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.
Update: I've posted this guide in full at the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada forums. You can check it out here: [Guide] NineMoons's Guide to Staying Updated with Granado Espada!. Please respond with suggestions and possible improvements!
[And yet another rare instance of the all-caps entry title, because, hey, this is just that important.]
NineMoons's Guide to Surviving the Upcoming Server Merge
1. The Server Merge will begin on 7 October 2008 Corrected to 13 October 2008, see Hrin's latest blog post. Hope hard that the maintenance will be declared as done on time.
2. Before saying/doing anything else, read the following links VERY VERY CAREFULLY:
GE Official Website: Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
GE Official Website: World Migration Family and Faction Migration Guide
Forums: Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement
Forums: It's Maintenance Day! Ask [Mee Pok Tah] about the World Migration here!!
Special re-link to the first post in the Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement forums thread, where Hrin has started to compile an FAQ based on questions and answers given in the thread itself [all currently 55 pages of it]:
Granado Espada World Migration Official Announcement: Frequently Asked Questions
3. If you'd also like to find out what I think about some of the most pressing issues involved in the Server Merge - and thank you! - here are the two posts I did:
Server Merge What The-?! Hilarity Ensues....
Server Merge Commentary: Channels, Compensation, and the Staff
4. Things you need to do as soon as the servers come back up:
- Claim all items in your Booty Chest from Adelina's Booty Search
- Claim all items from your server's Market Manager
- Claim all items from Leonardo Expreso's "Receive Premium Item" service. As Hrin has already emphasized, the Item Vaults will NOT be affected by the Server Merge.
- DO NOT activate any more time-based premium items. The only possible exception to this rule is the use of one-day items.
- Contributed by Staark: Find something to do during maintenance time - something productive perhaps?
That's it for now. If I've missed anything, I may update this post. Please comment and let me know what else needs to be done NOW, before people forget, and then wind up in hysterics after the Server Merge catches people flat-footed....
Inspired by, and cribbed from, Blacksword's Player's Guide to Conventions and Events.
A new version of my own elaborated Preparing for conventions etc.: Tips, Tricks, and Common Sense
***
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 original guide to Hengestones by ahb0i - requires a SEA / ANZ GE Forums account to view
I have permission to link ahb0i's original guide, so here is my entry for the Hengestones: What are Hengestones? A guide and a list of rewards
Having recently come within striking distance of Veteran status, I decided to take a little time last night and today to finally complete the Hengestones quest, and find the 34 already found on the map of Granado Espada.
Well, actually, I only found 33. The annoying holdout is the Hengestone allegedly located in the niche at the right side of the stairs leading to the Nimrod Bridge just outside the Port of Coimbra. The problem with finding that Hengestone, you see, is that it might be "time oriented" - you can only access it at certain times. I waited there for about twenty minutes and the Hengestone was still doing its imitation of Invisible Stalker - so I gave up and went on to Jezebel Glen.
The Hengestones are scattered across the world, and there are supposed to be 50 of them, but the remaining 16 have yet to be found.
I can only speculate about the locations of the final 16; they may well be on even higher-level maps since the list in ahb0i's guide is arranged by increasing order of level needed to access the map, and it stops dead at Skullic Dungeon 3. Some of the remaining Hengestones may well be at the following map locations:
- Capybara Plantation / Toubkal Mines
- Katovic Snowfields region
- Bahamas Swamps
- the forthcoming Chaos Requiem maps
We'd really appreciate it if someone could help us find the remaining 16 Hengestones...can someone scout the Vet- and Expert-level maps for these?
Anyway, here's the aforementioned Hengestone in Skullic Dungeon 3. I used my wizard to complete the 33 Hengestones since he could fly - meaning faster travel time, and most land-based mobs were going to miss him.
Radhanon NineMoons and the 33rd Hengestone.
Observations from doing the Hengestones quest:
- Touching a Hengestone allows your character/s to immediately regenerate all HP and SP. It took me a while to notice that, and only because Radhanon was in Levitation stance, which meant that I was trying to keep an eye on his SP for the required hits of Soul Liquor necessary to keep him aloft.
- Yes, that Skullic Hengestone is differently shaped, and it seems to have something written on it. Couldn't decipher the writing because I was running on low graphics specs; I will try to visit the Hengestone again on a more powerful PC and see what the writing says.
- For the most part, Hengestones tend to be located near walls and map edges; two of the exceptions that I can remember off the top of my head are the Hengestone in Porto Bello Desolate Cliff and the Hengestone in Prison de Joaquin, The Mohrgus. Both of those are standing smack in the middle of map areas.
- The rewards for the quest don't seem to have changed much from the old days of the beta testing periods and the early commercial phase. Many of those rewards might have been valuable then, but definitely not so now. Would it be too much to ask for a reevaluation - and re-valuation - of the rewards? I mean, rings are easier to get now via ABS, and some of the rewards are just throwaway stuff. Better rewards plz ^^
Do try doing this quest - if only for the way it allows one to familiarize oneself with the zone and world maps, especially when you have to get to certain maps....
WARNING: High spoilery ahead!
All information is taken from the doratomo.jp information page on the Selva quest. However, I'm having a rather difficult time puzzling out the English translations for the quest. Please consider this entry a preliminary explanation of what's going to happen.
This entry is subject to change without prior notice.
Previous Selva Norte posts:
Introducing Selva Norte
Selva Norte dossier: stances, skills, and armor
Next post:
Selva Norte's backstory and the evolution of her left arm
***
doratomo.jp has just released the details of the quests for recruiting Selva, and here's what pioneers will need to do if they want to obtain this prized RNPC for their barracks.
Before embarking on the Selva recruitment quests, pioneers MUST have completed the Chaos Requiem quests. Talk to an NPC in Ustiur to begin Selva's quest.
Pioneers will be required to provide the following ingredients for Katovic Soup:
20 x Gold Apple
50 x Wolf Meat
50 x Beet
50 x Cabbage
Another required item is called "Proof of hero" on the doratomo page; two of these items are needed. They can be obtained from the Poison Yard and from the Battle Colosseum. Get three "Proof of old hero" items from Secret Temple and exchange them for one "Proof of hero". The article warns that it might be easier to collect the "Proof of old hero" items, because the "Proof of hero" item is a rare drop.
Correction 01: In SEA / ANZ GE, the "Proof of hero" item may well correspond to the "Hero Seals" given out in the Battle Colosseum.
Since part of the quest line requires encountering Dr. Fran Mothein in Prison de Joaquin, a Key to the Corridor of Assize is also needed in this quest. Pioneers need to speak to Nunez in Coimbra, who will send them to Prison de Joaquin.
The next step in the quest takes pioneers to the Katovic Snowfield, where one of the NPCs will continue the quest line. There will be an "Avalanche"-named monster to fight.
Correction 02: The theory at present is that this monster is a quest-type Avalanche Apparition.
The next steps involve talking to Invierno, and then to Dr. Torsche back on the mainland. One of the bookshelves will allow pioneers to discover a frozen "Cortes". "Cortes" can be revived with Katovic Soup. As soon as "Cortes" is revived, an instanced fight is triggered, and "Cortes" must be defeated.
Upon victory, pioneers can then receive Selva's card, the Cuchemar stancebook, and apparently the Rapida Espada stancebook and the recipe for Selva's Armshield, from Dr. Torsche.
One of the materials required to forge Selva's Armshield, which has an innate AR+1, is 50 Mysterious Powders.
Corrections were provided by staark, previously the very helpful anonymous commenter - thank you!
***
I hope I can provide more details as soon as I puzzle out the rest of the translations and Engrish. In the meantime, may I humbly suggest you start saving up the materials already mentioned in this guide? It's better to be prepared ^^
Just before the SEA / ANZ Granado Espada servers went down to patch in Version 2.6.3 The Requiem, my NineMoons family on Carracci server were stationed at the Port of Coimbra, for easy access to the ferry service to Bahia and Ustiur.
When the servers came back up and I was able to play again, I noticed that new rooms were added to the maps of the Port and of Cite de Reboldoeux. The new rooms are called Request Offices.
[Yes, before you ask - there is NO Request Office in the City of Auch. No, before you ask - I don't know why.]
The Request Office in Reboldoeux is in the northern part of the map, opposite the Clock Tower. Here's the entrance:
In Coimbra, the Request Office is located just slightly north of, and above, the Pioneering Officer Jonathan. Here's that entrance:
Entering the Request Office in Coimbra, my team came face-to-face with two sets of Request Officers. These NPCs come in two flavors, "Primary" and "Junior"; each type of NPC has a Level 1 officer and a Level 2 officer. See the following screenshots:
Coimbra's Request Officers, Junior I and Junior II.
Coimbra's Request Officers, Primary I and Primary II.
So, what do these guys do? They provide additional hunt missions! Forgot what hunt missions are? Clicky for the refresher course!
Specifically, Request Officers ask pioneering families to hunt X number of "Elite" monsters, where X is usually a round, 2- or 3-digit number.
You know what Elite monsters are: marginally bigger versions of standard mobs on each map, usually spawning two or three companions as soon as they target your pioneering family.
The availability of these hunt missions is part of the explanation as to why there are suddenly so many more Elite mobs roaming in maps.
The Coimbra Junior Officers ask pioneering families to hunt Elite versions of monsters in the Tetra Ruins outside map and Tetra Hill; while their Primary counterparts ask for the heads of Elite monsters inside the Tetra Ruins dungeon itself [the Grand Corridor, the Catacombs, and the Golden Road].
It might then be presumed that the Reboldoeux Request Officers assign pioneering families to hunt Elite mobs in and around Al Quelt Moreza, the relevant dungeon for beginner levels.
Will update this entry as soon as I can confirm that paragraph, by the way.
I will also find out what the rewards are for these hunt missions.
Seems the game is now adding more ways for the new players to make their levels, and believe me, that can only be a good thing....
I've been extremely motivated to at least get within striking distance of Veteran status, so I've been spending lots of time in the Skullic Dungeon - even if the skeletons always give me the damn creeps!
But I decided to get a quick change of scenery today, and I figured the team was going to need some fresh air anyway, so I decided to pursue some of the other Ustiur quests from Grandice.
Lots of even bigger dinosaurs in Ustiur Zona Cuatro. This is pretty much overlooking the humongous waterfall that dominates the map.
The stone on the left of the screenshot is a quest location, by the way; that's the stone you need to find to trigger the quest that allows Marcelino to make one "Skullic" item for you, and you also need to go back to it for the Grandice card quest. I suggest you save it if you still have space in your warp slots, so it's easy to return to when needed.
Marcelino's the go-to guy for crafting the Ustiur "Dragon" and "Skullic" series of weapons, and here's what I had him craft: the rifle for my Bern, and the staff for my wiz.
Present arms!
Crossing Zona Cuatro, the only other exit, aside from the one that goes back to Zona Tres, is the exit to the Bahamas Base Camp. Here's Radhanon and Shandre as they enter the swamps.
The wiz and the Bern meet Baron Igorni, who oversees the Bahamas Base Camp.
I can't do the Bahamas quests yet, as my level's a bit too low right now. But I'll get around to those, someday.... ^^
***
Family Status:
NineMoons in Caracci
Furyk, full-support scout [and waiting to use Tactical Assistance!] / Shandre, Grace Bernelli / Radhanon, landbound wizard
89 /89 / 89
Currently training in Skullic Dungeon, Levels 1 and 2
So close! I hope to post the Vet status soon - wish me luck!
[Image-heavy post, due to the necessities of the subjects under discussion. If you're on dial-up, please be patient. Maybe you could play a round of GE Hangaroo Version 1.2 while waiting? :D]
Yes, I already have a Vicente Rio card. Here are the steps in getting him:
1. Go to Auch and talk to Vicente. He will ask you for a Possession Lightning stance book. You can buy one at the Auch Master Room.
2. After giving him the stance book, talk to him again, and get warped into an instance for a quickie fight. I didn't even try to buff for this, as this is an easy fight.
3. After the fight, talk to him again. He asks to join your family, but you have to give him a "token of trust" first: 20 x Enhancement Boosters. Hand them over.
4. Get the Vicente Rio character card. Auch's minstrel and Enhancement NPC starts at level 1.
Now, I'm not going to join the Vicente's Serenade event myself, but you guys have at it. Good luck getting that costume.
***
As you'll have noticed from the above screenshots, the Granado Espada in-game font has reverted to the old, serif version from the Beta Testing periods.
Or at least, that's the case for the actual map you're standing in. Pressing Alt + Z to bring up the Zone Map brings this, however:
The font on the Zone Map is still the sans-serif version used since GE went commercial. I happen to prefer this font myself, and wish it would be applied again to the entire game.
That might be a dicey prospect, however, as looking at the World Map this time brings another different font into play:
The font on the World Map is subtly different from the font on the Zone Map, as you can see.
Also, new stuff on the World Map: in red near the bottom of the map you can see a location called "Tierra del Amor", or "Land of Love". @.@ The map says there's an exit to this place from the King's Garden, but I wonder if this odd new location, which we've not heard about, can be accessed. Anyone care to enlighten us?
You can also see in the lower-right-hand corner, in yellow, that they've finally put Island of Fire on the map. Wonderful level range, eh? All the way to Veteran, and quite possibly beyond, from ~Level 60 or so.
Nope, no Chaos Requiem yet, as stated on the main site: no Chaos Requiem till the end of the month.
Finally, here's the all-new in-game Options menu. I've highlighted the new portions in yellow.
I especially like the "Block" options, for when I'm trying to focus on the game or when I'm in situations where stopping to chat will quite literally kill my team.
Some of the options seem to be geared for those who want less lag, too.
[Image-heavy post! If you're on dial-up, please do wait while the images are loading.]
Introducing Granado Espada is already tricky when you're talking to people who have some experience with role-playing games, whether these games be the tabletop-based kind [you know, old-school stuff, usually with polyhedral dice], or the Massively Multiplayer Online kind.
[Plug: NineMoons's non-intimidating guide to introducing GE.]
But what if you want to introduce someone who's never played online games before? That's far trickier - you can't use the familiar and accepted MMORPG jargon, but you can't just jump into the storyline or characters or any of the game's features without so much as a by-your-leave either.
You'll want to start describing easy-to-understand concepts, or use easily accessible language. One way you can do this is by associating GE with certain bits and pieces taken from recent blockbuster movies.
You could say that GE is set during a time of courts and kingdoms, fantastic voyages, and great wars, as in the following movies:
Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett;
Gladiator, with Russell Crowe;
and the Leonardo diCaprio-led version of The Man in the Iron Mask.
There are amazing adventures to be had, as in
The Brothers Grimm, starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger;
and the Disney live-action version of The Three Musketeers.
There are swords, armor, guns, and even magical weapons to use, as in the two film trilogies of
The Lord of the Rings,
and Pirates of the Caribbean.
And finally, these historically-derived details are mixed with modern humor and music, and cutting-edge online mechanics to achieve a harmonious blend, as shown by the cast of
A Knight's Tale: from left to right, Mark Addy, Shannyn Sossamon, Heath Ledger, Paul Bettany, Laura Fraser, Alan Tudyk, and James Purefoy.
And now that you've got their attention, then get them to make their accounts, and start the game! ^^
Today I went to the Manila leg, and final installment, of the Globe Summer Gimik Games 2008, at which telecoms company Globe partnered with IP e-Games to showcase and promote the game publisher's range of online games.
Since IP e-Games publishes Granado Espada, there were GE merchandise items to buy, PCs to play GE on, tournaments for current and new players, and a presentation from the country community manager.
[They promised a sneak peek of The Requiem, but all we saw were video snippets. I'm not sure if anyone actually got there. However, I left early, so I might've missed it.]
I was determined to have fun because I went to the event primarily to meet up with friends from Takhisis and Covenant factions. [Pictures will be up tomorrow, kids.]
However, the aforementioned presentation really, really got my goat.
I don't want to waste time dwelling on how full of fail and inaccuracies it was, specially when it came to describing the basic classes. So I will instead assuage my hurt feelings by trying to do that presentation right: shorter, more informative, more concise, more user-friendly, and more accurate by far.
What is Granado Espada? It's the first Triple-A MMORPG ever distributed in the Philippines. This critically acclaimed game, designed by Kim Hakkyu, has earned accolades for its unique Multi-Character Control and Xtreme Artificial Intelligence mechanics.
GE tells the tale of the conquest of a New World by courageous pioneers. GE is also the tale of the conflict between the Royalists and the Republicans. It is a game set in lush landscapes,with a setting that resembles our own Baroque Period and the Age of Exploration.
What is Multi-Character Control (MCC)? Among MMORPGs, GE stands out for its MCC mechanic, which allows players to control up to three characters at the same time.
What is Xtreme Artificial Intelligence (XAI)? XAI is a more efficient and balanced game mechanic. Players can choose a mode in which their characters can remain active and gain levels, without always having to stay in front of their gaming PC. XAI's primary component is its Away From Keyboard (AFK) leveling mode, in which players can choose a spot for their characters and press the Space bar, and the XAI keeps the characters killing monsters, therefore leveling even without the player's minute-by-minute attention.
What is a Recruitable Non-Player Character (RNPC)? Another standout feature of GE is that players can actually recruit many of the game's NPCs into their team. This allows for many different combinations of characters, and allows players great flexibility in facing the various situations that crop up in GE.
What are stances and skills? In GE, all characters either already have or can learn a number of stances, which are essentially suites of skills that allow them to wield selected weapons (or none) and use those weapons in specific ways.
What are the game's basic classes? In GE, players begin their adventures by selecting a team of up to three characters from the game's five basic classes. Each of the five basic classes has a male version and a female one. They can later on expand the team by creating additional characters, whether RNPCs or the five original classes.
The five basic classes are the Fighter, the Musketeer, the Wizard, the Scout, and the Elementalist.
Here's a brief overview of the five basic classes.
The Fighter is the game's basic melee-offensive character. A fighter can serve as the main "tank", or damage-absorber, for his or her companions. Fighters are very versatile, as they can learn a wide range of stances, which allows them to use a wide range of weapons:
no weapons - Bareknuckle
sword, sword + shield - Back Guard, High Guard
sword + sword - Hack and Slash
sword + pistol - Heaven or Hell
blunt weapon, blunt weapon + shield - The Defender
sabre - Middle Guard, Low Guard
rapier - Epee Garde, Sabre Garde
rapier + pistol - Avance Garde
greatsword - Plow Guard, Roof Guard, Sidewinder
polearm - Blandir Cruz, Mighty Cruz
dagger - Esgrima
pistol - Freestyle Shot
pistol + pistol - Double-Gun Shot
javelin, javelin + shield - Stab Guard
The Musketeer is GE's basic ranged-offensive character. He or she specializes in killing enemies before they even come close. They have a wide range of ballistic-type weapons to choose from. Being reliant on ballistics means they need to have a steady supply of ammunition.
no weapons - Bareknuckle
pistol - Aiming Shot, Freestyle Shot, Sight Shot
pistol + pistol - Double-Gun Shot, Outrage Shot
rifle, bayonet - Standing Shot, Kneeling Shot
bayonet - Close Encounters
The Wizard in GE is a magic-user with both offensive and defensive capabilities. As an offensive magic-user, a wizard can summon either his or her own psychic energies, or the powers of the earth itself, to deal damage to enemies. As a defensive magic-user, a wizard can use "light" magic to place helpful buffs on his or her allies, and "dark" magic to curse his or her enemies. At high levels, a wizard can even use his or her powers to fly, making them the only class capable of attack from on high.
rod, staff, special rod - Psychokinesis, Levitation
rod - ESP, Incantation
staff - The Illusionist, Anathema
The Scout is the main "supportive" character of the game, extremely useful whether equipped with weapons or without. Their major role, however, is when they have no weapons, thus they become the healer and buffer for a team. The scout uses an array of potions, plus his or her considerable knowledge of the healing arts, to keep his or her comrades alive and kicking. They can also set traps which can deal damage to any enemies who are lured into them. On the other hand, give a scout a dagger or two, and watch those same enemies fall in droves.
no weapons - First Aid, Fortitudo, Install Trap, Tactical Assistance
dagger - Esgrima
dagger + dagger - Dobalada Corte
The Elementalist, is the game's magic-user offensive specialist. As the name implies, an elementalist calls upon the forces of fire, ice, and lightning to kill his or her enemies. They have a few buffs that bestow elemental resistances and strengths upon their companions, but most of their skills are devoted to causing damage to enemies - and lots of damage at that.
fire bracelet - Possession Fire
fire bracelet + fire bracelet - Evocation Fire, Domination Fire
ice bracelet - Possession Ice
ice bracelet + ice bracelet - Evocation Ice, Domination Ice
lightning bracelet - Possession Lightning
lightning bracelet + lightning bracelet - Evocation Lightning, Domination Lightning
special bracelet - Lord of Elemental
What else makes GE special or different from other MMORPGs? From the very first Beta Testing period, one of the hallmarks of GE has been its active community. In particular, the community of GE players in the Philippines is responsible for two major streams of fan-contributed work: the player blogs, on which GE players show off their writing skills, and their knowledge of and love for the game; and the Fantazzztic Film Awards, in which players create films based on GE's graphics and mechanics [machinima]. In the Philippines, many of the player groupings, called factions in-game, schedule regular meet-ups in real life, and show the camaraderie and fellowship that Filipino groups are known for.
That's how you do it! No fuss or frills, nothing extra, and everything basic included!
Sources
Granado Espada: The Heroes
Book of Wind, a GE stances and skills database
Click here to download Version 1.0 and read the rules of the game.
So people have been "yelling" at me [virtually, anyway], saying that my Granado Espada-based version of Hangaroo is a wee bit difficult.
...Well, I'm not going to say that Hangaroo is easy. This is already a specialized version, and all you have to do is get your brain into GE gear to have a better chance at beating it.
[Try playing the ORIGINAL version, with over 200,000 phrases covering everything from movies to American history and culture to famous people and places all over the world, and know how difficult the game really is.]
Ever watch or play the American game show Wheel of Fortune? In the final round of that game, the final contestant is given about 30 seconds to guess a short word, usually 5-8 letters in length. The letters R S T L N E and an additional three consonants and one vowel, provided by the contestant, are revealed IF they are in the final puzzle.
Now, why R S T L N E? These are the most frequently-occuring consonants and vowel in the English language. I use those letters first whenever I'm answering the standard Hangaroo phrases, and usually I can get at least one of them to help me solve the phrase.
In GE phrases, however, the language, and thus the distribution of letters, is a little bit different. The more frequently appearing vowels seem to be A and I, instead of E - so I suggest you start with those. Once you've got the vowels, it gets easier to guess the letters that surround them in each word. As for consonants, R and S still seem to be the most frequent ones popping up, so use them as often as you can.
It also helps if you pay attention to the game itself when you're playing. Take a moment to check out the name of the mob you're killing, the item that dropped from it, the map you're in, and the stuff you carry in your inventory. Don't memorize, though! Just pay attention, and let the names sink into the back of your head, so you can quickly recall them for use with the GE version of Hangaroo.
Enjoy the game ^^
Anyone who's got a Granado Espada blog out there?
Um, yes, I hoped so.
Anyway, this entry is for all of us seaGE bloggers, both the old hands and the new ones. I'm here to talk about how to give proper credit to other seaGE-related blog entries.
By "giving proper credit", I mean you are linking properly to a blog entry that you liked, AND letting the original blogger know that you liked what they posted ^^ Yes, there's a way to do this. All you need to do is remember a few simple rules, as well as use your right mouse button.
For seaGE bloggers using Blogger / Blogspot:
Couldn't be simpler. Let's use Southernsky's [Guide] Karjalainen's Necklace Crafting as our example.
1. Left-click once on the post's title to be taken to the specific post page.
In this case, it looks like this:
http://telltalesfromgranadoespada.blogspot.com/2008/04/
guide-karjalainens-necklace-crafting.html
2. Copy the specific post page's URL from the address bar.
3. Paste the specific post page's URL in your entry, between the quotes in <a href="">. [Don't forget the matching </a> tag at the end!]
The HTML should look like this:
<a href="http://telltalesfromgranadoespada.blogspot.com/2008/04/
guide-karjalainens-necklace-crafting.html">[Link Text]</a>
4. At the very end of the specific post page's URL, add "#links". No quotes, no spaces. Add it immediately after the .html part.
It now looks like this:
<a href="http://telltalesfromgranadoespada.blogspot.com/2008/04/
guide-karjalainens-necklace-crafting.html#links">[Link Text]</a>
Having the "#links" attribute at the end of the specific post page's URL will make your blog post's title appear at the end of the original post's page, under the heading "Links to this post" - so the original post's author will know that it was you who linked to their posts!
For seaGE bloggers using Wordpress:
For this example, let's use Fiksdotter's blogspotted Bahama Map: My first step.
1. Left-click once on the post's title to be taken to the specific post page.
2. Scroll to the end of the post and find the link named "Trackback URI".
Wordpress has the Trackback feature, which allows blog users to track who has been linking back to them. If they have activated the feature on their blogs, the blogs will have a link list headed "Recent Links", under which the blog posts that have linked to them will appear.
URI means Uniform Resource Identifier. It's the generic term for URLs [Uniform Resource Locators] and URNs [Uniform Resource Names].
3. Right-click on the "Trackback URI" link once, and select "Copy Link Location" [or equivalent] on the context menu.
For the above example, the Trackback URI for Fiksdotter's entry is:
http://ynexounemai.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/
bahama-map-my-first-step/trackback/
4. Paste the copied trackback URI into your HTML code.
Sample HTML would be
<a href="http://ynexounemai.wordpress.com/2008/04/18/
bahama-map-my-first-step/trackback/">[Link Text]</a>
And that's all there is to it!
Hope this will help the seaGE bloggers with linking and promoting each other!
***
Thanks to Southernsky and to Fiksdotter for their wonderful and informative blog posts ^^
Tomorrow is IP e-Games's second anniversary event, dubbed Dom1nation II. The event will be held at the SMX Convention Center, which is right next to the SM Mall of Asia. Best to check out the map of how to get there, as well as make sure that you've pre-registered for the event. Be sure as well to check the shuttle service schedules, so you can see if you can actually get on one of their chartered buses.
Important Notes:
pCM Veya warns that boxer shorts, sandos, slippers, and the like are NOT ALLOWED to be worn at the event. Dom1nation II is still subject to security rules, and the set we need to follow in this case is the one laid out by SM Mall of Asia.
A four-day sale is currently ongoing at SM Mall of Asia, from 4-7 April. As Dom1nation II lands square on the Sunday of that sale, I suggest you plan your transportation accordingly, whether you're commuting or bringing your own ride. See the bus schedules link above.
***
Now: are you ready to go?
Whether you're all packed and set right now, or are thinking, "Meh, it's just a convention, I'll get ready tomorrow," you'd do well to pay attention to some of the stuff in this post.
Before you do anything else, read the Blacksword family's timely, excellent, and blogspotted Player's Guide to Conventions and Events. Tons of excellent advice in this entry; he hasn't been blogspotted for nothing. A few highlights, and some suggestions from me:
Bring a bag and lots of extra money. I'd recommend a backpack - it leaves your hands free, you can keep all your precious things close to your body, and there are lots of backpacks that look cool. Messenger bags don't always work because only one shoulder at a time bears the load of the bag and its contents, and you'll have to shift it from time to time if you want to avoid a backache.
Wear comfortable clothes. This includes having sensible shoes: rubber shoes, running shoes, and sneakers are best recommended. Wear jeans only if you're sure they're broken-in and comfortable. For the ladies, I recommend wearing modest, comfy stuff. There will be a LOT of strangers at a con, not to mention very few seats. Don't make it difficult on yourself by wearing extremely short skirts.
Bring a pen and papers. Blacksword actually recommends you carry at least two pens. I would respectfully take it one step further, and suggest you bring 2 good pens, at least 1 marker (of the Pentel or Sharpie type), and notebooks or loose-leaf paper. You'll need those for registration forms, autographs, doodling and sketching, and even taking notes of what's going on around you.
Required items include: con requirements such as IDs and game cards, cameras and/or camcorders, mobile phone. And it goes without saying: secure your belongings!
Be early. Registration takes time, and you might miss the giveaways that sometimes fall into the hands of lucky early birds.
Be polite. This is actually something you should do all throughout the con: while standing in line to get in, while meeting new people, while speaking with a celebrity, while taking photos.
Participate in all the activities that you can. You never know what you're going to walk away with: a cool prize, a new friend, or lots more fun than you had initially expected!
American sci-fi author John Scalzi also has some guidelines on going to cons. Even if the subject of that post might be leaning slightly towards advice for people who want to meet famous authors (such as China Mieville, Neil Gaiman, and Scalzi himself), the man's been going to cons for a seriously long time now, and some of his suggestions are pretty spot-on.
The "how to meet famous people" part of that post might well be tied into the fact that one of the Granado Espada PH guests of honor will be none other than GE RCM Hrin herself. Dom1nation II marks the second straight time she's graced this event.
Other than RCM Hrin, of course, you might want to "meet and greet" some other guy who you look up to in your respective fandom, gaming community, faction, or whatever. These tips will also come in handy then.
"Even though you've read ... (and our blogs) and feel friendly towards [famous people] ... you're a stranger, even if [they've] interacted with you through blog comments or e-mail or whatever." Hence the need - I cannot over-emphasize this enough - the NEED to be polite.
"...the way to introduce yourself to [a famous person] is the same way you would introduce yourself to anyone you've not actually met before in real life. You come up, make sure [the famous person is] not currently engaged in a task that needs [his / her] full attention, say excuse me or hello to get [his / her] attention, and then introduce yourself."
"Note the difference between public and private spaces, and public and private conversations." If the famous person is talking loudly to a crowd of people, feel free to join that crowd. If, on the other hand, that famous person is talking quietly to a small group of people, it might be best to wait until their conversation is finished before attempting the "meet and greet".
***
ONE MORE THING: the rules for meeting new, famous, or even notorious people get somewhat fuzzy when the people you want to meet are female. If you're going to have to be polite when meeting other gamer guys, be doubly or even triply so when meeting gamer girls. No pawing, no leering, no rude words, no pick-up lines.
You never know if the girl you were trying to smarm up on: 1) has a bodyguard / boyfriend / posse, 2) knows enough martial arts to knock you out, 3) is more than capable of embarrassing you in the VERY public space that is a con, or 4) is really a guy.
Be smart.
Something odd I've noticed in my travels through Granado Espada is the phenomenon of people paying needlessly high prices for some items. The ones I'm thinking of are the metal-type forging materials Steel Piece, Composite Steel and Cast Iron. Some players pay upwards of 10k per piece for the latter two items - and that's expensive, given you can actually make those items by yourself!
That's right. Here's my quick guide to helping you save some money on those all-important metal items.
First, you need to take some very low-leveled characters in your barracks. Take, say, an experienced scout [any level over 20 will do], and perhaps those newly-acquired Angie, Viki, or Catherine RNPCs of yours. Since all of those start out at really low levels, you can both train them, and use them to farm some handy drops for you.
[The experienced scout is a personal preference of mine, but there's no reason why you shouldn't try this with a Level 1 scout.]
Use Cite de Reboldoeux as your save point, and make sure you know where the Smith NPC is - he's at one end of the shopping street, opposite the Consumable Items Merchant and the Bullet Dispenser.
To level up your fledgling team, hit the Reboldoeux Stone Pit and farm for Copper Pieces.
There seems to be a craze for those right now in Cervantes server, and Vet-level players are paying well for these. Can anyone tell me why? Also save up your Copper Pieces for the quests to get Viki's Amicus stance book - you're going to need around 200, so farm for them here.
Once the members have hit level 10 or so, move to the Al Quelt Moreza dungeon and hang out in the Nartex for the next 10 levels or so. Keep all of the Iron Pieces you get here.
When you've built up a good stock of the Iron and Copper Pieces, head back to Cite de Reboldoeux, and drop those items off in your Item Vault. Proceed to the King's Garden to farm for Bulk Coal items. You're going to need a lot of these.
Alternatively, you can kick Dilos Latemn's ass, and get into the Arcade of Al Quelt Moreza to collect Bulk Coal items.
When you've reached level 20-25, change maps to the Tetra Hill. The Phobitan Imps here drop a steadier supply of Steel Pieces, which you can add to your growing stockpile.
[And if you haven't got Viki yet, then farm for Cabosses here too!]
By the time you've leveled up enough to enter the Tetra Ruins, you should have collected a large amount of Steel Pieces and Bulk Coal. Now you can craft a supply of Steel Pieces, Composite Steel or Cast Iron items with the help of the Smith.
To make 1 Steel Piece, give the Smith 1 Iron Piece and 1 Bulk Coal.
To make 1 Composite Steel, give the Smith 5 Steel Pieces and 1 Bulk Coal.
To make 1 Cast Iron, give the Smith 4 Steel Pieces and 1 Copper Piece.
Repeat this process as needed in order to make sure you never run short of those important forging items - which you can now use to build those high-level weapons!
Oh, and when you have enough levels for Prison de Joaquin, you can also farm Composite Steel in Altar of Despair, the second floor of the dungeon.
In the next post:
Belated, but very much welcome, holiday presents~!
There were Beta Elections slated tonight.
And half the population of Cervantes server had no clue of what was supposed to be going on.
Anyway, for those of you who were interested in the set of mechanics implemented for this Beta elections, read on.
The process of selecting the Republican President and the Royalist Duke can be broken down into two major steps: one for the faction leaders who can become candidates for those political positions; and one for the citizens of Granado Espada who can vote for their preferred candidates.
Step One: Declaring Candidacy
The only people who can declare candidacies are those who meet the following requirements: are faction leaders, lead Lv.52 factions, and have chosen a political party [Royalists or Republicans].
To declare his or her candidacy, the faction leader needs to wait for the announcement in purple in the chatbox below:
[Notice] The registration for elections has started! You can now register each party leader before the time period ends.
Next, the faction leader can file his or her papers for candidacy at his or her political party's headquarters: either the Reception Hall in Cite de Reboldoeux for the Royalists, or Villa de Libertad in Auch for the Republicans. The leader must buy the Candidate Registration Form item from the party's Election Manager. This item costs 5M Vis and allows the leader to register as a candidate for his or her party's leadership.
In this picture, the Royalist Election Manager is on the right of Princess Gabriella.
The faction leader/candidate-to-be need merely follow the instructions given by the Election Manager in order to declare his or her candidacy.
Step Two: To the Polls!
To actually be able to vote, a family must be of at least Family Level 10 [press Alt+R to check], and have the Vote Paper / Ballot item. A family can vote even if they do not belong to a faction.
The item can only be obtained from the red-haired Election Support Guides, at least two of which can always be found in the towns, standing next to the Ballot Boxes.
The Ballot can only be obtained after the time period for registration of candidacies is finished, and it can only be used once per election.
Wait for the server announcement to begin voting, then speak with the Election Support Guide to pick up your Ballot. Then click on the ballot box of your choice, select your candidate, and click on the button marked "Vote for preferred..." [literally!] to drop your vote in.
After voting, families are encouraged to return to the Election Support Guide. As a reward for participating in the elections, the Guides will hand out 3 x Election Compensation Potion to each family that voted.
Level 15 buffs OMGWTFBBQ~!
Now, after this beta test in Cervantes server, a few comments and suggestions:
- The registration period for candidacies was too long in the server, maybe because only three faction leaders signed up: aLKayeL of WrathOfGod and Kazel of Halcyon for the Royalists, and That of Vradical for the Republicans. I wonder if the time period for declaring candidacies might be shortened, perhaps to 45 minutes?
- If everyone in one server were to vote, one hour at the polls might not be long enough. I suggest extending voting time to an hour and, say, 15 minutes.
- Some of us in WrathOfGod faction thought it might be nifty to be able to see the votes as they come in, rather as they do during live coverage of actual elections in the real world.
- A good suggestion that came by way of the server broadcasts was, give the candidates a chance to tell the voters why they should vote for them!
As the results in Cervantes have not yet been announced, I will try to update this post with the "winners" later.
Actual elections will be held on a regular basis beginning 2 February 2008.
I'm thinking of doing a post on Angie soon although this thread in the forums has already got the ball rolling. So while I work on that one, have some links.
Updates for the Fantazzztic Film Awards - includes new schedules and submissions dates. The important part is the LAST paragraph, which details the consolation prizes that will be handed out to the top 20 finishers of each Scene and Heard week. Yup - instant elites and premium packages, kids ^^
Teaser for the November print issue of Game! magazine, now online - if you haven't bought this one yet, you probably should, as vets have their own Super Fight map in the upcoming version. This one's chock-full of tips to get you to Lv100 that much faster. The article was the result of a collaboration between me and Welling [oi, update plx! XD].
ShenLuo's massive updates thread - ShenLuo of the forums posts a list of the upcoming features included in the next big patch. This includes updates for Witches of Bahamar and for Tropical Island. Updates include new maps, RNPCs, items, quests and more.
Arconis, Blood Countess posts some tips and tricks - want to learn how useful the Detection skill is? What's another way to obtain those ultra-rare Lv9x-100 chips? What are those torture devices in Prison de Joaquin and why the hell are they shooting at me? Find out here!
This month's Granado Espada feature in the November print edition of local online gaming mag GAME! Magazine is all about "Getting Ready for the Endgame". This particular article was a collaboration between me and Welling - me as the primary writer/editor, and him as the source for a lot of the high-level information. [Because he's a vet, duh, while I'm still a lowly 6x ^^]
First, here's the cover, so you can easily spot it on your local magazine shop's shelves:
I keep having to say, "Excuse me" for the non-GE cover. It's about time the game got pride of place and the glory of the front cover, I say!
And here's the usual first-page teaser of the article, scanned in for you:
Comments: the lead time on these articles is usually about a month, and once submitted, I can't really do much for rewrites and updates before the issue goes to press. So I've already spotted some errors in the text, and remembered some things that should have gone into the article. Oh well.
And also, yeah, some of those screenshots feature my main Cervantes team - with a different faction affiliation because of the aforementioned lead time. Many of the other screenshots feature Welling in turn. The odd thing is that a lot of his shots include a GM - were they following him around or something? That's so intriguing!
The three sidebars we included all have something to do with dungeons: the Forgotten Territories, the "Sacred Dungeon of Underground Relics" in Pradera de Ceniza, and the Skull Dungeon.
I've already been assigned the topic for the December 2007-January 2008 holiday double issue, so please watch out for that one ^^
[Bonus points to you if you get the movie reference in the title!]
Remember that the Tiburon's Scarecrows event is ongoing until this Thursday, 8 November - so, here's a reminder from your friendly neighborhood NineMoons family - go get those Pumpkin Hats now, before they're gone!
ETA: Oops! Maintenance has been moved to Wednesday, 7 November! Get crackin' - you only have about four hours left to do this quest - good luck!
The hats are actually selling in Cervantes server for around 5M vis each, but you can still grab them for free if you do the quest now - so let's get right into it!
First, you need to start the quest - go to the "Halloween Event Boy" who looks a whole LOT like Auch's very own Backstreet Boy Tiburon. [His dialogue, and the quest itself, states that he IS Tiburon.] He's standing next to the waypoint in the Port of Coimbra. He'll ask you to collect twenty Halloween Scarecrows for him, which he'll use for his planned costume for Dr. Torsche's Halloween party. Be warned that the quest details won't show up in the "Quests" menu [Alt+A], but so long as you agree to Tiburon's request, you can go ahead.
The Halloween Scarecrows are scattered around various parts of Granado Espada. You collect the Scarecrows by left-clicking on them [much as you do for Hengestones]. Tiburon will give you rewards for every five of them that you collect - go back to him when you've collected 5, 10, 15, and finally all 20 Scarecrows.
The rewards are, in this order:
10x Chocolates [same stuff you can get from Lisa Lynway at the Sea Elephant; each Chocolate restores 900 HP to one character]
3x Lv68 Enchantment Chips [always good for stockpiling, trade and of course enchanting stuff]
5x Platinum Coupons [used to access the Joaquin Treasure Chamber; whack away at the Treasure Iron Maidens and get nifty Lv7x-8x items as well as all sorts of ores]
3x Pumpkin Hats [the Granado Espada Halloween event item for 2007 ^^]
The Halloween Scarecrows are placed on maps for ranging from Lv1 all the way to Lv8x; here are the exact locations, arranged in ascending level order. [Thanks to Ihave0life by way of Prinz Hernan and to gyl of Granadosource for completing and confirming this list!]
Letters and numbers appearing after each map name correspond to coordinates [hit Alt+Z to view them on the zone map]. Be careful to search each indicated location thoroughly. You may need to climb hills or go down winding paths.
Reboldoeux Stone Pit J4
Ferruccio Junction F6
Al Quelt Moreza G9 [refers to the map immediately outside the dungeon, i.e. where the waypoint is]
Al Quelt Moreza Parsonage G8
Cathari Falls H9
King's Garden G5
Tetra Hill D8
Tetra Catacombs G5
Jezebel Glen E4
Porto Bello Deck K7
Porto Bello Deserted Quay G9
Porto Bello Desolate Cliff J2
Thueringenwald H2
El Lago de Tres Hermanas G5
Pradera de Ceniza G6-7 [along the boundary line of those two areas]
Rion Prairie E10
Bonavista River F4
Vegas Javier I10
Joaquin Crater / Crater of Joaquin H6
Old Port of Coimbra D4
Quest notes:
- I used my Cervantes main team for this quest: fighter, scout, wizard. They were all about Lv6x when I started collecting Scarecrows.
- A Lv6x team will do fine on all of the maps except, possibly, the last four, which are 6x to 8x maps with the occasional mini-boss or raid boss. I recommend using a Levitation Wizard or, failing that, a Scout with maxed Acceleration on these tricky maps. Make sure that you have a steady supply of Health Liquors and Soul Liquors for the Wizard, or Health Liquors and Analeptic Remedies for the scout. Be sure to equip them with armors with high defense, too.
- I had the most trouble on the final map [Old Port]; luckily, the final Halloween Scarecrow is located very close to the top / northern entrance. Just RUN / FLY as quickly as possible, click the Scarecrow quickly if your level is a bit low for the map - and use Logout if you need to.
They've fixed the bug that makes the female wizard's hair look that unnaturally bright red.
Enjoy your Pumpkin Hats!
ETA: The intrepid and VERY courageous Novastorm family relates the tale of the Tiburon's Scarecrows quest - which s/he completed at LV4X!!!! Give that player a round of applause!
