The secret guest unveiled

Yesterday, I talked about having a guest here in my blog. I was able to talk to this wonderful person via email for this interview, and I'm very happy and thrilled to provide a space for her in this site.

This esteemed person I'm talking about forms the gung ho team of hard working, fun loving people who manage the seaGE community. Although I may not be a GE gamer from their country, I nevertheless feel honored to have her here. I hope I have a few Malaysian GE gamers reading this blog because this is about your community manager, [CM] Calyce!

If you've been hanging around the GE forums, chances are you've seen this quirky, fun person. She's a mischievous individual who even earned several threads in the forums. Guess the gamers are quite curious to know about CM Calyce whose real life picture hasn't been seen to date. ^^

Anyhoo, let's get to know the new addition to the GE family in this interview. ^^


How does it feel to be the CM for the MY community?

It’s great to be the CM for MY Community, although it seems that the MY players are not so active compared to PH gamers. I believe that there’s a potential that GE Gamers will continue support GE and create a better community together. I still have a lot to learn from gamers. I want to continue my service to the players, and to provide them with a better gaming environment.

How did the community feel about your new position?

Hmm… the community seems to be quite interested in how I look instead of how I can help the growth of the community. Haha. Apparently, statistic showed that there’re more male gamers than female gamers in this game, so I kinda understand how they feel about the new female CM. lolz… joking…. Darren was promoted to handle some other things, therefore I’ll be taking over his position for the time ahead, please don’t make any wild guess, I’m not his “revamped” image. >.<

Note: Darren Khor used to be the MY Community Manager before CM Calyce. Before Darren was CM Selwyn.

Have you played any MMORPGs before? How do you find GE?

Yap, I’ve played couple of MMO before such as Maple Story, Mo Xiang and RO. But this game is totally a cool stuff to me. It has a very stylish movement, a brand new controlling of character like MCC and superb graphics as well as a marvelous soundtrack. I do enjoy the AFK function the most… lol… cuz most of the time I’m kinda busy with my work, so I don’t really have free time to play and commit to the Game. ^^

What are your plans for the MY community? How will you strengthen the bond between MY GE gamers?

Since this is the first time I’ve taken the position, I don't have that much of experience in managing the bond between gamers, and that’s why I started by spamming the general chat section, which… hahaha… got quite some good feedbacks. I assume that’s a good way to improve the bond between players and strengthen the bond between gamers.. ^^ In the future, we’ll try to organize some other event besides facing the computer and gaming; there might be some sports event as well. We'll see how it goes.

What's the best thing about your job?

The best thing about my job? I get to interact with gamers, get to play the game, get to chat with gamers, get to do what I like the most – talking and chatting ^^.

Why did you choose Calyce as your personal avatar?

Haha… cuz I’m Calyce? ^^ Simple answer. She kinda resembles the real-life me, so...hahaha..that’s bout it.

Any message to the MY community and the GE community in general?

My message to the MY Community...get more friends to join this game! The bigger the community, the more likely I’ll appear in a real life event ^^. For the general community...continue supporting GE then we shall have a biggest gaming event around the region! Life is never boring meet people from around the world. ^^ Cheers!


Many thanks to [CM] Calyce for indulging me in this interview request. I wish you good luck and more power in your future endeavors in your work! ^^

Shameless plugs & an upcoming guest

Hello everyone! This is me again, taking a break from the grinding spree I'm doing to get my Vicente to Veteran. He has 9 more levels to go. So far, so good.

I've recently talked to a very esteemed person in GE and I'll be posting the interview tomorrow during maintenance. I've got to say that I enjoyed it immensely and I'm glad to have this person as a "guest" in this humble blog. Stay glued tomorrow for this exclusive interview!

And nope, I did not interview Hakkyu Kim (although I'm still hoping for this once in a lifetime opportunity ^^).

In other news, I'd like to plug a few contests happening in the GE community. Hope you take the time to join them because the prizes aren't so bad if I do say so myself. ^^

NineMoons's 50k Hits Screenshot Prompt Contest
[CM] Veya's Tell-a-Story Contest

Speaking of contests, I'm likewise finalizing on the mechanics to my own and hopefully I'll be filling you in with the details next week, so stay tuned.

That's the wrap for now. See ya tomorrow! ^_~

GE clay cuties

In NineMoons's previous post, she talked about these cute clay sculptures of some GE characters.

And in yesterday's attempt to kill boredom, I found new ones! W00t!

Viscount Montoro (front view)

Viscount Montoro (back view)

Fighter in Le Blanc, wearing a White Bear hat?

Cockatrice costume! *kyuuuut!*

The Fallen Champion on his mighty steed (thanks to NineMoons for pointing it out XD)

Sunbathing musketeer on swim wear

I swear, I just had to squeal over these cute stuff!

Sources:

Musketeer in swimwear
Viscount Montoro (with tutorials on how to make the sculpture!)
Fighter in Le Blanc
Cockatrice costume
Prison de Joaquin mob and his trusty steed

DeSanggria goes shopping!

My officemate went to her usual Singapore trip the other week, and when I heard she was going there, I didn't pass up the chance to ask her to buy me G-Points! And so, with my hard earned savings, I said goodbye to my money and crossed my fingers that I get those precious GVCs when she came back.

Boy, they were sure a sight for sore eyes.

I bought 2pcs. of 70k G-Points, and this is probably my first time to get a hand of GVCs distributed in Singapore. Now armed with 140k in-game money, I was more than excited to visit Leticia to get my shopping done. Guess what I first bought with the money I had?

I needed decent weapons, and so I spent the better half of the GP in buying enhancement boosters. I had a field day +5ing my BDR, BO3K, and a few armors here in there. Now you can tell I really had crap weapons (no wonder I barely survive in raids or in PVPs).

That done, I wanted to give Tala, my musketeer, a gift and so I purchased about 50 Mystery Powders to get her Outrage Shot veteran stance, as well as the Gigantic Blaster stance for my Grace Bernelli.

I gotta tell you that those MPs hurt a lot in the pocket, not to mention that those 50 MPs would've gotten me my Bai Hu NPC. T_T

I also sold a few vet scrolls here and there, giving me a good supply of vis to buy new stuff for my growing family.

Oh, and I made my first gamble in weapon upgrading that time. I've actually gone and upgraded my BO3K to +6! It's a big thing for me, knowing that I rarely take risks in upgrading or chipping my stuff. I'm very prudent when it comes to spending, and I rarely splurge on anything except for the basic necessities.

I likewise bought a few tickets to Los Toldos because I want my musketeer to be shooting like crazy in her new vet stance, and having two Elite Iron Pistols with atk speed stats will surely boost her capabilities. Although, I have to say that the lag in Los Toldos is completely abominable, that I was crawling my way to hunt for those pure otites. What a nightmare.

You can't hide from lag.

In the end, I'm left with...4k+ G-Points to my name. All that spending and I never got to buy my girls some nice costumes. Oh well, I guess I will have to save up again now that I'll be needing more GP for those 50 MPs to get Bai Hu next month.

Until then, it's back to leveling for me.

P.S.: Don't ask what I got from ABS. Nothing seems to be worth mentioning, not unless you want to buy a piece of Snake Skin from me. :p

Wings and 'dos! + Thank yous!

Thanks to our ever-reliable and updated source for everything GE, Doratomo, I've been ogling at these cool accessories.

*silenty thanks the gods that I can read a few katakana characters XD*

Wings: Red Sunset & Crystals

Red Sunset Wings

Crystal Wings

Nice, pretty, BIG wings! The Red Sunset looks like a cousin to the Chrysalis's, while the Crystal wings look like...uh...Las Vegas Showgirls-y. LOL. I bet my female elementalist would look the part of a showgirl wearing Crystal wings AND swimsuit. Hehe.

Hair: Fairy Bob

Augh...I'm not digging this new female elem hairdo. Her hair looks frizzy. I'd still go for the Sheep Horn hair any time.

Since IMC has made these accessories available (plus new costumes for Emilia and Bernelli), how about showing some love for the male Elementalist? I mean, come on...the dude deserves a makeover!

*goes over to a corner and sulks*

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In other news, I've just reached 10k+ hits! Woooooo! It may not be as colossal as NineMoons' 50k pageviews, but I'm not complaining! ^_^

Having said that, THANK YOU for always dropping by, commenting, and for reading this humble blog.

Watch out for an upcoming contest in celebration of reaching 10k hits AND this site's post-anniversary. ^^

The raid that went awry

I was a bit pissed this weekend because I couldn't properly plvl my Vicente because of the intermittent Internet connection at home, not to mention that I get frustrated just looking at the EXP rate.

On a whim, I joined my faction mates together with a few friends from Outcasts and Covenant to try the Gate of Hell raid somewhere in El Canon de Diabolica.

TK, OC and Covenant getting ready to dine in Hell

Needless to say, the initial foray in this raid activity was relatively painless. We were a big squad, so naturally the lag was expected. We were met with a lot of Grim Reapers, although we did not stray away from the mission, which was to kill all the Dragonhead mobs we encountered.

Grim Reapers galore

The more painful one was meeting Chrysalis face to face. Despite the fact that we had some Experts on the squad and some members who were wearing Fire series weapons, we were wiped clean by this boss. Save for a few OC peeps who managed to ress a few of us piece by piece, we still failed nonetheless.

Death by Chrysalis

We made a second try for this raid, but unfortunately, my fugly connection booted me out and I was unable to log on for quite some time. I gave up trying to get in (lest I throw my laptop out the window in frustration), although I am curious to know if ever they managed to defeat Chrysalis the 2nd time around.

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Is it just me or am I getting bored playing GE? All I ever do is grind, grind and grind. I need a breather.

WTH happened to the EXP?

I wanted to make the cut for my Vicente to reach Veteran before the month ends so I can get him the costume-prize. I've sacrificed my main team's plvling to Expert just so I can be eligible for the contest. But sadly after v.2.6 was patched, I noticed something unusual.

The EXP rate has dropped to an alarming level.

Normally when I use a Combat Manual and leave my leeching team overnight, say, in FT, the character I'm boosting gets a whopping 10 point level increase. But recently when I did the same thing, the level increase wasn't that significant.

What the heck is going on?

I've read in the forums that the reason why the EXP rate was so good before 2.6 was the fact that the 50% boost wasn't removed at all. I cannot vouch for the veracity of this statement, but this is really bothering me a lot. I mean, why is the EXP so effing slow even when you're using combat manuals. Is it just me or is everyone else experiencing this?

It bothers me a lot because I don't have the luxury of time to sit in front of the computer everyday to watch my team, nor do I have the time to play regularly. I want to reach Expert level soon, but if this is the case, that goal is going to be one heck of a long, impossible shot.

[Living GE] More impressive cosplays, & a loco greeting

Warning: Massive picspam up ahead

While taking some time off in leveling Vicente Rio (read: crap Net connections and uber crowded Bahia), I discovered another surprise, this time from renowned game website, MMOsite.com.

And lookee what I found...GE cosplay!

Pretty detailed Gabriella cosplay

Le Blanc Scout brandishing a dagger

Cath in Sugarplum Tutu costume, Karjalainen, Adelina, Viki (in both default and Hurdy-Gurdy attires)

It's Hrin's ex-BFF, Leticia

Holy smokes, it's Gracielo and his man bewbs!

Le Blanc Elementalist does a Naruto pose, complete with Rasengan!

Pretty Lisa Lynway

Idge the Battlesmith likes big ass swords

I won't be boring you to enumerate all the characters seen here since you're bound to recognize a few familiar faces. ^_~

Source:
ChinaJoy Cosplay Championship 2008: Granado Espada

...and on another note...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EL LOCO BLACKSWORD!

May you fulfill your promise to treat us out to a buffet of Buena Bonita Burgers. LOL.

Day 1 of Requiem

So, how was your 24 hours of no GE?

For me it was a bit of hell. All I could think of was finding a good name for Vicente Rio who I plan to recruit to my family once the servers went up. XD

First of all, I want to congratulate IAH for a good job in getting the servers up at the appointed time, even earlier than what was scheduled. I've been hearing stuff that the maintenance might get extended, but thankfully things pushed through with minimal glitches.

And so, the very first thing I did when I got my G-Points was to play ABS (with which I got more crap items lulz) AND finally recruit Vicente Rio to my family.


It was just a bit disappointing that he starts off at lvl 1 upon creation. T_T

I named him Lelldorin, after one of my favorite fantasy novels, The Belgariad.

Lelldorin, Baron of Wildantor and later husband of Ariana. Lelldorin is called "the Archer" in the Mrin Codex - Taken from Wikipedia

Unfortunately, there was no bard character in the series, so I resorted to naming him after the Asturian archer. I think the name suits him anyway. ^_^

Vicente looking happy to be a DeSanggria

And so, here I am in Bahia, pleveling my Lelldorin in the hopes that I get him to Veteran status before the contest ends so I can get his costume. It was later that I realized that I should've gone for the Tactical Assistance skill book (which requires 25 MPs to boot), before recruiting this RNPC to my family.

I r teh phailz. LOL.

P.S.: Let me just say that there's an overcrowding here in Outside Bahia. Obviously, everyone's in a rush to get this dude to Vet. So if you don't happen to own a Vicente Rio, now's the best time to grind at high level maps...there's nary a soul there. XD

[The Requiem Updates Part 3] The winds of change

With only a few days left until The Requiem patch, let me just give you added information on some of the things that are bound to change come this game update. And believe me, it's going to knock your socks off.

Let me give you a run down of the more important system changes.

1. Colony buffs will be deactivated during Colony Wars and Super Fights. This gives all participating players/factions an "almost equal playing field" during these events. By "almost equal", I mean that the only thing that will decide one's success in PK/PvP during CW and Super Fights will be one's equipment and skill.

2. Use of the colony warp which helped factions to warp between colonies will be disabled. So it's either you run, or stack up on your warp slots to defend/attack colonies.

3. Market deposit has been changed to give tax to faction who acquire colonies.
25% of market tax will go to the reigning Chancellor
75% of market tax will go to Colony holders

I believe this is great news indeed as we will see a change in the scale of power in the world map. Factions who have remained silent for so long will have more reasons to form alliances and/or go head-on in the weekly Colony Wars.

Here are some additional game features to be introduced in v.2.6.3:

New Items: Belt & Earrings

• Belts and earrings are accessories that have immunity rate and penetration options. Immunity - Prevent/ignores penetration, DEF and RES; Penetration - Ignores enemy's DEF, RES, Block and Evasion)

• Recipes for these accessories are found in Chaos Requiem. Idge and Karjalainen will be able to craft these trinkets.

New Recipes: Necklaces

• Some of the additional necklace recipes are as follows:

Physical ATK
Shooting ATK
Fire ATK
Ice ATK
Lightning ATK
Mental ATK

New Function: Group Chatting

• For the price of one microphone, you can create a group of up to 50 people where you can communicate with one another via group chat.

New Function: In-Game Notice Board

• By pressing CTRL + S, you can activate the server board.'

• Use one megaphone to change the color of the text as you write on the notice board.

New Game Functions

• There will be additional information at the character window which will show the Mental RES and Immune rate of your character

• Quests will be clusted in groups: [P] Pioneering Memorial Quests, [E] Elite Hunting mission, [K] Killcount for other normal hunt and correction quests.

New Premium Items: Costumes

• Some of the RNPCs such as Jose Cortasar and Karjalainen get a makeover with new costumes!

New Premium Items: 6th Barracks

• Unlock another barracks for your family and add more characters to increase your family level!

New Mini-game: Catch Spearfish

• I don't have an idea on how this works, but I'm thinking in the lines of the Catch Capybara mini-game in Bahia.

New NPC Face Textures

• Whoa! NPCs get a facelift? XD

Sources:
pCM Veya
Team IAH