Dragon Oath , also known as Tian Long Ba Bu (abbreviation: TLBB ) in China, is a free-to-play MMORPG developed and published by Changyou.com and Sohu and launched in May 2007. The game’s story is based on the novel Demi -Gods and Semi-Devils by Louis Cha . Since its initial launch in China, ChangYou.com has taken steps to sell Dragon Oath on an international stage. The game now has servers in Europe, [1] Malaysia, Vietnam and the United States. Much like the servers in Europe, the servers in America are scheduled to close on July 25, 2016.
Gameplay
Dragon Oath is a 2.5D martial arts-style fighting and community-building game designed to give players the freedom to “choose their own destiny” and play the game in any way they decide. The game features 9 playable classes based on ancient Kung-fu disciplines. [ quote needed ]
Game setting
Dragon Oath is set in a world based largely on the cosmic Buddhist and the concept of the Eight Races of non-human entities. At the heart of the story are three heroes: Qiao Feng, Duan Yu and Xuzhu. Each one of them is unique and important to play, and is instrumental in shaping the game world in their own right when they spawn in the Kingdom of Dali for the very first time.
Accolades
Oath has been awarded the Most-liked Online Game by Game Players by ChinaJoy for five consecutive years from 2006 to 2010 [2] and was published among the World’s Top Five Most Profitable Game Franchises in 2009 by Forbes . [3] It was also ranked by the International Data Corporation as the third most popular game in China. [ quote needed ]
Further developments
As part of its continuous efforts to spread its flagship brand worldwide, ChangYou.com announced in 2011 that it will release a new, fully localized version of Dragon Oath , designed specifically for the Turkish market. [4]
References
- Jump up^ TLBB Europe at ChangYou.com
- Jump up^ ChinaJoy 2010 ArchivedAwardsMarch 9, 2011, at theWayback Machine.
- Jump up^ Chiang, Oliver. “Top Moneymaking Online Games Of 2009” . Forbes.
- Jump up^ (in Turkish)It should be noted that many servers have been closed already. For example European server was closed. There are only 3 servers still running in CHINA, USA and last one. Dragon Oath Turkish Launch Announcement ArchivedApril 10, 2011, at theWayback Machine.