are every skill except emotes.

Guilds

Guilds are associations of many players. They are created by using guild crystals, which can be bought in the fashion-shop, from other players or found by hunting monsters. There are three types of guilds: Order (good), Chaos (evil), and Neutral. Every member of a guild receives stat bonuses according to the guilds current level. However, certain guild types give certain stat bonuses, so choosing the right guild type is important. Guilds also have guild emblems, which are the official insignias of guilds. When created, all guilds have the same preset emblem. The emblem symbol and background can be changed, but cost between 100,000 to 5,000,000 Ely. Emblems can also have effects, animations around the emblem, and cost the use of particular dyes that can be bought in fashion-shop.

Guilds have six ranks for its members. There can only be one guild leader at a time. Those of higher rank are able to promote and demote any other member of lesser rank. They are also able to invite other players to the guild. They act like single units, meaning each member benefits from the accomplishments of all guild members. Guilds actually have levels and experience points(GP), which are gained when a member completes a quest. When the required amount of GP is gathered , the guild levels up master must collect the correct number of guild crystals and level up the guild in the guild room, giving a greater maximum amount of members and higher stat bonuses. It is important for guilds to look for loyal long term players because if a player leaves a guild all of that member's GP is also taken out of the guild. There is no way to regain GP lost by leaving a guild and a players GP does not follow them from guild to guild.

Map

During closed-beta testing, Jiendia had four major cities: Belos, Elias, Yong Gyoung, and Aoich. Elfa, Ves, Atlantis, Lilliput, and Midgard have been added in the official release. There are more cities, but they have yet to be released. When created, all characters start in the town of Belos, a small town that introduces game basics to newcomers. Elias is the main city in LaTale, as it holds much of the game features such as the PvP arena, guild hall access, and beauty shop.

There are various explorable areas in between the cities. These areas hold monsters, which are essential to finishing quests and gaining experience. Traveler's Heavens, camps in between explorable areas, are spread throughout the continent. They were not introduced in closed-beta testing.

Pets

Pets are also included in La Tale. They serve the purpose of assisting their owners while out in the field. Pets have three levels: Egg, Baby, and Adult. They evolve as they gain experience, which is obtained through killing monsters while having the pet equipped. Pets gain more skills as they evolve. However, they do not level automatically. Once the pet has reached 100% in their experience bar, the player must use leveling pills in order to advance their pet.

Pets also have stats, which are obtained through the enchantment of the pet. Enchanting is done by using enchanting jewels, which are bought from pet shops. Once the pet has been enchanted, their stats are added onto the player stats, giving the player an increase in whichever stat jewel was used.

They have a limited lives (usually lasting for only 60 days). However, they can be revived by using revival herbs, which are purchased from the cash shop. The only exception to this rule are Ugly Eggs, which last for only 15 days, but may be revived from an in-game version of the revival herb for 100,000 Ely.

Pets were not introduced in closed-beta or open-beta testing. During official release, two pets (Naughty Dino and Fairy Dino) were introduced during "Pet Preview Quest", a 2-week event that allowed users to try Pets for a brief time.

Other features

Waypoints were introduced to La Tale to make traveling easier. Players may save their location at waypoints (called Stones of Iris in the field and Returning Stones in cities). When the player uses a Stone of Iris Fragment, the player is transported to their last saved waypoint. When the player dies, they also have the choice of returning to their last saved waypoint. They can also use city capsules to move around La Tale.

Personal shops in La Tale were made to assist players in selling and purchasing items from other players. It is also required for the player to purchase a shop license in order to open their personal shop. There is no tax, as economy is entirely user-run.

A mailing system was also introduced to La Tale. The mailing system is a method of communication and is operated by an NPC known as the Postman. The system allows quick messaging between players, whether online or offline. Also, the system gives the option of attaching items to the message. This is a great method of giving gifts to other players without the hassle of trading.

A marriage system recently came out to LaTale. First, a mate must gain 100% in their Proposal bar to ask for marriage. The items needed is a Proposal Ring (10,000 Ely) and Wedding Attires (Astros).

See also

• OGPlanet
• Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

External links

International Websites

• Official Korean Homepage
• Official Japanese Homepage
• Official Chinese Homepage
• Official North American Homepage
• Official European Homepage