Dragon Ball Online

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Dragon Ball Online
Developer(s)	NTL Inc. Bird Studio / Shueisha
Publisher(s)	CJ Internet Corporation Namco Bandai Games
Designer(s)	Akira Toriyama (supervisor)
Release date(s)	South Korea 2009 (Closed beta)
Genre(s)	Fantasy Science-Fiction Action MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Platform(s)	Windows
Media	DVD
System requirements	CPU: Pentium 4 2GHz, RAM: 512MB
Video games Listing - Category

Dragon Ball Online (Doragonbōru Onrain) (officially abbreviated as DBO) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game being developed simultaneously in Japan and South Korea by NTL, set in the Dragon Ball universe, first introduced by the Dragon Ball Japanese manga in 1984. Dragon Ball Online takes place on Earth, 216 years after the events at the conclusion of the Dragon Ball manga series. A beta testing of Dragon Ball Online was initially announced to begin in South Korea, during the summer of 2007, though development was delayed by a year and it is was then scheduled to go live in Korea by the end of 2008, and in Japan in 2009 ^[1]. Further delays set in until April 2009 when closed beta testing began in South Korea^{[citation needed]}. No North American release has been announced as of yet, though in a press conferance held in South Korea on February 14th, 2008, NTL expressed interest in releasing the game to a worldwide audience.^[2]

Series creator Akira Toriyama has a great deal of creative control over the project, both contributing to and supervising the story and art design, including character and location arrangements.^[3] It has been stated that Toriyama has been working on character designs for this project for the last five years.^[4]

[edit] Story

Dragon Ball Online is set in Age 1000, exactly 216 years after Goku left the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai to train Uub in Age 784, in Dragon Ball Z. During this period time, a number of notable events have occurred, including the appearance of a Majin race, the Namekians taking refuge on Earth, the arrival of what appear to be Yardrats in the Southern Galaxy, and most recently, a gulf forming in time.^[5]

The conflict of the story behind Dragonball Online is fueled by a villainous organization known as the Dark Eye (闇の目玉, Yami no Medama), which is lead by a mysterious individual. The motives of the Dark Eye are currently unknown, but what is known is that they hope to achieve their goals through time travel and mind control. Mind controlled victims of the Dark Eye are characterized by a green gem marked with an X that rests in their forehead.

Their meddling with time primarily includes attempting to alter the events that occurred during the manga. As the player, you are encouraged to go back in time through leaks caused by the Dark Eye to preserve these events. The characters you play as are from an unknown time period who were unwillingly pulled into one of these time leaks and end up in the Age 1000 with no possibility to return.^[6]

It is worth noting that Dragon Ball Online ignores the events of Dragon Ball GT, and even appears to contradict some aspects of the anime (for example, the Yardrats, who did not appear in the manga, look completely different in DBO and the Dragon Ball Z anime). Due to the high level of supervision from Akira Toriyama, as well as the involvement of Bird Studios and Shueisha, DBO may actually be considered a more accurate continuation of the Dragon Ball manga.

[edit] Gameplay

As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a persistent game world, where they will be able to explore the landscape, search for the Dragon Balls, train to compete in the Tenkaichi Budokai, aspiring to become like the warriors of legend, as well as interacting with NPCs as well as other players. As in most MMORPGs, players will be able to obtain money and experience which will allow them to level up and obtain new abilities. Players will also be able to participate in "Timemachine Quests", in which they will receive guidance from Time Patrol Trunks (タイム・パトロール・トランクス, Taimu Patorōru Torankusu), in order to travel back in time and take part in notable aspects of the Dragon Ball history.^[7]

Recently released screenshots from the Dragon Ball Online Test Beta though MMOsite.com have confirmed that the Super Saiyan state is in fact, a playable skill for human players in game; it just requires a wish to the eternal dragon to access the power of the Saiyans.

To date, three playable races have been announced: Human, Namekian, and Majin.^[1] Saiyans no longer exist in the world as of Age 1000, and will not appear as a playable race.^[1] This however has been contradicted by a series of leaked gameplay videos that clearly show, among other things, playable characters transforming into super saiyans ^[8]Players will also be able to create their characters as children, allowing them to age after completing a series of quests^[9]. A wide variety of skills appear to be able, including energy attacks such as the Kienzan or the Kamehameha. Players will additionally have access to weapons, including gloves, guns, and staves ^[10]. At levels 30 and 40^[6], players will also be able to learn different sets of combo moves; some of which have even shown players going airborne to complete. Dragon Ball Online's gameplay combines elements from both an MMORPG (allowing character customizations and enhancements) and the Dragonball Z fighters Bandai is notorious for bringing its fans.

Publicly released screenshots have shown beta-testers partaking in a few of the events that have occured throughout Dragonball history, such as a child player standing in the crash sight where Goku landed as an infant, and a scene from Fire Mountain, where Kid Goku is standing on the Nimbus next to the Ox King.

Other screenshots shows three Namekians standing idly, one of which was enormous in height^[11], suggesting that Piccolo's Giant Form is accessible at some point in the game. The most controversial of the screenshots though is a photo showing what appears to be a Super Saiyan beta-tester ("Dragon06")^[12], despite Saiyans officially being said to be an unplayable race in Dragon Ball Online. When "Super Saiyan", the tester's avatar had standing gold hair, green eyes, and a brightly lit yellow aura. Its bangs are noticeably similar to the generic (fan-dubbed) "Goku-look-alike". Fans speculate that the Humans are actually some part Saiyan.

Through in-game maps and translations of the opening cinematic text^[13] it was revealed that all 3 playable races will start their journeys on Earth. The Namekians, having had to flee from their home planet due to unknown circumstances, have found a home on Earth on which certain areas have been terraformed to resemble the planet Namek^[6].

So far, little information is known about the Majins. Majins also have access to equipment such as scouters and their own armor. It is speculated by fans that Fat Majins will specialize in using their bodies for beserk strength and excellent defense, while Strange Majins will shine in the factor of speed due to their smaller bodies; bringing real-world mechanics into the system's gameplay. Similar to Humans and Namekians, Majins also have an unlockable transformation in which they take their Pure Form (Kid Buu).

Also available are mountable vehicles such as the hover bike or scooter from the anime, which will cost zeni for the bike and fuel with upgradeable bikes and different fuels available. There are certain time limits to each bike, you can buy from the shop each kind which are from 1 day to 90 and the different fuels will last longer or increase the speed of the vehicle.^[14]

[edit] Playable races and classes

The Dragonball Online Races and Classes

Human

• Martial Artist (武道家, Budōka) - Fighters who specialize in martial arts, comprable to characters like Yamcha.^[1]
• Spiritualist (気功家, Kikōka) - Mystics who specialize in spiritual, ki-based techniques, such as Chiaotzu.^[1]
• Engineer (エンジニア, Enjinia) - Mechanics and inventors who build weapons and utilize technology, much like Bulma.^[1]

Namekian

• Dragon Clan (竜族, Ryūzoku) - Members of the Namekian support caste which have abilities including healing, such as Dende.^[1]
• Warrior (戦士, Senshi) - Members of the Namekian warrior caste, which includes Piccolo and Nail.^[1]

Majin

• Strange Majin (異魔人, Imajin) - Slender, evil-looking Majin who have a similar appearance to Majin Buu's original, pure form.^[1]
• Large Majin (大魔人, Daimajin) - Fat, happy-looking Majin who resemble Majin Buu's good form.^[1]

[edit] Returning characters

So far the following characters are to return throughout different parts of the game:

• Cell
• Future Trunks (now called Time Patrol Trunks)
• Goku
• Nappa
• Piccolo
• Raditz
• Turles
• Vegeta
• Gohan
• Krillin
• Yamcha
• Tien
• Mr. Satan
• Chi-Chi
• Ox-King
• Frieza
• Majin Buu
• Master Roshi
• Korin (colored blue like in the manga)
• Grandpa Gohan
• Shenron

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Japanese Dragon Ball Online Website
• News at ANN
• 4games translated
• Unofficial Dragon Ball Online Wiki