Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World is an upcoming MMORPG created by Gravity Corp. of South Korea and is the sequel to the popular MMORPG, Ragnarok Online. Most of the game`s universe is based on Norse mythology. The soundtrack will be produced by Yoko Kanno, well known for her work in Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, and other anime series.

The game was first announced at KAMEX (Korea Amuse World Expo) in November 2004 [1]. The first trailer of the game was shown during the expo, in which a novice boy and novice girl were running toward each other in an undisclosed 3D city environment. In September 2005, Gravity Corp. launched a major campaign to promote the game at the annual Tokyo Game Show. [2] Attendees had the opportunity to play the game for the very first time at Gravity-hosted booths during the three day event (September 16th to September 18th). Gravity released multiple Ragnarok Online II gameplay videos to the public, as well as an animation video, during this time frame.

In December 2006, Gravity finally began accepting applications for the first closed beta test in South Korea. The first closed beta officially ended on December 29, 2006. Application to participate in this beta was made available for a week (during the second week of December, 2006). Over 190,000 applications were submitted but only 2000 were chosen to participate for a period of three days (from December 27th to December 29th). Due to several technical issues and server tweaking, the total testing time was only about 10 hours. According to an interview between the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo and developer Team Mercury, the main goal for the first closed beta was to test characters. They wanted to see how gamers would react to the overall feel of the game as well as whether character designs were accepted by them. For the second phase of the Korean closed beta, 3,000 users were automatically accepted upon registration and login via the website, with another 5,000 being selected before and on February 22, 2007. The original closed beta testers were also given access to phase two. Towards the end of this phase, a special event invited 10,000 additional players to join testing, leading to a total of 20,000 selected accounts.

The third phase of the Korean closed beta ran from April 26 to May 5, 2007. It was open for 100,000 registered users as well as those players from the previous closed beta. In order to balance the large amounts of traffic, Gravity opened a second server at the start of the third phase. The final phase of testing was the Korean Open Beta running from May 28, 2007 to an unannounced date, where the final release of the game is expected right after. It is open to all Korean citizens with a Korean Social Security Number and during the first week, the servers went through severe maintenance as each server quickly filled up. Several more servers were opened shortly after to fit the demand, including several age 18 and up only servers to accommodate those who wish to participate in a player versus player environment. The focus during open beta was game balance and mechanics. The game content is similar to the previous closed betas and it is expected to see a greater release of content in the near future, but most likely after the game is released. As of 2008, the Korean Open Beta has condensed its number of servers to just two. The game`s population has also seen a dramatic decrease since it first opened in May 2007 - many areas in the game such as Hodemines and Prontera are usually found to be empty.

The specialty job system allows a character to use skills from other classes. Special abilities can be gained by leveling a character`s job class, giving them the ability to create useful and original class combinations, such as battle mages and wares-selling thieves. For example, when a Swordsman learns Bash Specialty, he can equip this ability when he changes into another class, such as an Enchanter. He can now use the ability without being a Swordsman. Specialty skills learned this way have no real limitations, except for the fact that they cannot be upgraded while the character is not in the class in which the skill belongs. In this example, in order to upgrade the skill, the Enchanter must change back into a Swordsman, level up the Bash ability, before changing back to an Enchanter. A bonus feature of this system is that a class can now equip class-specific gear that is normally limited to a different class. For example, Swordsmen have the "Long Sword Specialty." When equipped on an Enchanter, he/she can use Long Swords, where usually Enchanters could not. There is a limit to how many special abilities one can employ at a time, represented by 16 blocks in a 4x4 box. Some skills may take up to 3 blocks, however, thus leaving less room for other abilities. Characters start with fewer than 16 blocks, but will gradually gain additional blocks as he/she levels, eventually gaining access to the full 4x4, 16-slot box.