Ragnarok 3 - Hello Europe, Terms Mostly Same, What About GDPR?
About the Author
Hi! I'm Halca, but my real name is Jordan! I'm a software architect now, from the United Kingdom. I was originally the developer of hAthena, a proof-of-concept Ragnarok Emulator, but I was also a developer for OmniAthena, and also a life-long RO player. I spend most of my time developing Dynastra Tabletop, my TTRPG/Virtual Tabletop project designed to replace Roll20 and D&D Beyond.
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Gravity and Joymaker games have now reversed course on their excluding the good people of Europe, however, it seems like not much else in the terms and conditions have changed. Even thought the spirit of allowing people from Europe into the server is a welcome one, much of the terms of service still read like the previous one as far as I can see. And well, GDPR? Err..
It has to be stated pretty clearly that I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and I am not qualified to give legal advice, nor do I have qualifications in law, so take what I say here as the certain observations of a layperson.
I am but a humble researcher here, but yet -- to a layperson like me, these terms and conditions do not seem to follow GDPR's principles of being minimalistic and so on. Particularly, there is a massive clause which says "your User Content to which you have contributed, for any purpose whatsoever, in any and all formats" and "in my non-legal opinion doesn't really seem to be in line with the GDPR on "adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed". Again though - what do I know.
This is just me "spitballing" as the Americans say, but in my opinion -- people outside of the EU should get the same protections as us within (or on the periphery) of it. And since I'm on the subject and speaking only for myself - if RO3 has any hope of being a long-term prospect, Gravity and JoyMaker should see the players as partners on a long journey, rather than cash cows to be milked for a year until the next hype cycle.
References
1. Joymaker.com. (2025). Terms of Service - Ragnarok Online 3. [online] Available at: https://joymaker.com/protocol/ro3/terms-of-service.html. (Archived: https://archive.is/GEQqN)
2. GDPR (2018). Art. 5 GDPR – Principles Relating to Processing of Personal Data | General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). [online] General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Available at: https://gdpr-info.eu/art-5-gdpr/.
