Continuing the series of projected updates to Granado Espada from the Version 3.0 cycle, which is currently undergoing testing in kGE and has now been published to the doratomo.jp fan site:
- A new feature, the Team Arena, where you can do the usual plethora of boss hunting and rare-loot gathering, but with an extra bonus of having some sort of assistant personnel in there with you and your squad. From the little I could understand of the rudimentary translation into English, the assistant personnel - actually soldiers from the towns - grant buffs and debuffs to you and your squad, the better to take the bosses out.
- The Super Fight admission times will be reduced to just five minutes from the opening of the portals, rather than the current ten. Admission will now be secured through larger versions of the Ferruccio Espada statues - sort of like the Pioneering Memorials blown up to around thrice the usual size. Still not as large as the one in the Ferruccio Junction, of course.
- Seventh Barracks! Now it's possible to have up to 63 characters to choose your current MCC team from!
- Modifications to the Colony Buffs the Family's Protection buffs [thanks to commenter Souken], which look like they've been adjusted upwards.
- It's your birthday and you're logged in to the New World? Then you'll be receiving a Birthday Gift Box! There will be cake, a birthday firecracker - I wonder if it really does proclaim "Happy Birthday!" when you set it off - and at least a pair of wings for you! No word on the wings' duration, though.
But the thing that has me MOST excited about Granado Espada 3.2 is of course none other than THIS:
Yes, a PET PANDA! The official name of this cutest critter of them all is "Panpan." No word on stats, abilities, or cost yet but I DON'T CARE - wantwantwantwantwant. Pandas Rule!
Sorry for the delay in new posts. It's been a bit of a madhouse; it got to the point where I was not even able to log in to the game.
Today's entry over at doratomo.jp is devoted to showing off a new crop of back costumes. From my fuzzy deciphering of the translation, it looks like the costumes are only for Expert-level and above, with the notable exception of the standard Satchel in the final photo.
Since the flags are named for ranks of nobility - Earl, Knight, Grand Master [not a noble rank per se, but a rank that was used by associations of nobility such as the Knights Templar], Archduke, Marquis, and Viscount - it's an intriguing idea that maybe they DO have something to do with noble ranks in the New World.
The Grand Master flag.
The individual pages for the flags show that there is a hierarchy to this ranking: from lowest to highest, the ranks are Knight, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, Archduke, and Grand Master.
Blue Chrysalis Wings on Selva.
Additional new back costumes include two variations on the now-familiar Chrysalis Wings: a blue version, and a violet version.
Morada Puesta de sol.
Two pairs of Sunset Wings are also featured, similarly in blue and in violet. Since the wings are named in Spanish as "Puesta de sol", the blue version is called Azul and the violet, Morado.
Golden Archangel Wings on Lisa.
The standard Satchel is on Selva; the new version is on the elementalist.
Just prior to the Satchel and to its new variation, there is also mention of the Golden Archangel Wings, as well as the silver and gold versions of the Phoenix Wings.
Extra, extra, read all about it! Click the banner to see the official news article!
Allow me to repost the conversion values here. EP = e-Points, GP = G-Points, ABS = Adelina's Booty Search.
20 EP = 230 GP + 1 ABS
50 EP = 750 GP + 3 ABS
100 EP = 1800 GP + 5 ABS
200 EP = 3600 GP + 8 ABS
300 EP = 5800 GP + 10 ABS
1000 EP = 23800 GP + 35 ABS
Now, I guess my only question is, where can I buy me a 1000 eP card???
EDITED TO ADD: CM Aethrin has popped in with a link to a list of the e-Points retailers. The list is here: e-Games Partners. He says the list is updated on a monthly basis.
People are still wibbling out over Grabber/Pilfurr/Poppet, and wondering when Buppet/Broomy/Moppet will be out, and worrying about getting the fesos needed to keep them both alive. We haven't even started talking about the Grabber Lady yet, only Ferruccio knows when we're going to get THAT one....
And now here comes an update that will bring in a fourth pet, in Granado Espada Version 3.1.04.
Meet Pigling.
[Incidentally, that MCC team is quite beautifully dressed. The male elementalist looks especially dolled up for the occasion, to say nothing of his female counterpart and the male musketeer. It seems like Version 3.0 is the version where the male elementalist gets a lot of costume love....]
Anyway, the thing about Pigling is this: you have to pay real money to get her. The doratomo.jp article that's the source of this post's information and images guesses that the price may eventually be something around 10,000 Won.
Quickie conversion rates:
1 South Korean won = 0.0679724619 Japanese yen = 0.00104722366 Singapore dollars = 0.0337880175 Philippine pesos = 0.000701 U.S. dollars
So,
10,000 South Korean won = 679.724619 Japanese yen = 10.4722366 Singapore dollars = 337.880175 Philippine pesos = 7.01 U.S. dollars
What justifies spending that money? Well, the article claims that while Pigling has essentially the same skill set as Grabber/Pilfurr/Poppet, she has a wider range for picking up objects and a faster pick-up time. To balance that out, she goes through her Activity Power much faster, i.e. you need to feed her more often than for the other pets.
[Goodness, I have just realized that this blog is well on the way to reaching its 500th post.
...Wow! *giddy*]
It seems as though the folks over in kGE and jGE can't wait to get their hands on the GEMOCON"Web Controller" function. From the looks of it, it's a way of keeping track of your pioneering family's progress from any other computer,in real time. The gushing article over at doratomo.jp even goes so far as to call it a "Messiah" for those people who have to work at the office and therefore have limited leveling time!
Here's the login screen for the beta version. The word on the street is that IMC and Microsoft - Microsoft! - worked together to produce this widget.
You'll get a sort of quickstart instruction screen to explain how the thing works, and then you'll go right into the actual GEMOCON UI.
[doratomo helpfully explains that the name of the web controller is derived from "GE" + the Korean and Japanese nicknames for a remote controller device, "rimokon", hence GEMOCON.]
Here's what the GEMOCON will allow users to do:
- Keep track of HP, SP, and EXP. - Use the Call to Leader F4 function, the Select All/Select Individual F9 function, Hold attack order, Keep attack order, and even the Resurrect function if someone in the party dies. However, you'll need a supply of Soul Crystals to use the Resurrect function. - Real-time chat mode. It looks like the PM, Faction Chat, at least one of the /broad-type messaging functions, and the "overhead message" [the one that you type in that begins with !!] are available in this mode.
While it does seem like something of a godsend to those of us who must go in to work daily, but still want to keep track of our leveling, I do have one immediate issue to bring up that may come into direct conflict with the GEMOCON: will GEMOCON users be subject to the Report Botters function? If the answer is yes, then there might as well be no point to using the GEMOCON, among other things; if the answer is no, then what prevents the botters from using the GEMOCON themselves?
Anyway, this thing is still in beta testing. We can hope that IMC tackles all the standing issues to do with this before releasing it to the player community.
It took me a damn long while to patch in, but I'm back in the New World, and here are a few things I've noticed along the way.
Changes to UI and Game Mechanics
New login screen, showing what seems to be the haunted town in the upcoming Errac area.
STILL stuck with the Beta Test fonts, though.
The lower portion of the Barracks screen, showing the modifications to the "Start a team" fields.
STILL no Channel 3-4-5 or so, though.
The lower portion of the standard UI screen showing the family members, skills, HP/SP, and other quick information. Notice that the colors of the basic and stance experience bars have been changed.
Improved navigation ability in the Mini Map. Click on a place in the Mini Map and your characters will automatically move to that place. The red dot means I was looking for Claire - she's not in yet though.
Full lists of features and patch notes here and here.
Want to receive updates about Granado Espada from anywhere in the world?
Want to know just how many fan blogs exist for Granado Espada?
Want a way to find all of them without breaking a sweat?
Want a way to keep track of all of them easily?
Then you've come to the right place. As promised earlier, it's time to let you all in on a couple of secret techniques that I use to keep track of news, updates, opinions, and blog posts that all talk about Granado Espada.
Welcome to:
NineMoons's Guide to Staying Updated with Granado Espada!
Starring three popular web-based services: Google's webmail service Gmail, related service Google Alerts, and the social bookmarking site Delicious!
Part I: Getting a Gmail Account
Click to Gmail. You should see something that looks like this:
If you don't have a Gmail account yet, click the "Sign Up for Gmail" link located in the second blue box on the right. Follow the instructions carefully. It's a quick and painless procedure that should take just a few minutes.
Signing up for a Gmail account means that you can now access all of Google's other services, including - ta-da! - Blogger!
If you already have a Gmail account, skip on ahead to the next step.
Part II: Creating a Google Alert
Without logging out of your Gmail account, open another browser window or tab and click through to Google Alerts. Here's what that page looks like:
Since in this case we want to create a Google Alert for something specific, type in the following in the box after "Search terms:"
"Granado Espada"
This is you telling Google to:
- Look for ANYTHING on the Internet that mentions Granado Espada, be it news articles, blog posts, general web page content, or even video and audio descriptions
- Collect a little basic information from each mention. This includes the title of the article/post/content/description in which the mention was found, a paragraph or two [usually the first one], and the complete URL of that mention.
- Sort these pieces of information, and send them on to you as an email.
Fill in the "Your email:" box with the email address that you want to receive the alerts at, and click "Create Alert".
This is how I find out all the blogs and fansites that talk about Granado Espada!
After receiving enough of these alerts, you might realize that the list is getting too long for a blog sidebar or a links page. You might also want to find a better way of letting others know that you've found this amazing collection of Granado Espada links. The quickest way to do that, I've found, is to use a social bookmarking site. The one I use is Delicious.
Part III: Collecting Links with Delicious
Click through to Delicious and you should see this at the top of the page:
If you don't already have a Delicious account, click the green "Join Now" box and follow the steps to getting an account. If you have one, just click the blue "Sign In" box to go to your page.
To save a new bookmark, after logging in, just click the "Save a new bookmark" link on the right-hand side of the page and follow the instructions there.
You can also install a Delicious widget in your browser for easy, one-touch bookmarking.
Want to know how effective Delicious is at keeping track of links? Check out my own page:
See that red box near the bottom right? It says I have 182 bookmarks saved to my Delicious account - and most of them are Granado Espada links that I've found through the Google Alerts function!
If you'd like to become my contact on Delicious - and thank you! - just check out this widget on the left-hand sidebar:
Click the "Add me to your network" link to go to that Delicious function.
***
While this blog post is dedicated mainly to my fellow Granado Espada bloggers, I'm also putting it up so that we can all share the experience of finding all the wonderful and informative sites out there that talk about this amazing game. I hope that it helps you, and I hope that it helps broaden the community and its reach.
Okay, yeah, I'm kind of cheating. This is a bit of a placeholder post. But I'm putting it up here because I want you to know what I'm up to next.
If you ever wanted to know exactly how to stay abreast of news in Granado Espada, or how to keep track of events and updates in the flourishing GE bloggers' community throughout Southeast Asia and Australia / New Zealand - then just you wait for the next post or two. Just you wait.
And did you want to know how to keep track of all the bloggers and all the fansites? I'll throw that in too, as a bonus!
Seriously, I'm going to let you all in on a NineMoons secret technique. I'll reveal the entire process, step-by-step details, screenshots and all. It'll be a guide for everyone!
To honor one of the traditions I've started on this blog, here now is a piece on Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Johann Sebastian Bach, the namesakes of the new, post-Server Merge "worlds" of SEA/ANZ Granado Espada.
The facts of Rembrandt and Bach's lives were sourced mainly from Wikipedia. The videos of musical performances came from various YouTube videos and will be properly credited as they are introduced. The images of Rembrandt's work were also sourced from Wikipedia.
After the Server Merge took place in SEA/ANZ Granado Espada, the original five servers have been compressed to two: the PK realms of Cervantes, Caravaggio, and Vivaldi were merged into Bach; the non-PK realms of Carracci and Pachelbel were merged into Rembrandt.
The previous five servers were named after just a handful of the top men of the Baroque Era: Cervantes, author of the masterpiece Don Quixote; Carracci, the paragon of Italian painters of the Baroque time; Caravaggio, the forerunner of modern painting; Pachelbel, composer of the Canon in D; and Vivaldi, composer of The Four Seasons.
The two post-Merge servers could do no less but be named after equally dominating artistic geniuses of the time - and so we have Bach, named for the man who brought Baroque music to its ultimate zenith; and Rembrandt, named for that great painter of shadow and light.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer and organist. He created music for both the church and for secular use, composing for choirs, orchestra, and solo instruments alike. He is best known for introducing a strong current of counterpoint, a technique in which harmony is derived from the interconnection of independent strands of melody.
Among his better-known works are the Goldberg Variations, a set of 30 variations for the harpsichord. In the works of author Thomas Harris, this is one of the musical favorites of the genius, Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter.
But certainly his most well-known piece is the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565. Just take a listen to the opening seconds of the videos below and you'll recognize it almost instantly.
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565. Arrangement by Leopold Stokowski. Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Wolfgang Sawallisch at the Minato-Mirai Hall, Yokohama, Japan, 1999.
Here's a more familiar performance.
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 565. Arrangement by Leopold Stokowski. Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Leopold Stokowski. The first segment of the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia.
The opening of this work has been performed many, many times since, to the point where it has even become associated with Halloween and horror movies.
Edited to Add: And of course we hear a version of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor in Granado Espada itself, courtesy of S.F.A! Thanks to Palukz™ for commenting on this!
###
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher, generally considered once of the greatest visual artists of Europe, and certainly as the pinnacle of Dutch art. It was he who taught many of the important Dutch painters who succeeded him. He is famous for his portraits of his contemporaries, for his masterful self-portraits, for his paintings of Biblical scenes, and for the monumental painting Night Watch.
Night Watch by Rembrandt.
This painting was commissioned by a musketeer branch of a local civic militia of Rembrandt's acquaintance. It was named "The Night Watch" because when it was first discovered, it had been so darkened by age that it was thought to be a night scene. It shows Captain Frans Banning Cocq leading his group of musketeers out of their quarters. The exact nature of their errand is still unknown: are they going out on patrol? Are they going to a meeting? The girl near the center of the portrait carries many of the symbols of Cocq's group, serving as a mascot in the painting.
A little respect for your server, then, no matter what it be - it's named after a great man, so live up to its name! Forward the New World!
I was in Rembrandt briefly last night - why briefly? I'll explain later - and the following things really wanted to make me cheer. One, LOTS of people in Auch! For this instance, I tend to NOT complain about lag in walking around the city. It just makes me happy to see all the people there, and feel like NOW it's an MMORPG. I missed walking around in a packed-to-the-rafters town; I'm just glad my PC can handle the graphics load.
Two, LOTS of friendly broadcasts from real people! For once, the broads were overwhelmed by actual people talking about things in friendly ways, instead of those pesky RMT fools. Very heartening show.
It feels like the community makes a comeback!
Now, I couldn't stay long. What the heck happened? Well, I had numbers in my family names! I've managed to restore them now, thanks to Hrin and her tech team. I think it's safe to try the Family Name Change, since the server-application-thingummy error seems to have been resolved for the moment. Of course, NO TO IDENTITY THEFT. I'm just glad mine wasn't stolen at all.
Recent links to Hrin's blog show the following entries:
The comments to this entry also show that with the Version 2.9 content now being readied for download to our clients, there are several ways to update the game to bring in all the content that's coming to us.
The One About V2.9 Poster & DVD Sleeves: Posters and graphics for the Version 2.9 release. At the end is a listing of sites where the Version 2.9 full client and manual patches can be downloaded; I think I'll wait for a good time to look into getting that manual patch.
I wish I could have the full DVD copy though.
I hope the servers come back online so I can go back to enjoying my actual REAL family name in-game....
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 ^^
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.
Today the good folks at IAHGames start setting up for the Server Merge by setting up the "new servers with upgraded hardware" for Rembrandt and Bach.
Here's what YOU need to do today to not be panicky or nervous:
- Start taking out all the stuff you're selling through the Market Manager. Aw, don't let her sad face get to you - you'll get back to her soon.
- Claim any and all leftover loot from Adelina's Booty Search. Select the server you want to receive the loot in, click Claim Loot, then log in and choose the Receive Premium Item option from Leonardo Expreso.
- Sell, drop, or otherwise dispose of all the extras and odds and ends knocking around in your Item Vault. It WON'T be affected by the Server Merge, but it's always nice to have some more room in there!
- DO NOT activate any more long-term Premium Items!
- Start planning for what you can do during the days of no GE. I'll come up with my own list later, so please watch out for that.
If y'all were wondering what I was going to be up to during this week's Server Merge: I actually drew up a list of things to do. Yes, GE is ALWAYS on my to-do list, but I also have to balance the things I do on this blog with my actual work in real life, from the job that pays the bills to the freelancing and the articles I write for Game! Magazine.
Anyway, here's a teaser for what I'll be working on to unveil during the days of no GE. The thing I'm working on has something to do with each of these familiar GE faces:
Princess Gabriella.
Simon Ayende.
Gerard Lauren.
And what am I to do with these illustrious leaders? Well, right now, that's for me to know and you to find out - and you will, when the servers go down.
*NineMoons turns into a fox!*
***
On a world-news note, I always want to stop and think whenever I see Simon Ayende's quote in his screenshot. Yes, okay, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, but am I the only one who sees some significance in his statement, or its relevance to today's global issues?
So, the Granado Espada PH First Anniversary Black Party will take place tomorrow: 27 September 2008, at the SMX Convention Center, right next to the SM Mall of Asia.
Important things to remember:
No Boxer Shorts, No Slippers, and No Sandos Allowed. And when we say "No Slippers" we really mean NO FLIP-FLOPS. Doesn't matter what brand they are, they're still not allowed. Take a lesson from that faction what showed up at Dom1nation II in flip-flops and wound up having to travel home just to change to proper shoes.
Wear proper, comfortable shoes instead. Take another lesson from the layout of Dom1nation II: remember that there were very few seats at the venue. If you're going to wind up doing a lot of walking and standing, do yourself a favor and wear comfortable shoes.
Wear good, comfortable clothes. Be stylish all you want, but make sure that your outfit will stand up to the general stresses of a convention: no place to sit, a good amount of walking, lots of standing up, and the occasional need to sit on the floor because there's no other way to get comfortable.
Bring a Bag. It's a convention, there are usually things for sale, and you do not want to be left juggling a mass of awkward packages, especially if you want to commute home. My personal recommendation is always to carry a big backpack - you can carry it on both shoulders, leave your hands free, and carry all your purchases easily. Just be sure to keep an eye on it at all times!
Bring Extra Money. Best to always be prepared. You never know if you need to buy food, drinks, and new toys there.
Bring Some Way to Record the Event. Bring your trusty digital camera. Bring a camcorder if you have one. Or make sure there's plenty of room in your mobile phone to take pictures, video, and voice recordings with. It's always nice to take away some sort of memory from large gatherings like this.
Be Polite to Everyone. Please, please, DO NOT DISRUPT CONVENTIONS BY BEING RUDE.
Do Not Overwhelm the CM with Questions about the Server Merge. Do I need to explain this? I'm sure he will be willing to take questions - but do not be rude, do not be angry, and do not yell.
Ladies: Dress Properly and Protect Yourselves. Bring a companion if you can, just in case some crazies DO show up - at least then you'd have some protection. If you're by yourself, bring something like an umbrella, carry it like a club, and be aware of your surroundings.
That said: Look for me tomorrow if you want to chat. I'll be wearing a press pass and a large backpack. Let's try to enjoy tomorrow.
The source for this entry is RCM Hrin's latest blog post about the upcoming Version 2.9 of Granado Espada - and wow it is a DOOZY.
In that blog post, Hrin talks briefly about new maps and instances that pioneers can encounter in the next patch. More importantly, she mentions that one of the new RNPCs to become available will be none other than the game's first crossbow user: Calyce Bernelli.
I guess you think that last name is familiar? Here's proof, again from RCM Hrin:
This is apparently the new version of the interior of the Pegadilla location in the Port of Coimbra, home of the mercenaries. Calyce joins mercenary guy Gerard in his office....
That last name! Amazing! I wonder what the family relationship might be. In any case, given that we already know that Calyce's storyline is in some way connected to Princess Gabriella of Vespanola, I want to know: how the heck does Grace react, knowing the immense grudge she carries against that kingdom?
There's also the question of game mechanics: Grace Bernelli carries a very high DEX, while Calyce balances both DEX and AGI. Given this, what sort of damage can she cause compared to Grace?
Let's hope that more details surrounding the lovely crossbow-wielder pop up soon!
[Man, the two of them in Coimbra - should we expect a fight between them during Calyce's recruitment quests?]
WARNING: Some pictures. Please wait for them to load, thank you.
The date: 6 September 2008, a breezy Saturday afternoon The place: Fandom Cafe at the ground floor of the Regalia Park Towers in Cubao, Quezon City, the Philippines
[Fandom Cafe is a PC shop, a coffeeshop, and the headquarters of the New Worlds Alliance. To learn more about the Alliance, click here.]
The participants: Selected members of the Granado Espada PH players' community a/k/a GE bloggers; and from IP e-Games, the new GE PH Community Manager, plus some of the GE marketing staff
The event: Granado Espada PH Mini-Community Meeting, a/k/a Meet and Greet CM Aethrin. Also, as a side-event, NineMoons's advanced birthday party
Discussions at the Fandom Cafe during the GE PH Mini-Community Meeting. That's Fiksdotter in the white shirt with his back to the camera; next around the circle are Blacksword, Donna and Joan from IP e-Games [and one of them revealed herself to be the Grantoza family!], Rivendel, Kincaid, CM Aethrin, NineMoons [me], and Rosso. Not in picture: Nate Reclusion [who took the picture], Mena [seated next to Blacksword].
One of the major topics under discussion at this mini-community meeting was the upcoming anniversary of Granado Espada in the Philippines. The game was launched in the country last year on 15 September - and that date is just about a week from now.
CM Aethrin asked for suggestions for marking the anniversary, and one of the good ones was an event to be held at the Game Frog PC shop in Ortigas, where previous events had been held with success. We also suggested side events such as a trivia contest, a PVP tourney, allied events in Visayas and Mindanao, etc.
Since the 15th is a Monday, the general consensus was that the anniversary would be marked either during the weekend of the 13th-14th, before the actual anniversary date; or on the weekend of the 20th-21st, after the actual anniversary date.
We also devoted a lot of discussion time to the need for promoting Granado Espada; we especially stressed the need for installers, posters, and ads. The IP e-Games people admitted that most of the budget for promoting games had indeed gone to the recently released CABAL Online, and the other e-Games titles had suffered as a result.
[Shocking to think that RAN Online, which had been THE top MMORPG in the country for a long time, suffered an abrupt drop in concurrent users to CABAL. Cannibalization anyone?]
A related question was the topic of GVCs in the country. G-Points, as I and the other bloggers have noted, are EXTREMELY hard to come by in the Philippines. Apparently, a means of converting e-Games's own ePoints into the GE G-Points is still under development as of this time; while it's still not in place, the need still has to be filled. We suggested making the 70,000 G-Points GVC available in the country since it DID bring greater value for money spent:
Highest denomination of GVC in PH: PHP750 = 18,000 G-Points Highest denomination of GVC in SG: SGD59.90 = 70,000 G-Points.
Singaporean players pay roughly PHP2000 for 70,000 G-Points. Filipino players have to pay roughly PHP3000 for 72,000 G-Points! [Four of the PHP 750 = 18,000 G-Points cards.]
Look at that discrepancy!
I also had to ask, since I was already invested in this particular turn of events, about the fate of the GE Gamer Girls initiatives. Yes, RCM Hrin has put together the current run of interviews with actual gamer girls, sponsored by a major cosmetics company. But the fact remained that it was the previous GE PH CM who started the ball rolling. CM Aethrin assured that the GE Gamer Girls would not be abandoned.
At some point, Rosso laid out the terms of how the relationship between the bloggers and the new CM might take place: the bloggers provide free publicity and put together events for the community; the CM provides news and details of events and especially support for the promotions.
Another hot-button topic was an animated discussion centering on the growing dichotomy between two of the major populations of players in Granado Espada: the players from the Philippines and the players from Singapore. Fiksdotter and Nate Reclusion, both being in an international faction, said that SOME Singaporean players were behaving badly towards Filipinos, and was there some way to deal with that?
SEATED: Front row, left to right - CM Aethrin, Grantoza, NineMoons; second row, left to right - Nate Reclusion, Fiksdotter; third row, left to right - Rivendel, Kincaid, Blacksword. STANDING: Mena.
From left to right: Nate Reclusion, Fiksdotter, Mena, Grantoza, CM Aethrin, NineMoons, Blacksword [seated], Rivendel, Kincaid.
Well, it looks like we'll all get to see each other again very soon, just as soon as the GE PH first anniversary event rolls around. Until then, happy leveling, Pioneers!
Special shout-out to Paolo Jalbuena, owner of Fandom Cafe. [He plays in Cervantes server.]
Just wanted to keep posting about my musketeer in Carracci, Anthy NineMoons. Last night she reached Level 86, and all this time she and her companions Shandre NineMoons [Grace Bernelli] and Furyk NineMoons [scout] have been hanging out in Skullic Dungeon once again. I'm almost positive they would all be leveling faster if not for those irritating pesky teleporting Summoner bots, who keep camping the spawn spots.
I'll try to post some recent screenshots of my girl, who's currently decked out in all the good e84 stuff I could find for her. The most recent purchase I made was the one from last night, when I finally lucked into a cheap Sir Lyndon's Coat costume. Now Anthy looks precisely like the mini-avatar in the Another Lonely Soul Family Portrait Generator.
EDITED TO ADD: Recent screenshot of Anthy, as promised.
I think I can take a bit of a hiatus from work this week since I'm going to pull in a couple of MASSIVE favors from the others at the office. So you can bet I'm going to try harder to get Anthy to Veteran status already.
That, and I'm going to buy another shot of PHP750 load this week, on Thursday. I need the vet scrolls~!
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!
After the indignity and utter confusion of suddenly finding out that the Granado Espada PH community was going to get a change in CMs - without any official notice, at that, just insipid wittering from the outgoing - we FINALLY find out who's taking over the position.
Welcome GE PH Community Manager Aethrin! Contact details here. Here's the avatar he's using right now:
Nice costume on the fighter there! We have great hopes for you, sir...and we hope to meet you soon!
In order to celebrate the recent release of Granado Espada Version 3.0 in South Korea, an event called Open the premium costume treasure warehouse! has been laid on. Essentially, players with a set amount of "cash" can enter a premium "warehouse" and stand a chance to grab the loot shown in the poster - from the new Fighter and Elementalist wigs to the new costumes for Clare, Emilia the Sage, Grace Bernelli, male Wizard, and female Fighter!
[Unfortunately, the basic translation I could find for the article was not clear on what "cash" meant in the context. Are we talking about the premium points? The Feso?]
Anyway, let's take a closer look at each of the wigs and costumes available for this event!
Next, the female Elementalist's Fairy Bob wig. Cute, eh?
For the cute cannon-toting socketing assistant Clare, her alternate costume, Fraulein.
Fans of Emilia the Sage can hope for her alternate costume, Cinneraria Sage.
[And yes, I stand corrected. I'd earlier said that the costume was for the original Emilia RNPC - it's really for the Sage version. Mea culpa.]
For the fans of the markswoman Grace Bernelli, a new alternate costume, White Event.
The male Wizard gets a new outfit called Blackness Rose.
The final costume is for the female Fighter, a sexy number called Rose Camellia.
The rest of the items up for grabs seem to range from premium dungeon entry passes to certain types of potions and miscellaneous items. The original newsflash even showed a sort of bar graph that seemed to be talking about the probability of getting the items in the premium warehouse!
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