Due to a small request...

...I'm extending the contest deadline to November 15 at 1800 (GMT +8), or at the end of the maintenance schedule.

So if you still haven't written your story...the time is now!

Sorry I just had to say that. Hehehe. ^_~

Updates and reminders

I've been very much active lately in Caravaggio as I'm currently training my Bernelli (Riza), Emilia the Sage (Ehlana) and Elementalist (Armeo) with the hard-earned Combat & Tactics Manual I've purchased. The free Forgotten Territory passes given away a few weeks ago doubles my effort in pushing the DeSanggrias in this server to a much more decent level. And I'm happy to say I've accomplished in a much lesser time what I've spent 3 months of level grinding in Cervantes because now I have...

a levitating Ehlana/Emilia the Sage!!!! W000000t!!!!

Now I understand NineMoon's obsession over Wizards...these babies are really pretty once you get them flying around. Well, micro-managing is getting me in panic and all since I'm leveling her stances in time to get the really cool Photon Splash thingamajig. I can't wait!

In the meantime, I'm leveling Riza's shotgun stance to get to see what the Claymore skill looks like. As for Armeo, well, I find it funny seeing him in a croc suit with a pumpkin head. LOL.

The DeSanggrias in Cervantes are currently in hiatus, although I bought Alaena the Fighter a nice Sunset Striped Suit (which cost me a lot, actually T_T). I was planning to buy a Torsche dress for Verdandi the Elementalist, but was dismayed at the price. When I checked the price in Caravaggio, I was even more astonished to find the item below a million vis, contrary to the Cervantes tag of 2 million. @_@ Cervantes doesn't love me anymore.

Luckily, NineMoons lent me hers. Hehe. Now I only have to level grind Verdandi so she can wear the little black dress. XD

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I'm pretty much sure you've seen this in NineMoons' and the Reclusion blog...

Yes, we are joining the Fantazzztic Film Awards! And I'm particularly loving this 2nd teaser made by our equally fantazzztic teammate, Darrick.

Watch out for our entry this December! v^_^v

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Don't forget to join my mini-contest! Deadline of entries is already tomorrow, November 14, at 11:59PM (GMT +8). I will announce the winner the next day during the usual maintenance schedule.

Good luck to all who joined! ^_^

Colony Wars (11/11/07): The spy in our midst

This week's colony wars proved to be a lot more challenging, especially to the AdeptasFraternas Faction. The group's tenacity was put to the test as they had to contend with several circumstances that inevitably rocked the scale of balance in the world map of Caravaggio.

But before that, here's a semi-incomplete list of the factions that declared war on each other. I had difficulties logging in the game after the first hour of the war.

Ethereal v. Eclipse
SupperClub™ v. Eclipse
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
Onslaught v. Eclipse
EdeN v. RedstarAvengers
Azyr v. Eclipse
SupperClub™ v. AdeptasFraternas
Ethereal v. Azyr
SupperClub™ v. †Reβírth†
Azyr v. SupperClub™
†Reβírth† v. Azyr
iRreSistibLe v. Etherea;
EdeN v. Azyr
Azyr v. Ethereal
EdeN v. Eclipse
†Reβírth† v. SupperClub™
SupperClub™ v. Ethereal
Ethereal v. †Reβírth†

With only 28-33 people online that night, AF already had an impending dilemma on their hands, which was the defense of their 5 colonies. It was pretty much evident that AF was going to have a difficult CW up ahead as tension filled the air.

Some factions who do not have colonies banded together to make their line more solid in the attempt to break through the defense of those defending their territories. EdeN was the first to launch an attack on the AF colony in Katovic Snowfield. Revolution followed suit as it lay siege on Topolo Durga. Both of these factions were able to claim these colonies for their own as AF was unable to put up a stand to the overwhelming deluge of adversaries.

AdeptasFraternas & †Reβírth† battle it out for the Tetra colony

Meanwhile in Pradera de Ceniza, SupperClub™ was quite aggressive in attacking the said AF territory, thereby causing alarm from the members. Faction leader Welling was keen in ordering a full force attack on EdeN's Hermanas colony and to just retake their lost territories once they've succeeded in claiming this particular target. Things worked out well in the beginning, as AF was slowly able to fend off the defenders from their attempt, but were inevitably pushed back by EdeN at the latter part of the assault. They were thus forced to abandon their seige in Hermanas.

By the middle of the war, AF had lost all of its colonies as they were deluged by simulataneous attacks. The guys made an effort to reclaim their colonies by attacking Tetra Hill and El Lago de Tres Hermanas. However on both these attempts, they were always thwarted by the defending factions holding these territories. It was at this moment when people speculated the presence of a spy within the faction.

AF gets a clear shot of the colony

With the clock ticking to the last minute, Welling advised everyone to move to their last stand in Katovic Snowfield in an effort to reclaim their "true" colony. The spy theory was further confirmed when a team of EdeN faction members awaited AF within the colony pillars to engage them in a heated battle.

Azyr makes an attempt to conquer Tetra Hill

And so on that Colony War night, AF was colony-less for the second time. Yet I'm pretty much sure these guys are coming back next week with much, much vengeance.

Congratulations to all factions! Great war indeed!

Contest! ZOMG!

Yes, it's an early game maintenance today and I have decided to host a small contest for my readers who continue to visit my blog despite my infrequent updates. Hehe.

Here's the thing. I will post 6 in-game screenshots and you will be tasked to write a story using all pictures. There's no limit to the number of words, so you can explore as much as you want. The most creatively written fanfic will win these goodies:

1st: GE premium poster, postcard, ballpen, pin, a pair of Divine Angel Wings
2nd: GE premium poster, postcard, ballpen, pin

This contest is open to all GE players of all servers in all countries. :D (Yes, I will shoot myself in the foot as I will personally mail your prizes if you are outside the Philippines or Metro Manila. Mwehehehe).

And here are the screenshots:


Deadline of entries is next week, November 14 at 11:59PM (GMT +8). I will announce the winner the following day here in my blog of course. ^.~ Email your entries in desanggria at gmail dot com with the following information:

Real Name:
GE Family Name:
Server:
Faction (if applicable):

Once the winner is declared, I will get in touch with him/her to know their mailing address (if in case the winner resides outside the Philippines or Metro Manila), or for a possible date and venue for a meet-up (in case the winner resides in Metro Manila).

Join now!!! Special thanks to my sponsor, pCM Veya, for the goodies. Mwehehehe.

Colony Wars (11/04/07): Slowly, but surely

The days prior to the Sunday war in Caravaggio was steeped with drama as AF's leader, Welling, expressed his desire to step down from his position due to a lot of reasons. Thankfully, he has decided to stay on to lead this formidable group. Having said that, let me now proceed with this week's event recap, starting off with the factions that declared war:

Onslaught v. EdeN
Onslaught v. SupperClub™
Onslaught v. AdeptasFraternas
Onslaught v. Revolution
Ethereal v. Eclipse
Ethereal v. Revolution
Azyr v. Ethereal
SupperClub™ v. Ethereal
EdeN v. Ethereal
RedstarAvengers v. Eclipse
VietnamIdols v. SupperClub™
SupperClub™ v. RedstarAvengers
Eclipse v. Azyr
AdeptasFraternas v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
Ethereal v. RedstarAvengers
Revolution v. AdeptasFraternas
Symphony v. SupperClub™
Justice v. SupperClub™
LiberatiFatali v. EdeN
VietnamIdols v. Revolution
Symphony v. AdeptasFraternas
ReBirth v. AdeptasFraternas

That's quite a number of war declarations compared to the previous wars. And from what I've heard, there were plans of various factions to gang up on Ethereal in order to decimate its hold on majority of the colonies.

True enough, several groups declared war on Caravaggio's leading faction. Onslaught, for one, started declaring war to four factions simultaneously, and within minutes before the actual start of war. Meanwhile, AF has decided on an attack at SupperClub™'s Pradera and Tetra Hill colonies at the last hour of the war, all while standing by to defend their 2 colonies in the Desolate Cliff and Katovic Snowfield.

At the first hour of the war, Caravaggio was surprised with the first conquest that night: Ferruccio Junction colony by the ReBirth Faction. The said group has been active in the previous wars, having occupied at least one territory, but only to lose it in the end to another faction. In this particular skirmish, ReBirth was unable to defend their lone colony and, yes, they did lose it eventually to Ethereal.

Meanwhile, the plan to attack Ethereal was slowly taking place. In the Deserted Quay, Revolution took up the challenge to attack one of Ethereal's territories with the use of rotating blades and a barrage of skills. Surprisingly, there was little or no resistance from Ethereal, and Revolution was able to claim the colony for their own.

Revolution attacks Ethereal's Quay colony

Other interesting skirmishes I was able to witness was the one in Tetra Hill, where VietnamIdols tried to attack the SupperClub™ colony, only to be overwlemed by the impenetrable defense of its owner. And similar to ReBirth, RedstarAvengers was only able to claim the Diabolica colony for a short time, only to be defeated by Eclipse.

AdeptasFraternas takes a whack out of SupperClub™'s Pradera colony

AF made true its plans to attack SupperClub™'s two colonies, as well as an additional one. There were also outsider attacks on their colonies, such as its previous owners wanting to take back what was previously theirs, only to be backtracked by AF's concerted and well-organized defensive strategies.

SupperClub™ goes head to head with AdeptasFraternas

The war took its toll on Ethereal as it succeedingly lost majority of its colonies during the first hour and a half from various factions. This struck a blow on the morale of the group members, after being regarded as one of the factions to reckon with. However, Ethereal managed to get back on its feet as it was able to reclaim half of what was lost to them.

After the two-hour war, most of Caravaggio's players agreed that this was one of those action-packed colony wars that deserved an appreciative nod. Hopefully, next week will be just as much exciting...or even better.

Congratulations to Ethereal, Eclipse, AdeptasFraternas, EdeN and Revolution for acquiring/defending colonies!