This is likely to be the final post at the NineMoons Family blog. I want to wrap things up properly, and get the last bits of everything off my chest, before I leave the New World, and I hope you and I can soldier on to the end together.
***
The Yays
YAY to RCM Hrin. She may not update her blog so frequently, and she may not always be in the forums or in-game, but she has always been my favorite GE-admin-type person. She's sweet and funny and kind - and if you're polite and patient enough she will always be accessible for any comments or questions.
YAY to the GE PH community, who continue to crusade for the game even after over a year of indifference, lack of promotion and distribution, and even the occasional act of sabotage. They come to the defense of the New World when they are called, and stay vigilant against all attacks. They are its true and stalwart pioneers and they are its most deserving inhabitants.
YAY to the GE PH fan artists: the fanfic writers, the fanart creators, the machinima directors, the independent cosplayers, and everyone else in between who has contributed their tangible and considerable talent to the community. You may be a small group and you may not always win the prizes, but your talent and sheer love for the game definitely show how much you rock.
YAY to the GE bloggers, and especially to the horde of them in the GE PH players' community. Without them, the game might have sunk into obscurity and be left on the wayside as other gamers rush towards what's new and what's shiny without considering the relative merits and demerits of each. The GE PH bloggers have fought long and hard for the game to get equal attention and love from the local gaming community. I may have started the entire GE fan-blog thing, but I could never in a million years have done it alone. It is everyone else who followed this little idea who are the real heroes - they didn't have to, but they did, and that makes all the difference.
And finally, YAY to all the friends I have made through this blog and through this game. I make no secret of the fact that if it weren't for GE in the first place I would never even have started this blog - hence I owe any tiny measure of celebrity and recognition I now possess to GE. But more important that that are the true friends that I have discovered in the process of playing, blogging, and living GE. There are many of them, and there are even some of them I may not get to meet in real life, and they are all cherished and dear to me.
[And now, because every list of Yays must have a list of Nays to balance it out.]
The Nays
NAY to IP e-Games. It's been a recurring theme in this blog, ever since that extreme disillusioning sometime during 2007. Thanks for nothing. Yes, you lot brought in the game, you distributed the pretty posters and the very first set of installers - and then after that there was really not a whole lot of anything. You let us down and dropped us as though we were hot potatoes, all the while enticing people to play your other games instead without mentioning the game you once marketed as the first Triple-A MMORPG brought to the Philippines. I don't know how to run a game publishing business, but I am certainly not going to run it as you attempted to do for GE, because you botched it, big time.
NAY to the fishers and to the saboteurs both in the community and from the competition. Nice try, kids.
***
As I write my final dispatch from the New World, I wonder how much it will take in terms of money, talent, and love to bring the game back to the forefront of gaming in the Philippines. GE has been unfairly sidelined and woefully underpromoted.
I only pray that the game can survive. It has its very devoted fans and its loyal players. Long may they last and well may they prosper.
Goodbye.
~NineMoons, as she lays her pen down
27 November 2008
[One year, eight months, and fifteen days in the New World]
Showing posts with label commentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label commentary. Show all posts
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
NineMoons's Last Stand: 2008's Best Posts
I had been hoping that it would not come to this. But if I'm going out, I'm going out with a bang.
NineMoons's Last Stand, Part 1: The best posts from 2008
JANUARY
NineMoons at POGS 2008
Grace Bernelli and the Art of Dying
FEBRUARY
Dekaravia Owns Cervantes
The 2nd GE PH Bloggers' Meeting
World Premiere: Not Another Love Story Ze Musical
MARCH
For Love of the Game
FFA Grand Finale: The Philippines Rocks Machinima
Post-FFA Rant
NineMoons's First Anniversary
NineMoons Moves to Carracci
Not Another Love Story, all versions
GE PH Community Heroes
Tribute to the Ladies
APRIL
NineMoons's Convention Guide, Part 1
Dom1nation II: Cosplay and Factions
Dom1nation II: FFA Winners, GE PH Community Heroes
Dinner with RCM Hrin
MAY
I Believe in seaGE
GVCs Rant, Part 1
GVCs Rant, Part 2
JUNE
Takhisis Faction Anniversary EB
The Five Servers of SEA / ANZ Granado Espada
GE Hangaroo, Version 1.0
Introducing Granado Espada to Gamers
JULY
Introducing Granado Espada to Non-Gamers
GE Hangaroo, Version 1.2
NineMoons at the IGN.com Vault
50k Hits
If These Girls Played GE
NineMoons Makes Vet
SEPTEMBER
NineMoons and the One about the GE Gamer Girls
An Adventurer is You!
GE PH Mini Community Meeting with CM Aethrin
Vetting a Musk
GE PH First Anniversary
NineMoons's Convention Guide, Part 2
GE PH Black Party
The One About The Faithful Granado Espada Blogger
OCTOBER
NineMoons as Faction Leader: ShenAnCalhar
A Gamer Girl's Lament
e-Games Hosts the GE PH Gamer Girls
The Two Servers of SEA / ANZ Granado Espada
Presenting the NineMoons Family Grabber
Game! November 2008 Features GE Gamer Girls
Five Hundred Posts
Now is your chance to relive with me my memories of this year in Granado Espada. Please comment away!
NineMoons's Last Stand, Part 1: The best posts from 2008
JANUARY
NineMoons at POGS 2008
Grace Bernelli and the Art of Dying
FEBRUARY
Dekaravia Owns Cervantes
The 2nd GE PH Bloggers' Meeting
World Premiere: Not Another Love Story Ze Musical
MARCH
For Love of the Game
FFA Grand Finale: The Philippines Rocks Machinima
Post-FFA Rant
NineMoons's First Anniversary
NineMoons Moves to Carracci
Not Another Love Story, all versions
GE PH Community Heroes
Tribute to the Ladies
APRIL
NineMoons's Convention Guide, Part 1
Dom1nation II: Cosplay and Factions
Dom1nation II: FFA Winners, GE PH Community Heroes
Dinner with RCM Hrin
MAY
I Believe in seaGE
GVCs Rant, Part 1
GVCs Rant, Part 2
JUNE
Takhisis Faction Anniversary EB
The Five Servers of SEA / ANZ Granado Espada
GE Hangaroo, Version 1.0
Introducing Granado Espada to Gamers
JULY
Introducing Granado Espada to Non-Gamers
GE Hangaroo, Version 1.2
NineMoons at the IGN.com Vault
50k Hits
If These Girls Played GE
NineMoons Makes Vet
SEPTEMBER
NineMoons and the One about the GE Gamer Girls
An Adventurer is You!
GE PH Mini Community Meeting with CM Aethrin
Vetting a Musk
GE PH First Anniversary
NineMoons's Convention Guide, Part 2
GE PH Black Party
The One About The Faithful Granado Espada Blogger
OCTOBER
NineMoons as Faction Leader: ShenAnCalhar
A Gamer Girl's Lament
e-Games Hosts the GE PH Gamer Girls
The Two Servers of SEA / ANZ Granado Espada
Presenting the NineMoons Family Grabber
Game! November 2008 Features GE Gamer Girls
Five Hundred Posts
Now is your chance to relive with me my memories of this year in Granado Espada. Please comment away!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Hmm, this is odd.
After taking such pains to explain and justify the merging of 3 PK servers into one, and 2 non-PK servers ditto, what is the reason for the sudden rush towards this?
[Unless, of course, the answer lies in the very fact of Bach containing THREE PK servers. Then the question becomes, have things gotten overcrowded in a hurry?]
[Unless, of course, the answer lies in the very fact of Bach containing THREE PK servers. Then the question becomes, have things gotten overcrowded in a hurry?]
Monday, November 10, 2008
NineMoons Talks About Fatigue
Once again, I begin this entry with an apology for the sudden decrease in posts on this blog.
The truth is, I'm kind of scaling back my Granado Espada playing time. Recently, my main reason for logging in at all was to farm Sun Stones for my pet Pilfurr Po - but even that wish was foiled, since the particular Poison Yard I entered was also occupied by people who insist that Super Fight maps are nothing but personal PvP shooting ranges. To no avail did my family carry the "Farmer" signs over their heads - they still got hunted as though they were animals.
In order to NOT lose my head in anger, I quit doing even that. People have to have their fun, and I decided to give mine up so others can enjoy theirs.
I'm sure Po will find it in his furry little heart to forgive his negligent mistress.
I wanted so much to increase the number of Veterans in my Rembrandt Barracks, but, well, I'm not sure I should be looking forward to the many days of grinding that I need to put in. And that's not mentioning the months it will take to train one single trio up to Expert level, too.
Certainly, there is no point in asking for the return of certain items if the regional distributors have already made it clear that the matter is not in their hands to control.
Certainly, there is no real reason to ask for an increase in experience rates.
Just to make it clear - I am not whining, I don't want anything, and I have absolutely no intentions of asking for sympathy. All I'm saying is that right now, the fatigue has set in, and I'm having to dig deep in order to find the reasons for me to stay in the New World.
Also, I wanted you all to know this because it is thanks to you that this blog has existed and flourished at all - and now that it seems to be undergoing a [temporary, I hope] downturn, I hope that you can understand, in one way or another, me, and my reasons why.
The truth is, I'm kind of scaling back my Granado Espada playing time. Recently, my main reason for logging in at all was to farm Sun Stones for my pet Pilfurr Po - but even that wish was foiled, since the particular Poison Yard I entered was also occupied by people who insist that Super Fight maps are nothing but personal PvP shooting ranges. To no avail did my family carry the "Farmer" signs over their heads - they still got hunted as though they were animals.
In order to NOT lose my head in anger, I quit doing even that. People have to have their fun, and I decided to give mine up so others can enjoy theirs.
I'm sure Po will find it in his furry little heart to forgive his negligent mistress.
I wanted so much to increase the number of Veterans in my Rembrandt Barracks, but, well, I'm not sure I should be looking forward to the many days of grinding that I need to put in. And that's not mentioning the months it will take to train one single trio up to Expert level, too.
Certainly, there is no point in asking for the return of certain items if the regional distributors have already made it clear that the matter is not in their hands to control.
Certainly, there is no real reason to ask for an increase in experience rates.
Just to make it clear - I am not whining, I don't want anything, and I have absolutely no intentions of asking for sympathy. All I'm saying is that right now, the fatigue has set in, and I'm having to dig deep in order to find the reasons for me to stay in the New World.
Also, I wanted you all to know this because it is thanks to you that this blog has existed and flourished at all - and now that it seems to be undergoing a [temporary, I hope] downturn, I hope that you can understand, in one way or another, me, and my reasons why.
Monday, November 3, 2008
FIVE HUNDRED POSTS!
[Okay, okay, it doesn't have quite the same ring as, say, Over NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!!, but hey, it's MY milestone, right?]
On Writing, Fangirling, and Blogging Granado Espada
So, yeah, here I am at the five hundred posts mark, with over sixty-four thousand visitors, and I have no idea how much Internet space I've consumed for all the photos, videos, and things of a widget-y nature posted to this one site.
Lately I've had this blog even more on my mind than usual, since a nephew of mine started consulting me about being a writer, and going to university specifically to take up a degree in Creative Writing. One of the first pieces of advice I wound up giving him was that he ought to start up a blog - his choice of topic, his choice of posting schedule - and update it as frequently as he was able.
The underlying lesson was that writing X number of words to a Y publishing schedule fosters both creativity and discipline in a budding writer. I got the initial piece of advice from none other but Neil Gaiman, and additional reinforcement and occasional elaborations from John Scalzi. You can't accuse those two gentlemen of not practicing what they preach, either....
But come on, NineMoons, some of you might be saying, you're writing about an MMORPG! How can that foster anything when you're just being a fan?
I actually submit that being a fan of something, who wants to write X number of words for a fairly regular Y publishing schedule, is a big help to meeting said schedule. Being a fan of something means you're immersed in it to some extent or another, and it often means being willing to add to one's store of information about the subject being fanboyed / fangirled.
Don't believe me? Check out the massive number of crafting, food, and review blogs, to name just three popular genres of blogging. They're not all "I love this" or "I'm really into that" - many of them are active learning experiences, where bloggers and readers interact to boost stocks of knowledge and skills.
The blog has been an immense help to me to become a more disciplined, and yes, certainly more prolific writer. And since writing is my greatest passion: being a fan is no small fry, this blog has been the greatest help to me, and Granado Espada continues to rock for providing me with such rich material to write with.
Here's to five hundred posts and to the next five hundred.
On Writing, Fangirling, and Blogging Granado Espada
So, yeah, here I am at the five hundred posts mark, with over sixty-four thousand visitors, and I have no idea how much Internet space I've consumed for all the photos, videos, and things of a widget-y nature posted to this one site.
Lately I've had this blog even more on my mind than usual, since a nephew of mine started consulting me about being a writer, and going to university specifically to take up a degree in Creative Writing. One of the first pieces of advice I wound up giving him was that he ought to start up a blog - his choice of topic, his choice of posting schedule - and update it as frequently as he was able.
The underlying lesson was that writing X number of words to a Y publishing schedule fosters both creativity and discipline in a budding writer. I got the initial piece of advice from none other but Neil Gaiman, and additional reinforcement and occasional elaborations from John Scalzi. You can't accuse those two gentlemen of not practicing what they preach, either....
But come on, NineMoons, some of you might be saying, you're writing about an MMORPG! How can that foster anything when you're just being a fan?
I actually submit that being a fan of something, who wants to write X number of words for a fairly regular Y publishing schedule, is a big help to meeting said schedule. Being a fan of something means you're immersed in it to some extent or another, and it often means being willing to add to one's store of information about the subject being fanboyed / fangirled.
Don't believe me? Check out the massive number of crafting, food, and review blogs, to name just three popular genres of blogging. They're not all "I love this" or "I'm really into that" - many of them are active learning experiences, where bloggers and readers interact to boost stocks of knowledge and skills.
The blog has been an immense help to me to become a more disciplined, and yes, certainly more prolific writer. And since writing is my greatest passion: being a fan is no small fry, this blog has been the greatest help to me, and Granado Espada continues to rock for providing me with such rich material to write with.
Here's to five hundred posts and to the next five hundred.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
One Day To Server Merge: NineMoons's Last Hurrah in Carracci
The NineMoons family in Carracci's latest - and final, for now - accomplishment: boosting its first martial artist to Level 84!
Here is Siuan NineMoons, alias "Flying Snow". For those of you who saw the great wuxia epic film Hero, you know who I'm referring to: the gorgeous assassin played by none other than the great Maggie Cheung. The really cool thing - no pun intended! - is that her assassin name perfectly suits Feng Ling - ice-type attacks, lots of speed, and martial arts! What's not to like?
It looks like Siuan will be my first Veteran in Rembrandt server ^^
***
Testing on the new servers that will house Rembrandt and Bach continues.
If you haven't already done so, please look back to my previous entry to see if there's any more housekeeping you need to do before tomorrow.
Remember that the Server Merge begins tomorrow, 15 October, at 0800 Singapore time. The GE live servers will be shut down by then.
I'm thinking of lighting a few joss sticks my own self - I guess it's all I can do to express my hope that the Server Merge goes without a hitch, and that we'll all see each other again come Thursday evening in the new servers.
***
Watch out for tomorrow's entry!
Here is Siuan NineMoons, alias "Flying Snow". For those of you who saw the great wuxia epic film Hero, you know who I'm referring to: the gorgeous assassin played by none other than the great Maggie Cheung. The really cool thing - no pun intended! - is that her assassin name perfectly suits Feng Ling - ice-type attacks, lots of speed, and martial arts! What's not to like?
It looks like Siuan will be my first Veteran in Rembrandt server ^^
***
Testing on the new servers that will house Rembrandt and Bach continues.
If you haven't already done so, please look back to my previous entry to see if there's any more housekeeping you need to do before tomorrow.
Remember that the Server Merge begins tomorrow, 15 October, at 0800 Singapore time. The GE live servers will be shut down by then.
I'm thinking of lighting a few joss sticks my own self - I guess it's all I can do to express my hope that the Server Merge goes without a hitch, and that we'll all see each other again come Thursday evening in the new servers.
***
Watch out for tomorrow's entry!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Post Script to September 2008: A Gamer Girl's Lament
The following speech is, of course, borrowed and adapted to the purpose from Shylock of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. This famous lament appears in Act 3, Scene 1. Original here.
***
I am a Gamer Girl. Do I not have eyes with which to look out for myself within my chosen game? Do I not have hands to wield the controllers with, senses to play with, passions to fuel my game? Do I not use the same potions to heal with, am I not worthy of the same in-game weapons and tactics, am I not affected by the same buffs and debuffs, as a male gamer is?
If you PK me, do I not die? If you trade with me, do I not benefit? If you annoy me, do I not have the right to block your offensive ass? And if you insult me, do I not have the right to take your damn head?
If I am a gamer just as you are - and damn right I am - I will resemble you in this. If a male gamer harms me, a gamer girl, I shall not take it sitting down - I shall bring the hurt. However badly you behave in-game, I have the right to give it right back!
***
Some days, being on the forums gets TIRING. Just see the inanity of recent posts in two of the General Discussion threads on the SEA / ANZ GE forums.
GE Gamer Girls Season 1: Some guy warned the girls of Pachelbel that they might well get overwhelmed by PMs or broads once the non-PK servers have merged into Rembrandt. The sensible response from the girls? "That's what the block function is for."
And the guy has the CHEEK to respond to this with "block...soh mean D:".
Do we exist to fuel the single boys' fantasies? I think NOT.
Carracci - Pachelbel Faction Remix Discussion: The thread supposedly set out to give the factions of Carracci and Pachelbel a chance to describe themselves. The first attempted derailment of the thread came when some guy asked, is Les Filles Faction of Pachelbel really a girls-only faction? And someone answered yes, see their recruitment thread.
I next posted descriptions for my own ShenAnCalhar Faction and included the following lines:
"Recruiting / Not Recruiting: Undecided. This faction was originally formed for the single purpose of experiencing the Level 51 and 52 Faction Quests.
I am currently thinking about opening recruitment in Rembrandt. If I do so, I will open membership to female players, and female players only."
And then the thread gets REALLY derailed when the guys IMMEDIATELY wish for a showdown between the girls-only factions - in other words, they wanted a catfight! What kind of inane wish is that?
I'm beginning to think that for all the good the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 initiative was supposed to do, there are a lot of guys who JUST DIDN'T GET IT.
***
I am a Gamer Girl. Do I not have eyes with which to look out for myself within my chosen game? Do I not have hands to wield the controllers with, senses to play with, passions to fuel my game? Do I not use the same potions to heal with, am I not worthy of the same in-game weapons and tactics, am I not affected by the same buffs and debuffs, as a male gamer is?
If you PK me, do I not die? If you trade with me, do I not benefit? If you annoy me, do I not have the right to block your offensive ass? And if you insult me, do I not have the right to take your damn head?
If I am a gamer just as you are - and damn right I am - I will resemble you in this. If a male gamer harms me, a gamer girl, I shall not take it sitting down - I shall bring the hurt. However badly you behave in-game, I have the right to give it right back!
***
Some days, being on the forums gets TIRING. Just see the inanity of recent posts in two of the General Discussion threads on the SEA / ANZ GE forums.
GE Gamer Girls Season 1: Some guy warned the girls of Pachelbel that they might well get overwhelmed by PMs or broads once the non-PK servers have merged into Rembrandt. The sensible response from the girls? "That's what the block function is for."
And the guy has the CHEEK to respond to this with "block...soh mean D:".
Do we exist to fuel the single boys' fantasies? I think NOT.
Carracci - Pachelbel Faction Remix Discussion: The thread supposedly set out to give the factions of Carracci and Pachelbel a chance to describe themselves. The first attempted derailment of the thread came when some guy asked, is Les Filles Faction of Pachelbel really a girls-only faction? And someone answered yes, see their recruitment thread.
I next posted descriptions for my own ShenAnCalhar Faction and included the following lines:
"Recruiting / Not Recruiting: Undecided. This faction was originally formed for the single purpose of experiencing the Level 51 and 52 Faction Quests.
I am currently thinking about opening recruitment in Rembrandt. If I do so, I will open membership to female players, and female players only."
And then the thread gets REALLY derailed when the guys IMMEDIATELY wish for a showdown between the girls-only factions - in other words, they wanted a catfight! What kind of inane wish is that?
I'm beginning to think that for all the good the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 initiative was supposed to do, there are a lot of guys who JUST DIDN'T GET IT.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Reading is Fun + Computer Games are Fun = Reading + Computer Games are FUN!
While browsing a newspaper on the way to work this morning - yep, the telecommuting is over, and NineMoons must needs partially return to the rat race - my eyes lit on a headline of quite a different type: a sci-fi author was using video games in order to get more children to read.
Okay, what, right? One of the things that the sane users on the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada forums complain about the most are people, derisively called sotong or squid, who do NOT read the forums but instead create threads just to re-ask questions that have already been asked and answered elsewhere.
You know the type: there are guides in the forums, the guides are stickied so they're always visible in the relevant sub-forums, and people STILL keep asking, say, How do I get Catherine the Summoner? or What is this [item name] for? or even Do the Baron RNPCs craft the Baron Costumes?
Well, I found out that the sci-fi writer is named PJ Haarsma. He's a Canadian author, and his current book series is called The Softwire. It's the tale of a kid who finds out that he's the first human who can pretty much interface with any computer he encounters with just his mind - essentially, he can jack into the Matrix without needing the port at the back of the head.
What makes Haarsma and The Softwire unique? Well, he took the concept of the books one step further by creating an online Role-Playing Game [RPG], Rings of Orbis. In order to advance in this RPG, players must read the books! Also, Haarsma emphasized that his game was not a "pick-up-a-gun-and-go-kill-each-other-game" [sic] - it's more of resource management meets social networking meets role-playing.
The article on Haarsma featured reactions from other people in the world of children's and young adult books, many of whom had traditionally complained that they were losing their audience to all those new-fangled kill-'em-all video games. Some said that those types of games, coupled with the incessant chatter of "tlkng lyk dis" and terminology such as "Boom Headshot" were damaging the language skills of the players.
Others disagreed, and some mavericks even went so far as to say that video game players actually read more - strategy and tactics guides, game information, and - wait for it - blogs!
I was going to make a joke about how this development pretty much blows the cover off the raison d'etre for this blog's existence, but decided I might as well just celebrate it!
I created the NineMoons Family blog in order to document the journey through the New World, to provide guides and reportage for major events, to give the community another place to meet and exchange views, and so that I might have someplace to talk about my own opinions regarding the game - and that's nothing to hide!
Okay, what, right? One of the things that the sane users on the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada forums complain about the most are people, derisively called sotong or squid, who do NOT read the forums but instead create threads just to re-ask questions that have already been asked and answered elsewhere.
You know the type: there are guides in the forums, the guides are stickied so they're always visible in the relevant sub-forums, and people STILL keep asking, say, How do I get Catherine the Summoner? or What is this [item name] for? or even Do the Baron RNPCs craft the Baron Costumes?
Well, I found out that the sci-fi writer is named PJ Haarsma. He's a Canadian author, and his current book series is called The Softwire. It's the tale of a kid who finds out that he's the first human who can pretty much interface with any computer he encounters with just his mind - essentially, he can jack into the Matrix without needing the port at the back of the head.
What makes Haarsma and The Softwire unique? Well, he took the concept of the books one step further by creating an online Role-Playing Game [RPG], Rings of Orbis. In order to advance in this RPG, players must read the books! Also, Haarsma emphasized that his game was not a "pick-up-a-gun-and-go-kill-each-other-game" [sic] - it's more of resource management meets social networking meets role-playing.
The article on Haarsma featured reactions from other people in the world of children's and young adult books, many of whom had traditionally complained that they were losing their audience to all those new-fangled kill-'em-all video games. Some said that those types of games, coupled with the incessant chatter of "tlkng lyk dis" and terminology such as "Boom Headshot" were damaging the language skills of the players.
Others disagreed, and some mavericks even went so far as to say that video game players actually read more - strategy and tactics guides, game information, and - wait for it - blogs!
I was going to make a joke about how this development pretty much blows the cover off the raison d'etre for this blog's existence, but decided I might as well just celebrate it!
I created the NineMoons Family blog in order to document the journey through the New World, to provide guides and reportage for major events, to give the community another place to meet and exchange views, and so that I might have someplace to talk about my own opinions regarding the game - and that's nothing to hide!
Monday, October 6, 2008
*taps foot* Explanation PLEASE!
I said that I would wait for this to be resolved before I blogged about it. One weekend later, nothing has been done beyond a nonspecific announcement of investigations to be done.
I had actually challenged the IAH moderator who stepped into this issue to reveal the results of the investigation, if any, to the public.
[The moderator appeared on Page 5; my challenge on Page 6.]
The community has kept the thread alive throughout the weekend. We're still waiting for a response, if any should be forthcoming, on this matter.
In the meantime, please feel free to debate this issue in the comments, as well as in the original forums post.
Please give us an explanation for this.
Original thread: Analyze this by Dem.
STOP PRESS: Here's the IAH response: Official Announcement for Notice Abuse. Read and learn, think about it, and if you have any more questions - I know I do - take 'em to comments ^^
I had actually challenged the IAH moderator who stepped into this issue to reveal the results of the investigation, if any, to the public.
[The moderator appeared on Page 5; my challenge on Page 6.]
The community has kept the thread alive throughout the weekend. We're still waiting for a response, if any should be forthcoming, on this matter.
In the meantime, please feel free to debate this issue in the comments, as well as in the original forums post.
Please give us an explanation for this.
Original thread: Analyze this by Dem.
STOP PRESS: Here's the IAH response: Official Announcement for Notice Abuse. Read and learn, think about it, and if you have any more questions - I know I do - take 'em to comments ^^
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
September's end: NineMoons's article on the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 initiative TEASER
Granado Espada: Gamer Girls in the Spotlight
by PJ “NineMoons” Punla [http://geninemoons.blogspot.com]
Back in the beginnings of the World Wide Web and the Internet, those who wanted in had to endure sharing their connections with everyone else, slow or laggy data lines, the occasional influx of not-quite-polite new users, and a slightly misogynistic take on things.
There are many stories as to where the hostility toward women on the Internet began. Some of the tales cite the relative anonymity of the early days, when people began to shift from using their own real names to the prototypical “handles” and usernames. Others mention that the original groups of users tended to be mostly male, and tended to expect that everyone else was, too. And still others paint pictures of the original groups of users as being rather left out of “real” society, lacking the ability or inclination to successfully mingle with fellow humans.
The misogyny scaled along with the growing community of users until eventually, the stereotype emerged: the typical Internet user is a male white teenager, whose ideas about the opposite sex are juvenile at best and outright hostile at worst.
One of the products of that stereotype is the following section taken from the so-called “Rules of the Internet”. Take note that these “rules” that were already offensive when they first came out, since they originated from a badly-behaved image discussion board:
Rules of the Internet
28. Always question a person's gender - just in case it's really a man
29. In the internet all girls are men and all kids are undercover FBI agents
30. There are no girls on the internet
31. TITS or GTFO - the choice is yours
The 31st “rule” may be the cruelest of all: if you claim to be female on the Internet, either show your breasts, or get the [insert your preferred expletive here] out.
And who can forget the pejorative abbreviation “GIRL” [Guy In Real Life], or its local equivalent term chicksilog, meaning a guy who assumes a female persona online?
With the advent of Web 2.0 and its many new applications, the Internet may finally be rebelling against the old misogyny: blogs run by and for women, many even organized into their own networks, such as the BlogHer network; social networking sites such as Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook, boasting multitudes of female users; and even media-streaming sites where women create and dictate the content, such as Christine Gambito’s Happy Slip Productions.
Video games bring up the special case of gamer girls. The female of the species has discovered a new playground, and has set out to conquer it with a vengeance. Since many girls have taken up gaming – many even professionally, and make no mistake, they are good at it – the marketing programs of what was formerly a male-adolescent-dominated audience [sound familiar?] are now shifting in order to target the new crop of players.
Gamer girls have been part of Massively Multiplayer Online Games [MMOGs], a special subset of video games, from the beginning – but now they are being heralded as the new face of the genre.
***
To read the rest of the article online, click the following link: ScoutAreaOnline.com > Technology > Technology Features > Granado Espada Gamer Girls in the Spotlight
To read the rest of the article in print, check out the November issue of Game! Magazine, hitting stands soon.
by PJ “NineMoons” Punla [http://geninemoons.blogspot.com]
Back in the beginnings of the World Wide Web and the Internet, those who wanted in had to endure sharing their connections with everyone else, slow or laggy data lines, the occasional influx of not-quite-polite new users, and a slightly misogynistic take on things.
There are many stories as to where the hostility toward women on the Internet began. Some of the tales cite the relative anonymity of the early days, when people began to shift from using their own real names to the prototypical “handles” and usernames. Others mention that the original groups of users tended to be mostly male, and tended to expect that everyone else was, too. And still others paint pictures of the original groups of users as being rather left out of “real” society, lacking the ability or inclination to successfully mingle with fellow humans.
The misogyny scaled along with the growing community of users until eventually, the stereotype emerged: the typical Internet user is a male white teenager, whose ideas about the opposite sex are juvenile at best and outright hostile at worst.
One of the products of that stereotype is the following section taken from the so-called “Rules of the Internet”. Take note that these “rules” that were already offensive when they first came out, since they originated from a badly-behaved image discussion board:
Rules of the Internet
28. Always question a person's gender - just in case it's really a man
29. In the internet all girls are men and all kids are undercover FBI agents
30. There are no girls on the internet
31. TITS or GTFO - the choice is yours
The 31st “rule” may be the cruelest of all: if you claim to be female on the Internet, either show your breasts, or get the [insert your preferred expletive here] out.
And who can forget the pejorative abbreviation “GIRL” [Guy In Real Life], or its local equivalent term chicksilog, meaning a guy who assumes a female persona online?
With the advent of Web 2.0 and its many new applications, the Internet may finally be rebelling against the old misogyny: blogs run by and for women, many even organized into their own networks, such as the BlogHer network; social networking sites such as Friendster, MySpace, and Facebook, boasting multitudes of female users; and even media-streaming sites where women create and dictate the content, such as Christine Gambito’s Happy Slip Productions.
Video games bring up the special case of gamer girls. The female of the species has discovered a new playground, and has set out to conquer it with a vengeance. Since many girls have taken up gaming – many even professionally, and make no mistake, they are good at it – the marketing programs of what was formerly a male-adolescent-dominated audience [sound familiar?] are now shifting in order to target the new crop of players.
Gamer girls have been part of Massively Multiplayer Online Games [MMOGs], a special subset of video games, from the beginning – but now they are being heralded as the new face of the genre.
***
To read the rest of the article online, click the following link: ScoutAreaOnline.com > Technology > Technology Features > Granado Espada Gamer Girls in the Spotlight
To read the rest of the article in print, check out the November issue of Game! Magazine, hitting stands soon.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Server Merge Commentary: Channels, Compensation, and the Staff
Since there are still people in the forums who are just jumping straight into the rants-n-raves mode before knowing what's going on, read this or die:
IAH is implementing a server merge for SEA / ANZ Granado Espada effective 7 October 2008.
News and Sources:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
Bulletin 1: World Migration Family and Faction Migration Guide
[More bulletins to come, apparently, and I will update the post as they are released.]
Official Forum Threads for Comments and Complaints:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
It's Maintenance Day! Ask [Mee Pok Tah] about the World Migration here!!
***
I'm still not tout a fait ["completely"] happy with the continuing wait-and-see tactic regarding the number of channels available to players after the server merge. As I quoted in the previous entry, Hrin was left saying something about IMC, HBS, and IAH deciding on whether there would be more channels in the new servers only after the merge had been completed.
Maybe I should say it a little more strongly, though I'm not sure what good it might do me right now:
One of the fastest ways to assure the SEA / ANZ GE community of players, right the heck now when the news is still fresh enough to cause shock and anger, is to say that there WILL be more channels already implemented in the new servers, ready to use when we all log back in.
Corollary statements:
- More channels will assuage the fear of overcrowding, especially in the merged PK server which will play host to the denizens of the THREE old PK servers.
- More channels may allow for more boss raids, which will mean that better loots and items may become more accessible to more people and thus affect the new servers' economies.
- More channels will negate the fear associated with "Where will the newbies level now?", because more channels equals more space for everyone to level in.
There was a brief description of the supposedly new hardware and servers that IAH bought, which they'll be migrating GE to. The burden of proof of those new servers falls squarely on IAH - prove how new and how robust those things are by programming them to hold more channels.
I still remember the outcry when SEA / ANZ GE transitioned to its commercial phase because in that transition, all of the Channel 3s were dropped most unceremoniously. That lingered as a sore wound in the community because up until then, everyone had most cheerfully utilized the wide-open freedom of the New World in three separate channels. The irony of that wide-open freedom being abruptly curtailed, just when the game went into wide release and presumably looking for new players, was a hard blow to deal with.
The suggestion has been to bump the number of channels back to, at the very LEAST, three in each new server - and there are even those who are advocating four to six channels. My two cents involves assigning two channels for each of the old servers:
New PK server Bach: Six channels, two for each of the three former servers Cervantes, Caravaggio, and Vivaldi
New Non-PK server Rembrandt: Four channels, two for each of the two former servers Carracci and Pachelbel.
And, following the second corollary statement above, opening boss raids in at least two channels apiece, as initial concession to the large numbers of raiders pouring into each of the new, after-merge servers.
***
I also do not agree with having only the World Migration Package as the compensation for all players. The suggested items to be included in the package might not satisfy everyone. I might have suggested adding one thing to that package: 15 ABS for everyone. I'm not joking, at least this gives people a chance, however much of a chance that game is, at getting good items, as compensation for many items that may be lost in the process of merging.
***
Finally, for everyone what's going to the Black Party GE PH Anniversary event on Saturday: Let's at least PLEASE try NOT to overwhelm CM Aethrin with too many questions about this server merge. My best piece of advice will be to READ THE LINKS ABOVE before going - and if you cannot find an answer to your burning questions, only then can you go ahead and attempt to have the CM look into it.
Be advised that the forum threads are already being manned by staff who are already making extreme efforts to accommodate everyone's questions. Ask THEM first, and preferably BEFORE Saturday - they're right there so ask them already!
IAH is implementing a server merge for SEA / ANZ Granado Espada effective 7 October 2008.
News and Sources:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
Bulletin 1: World Migration Family and Faction Migration Guide
[More bulletins to come, apparently, and I will update the post as they are released.]
Official Forum Threads for Comments and Complaints:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
It's Maintenance Day! Ask [Mee Pok Tah] about the World Migration here!!
***
I'm still not tout a fait ["completely"] happy with the continuing wait-and-see tactic regarding the number of channels available to players after the server merge. As I quoted in the previous entry, Hrin was left saying something about IMC, HBS, and IAH deciding on whether there would be more channels in the new servers only after the merge had been completed.
Maybe I should say it a little more strongly, though I'm not sure what good it might do me right now:
One of the fastest ways to assure the SEA / ANZ GE community of players, right the heck now when the news is still fresh enough to cause shock and anger, is to say that there WILL be more channels already implemented in the new servers, ready to use when we all log back in.
Corollary statements:
- More channels will assuage the fear of overcrowding, especially in the merged PK server which will play host to the denizens of the THREE old PK servers.
- More channels may allow for more boss raids, which will mean that better loots and items may become more accessible to more people and thus affect the new servers' economies.
- More channels will negate the fear associated with "Where will the newbies level now?", because more channels equals more space for everyone to level in.
There was a brief description of the supposedly new hardware and servers that IAH bought, which they'll be migrating GE to. The burden of proof of those new servers falls squarely on IAH - prove how new and how robust those things are by programming them to hold more channels.
I still remember the outcry when SEA / ANZ GE transitioned to its commercial phase because in that transition, all of the Channel 3s were dropped most unceremoniously. That lingered as a sore wound in the community because up until then, everyone had most cheerfully utilized the wide-open freedom of the New World in three separate channels. The irony of that wide-open freedom being abruptly curtailed, just when the game went into wide release and presumably looking for new players, was a hard blow to deal with.
The suggestion has been to bump the number of channels back to, at the very LEAST, three in each new server - and there are even those who are advocating four to six channels. My two cents involves assigning two channels for each of the old servers:
New PK server Bach: Six channels, two for each of the three former servers Cervantes, Caravaggio, and Vivaldi
New Non-PK server Rembrandt: Four channels, two for each of the two former servers Carracci and Pachelbel.
And, following the second corollary statement above, opening boss raids in at least two channels apiece, as initial concession to the large numbers of raiders pouring into each of the new, after-merge servers.
***
I also do not agree with having only the World Migration Package as the compensation for all players. The suggested items to be included in the package might not satisfy everyone. I might have suggested adding one thing to that package: 15 ABS for everyone. I'm not joking, at least this gives people a chance, however much of a chance that game is, at getting good items, as compensation for many items that may be lost in the process of merging.
***
Finally, for everyone what's going to the Black Party GE PH Anniversary event on Saturday: Let's at least PLEASE try NOT to overwhelm CM Aethrin with too many questions about this server merge. My best piece of advice will be to READ THE LINKS ABOVE before going - and if you cannot find an answer to your burning questions, only then can you go ahead and attempt to have the CM look into it.
Be advised that the forum threads are already being manned by staff who are already making extreme efforts to accommodate everyone's questions. Ask THEM first, and preferably BEFORE Saturday - they're right there so ask them already!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Server Merge What The-?! Hilarity Ensues....
Okay, heart attack time for all of you who haven't yet heard of this:
IAH is implementing a server merge for SEA / ANZ Granado Espada effective 7 October 2008.
News and Sources:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
Bulletin 1: World Migration Family and Faction Migration Guide
[More bulletins to come, apparently, and I will update the post as they are released.]
Official Forum Thread for Comments and Complaints:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
It's Maintenance Day! Ask [Mee Pok Tah] about the World Migration here!!
Please, for the love of Grace Bernelli or Andre Janzur, PLEASE read through the news articles and the official comments in the thread above, before anyone panics!
[And have some sympathy for the IAH staff because even while this development has caught everyone flat-footed, they are now the ones who have to face the collective wrath of the community.]
***
I've already had my freak-out over this news, so maybe I can contribute my comments and suggestions - in the hope that I've calmed down enough to be coherent AND rational, of course.
The major themes in the thread linked above have been:
Compensation for this sudden merge, and the losses that people may incur in its implementation
How the PK and the non-PK servers will be affected, respectively
Channels, or the current lack thereof
Items and how they will be dealt with in case of loss; special mention to items such as character cards, limited-edition items such as Divine Angel Wings, and the non-tradeable RNPCs such as Rio, Irawan, Feng Ling, and Bai Hu
And then there are the people who dashed headlong into the thread without knowing what's going on. I refer you again to the beginning of this blog post for the relevant links.
My comments on the themes:
Hrin mentioned something called the "World Migration Package":
We have proposed to IMC and HBS to allow us to have a World Migration Package for you guys.
To ease all migrants’ transition into the new worlds of Bach and Rembrandt, all users who log in between 7 September 2008, 0000hrs (GMT+8) -7 October 2008 0000hrs (GMT+8) will receive the following on 9 October 2008, Thursday, after the merger is complete:
a) 3 Combat Manual (1 day)
b) 3 Stance Manual ( 1 day)
c) 3 Forgotten Territory Pass (1 day)
d) 3 Ancient Territory Pass (1 day)
e) 3 Lucifer Wings (1 day)
f) 3 Devil Wings (1 day)
Yes, that is not a cure-all for all item losses, but it's a start.
Alternatively, a friend of mine suggests doing the following:
- Create a mule account for every server: specifically, one mule account that has only one family in each server
- Merc the characters you want to save
- Pass the items, the vis, and the merced characters to the mule account
- Pray the merge goes through properly
- Retrieve the stash from the mule accounts
The merge works this way:
Cervantes + Caravaggio + Vivaldi = Bach -> Three PK servers become one PK server
Carracci + Pachelbel = Rembrandt -> Two Non-PK servers become one Non-PK server
Since Viv and Pach were the last two servers to be released, some players from those servers have the complaint of lagging behind the other servers in terms of growth and age. The particular comment about Pach was that its population was simply going to be incorporated into Carracci.
The way I see it, yes, there will be problems with overcrowding, but at least it MIGHT become easier to get together for pick-up raids and missions. I can't really judge it until it's actual merge time, though.
When it comes to talking about channels, this quote from Hrin scares me:
As for additional channels, we will observe the situation after the world migration before we discuss further with IMC.
Um, BOO HISS...? It's my firm belief that having the additional channels will immediately assuage the community's fears of having overcrowded servers.... Though someone HAS pointed out to me that this is not a likely thing to happen. This might have been the one truly depressing thing about this. Where in heck are we going to find spots if all the spots get taken very fast?
I really hope IAH pushes for more channels.
And about the rather thorny problem of legacy items...I personally have no stake in it, but I understand that it DOES become a major concern for everyone who went to amazing lengths to get those items. I have nothing to say yet since I want to think about it some more. I guess that means there will be follow-up posts.
So, let's talk about this in the comments. Everyone is welcome, but no trolling or foul language please.
IAH is implementing a server merge for SEA / ANZ Granado Espada effective 7 October 2008.
News and Sources:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
Bulletin 1: World Migration Family and Faction Migration Guide
[More bulletins to come, apparently, and I will update the post as they are released.]
Official Forum Thread for Comments and Complaints:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
It's Maintenance Day! Ask [Mee Pok Tah] about the World Migration here!!
Please, for the love of Grace Bernelli or Andre Janzur, PLEASE read through the news articles and the official comments in the thread above, before anyone panics!
[And have some sympathy for the IAH staff because even while this development has caught everyone flat-footed, they are now the ones who have to face the collective wrath of the community.]
***
I've already had my freak-out over this news, so maybe I can contribute my comments and suggestions - in the hope that I've calmed down enough to be coherent AND rational, of course.
The major themes in the thread linked above have been:
Compensation for this sudden merge, and the losses that people may incur in its implementation
How the PK and the non-PK servers will be affected, respectively
Channels, or the current lack thereof
Items and how they will be dealt with in case of loss; special mention to items such as character cards, limited-edition items such as Divine Angel Wings, and the non-tradeable RNPCs such as Rio, Irawan, Feng Ling, and Bai Hu
And then there are the people who dashed headlong into the thread without knowing what's going on. I refer you again to the beginning of this blog post for the relevant links.
My comments on the themes:
Hrin mentioned something called the "World Migration Package":
We have proposed to IMC and HBS to allow us to have a World Migration Package for you guys.
To ease all migrants’ transition into the new worlds of Bach and Rembrandt, all users who log in between 7 September 2008, 0000hrs (GMT+8) -7 October 2008 0000hrs (GMT+8) will receive the following on 9 October 2008, Thursday, after the merger is complete:
a) 3 Combat Manual (1 day)
b) 3 Stance Manual ( 1 day)
c) 3 Forgotten Territory Pass (1 day)
d) 3 Ancient Territory Pass (1 day)
e) 3 Lucifer Wings (1 day)
f) 3 Devil Wings (1 day)
Yes, that is not a cure-all for all item losses, but it's a start.
Alternatively, a friend of mine suggests doing the following:
- Create a mule account for every server: specifically, one mule account that has only one family in each server
- Merc the characters you want to save
- Pass the items, the vis, and the merced characters to the mule account
- Pray the merge goes through properly
- Retrieve the stash from the mule accounts
The merge works this way:
Cervantes + Caravaggio + Vivaldi = Bach -> Three PK servers become one PK server
Carracci + Pachelbel = Rembrandt -> Two Non-PK servers become one Non-PK server
Since Viv and Pach were the last two servers to be released, some players from those servers have the complaint of lagging behind the other servers in terms of growth and age. The particular comment about Pach was that its population was simply going to be incorporated into Carracci.
The way I see it, yes, there will be problems with overcrowding, but at least it MIGHT become easier to get together for pick-up raids and missions. I can't really judge it until it's actual merge time, though.
When it comes to talking about channels, this quote from Hrin scares me:
As for additional channels, we will observe the situation after the world migration before we discuss further with IMC.
Um, BOO HISS...? It's my firm belief that having the additional channels will immediately assuage the community's fears of having overcrowded servers.... Though someone HAS pointed out to me that this is not a likely thing to happen. This might have been the one truly depressing thing about this. Where in heck are we going to find spots if all the spots get taken very fast?
I really hope IAH pushes for more channels.
And about the rather thorny problem of legacy items...I personally have no stake in it, but I understand that it DOES become a major concern for everyone who went to amazing lengths to get those items. I have nothing to say yet since I want to think about it some more. I guess that means there will be follow-up posts.
So, let's talk about this in the comments. Everyone is welcome, but no trolling or foul language please.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Consciousness-Raising and the GE PH Community
While reading British scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins's recent bestselling book The God Delusion, I was introduced to a rather significant concept in communication: consciousness-raising. Essentially, this is making people stand up and pay attention to some things that may have become so everyday and ordinary that their other meanings are lost.
Dawkins uses as an example the feminist movement and its response to such ordinary words as "mankind" and "history". Some of the radical feminists, you see, disliked those words so much because they were allegedly so focused on the male of the species, so focused so as to make women [and children, and gays/lesbians/transgenders, and by implication the elderly] disappear.
I know that the example is a little extreme, and Dawkins admits as much. But the feminists did their share of consciousness-raising in making it clear that there were words and concepts that DID seem biased towards one gender or another. This then became the reason why gender-neutral language became widely accepted.
Now, what does consciousness-raising have to do with Granado Espada? For me, it has to do primarily with the community. We have a chance to change the usual perceptions of gamers, and we have a chance to raise others' consciousness about gaming and its actual benefits.
Take for example the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 initiative. Thanks to RCM Hrin, there is in place a project that seeks to showcase the many faces of the Granado Espada-playing girl gamer. I tend to see the project as a means of raising consciousness that there are just as many types of gamer girls out there as there are gamer guys: we are Achievers, Socializers, Explorers, and Killers [just to paraphrase that popular test of play style]; we are faction leaders, raid captains, and lone players; we devote hours and hours to the game and we also devote time to real life. I won't belabor the point, since I've already made my views clear in this previous post.
Another example of consciousness-raising would be the GE PH Bloggers' Meetings [28 October 2007, 18 February 2008, and most recently 6 September 2008].
Now, before anyone goes off accusing me of tooting my own horn, let me just repeat WHY I organize these things in the first place. The GE PH Bloggers' Meetings are put together in pursuit of the goal of bettering the GE PH players' community; they serve as venues for the community to air its concerns, and also function as real-life socializing activities. I have always intended for the GE PH Bloggers' Meetings to be a means of putting a face to the GE PH player: to make him and her REAL, with human faces and concerns and comments.
Now there is the concern raised in a recent study of Asian online gaming communities: they may be thriving, and they may be expanding, but already the bullies are out in force to prey upon the newbies. Read the story at hackenslash.
A concrete example of bullying - or more generally speaking, game griefing - can be found in one of my friend the MMOtaku's recent posts about an event in his preferred MMORPG, Perfect World: Perfect World: Frustration with a sponsored event. He says that an in-game event, which had been intended to give some enjoyment to the players, was hijacked by griefers in various ways, and offers screenshots to show what happened.
I mention these two links in connection with the problems of griefing that are currently rife in all of the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada servers. Each server has its own type of grief being suffered by the regular players, and, naturally, a different type of griefer. I want to take this opportunity to tell the community that it should be more than okay to fight back against griefers. Take back the fun of playing GE!
Consciousness-Raising is your friend!
Dawkins uses as an example the feminist movement and its response to such ordinary words as "mankind" and "history". Some of the radical feminists, you see, disliked those words so much because they were allegedly so focused on the male of the species, so focused so as to make women [and children, and gays/lesbians/transgenders, and by implication the elderly] disappear.
I know that the example is a little extreme, and Dawkins admits as much. But the feminists did their share of consciousness-raising in making it clear that there were words and concepts that DID seem biased towards one gender or another. This then became the reason why gender-neutral language became widely accepted.
Now, what does consciousness-raising have to do with Granado Espada? For me, it has to do primarily with the community. We have a chance to change the usual perceptions of gamers, and we have a chance to raise others' consciousness about gaming and its actual benefits.
Take for example the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 initiative. Thanks to RCM Hrin, there is in place a project that seeks to showcase the many faces of the Granado Espada-playing girl gamer. I tend to see the project as a means of raising consciousness that there are just as many types of gamer girls out there as there are gamer guys: we are Achievers, Socializers, Explorers, and Killers [just to paraphrase that popular test of play style]; we are faction leaders, raid captains, and lone players; we devote hours and hours to the game and we also devote time to real life. I won't belabor the point, since I've already made my views clear in this previous post.
Another example of consciousness-raising would be the GE PH Bloggers' Meetings [28 October 2007, 18 February 2008, and most recently 6 September 2008].
Now, before anyone goes off accusing me of tooting my own horn, let me just repeat WHY I organize these things in the first place. The GE PH Bloggers' Meetings are put together in pursuit of the goal of bettering the GE PH players' community; they serve as venues for the community to air its concerns, and also function as real-life socializing activities. I have always intended for the GE PH Bloggers' Meetings to be a means of putting a face to the GE PH player: to make him and her REAL, with human faces and concerns and comments.
Now there is the concern raised in a recent study of Asian online gaming communities: they may be thriving, and they may be expanding, but already the bullies are out in force to prey upon the newbies. Read the story at hackenslash.
A concrete example of bullying - or more generally speaking, game griefing - can be found in one of my friend the MMOtaku's recent posts about an event in his preferred MMORPG, Perfect World: Perfect World: Frustration with a sponsored event. He says that an in-game event, which had been intended to give some enjoyment to the players, was hijacked by griefers in various ways, and offers screenshots to show what happened.
I mention these two links in connection with the problems of griefing that are currently rife in all of the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada servers. Each server has its own type of grief being suffered by the regular players, and, naturally, a different type of griefer. I want to take this opportunity to tell the community that it should be more than okay to fight back against griefers. Take back the fun of playing GE!
Consciousness-Raising is your friend!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Homage: NineMoons and the One about the GE Gamer Girls
Before anyone chimes in with the same-old-same-old-tired BS about me proving whether I'm a girl or not, here's a recent picture taken of me. Note the eyeliner and the tanktop.
Anyway. IAHGames has partnered with the cosmetics company L'Oreal this September 2008 to turn the spotlight onto that elusive and near-mythical species, the Granado Espada Girl Gamer. This month, GE girl gamers can attend Ladies Day every Tuesday at the IAHGames iCafe in Singapore; and the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada Homepage is hosting an event called GE Gamer Girls Season 1.
Full Disclosure before I continue: Yes, I'm part of that event. I received the questionnaire from RCM Hrin some time ago and have mailed it back with my responses. I don't know when mine will be up.
Now that's out of the way, a little discussion. Discussion and comments on the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 event are in this forum thread [login required].
Browsing through the first few pages makes me feel a little irritated, a little resigned, and a little bit sick.
There are the usual trollish responses that either say the girls must be fake girls, and/or come very close to the old challenge to anyone claiming to be female on the Internet: "Tits or get the F out!" There are responses that say IAHGames is exploiting its female gamers to lure in more male gamers. There is a lot of inanity that centers on the so-called Rule 16: "There are no girls on the internets [sic]."
The actual girls in that thread waver between being amused, insisting that Rule 16 is not true, and giving dire warnings that all the girls who are going to be featured will have to brace themselves against sexist responses from the male gamers.
And I just have to say it, offense and defense be damned: All of these responses are missing the damn point. The male gamers SHOULD NOT say those things, whether they are joking or serious. And the female gamers SHOULD NOT be defensive about their gender!
Granted, the event is a PR stunt, and the tagline is, Granado Espada appeals to everyone, whether they be male or female. But that's not something to fear, or jeer at, or be defensive about! It is in fact something to celebrate: Granado Espada is a game that both male and female players can play, and play with pride.
Okay, so you tell me I'm taking this too seriously, and maybe the people in the thread are just joking. But you'd be quite right: I AM taking this seriously. I have been taking this issue seriously for a very long time, ever since I started playing MMORPGs.
I'm not going to preempt my own answers to the questionnaire. I hope they print it in full because I took pains to outline precisely WHY I am a crusader for the cause of the girl gamer, and specifically for the cause of the girl gamer in GE.
I'm here to fight back against "fishbowl syndrome". I'm here to fight back against the taunt of "Tits or get the F out". I'm here to sound the clarion call of "Screw Rule 16". I am a girl on the Internet, I am a girl in Granado Espada. I have never hidden my gender online despite the jeers and the outright stupid taunting. I am a female in Granado Espada and I won't hide it - on the contrary, I am proud to be female.
Try to tell me otherwise and I will not only sic these on you,
but I will also fight back.
Anyway. IAHGames has partnered with the cosmetics company L'Oreal this September 2008 to turn the spotlight onto that elusive and near-mythical species, the Granado Espada Girl Gamer. This month, GE girl gamers can attend Ladies Day every Tuesday at the IAHGames iCafe in Singapore; and the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada Homepage is hosting an event called GE Gamer Girls Season 1.
Full Disclosure before I continue: Yes, I'm part of that event. I received the questionnaire from RCM Hrin some time ago and have mailed it back with my responses. I don't know when mine will be up.
Now that's out of the way, a little discussion. Discussion and comments on the GE Gamer Girls Season 1 event are in this forum thread [login required].
Browsing through the first few pages makes me feel a little irritated, a little resigned, and a little bit sick.
There are the usual trollish responses that either say the girls must be fake girls, and/or come very close to the old challenge to anyone claiming to be female on the Internet: "Tits or get the F out!" There are responses that say IAHGames is exploiting its female gamers to lure in more male gamers. There is a lot of inanity that centers on the so-called Rule 16: "There are no girls on the internets [sic]."
The actual girls in that thread waver between being amused, insisting that Rule 16 is not true, and giving dire warnings that all the girls who are going to be featured will have to brace themselves against sexist responses from the male gamers.
And I just have to say it, offense and defense be damned: All of these responses are missing the damn point. The male gamers SHOULD NOT say those things, whether they are joking or serious. And the female gamers SHOULD NOT be defensive about their gender!
Granted, the event is a PR stunt, and the tagline is, Granado Espada appeals to everyone, whether they be male or female. But that's not something to fear, or jeer at, or be defensive about! It is in fact something to celebrate: Granado Espada is a game that both male and female players can play, and play with pride.
Okay, so you tell me I'm taking this too seriously, and maybe the people in the thread are just joking. But you'd be quite right: I AM taking this seriously. I have been taking this issue seriously for a very long time, ever since I started playing MMORPGs.
I'm not going to preempt my own answers to the questionnaire. I hope they print it in full because I took pains to outline precisely WHY I am a crusader for the cause of the girl gamer, and specifically for the cause of the girl gamer in GE.
I'm here to fight back against "fishbowl syndrome". I'm here to fight back against the taunt of "Tits or get the F out". I'm here to sound the clarion call of "Screw Rule 16". I am a girl on the Internet, I am a girl in Granado Espada. I have never hidden my gender online despite the jeers and the outright stupid taunting. I am a female in Granado Espada and I won't hide it - on the contrary, I am proud to be female.
Try to tell me otherwise and I will not only sic these on you,
but I will also fight back.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A Gamer's Bill of Rights: should there be a corresponding one for MMO gamers?
Source: Brad Wardell at www.edge-online.com
.jpg)
A Bill of Rights for console and PC gamers? Now that there's quite an interesting idea, the more so when you tool your perspective around for a bit and think about turning this Bill of Rights into a springboard toward putting together something similar for Massively Multiplayer Online Games.
Let's look at the Gamer's Bill of Rights in some detail. I believe that item Three should have the most application to the MMO environment.
Gamer's Bill of Rights, Three: Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
When this is applied to MMOs I believe that there will be a number of implications that should be taken into consideration by the developer of an MMO game.
MMO updates should have some frequency, since no one likes to be stuck at the endgame when there is clearly room for expansion.
The updates should include fixes for any bugs and problems in-game, and should be applied in timely fashion in order to keep the game running properly.
The content of such updates should be balanced between the needs of the newbies - since there are always newbies in MMOs - and the high-level players.
And the updates should definitely include constant beefing up against illegal and third-party programs [RMT-bots-broad-spammers, I rest my case].
If you were to make suggestions for an MMO Gamer's Bill of Rights, what would you consider as an inviolable right? Let's talk about it! Share your views in the comments!
.jpg)
A Bill of Rights for console and PC gamers? Now that there's quite an interesting idea, the more so when you tool your perspective around for a bit and think about turning this Bill of Rights into a springboard toward putting together something similar for Massively Multiplayer Online Games.
Let's look at the Gamer's Bill of Rights in some detail. I believe that item Three should have the most application to the MMO environment.
Gamer's Bill of Rights, Three: Gamers shall have the right to expect meaningful updates after a game's release.
When this is applied to MMOs I believe that there will be a number of implications that should be taken into consideration by the developer of an MMO game.
MMO updates should have some frequency, since no one likes to be stuck at the endgame when there is clearly room for expansion.
The updates should include fixes for any bugs and problems in-game, and should be applied in timely fashion in order to keep the game running properly.
The content of such updates should be balanced between the needs of the newbies - since there are always newbies in MMOs - and the high-level players.
And the updates should definitely include constant beefing up against illegal and third-party programs [RMT-bots-broad-spammers, I rest my case].
If you were to make suggestions for an MMO Gamer's Bill of Rights, what would you consider as an inviolable right? Let's talk about it! Share your views in the comments!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Today's Linkage: Discussion from around the Web; NineMoons's New Blogs
More commentary on the issue of The9 bidding for development rights to cGE: the MMOtaku, occasional GE pioneer, comments on The9.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the quote that says:
“Although Granado Espada is considered a content-rich game, Chinese players are unable to feel it because the content is too deep for them.”
Holy effin' hell WHAT? "Too deep"? So maybe I should get angry, after all. If The9 intends to actually dumb down Granado Espada - I say we all take to the barricades. Viva Granado Espada!
***
Budding gaming journalist Lance Ong has started a blog called Gaming Matters! His tagline is "Because gaming is definitely serious business". I believe he intends for the blog to become a general catch-all for news in all sorts of gaming ventures: all consoles, hand-helds, PCs, etc.
He's recently started off his "Featured Blogger/Blog of the Day" posts, and I'm happy to say that he picked me as the first target: Featured Blogger/Blog of the Day: August 28, 2008. Thank you, Lance.
***
I've opened a new blog under the NineMoons aegis, as implied in Lance's write-up. It's called A Spoonful of English.
Basically, this blog is where I put forward one of my advocacies: the teaching and maintenance of the correct usage of the English language in all venues - and particularly in online communication. Make no mistake, I've got nothing against the types of informal usage now in circulation, but I'm just trying to make people, especially those who have been living nearly exclusively online, that they have to pick up the standard forms and styles too.
And I intend to do it painlessly, by talking about a favorite subject the world over: food!
For an introduction, please read the very first post: Welcome to A Spoonful of English! I've put up a series of posts since then on my favorite delectable readables - so I hope you can check it out!
***
[And now, I must finish my week's work....]
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the quote that says:
“Although Granado Espada is considered a content-rich game, Chinese players are unable to feel it because the content is too deep for them.”
Holy effin' hell WHAT? "Too deep"? So maybe I should get angry, after all. If The9 intends to actually dumb down Granado Espada - I say we all take to the barricades. Viva Granado Espada!
***
Budding gaming journalist Lance Ong has started a blog called Gaming Matters! His tagline is "Because gaming is definitely serious business". I believe he intends for the blog to become a general catch-all for news in all sorts of gaming ventures: all consoles, hand-helds, PCs, etc.
He's recently started off his "Featured Blogger/Blog of the Day" posts, and I'm happy to say that he picked me as the first target: Featured Blogger/Blog of the Day: August 28, 2008. Thank you, Lance.
***
I've opened a new blog under the NineMoons aegis, as implied in Lance's write-up. It's called A Spoonful of English.
Basically, this blog is where I put forward one of my advocacies: the teaching and maintenance of the correct usage of the English language in all venues - and particularly in online communication. Make no mistake, I've got nothing against the types of informal usage now in circulation, but I'm just trying to make people, especially those who have been living nearly exclusively online, that they have to pick up the standard forms and styles too.
And I intend to do it painlessly, by talking about a favorite subject the world over: food!
For an introduction, please read the very first post: Welcome to A Spoonful of English! I've put up a series of posts since then on my favorite delectable readables - so I hope you can check it out!
***
[And now, I must finish my week's work....]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The9 Bids for Development Rights to cGE - Implications?
Original inspiration for this entry from DeSanggria's Rumors on cGE
Original news piece, as quoted in the blog post, from RedlineChina's Rumors of The9 Attempting to Attain Development Rights to Granado Espada
Okay, let's quote that news article in full, since it's no more than a few sentences long.
"According to insider sources from The9, the company has agreed engaged in talks with Hanbitsoft and Granada Espada IMC to attain developing rights to Granada Espada. The9 is hoping to improve upon Granada Espada and alter the game to fit Chinese tastes if it acquires the development rights."
Aside from quibbling with the content of the report - how much does it take to write the game's very title properly? - I'm with DeSanggria on this one: there are several questions arising from this report, and from The9's efforts. Let's talk about just the stuff that appears in that article.
1. Define "attain developing rights". Does this mean that The9 alone will have the ability to modify Granado Espada to the tastes of Chinese gamers? Will there be no more oversight from Hanbitsoft and IMC Games?
A related big question might be: What does Kim Hakkyu think of this? Remember, he had been CEO of Gravity Co., Limited, and was the mastermind behind Ragnarok Online - but he left in a storm of internal political conflicts that had to do with other Gravity people tampering with his baby. I hope he talks about these plans considering that he's put a lot more effort into GE.
2. Define "improve". Does this mean modifying the game according to the players' tastes and requests, or according to what the company thinks will make more money? The first option is commendable but understandably far-fetched; the second is probably just my cynicism talking but is more likely to be true.
3. Define "alter the game to fit Chinese tastes". What happens if, in coming expansions, GE runs afoul of the Chinese censors? Are The9 really going to step in and dilute the game just to pass muster?
Just remember, The9 has already bent over backward to appease the censors with one of its other games - you know, the one that just happens to be the most massive MMORPG on the planet right now? There was such a flap last year when The9 actually changed the appearance of the Undead race in World of Warcraft: the Undead used to be part flesh, part skeleton, with bones sticking out, but in order to get around a censorship review, The9 modified the Undead models to show no more skeleton.
The move, predictably, infuriated the Chinese WoW community, the more so because it was such a sop to Chinese president Hu Jintao's statement about "[purifying] the internet of anything that might affect 'national cultural information security' or undermine [attempts] to promote a 'harmonious society'".
Read more about this flap here and here.
So, I myself am looking at this piece of news with apprehension because wow, way to dilute the game much? And to one of the largest potential GE audiences in the world ever at that? What happens if The9 screw up? Scary, scary thoughts.
Discuss this!
EDITED TO ADD 29 AUG: Oh, look, more commentary on the issue! The MMOtaku, occasional GE pioneer, comments on The9.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the quote that says:
“Although Granado Espada is considered a content-rich game, Chinese players are unable to feel it because the content is too deep for them.”
Holy effin' hell WHAT? "Too deep"? So maybe I should get angry, after all. If The9 intends to actually dumb down Granado Espada - I say we all take to the barricades. Viva Granado Espada!
Original news piece, as quoted in the blog post, from RedlineChina's Rumors of The9 Attempting to Attain Development Rights to Granado Espada
Okay, let's quote that news article in full, since it's no more than a few sentences long.
"According to insider sources from The9, the company has agreed engaged in talks with Hanbitsoft and Granada Espada IMC to attain developing rights to Granada Espada. The9 is hoping to improve upon Granada Espada and alter the game to fit Chinese tastes if it acquires the development rights."
Aside from quibbling with the content of the report - how much does it take to write the game's very title properly? - I'm with DeSanggria on this one: there are several questions arising from this report, and from The9's efforts. Let's talk about just the stuff that appears in that article.
1. Define "attain developing rights". Does this mean that The9 alone will have the ability to modify Granado Espada to the tastes of Chinese gamers? Will there be no more oversight from Hanbitsoft and IMC Games?
A related big question might be: What does Kim Hakkyu think of this? Remember, he had been CEO of Gravity Co., Limited, and was the mastermind behind Ragnarok Online - but he left in a storm of internal political conflicts that had to do with other Gravity people tampering with his baby. I hope he talks about these plans considering that he's put a lot more effort into GE.
2. Define "improve". Does this mean modifying the game according to the players' tastes and requests, or according to what the company thinks will make more money? The first option is commendable but understandably far-fetched; the second is probably just my cynicism talking but is more likely to be true.
3. Define "alter the game to fit Chinese tastes". What happens if, in coming expansions, GE runs afoul of the Chinese censors? Are The9 really going to step in and dilute the game just to pass muster?
Just remember, The9 has already bent over backward to appease the censors with one of its other games - you know, the one that just happens to be the most massive MMORPG on the planet right now? There was such a flap last year when The9 actually changed the appearance of the Undead race in World of Warcraft: the Undead used to be part flesh, part skeleton, with bones sticking out, but in order to get around a censorship review, The9 modified the Undead models to show no more skeleton.
The move, predictably, infuriated the Chinese WoW community, the more so because it was such a sop to Chinese president Hu Jintao's statement about "[purifying] the internet of anything that might affect 'national cultural information security' or undermine [attempts] to promote a 'harmonious society'".
Read more about this flap here and here.
So, I myself am looking at this piece of news with apprehension because wow, way to dilute the game much? And to one of the largest potential GE audiences in the world ever at that? What happens if The9 screw up? Scary, scary thoughts.
Discuss this!
EDITED TO ADD 29 AUG: Oh, look, more commentary on the issue! The MMOtaku, occasional GE pioneer, comments on The9.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the quote that says:
“Although Granado Espada is considered a content-rich game, Chinese players are unable to feel it because the content is too deep for them.”
Holy effin' hell WHAT? "Too deep"? So maybe I should get angry, after all. If The9 intends to actually dumb down Granado Espada - I say we all take to the barricades. Viva Granado Espada!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Let's Talk RMT and Gold Farming
Attention: IAHGames, IP e-Games, et al.
[This is a serious entry and one that needs to be read.]
One of my favorite sites to read every day is Boing Boing. It's sort of like a place where a lot of tech-related news gets gathered. One of the people behind BB is a sci-fi author named Cory Doctorow, and he's the guy who brought in today's very interesting news story.
World of Developmentcraft: academic paper on gold farming as a development activity in poor countries - about the paper "Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on 'Gold Farming': Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games" by Andrew Leonard
Let's break the post's title down first:
"World of Developmentcraft" - article-appropriate and relevant pun on World of Warcraft, which claims to be the MMO with the most number of subscribers and CCUs
"academic paper" - means someone dug in to do actual research on something. When it's actual research, there are usually hard numbers and facts to back up the researcher's opinions and conclusions
"gold farming" - the subject of the academic paper, and something we hate/love/reluctantly use if we're one, the other, or the other other kind
"development activity" - something that someone earns money from. In some senses, the idea can be expanded to also mean something that the someone who's earning from it can use to make a difference, whether the development is in a positive or in a negative direction
"poor countries" - places where it's hard to make minimum wage, much less enough to actually survive, develop, and thrive on
Now let's break down the actual academic paper's title:
"Current Analysis" - Leonard makes a review of the current research literature that has to do with the subject at hand
"Future Research Agenda" - suggestions for where future research can go regarding the topic
"'Gold Farming'" - the topic at hand
"Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games" - a quick definition of gold farming, with some emphasis on the "development" aspect
We've all seen how gold farming [and RMT, and bots, and other illegal third-party stuff] can really gimp a game. We've seen how games get rapidly imbalanced when those things are around. And we've seen how players lose their zest and joy in playing a game when it's far too easy to grab high-level items, negating the value of actually earning things and moving upward in levels, power, and wealth.
But what if the people on the other side - the gold farmers in particular - actually think of what they are doing as something they can develop with? The idea in the academic paper linked above is, what if those farmers - who are often kids and youth who have no other means of earning a decent living because all the other jobs are taken and/or indecent - actually can use the money they earn to level up in real life?
I'm not saying it's time to take a sympathetic stance towards the gold farmers just yet. Until further research is done on this subject, I will keep my own suspicious view towards this - but I am also going to think about how the concepts and processes behind gold farming could instead be used to both help the farmers AND the games that are affected by gold farming.
[Bonus: Doctorow wrote a short story called "Anda's Game", which simultaneously talks about a number of hot-button issues in online gaming:
- girl gamers
- the physical problems that could be brought on by too much sitting down and squinting at a monitor
- gold farmers
The story's a great read. Here's the link to it: Anda's Game @ Salon.com]
***
NineMoons's 50,000 Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest Third and Final Week is Ongoing!
[This is a serious entry and one that needs to be read.]
One of my favorite sites to read every day is Boing Boing. It's sort of like a place where a lot of tech-related news gets gathered. One of the people behind BB is a sci-fi author named Cory Doctorow, and he's the guy who brought in today's very interesting news story.
World of Developmentcraft: academic paper on gold farming as a development activity in poor countries - about the paper "Current Analysis and Future Research Agenda on 'Gold Farming': Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games" by Andrew Leonard
Let's break the post's title down first:
"World of Developmentcraft" - article-appropriate and relevant pun on World of Warcraft, which claims to be the MMO with the most number of subscribers and CCUs
"academic paper" - means someone dug in to do actual research on something. When it's actual research, there are usually hard numbers and facts to back up the researcher's opinions and conclusions
"gold farming" - the subject of the academic paper, and something we hate/love/reluctantly use if we're one, the other, or the other other kind
"development activity" - something that someone earns money from. In some senses, the idea can be expanded to also mean something that the someone who's earning from it can use to make a difference, whether the development is in a positive or in a negative direction
"poor countries" - places where it's hard to make minimum wage, much less enough to actually survive, develop, and thrive on
Now let's break down the actual academic paper's title:
"Current Analysis" - Leonard makes a review of the current research literature that has to do with the subject at hand
"Future Research Agenda" - suggestions for where future research can go regarding the topic
"'Gold Farming'" - the topic at hand
"Real-World Production in Developing Countries for the Virtual Economies of Online Games" - a quick definition of gold farming, with some emphasis on the "development" aspect
We've all seen how gold farming [and RMT, and bots, and other illegal third-party stuff] can really gimp a game. We've seen how games get rapidly imbalanced when those things are around. And we've seen how players lose their zest and joy in playing a game when it's far too easy to grab high-level items, negating the value of actually earning things and moving upward in levels, power, and wealth.
But what if the people on the other side - the gold farmers in particular - actually think of what they are doing as something they can develop with? The idea in the academic paper linked above is, what if those farmers - who are often kids and youth who have no other means of earning a decent living because all the other jobs are taken and/or indecent - actually can use the money they earn to level up in real life?
I'm not saying it's time to take a sympathetic stance towards the gold farmers just yet. Until further research is done on this subject, I will keep my own suspicious view towards this - but I am also going to think about how the concepts and processes behind gold farming could instead be used to both help the farmers AND the games that are affected by gold farming.
[Bonus: Doctorow wrote a short story called "Anda's Game", which simultaneously talks about a number of hot-button issues in online gaming:
- girl gamers
- the physical problems that could be brought on by too much sitting down and squinting at a monitor
- gold farmers
The story's a great read. Here's the link to it: Anda's Game @ Salon.com]
***
NineMoons's 50,000 Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest Third and Final Week is Ongoing!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
NineMoons Thinks Out Loud: Multiple Lives
[I know, another serious post, but please bear with me.]
So lots of things have just happened to me as NineMoons: I opened a mirror of this blog at IGN.com, I just scored a "50k-hit combo" as a friend of mine puts it [thanks, Blacksword], and I'm putting together several new and exciting posts, not to mention that LOL-GEs screenshot response contest coming this week.
I have even had to fend off people wanting to campaign for my becoming community manager, whether in jest or for real.
For the LAST TIME, kids: NO NO NO NO NO absolutely not or I kill all of you NO NO NO NO JUST NO. I'm dead serious. I DON'T want the job.
The strange/funny/sigh-inducing/head-scratching thing is that all those accomplishments don't really exist, at least not out in my real world, where I have to earn a living.
I've been criticized for keeping GE-focused blogs; people have called it a waste of time, that it means nothing unless it earns [they think it's easy] money. I've never earned a cent from the Blogger site, not even with the ads on; I've just opened the IGN.com Vault site so I have no idea yet if it's capable of generating income.
I work on a website and generate content for them; specifically, I serve on the staff of ScoutAreaOnline.com. The calling card gives my official titles as Editor, Writer, and IT Consultant. As the publisher prefers to run this new-media venture as something akin to traditional tri-media, however, I kind of can't work on the site the way I do on this and the Vault mirror.
Meaning, I can't experiment with ScoutAreaOnline.com, or put in stuff that might help its circulation, or advertise it through more standard-ish online means, or contribute to its search engine ranking, or tell all the world about it. Publisher's fiat prefers that the site be advertised offline, via flyers and posters [despite the site's claim to be "100% environment-friendly"], and to a limited audience.
But with the two "Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World" blogs, I've had amazing and clever and wonderful things happened to me. The email from the good folks at IGN.com that got the Vault mirror started. The Fantazzztic Film Awards 2007. Being named a heroine. Friends from all over the world.
So that's the dichotomy of my life - or at least, just the most pressing one to me as far as my living expenses, and Granado Espada of course, are concerned. My "day job" [actually, the work on ScoutAreaOnline.com tends to take place all day for most of the work week] is supposed to pay the bills. The GE blogs are work done on the side, but I love the idea of "Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World" more than the work that pays me a monthly salary.
I really do find this odd, and I don't mind putting the sentiment here where the general readership can see it. I wanted to think that doing all my work online might have been mutually beneficial to the two jobs, but that's not the case. I keep wishing it were so.
I'll keep going as both as I can in both jobs, though. Someone I love and look up to once said that my work on the GE blogs was going to take me to places I never expected to go. It looks like that's more than true for the GE blogs; where the Blogger and Vault sites intend to lead me back in the real world, I'm waiting to find out.
I hope you can keep sharing the journey with me.
So lots of things have just happened to me as NineMoons: I opened a mirror of this blog at IGN.com, I just scored a "50k-hit combo" as a friend of mine puts it [thanks, Blacksword], and I'm putting together several new and exciting posts, not to mention that LOL-GEs screenshot response contest coming this week.
I have even had to fend off people wanting to campaign for my becoming community manager, whether in jest or for real.
For the LAST TIME, kids: NO NO NO NO NO absolutely not or I kill all of you NO NO NO NO JUST NO. I'm dead serious. I DON'T want the job.
The strange/funny/sigh-inducing/head-scratching thing is that all those accomplishments don't really exist, at least not out in my real world, where I have to earn a living.
I've been criticized for keeping GE-focused blogs; people have called it a waste of time, that it means nothing unless it earns [they think it's easy] money. I've never earned a cent from the Blogger site, not even with the ads on; I've just opened the IGN.com Vault site so I have no idea yet if it's capable of generating income.
I work on a website and generate content for them; specifically, I serve on the staff of ScoutAreaOnline.com. The calling card gives my official titles as Editor, Writer, and IT Consultant. As the publisher prefers to run this new-media venture as something akin to traditional tri-media, however, I kind of can't work on the site the way I do on this and the Vault mirror.
Meaning, I can't experiment with ScoutAreaOnline.com, or put in stuff that might help its circulation, or advertise it through more standard-ish online means, or contribute to its search engine ranking, or tell all the world about it. Publisher's fiat prefers that the site be advertised offline, via flyers and posters [despite the site's claim to be "100% environment-friendly"], and to a limited audience.
But with the two "Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World" blogs, I've had amazing and clever and wonderful things happened to me. The email from the good folks at IGN.com that got the Vault mirror started. The Fantazzztic Film Awards 2007. Being named a heroine. Friends from all over the world.
So that's the dichotomy of my life - or at least, just the most pressing one to me as far as my living expenses, and Granado Espada of course, are concerned. My "day job" [actually, the work on ScoutAreaOnline.com tends to take place all day for most of the work week] is supposed to pay the bills. The GE blogs are work done on the side, but I love the idea of "Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World" more than the work that pays me a monthly salary.
I really do find this odd, and I don't mind putting the sentiment here where the general readership can see it. I wanted to think that doing all my work online might have been mutually beneficial to the two jobs, but that's not the case. I keep wishing it were so.
I'll keep going as both as I can in both jobs, though. Someone I love and look up to once said that my work on the GE blogs was going to take me to places I never expected to go. It looks like that's more than true for the GE blogs; where the Blogger and Vault sites intend to lead me back in the real world, I'm waiting to find out.
I hope you can keep sharing the journey with me.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I wish we could have something like this in the PH *wistful*
WARNING: Meditation and some drama ahead. If you're here for the pretty, afraid you'll be disappointed just for today.
If you live in the PH, though, come on in and I'll tell you a story.....
So, look, if you live in Australia or New Zealand, the quickest way to get a Granado Espada client is to just fill up a form; see the screencap I took from onlinegamez.com.au:
Mechanics for this giveaway here.
[I erased the security code, obviously.]
And look at that, you can PICK which flavor of installer you want! [If I were asked that question, I would go for the full installer every time, but that's me ^^]
***
Over in the NineMoons barracks, I definitely felt a twinge of envy because as it turns out...er. GE installers are rare here in the 7k-and-change islands. I haven't seen the V.2.6.3 patch installers, and there are very, very few full client installers prevalent 'round these parts.
Most of us out here actually download files, and because we're not all exactly on broadband, sometimes we have to wait days just to complete installer downloads. And then there's a few more hours just to install, and a few more hours to wait until the loads on DSL and dial-up lines ease up, and only then can we plunge into the New World.
When they did a list of the PH Community Heroes they left out a category: Heroes of Promoting GE.
People who painstakingly burn out their own GE installers into DVDs to give away to friends and strangers.
People who put up GE posters at their own or favorite Internet shops, and who fight for the right to keep them up there, even when unscrupulous and/or zombie-type marketing people entice them into putting other posters of other games up instead.
People who talk about GE at every appropriate opportunity, and sometimes at inappropriate ones.
People who support the community in ways both overt and covert.
And have I mentioned that nearly all of the people who fall into one, more, or all of these categories do it on their own time, with their own money, and never ask for anything back except for more people to play this damn wonderful game?
We should recognize these people.
And we should definitely be doing just as well as the other countries in distributing and promoting GE.
I agree with many of my friends in this: Give us installers! Installers will work as marketing media! Give us installers! Most of us, I would wager, would be quite happy to do the legwork and promotions ourselves, but we need the damn installers or this whole gig crashes and burns....
I don't want GE to die just because there were no installers. Please, please, give us installers.
If you live in the PH, though, come on in and I'll tell you a story.....
So, look, if you live in Australia or New Zealand, the quickest way to get a Granado Espada client is to just fill up a form; see the screencap I took from onlinegamez.com.au:
Mechanics for this giveaway here.
[I erased the security code, obviously.]
And look at that, you can PICK which flavor of installer you want! [If I were asked that question, I would go for the full installer every time, but that's me ^^]
***
Over in the NineMoons barracks, I definitely felt a twinge of envy because as it turns out...er. GE installers are rare here in the 7k-and-change islands. I haven't seen the V.2.6.3 patch installers, and there are very, very few full client installers prevalent 'round these parts.
Most of us out here actually download files, and because we're not all exactly on broadband, sometimes we have to wait days just to complete installer downloads. And then there's a few more hours just to install, and a few more hours to wait until the loads on DSL and dial-up lines ease up, and only then can we plunge into the New World.
When they did a list of the PH Community Heroes they left out a category: Heroes of Promoting GE.
People who painstakingly burn out their own GE installers into DVDs to give away to friends and strangers.
People who put up GE posters at their own or favorite Internet shops, and who fight for the right to keep them up there, even when unscrupulous and/or zombie-type marketing people entice them into putting other posters of other games up instead.
People who talk about GE at every appropriate opportunity, and sometimes at inappropriate ones.
People who support the community in ways both overt and covert.
And have I mentioned that nearly all of the people who fall into one, more, or all of these categories do it on their own time, with their own money, and never ask for anything back except for more people to play this damn wonderful game?
We should recognize these people.
And we should definitely be doing just as well as the other countries in distributing and promoting GE.
I agree with many of my friends in this: Give us installers! Installers will work as marketing media! Give us installers! Most of us, I would wager, would be quite happy to do the legwork and promotions ourselves, but we need the damn installers or this whole gig crashes and burns....
I don't want GE to die just because there were no installers. Please, please, give us installers.
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