Players reminisced the early days of Philippine Ragnarok Online, bringing the oldest RO memorabilia to the event, including this bookmark from RO’s Open Beta days.

Thousands of gamers came together as one to celebrate the 8th anniversary of Philippine Ragnarok Online last September 24 at the SM North Edsa Skydome.

The event celebrated the colorful 8-year history of the first and most popular game in the Philippines with exciting events and raffles, culminating in a semi-final tournament where eight teams from all over the Philippines battled it out to claim the Final Four slots of the Ragnarok Philippine Championships at Level Up! Live 2011.

Team Jeniko (Valkyrie Server Champion), Team Coerce (New Chaos Server Champion), Team Andrei and Friends (Regionals B Champion), Team Montage (Ultimate Wildcard), Team Wanted (Ressurected), Team Harabas (Regionals A Champion), Team Ruff Riderz (New Loki Server Champion) and Team Bitzbox (Valhalla Server Champion) represented their regions and servers with pride in the tournament, where the winners will advance to the finals at LU! Live 2011.

Attendees were treated to tournament-level skill and passion as teams faced off against one another in closely-fought matches. In the end, four teams advanced to the finals of the Ragnarok Philippine Championships: Team Montage, Team Wanted, Team Harabas and Team Jeniko.

These four teams will head to Level Up! Live 2011 on November 5 at the World Trade Center to determine once and for all who will be RPC 2011 Champion.

Not just with exciting tournament action, event attendees were also treated to fun activities like the pRO Memorabilia Contest, where gamers brought their oldest Ragnarok-related items, Zenny o Bayong and big-time raffles which included an LG Flatron LCD Monitor from PC Express and rare in-game items as prizes.

“We’re happy and proud to celebrate 8 rok-ing years of Philippine Ragnarok Online with the community who got us to where we are today,” says Ragnarok Brand Manager Roy Inciong. “We’re here to stay, and it’s only going to get better. Mabuhay ang Philippine Ragnarok Online!”

Launched in 2003, Ragnarok Online was the Philippines’ first MMORPG and soon grew to be its biggest, with 24 episodes under its belt and a generation of gamers who call pRO home. Ragnarok Online changed the landscape of online gaming in the Philippines, even influencing Pinoy lifestyle and culture. In 2008, the Ragnarok World Championships was held in the Philippines, the first time the prestigious event was held outside of its home base Korea.

Congratulations to the RPC Final Four! Fulfill your quest for victory at Level Up! Live 2011!