Editing Alignment System (Ragnarok Online) (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Manner 01.jpg|thumb|According to John7, the text contains: 플러스 매너 포인트 주기 : Give plus manner points]]
Information about this system is limited to what was released prematurely in the Ragnarok Online client. It was originally visible within the client around 2002 and 2003, where when the player right-clicked on another player, they would see the text "align with good point" or "align with bad point"; either of which, when clicked simply provided a modal popup stating "this feature is not implemented".  

Further information on the alignment system as a part of Beta 3 was provided by Gravity in a "Newbie guide" which gave some further context on what was planned with the system.<ref name=":1">(2001) '''''"Peeping At Beta 3" Third Part'''''. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20021005005102/http://enweb.ragnarokonline.com/r_update3.htm (Accessed: 27 August 2024).</ref> Aside from outlining what is known currently with the system in terms of registering positive and negative points against players, those who were within the lowest 5% would have a red-coloured name indicating they were evil<ref name=":1" />, and those which were highly ranked would receive benefits but these were not tangibly defined other than relating to guilds. Gravity also outlined that the history of who had rated the person well or badly would be visible, although this appears to later have been abandoned as the UI does not display this section.<ref name=":1" /> 
[[File:Manner 02.jpg|left|thumb|Another view showing the point being aligned against the player.]]


Looking at the "ragnarok_online_client" release provided by iRO in 2002, the client's "msgstringtable.txt" (a list of pre-defined strings which the Ragnarok Online client looks up) has the following items listed for the Alignment system: <syntaxhighlight lang="text">
You haven't learned enough skills for alignning.#
Alignning has been done.#
You already spent your point for today.#
Hasn't been a month yet since you aligned this person.#
You got a Good Point from %s.#
You got a Bad point from %s.#
Alignning with a Good Point#
Alignning with a Bad Point#
</syntaxhighlight> 

This was then expanded slightly in some 2003 clients, which outlined that the player required Level 9 Basic Skill in order to be used. Around this time, Ragnarok Online was near the height of its popularity and there were also several high-profile hacking incidents as well as griefing and client modification which allowed people to send unlimited chats and swear words, as well as trade scams, and it's very likely the Alignment System was created to deal with these issues.

There is also an NPC named [[Newbie Instructor (Ragnarok Online)]] which informs the player<ref>eAthena, contributors (2004) ''eAthena Sourcecode: novice.txt. [Accessed At:'' https://archive.is/wip/sdBE4] </ref>: <blockquote><syntaxhighlight lang="text">
    [Newbie Instructor]
    We have a system called "Alignment System"
    When you meet somebody nice or somebody helps you, you can give the person a good point in recognition of services.
    On the contrary, to someone who is ill-mannered or doing evil things on people, you can give the person 2 bad points. Meanwhile you will get 1 bad point for the penalty. This is to prevent abuse of the alignment system.

    [Newbie Instructor]
    The Alignment system is only available for adult characters over Novice level 8 and can be used once a day.
    I know you don't think this is not important right now, but be careful, it causes you the cumulative effects on your character.
    Somehow I believe nice persons will play fair even without this kind of restriction!
</syntaxhighlight></blockquote>