An IP that has been neglected by countless companies will eventually find a true champion who understands it

“A week before the event, we checked the weather forecast and saw that it might rain today. Everyone was worried that the weather would ruin the event, so we had originally planned to hold the altar-worship ceremony early. However, because our rehearsal schedule was so tight, we had no choice but to cancel it and could only silently pray for good weather.”

“There were actually quite a few issues during yesterday’s rehearsal. Since today’s event is being broadcast live in its entirety—including a half-hour live demo of the new game *Guardian of Love 2*—there’s absolutely no room for error. Everyone is on edge; we absolutely cannot let the players down.”

“Fortunately, the weather turned out to be perfect in the end, and everything went off without a hitch. I hope you all enjoy this carnival just as much as you’ve loved *Guardian of Love* for the past nine years.”

“Yes, we want to keep Ragnarok Online going for ten, or even twenty years, simply serving as custodians of memories. We have only one goal: to recreate the Ragnarok Online that has been constantly romanticized in the memories of all adventurers.”

——Ragnarok Online Heart-Pounding Carnival: Quotes from On-Site Staff

In the early 2000s, online gaming surged across China like a tidal wave. Back then, I was still immersed in the smoke of battle in *Red Alert* and the intense combat of *Half-Life*, chasing the thrill of victory.Yet every time I passed an internet café, I would find myself drawn to a different scene—groups of players sitting side by side in front of their screens, chatting and adventuring in the worlds of *Miracle*, *Stone Age*, and *Ragnarok Online*. Those realms and journeys, so foreign to me, seemed to radiate warmth even through the flickering light.

That was an era of fierce competition, and the dawn of China’s MMO industry. Each classic game embodied the martial world of an entire generation and boasted a massive, passionate following. Yet as time has passed, most have faded into obscurity or transformed to keep up with the times. Very few games have managed to preserve that initial thrill intact to this day.

Yet the journey of *Ragnarok Online* seems to have been gently preserved by time—even today, players there still hold on tightly to that initial sense of wonder.

Even as of 2026, spin-offs of *Ragnarok Online* continue to emerge in droves, springing up like bamboo shoots. Yet which one can truly be called the “legitimate successor” to *RO*? Opinions on this matter vary widely, and the answer may lie only in the hearts of those players who have always cherished the original game’s magic.

Fortunately, at last Sunday’s Heartbeat RO Carnival, I had the opportunity to join them and listen quietly to their heartfelt voices—voices speaking of memories, of belonging, and of what it means to be “authentic.”

“A sense of ceremony”—that was the phrase I heard most often when talking to the staff on site.

Sweet Love Road has been transformed into a themed district for *Ragnarok Online: Guardians of Eternal Love* (hereinafter referred to as *Guardians of Eternal Love 1*), with murals featuring Novice and Polly guiding players to the event venue. At the entrance, a 1:1 replica of Prontera’s South Gate draws crowds of “adventurers” who stop to take photos with cosplayers dressed as Ragnarok Online characters. On the lawn outside the venue, a group of Pollys with various expressions remains as cute and lively as ever.

Although I didn’t experience the RO craze that swept the nation twenty years ago, as I walked past the message wall covered in handwritten well-wishes and listened to the players’ laughter and lively chatter, someone suddenly shouted the guild’s slogan, prompting a chorus of responses—in that moment, it felt as though an invisible bond had connected everyone.I suddenly understood: what we call “RO nostalgia” is never merely a reproduction of memories; it is every pair of eyes shining in the sunlight right now, every unreserved cheer—it is a heart that still beats with passion, tempered by the passage of time.

Once all the players had taken their seats, Xindong RO once again took this sense of ceremony to new heights.

The first segment of the carnival featured an orchestral performance by a professional ensemble. A couple sitting next to me spoke in hushed tones, unable to hide their excitement as they chatted: they had heard these four pieces nine years ago at the *Guardian of Love 1* concert.In that moment, it suddenly dawned on me—whether it was the familiar scenery outside or the melodies now filling my ears, everything was silently crowning every journey “from beginner to adventurer.” And this carefully preserved sense of ceremony is Heartbeat’s gentlest response to all its fans.

This got me thinking during the performance segment: although I’m not a die-hard Ragnarok Online player, I do know that since Gravity, the developer of Ragnarok Online, opened up its IP licensing, there have been quite a few Ragnarok-themed products on the market.

It is true that iconic symbols like Prontera’s South Gate and Poli have long served as nostalgic staples repeatedly exploited across various Ragnarok Online products. When developers stop at crude replicas of superficial elements and fall into a cycle where “the more they update, the more players they lose,” these symbols become nothing more than hollow decorations—nostalgic marketing that fails to capture the soul of Ragnarok Online is, in the eyes of veteran players, not even as appealing as vibrant private servers.

So, why has *Guardian of Love 1* remained so cherished by players even after nine years?

My train of thought was interrupted by the R&D team as they took the stage. Perhaps the answer lay in what they were about to say.

01

An Evergreen Tree

When the creative team behind *Guardian of Love 1* took the stage, Executive Director Xiao Fei was the first to step up to the microphone, drawing familiar cheers from the audience—sharing behind-the-scenes stories face-to-face with players at this time every year has long been an unspoken tradition between him and the community.

This time, he shared a few sets of statistics: 3,287 days and nights have passed, 21 major updates have been released, and 24.63 million adventurers from around the world have embarked on their journeys… He called these “cold, hard numbers,” but they serve as a tangible record of the history that *Guardian of Love 1* has built alongside its players. As he asked the audience one by one, “Are there any players who have been playing *Guardian of Love* for three years?” and “What about those who have played for over five years?”and “Anyone with nine years of perfect attendance?!”

In the audience, dozens of hands shot up one after another and remained raised. Those silent figures were suddenly bathed in a blazing light.

Xiao Fei brings with her not only the weight of memories, but also a beacon for the future. As the lead system and gameplay designers took the stage, the 2026 blueprint for *Guardian of Love 1* gradually unfolded before the players—this is not a conservative update, but a bold experiment.

Among the three new classes, there are some surprising additions, such as "Himemes," who was originally a major villain, and "Sun Wukong," the Victorious Buddha;The new expansion, “Snowflake Land,” has poured significant resources into social features. Players can not only build snowmen, have snowball fights, and ride carousels in brand-new public communities, but they can also team up with friends to build their own homes and visit each other—it’s practically like creating a “Animal Crossing” within Ragnarok Online, allowing every player to build their dream home.Rather than simply calling this an update, it’s more accurate to say that Xindong has quietly planted a seed of “home” within the game for all players.

As a professional in this field, I fully understand that “caution” is a fundamental professional quality for development teams, especially in today’s volatile industry, where any commitment may need to be adjusted.

But the team behind *Guardian of Love 1* showed me another possibility: for a product that has been in operation for nine years, its true vitality may lie precisely in “daring to speak up and take action.”They dared to unveil their full-year content roadmap at the start of the year—featuring new expansions, new systems, new classes, and new collaborations. This confidence stems not from a disregard for risk, but from a deep understanding cultivated over nine years: they truly understand what RO players want, and they have a clear grasp of their own creative capabilities.

That is precisely why, when the development team speaks of their vision for the 10th anniversary, their words contain no vague blueprints, only a deep-seated confidence. Perhaps this is what makes this team so special: they are not only the creators of RO, but have also remained its most devoted players—they have never left, even after nine years.

In the years that followed, the operation of *Guardian of Love 1* became a delicate balancing act: on the one hand, the team streamlined the game by simplifying systems and launching the “Original Spirit Server” to lighten the game’s load and ease the pressure on nostalgia; on the other hand, they continued to inject new life into this world through new maps, new classes, and major cross-promotions.

It is precisely this unity within contradiction that gives the game its vitality—in the MMO genre, which relies heavily on a social ecosystem, the task of keeping content fresh while maintaining the stability of that ecosystem is inherently a delicate balancing act. Over the course of nine years, the team behind *Guardian of Love 1* has proven that they not only know how to create a world, but also how to gently protect it.

02

A Date

Nine years have not brought this “adventure of love and courage” to a close; rather, it feels more like a pause filled with anticipation.When Lao Xing, the producer of the "Guardian of Love" series, appeared on stage, a familiar buzz began to spread among the players—he is not only the team’s most approachable “old friend,” but his very presence serves as a signal: the spotlight is about to shift, and the stage is slowly lighting up for the sequel, *Guardian of Love 2*.

Unlike the steady course of *Guardian of Love 1*, when the spotlight turns to its sequel, *Guardian of Love 2*, there’s a distinct sense of pioneering spirit in the air. This heavy burden rests on the shoulders of Lao Xing, the producer of the *Guardian of Love* series—since its brief appearance at last year’s TapTap conference, this sequel, which is expected to deliver “bold breakthroughs,” has consistently captured the attention of both new and veteran players.

Old Xing didn’t waste time on small talk. He walked onto the stage, as if keeping an appointment he was nine years late for.

“I once said I wanted to keep RO going for ten years.” His voice was calm, yet his words carried weight. Although *Guardian of Love 1* has entered its ninth year thanks to the support of its players, he admits he still feels a sense of unease—the grand visions and promises he made in the early days have not yet been fully realized.To him, the role of producer is more like that of a “custodian of RO’s memories.” He longs to gather the scattered fragments—those lost pieces found in older versions, comics, and trading cards—and reassemble them into the world of *Guardian of Love* in their true, authentic form.

This is by no means an easy task. Even a casual player like me understands that the world created by Kim Hak-kyu, the original producer of RO, is as vast as an ancient continent yet to fully emerge. After nine years of operation, *Guardian of Love 1* may have revealed nothing more than the first lighthouse along its coastline.

Under the spotlight at the carnival, Xing Wanli made an almost romantic promise: “We plan to ‘carry on’ for another ten years in *Guarding Love 2*.”

Rather than dressing up his vision with buzzwords like “open world” or “unparalleled freedom,” he chose to return to the original context—a decade dedicated to making amends and fulfilling old promises. If he can truly revive, one by one, the fairy-tale realms that lay dormant due to technological limitations back then, *Guardian of Love 2* might just become the most substantial volume in the Ragnarok Online chronicles.

To prove that this wasn’t just empty talk, he showcased the results of the “migration” project that his team had been quietly working on:

Prondra is no longer just a flat map; its design incorporates the three-dimensional concepts from Ragnarok Online’s original artwork and manga. For example, the Giant Tower of Giffen—which, in the manga, houses magical mechanisms, administrative facilities, and even a prison, soaring high into the clouds with a circular city surrounding its base—will be faithfully recreated in the game on an epic scale.

More vivid details flourish in the wild: Angel Polly might take a leisurely stroll or doze off on the spot, and the residents of the orc villages are no longer just monsters to be defeated; they have their own life stories and even become part of side quests that players can participate in. The inspiration for these designs comes from the Ragnarok Online card art that veteran players know so well—fragments of memory are being carefully gathered and pieced back together into this world waiting to be fully unveiled.

03

A cat

To better convey the tangible sense of this "porting" process, Old Xing simply sat down and launched a live demo right there on the spot—and the real highlight he wanted to share today was the brand-new "Doran" class that had just been completed.

Even though I’m not deeply familiar with RO, I know that in all previous RO titles, the character classes have always been centered around “humans.” But the Doran race is completely different—these aren’t pets, but “cats” that players can control directly. While it would certainly be easier to simply apply the movement and skill mechanics of human characters, that would go against the Shouai team’s commitment to authenticity.

So, they decided to rewrite the rules of the world for cats:

From running and jumping to climbing, every movement of the Dolan tribe has been meticulously observed and refined through the study of cats.They can switch freely between bipedal and quadrupedal gaits; their unique stealth ability isn’t mere invisibility, but rather recreates the arched-back, crouched stance of a feline gathering power before an attack—and when this scene of a “cat sneaking about” appeared on the big screen, the entire audience burst into knowing laughter.

Building on this action logic, *Guardian of Love 2* infuses the Dolan tribe with a more vivid "feline nature."

For example, when they scratch at the wall with their claws, they leave behind scratch marks so clear they almost hurt to look at; or when they “flop down” in a corner overgrown with flowers and plants, purring contentedly—these details aren’t mere showmanship, but rather resemble a gentle observational experiment.As Old Xing said with a smile on stage: “After all our research, we finally realized that no matter how we reinterpret them—the cutest cats are, in the end, still just cats being cats.”

Lao Xing himself laughed as he admitted that, from a “practical” standpoint, many of the Dolan designs in the demo might be “completely useless.” But as he played with the same excitement he felt during his first trial run, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “Right now, I feel that these seemingly meaningless designs are actually incredibly meaningful.”

So where exactly does the meaning lie? The answer may already be written in the shining eyes of the players in the audience. They understand better than anyone else: it is precisely these seemingly “useless” emotional touches—a scratch on a wall, a purr in the grass—that truly bring Midgar to life.This isn’t a display of technical prowess, but rather an unspoken pact between the development team and their loyal players: what moves us has never been grand slogans, but rather that faint, cat-like heartbeat heard at the world’s birth.

During the open play session that followed, I had the chance to try out *Guardian of Love 2* alongside RO players: they marveled at the airships they had once only been able to gaze at from afar but could now actually board; I was captivated by the thrill of racing through the city streets pulling a mine cart, climbing to the top of the Giffen Tower, and gazing out at the distant vistas I could now actually set foot upon.

What’s even more touching is that the monsters, once merely background elements, now have their own rhythms of life.While casually exploring a corner of the map, I stumbled upon Polly, the “homebody” angel—when no players were around to disturb her, she’d sometimes pretend to be busy working, and other times just sit by her bed, daydreaming or dozing off. With her round, plump body and fluffy fur, she actually looked just like me curled up in my room in real life.

The world is no longer just a backdrop; it has become a place where we can live.

Admittedly, whether it’s adding extra design elements to fit the setting or giving monsters their own daily routines, as Old Xing said, it really doesn’t have much “meaning” and won’t affect the game’s progression in any way.

Yet it is precisely these seemingly “meaningless” details that set *Guardian of Love 2* apart from other games. While the industry is accustomed to calculating the “return on investment” for every resource, this team poured their heart and soul into leaving scratch marks on walls and creating quiet corners for monsters to linger in. They understand that true immersion is never derived from grand narratives, but rather woven from these small moments that would never appear on a quest list.

A wonderful world isn’t “designed”—it’s “lived.” Those hidden, seemingly insignificant moments of tenderness may well be the most heartfelt invitation the developers have left for players: Welcome to this world where even the wind has memories.

Based on information shared by Old Xing during the live session, the framework for *Guardian of Love 2* has long been in place—several large maps are already ready, and the third-class skill systems for at least eight classes have been fully developed. The depth of the content library makes this wait feel well worth it: the day we finally get to experience it may truly be just around the corner.

04

A New World

Nine years is enough time for many promises to fade and many passions to cool. Yet Xing Wanli and his team spent 3,287 days and nights fulfilling a long-standing commitment—*Guarding Love 1* is not the end, but merely the beginning.

From meticulously sculpting the curve of a cat’s swaying waist to designing Polly’s day-to-day moments of daydreaming; from recreating the towering Giffentower from the comic to staying true to the original promise of “another ten years of work”—this dedication has never been about replicating the past, but rather about piecing together, one fragment at a time and in the clumsiest yet most sincere way, that fantasy universe once constrained by technical limitations.

In this age obsessed with efficiency, they still believe in the significance of “meaningless” details. Perhaps this is the best answer *Guardian of Love 2* offers to time: true protection does not mean repeating oneself, but allowing that world to continue to grow.

The entire carnival was like a masterful orchestration of time: half a tender glance back into the depths of the past, and half an exploratory reach toward uncharted territory. In this balance, you can clearly sense that Heartbeat’s approach to the RO IP has never been merely about operations; rather, with the patience of an artisan, they have spent nine years quietly tending the soil and nurturing the branches, until today, when we can hear the sound of flowers blooming.

If the success of *Guardian of Love 1* lay in its 3D reimagining of *RO*’s classic elements—a heartfelt tribute to our collective memories—then *Guardian of Love 2*, built upon the framework of “open world + MMO,” represents a bold creative leap into the future. These two titles—one preserving tradition, the other breaking new ground—share a common heritage while each shines in its own right, tracing the twin trajectories of *Heartbeat* and the *RO* IP as they evolve together.

As I watched the interplay of light and shadow on and off the stage, I suddenly felt certain about the next decade of the *Guardian of Love* series. In particular, the breathtaking beauty revealed in *Guardian of Love 2*—born of understanding and passion—may, just as it did nine years ago, once again etch the same words into the hearts of countless players:

Classic RO—it still tugs at my heartstrings.

And this long-dormant track is about to be reawakened by a new wave.