'Ragnarok Online' Is Loading Slowly

"Ragnarok Online"

• "Ragnarok Online" is available as a free download from the official "Ragnarok Online" website. Similar to many online role-playing games, players create a character, choose a job, complete quests and slay monsters as they rise in level. The graphics in "Ragnarok Online" are a mix of 2-D and 3-D; the character sprites are drawn in 2-D while the environment is presented in 3-D. While "Ragnarok Online" is free to play, players can purchase items from an in-game shop using real world money. The game is currently available to play in more than 15 countries including the United States, Japan and Brazil.

System Requirements

• "Ragnarok Online" does not have steep system requirements. The game was released in 2002 and has never received a major graphical upgrade. The minimum requirements call for a Pentium II 400 with at least 128MB of RAM, a video card with at least 16MB available that supports 3-D acceleration and a DirectX version of 8.1 or higher. While a computer with these minimum hardware specifications can run "Ragnarok Online," the game will take a long time to load. If possible, upgrade your PC or play on a different PC to minimize the loading times.

Reduce Graphic Options

• If upgrading your PC or playing on a different one is not an option, turn down some of the game's video effects; this decreases the load time by decreasing the special effects on screen. To change the game's graphics settings, run the setup.exe program found either in the "Ragnarok Online" Start menu folder or in the "Ragnarok Online" folder on your hard drive. To lower the graphical settings, uncheck the boxes next to "Use Lightmap" and "Enable Fog" and move the sliders under "Sprite Detail" and "Texture Detail" to the left.

Turn Off Other Programs

• Keeping other programs open at the same time as "Ragnarok Online" does not allow the game to use the full strength of your computer, resulting in increased load times between areas of the game. Before playing the game, close all unnecessary programs including Internet browsers and email programs. If possible, also disable your anti-virus program for the duration of the game. Verify that your firewall is allowing access to "Ragnarok Online"; if your firewall is attempting to block the game, it can slow the transfer of data resulting in increased loading times.