Top 5: From In-Game to IRL

So the Group Writing Contest of GM Tristan enters the second week. I admit that when I first read this week's topic, I thought that I don't have any top 5 list as a gamer. But taking GM T's theme as a challenge, I scoured every corner of my memory to think of a worthwhile list.

And then I remember one of my favorite threads in the Philippine Ragnarok Online Messageboards, or Ragnaboards, which gave me an idea on what to jot down. The thread was about the Ragnarok online skills (in-game) that players would LOVE to have IN REAL LIFE. As a regular SPAMmer poster there, I was able to keep track of the top five skills that players want to take with them into real life. By the way, here's my personal list:

1. Uno: Hide/Cloaking
   
   
   • Effects: Need I emphasize that most of the posters in that thread are boys? (^_^) In-game, the skill Hide is readily accessible by the thief class, while Cloaking is available to the assassins. Other job classes also have access to the skills provided they have Smokie (Hide) or Frilldora (Cloaking) cards. Hiding or cloaking allows the players to become invisible, lurk undetected, and sneak up on their target.
     
     
   • Real life applications: Now, do I have to explicitly state how useful the skill will be for the boys? Nah, I'm pretty sure you've enough imagination to come up with whatever practical uses for these.
     
     
   • Words of caution: Make sure no one uses Sight or Ruwach when hiding or cloaking. Also stay away from insects; after all, in-game insect-type monsters can detect hiding players. And it's a damn giveaway if somebody sees a floating fly if its wings are stationary.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Dos: Teleport/Warp
   
   
   • Effects: Teleport brings the player to a random area on a map while Warp takes one to a fixed, predetermined location. These are among the skills that make the acolyte class desirable; teleport takes away the costs for flywings or butterflywings while warp allows a player to come back to a specific map over and over again. Creamy cards allow other job classes to use Teleport, but no card can mimic the Warp skill, which may also be used as a punishment (rarely done nowadays but was once popular) or as part of an unfair strategy during guild sieges.
     
     
   • Real life applications: Everyone hates being late for work or class. Climbing the stairs, especially if the destination is the fifth floor, also takes away precious time that could have been spent happily sitting inside the classroom or office. Imagine doing away with all those inconvenience of traveling. And pollution! Gone with the need to use motorized vehicles! And it might be a good business, too, offering tour packages to those who can't teleport themselves. Now, if only Harry Potter or Hermione Granger can teach us how to apparate...
     
     
   • Words of caution: Teleportation can go bad; as in randomnly bad especially when you're repeatedly being brought back to your starting point. And for warpers, be sure never to run out of blue gemstones; the journey to Geffen from EDSA is an awfully cumbersome travel. Don't expect merchants to sell stones cheap; mark-ups will likely be sky-high. So this brings us to our next most-wanted skill...
   
   
   
   
   
3. Tres: Discount
   
   
   • Effects: Gives the player, a merchant class specifically, a discount when buying items from non-playable characters (NPCs) in-game. The percentage of discount is dependent on skill level; at level 10 it is at 24%. Back in the beta days, merchants usually gave discount services for a nominal fee.
     
     
   • Real life applications: Now, who doesn't want a discount when purchasing stuff?
     
     
   • Words of caution: Be sure to suppress the urge to splurge! Discounts can only get you so far, you know.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Cuatro: Blessing
   
   
   • Effects: Increases the target player's intelligence, strength, and dexterity for a duration of time, this skill is the reason why the acolyte class (skill is exclusive for them) is a must-include in a party. The added int, str and dex is the second reason why acolytes are persistently pestered in-game (healing skills being the foremost).
     
     
   • Real life applications: Students will greatly benefit with the boost in their brain power (byebye brain stimulants!); fighters and acrobats will likely welcome the added strength and dexterity (steroids? nah!).
     
     
   • Words of caution: Lasts shorter than the available stimulants on the market, be sure to keep the acolyte close at hand. Surely, you don't want to lose your uber wit while in the middle of the exam, right?
   
   
   
   
   
5. Cinco: Lex Divina
   
   
   • Effects: Exclusive to the priest job, Lex Divina silences its target for a certain duration. While silenced, target cannot cast any spell nor use several skills. Being silenced is a big problem for job classes that are heavily-dependent on spells.
     
     
   • Real life applications: You've got to love that Level Up! Games, Inc. commercial way back when Ragnarok online was quite new - the one where a girl, very much bored by her date's droning on mundane stuff such as his dog, used Lex Divina to silence the him. Of course it didn't work like it would have in-game, but the boy (and practically everyone else) was stunned by the girl's boldness. Or ragnaddiction. Or imminent mental degradation due to the addiction. Whatever. She's so cute ^_^
     
     
   • Words of caution: Well, we're talking here about the skills actually working in real life, right? So, provided that the skill does work, be sure not to use it on your mom. Yeah, mom's constant nagging about the amount of time you play Ragnarok online is giving you a headache. But silencing her would likely mean byebye to your headache, and hello to pocket-ache (and RO, too, most probably) when she cuts down your allowance :P

Alrighty, there goes my first list of top 5. I think I'll make another list within the week, I have other things in line. By the way, if you like my posts, please vote for me, owkay?