Mining resources yields gold, and gold boosts your economy and drops the price of items; lower priced items mean a more powerful race. Low-level players can get involved in mining for resources in the Core, the main control point for which the different races battle, but to do so involves being ordered around by the high level players of your race, and evading dreadful and chaotic battles between your top players and the top players of other races. It's a simple equation, but one which means that it's in the interest of high level players to protect and support low level players in their mining endeavors, and which brings those low level players in contact with the incredibly impressive and powerful forms that will eventually open up to them.



The current trend with MMORPG games is that AFK (away from keyboard) playing is frowned upon. It’s either you’re vending/selling stuffs in town or just plain “Away from keyboard.” Now, RF Online encourages some AFK activities. One gameplay aspect is mining. Mined ore can be refined and turned into metals and upgrades. These items can be used by the game’s Specialist class to construct weapons and armor. Like what RF Online is offering, I have tried mining, but from another online game. It’s a 2-D game but also an international one. With RF Online, you have the luxury of being guarded by a Turret or a Holystone keeper while mining (if you own the Crag Mine Core), but from what I have experienced in the said other game, while you mine, there’s a big risk of being attacked by a monster or even killed by other players. There’s no one to protect you. So this AFK mining that RF Online offers is really a great thing for players that have a lot of spare time or can leave their characters while doing something else.