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™

The Razer Piranha™ is engineered from the ground up to blend performance, long hours of comfort and functionality, to deliver realistic in-game audio that will satisfy the needs of the most demanding gamer – You.

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.

Adjustable, noise-filtering microphone.
Communicate clearly with your teammates through the noise-canceling microphone, even in crowded gaming environments.

Comfortable, ergonomic and adjustable head phones suitable for prolonged use.
The fully adjustable on-ear headphones and microphone ensure perfect fit and comfort for hours of use.

The One About Grabbermon

V2.9 is just around the corner and I've started working on the rollout plan as well as the content release schedule.

Although it's been scheduled for end of September, but a more likely launch date might be in October. I'll continue to update you guys as we move along. I'm really starting to feel as though my blog mojo has finally returned - I'm starting to enjoy blogging again. Well anyway, we just received the latest digital assets for V2.9 from HBS (Hanbitsoft) and what I am REALLY looking forward to in V2.9 is... the pet function!

I'm not sure what our localization team is going to name the new pet. The very raw translation at this point is "Grabber". (I'm hoping they call him "Grabbermon" though...) True to his "Grabber" nature, he loots items for you. From what I understand, you are required to feed him with pet food every few hours, if not it would lead to his demise. So no hope for AFK-ing with Grabber overnight! Nevertheless, it's hard to tell what the system would be like at this point in time, since V2.9 hasn't been implemented on the test server yet. The above is hearsay that might have been lost in translation.

Here's a sneak peek of lil' Grabbermon:

Awww... Isn't he the cutest thing ever?

The One About Diego's Art Nouveau

I were looking through the Week 2 loading screen submissions for Diego's Art Nouveau and though there was quite a significant improvement in the quality of the submissions, but still... I felt that some cutting edge creativity was still lacking.

Here's some ideas that could set YOUR submission apart!

1) Magic Eye 3D Loading Screens!
I used to be obsessed with those Magic Eye 3D pictures thingy whereby there is a sentence or picture inside a mosaic looking picture. Something like that:

Use your magic eye and check out the bird!

Source: http://www-ai.ijs.si/sirds/bird.jpg

It would be super duper awesome to have such loading screens in GE whereby the subject matter was GE-related and the user would only have like 5-10 seconds to figure out what was on the loading screen before he reached the next map. Not sure how to do up something like that though. There's prolly some freeware out there that enables you to do so.

2) Mini Games!

I think the key thing here is to entertain the community during those painful 5-10 seconds of waiting time. So why not mini games to amuse them in the meantime? Loading screens could be like 'Spot the difference' types whereby 2 screenshots are side by side, looking almost same same but different. The user would then have to spot like 5 differences in the pictures.

Other than 'Spot the difference', there could be trivia questions or GE-context riddles with the answers at the corner or something along those lines.

Yup, yup. So try to think out of the box and push your creativity and sense of imagination to the next level. Let the simple things around you inspire you, you'll never know where it will take you!

Oh wait, one more thing before I meet up with my colleagues for a badminton game, the Paid Game Services project has been delayed yet again due to unforseen circumstances. *sigh*

Everything had been working beautifully on the test server. But when imported to the live server, it was then discovered that the stored procedures given to us by HBS on the test server were a different structure/format from the one on the live server! *sigh* So... now we are awaiting the new stored procedures from HBS again. :_(

The One About Weizhen's Article

It's definitely a sign.

Just after my proposal to L'oreal for sponsorship for the September Gamer Girl Feature had been approved, I received a call from Weizhen, who writes for the local Singapore newspaper 'The Straits Times'. Very coincidentally, she was writing an article about female gamers and was interested to know more. So I shared with her some of the upcoming events that we are hosting for our gamer girls and some of the possible reasons why gaming is really getting popular amongst the female population.

One of the reasons I cited was due to the 'Tupperware Party' effect. Ok... I know it sounds silly and all, but it was a term I coined on the spur of the moment at that point in time cos it really seemed like the best analogy.

Gamer Girl Gatherings are the new Tupperware parties! I recall reading somewhere that Tupperware became popular because women brought their women friends along to these lavish and outlandishly themed parties. I can see the same phenomenon happening in this day and age where our gamer girls bring their gal pals along to our real life gaming events and game launch parties, like the one we held at Zouk last year.

I look forward to a day where gaming comes hand-in-hand with other female-dominant activities like retail therapy a.k.a shopping, beauty treatments, clubbing etc. Like a casual games terminal at a pedicure station: 'Game while you pedicure!'

There is an incredible amount of potential and opportunities that ties gaming to the female consumer goods industry as the female population gravitates more and more towards gaming and I sincerely hope that when that time comes, I would have been one of the pioneers to have proudly championed this cause and helped contribute in growing this industry.

Many thanks, Weizhen, for being one of our champions! :)

Full Article here.

Extract:

Project coordinator Eva Yuan, 27, set up a guild of 40 other regional gamers within action game Granado Espada. They play regularly online.

'It helps when games have interactive chat functions, beautiful graphics and are playable even for people who are not dexterous. I don't just want to chop monsters,' she said.

Gaming companies have responded to this by organising activities solely for female gamers. IAH Games, for example, is lining up 'gamer girl gatherings' for December.

Its community manager Danielle Hrin Kuek said these are the 'new Tupperware parties'.

The One About Granado Espada Gamer Girls in Playworks Sept 2008 Magazine


Phew! I just finished writing my GE column for Playworks magazine's September 2008 issue, which spotlights Granado Espada Gamer Girls. I had previously emailed some of the Gamer Girls which I had seen in Facebook and Friendster to interview them. Most hadn't replied me yet, so I could only use 6 of the replies I had received so far. I'm also having difficulty adding some of the girls in Facebook/Friendster group as friend in order to interview them, so do add me up if you are part of the Granado Espada Gamer Girl group.

Here are some random snippets of the magazine article:

"Any interesting incidents happened to you in GE?”

Emmylia: I get a handful of people saying 'YOU'RE A FAKE GAL!' Or,'Meh? You don't sound like one, I don't believe you're a gal.' - Got those a lot while I was recruiting for the all girls' faction I'm in.

"What is a typical day like for you in GE?"

Abby: Chatting with fellow gamers, trading and leveling up my characters. I love training my ‘Lisa Lynway’ character since she is a belly dancer, just like me!

Abby & Lisa Lynway - The Belly Dancing Duo

"What is a typical day for you like in real life?"

Alisha: Work takes up most of my time on weekdays. Evenings are 99% utilised for GE! Ok… in between there's still some blogging, chatting on msn etc.

"Have you ever dated someone you met in-game? Do you believe that romance can be found in-game? "

Eva: Yup… we were amazed that we could finish each other’s sentences. Although he eventually got back together with his ex (in real life) but well… possibilities exist. :)

If you were a beauty product, what would you be and why?

Carine: Mascara~ because the eyes are the windows to a person's heart and soul and I want to help everyone have beautiful eyes~

* * *

And these are definitely my two favourite snippets:

And what item in GE would your dream guy be and why?

Sheila: I'm going to go with Great Sword. The stances for it usually have a slow attack speed but when it comes to fights that matter, this weapon can be very powerful with a little bit of skill and patience. But if skills are carelessly spammed, the weapon ends up rendering the character useless. In that same sense, I like guys who have a lot of restraint and make sure everything they do is well thought out. Basically, flirting isn't appreciated if it's not serious!

Eva: Elite Penetrator of course, for obvious reasons… HAHAHA!!!

Eva quests for her Elite Penetrator

... You just gotta love Eva's forthcoming ways. ;)

The One About The New Launcher Screen

One of my colleagues from Creative did a mock-up of a potential new launcher screen.

I think it's awesome! But what do YOU think? Yeay or Nay?

Edited 20 August 2008: Due to some scary bugs found during testing, schedule has been changed to 21 August 2008, Thursday, 1200hrs (GMT+8) -25 September 2008, Thursday, 1200hrs (GMT+8)

The One About Beijing Olympics 2008

I happened to be reading Blacksword's Granado Esapda Blog and came across his entry on the Beijing Olympics 2008 costumes in China GE.

Well, the good news is... we spoke to IMC about it and asked if we could also use those costumes and they have agreed to let us use it as a 1 month promotion for the Limited Edition Box. Details are still in the midst of being finalized and if all goes well, the promotion will last from 21 August 2008, Thursday, 1200hrs (GMT+8) -25 September 2008, Thursday, 1200hrs (GMT+8), whereby when you do a 'Claim Item' using the Emilia The Sage RNPC Code found in the Limited Edition Box, it would then provide "Emilia The Sage" RNPC Card and 5 x Beijing 2008 Sportswear Costumes (for both genders). But like I said, details are still being finalized and is very much dependent on whether the patch for these costumes is buggy or not. Thus, please wait for the announcement on the website first before any attempts.

(Remember to thank Blacksword for his blog entry and Mewmender for his forum thread that gave rise to this inspiration as well!)

Here are some sample pictures of the Beijing Olympics 2008 costumes from Blacksword's Blog

Male Fighter

Male Musketeer

Female Elementalist

Female Wizard

Female Scout

Another promotion we are planning to hold is for the 750Gpoint GVC card between 15 August 2008, 1200hrs (GMT+8)-18 September 2008, Thursday, 1200hrs (GMT+8) .

Once the promotion is activated, all 750 Gpoint GVC codes are to provide:

a) Standard 750 GPoints value
b) Additional 250 GPoints
c) Additional 1 Enhancement Booster

Once again, I reiterate, wait till the website announcement is up before claiming!

Meanwhile, some updates on the Paid Game Services of Change Character Name, Family Name and gender... the website graphical user interface is complete and we'll be doing the tricky part of integration with the various systems over the next few days. Currently, we're still on schedule to launch next week on 21 August 2008, Thursday.

Here's a sneak peek at the website interface:

Main Menu

Change Gender Menu

Last and best of all (well at least to me, since its my current pet project), is that last night, I got a reply from L'oreal who has agreed to the proposal for the sponsorship for the upcoming September Gamer Girl feature! Woot! I can't wait to get my hands on those L'oreal products... MUAHAHHAAHHHAA!!!

The One About V2.6 Content Rollout Schedule

So... what's next in the lineup for GE game content? Here's a tentative schedule for the month ahead. Once again, schedule may be subject to changes, depending on whether there are roadblocks during IMC's patch development.

14 August 2008:
Release of RNPC, Bai Hu

21 August 2008: "Battlesmith Week"
Release of Veteran Stances:

Mighty Cruz	[Combat Stance] Polearm
Low-Guard	[Combat Stance] Sabre
Raid Assault	[Combat Stance] Two handed dagger
Idge the Battlesmith'	Idge the Battlesmith RNPC Card

28 August 2008: "Soldier's Week"

Reboldoeux Soldier Costume	Reboldoeux Soldier Exclusive Costume
Coimbra Trooper Costume	Coimbra Trooper's Exclusive Costume
Auch Infantry Costume	Auch Infantry's Exclusive Costume
RNPC Stat Upgrade Quest 1 - Reboldoeux Solider	Quest for Reboldoeux Soldier's stat upgrade

4 September 2008: "Iron Chef - Fish & Chips Week"
(I do have my reservations about whether IMC will approve this one though. *crosses fingers*)

Panfilo the Battlecook	Panfilo the Battlecook RNPC Card
Enchantment Chip Package (Lvl 84)	5 Enchantment Tranquilizer + 5 Lvl 84 Enchantment Chips
Enchantment Chip Package (Lvl 92)	5 Enchantment Tranquilizer + 5 Lvl 92 Enchantment Chips
Enchantment Chip Package (Lvl 100)	5 Enchantment Tranquilizer + 5 Lvl 100 Enchantment Chips

11 September 2008: Children's Week

RNPC Stat Upgrade Quest 2 - Ramiro & Tiburon	Quest for Ramiro and Tiburon's stat upgrade.
The Janzur Collection	Random Box that contains Gryphon’s Wing (Sylph) Wings + other items
Claude’s Crate	Random Box that contains Cherry Sprig (Cherry Blossom Branch), Silver Skullic Bracer and other items

Other than that, V2.9 is scheduled to launch at the end of September. We are currently still on schedule in terms of localization work and I'll be going down to the sound studio on Thursday with Runner to record Calyce's voice. The voice actress for Calyce is a jazz singer, so I am reallyyyyyyy excited about this one. I'll try to take some photos and get some voice clips as a sneak preview for V2.9! We are still auditioning and looking for a voice talent for the other V2.9 RNPC Claire, the sweet lil' girl who uses a canon. (From what I understand, Claire is the step-daughter of Claude Baudez)

Oh yes, another update in regard to game content rollout. We are currently in the process of implementing the 3 paid game services - Family Name Change, Character Name Change and Gender Change. Previously, there were some really painful technical bottlenecks which have finally managed to unkink themselves over time. But FINALLY, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel and from my latest meeting update earlier with the rest of the team, we are scheduled to launch on 21 August 2008, Thursday. There may be one more show-stopping bottleneck to this project, but regardless, this project ranks high up on our list of priorities, so it should work out one way or the other.

Phew... ok I think this blog entry may be a bit of information overload that requires some digestion. In the meantime, I'm back to work on the Girl Gamer September website feature. If you are a Granado Espada Gamer Girl, or know someone who is, do get them to join the Facebook or Friendster group (see my previous blog entry post). I'll be scouting around for GE gamer girls to feature on the Granado Espada website and in my column for Playworks Magazine (gaming magazine) based on my Facebook/Friendster stalking. So do regularly check your Facebook/Friendster to add me as a friend or reply my messages ya?