Community Service Event (Part I): From Level Zero To Level Hero

27^th March 2007.

The day that 10 heroes warped out of the comfort zone of Granado Espada into real life to fulfill the real life quest to “Babysit the children!” at Katong Special School.

The starting waypoint was at Bedok Macdonalds where I would meet the heroes to brief them on their mission.

So once everyone had gathered, we began with a round of introductions.

“Hey guys, intro please! Please tell all of us your family name in Granado Espada and your real name,” I said to them.

One of the guys started the ball rolling, ”Hello everyone! My real name is Robin and my family name in GE is… Hrin007.”

Everyone burst out laughing. I grinned in amusement. Oh wow… I have finally met my ‘Casino Royale’ edition!

The rest of the heroes started introducing themselves one by one, after which I gave them a ‘Tutorial Walkthrough’ about some guidelines on how to look after the kids. When we arrived at Katong Special School, the teacher in charge, Mrs Wong split us up into various squads and assigned us to the different classes. The various squads warped to various locations: Changi Airport, Simei Eastpoint and Bedok Interchange.

Unfortunately in real life, unlike the cool mechanism of being able to warp from location to location in GE with the simple click of a mouse, we had to do it the old-school way of taking a bus. Each of us took charge of 2 kids as we walked over to the bus stop. One of the guidelines on road safety was ensuring that the kids looked left and right twice before crossing the road.

Over at Changi Airport, my squad which consisted of Roy, Robin and Zhiguang had the privilege of showing the kids to the viewing gallery, where aeroplanes were parked.

One of the themes of the outing was to talk about occupations. As we walked around the airport and caught sight of the various people who were in their uniforms, we explained to the kids what they did.

“This guy in the white uniform is the one who ‘drives’ the aeroplane.”

“Oh and the pretty lady over there is called an air stewardess. She serves you food on the aeroplane. Whenever you need anything like a blanket or a drink, you can ask her and she will bring it to you.”

“You mean like my maid?” one of the wide-eyed kids asks.

…GG. I never looked at it that way. Kids have such a beautiful way of simplifying things and put them in perspective.

“Erm… yeah… but a really pretty maid that flies around!” I reply brightly.

Lesson Of The Day: Air Stewardess = Levitating Maid

Part 2 to be continued…

Leave your comments here.

Hrin Gets Her Hands On The V2.0 Client!

Just like all of you GE fans, I’ve been suffering from GE withdrawals symptoms ever since CBT ended. My nights have been so cold and lonely without GE… until TODAY!

Woot! I just got my hands on GE’s V2.0 client! I was excitedly going through the tutorial and realized how much has changed in V2.0. Remember V1.8.23 during CBT when all of us start out on the immigration ship?

Well… this doesn’t change in V2.0. After all, we are all explorers from the Old World of Vespanola, here to explore the new continent known as Granado Espada. However, what is different in V2.0 is that your ship actually reaches Granado Espada! The second part of the tutorial has you arriving at the Port of Coimbra.

The green arrows guide you up the stairs to meet this dude:

Any guesses who he might be?

Leave your comments here!

Save ‘The Last Dance’ For Me!

Some of the GE players organized 'The Last Dance' event on 18 March 2007, Sunday night as a closure to CBT. It was a really entertaining dance competition held at the City Of Auch stage, which cleverly made use of hot keying and quick spamming of various poses in GE.

I was truly impressed at the creativity of these dance contestants as each team brought to the table a totally different genre of dance. There were the classical ballet types, the typical boy band types and even some hawt and sexy ‘Pussycat Dolls’ numbers! Woot! Gee… if I ever form a GE girl band, it will be made up of 'Catherine The Summoner' characters and I am so going to call it ‘CatHrin Dolls’. ROFL! ;)

Amidst the wolf whistles and wild cheers from the audience who came by to witness the event, one of the players managed to capture part of the Dance Competition on video. Enjoy!



So what do you guys think? ;)

The One Where Hrin Role Plays Mum

I know, I know... it does seem rather daunting and confusing as to what this whole ‘Babysit the children!’ quest is about. So I’ve written up on my past experience there so that you have a rough idea about what this is all about.

A good friend of mine is a teacher at Katong Special School (for kids with special needs) and when she asked if I was free to help out, I was more than happy to. Basically, it was an outing to Bedok Interchange to teach the kids how to do the usual, mundane stuff that we take for granted - things like taking a bus, buying a fast-food meal, borrowing library books. Gee I'll never look at mundane everyday events the same way again man.

Anyway, the game plan was simple:

1)Each kid to get a partner
2)Teacher or volunteer to accompany each team
3)Take bus 32
4)Go to Bedok interchange
5)Buy a meal at Burger King
6)Go to the library
















"Hrin, I will assign Sarah and Sofiya to you ok?" Miss Tina, the form teacher says to me.

"Oh ok," I say as I look around for the two kids. My eyes light up the minute I see them. Two adorable little girls. I grin at them as they look curiously at me.

"Hi Sofiya and Sarah! Today you'll be my two little 'Hrin Juniors' ok?" I say to them sweetly. They look at me blankly, smiling back in that angelic, cutesy way that just makes me want to squeeeeeeze them so hard.
















So anyway, we teach them how to cross roads safely, use the EZ-Link card to take Bus 32 and then we go to Burger King to have lunch.
















And then... off to the library!
















"Hrin, later at the library, bring the girls to get some girly books and read it to them," Tina tells me.

I stare at her blankly. Girly books? I was considering introducing them to the world of Granado Espada. Shucks. Guess I need to shelf my plans temporarily until OBT. Girly books girly books... let me see... Oooo!! I see Vogue and Cleo magazines. Girls read that kind of stuff right? But the girls don't seem interested as I point excitedly to the magazines that I am dying to flip through myself. Sarah picks up a book entitled something like 'I am Velvety Rabbit.'

So I sit my two lovelies on my lap and start reading a story about how Velvety rabbit had some misadventures. Gosh… I have more exciting stories to tell about my GE characters. Nevertheless, the story seems exciting enough for the two girls. And this outing is about their enjoyment. Not mine.

The kids are rather well-behaved today and Tina rewards them by bringing them for ice-cream at Ronald Macdonald's Bedok Princess Villa.
















I burst out laughing when I caught sight of Sarah. Her mouth and cheeks were full of ice-cream! I smiled as I endearingly wiped all the ice-cream off her face.
















The day drew to an end as we walked over to the 32 bus stand at Bedok interchange. So we take the bus together and Tina takes some pictures of me and the girls.
















As the girls and I were posing for the camera and laughing together, something that Tina had said to me earlier came to mind. She had told me that some of these kids were thoroughly neglected or abandoned by their parents who were busy with their own lives. I felt a stab of pain and grief in my heart as I held these girls in my arms. And a new sense of determination grew in my heart.

It will be my lifelong quest to champion the weak and defend the innocent. After all, I am Hrin. Hear me rawr! ;)

Hrin's Updates: Let's Get This Party Started!

Hellooo GE fans!

1. CBT Finale Party: Let’s Get This Party Started!

Gosh! I can’t express how excited I feel about this upcoming CBT finale party! I just can’t wait to finally meet you guys in real life! The face behind the GE character so to speak. So anyway, the CBT Finale parties will be held across the region in Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore as mentioned here.

There will also be an official CBT in-game event – Stupendous Race, which will be held on that same day, 17 March at 1530 (GMT+8). Read here for more details!

Being Singaporean and all, I will obviously be down at the Singapore party. What to expect at the Singapore party? Goodie bag giveaways! Lucky draws! I managed to get a sneak peek at the luck draw rewards and they include lots of valuable prizes (such as printers, Bluetooth sets etc), including certain *cough* ‘golden tickets’ into a certain exclusive preview for a certain POBT *cough*. Gee I really should be more subtle when it comes to dropping hints about stuff I ain’t allowed to reveal.

The best part is we can even take RL (Real Life) screenshots together, a term otherwise known as ‘photographs’ in the real world, striking all kinds of Poses…. And no! I will absolutely not do the ‘Head Thrusting’ pose! (Or basically any other poses that will attempt to make me look unglam which will lead to evil GE players auctioning off my unglam photos on the forums you know who you are ;p)

2. CBT Player-Organized Events: 18 March, 2007, 7pm (GMT+8)

To mark the end of CBT, some of the GE players have organized an in-game event called ‘The Last Dance’. It will be the clubbing event of the (CBT) year with a dance competition as well. They will also be video recording the event live! So come down and dance for me baby! ;)

For the non-clubbing gamers, there will be a summoning monsters event following that major in-game clubbing event. Expect to see more than 400 monsters ranging from level 1-100 being spawned. And hey, it is the last night before CBT ends… so well, knock yourselves out at that event by spawning your own mobs as well! Let’s have a no-holds barred, wild night together! Ok… that sounded so wrong on so many levels… ;p

3. More ‘Golden Tickets’ To Exclusive Preview Of POBT

CBT is approaching its final countdown on 19^th March 2007, 12pm (GMT+8). I’ve been hearing a lot of woes and cries of “What are we going to do during this time without GE?!”

Don’t fret people! There’ll be tons of activities going on during these 2 months both in real life (for Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore) as well as other ongoing online contests during this period. Want to try to win that elusive ‘golden ticket’ into the Exclusive 2-Day Preview to POBT? More contests will be coming your way so do constantly check back at this website, even after CBT ends ya?

A Day In The Life Of Hrin’s Inbox: The Sweetest Thing

Indeed. The tides have turned! After that last Dettol-Inducing ‘Lost In Translation’ email, here’s the sweetest email I received that plastered a moronic grin on my face all day…

Perhaps Hrin shall appear in my dreams tonight.
And my eyes would behold a most wondrous sight
A maiden fair, and full of grace
And a wit to match a beautiful face.

Her words of kindness ring soft through the wind
Emanating this frail heart from within
Could this be a pure soulmate true?
Igniting a flame that I never knew

The days crawl by so painfully slow
Oh please, I pray, for a sooner Tomorrow
For Time to converge in the blink of an eye
To narrow the gap between her and I

Till then I'll sit in silent reflection
Thinking of this in fond endearment
And if Fate decrees that our worlds collide
Then finally, Hrin, I shall be by your side.

Fare thee well, sweet Hrin of Vespanola, thought of my days and hope of my nights…

Well, well, well… Helloooo stranger. Where have you been all my GE life? ;)

Hrin's Updates: CBT Finale LAN Party – 17th March 2007

Hi guys!

More updates in today’s news.

1) GE Timeline

Just to let you guys know, there has been a shift in the timeline of our GE schedule. Tentatively, here is the summarized version of the new schedule:

19^th March 2007: End of Closed Beta Testing (CBT), CBT accounts and all characters will be wiped.

Late March/April 2007: Registration for Pre-Open Beta Testing (POBT) begins at this website.

2 days before POBT: Exclusive preview for contest winners and special guests, Characters will NOT be wiped.

Late May 2007: Pre-Open Beta Testing (POBT), Open to everyone, Characters will NOT be wiped.

June/July 2007: Open Beta Testing (OBT), Open to everyone, Characters will NOT be wiped.

2) V2.0 Client Download For POBT

We have plans to have BOTH a new client for V2.0 for new gamers to download as well as a 500+MB patch for the current 1.8.23 version. Tentatively, this patch will be split up into a few parts for download

3) Hrin’s ‘Industrial Attachment’ Plans

The CBT period has been an absolutely divine time for me. I’ve really enjoyed my time with you guys so far: from squadding with some of you random GE players that I’ve met during my grinding sessions, to participating in some of the events that you have organized, right down to old school ‘IRC’ style of just having a casual chat with you guys about where you come from and the person who you are behind the GE face.

One of the GE players was very kind to invite me to join his faction during the CBT period. While I have been enjoying my time with them, I would also love to spend time with the other factions as well so as to get to know all of you on a much deeper level! I do realize CBT is coming to an end, but this is the time to start making plans for Pre-OBT dudes! So do drop me an email inviting me to join the faction which you plan to open up in POBT. I will be spending time with each faction (first-come-first-serve basis) for a few weeks before being attached to the next faction and so on. ;)

3) Player-Organized Events

I’ve been noticing a lot of player-organized events that have been going on recently. Keep up the great work guys! I’m really proud of you. :)

In the meantime, do turn up for these events in order to show support and appreciation for your fellow GE gamers who have taken so much effort to organize them for your entertainment. Some of the upcoming events are things like ‘Hide and Seek’, ‘Shopping List’ and ‘Who wants to be a vis-illionaire?’ More details on these upcoming events can be found at the forums here. For the players who are organizing events, please feel welcome to approach me either in-game or via emails. I would really love to get involved with what you guys are planning. :)

4) CBT Finale LAN Party – 17^th March 2007

Yes! To end CBT off with a bang, we will be having a CBT Finale LAN party on 17^th March 2007! There will be some special in-game events being held on that day as well. Think XP boosts! Think never-seen-before items raining on the ground! Think ‘GE Gone Wild’! That's just a little teaser of what is to come. I will be giving out more details of this LAN party over the next few days once I get wind of more details.

5) Hrin’s GE Blog Skin Contest

I’ve set up my GE Blog over here: http://blogs.iahgames.com/hrin

I’ll be blogging ever so often about my mama-drama life at IAH, my adventures with you guys in GE, the hilarious emails I’ve been getting and so on. From what I’ve seen in the forums, I daresay there are a quite a few creative GE gamers out there. Thus, I will be hosting a GE Blog Skin Contest for you lovely GE fans to design my GE Blog skin for my GE Blog. I will be giving out more details of the blog skin contest on my blog over the next few days.

The One About Sun Tzu's Art Of PVP War

We all know how God-like Sun Tzu is in his art of war. But Sun Tzu obviously never played GE if not he would have learnt a thing or two about PvP war from the boys in Yakisoba Faction. As you guys know, I’m on an ‘Industrial Attachment’ program and Yakisoba Faction was the first faction who had invited me to join them during the CBT period. I must say there has never been a dull moment in the mama-drama ‘Days of our Faction Lives’! These boys are go-getting, hardcore players out on a rampage of death and destruction! Still, it has been extremely entertaining and faction chat is never-ending.

So anyway, it was the night before CBT ended and the leader of the [Scarlet Rose Faction], Lestat, broadcast a message across the world, inviting everyone to join in a mass PVP war. As we were all making our way down to the PVP officer at City of Auch, faction chat went something like that:

Yakisoba Faction Boy 1: Eh Hrin! Hrin! You must take part in the 15v15 PVP tourney!
Hrin: Yeah sure :) What's the strategy guys? My MCC combination is Wiz/Scout/Elementalist. I have master level in...
Yakisoba Faction Boy 2: Oh don't worry your pretty head with that! We just need you to be our mascot!
Hrin: -.-" Right... And what exactly am I supposed to do?
Yakisoba Faction Boy 1: Just stand at the side to distract the enemy! Make sure you wear your French maid costume! And don't forget to levitate so that the enemy can get a GREAT view from below!
Yakisoba Faction Boy 2: Yeah! Your levitation combined with French maid costume will OWN both Retardi and Sandman!

I stare at them in amused incredulity as they go into a blow-by-blow account of all the various ways they could use me as a 'pleasant distraction' to the enemy. GE players trying to pimp out their CM (Community Manager)?! Alas! What has the World of Granado Espada come to? I should pen a letter to the Queen of Vespanola voicing my grievances about this. I can almost see the headlines in tomorrow's 'Vespanolan Times' newspaper...

* * *

Vespanolan Times: Queen Banishes Yakisoba Faction Boys To Al Quelt Moreza!

The Queen of Vespanola has issued a decree to banish the Yakisoba Faction boys to a lifetime of hard grinding in the dungeons of Al Quelt Moreza (AQM). Apparently, these boys were found guilty of attempting to pimp out the Queen's delegate, Hrin, in the new continent of Granado Espada.

They will also serve a lifetime of slavery to AQM's resident evil, Dilos Lantemn. No power leveling! No rare item drops!

* * *

Grievances aside, Lestat suggested that we have a pure fistfight, meaning no weapons and no skills usage, which turned out to be pretty hilarious!















It felt more like a mild catfight since no one was doing any real damage and everyone was just laughing and having lots of fun. Yet at the same time, it brought us all 'back to our roots' when CBT had just begun - how we were all Level 1 noobs, dealing minimal damage to Mandradoras and to one another during duels.

I can hardly wait for POBT to begin! 55 days and counting down...

Hey.

I’m back with tons of GE updates for you guys.

1) Extension of Closed Beta Testing (CBT)

I’ve been hearing your heart-wrenching pleas to extend the CBT phase and have taken the case up with the Gods of Vespanola (Read: IAH’s Level 100 Bosses). And yes! The Gods of Vespanola have spoken and agreed to extend the lifespan of CBT for another 2 weeks. CBT will officially end on 19^th March 2007.

2) Pre-Open Beta Testing (POBT)

Pre-Open Beta testing phase will begin in mid April. I’m really excited about this since the version we will be using is V2.0, which has tons more game content! I will elaborate more on this in my future updates, but for now here are some exciting statistics:

	Granado Espada Versions
Statistics	V1.8.23	V2.0
Maps	25	181
Quests	72	395
Items	2393	3219
Recruitable NPCs	32	39
Total NPCs	52	150

Pre-Open Beta Testing phase will last for about a month before we go into the Open Beta phase and eventually into Commercial Launch. As for the most frequently asked question which continually makes its guest star appearance in my email Inbox (Yes. The question of whether we will be going the P2P way or the F2P way). We are still in careful deliberations over this matter. Tentatively, our decision will be announced on the website towards the end of pre-open beta testing phase.

Oh wait. I almost forgot to mention. The best news of all - there will be NO character wipes after the pre-open beta phase! Woot!

3) CBT In-Game Event: 3^rd March, 2007, 2pm (GMT +8)

There will be an in-game event on 3^rd March, 2007, 2pm (GMT +8). More details can be found here. Here’s some off-the-record stuff: I heard it through the grapevine that there may be a second round of the same event being held at a later time in that same day. So even if you don’t manage to win in the first round of treasure hunt, do stick around in-game longer and you might just get lucky!

4) CBT Contests

Since we are halfway through CBT, I think it’s about time we have a little chat about the CBT contests. You know me - there’s nothing I love more than a little elusive mystery and suspense. So well, I’m just going to say that there will be around 20 winners in total and that the contests have been short-listed down to those listed below. As for how many winners there are for each contest… it will only be revealed at the end of CBT. (Yup, this is me trying to make your lives a little less mundane and a little more unpredictable.)

I WILL tell you what the prizes are though. These 20 odd winners will receive an exclusive invitation to access the game servers earlier than the general public for the upcoming pre-OBT phase and will receive a special in-game item (this is the part I am going to be all mysterious again) during pre-OBT. Considering there will be no character wipes from pre-OBT and beyond… read between the lines. ;)

So once again, to recap from my last entry about the short-listed available contests:

a) Highest Character(s) Level: Highest Level Character(s)

b) Top Bug Reporter(s): Most helpful reporter(s) who submits the most bugs
c) Shakespeare's Protege Award: Shakespeare would have been proud to have a protege like you! This award goes to the one(s) who posts the best articles, write-ups, player guides, replies on the forum
d) Andre Janzur Fantastic Award: You know how Andre is constantly in one of his moods? Well, you are the creative one who entertains him and all your fellow GE players by organizing the most interesting in-game events!

Whew. This sure is a long entry. I had better end off now before you guys drift off into lala-land. I’ll be updating quite a bit these few days since there is a lot happening within IAH. Stay tuned for more details!

Hi guys,

Happy Chinese New Year!

1. My Role In Your (GE) Life

Quite a couple of people have been calling me ‘GM’ (Game master) and saying things in-game like,”Hey GM Hrin! Show us the highest level gear! Summon powerful monsters!” Gee. I have this sudden mental image of myself as some ball-juggling monkey at the zoo…

Well, my lovely Vespanolans, unfortunately, I am not a game master. I’m your community manager, meaning to say that I use a normal playing account, just like the rest of you. I can’t make Vis rain from the skies above. Neither can I summon all of Monsters Inc. to do the Macarena in front of Andre Janzur. My role as your community manager is to keep you guys updated with the developments and news updates of GE, to get feedback from you guys, to answer any doubts or queries you may have, and of course my most fave role of all… to be your friend, protector and guardian angel whenever you feel lost or alone in this world. :) Naturally, my roles will evolve with time, but the essence of it remains - that of community building. So do continue sending me emails at: community@ge.iahgames.com

2. A Day in The Life Of Hrin’s Inbox: Lost In Translation

I’m on leave and off to Kuala Lumpur for the next few days, so if I take a little longer to reply your emails, do bear with me. I promise that I will read every single one of your emails and reply them!

Just the other day, here I was happily checking my email. Clicking, clicking, clicking… and then I saw this email…

“Hrin… I see you photo in night, I [INSERT ADJECTIVE] and [INSERT ADJECTIVE]…”

Pause. Stunned Silence.

My mouth dropped open in amused incredulity as I quickly scanned through the email. It soon became apparent to me that what was intended as a Shakespearean / Li Bai sort of email had been seriously lost in translation on some Babel Fish online translator and had unwittingly deteriorated into some B-grade adult horror flick, entitled “I know what you did last night”. Still. I think I should spare this poor soul the horror of what had been tragically massacred in translation. So I replied his email:

“Thanks. It’s nice to know I’m… erm… the first thing on your mind when you wake up and gee… the last thing on your mind before you sleep at night. :)”

There we go. May he live on in blissful ignorance! In the meantime, where’s the Dettol? I need to wash my eyes!!! ~>.<~

3. Player-Organized Events: Just Own It!

I was pleasantly surprised to see how some of the GE players have been taking the initiative to organize little, impromptu events on their own. Someone had organized a hug chain at the Leonardo Express while one of the guilds organized a friendly, free-for-all 15v15 PVP tournament. Things like that really make my day, for it perfectly complements the more heroic and romantic aspects of the Baroque era that Granado Espada is set in. Therefore I urge you, to further enhance the spirit of Granado Espada, to challenge yourselves to greater heights and to learn to live for your fellow Vespanolans by bringing a little happiness and excitement into their GE lives.

So do get together and come up with little event ideas. It doesn’t have to be a grand fanfare. Just something simple will do. For it is not the grandness of an idea, but rather the sincere thoughts and intentions behind these ideas that go a long way. And you do realize, your community manager is behind you every step of the way. If you need me to help you publicize your little in-game events, do drop me an email. I can help you to broadcast in-game but please ah, provide me the logistics (Read: Megaphone) to do so. After all, much like her working class real life, Hrin doesn’t lead some kind of *tai-tai life in Vespanola. She grinds hard at Tetra Ruins for her every last Vis! (I am woman! Hear me rawr!)

Ultimately, Granado Espada is a game we are all slowly exploring and falling in love with more and more with each passing moment. And when you feel passionate about something, you take ownership of it. This includes being involved physically, mentally, emotionally... GE is your game. It was made for your guilty pleasure and sinful enjoyment.

Don’t just play it. Own it.

*Tai-tai: A Mandarin phrase referring to a Lady of Leisure. Also commonly referred to as every girl’s dream job.

Hi guys,

Happy Valentines Day!

1. The Silence Of The Lambs

The dawn of CBT has broken. And I'm loving every moment of it!

The only thing I'm noticing is... the sound of silence. From you shy lambs. I know you guys are really eager to be Vespanola's very own Baygon, exterminating all bugs. We really appreciate it. But what we would love even more is for you guys to show some good old fashioned hospitality to your fellow Vespanoleans, especially to the new inhabitants of the land (Read: Noobs! ;p )

I know… you probably feel God-like now, being able to use that funky MCC function of having 3 characters to train concurrently. Well… sorry to tell you dude/dudette, no man is an island, ultimately. At higher levels, you will need to form squads with your fellow Vespanoleans for truly effective training and more importantly, for higher level quests. Here’s another hint: I’m not at liberty to reveal the exact figures, but let’s just say that when you form squads with other people, one experiences a major boom in the XP stock market. Hope that was ‘subtle’ enough. ;)

So now’s the time to start networking, people! No idea what to say to ge[INSERT NUMBER]?

“Hi~ Want to squad me? :) ” would be good.

Or you could always turn to the player beside you, give a psycho smile and say,"Hello Clarice..."

2. Contests

Yes! We will be having contests for CBT. After much deliberation with the team, we have finally shortlist the contests down to the following. However, this is not the final version. We would very much like your feedback on which of these contests you would like to see in the final cut. I will be setting up a poll here in the forums. Feel free to give some suggestions about what other contests you would like to see being implemented for CBT. Do bear in mind that IAH management will be making the final decision regarding which contests to use. In the meantime, start casting your votes!

a) Highest Family Level: Highest Level Family (Sum of all levels of family members)
b) Richest Family: The family with the most vis.
c) Top Bug Reporter: Most helpful person who submits the most bugs
d) Top Forum Poster: Most active voice in the forums
e) Good Samaritan Award: Most helpful player who helps out newbies and fellow GE-gamers either in-game or on the forums.
f) “My Beloved” Award: The NPCs have spoken! And they are telling us that you are their most beloved Vespanolean... just cos you've been such a sweetie in helping them out with their various errands. This award goes to the player who has done the most in-game quests.
g) Top Duelist: Player with the most wins for PVP.
h) Shakespeare's Protege Award: Shakespeare would have been proud to have a protege like you! This award goes to the person who posts the best articles, write-ups, player guides, replies on the forum
i) Dark Horse Award: You have awed everyone into silence because they are so impressed with that most creatively ingenious and out-of-this-world idea(s) that you have done. The prize will naturally be as iconic as you are.
j) Andre Janzur Fantastic Award: You know how Andre is constantly in one of his PMS-ing days mood? Well, you are the witty one who entertains him and all your fellow GE players by your funny and wacky antics in-game or forum-based

3. Game Support

Game support will be available between the hours of 0900-1800 (GMT +8) during the CBT period. Please note that Gamemasters will have the official [GM] tag in front of their name. So for example, GM Great will be tagged as [GM] Great in-game.

For any issues related to Bug Reporting, Feedback or Recovery issues, please address these issues in the game support section which has been officially set up on the website here.

4. Your emails!

Once again, thanks for all your emails! I’ve had quite a few complaints that “your photo on the website is too small. only passport size and quality very lousy… can you please please please post up bigger photo of yourself?”

The most amusing one I got went along the lines of “my graphix card sux big time… and i have bad eyesight… email me a photo of yourself ^^ ”

ROFL! I can almost imagine being defined in an imaginary GE dictionary:

Hrin (- noun)
1) Community Manager of Granado Espada
2) Enjoys walks along Port of Coimbra and HealthySpam in her Inbox
3) Her looks are dependent on how expensive your graphic card is. A 512 MB graphic card brings out the color of her eyes.

Aight. I hear you. Here’s my blown up picture. You might get nightmares tonight. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…



Yep. Therein ends “A day in the life of Hrin’s Outlook Express Inbox”

P/S: I had better not see my face being nip/tucked onto some random body on some adult site or you guys are so dead!

Leave your comments on this article here.

So. My laptop crashed and burned. #!?@#%^@%

One of those traumatizing life lessons where the moral of the story is to back up all your data every single day. My bleeding heart...

Anyway, moving along to happier times: CBT is just next week! And here is the FAQ for CBT like I promised:

i) Closed Beta Testing (CBT) FAQ

1) Which version of Granado Espada will be used for CBT?

V1.8.23

2) Will Granado Espada be free to play (F2P)?

We are still in discussion about this.

3) When will Open Beta Testing (OBT) be out?

In a few months' time. Check back here for updates.

4) Which version will be used for OBT?

Tentatively, V2.0

5) How many realms (servers) will there be for CBT?

Due to overwhelming response for CBT sign ups, we have decided to standby an additional 2 more realms. Effectively, there will be 3 realms: Cerventes, Carracci, Caravaggio. However, we will be opening one realm at a time. Once the first realm is filled up, we will then open the second realm and so on.

6) Will there be any in-game events during CBT?

Yes, there will be a major in-game event scheduled in March. More details will be given at a later date. In the meantime, throughout the course of the CBT period, we may be holding ad-hoc in-game events as well. We will keep you guys informed through the website.

7) When will the CBT invitations be given out?

They will be sent out this week. So do remember to regularly check your emails.

8) How long will CBT last?

Tentatively, 3 weeks.

9) Will there be a server wipe after CBT?

Yes.

10) What are we (those selected to participate in CBT) supposed to do for CBT?

You guys are the 'chosen ones' to test out Granado Espada for bugs. The purpose of having a closed beta testing is for gamers to discover and most importantly, to inform us of the bugs in the game that will affect game play experience. In this way, we can fix the bugs and improve the game for you guys.

ii) IRC Channels

Undecided about which combination of classes to play? Need to vent your pent-up frustrations about how you can't wait to play Granado Espada (I know how you feel... welcome to my world...)? For those on the Galaxynet server, a group of GE fans have set up channel #granadoespada.

At the same time, the Granado Espada International Community has set up their official IRC channel on Rizon (irc.rizon.net), channel #ge.cc which I will be popping by at night every now and then to answer any questions you may have.

iii) Your emails!

Thanks for all your emails! It’s always a pleasure hearing from GE fans. A sincere word of thanks goes out to the readers who emailed me in regard to some graphical errors on the website. The marketing team has already resolved this issue. And of course, thanks to all those who sent me 'my fave type of emails' ;)

The most unforgettable email I received which sent me into laughing fits, was from this dude:

"first of all, i think you're really hot.. seriously, i will be your slave if you want me to.. i hope i can make it to become one of the beta testers.. and i hope the CB gets on this valentines.. i'll make a 'Hrin' family and a guild that will be purposedly build to worship you only.. ciao.. ja ne.. later.."

Uh huh... Right... what on earth would such a guild be doing when they are not grinding or questing?!

Sing Britney Spears' "I'm a slave for you" hymns in the Cite De Reboldoeux streets every Sunday?!

...Or chant Hrin-ma Sutra scriptures? "Hey Hrin... You're hot! - HealthySpam 3:16"

In any case, methinks The Queen of Vespanola would probably stone me for this... ;)

Hi again!

I'm back with some updates on GE.

1. Website Updates

How's the new look of our website? Is it hot or is it just absolutely fantabulous? ;)

Our marketing team spent sleepless nights and weekends perfecting it. All their blood and sweat is in every last pixel that you are admiring right now. So do take the time to click on every single link and to appreciate all their hard work and efforts.

We are currently working on getting the GE forums up and running as well. Most of the technical functions have been done up. We are pretty much left with tons of admin stuff to settle such as setting up forum rules and categorizing the boards etc.

2. Closed Beta Testing (CBT) Updates

Lots of people have been asking me the same question: When is CBT going to start?

Patience, young Padawan, patience. Let's just say for the singles out there, come this Valentines Day 2007... you'll be lonely no more. :)

For the gamers who have been selected to participate in our CBT, you will be receiving an email confirmation with your assigned username and password next week. Something important to take note of: Please remember to save that email and to keep your assigned user name and password confidential as you will NOT be able to change either your user name or password during the span of the CBT period.

I am aware that you guys have tons of questions to ask about CBT. I’ll be talking more about what will be happening during CBT within the next few days as well as to post up an FAQ in regard to the most commonly asked questions I have been getting these days.

3. Blog Section

The marketing team is currently helping me to set up a separate blog section. In the near future, this ‘News’ section will consist of purely no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point GE news. On the other end of the scale, in my blog, I’ll be dropping hints about unofficial, ‘off-the-record’ GE stuff, blogging about the various adventures I’ve been having with you guys in Vespanola, giving my two cents worth of the latest GE topics that everyone is talking about… basically, the works.

Being the die-hard blogger/GE fan that I am, I will be updating as much as possible. But you can be sure that I will definitely have an update every Wednesday. So here’s something else to look out for come Wednesdays, other than Mambo Night!

4. My Email Address

A special note of thanks goes out to the GE fans in the ‘Granado Espada International Community’ who brought to my attention that their email to me was being rejected by our powerful spam email firewall. Our technical team has already resolved this issue. So please feel free to spam me with email at community@ge.iahgames.com

But please ah, only healthy spam. I’m more than happy to get email that go along the lines of:

“I love GE because…”

“Some questions I have about GE are…”

“Hi Hrin! Let me tell you about myself…”

“Hey Hrin… YOU’RE HOT!” <--- my fave kind of email! *beams*

3 words remain: Healthy. Spam. Please.