The One About IAHGames Upcoming Games!

It's gonna be a busy yet exciting year ahead for us. Some of you may have heard already - we will be launching FIFA 2 Online in the Quarter 3 of 2008. We are all very much excited about it!

As mentioned in the newspaper articles below, it's likely to be a Free to Play game, but gamers can purchase extras such as jerseys and improvements - like helping Liverpool's Peter Crouch shoot better.

But before we even hit Quarter 3 this year, the next game that we will be launching in Quarter 2 is Dragonica! It's a casual type MMORPG that is screaming with cuteness overload. I am aware that there are a lot of anime fans within the GE community so this might just be your cup of tea every Thursdays from 0900-1700hrs. (Yes! During GE maintenance time :p )

Dragonica's game developer is Barunson Interactive and their Korean publisher is NCSoft. Here's the promotional video:

MMOsite has done up a lovely feature section on it over here. Here are some of my fave screenshots from MMOsite:



We are currently undergoing Alpha testing with a select group of gamers and in the midst of completing localization. Closed Beta Testing will be launching pretty soon! Meanwhile, Dragonica website and forum are scheduled to be up by next month. I'll let you guys know when we have officially launched the website. In the meantime, you can also visit CM Kaye's Dragonica blog for more information and updates!

The One About Granado Espada Special Edition 2008 Diary

Well, I've got some pretty exciting news! My boss had gone to Korea recently to visit IMC and Hanbitsoft and he brought back some goodies! Amidst the V2.6 posters, GE stickers etc... there were 2 items I fell hopelessly in love with...

One) Jabra- Granado Espada Bluetooth Earpiece

I swear it was love at first sight. Or maybe lust at first sight... considering how I went into psycho mode, pounced on it ruthlessly and declared that it was mine! MINE! MINEEEEEE!!! Well, you would probably do the same too once you've laid eyes on this baby!


Two) Granado Espada Special Edition 2008 Diary!

Yeah, I do realize that Quarter 1 of Year 2008 is already over... But this diary is absolutely gorgeous!


Not to mention it is timeless - the weekly schedule doesn't have any dates on it. Thus, you can input the dates for that week instead.


The world map is the first thing you see when you open up the diary:


The last few pages have snippet scenes from GE.

My Best Friend, Leticia's Portrait

Gotta love Novia...

Baihu (White Tiger)! Very likely the most powerful martial artiste of 'em all

Calyce, the first crossbow user!

And... we are going to have a contest to give out 10 of these diaries to the community! As for what this contest is, we are still discussing it, so feel free to give your suggestions.

April Fools is coming up and there will be an in-game event programmed by IMC that is going to patched in pretty soon. We've received the documents and are in the midst of translation and localization. And of course, Dark Lord Returns Part 3 is coming up soon. There's going to be role playing for this event - both on the forums and in-game, something that I am really looking for to!

Well, it's late now. Gotta sleep soon. Goodnight folks! :)

P/S It's pretty obvious by the end of this blog entry that I am a terrible photographer. Sorry about that folks. The real diary looks a lot better in real life... >.<

The One About Bad News, Good News and Congratulatory News

Well, I'm finally back to work after being down with one of the worst flu bugs ever, which left me bed-ridden for more than a week.

And well, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but... Bahamas Swamp which was scheduled to be released on 20 March 2008 is now postponed to 17 April 2008 instead.

Nyuuu! Say it isn't so!

IMC has a certain set of requirements before they allow Bahamas Swamp to be opened up. I'm not allowed to reveal the exact statistics but in summary, it is a % combination of Expert Characters and equipment that give a good rating. Their concern is that by opening up Bahamas when the majority of the community is not yet ready will further widen the gap between the hardcore users and the casual gamers.

So guys, getting to veteran level is still not enough! Aim for Expert! And at the same time, do strive for better equipment. We're discussing with IMC about expanding the Weapon, Armor and Craftsman Toolboxes to include more Elite 84 Armor Recipes. Meanwhile, do strive to get your Elite 92 weapons from the old man at Los Toldos. I'll write another blog entry about the Los Toldos recipes, but there is already a very good guide on the GE forums done by KENZAI / FungForever from Vivaldi (Thanks KENZAI! ) here about Los Toldos Elite 92 Recipes and how to get the various spirit stones to craft these weapons.

With Bahamas Swamp being postponed, the original release of pretty boy Gavin Jameson would have to be delayed as well since his questline involves the Bahamas Swamp. We haven't yet decided the release date, most likely 24 April 2008, Thursday.

With all the bad news out of the way, I do have some good news as well! We are currently discussing with IMC about preparations for the release of V2.6! V2.6 will likely see the release of bard-type RNPC Vincente Rio, crossbow-type RNPC Calyce and taekwondo-type RNPC Bai Hu (White Tiger). Their names haven't been decided on yet though - I will need to discuss with the localization manager regarding this. Once again, likely to be released on a monthly basis.

Some pretty interesting features about V2.6 include an in-game bulletin board (Think: in-game forum), new items like belts and earrings and a new chat tab which allows you to add up to 50 people in a chatroom. This would definitely spice up colony war faction alliances! We are hoping to launch V2.6 some time in late May-early June.

More exciting news is that IMC is currently working on V3.0, which is likely to be named "Third Civilization". From what I understand, there will also be a third currency, in addition to vis and gpoints. As for what this currency is for... let's wait and see. Meanwhile, the pet function is undergoing development stage and from what I hear (assuming nothing gets lost in translation), this pet function might even have harvesting abilities!

Alright, enough excitement for one day already. Before I end off, I would like to wish the very first sGE blogger, Ninemoons Family from Cervantes, for her blog's one year anniversary! Kudos to you, dear & faithful Ninemoons! I'm truly touched that your love for Granado Espada has withstood the test of time and overcome all trials. It takes a tremendous amount of perseverance to write as faithfully as you have done. (Not to mention, they were interesting and well-thought-out blog entries!) And it only serves to reflect your strength and character. I truly admire you for that, Lady Ninemoons! Thank you for your continued support through good and bad times and may you never lose that spirit and innate strength that far and few possess. :)

Love, Hrin.

The One About Airforce Three

Someone emailed me the other day asking me why was it that a Level 100 Elite La Ventisca Recipe will produce a Elite Level 92 La Ventisca and not an Elite 100 type armor.

I think there's a slight misconception here. Ok, you see, an Elite La Ventisca Recipe says this:


Thus, one might assume that it is an Elite Level 100, but this is not the case. Now let's look at the finished armor:


From the description, it shows that it is Level 92, yet exclusively for Veteran.

Thus, it has the stats of an Elite 92 armor, but can only be worn at Level 100 (Veteran). Hope this helps clear up the confusion - of whether such similar recipes are Elite 92 or Elite 100.

Since we are on the topic of elite 92s, from what I understand so far, Elite 92 armor recipes drop from normal mobs at Katovic Snowfield. I haven't explored enough to know if there are any other mini bosses that drop them. The old man over in Los Toldos (will be unlocked when you do the Baron Quests) sells only Elite 92 weapon recipes, and not Elite 92 armor recipes. Rafflesia and Chaos Boneless at the Secret Temple Super Fight do drop Elite 92 armor, but since they are raid bosses with a rare drop rate for these armor, thus, the hunt for Elite 92 armor recipes will still need to be at Katovic Snowfields.

"But Katovic Snowfield mobs are painful and I don't have good armor!"

Not to fear! There is always the Airforce Three way to go. Some of you probably already know this, but this little tip is more for the casual gamer who wishes to conquer Katovic region.

What is Airforce Three?

Airforce Three means to have 3 levitating characters like wizards, Emilia The Sage or M'Boma.

With levitating characters, most of the Katovic Mobs will be unable to target and hit you 80-90% of the time.

Hurrah for levitation! Time to start training them wizards! ;)