Jawaii is split into two tropical islands located in the Alberta territory.  Villagers live peacefully on Jawaii’s Love Island to the north where a volcano eruption created high vista views perfect for lovers to enjoy! After a dimensional crack opened near the island oasis, monsters living on the neighboring island to the south were affected by the unnatural forces released by the crack. They’ve grown huge and aggressive on Jawaii’s Ocean Island. You’ll be fighting monsters on Ocean Island and relaxing on the beach on Love Island in a matter of weeks~

4 Field bosses can be found around Ocean Island for you to challenge and special titles can be acquired by defeating each one. One boss has a chance of dropping new equipment!

Here’s a look at Ocean Island:

Jawaii’s Love Island is a resort-like environment with plenty of pretty views and places to hang out with friends.  There’s even a wedding area set up in case you are interested in RP’ing with your sweetheart. My personal favorite spot is the waterfall area, which would be one heck of a nice place to visit if it existed in real life!

A raid dungeon area will be available along with these two islands, which we will be highlighting once it’s in testing on our test servers. Look for that here in the coming weeks! Are you ready for a trip to Jawaii?

These are but a few of the creatures that will dwell in Jawaii’s Raid region. Players of the original Ragnarok Online may spot some returning monsters! Curious to see what the new raid will look like? Check out the concept art for it here! You can also see the concept art for the city parts of the honeymoon themed island here.

True to the theme of RO’s Jawaii, this upcoming area in game features honeymoon island scenery! It’s a bit more over-grown in the new Rune-Midgarts, but couples will still enjoy the big benches and pretty sights!

Who would you like to take on a trip to Jawaii’s waterfall or sandy beaches?

My previous post was of the concept art of the dungeon raid area of Jawaii- a lush and beautiful paradise soon to be made and populated with interesting monsters! Check it out here if you missed it!

Our next look at Jawaii will include monsters, weapons, and armor! Keep a look out for that!

Let’s take a look at the concept work our designers created to bring Jawaii into RO2’s Rune-Midgarts:

Much like with RO2’s Forgotten Payon’s concept, this art conveys a once populated area reclaimed by nature. Since this is concept art and an early step in a long process in game creation, changes will be made but we’re excited to see the results!

This will be a region with monsters and PvE content, rather than a hang out location like the Jawaii of RO1. Is there a bar in this version? Well, it looks like that business did not survive the Day of Despair. However, some very pretty scenery can still be found!

Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for screenshots of some of Jawaii in game!

The new March costume is an armor set (0-3 slots) that matches with the current Pyramid item, the Warrior School Cape. For a person who likes cool armor sets, this new outfit REALLY appeals to me. How about you?

The default color is green (so you won’t get pinched on St. Patrick’s day!)

This costume dyes very well. I made myself something of a ‘Saber’ outfit with a quick color change. It looks very good in black and reds as well.My favorite thing about the cape is the embroidery effect the modeling team created in the back pattern. Looks expensive! It would pair well with other costume so if you’ve been hoarding Phantom Stones, now might be the time to try your luck to get one!

The March costume and accessory will be out soon with an upcoming patch. It will be bundled with items that can be used as stat boosts, either with the costume or without. Look for the Platinum Boxes in our next set of patch notes!

Out of the many amazing entries, here’s the final 5 that made it into the game:

I really can’t pick a favorite! I’m floored by the talent our community has. Each one of these is strong in concept, unique, and well executed.

AteKuting has created a beautifully drawn scene right in the heart of Prontera. You get a sense of the relationships these players have with each other at first glance. I would love to see more! It’s almost like a manga story in the making.

FunkysLap‘s entry is dynamic and lovely! That stolen kiss and the strong composition makes this entry so engaging~ To me it captures young love so well <3

Lygrix gives us a cute peak at poring dating. How do you think they got that chocolate? They don’t have hands, but clearly love conquers all obstacles.

Millefleurs, stop making me want cookies so much ;-; This render is so real, it makes you want to pick up that cute pink cookie poring and scarf it down. I don’t even have a sweet tooth, but this loading screen makes me hungry every single time I see it.

Sylfis creates a dilemma here. Do you choose Tsundere or Dandere? You are getting chocolate either way, so which is it?

Each month in 2015 will see a new costume set, which will come with a separate buff item that changes on a 3 month cycle. That means the buff for January will be the same in February and March, with a new buff item included in April’s Platinum Boxes.

The concept art includes a little friend in blue, but that costume will have a later release date and is not included in this month’s set.

It’s dyeable, of course! I like the set even better in blue!

Forgotten Payon will be launched on the 9th, and development has stressed that it will be a hard region, so the buff included in this set would be handy. You’ll want to get your parties prepared for this new region. Don’t venture in alone and ill-equipped! Eddga is one tough dude. He and his pack will send you home in a full body cast if you don’t bring your A game.

Back on the costume topic, I’ve seen the costumes coming in through September. I’m excited to say the least! It’s a challenge not sharing them all right now. There are some really cool sets coming up so even if Tai Chi isn’t your personal style, there will be something for everyone released this year.
TL;DR: NEW COSTUMES! THEY ARE COMING! Hashtag 2015 Hashtag Awesome

Rather than the costume having temp stats attached to it for a period of time and being part of the random selection of costumes, the Noble set will be sold in a platinum packs for either the costume or the accessory, along with a chance coupon and a boost item!

Buy the costume and get Norns Blessing Effect item (STR +5%/INT +5%/AGI +5%/Phy.ATT +2000/Mag.ATT +2000/ Period: 28Days)
Buy the accessory hat and get Midgard’s Grace Effect item (STR +20/INT +20/AGI +20/Max HP +500/Max SP +300/Item Drop Rate +30%/ Period : 28 Days)

Whether you use the boost items right away or save them for challenging Forgotton Payon at the end of the month is up to you~
Hoping for the munil costume box to return? It’ll be back in the Kafra Shop again with this new costume after Monday’s maintenance!

On a recent ‘This Week in Ragnarok’ live-stream I showcased these scenic images along with other concept art for the area. These are just some of my favorites~

Payon has been reclaimed by nature and forgotten by the inhabitants for Rune-Midgarts.

The concept art for the monsters and weapons for this area are equally as interesting! I won’t spoil the surprise showing too much but here are some of the cool illustrations that start the process in creating a new area in the game:

(Have to admit to laughing at an easter egg in this illustration for the Ginseng monster… Those anguished faces may look familiar to otaku…)

You can see the 3D finished version of these concepts in the last post on my blog here.

I really enjoy seeing the progress that leads to the creation of a game. If you like the creative process as well, I hope you enjoy this small peek into that for RO2.

This new area has a lot of cool monsters and scenery that will be making your leveling to ML 40 fun very soon!

RO1 players will know that Payon has seen better days…

The forest has taken over and new stronger monsters are available to challenge in this area.

RO1 players remember Eddga? Well he’s been working out…

For those who aren’t familiar with Eddga, you can see his personal trainer has been busy:

Ready for Forgotten Payon? Well it’s in the stages of testing so you’ll be able to explore it relatively soon!