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Arabic Rappelz to hold International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking event
Every year on the 26th of June, the world recognizes the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a campaign begun by the United Nations and first held in 1988. The publishers of the Arabic version of Rappelz, Game Power 7, have issued a press release signifying their involvement in this year's campaign; there will be a one-week "education and awareness" event held in-game that mirrors the UN's sentiments for the day itself.As displayed in the picture above, the international campaign slogans "Do drugs control your life?" and "Your life. Your community. No place for drugs" will be featured in Rappelz for the event. Virtual gifts will also be given away, presumably educational in some form. Game Power 7 stated that using their virtual world to promote good values in the community is part of the company's strategy, so future events of this kind might find their way into the game. To find out more about the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the best place to start is the UN's official page, which also features links to some nation-specific pages.
The birth of the Middle Eastern MMO scene
Much of our coverage of the MMO industry at Massively is clearly focused on North America and Europe, with the occasional article about what's happening in Asia, but we rarely have the opportunity to point out what's happening in MMOs in the Middle East. Truth be told, we weren't aware that MMOs are operating in this region of the world until an article we came across today. Sanya Weathers recently got in touch with Fadi Mujahid, general manager of a Dubai-based company called Game Power 7 which has localized the free-to-play MMO Rappelz for the Middle East/North African (MENA) market. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, Game Power 7 is the first company to focus on the MMO industry in the Middle East and North Africa to date.Mujahid explains to Weathers how Game Power 7 made these first inroads to the MENA market, from market research to localization efforts (adding 'Middle Eastern touches' to the characters and other changes to make the game less offensive to the market's cultures), to getting the word out about the Arabic version of Rappelz.
