Christmas wish, granted!

I was already hoping for the worst because of my Internet connection at home. Thankfully, the forces of nature cooperated with me and I was able to hang out in the game...just in time to see Santa's quirky laugh all over the server notice.

And speaking of Santa...this one cracked a joke or two while delivering presents to the noteworthy players. I'd have laughed along with the rest, if not for the fact that I was anxious as hell. Santa called quite a number of players and I was already half-expecting that he'd go bye bye, along with my hopes of ever getting chosen.

And then there it was! My name was called! I broaded instantly, even without knowing what wish Santa was granting me. Then he said I got an MBB, which is quite cool really (although I did say I'd be happy to have the White Cristatus even more than the GP or IOTM haha!). I was finally able to breathe easy after that.

Well then, I'd be getting the codes on Monday since Santa's got no work on weekends. Anyway, I'm just happy as a pea on my comfortable pod. But before that, here's a list of winners of Rembrandt's Naughty or Nice Day 2! Sorry...I would've listed down the winners on yesterday's event, but crappy Internet is crappy.

Inanna - 70k GP
Zanhaart - 70k GP
* Revolucion
Visquante - Elite Skullic Bracelet
fizz - 70k GP
Jezardi - Elite Rescue Suit recipe
VaqueroZ - 70k GP
Segnir - White Cristatuis
* Souken
** Ziendemonium
Drakezion - Elite Bone Frame recipe
Nivnal - 100 ABS
SuperiOrity - Bracelet of Ziz (but at his insistence, Santa changed it to the Bracelet of Behemoth)
Claimore - MBB
Philistia - 70k GP
Atkasha - 100 ABS
*** Casafuego
Thallmann - 70k GP
Icarus - MBB
Milycius - 100 ABS
DeSanggria - MBB
PepperILU - MBB
DraclouZ - 70k GP
Nieve - Bracelet of Behemoth
Arconis - Elite Destruction of Steel
Niji - White Cristatus
TheDevFamily - White Cristatus
*Sephies

* names were called but were offline
** Santa joked about giving this dude an Elite Echo of Steel RECIPE! So I didn't know what Santa really gave him (told you Santa was on a joking mood that time).
*** Santa said this player was getting an evil bunny. Like, wth? Again, I didn't know what he really got.

Here's just a few observations/comments after the event:

• I was really surprised to see so few people who joined. Last year, the pages were really very long, and the entries were really great. I was just wondering why there were only few entries.
• There were no machinima/video entries. Majority of submissions were screenshot comics and poetry. *coughmyentrycough*
• 90% of all wishes were 70k GPs. And Santa actually gave a whole damn lot of them.
  
• So much for asking for ELNs! Hahaha. Good thinking though. :p
  

I just remembered that I also won in last year's event! I got an Elite Ringmail, back when I was in Caravaggio. My last year entry was a lot cuter too (took a bunch of pics of my stuffed toys and made a comic out of it LOL), but this year wasn't all that bad. I did get help, you know. Hehehe.

Congratulations to all winners! Have a Merry Christmas, everyone!

Trouble in paradise

There are about 350+ people online at the GE forums right now. Usually in an ordinary day when the game is at its usual, error-free state, you won't find that much number of people hanging around.

And that means, that there's trouble in GE paradise.

I haven't been online in the game since Wednesday, but I've been regularly checking the forums for updates and stuff. Apparently, this Thursday's maintenance went from an unforeseen extension, to ad hoc, to server reset. And like always, all hell breaks loose in the forums. Just take a look at the General Discussion page and you'll see scores of complaints, expletives and demands on the irregularities they've experienced in-game. The only thing they need are torches and pitchforks and we have an angry, flaming-happy mob.

It kinda makes me thankful that I haven't been playing for the past 4 days to experience all these. It just gets so tiring and repetitive to be seeing scores and scores of threads relating to technical problems and concerns. Since most of the people hang out in that particular section of the forums, threads are being created at the wrong location, making the forums cluttered and untidy.

I don't wanna fan the flames. I do understand both the players' and IAH's position and I'm siding with neither. But for the sake of everyone's sanity, I just wish there would be:

• just one thread enumerating all technical irregularities, game bugs and errors so that IAH can properly take action. Imagine weeding out all those threads which are basically just saying the same things. Sure, sure, everyone's pissed. But if we don't act like sane humans and work together to solve these problems, we'd all just be wasting each other's time.
• some sense of maturity not to go around running like a headless chicken, screaming profanities. No amount of cussing or swearing will solve the situation at hand, nor will it bring back the lost time from all those ATs, CMs and other consumable premium items.
  
• an area where people can calmly discuss these concerns after the dust has settled. I'm thinking more in the lines of a dialogue between IAH and the gamers to properly inform both parties on what happened before, during and after the incident.

In the meantime, why won't people just chill and do their other responsibilities in REAL life?

Adieu, CARNAGE + DeSanggria in GAME! Mag blog!

As constant as the setting sun in Coimbra, we shall remember the memories with much fondness. Adieu, CARNAGE Faction...

...and so we bid farewell to one of the power house factions in Cervantes, CARNAGE. I was particularly saddened at this news, but such a thing is but normal in the world of GE: factions disband in order to create stronger alliances. With the merger of CARNAGE and Anonymous, I do hope for greater things for this faction in the wars to come.

This faction is particularly close to me as it was the first guild I ever joined in Cervantes. I remember congratulating Overseer in their tournament in Singapore, and after which I received an invite to join his faction. From then on, I enjoyed the game even more with so many fun people to talk to and to get a few tips as well.

CARNAGE has been admired as a strong, solid faction even before the game's CBT days. I know a lot of people were equally disappointed as the group has finally bid its farewell on the map 2 CWs ago.

As they say, change is for the better. So I'm reaaaally hoping for great things from ASA Faction. ^.~

===

DeSanggria featured in NineMoon's column in GAME! Magazine Online!

Many thanks to NineMoons for the opportunity. And to everyone else, do check out her column for the interview. ^^;

===

In next entry, Caravaggio Colony Wars results!

le pimpage

I haven't considered myself a serious gamer. True, I've played my share of console games, although I'm not that skilled compared to my brothers. I also do not spend countless hours finishing a boss stage, nor do I spend money in buying gaming titles. But that was before Granado Espada. In fact, I've become more like a chronic gamer everyday because of this. I look back on the person I was before and compare myself to who I am today, and I find a stark contrast between the two.

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GE changed so many things in my life, among which is my blogging and cosplaying hobbies. I find myself blogging more about the game (and even creating this separate blog account for pure GEek talk XD) and posting a lot of GE stuff in forums. I like meeting fellow GEeks and learning useful stuff about the game. The NineMoons Family in particular share a lot of tips and useful insights about the game, now that it in the Pre-OBT stage. The game is so rich in stories that I enjoy taking screencaps of my family's exploit to write my own story amidst the GE backdrop. I haven't seen myself dedicated in such a task for a long time.


Cosplay-wise, I'm collecting loads of reference pictures for reference. I scour the Internet for all images I can get of a particular character. And I'm quite thankful that the game allows various camera angles as well as the diversity of the characters' attires. I did not have a difficult time looking for pictures of my first GE cosplay, the Fire Elementalist. I was able to get a hold of various pictures in many angles of the said character. It helped me conceptualize and explain to the seamstress how it's supposed to be done. The result was a fantastic real-life rendition of Verdandi's current costume.


While wearing the costume in the e-Games event, I was able to meet GE's Regional Community Manager, Hrin, in the

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flesh! If it were not for my introverted streak kicking in that time, I'd have loved to talk to her in a better circumstance. She even said she loved my costume! W00t! That meant a lot to me, coming from the game's RCM no less.

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I'm currently planning to cosplay Idge Imbrulia, who also happens to be my favorite NPC. I was able to do a bit of research about her & found out that contrary to her tomboyish look, she was actually a maid in Illier before moving to Granado Espada. I like her profession as well—she shows a lot of strength, skill and wisdom for someone who's in a job deemed to be a "man's world". The costume's going to be a lot of work though. The details itself look very challenging. I hope I can work on this as soon as I finish another priority cosplay sometime in July.


GE has totally made a significant influence in my life. And I've never been excited about a game like this!