The One About V2.4 Countdown

We are less than 24 hours away from V2.4 launch!

Do take note that although Bahia Island and Island of Fire will be opened tomorrow, Tierra De Los Muertos and Bahamas Swamp will be out at a later time, tentatively in February and March 2008 respectively. Currently, only 2% of the entire GE population can take on the monsters in that map with their current AR/DR. With the Island of Fire, hopefully this 2% will increase to at least 50% by the time these two other maps are released.

RNPCs Angie and Karjalainen will be out tomorrow as well. Other RNPCs are planned to be released monthly. Lil' Viki and Feng Ling (Soso) is scheduled to be released next month, Jan 2008 while Edward Jameson & Kurt will probably be out in Feb 2008 and lastly, Gavin Jameson in March 2008. This is the tentative schedule and subject to change since this industry is so dynamic and changes might happen at anytime so please don't swear by my schedule.

V2.4 patch notes are still being tested on the servers and will be released fully only tomorrow morning. Lots of system changes and such. One of the more interesting system changes enables you to right click on a player's name (in faction/ squad/ private chats or even broadcasting) and a variety of options will appear:

Another relatively interesting system change that would prolly change the dynamics of the PK-ing is:

1) When logging out or exiting programs, user has to wait for 5 seconds now.
2) If the character moves, attack, uses skills or picks items, then the 5 seconds countdown will be cancelled.

For the carebear servers, this will probably affect you in the Island of Fire where everyone else is seen to be an enemy (except squadmates) and is PK-able (although you will not get baron points or drop items)

Stock class changes are:

Changes to the Wizard class
a. “Reflection” has been changed to “Energy Shield”
b. While using energy shield, the shield will protect the user from damage by consuming SP instead of HP
c. Decrease Levitation stance attack range
d. Increase cool down time for “Photon Splash” and “Hole of Darkness”
e. Uses one Magical Orb for “Photon Splash” and two Magical Orb for “Hole of Darkness”
f. Reduces Mental RES when using Magical Piercing
g. Does not decrease movement speed and DEF when using Invisible Stalker skill

Change to Elementalist class
a. “Activate Mana” has been changed to “Elemental Blessing”
b. After casting “Elemental Blessing”, you will be allowed to defend against any attack once. After blocking the attack, “Elemental Blessing” will be gone
c. Increases damage of “Meteor Strike”, “Firewall”, “Blazing Pillar” and “Volcanic Eruption”

The premium item mall preview is out as well in the web catalogue here. Enjoy!

The One About V2.4 World Map

Needless to say, it's been absolutely hectic with preparations for V2.4 and it's been a crazy balancing act between spending time with the community in-game, on the forums and working. Yup, I've missed out personal life. I'm taking a long vacation from that for the time being till V2.4 is successfully launched. On the bright side, my good friends have started trying out Granado Espada in order to spend time with me! Isn't that sweet?

The most divine thing is that one of my gal pals, Eva, got so absolutely hooked on it that she spent the entire weekend camping at my house to play GE on my desktop so that she could constantly ask me n0ob questions as I was working on my laptop. A big 'THANK YOU' goes out to Prancers from Cervantes who very kindly offered her help to Eva when she saw her struggling in Cite De Reboldoeux.

Speaking of which, it's time that everyone start saving their save point in Cite De Reboldoeux and show some loving to all the newbies who have just started playing Granado Espada. Cos after 15 December's in-game event: Nimrod Bridge Invasion, there's no guarantee if monsters will invade the town or not...

Anyway, here's the V2.4 world map:


Do take IMPORTANT note that there is a VERY high chance that some zones will not be opened immediately when V2.4 is launched. Bahia Island will be opened of course, but the other zones like Bahamas Swamp and Tierra De Los Muertos may be released on a monthly basis instead. The same goes for RNPCs which may be released on a monthly basis. Once again, we are still awaiting IMC reply. Will let you guys know once things are more firmed up.

The One About Super Fight

So most of you would have read the article on V2.4 Super Fight on the web. There were a few points I missed out since the article was getting too lengthy already.

1) 5 minute window of opportunity

The warp gate will only be opened for 5 minutes. A world-wide announcement will be made via system notice 10 minutes before the opening of the warp gate. Once the warp gate is closed, no one else can enter into the Super Fight map.

This makes a lot of difference in terms of survival. If you get killed after the warp gate closes, you will not be able to enter again if you relog or return to barracks... which is why stocking up of soul crystals or having a supportive squad who resurrects one another is crucial.

2) Random Warp Points

When you get warped in, you will spawn on a random location on the map - regardless of whether you are squad members or not. It would be ideal to meet up with your squad members at a fixed location, and try your best to avoid enemies - both players and boss monsters while you are at it.

3) Who said what?

In these Super Fights maps, you will be unable to tell who is talking in public. No names are displayed. So you never know who is around the corner. And you never know who is plotting against who.


4) ...Better late than never

Bosses don't all spawn at the same time. Every 15-30 minutes or so, there will be map-wide announcements that XXXX boss will make his grand appearance in 5 minutes etc.

...For some strange reason, I'm reminded of all those Royal Rumble wrestling matches that my brother used to force me to watch with him when we were younger. 2 wrestlers would start fighting first and try to throw each other out of the ring. Then after some time, a new contender would be announced and dynamics change as the initial 2 wrestlers now face some new dilemmas:

a) Ally each other to kick out the new enemy
b) Be so focused on kicking each other out of the ring that they take no notice of the 3rd party
c) One of them allies the new enemy to take down his initial rival

And I foresee these elements coming into play as well in Super Fights and I can't hardly wait to see how these elements will be brought out by the GE community.

Conclusion?

Form your squads wisely. You will need a tight team that watches out for one another. Make use of terrains. Within each of the Super Fight maps are all kinds of nooks and crevices, high landscapes and low lying areas. I've always fancied that the higher up you are, the safer you are. However, with different militant strategies, all kinds of landscapes have their own usages.

Super Fight adds an additional element of surprise with that random spawning feature and a 'I know what you did last summer' kind of feeling cos you never know who's round the corner out for your blood. ;)

Hi guys!

I’m back with more updates about what’s coming up next for Granado Espada.

1) The Sun. The Sand. The Surf.

Paradise awaits.

…in the new V2.4 Bahia Island patch which will be coming our way on 20 December 2007, Thursday! This is of course dependent on whether there are any major hiccups or obstacles that crop up last minute. However, the good news is that bugs discovered so far are relatively minor and mostly localization issues.

Anyway, there are tons of new features, maps, RNPCs and item mall additions that comes along with this but I’m sure what you guys are most interested in are the beach boys and bikini babes! Here’s a sneak peek into Bahia Island:

Meanwhile, we’ll be bringing web article updates every Friday, leading up to 20 December 2007, so do join in with the rest of the community on discussing these new features on the forums! Today marks the very first feature of our V2.4 Bahia Island web articles series. Check out Super Fight feature over here.

We would also like to know which RNPC you are most looking forward to in V2.4 Bahia Island so start voting here.

Discuss this news here.

2) Upcoming & Ongoing Events

[Singapore] V2.4 Hands-On Preview @ Granado Espada-Singtel Christmas Fair!

Want a sneak preview and hands on trial of V2.4? Head on down to the Granado Espada-Singtel Christmas Fair at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza on 24 and 25 November 2007, Saturday and Sunday!

V2.4 trials are on Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 2pm

More details here.

[Philippines] Granado Espada joins the Hataw Hanep Hero Event!

Here are some privileges that Granado Espada gamers in the Philippines can enjoy at this event:

• GE Cosplayers will receive additional special prizes from us!
• Freeplay
• Pick-a-Prize
• Raffles & Promos
• Movie-making workshop
• Merchandise sales
• New installer reservation

More details here.

[Community Crew Forum Challenge] Vis

Vis, unlike most currencies is unseen, there is no possible way to brag how much money you have by using methods such as money fans etc. The community crew has decided to put a stop to this and has called the loyal members of Granado Espada to help them.

Submit your entries here.

[CM Veya’s Forum Challenge] Best Faction/Group Portraits

Take out your best faction or group shots and edit them in a 'portrait' style that's based on your faction name.

Submit your entries here.

The One About Thinking Out Of The Box

It's been yet another hectic week since our V2.4.16 client just arrived from IMC.

Amidst the intensive testing and bug fixing sessions we've been having, KingKongJon, DG and I did our traditional 'patchly' thing with the localization team - that of Item Mallization.

Since the 3 of us were always stuck in our various meetings and differing schedules during the day, the only time all 3 of us actually have the time to really sit down together with the localization team to finalize the proper naming conventions of all the new items from the new patch is always at night, after office hours.

So we would do our traditional thing of ordering pizza as we brainstorm the night away for appropriate names for the items in the item mall. Usually, whenever we receive the newly updated list of items in the premium item mall, it is almost always a direct translation from Korean. Sometimes, the direct translation turns out fine - Like Lucifer's Wings were a direct translation. Other times, it turned out not-so-fine due to conflicts with local dialects.

For example the wizard costume below was originally named 'Rosa Canina'.

Which is actually a pretty name and in reality, the species of a rose. But in one of the S.E.A dialects, Hokkien, the Canina term would actually mean something along the lines of doing something really dettol-inducing to yo' mama.

We renamed it to 'The Scarlet Belle' instead, since it looked like a costume from 'Gone with the wind'.

We also wanted to use modern references where possible and so when we spotted this, DG, who was the ultimate Iron Maiden fan, had the perfect name for it - '2 Minutes To Midnight'!


More movie references came our way with The Sound of Music. Lorch's costume which reminded us of that of a yodeler, inspired the name 'The Lonely Goatherd':


As the night droned on, we started to set even higher standards for ourselves.

"Finally! We are down to the last package. This package gives 3 Lucifer Wings at the 14,300 G-Points. What shall we name it?" DG asked.

"Dante's Package?"

"Oh, how about Hellgate: Granado Espada?"

"Hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned package?"

More suggestions bounced off the walls but none of them seemed to really 'click' into place.

"Wait guys, we are thinking too much of Lucifer and hell. Let's backtrack from that and try to think out of the box a bit. Now, let's think of it from a gamer's perspective. If you had 3 Lucifer Wings, what state of mind would you be in?"

Pause. Contemplative Silence.

"Pwnage!" I replied as we all burst out laughing.

And so. Pwnage Package, it is. ;)

The One About Barbie World

Since we are on the topic of summoners, the ever-so-popular Catherine and Viki will be getting some new costumes in V2.4 as well!

Here's lil' Viki's new look:

























And here's Catherine's new wardrobe:
























There's something disturbingly wrong about Catherine's outfits. I mean... c'mon - look at it! It's blasphemy! Catherine is a doll, Frankenstein-ed into life by Dr Torsche! She's supposed to have this gothic, creepy, chucky-from-childplay aura.

But now... She has sold out to the Barbie Doll entourage!

Oh what has this cruel world come to...?

"I'm a barbie girl in a barbie world. Life is plastic... its fantazzztic!"
- Reclusion Family (Aqua's No. 1 Fan)

The One About Summoners

So I've been trying out Hellgate: London recently and my favorite class so far has been the summoner class.

And I think I know why.

You see, on screen I see this:



Hellgate:London's HRIN summons her minions

But as I am happily summoning them minions in Hellgate: London - in my mind's eye, I am actually seeing this:



Granado Espada's CatheHRIN summons her dolls

I swear Granado Espada runs through my veins. I can never look at any other game in the same way!

On a side note, I encountered some Granado Espada players in-game in Hellgate: London and it was somewhat amusing that we were discussing about the exciting, upcoming V2.4 updates in the in-game chat of HGL and then we started comparing the various classes in GE to those in HGL. Here's the conclusion we came to:

Granado Espada	Hellgate:London
Fighter	Templar
Musketeer	Marksman
Wizard	Erm… MIA
Elementalist	Evoker
Scout	Guardian
Catherine + Viki	Summoner
Jack + Diego	Engineer

What was even more amusing was that one of the players didn't believe who I was. So he asked me what the name of the upcoming V2.4 patch as a proof of my identity.

I haven't officially discussed the name of the upcoming patch with KingKongJon yet but considering how we had once discussed the previous patch name and had decided at that point in time that the standard naming convention for each new patch would be the name of the new map that came along with that patch...

I replied,"Tropical Island patch... or more specifically, Bahia Island patch."

Yes, that's right. The name of the tropical island for the V2.4 patch will be Bahia Island. The previous direct translation from Korean had been 'Gigante Island', but the localization manager, DG, wanted to continue his trend of staying true to the background storyline, so after a few rounds of shortlisting, we unanimously chose Bahia Island.

Coming back to HGL, we are releasing more figurines! Yes, yes I know. The next question you will be asking me is - HOW ABOUT GRANADO ESPADA FIGURINES?!

It's something we are exploring as well. (Not the nude bug version though. So don't get any funny ideas!) ;)

More peeks at these upcoming HGL figurines:

The One About Hellgate: London Launch



We just launched Hellgate: London on Halloween, 31 October 2007! It was insanely crowded! In fact, I was so inspired by the queues that I even created a Queue Fan Video for it...



LOL. Ok, n00b videos aside, remember to start forming your teams for the Fantazzztic Film Awards 2007! Guys, this isn't just any competition. All the best videos will also be featured in our future box sets and as a tribute to the best movie makers, their names will even be marked on the Granado Espada game manuals for future box sets! Can you imagine? Your films being distributed by the thousandsacross the region. Your names made famous! Who knows? You might even be talent scouted! The potential is endless so make good use of this opportunity! This competition is open worldwide to everyone, not just those in Singapore.

Anyway, not to digress any further, on with the peektures! There'll be more coverage of articles and a photo gallery up on the Hellgate: London website, but for now, enjoy these:




And here's the hawt templar and cabalist:




And then there was a press conference as well:




Check out the HGL skinned external hard disk drives! You can start pre-ordering at the IAHGames cafe.



Here's Max Schaefer's speech during the press conference:


And here's Erich Schaefer's speech:



This has got to be the most winning peekture of 'em all!



It's like cherubic Viki guest starring in Hellgate: London as a cabalist. LOL.

The One About IAHGames Cybercafe

The IAHGames Cafe is officially open!

The cafe is located at:

Funan DigitaLife Mall
109 North Bridge Road
#B1-03B (Opposite Cold Storage)
Singapore 179097

There's all kinds of Granado Espada and Hellgate: London merchandise and boxsets for sale as well! I think the best thing about that place is how everyone who goes there feels like family. Just the other day, I overheard a conversation that went like that:

"OMG! You are XXXXX ah?!"

"Haha... yeah..."

"You PK-ed me the other day!!! How dare you! Haha..."

"HAHAHAHah!"

And then they became friends. Just like that.

IAHGames Cafe. The place where online enemies become offline friends.

It's like a place of surprises where you discover the true identities of those you have encountered in-game. And more importantly, the place where you can form deep friendships and bonds.

So if you find that you are in need of a social life, yet still can't tear yourself away from your online game... IAHGames Cafe is the place for you! ;)

In the meantime, there's a free movie making workshop happening there on 10 November 2007, Saturday, 2pm-4pm

If you would like to register for the event, please email event@ge.IAHGames.com with your full name, email address and contact number. Due to limited seating available, places will be allocated on a first come, first serve basis. Only short-listed participants will receive an email reply verifying their registration.

Time for peektures! Enjoy:

The One About Viki

Someone was asking for a preview of what Viki sounds like. Here's what he sounds like when he summons turry dog, ararat, hill giant, tachyon and treasure golem:



For some strange reason... I'm reminded of those Pokemon cartoons where Ash and gang summon their pokemon.

Go Pikachu Go!

The One About Lucifer Wings

I've got some pretty exciting news about My Bellem's Box Item Of The Month for November!

Only for November's Item Of The Month will there be a special edition Lucifer Wings which will last all the way up to 20 December 2007, rather than its usual 30 day time period! Yes, that's a less than subtle hint. If all goes well and no major obstacles crop up, we'll be going into V2.4 on 20 December 2007! ;)

Some people have been asking on the forums what will happen to the Lucifer Wings once the time period has expired. From what I have heard from IMC, it will disappear from your inventory.

I've also gotten some emails from Pinoy gamers asking me if My Bellem's Box will be coming to the Philippines. This will very much be dependent on your local distributor, which in this case, is E-games. Alternatively, you can also purchase from the online shop located here.

Here's some pictures of the upcoming Lucifer's Wings:

The One About Halloween In-Game Event - Tiburon's Scarecrows

We wanted to patch the Halloween in-game event patch today during server maintenance but unfortunately, there were a lot of bugs that could not be resolved in time. Nevertheless, all the bugs have been fixed as far as we have tested and after we do a final round of testing, the event patch should be in by this weekend, or maybe even tomorrow.

Here's a taste of what is to come:

The One About Sexyback

We've just finished recording the voiceovers for V2.4 and we had some really good voice actors this round!

I am totally mesmerized by one of the new male RNPC's voices, Edward Jameson.

Now here's a guy that does what Justin Timberlake does best.

Yeah. He brings sexy back.

Big time.

Here's a sneak preview of what Edward Jameson looks and sounds like:



Some interesting background to Edward Jameson is that he is an immigrant from Brestia, and 2nd Lieutenant from the Brestia Special Army.

And. He is the fiance of Selva! (If you have no idea who she is, check out my blog avatar.)

He lost a huge portion of his memory due to some traumatic events that happened to him (Do the quests in V2.4 to find out!) and all he remembers is that he has a fiance and a younger brother.

Discuss this here.

The One About Vergo... Cursed?

I've been hearing some players speculate that Vergo The Cursed is bugged and thus, un-killable. But this is not actually the case. There are a few things to take note of:

1) Vergo The Undead

Why is it that the HP bar of Vergo The Cursed gets to zero and Vergo is still not dead?

This is because he goes into an 'undead' mode, whereby he will start to regenerate HP at an incredibly fast rate. Once he goes into this undead mode, his regenerated HP will remain a ???? mystery. This is the case in V2.1.18. From what I have heard from IMC, in V2.4 onwards, the possibility percentage of this undead mode has been reduced significantly and most of the time, Vergo will die swiftly without going into undead mode.

Despite his HP reflecting 0, be aware that his HP is regenerating and you will need a VERY strong party to continuously hit him. If people start leaving, Vergo's HP regeneration speed will exceed that of the damage done to him and it will be back to square one.

And yes, the people who enter the scene when Vergo is in undead mode, will see Vergo's HP as being maximum, even though the people who have been there from the very start will see it as zero. Don't panic: This is normal. This merely means that Vergo's HP is regenerating and remains a ???? mystery.

2) Need Moar l33t 92 weaponzzz

Frankly speaking, you will need Elite Level 92 weapons to be able to easily defeat Vergo The Cursed. Vergo has a DR of 57, while the best Elite 84 weapons give an AR of 52. Except the fact when you +5 or if you manage to enchant the Elite 84 weapon to a +3 Attack Rating Option, otherwise it is not possible to efficiently damage him. FYI, Elite Level 92 weapons will be much more easily attainable once we hit V2.4.

Does this mean it is impossible to defeat Vergo The Cursed in our current version V2.1.18?

Nope, it is still possible. But you will need a very large number of strong players in order to take him down and even so, you might probably have to whack for about 2-3 hours after his first physical death before your party can take him down. The thing is, you cannot afford to have players leaving halfway through the raid because the HP regeneration which will restore him to his all-powerful self again.

Ideally, in order to prevent his insane rate of HP regeneration, it would be good to stun him with say, Wizard's Hole Of Darkness, and of course to have good tankers and many high damage ranged attackers to complement.

3) The Sweet Spot

Talk about backdoors that programmers just love implementing...

There is a certain sweet spot on the cliff that permanently stuns Vergo. If you are one of the lucky 1% to be able to find it... then it just might be time to buy a 4D lottery ticket.

I heard that one of the factions in Cervantes actually managed to find it once and only once. Their tanker fighter was never able to find it ever since. Nevertheless, despite being unable to find Vergo's sweet spot again, this same faction managed to take him down a second time using some extremely well thought-out strategies (which I am afraid I am sworn to secrecy about - after all, it's their secret, not mine). Even so, it took them 3 hours after Vergo went into undead mode to take him down.

Well, hope that helps answer some of the burning questions on your mind regarding Vergo.

P/S: Just for the fun of it, I tried using Irawan, equipped with a Level 100 Knuckle of 3 Kings to solo Vergo on the test server. It took me a good two hours after he went into undead mode to take him down. ;)

The One About Halloween & Ops Black

Halloween is just round the corner and we'll be having a Halloween in-game event from 25 October 2007-8 November 2007! It's gonna be one of those special event type of quest issued by an RNPC. The most exciting thing about it is that this is the FIRST time ever that kGE and jGE are holding the exact same event as us concurrently! kGE-jGE-sGE FTW! Talk about MCC, bond of trinity baby! More details will be out early next week once the patch has been uploaded to our test server and we have finished testing the event patch out.

Vanity Extravaganza has been extended by another week and male costumes at 20% discount will be added in as well. So you can look forward to that happening next week.

On a sadder note, Reborn Faction from Caravaggio, one of the very first pioneering factions in Granado Espada has disbanded on 14 October 2007. Although I don't play on Caravaggio, I read quite a bit about them here and there on players' blogs and on the forums. They wrote an entire history of their interactions with the various factions in Caravaggio. You can check it out over here.

For those in Singapore, here's something interesting that is an absolute must-go! A murder mystery Halloween party! It's known as Ops Black and held at Settlers Cafe. Settlers Cafe is a place I hold dear to my heart as it was a place I worked part time when I was still a poor struggling student in National University of Singapore (NUS). It's a boardgames cafe and they have over 200 board games, mostly imported from overseas. I recall my days of overnight board-gaming with my ex-colleagues and how it had such a warm, family feeling there - pretty much like how it is at IAHGames. It's like 'Cheers' (the comedy)... where everybody knows your name type of place.

Anyway, its menu looks like a Monopoly board and if you look real closely, you would notice 'Granado Espada' as one of the MRT stations on the food menu!





Tickets are REALLY limited so better buy them soon!

The One About My Bellem's Box

I was looking at the November poll for My Bellem's Box and was pretty surprised to see that Lucifer's Wings vs Karjalainen's Accessory Boxes are having a close fight of 106 vs 139.

What really surprised me was that people actually prefer Karjalainen's Accessory Boxes over Andre's Costume Boxes. I would have thought that Andre Costume Box is a way better deal in comparison with Karjalainen's Accessory Boxes.

I was having a casual chat with one of the IMC programmers on MSN and he was telling me that in our current version of V2.1.18, Andre costume box drops everything cosmetic - hair costumes (wigs), back costumes and body costumes.

Once we hit V2.4, Andre Janzur would have come to the conclusion that fashion diversification is a no-no and decides to go down the road of specialization and focus solely on body costumes. Thus, Andre costume box will no longer drop all things cosmetic but will only drop body costumes while Karjalainen's Accessory Boxes will drop back costumes and wigs.

Well, I guess the reason why people are voting for Karjalainen's Accessory Boxes could possibly be that it might drop other hairstyles and back costumes not yet available in our current version. But hey, V2.4 is just round the corner! Just 2 months more. We have already begun work on localizing the new text and probably will be going down to the voice studios next week to begin work on the voiceovers. Tentatively, we are trying to get V2.4 released just before Christmas, so keep your fingers crossed! V2.4 is a whopping 1.2GB patch so you can imagine how many more updates there will be!

Anyway, not to digress, coming back to Lucifer's Wings, it gives an ATK rating +1, ATK +10%, Max HP +1,000, Additional ATK +10% against Humanoid and Beast, Restores HP by 5% of each damage done to enemies.

What's not to love about that? I do love cosmetic stuff and all... but I love power and pwning even more.

And Lucifer Wings pwn. Big Time.

The One About Vanity Extravaganza

Vanity Extravaganza is commencing on 18 October 2007 and in the words of Robinsons... "It's the sale worth waiting for". It's unlikely we will be having another costume sales for the rest of the year so go nuts and start buying costumes. We'll probably be having other types of sales in other categories like.. perhaps a Potions Sale?

After all, it's reaching the end of the year and well, let's just say Hrin's potions have an expiry date and we erm... ordered an excess of stock from IMC so now we have an imaginary warehouse of potions that are smelling weirder by the minute. ;P

LOL. That's kindda funny actually. I'll probably propose this as a mini storyline for a Potions Sale. Hey, c'mon. Any excuse is good, as long as we have sales and discounts, ain't it? ;)

Coming back to Vanity Extravaganza, there are actually 3 types of things to take note of:

1) All costumes are going at a 20% discount.
2) There will be School Uniform Packages! Woot!
3) School Uniform packages are going for a 10% discount for Vanity Extravaganza week. Its original price is 22,000 Gpoints. But for Vanity Extravaganza week, it is going for 20,000 Gpoints.

Elaborating more on the School Uniform Packages, they are really value for money! Not that I am trying to hard sell or anything, it's just that the Discount Queen in me just has this insatiable need to share my value-for-money discoveries with the world.

The School Uniform Package comprises of:

1 School Uniform
1 Combat manual - expert 15 days
1 Tactics manual - expert 15 days
1 Warp license - 15 days
10 Soul crystal
20 Hrin's ampule
20 Enhancement booster
3 Forgotten Territory pass

If you calculate the entire value of the items in this package, the whole value is 41,800 G Points! But the package (normal priced) is only selling for 22,000 G Points!

Now this is the package worth waiting for!

Hrin’s Updates: Bot Court? Yay Or Nay?

Hi guys!

1. Bot Busting (B Square) Squad Feedback

Our bot busting squad has been working 24/7 for the past 2 weeks to keep ‘third parties’ from coming between our relationship. We would like to know whether this measure has been effective in eradicating most of the bots. After all, such resources (especially a 24/7 one) are a huge money drain and upper management needs to know if these resources are justifiable. Thus, we would like to conduct a poll to find out about the service level and effectiveness of the B Square Squad.

Please vote and leave your feedback here.

2. Upcoming Events

Vanity Extravaganza: 18^th October 2007, Thursday-25^th October 2007, Thursday

Due to community feedback and popular demand, we are bringing you yet another week of costume sales! 20% discount on all costumes! There will also be some School Uniform Packages which are going at 10% below its normal price.

Discuss this here.

3. De-Leveling Issues

The community has been asking us for a stand on de-leveling issues. The [GM] team deals with this on a case-to-case basis. For example, if a player has just leveled up and was PK-ed by someone else just once, he would be ‘de-leveled’. This type of scenario is part of the game-play on a PK server. However, the other type of scenario whereby the infamous ‘Ress-PK Loop’ combination is repeatedly deployed – is considered as harassment and the culprit will be dealt with accordingly.

Discuss this here.

4. Opinions On Bot Court: Justice For All!

We’re facing a bit of a dilemma here. We do have a few appeal cases on hand and although the entire team has watched the video replays and coming to a unanimous decision about rejecting the appeal, a few gamers persist in an outcry of innocence on the forums. Thus, we’re toying with the idea of presenting these replays to the community and inviting the community to play the roles of judge, jury, defense attorney, prosecutor and whatnots. Typical scenarios include:

“OBJECTION!

He has an alibi! His faction mate, MisterAlibi Family was speaking to him at the time he was forcibly disconnected from the server and proclaimed as botting!”

“HOLD IT!

The records show that the time of botting was at 1313hrs while his faction mate was speaking to him at 0808hrs! There is a time lapse of 5 hours! We plead that the court regards this evidence as null and void!”

It’s an unorthodox approach, no doubt, but hey, in a day and age like this, unorthodox works. ;)

Let us know your opinion on this.

5. Real Person VS Reel Person

The [GM] team has been getting some appeal cases whereby the gamer admits that he has been using a *‘pilot’ to train his characters and that his*‘pilot’ used certain third party programs without his knowledge to train his characters. Unfortunately, we have to reject such appeals. After all, if your virtual character does the crime, then your virtual character has to do the time. You, as a real person, are cleared of all charges. It’s just your reel character that isn’t.

Since we are on the topic of ‘pilots’, we strongly discourage the community from sharing accounts or letting someone else pilot your account as this might result in scams, hacks or abuse of your account.

Discuss this here.

‘pi-lot’

-noun

A pilot with quotation marks as mentioned above – ‘pilot’, is not really the dude who steers an aeroplane. In this context, it refers to someone who is employed to train your virtual characters on your behalf.

The One About The Monster Blender

I was writing an article for Playworks Magazine October issue about the wonders of Diego and his usefulness in Colony wars. It's a little sad that not many people realize the incredible potential of Diego. 3 Diegos can solo take down a colony within 10-15 minutes due to rotating blades' fast attack speed. This 10-15 minute timeframe has certain conditions though:

1) 3 Diegos must be equipped with 2 Great Rotating Rings each
2) Switch to 'Hack & Slash' stance after you have built your maximum number of Great Rotating Blades' and attack the colony - to maximize the number of hits to the colony.

The amazing thing is that you don't even need to train him to Level 100 since any damage to the colony only results in 1 HP decrease - all you need is to train him such that he gets 'Great Rotating Blades' skill.


Looking at those fineeee rotating blades reminded me of a blender I bought recently. Well, more like a Monster Blender, really, due to its traumatic background...

* * *

Lunch hour.

Had rushed down to Bugis Junction to buy a birthday present for my colleague, Ducky, since I had been too busy over the last few nights to go shopping.

Ducky is our copywriter for storylines for Granado Espada's background history & NPC backgrounds as well as the brains behind the GE Comics series. So after some careful thought, I felt that a pen would be most appropriate for him. After all, the pen is mightier than the sword and all that yada yada.

After I bought him this lovely black Parker Pen set with his name engraved in gold on it, I happened to pass through the household section and Braun's latest portable new blender caught my eye. As I was looking at it, the salesman comes up to me and beams,"Hello Miss! Would you like me to test it out for you?"

I shrugged casually,"Sure. Why not?"

He enthusiastically takes it out of the box and plugs it into the power socket, telling me excitedly about all the various items that it could blend. I was starting to wonder if he was going to tell me that it could blend an iPod. "

... and it has two speeds as well. High speed and low speed!" he says to me as he demonstrates by pressing two different buttons.

"Oh ok... which button is low speed and which one is high speed?" I ask him.

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Let me see..." he replies as he puts his hand under the blades of the blender to try to feel the wind currents it produces.

It all happened so quickly. Or maybe the shock of it blocked out the exact memory of it.

Somehow or other, the blade dislodges itself slightly and blends the palm of his hand! Blood splurts all over the place!

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I find myself shrieking in absolute horror. I feel absolutely faint. The sight of blood always makes me queasy and pale in the face.

"Can you please test out the blender for this lady here?" Mr Courageous Salesman says his last parting words to Salesgirl standing nearby, as he is being ushered away to E.R to get his hand stitched up.

ZOMG... Mr Courageous Salesman is so brave! So dedicated to his job! So professional! Even when his palm has been semi-blended... the blending show must still go on...

I do hope I can reach that standard of professionalism one day - if that day should ever come when I am vomiting blood on my deathbed, I will turn to KingKongJon (Level 100 boss) and say to him,"KingKongJon... please tell the Granado Espada community not to grief for me... Tell them that life in Cite De Reboldoeux must go on... Tell them to continue training levels to get to veteran! Then only will I die in peace..."

So anyway Salesgirl looks at the blood stained blender and then looks at him with this look in her eyes that says,"Are you crazy? There is no way in hell I'm going to operate on that demon-possessed monster blender!"

Nevertheless, she feels obliged to do something about the blood-stained blender. She carefully unplugs Monster Blender and cleans the blood off the the handles of the blender.

"Erm... you missed a spot..." I meekly tell her as I point to the bloody blades of Demon Blender.

She glares at me and I guiltily look down and shuffle my feet.

I had wanted to try to lighten up the gloomy, tense atmosphere by cracking a joke like,"Out damn spot! Out I say!" and mimic Lady Macbeth. But from her response, she probably wasn't the type who tried to humorize awful situations. And well... if she hadn't read Shakespeare's 'Macbeth', she prolly wouldn't appreciate my cold joke either. So I had better not go down that road man... She might set the Demon Blender on me or something.

"So do you want to buy the blender or what?" she snaps.

Sigh. Of course I will. I feel so overwhelmed with guilt about the incident. A good friend of mine always used to say that the God Of Drama favors me. For some strange reason, drama always seems to follow me wherever I go - sometimes good drama, sometimes bad drama. I think I have reached the phase of bad drama, though. I have used up all the good drama charges over the past couple of weeks. Mental note to self to lay low for the next few days and keep myself and everyone else associated with me far away from sharp objects and road-crossing incidents etc.

"Yeah... I will buy it," I say defeatedly.

Pause. Contemplative silence. I need to say something important to her.

I look sheepishly at her as I say...

".... Erm.. Could you get me a new blender?"

The One About The School Uniform Interview

So school uniform week has come to an end. This school uniform week has brought back fond memories of how I got my job at IAHGames.

Yes. I cosplayed in school uniform which landed me this job...

Nah! I'm just kidding! Kidding about the part that cosplaying in school uniform will land you a job at IAHGames, that is. But I'm not kidding that I wore a school-uniform type of outfit to my interview!

















Putting On My Game Face For The Interview... THE TIME IS NOW!

Prior to working at IAHGames, I had been working overseas in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City for nearly a year. I loved working there, don't get me wrong. Working and living there was like an adventure. Life was so unpredictable and the random people you meet there truly inspires you. I'll probably post some old entries from my previous blog about some of my classic experiences there. Nevertheless, I had explored enough and wanted to come back to Singapore to work. So when I was back in Singapore to settle some financial and legal matters for the company, I decided to 'try my luck' and see what kinds of jobs Singapore was offering at that time...

I had been browsing through all the various jobs online with a bored expression on my face. Clicking, clicking, clicking.... and then I saw it! A Gamemaster position at an online gaming company! Being an avid MMORPG fan and a competitive gamer (I always strived to be one of the top in the server for any MMORPG I played), it would be a dream come true to work for an online gaming company.

It was the first interview I went for and a very enjoyable one. I had a lovely time chatting with my interviewer - The Gamemaster Manager.

The thing is that, the next day, another position at the same company opened up. A Community Manager position. Which had greater challenges, greater creativity required, and writing - which was one of my passions in life. Now THAT was the dream job I really wanted cos it encompassed various of my interests. Event management, business strategies, public relations, the list goes on... So I emailed the Gamemaster Manager to thank him for the interview and asked him if it were possible if I was considered for the new position that had just opened up as well.

So I went for yet another interview with yet another person from a different department, my current Level 100 Boss - KingKongJon!

Being that obsessive, 'kiasu' (competitive) person that I am and considering that this was my dream job, I spent the whole day before my interview thinking about various business strategies for MMORPG and various other potential questions that an interviewer could possibly ask.

So during the interview, things went pretty smoothly. Towards the end of the interview, he asked me the top question that every single interviewer asks every single candidate,"So why should we hire you? What do you have that makes you stand out from the other candidates?"

Pause. Silence.

Aha! The question I had been waiting for. I had written a whole page in my notebook about my superduperawesome, winning qualities!

I began,"First of all, I am passionate about gaming! Especially MMORPG. It's my Archilles heel."

Pause. Silence.

I laughed,"Oh boy... I bet every other person you have interviewed has told you that exact same cliched thing huh."

He laughs heartily,"Yeah."

I grin,"Why not you let me know all the other cliched stuff that the other interviewees have told you so that I wouldn't bore you with same stuff over and over again?"

He grins back and says,"Ok. Hmm... other than passionate about gaming, they said they were hardworking...etc etc etc"

"Ok... So that's off my list. But you know I am all these things, right?" I say with a cheeky grin as I cross out those qualities he mentioned one by one off my notebook.

Then I go into my soliloquy of all my winning qualities.

From the important qualities:

"... and I'm pre-emptive! I don't just react to problems when they happen. I think about all the various potential problems that could crop up and think about the solutions in advance. Just like how I thought about all the potential questions you could ask me and I wrote down my answers in this notebook! Being pre-emptive is important in an online gaming company since changes are so dynamic and nothing is for certain..."

Blah blah blah...

To the lame qualities:

"... and I'm a female gamer! I could offer you the perspective of what females think. Female gamers are important. Cos when you have pretty girls playing your game, the guys will be drawn to play your game as well! So well... I could be that 'yin' so that you will have yin-yang balance in your team!"

He laughed heartily at my candid and (hopefully) entertaining answers to his questions.

Finally, it was shortlisted down to me and another female candidate. Both of us were called back to have a second round of interview with the Product Director.

After an agonizing wait through the weekend, I finally gave KingKongJon a call on Monday to ask about the results. I needed closure. Regardless of the answer. Which is when I learnt that the director who interviewed me in the second round of interviews was on sick leave for the next 2 days. KingKongJon promised to contact me once a decision had been made, whether or not the answer was 'yes' or 'no'.

Unexpectedly, on a lazy Thursday afternoon, when I was having an afternoon nap, I received a call from KingKongJon.

"Hello?" I sleepily answered.

"Hrin? You resting at home now is it?" he asks.

I laughed sheepishly,"Yeah. Enjoying my tai-tai (Lady of Leisure) life while I still can."

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you those days have come to an end," he says with a smile in his voice.

"Huh? Why?" I ask sadly, still halfway drifting out of lala-land.

"Cos you need to start work tomorrow! I have tons of things waiting for you to do!" he says chirpily.

Pause. Silence. Temporary confusion. Sudden realization.

"Oooo!!! Yeay yeay! I got the job! Thank you so much! I'm so happy!" my volcano of suspense finally erupts, lavas of delirious joy overflowing.

And so... here I am. :)

The One About Black

Yes, I am aware that there is a lot of angst and questions on the forum about certain issues. At this point in time, the only reply I can give to these can be found here. I wanted to reply earlier, but I felt it was unwise to do so in the mentally and emotionally drained state I was in over the last few days. I can't afford to be emokitteh in my replies. I want to, have to, need to be strong at all times, not for myself, but for the people around me.

On a lighter note, this is by far one of the most fun interviews that was ever conducted with me, by one of the GE fans, Reclusion Family, on his blog. For once, the words flowed out so easily like smooth honey...

Source: http://www.sipchil.com/

On the upcoming days we will be entering the “School Uniform Week” on Granado Espada that will be on September 27 2007, In this week players can have the opportunity to buy. School Uniforms costume for their characters. But why am I talking about the school uniforms? As we all know Black Clothing have been a sort of Uniforms to our dear Community Managers and some game marshalls if theres an offline event..

Last Post we have learned about the Philippines CM, Veya’s reason on why she always wear black. Now we will hear Mistress Hrin our Regional Community Manager about the issue.

Gee… I feel like I am doing a thesis on the color black. Thanks a lot Darrick, I’ll never look at black the same way again! :p - Hrin

1.) Do you love Color Black?

Oh yes of course! Just the other day, I was doing laundry and was slightly disturbed to see that all the clothes that I hanged up to dry in a row were ALL black, from external jackets, to blouses, skirts, pants and right down to inner wear… but let’s not go there. ;p

2.) We always saw you wear Black clothes on your pictures, can you tell us why you prefer this color?

Cos it brings out the color of my eyes? :p

Black is always a very classy, sophisticated color. Moreover, it’s easy to match all the various colors of my 10 pairs of boots and my various collections of bling bling accessories.

( These are part of Hrin’s Fashion COllection :p The Boots, The Necklaces and The Watches!)

It’s always been my favorite color.

3.) What is color Black for you?

Black holds a certain sense of mystery to it. It is an intriguing color. Hey! I mean, what’s not to love about black? People have even sang songs about black. Just of the top of my head… ‘Paint it black’, ‘Black Parade’, ‘Back to Black’, ‘Baaa Baaa Black Sheep’… and even bands with ‘Black’ in it. Like ‘Black Eyed Peas’, ‘Black Sabbath’…

Gee… I feel like I am doing a thesis on the color black. Thanks a lot Derrick, I’ll never look at black the same way again! :p

4.) Instead of Black? any other you like and why?

Red, Royal/Cobalt Blue, Dark Green, Hot Pink.

Because these are all very extreme colors. I guess the type of colors one likes is somewhat dependent on personality. For myself, I am someone who has pretty strong opinions and believes in living life passionately. I don’t believe in being a peripheral.

On a more shallow note, these are the colors that look best on me. So… hello favorite colors!

5.) Whats your favorite in-game Costume?

Definitely Torsche Dress for female elementalist. Elegant and classic, and its plunging (yet not over the top plunging) neckline adds a subtle sexiness to it.

6.) We all know that on the upcoming patch, Andre Janzur will throw away his White Man Image and he will now wear a black costume. the thing question is. what can you say about his new look?

Probably because he felt that Black is the new ‘white’?

( Doctor Torche )

Or perhaps the good influence of Dr Torsche has rubbed off onto him. If you notice, Dr Torsche has a superb taste and sense of fashion. His fashion line manages to be simple yet intricate all in the same breath. His focus has never been about jarring colors. He usually only uses about 2 colors in his clothes – classic black and gold. The cutting of the garments are usually fairly simple, but his focus is on the intricate embroidery of his garments. His clothes are perfect for that romantic candlelight dinner date at fancy restaurant or a classy ball.

On the other hand, Andre Janzur’s clothes REALLY scream out loud. With its jarring colors and huge accessories, you simply can’t not notice it. Which perfectly suits his personality – his need to stand out in a crowd, his need to be in the limelight at all times, his desire for recognition and attention.

Nevertheless, perhaps his sense of fashion is evolving and being the extremist, temperamental person that he is, he swung totally from ivory to ebony. He probably wanted an ‘extreme makeover’ to his creations and he believed that by switching his signature color to the extreme, it would somehow inspire him to greater heights.

Well, all these is purely my speculations, don’t quote me to him! He might… like blacklist me from his shop for all eternity! :p

7.) If Granado Espada was a color (not black ) what will it be? and why?

Golden. Cos GE is all about the bling bling, royalty and living in the fast lane. Or at least that is the first impression that one gets when you first arrive at the new continent of Granado Espada. But once you are here long enough, you get to see the other ‘darker’ sides of society like Port of Coimbra and Los Toldos.

Last but not the least….

if you’re given a chance to design an in-game costume for a RNPC or a Stock Character who will it be and why?

Female elementalist. Well, what can I say? I’m shallow. I think she looks cute in sheep horn hair.

9) please do describe your designed costume

Erm…. Erm… sorry man. I ain’t artistic in the least. I can only PK people with words and not peektures. My art teacher used to call me ‘Picasso’ back in high school. He didn’t mean it as a compliment. It was meant to be a still life drawing but it was drawn so abstractly that he, as well as the rest of my class, could not understand what on earth I had drawn out.

So well… the only thing I can say is it will have the following elements:

Black. Leather. Lace. Satin. Gloves.