''Asda Story'' was a

Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

massively multiplayer online role-playing game A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

developed by the MaxOn Soft corporation. It was published by GamesCampus for the North American market, Play Media Group for the market in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, OnGame for the Brazilian market,

nDoors NDOORS Corporation is a Korean gaming corporation and developer of online games and MMORPGs and is a subsidiary of one of the world's largest online gaming companies, Nexon. Its headquarters are located in Seoul, South Korea. NDOORS Corporation f ...

for the market in Japan, GamePower7 for the

MENA The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), also referred to as West Asia and North Africa (WANA) or South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA), is a geographic region which comprises the Middle East (also called West Asia) and North Africa together ...

market (under the title ''World of Secrets'' ()) and mGame for the market in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. The Open Server for Asda Story launched on August 5, 2008. The game was originally called "MicMac Online" in Japan and Korea. The Japanese MicMac service was closed on September 30, 2008, after running for two years. The service in North America from GamesCampus also came to a close on August 1, 2011. The game was succeeded by its sequel Asda 2 Evolution which shut down on July 15, 2015.

Gameplay

The game has a Soul Mate system where two players can become Soul Mates. If one Soul Mate is offline, the player can help to level up his Soul Mate's character. Experience will be stored for the Soul Mate that is offline. Soul Mates also have access to special skills available only to them. Characters can also dig for items, similar to

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

in many other MMO games. Digging may be carried out anywhere except in towns. All that is required to dig is a shovel, which all characters are provided from the start. The nature and quality of items obtained by digging varies according to the level of the character. Characters may also obtain titles, which can be displayed above their names. Titles are obtained by participating in or carrying out a diverse variety of actions in the game: from simply picking up everything they find, to helping

NPCs A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

by completing quests, to joining

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

s. Achieving a title only awarded the player the ability to display it, but there were plans for certain titles to award other more tangible benefits, such as providing stat bonuses. Characters start at level 1 with the generic job of "beginner", which has no skills available to it. At level 5, players may choose a class of

Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste. History ...

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...

, or

Mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction * Mage, a character class in ...

by undertaking a quest from the appropriate NPC. Additionally, each class has a second and third job tier which they can advance to. All these class changes are available at levels 5, 24, and 40. Experience gain is not stopped during those levels, so it is possible to continue leveling up without taking the job change quest. The Faction War System is a unique system where players above second job change can choose between 3 factions and battle against one another to gain honour points and coins, which in turn can be used to buy special items from the war shop. The Faction War System is split into three different stages, one for levels 24–39, another one for levels 40-59 and the last one for levels 60 and above. This is so to make it more balanced and provide lower and mid-level players with a more entertaining war environment. Character stats are incremented automatically in this game instead of being allocated by the player. To complement a character's natural stats, he can obtain socketable items called Sowels which, when inserted into items, augment player stats. Each of the three first tier jobs of Warrior, Archer, and Mage has three skill trees each. Progress along a skill tree is generally dependent on having points in skills lower in the tree, limiting cross-tree skill selection. Generally, a character of a chosen class will usually concentrate on one skill tree and spend only a few points in the other skill trees available to that class.

Reception

MMORPG.com rated ''Asda Story'' as "Acceptable", praising the game's smooth running, the in-game link to the web based Games Campus, and the Soul Mate game mechanic. The user interface, sound and graphics were deemed average. Criticisms included the reliance on the item mall, with the best items requiring real world purchase. MMOHuts.com rated ''Asda Story'' as "Good" (3/5) praising the game's unique "Soul Mate" system but criticizing the game's Recycled monster animations and few playable classes. The name got confused reactions in the United Kingdom, as there is a large supermarket chain also called

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Links to all the Asda Franchise. -InternationalMicMac Online JapanASDA Story 2 Mena
2008 video games Inactive massively multiplayer online games Massively multiplayer online role-playing games Video games developed in South Korea Windows games Windows-only games