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.