Mistress Hrin's Granado Espada Blog

Hi guys!

A very hearty “Welcome Back!” goes out to our CBT (Closed Beta Testing) gamers who have returned to continue their adventuring in Granado Espada. For those who have just joined our extended Granado Espada family - It’s great to have you with us! May you fall deeply in love with Granado Espada, just like the rest of us. My name is Hrin and I am the Regional Community Manager for Granado Espada. You can read more about the community manager’s role, as well as the ‘GE Ownage’ culture that has been instilled within our close-knit community since CBT over here.

I know… POBT (Pre-Open Beta Testing) is a painful 5 days away. Yes, I do realize tensions are running high in the forums due to this agonizing wait. We are all in the same boat, people. But hey, let’s de-activate that PK (Player Kill) mode and keep things friendly on the forums in the meantime. After all, there ain’t no baron mode bonuses on the forums! ;)

1) Baron Server & Carebear Server: Cervantes & Carracci!

Speaking of baron mode, the choice is now yours. We will be opening up two servers, Cervantes and Carracci on 17^th May 2007, Thursday, 12pm (GMT+8) to the public. Cervantes server will be a PK server, or what I like to call the baron server, whereby baron mode is activated while Carracci server will be the non PK server, otherwise more commonly referred to in the forums as the Carebear server. What I am looking forward to in the Carebear server (Carracci) is that interaction with some of the more peace-loving citizens and I foresee Carracci becoming that Utopia of perhaps, the best player-organized events. On the other hand, Cervantes will have all that typical mama drama which results from PK-ing and spirit of competition. In any case, choose the world you want to reside in based on what you hope to accomplish in Granado Espada. Or better yet, create families in BOTH servers to get the best of both worlds.

2) No Patch Available From CBT Client To POBT Client

Unfortunately, due to the extremely huge content differences from the V1.8.23 to the V2.0 game client, we have been informed by the game developers that patching will not be possible as it might result in instabilities. The mirrors for downloading the POBT client can be found here while torrent users can find the POBT client here. Many thanks to the GE fans who have set these torrent links up!

3) POBT Phase To Officially Begin On 17^th May 2007, Thursday, 1200 (GMT+8)

Until that glorious day of 17^th May 2007, Thursday, 1200 (GMT+8), you will NOT be able to log into the servers. This applies to the general public. For the winners of the POBT 2-day advance pass, you will be receiving an activation code in an email within the next 2 days. Instructions on how to activate your account will be included in that email. Once we have sent out the emails, we will post an official announcement on the website and in the forums.

4) "Hear, Hear" Rumors FAQ

Too many duplicate threads on the forums with too many phantom speculations. Here is an FAQ to banish those 'phantom menaces':

FAQ1: Hrin! I heard there will be IP bans! No wai! Say it isn’t so!

Ans: It isn’t so.

FAQ2: Hrin! Will GE be F2P/P2P? Why can’t you tell me?

Ans: Because we are all about mystery and suspense? On a more serious note, we are still fine-tuning the details of our business model. Once we have done so, we PROMISE we will announce it on the website and on the forums. In the meantime, we have been reading the forums and hearing what you guys have been saying and believe me, we have been taking every one of those concerns into arriving at our decision.

FAQ3: Hrin! Will the Granado Espada game client be made available in CD/DVD format?

Ans: From what I understand from our distributors, Malaysia and Singapore will be releasing DVD format game clients while Philippines will be releasing CD format game clients. These DVD/CD clients will be made available after the launch of POBT. As for the exact dates, we will post up an announcement when they are out in stores.

5) Colony War Schedules

Since this is a testing phase, we are also testing out the best times of the week as well as the frequency per week to hold our colony wars. The final decision will be based on the results of our findings during this phase. Colony wars will be made available in BOTH Cervantes and Carracci servers. Here is the tentative schedule, up to mid July:

First Colony War: 8 June 2007, Friday, 2000hrs (GMT+8)
Second Colony War: 17 June 2007, Sunday, 2000hrs (GMT+8)
Third Colony War: 23 June 2007, Saturday, 2000hrs (GMT+8)
Fourth Colony War: 27 June 2007, Wednesday, 2000hrs (GMT+8)
Fifth Colony War: 1 July 2007, Sunday, 1400hrs (GMT+8)
Sixth Colony War: 7 July 2007, Saturday, 1400hrs (GMT+8)

So, guys, train hard and mark your faction name on the world map! ;)