The One About Selva's Voiceover

It's been a ghost town at the office and in Shenton Way (business district) these few days with just about everyone clearing their leave for the festive season.

Personally, I find that this is the best period to come to work. For once, there are minimal disruptions as I am trying to concentrate to finish up my work.

No more screams of "Hrin!! Sign this please!"

or... "Hrin! Can we have a meeting to discuss XXX matter now?"

or... "Hrin! Urgent urgent! Quick help resolve this!"

...You get the picture.

Gosh I even managed to squeeze in time to blog! Like right now! I'll be off to Taiwan for the New Year countdown tomorrow till the following week, so this will be my last blog entry for the year. Happy New Year in advance everyone!

Anyway, not to digress any further, re-visiting one of my previous blog entries about the voiceovers for the 3 new RNPCs in V3.0 The Zeia, the final voiceovers are finally in! But waaaay before that was finalized, Runner had originally sent me a voiceover audition done by Carly (the jazz singer who did Calyce voiceover) for Ania and Selva. This audition was done without any script or any knowledge of the characters' backgrounds. It was merely based on perceptions of Selva and Ania's names and looks:



After listening to it, I told Runner,"I think Ania is a very good fit for Carly. But Selva is all wrong. Can we find someone else for Selva instead?"

"I do have a few other candidates in mind, but it's going to cost you a lot more though," he replied.

"That's fine. It's just that Selva is a one of the most highly anticipated RNPCs and she really needs to have a good voiceover," I insisted. (Oh alright, I had my own personal agenda too, since Selva was my all-time-favorite RNPC and I do have an incredibly soft spot for her.)

A week later.

Runner tells me,"Hey I'm going to go with Carly for Selva's voiceover. You have to trust me. She re-did it and this time it is much better."

"NYUUUUUUU!!!! But she's so Ania, how can she be a Selva?" I sulked.

"This time, I asked her to do one of Anne Rice's vampires. You know? Like cold and detached and all," he explained.

"You mean like Akasha? Queen of the Damned? Bit Akasha is so... so... ANIA!!! Not Selva!" I wailed in despair.

"No, no not like Akasha, more like... you know? Generic vampires?"

"You mean like Lestat?"

"Well something like that, but not really either..."

"Then what talking you?! Let me hear it!" I demanded. NPNT. No (audition) Piece, No talk.

"I didn't record it down. We did it over the phone. But hey! Trust me! You will like it, I promise you!" he persists.

I sulked and growled. But at that time, I was simply too overwhelmingly busy preparing for the launch of Giovanni and the launch of V3.0 The Zeia - there were some things I needed to let go off for the greater good of the bigger picture. And this was one of them.

Another week later.

Runner comes to me with some mp3 files,"Here you are. Listen to it and tell me what you think."

A large part of me didn't really want to listen to it, since I didn't want to risk being disappointed. But ah well... just get the disappointment over and done with.

Much to my surprise, it actually turned out not too bad!



Either that, or maybe I was expecting the absolute worst and it didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would be. I'm too personally involved with Selva, so it's hard for me to make a rational judgement.

More importantly, what do you think of Selva's voiceover?

The One About Nar and Ania's Voiceovers

Good news! We just finished with script translation for V3.0 The Zeia and we're all good to go with implementation of V3.0 into the test server. We have one last patch arriving next week, tentatively on 8 Jan'09, which unleashes the Reboldoeux Culverts (Sewers) and Sword Mania Event.

Reboldoeux Culverts will later be the doorway to the hidden civilization, otherwise known as The Zeia. So this last content release couldn't be any more appropriate as a conclusion to V2.9 Secrets of the Underground expansion. Getting into the Zeia won't be all too easy either. Like Chaos Requiem, there will be a certain obstacle to getting into that map. Only the Chancellor will be able to activate that quest to commence. This time round, however, the obstacle won't be as simple as a big ass boss to fight.

Since Zeia is ruled by a woman, and a woman's best friends are jewels... that's a hint to what the requirements may be for entering Zeia.

With the Zeia, comes 2 new Zeian RNPCs, Nar and Ania. Both of them are Royal Guards of the Queen Hamann. An interesting point to note is that Emilia's father, Dr Lorenzo was last seen in The Zeia before his mysterious disappearance and he was somehow involved in a huge explosion many years ago which had concealed Zeia from the rest of the world. Nar has some secret dark past, which you will slowly uncover as you do his quest. Ania, on the other hand, is embittered due to her family being killed in the explosion that happened years ago.

Enjoy a preview of their voiceovers!

Ania Voiceovers

Nar Voiceovers

The One About Granado Espada Red Packets!

If you haven't already heard about the Red Affair Blood Donation Drive happening this weekend at red dot design museum, check out the article here:

Even if blood donation scares you, or you're still sitting on the fence as to whether or not you wanna donate, no worries. Just come down as a 'spectator' or rather, a supporter to your fellow GE mates! There will be lots of side events happening that day - like MAAD bazaar and Settlers Cafe will be setting up some board-gaming booths as well. Supporters will receive a Rabbit Grindstone and GE red packets as a token of appreciation:

Grind your rabbit into powder!

For those out of Singapore, no worries, I will be giving your local distributors some of these rabbit grindstone codes to be used at local events and we'll probably use some during in-game /forum / website events as well.

And here's a sneak peek at the red packets that will be fresh from the printers this Friday, 2 Jan'09. Let's hope there aren't any delays from the printer's side or else... *gulp*...



Here's my personal favorite!

For donors, you heroes deserve a little something extra! A White Cristatus and an extra pack of GE red packets for you!

It tickles! But in a glam way...

We've also posted up the event in the IAHGames Facebook Fan Page. So do RSVP over here so that we have a rough estimate of how many people will be attending that day. And of course do blog/Facebook/Friendster about this event and spread the news to your friends and family to support this event!

The One Where Hrin Becomes a Grandma!

I generally try to avoid blogging about personal stuff since it may bore some of you, but I'm just too overwhelmed with delight that I can't help myself! I just HAVE to tell the world!

Yesterday, on 20th December 2008, my dog, Lenneth, gave birth to 6 adorable lil' puppies. It was fortunate that she delivered them on a Saturday night when most of us were around.

Many thanks to my brother Shawn, [GM] Lorenza and [GM] Eulalie for their midwife assistance and phone consulation during the miracle of birth act by Lenny.

No thanks to myself who was freaking out the entire time.

It went something like that:

Bro: *holding 3 pups* Hrin! Quick, get over here with the scissors and cut the umbilical cord now!!"

Me: *visibly pale* ....where? what does it look like? which one is it!?!? THIS?! IS THIS IT???

Lorenza: *calmly takes scissors from my trembling hands* *snip* *snip* *snip*

Me: *whimper* ...i need to sit down...

In the words of [GM] Lorenza last night...

"Hrin, why are you panting so hard and sweating so much!? You're not the one giving birth!?!"

Thanks to the power of technology, my brother documented parts of it down. It's not a pretty sight though, so if you're reading this before lunch, it would be best not to play the video right now...

The One About White Christmas

It's that time of the year again! Christmas is in the air and guess what music is going to play in the barracks after next patch?

Team G.E got together last night to do a quick recording of 'White Christmas'.

Meepoktah started the ball rolling with "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, just like the ones I used to know..."

My lines were (yeay!) my favorite lines in the song,"...Where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow..."

Unfortunately, the only M.I.A person from the team was Kaioujin who was on leave.

Several out-of-tune keys later, recording was done and voila! I compiled the mp3 into a video format which showcased some of the more close-to-the-heart photo memories, like our second home (office) and the community service outings to Katong Special School. Enjoy!



Well, it's pretty obvious we ain't professional singers. But, hey, on the bright side, at least the music is only parked at the barracks. Can you imagine having to listen to us singing and concentrate on enhancement and enchantment at the same time?

Oh, by the way, there's a 'Be a GE Fan' page on Facebook that extends to Granado Espada gamers worldwide, from all the different versions of GE. Join here!

The One About Christmas Specials~

Just a quick sneak peek about what's up and coming for Christmas...


We're also going to have special in-game music for Christmas, but maybe this time, Team GE will be singing Christmas carols instead. :p

There's also going to be a blood donation awareness project coming up in the first week of Jan'09, alongside Fantazzztic Ads Awards 2009 (finally!).

Over at the V3.0 frontier, we've have more or less nailed down the voice actors for all the other characters except for my precioussss Selva. It's hard to find the perfect voice for her, since perfection doesn't exist. And so the search for perfection continues...

The One About Projects in the Pipeline

Being in the online gaming industry is like being on a bullet train that never stops. V2.9 has just launched, and we are already starting preparations for V3.0 Third Civilization. The tentative launch date is late January'09. We are still pretty far away though, so it's tough to confirm it at this time.

We are also planning to launch a 3rd PK world (server) this December, just before Christmas. As for the name of the new world... well, you guys decide! I'll be working with [GM] Lorenza to get the contest up and running later on this afternoon.

IMC spoke with us recently, to modify the game content release schedule, such that a new content patch will be released every fortnight, instead of the current schedule of weekly patches. So there's gonna be some changes in the schedule for game content releases.

I received some enquiries about the Fantazzztic Ads Awards event which was scheduled to launch in Dec'08. Well... I've already got the plan ready but... there may be delays in this project till Jan/Feb next year due to sponsors being tied up in other projects for the year end etc. Fifa Online 2 OBT is coming up soon on 28 Nov 2008, Fri, so you haven't signed up for it yet, do so over here!!!

The One About The V2.9 Website Teasers

If you hadn't already noticed, the GE website has been closed down these 3 days for 'hatching purposes'. These are teasers for the launch of V2.9 'Secrets of The Underground' expansion by which the new major feature of pets has been added.

If you missed out Day 1 of the teaser, here it is:

When you click on the egg...

And here's today's teaser...
And when you click on the egg this time...

Unfortunately, the beauty of the 'website closed for hatching' seems lost on some people. Too subtle for them, perhaps? :_(

The One About V2.9 Poster & DVD Sleeves

Sneak preview of V2.9 Poster and DVD sleeves!


Meanwhile, I'm currently uploading the V2.9 client to various mirror sites. Will continue to update this list as we go along. If you happen to have any other mirror sites to contribute, leave a comment!

Download sites for V2.9

The One About The Program Lineup For October~November'08

Here's a sneak preview of what's up and coming after the launch of V2.9 next Thursday, 23 October 2008! Once again, dates and event mechanics are tentative.

GAME CONTENT RELEASE SCHEDULE

COMMUNITY EVENTS

16 October: [In-Game Event] Novia Execution - Bach & Rembrandt

The Queen wishes to pay a social visit to the new worlds, Bach and Rembrandt.However, due to time constraints, The Queen can only visit one of these worlds! Since her daughter has been demanding for the Ice Wizard Tower to become her new ice-skating rink, The Queen has decided the perfect way for the 2 worlds to prove their worth: The 2 servers are to compete each other against time in killing Novia! The world who first executes Novia and posts a screenshot onto the forums first will get to see The Queen!

The date and time of Queen’s visit has yet to be fixed, it all dependent on the residents of Bach and Rembrandt. So, what are you waiting for? Do the necessity to welcome The Queen of Granado Espada, Bach and Rembrandt!

18 October: [In-Game Event] Newbie Faction Formation

This will be the official formation date of the Newbie Faction for new players joining Granado Espada. Our objectives are to lend a helping hand to these players, such as providing them with useful tips and tricks, introduction of lower level game mechanics/features to them, marking of milestones for them and allowing them networking and socializing opportunities with other low level players. There will also be weekly newbie tours every weekend, where we will bring players to low level raid maps and dungeons.

31 October: [In-Game Event] Trick or Treat?

LATEST UPDATE: Event cancelled due to bugged Event Zone on LIVE server.

It’s Halloween again and all kinds of trivia will be asked about Halloween. The person who gets the correct answers will be asked by the GM whether he/she wants a trick or treat. Tricks would generate monster spawns while treats would generate mini prizes to be won. Be sure not to become greedy and keep asking for treats! Or consequences may be dire…

1 November: [Forum Event] Quest Master

Always wanted to see your story become a reality? Pen down your story and WE will create an in-game event for the whole community revolving around your story. The community will submit their stories and we will select one of these stories and craft an in-game mechanics around it.

8 November: [In-Game Event] Newbie Tour Kickoff

This is the kickoff date of the first Newbie Tour. This Newbie Tour will bring them through low level quests, Super Fights and Raid Maps. The Newbie Tour series will take place on a weekly basis, with the assistance of the Community Crew and Player Moderators.

1-30 November: [In-Game Event] War of Factions III

Who will dominate the new worlds of Bach and Rembrandt? The stakes just grew higher in November with the comeback of War of Factions. Certain colonies in the world map will yield a special package of prizes for the factions who conquer it each week. Points will be allocated to these factions and the top 2 (or maybe 5?) factions who get the most number of points will have a final PvP showdown.

14 November: [In-Game Event] Pets Day

Calling all pet owners! Bring your pets down to the Event Zone for a day of bonding and PvP (Pet VS Pet). A series of mini events involving pets and their owners will be held, such as pet races and loot picking competitions will be held.

28 November: [In-Game Event] The Underground Trivia Quiz

How much do you know about what’s underneath in The Underground? We’ll be quizzing you on the secrets of the culverts and beyond.

The One About The Werewolf & Ogre Series

Some great news! The world migration is ahead of schedule at this point in time and if it continues this way, we may be able to open the servers slightly earlier!

Anyway, I was looking through the V2.9 script and I truly LMAO-ed when I saw the flavored text for the Ogre and Werewolf series of weapons. Ogres and werewolves are part of the Secrets of the Underground, located in the culverts (sewers) beneath Cite De Reboldoeux. This map is tentatively scheduled to be released in another 1.5 months time, mid-December.

Oh, and have I mentioned that the Ogre & Werewolf series has an AR of 30? Ho hum.

The One About The Talking Sheep

I think I just met the love of my life.

Meet my new best friend, The Talking Sheep...

"I'm a talking sheep. Is this the first time you've encountered a talking sheep like me?"

Well... at least that's what you guys will see if you attempt to talk to him.

Me and the other [GM]s, however, have a different level of conversation with this harmless looking sheep...

If you haven't figured it out by now, this is an Event Zone. How it works is that the [GM]s will create an 'Event Zone Warp Gate' that allows players to port into the Event Zone Map.

Other than the typical boss summon type events, this Event Zone has some pretty cool events like Quiz Mode (True/False) and treasure chest summons. The event type that I am highly anticipating to organizing together with the [GM]s is something called 'Summon Race Track', where a race track will appear and races can be set for 1, 2 or 3 rounds.

The race track can even be set to Easy, Medium or Difficult. Difficult races include obstacles like 'Knockback' that will occur to all racers every few seconds!

Previously, it had extremely difficult conducting events since there were no such automated GM tools that enabled smooth implementation of events. Everything had been done manually and even so, IMC had placed a strict ban upon us over the past few months in regard to summoning high level raid bosses since they felt that it would cause game imbalance. But with this awesome new feature, there really is a lot to look forward to in V2.9! :D

I just finished a meeting with the [GM]s this morning to put together the in-game event calendar for the next 3 months, so stay tuned for more details! Feel free to leave comments to this entry if you have some awesome ideas in regard to in-game events.

The One About World Migration & V2.9 Updates

Needless to say, if I haven't blogged for a while, it usually means I am drowning in so much work that I can barely come up to the surface to breathe, or rather blog... Which is such a pity, really. Cos the repressed writer in me has so much inspired blog material in my head lately that I wish could materialize on this virtual canvas.

Anyway, some quick updates. There might be some slight delays in world migration. Due to a lot of feedback from the community and from partners that they would like an additional amount of time to arrange their items and to inform their inactive friends, there is a high chance we will be postponing the world migration till the following week on Monday, 13 October 2008 instead. At the same time, we are also trying to work out some additional mechanics with IMC in regard to some other issues mentioned in the forum. When things are more firmed up, the announcements will be posted up. Right now, we're trying to confirm everything by tomorrow to announce it.

And if this is the case, then V2.9 will likely to be delayed as well till Thursday, 23 October 2008. On the bright side, we have just installed V2.9 on our test server this morning... but arghhh! There are some localization integration issues so oh well... yet more QA testing to be done, more bugs to fix and more tasks to pick up...

Dang I want a real life Grabbermon...

Presenting Mama & Baby Grabbermons 'Live' from V2.9 Test Servers

The One About V2.9

Work has been rather overwhelming lately. So why am I here blogging when I really should be clearing the tons of work piled up and awaiting my attention?

That's precisely the reason. Blogging = Destress.

It's like a filtration process whereby you clear your mind of all random thoughts so that you have more mental space for concentration & planning for the arduous tasks ahead, if that makes sense to you at all.

Well, anyway, I'm in the midst of preparing for V2.9. Just spoke with IMC and sent them the final version of voiceovers, the winning loading screens and maps. And since I have that folder opened, I might as well post up a few random mini maps...

Here's Secret Tower, a new raid map...


Not sure if I have mentioned this before, there are gonna be 2 new RNPCs, Claire and Calyce. So this mini map is likely to be where Calyce is situated. Or maybe an instance of one of her quests, perhaps?
IMC has reverted that the client for the test server is likely to be ready some time next week. Hopefully integration goes well.

More on random thoughts. Saw some photos taken at the IAHGames iCafe during L'oreal Ladies Day last Tuesday...

Well, it's Tuesday again today - So grab a gal pal and head on down for the free sure-win lucky draw.

Oh yah! I have more good news! I was discussing some other sponsorship matters with Toshiba recently and I mentioned to them about the Ladies Tuesday at the iCafe... and sweet! They are providing a 2 GB Papu-Chan MP3 player for the grand prize lucky draw. In light of this, we are likely to extend this event till October and come up with some other form of mechanics to give away sweet lil' Papu Chan!

The Adorable lil' Papu-Chan

Source: http://www.rueducommerce.fr/sonnum/images/produits/info/screenshots/pa-chan.jpg

The One About The Hidden Room

The Office of Pioneering Support.

The place where every single pioneer in Granado Espada has set foot in. But... did you ever think about what lies beyond the walls of this virtual office?

More specifically... this wall:

Let's take a step back and look at it from a different angle...

The Dressing Room!

Yup, that's right. Your virtual character was born here.

Doncha just wanna step into that spotlight?

Elementalist's shoe closet!

The Dressing Screen... where all the action happens!

One can only wonder... what other hidden rooms does Granado Espada have?

The One About The Granado Espada-Razer Contest

I was absolutely thrilled when I was assigned recently to work together with Razer in developing a contest for the Granado Espada community. After all, I'm a huge fan of the Razer mouse series. My boss, KKJ, had given me my very first Razer Diamondback mouse as a present. Initially, I found it too sensitive, but eventually after I got used to it... man! I just can't look or use any other mouse in the same way again. Eventually, I had to change all my PCs' mice to Razer types and even carry a spare Razer mouse along with my laptop wherever I go or travel.

Unfortunately, due to time constraints of the survey closure, we could only use a Lucky Draw type of mechanics. If Razer had been sponsoring us Razer Mouse products instead, I would have liked to have a "V2.9 Pet Naming Contest" which allowed the community to propose a new name for Grabbermon. And maybe the caption would be something like "Name your pet and win a Razer pet... mouse."

In any case, do take part in the survey over here (Survey Access Code: rgameriah ) and stand a chance to win their just-as-awesome Razer Piranha™ Gaming Communicator Headsets!

* * *
28 August 2008 - 7 September 2008: Granado Espada - Razer Lucky Draw

Great news, pioneers!

In celebration of Soldiers Week, Granado Espada has partnered Razer to bring you even more prizes!

Simply login and complete the Razer survey by 7 September 2008, Sunday, over here using the following Survey Access Code: rgameriah and stand to win the following Razer and Granado Espada prizes:

• 3 Razer Piranha™ Gaming Communicator Headsets
• 5 winners of 50 Adelina Booty Searches each (http://ge.iahgames.com/abs/)
• 5 winners of “Item of the Month” each
• 1 Limited Edition Granado Espada Diary (Only 20 available in the region!)
• 1 Granado Limited Signature Edition Box (Only 9,999 worldwide!)

IMPORTANT: Winners will be contacted via mobile / phone number. Kindly updated your profile in your IAHGames Passport Account.

Discuss this here.

How do I update my profile?

1. Go to http://passport.iahgames.com and login to your account

2. After logging in, click on Personal Information under Account

3. Fill in your profile and click on Update when you’re done

About Razer Piranha™

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Now go forth and conquer.

True-to-life audio quality with superior clarity and bass.
An audio experience with crystal clear highs and visceral bass that will satisfy the needs of the most demanding gamer.

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The fully adjustable on-ear headphones and microphone ensure perfect fit and comfort for hours of use.