Boss hunting and Spinelle Wars

It's been a busy Sunday for me ever since I found a way to play GE at home; one, being the fact that I was able to power level my main team in AT, and the other being able to witness today's Colony Wars yet again (it's been so long and I kinda miss the action).

I was just actually hoping to watch the war from the sidelines since I've been piqued for eons about the clamor against the use of spinelles during CW. But then, I got an invitation from Southernsky to join a few people in the Secret Temple. I happily obliged since I had a lot of time on my hands.

The ugly git staring right in front of me.

The whole activity was really fun, except the part where we waited for what seemed like forever for Chaos Boneless to appear. And when the fiend did, it just popped right out of my face, taking me off-guard. We weren't successful to take down Boneless since we were just a few, not to mention the fact that he monster had an abnormal HP regeneration ability.

And so, I was finally able to take a peek at some of the maps. When I got there, I had my first taste of the so-called Spinelle Wars.

Imagine the morbid, ugly faces of those mini-bosses coming at you in droves. I wasn't even halfway near the colony when I spotted these critters running around a few meters away. And like what was previously said, the lag took a swig out of my computer's processor and wrecked havoc. I was dead even before I could say "Thoracotomy". =_=

What a sight for sore eyes. Me being chased by Fallen Champions in the most noob of maps.

Southernsky and I just thought of cleaning the place from these critters, but then again, if you're fighting an entire mob, even those wearing elite 92s will get the most epic buttsecks of their lives. Either that or the abominable lag.

It's funny how some people whine and complain about the imbalance of using spinelles to defend a colony when in the truest sense of the word "war", everything will be dished out to the opponent, whether they fall into the "honorable" criteria or what. Yeah, yeah, who wants CW with endless lag and hordes of spinelles, right? I really don't have anything else to say since everyone said them already, but then again, that's the sad fact of war. It brings out the worst in people.

Well, I guess it's just that and because no sane gamer and faction will pass up the chance to win those goodies they promised for War of the Factions III.

And I'm willing to bet on Montoro's ass that we won't be seeing any "gratz to all colony holders" posts in the CW threads after this. At least, nothing remotely sincere for that matter.

Rembrandt's first CW

Now that I've gone solo, I'm trying to keep my Sunday's sacred, i.e., catching up on resting, family affairs and basically some real life fluff. But today counts for this family's return to the war zone as it's Rembrandt server's first Colony War.

I didn't want to just observe and bore myself to tears, so I lent a helping hand to some friends who needed my services. And so, with my trusty Scout & Vicente Rio, I headed off to save some warp points at the designated areas. But that was before I nearly tore my hair out trying to log and relog because for some reason, I was always shifting in and out of the log in screen every time I moved to a new map or tried to enter channel 1. Good thing I didn't give up easily and my perseverance finally paid off.

I didn't finish the task of saving in all the area required maps, though good thing I was able to allot some space for the more crucial locations. At this time, the connection was being cooperative so I didn't waste time ressing my squadmates here and there.

Needless to say, I nearly ran out of resu pots reviving the others. Eminence, CarpeDiem, Osiris, BlackReaper and other Carracci/Pachelbel Factions came from all sides in Tetra Hill and were really duking it all out on the red dots. Thank God I wasn't in a PK server otherwise my cleric purpose in the squad would be of little use.

Despite being busy with the task of resurrecting the fallen ones, I was just bowled over with the tenacity and persistence of some former Pachelbelian factions who really showed their mettle out there in the battlefield. I never really did underestimate Pachelbelians despite the fact that Carracci was the senior one in terms of existence in the game. There really is no reason why Carracci factions should think differently of these groups because in all honesty, these guys can unseat any faction with a colony right now.

I mean, jeeesaas, look at Osiris with 4 colonies. O_O

Now this is gonna look interesting with regards to the faction alliance. *rubs hands eagerly*

On another note, I'm slightly peeved the way the broads were churning out that time. I mean, can't people stop talking about Carracci vs. Pachelbel beee-es? Those servers are long gone. It's about time factions started carving out new faces in this new server. Let it rest, jeez.

I'm happy to say that we did a good job, my squadmates and I (along with their faction). The fight was intense, that I must say, but exciting nonetheless. Man, at that point, I missed having a faction. Hehe.

Gratz to all colony holders for the week and here's to a more interesting CW for Rembrandt!

Sorry if there are no visuals to accompany this post. I was in a LAN shop and I was lazy to take screenshots with all the excitement going about. ^^

Post Script: Woooot~! The drama takes over Rembrandt! A former superpower in Pachelbel gets their first taste of defeat in the new server, thanks to their former allies.

This is so surreal...

My Vicente is but 5 more notches before Veteran, and yet I'm feeling a tad bit lazy to level him up. I must control the urge to slack off. *repeats mantra to herself*

I'm currently parked in Zone 2 in the Island of Fire, and while on AFK mode, I chanced upon this item that I was able to pick up for the first time.

Curious to know what this Mystic Ampule was, I clicked on it and later on found out that it was a 3-in-1 potion that gives you intensify, acceleration and meditation buffs. Neat-o.

Oh and that's not just the only observation I had.

Of course, we all know that the Chaos Requiem map is now out, not to mention the mysterious Tierra del Amor location that NineMoons noticed before. But look at the area just above Chaos Requiem.

Tierra Putrefacta, a lvl 118-122 map. Hmmm...I wonder what that place looks like.

And did any of you notice the screenshot? Yep, I just took that picture today, and you guessed it right...the colony maps have not been reset.

And today is the first Sunday of the month, Colony Wars day.

WTH is going on?

[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

An interview with the Republican President

The beginning of the month saw through the election of the Royalist Duke and the Republican President. We can all say that Colony Wars from this point in time will be fought with much ferocity and ardor, now that the stakes have been drawn and the challenge has been issued. But do you really know your Duke and President?

In this entry, I interviewed the first Republican President of Carracci, †Bayushi†, faction leader of Outcasts. Read on to know more of his plans as the leader of the Republicans, his efforts to mobilize the Alliance, and how his being President has shaped the way he leads his faction as a whole.

Family Name: †Bayushi†
Faction: Outcasts
Family Level: 24
Main Team: Actually this depends on the situation since I intentionally made a lot of characters which will best suit the faction’s activity. I have 2 Claude Baudez (LordClaude and Lord Oliver), 2 fighters (Hitomi no and Empress Kachiko), 2 Catherine’s (LadyKatherine and LadyCatherine), Emilia the Sage (Megumi no) and an Elementalist (Karina no).

DeSanggria (DS): You won the President seat by a landslide. Why did the Republican factions agree to let you take the helm without so much a competition?

†Bayushi† (B): The Republicans placed their trust in Outcasts Faction since we are always active every CW. Also, the Outcasts displayed good showmanship when it comes to every aspect of the game. Being the faction’s leader, the Republicans entrusted the task of the Presidency to me as they believed I can lead them all into battle with the Royalists.

DS: What are your plans as the President of the Republicans?

B: Gearing up the Alliance is the first task that we are doing right now. We all want to give the Royalists a good fight and to make a stand as Republicans, and so we want to equip ourselves with the right ammunition, armors and weapons-wise, as well as battle tactics. But I believe the Republicans go beyond the concept of winning the war. We want to be a united Alliance. As the Republican President, my main goal is to mobilize the Alliance to move as one, to win as one, even to lose as one. Winning and losing is part of the game, but I’d rather have us lose as one team, than to achieve victory as separate factions.

DeSanggria poses with Mr. President

DS: If given the opportunity to be the Chancellor, how will you distribute the tax among your members and the Republicans?

B: This is a very hard task since every Republican faction has varying numbers of attendance every CW. I think the best way to do this is to have a weekly attendance per faction to be submitted to the Alliance auditor, then sum it up, divide the tax by the total number of members present during that CW in order for all players to have an equal share in their hard work.

DS: How has the Presidency changed the way you run Outcasts as its Faction Leader?

B: Some of my members keep on calling me Mr. President, His Excellency and a lot more, but generally speaking, the faction management hasn’t changed since the elections.

DS: How will you mobilize the Republicans into a strong, solid Alliance?

B: For now, all I can do is to educate each faction leader about the appropriate attitude which best suits the situation of the Republicans here in Carracci and to bring it down to their subordinates. An alliance must always have faith and trust within the group in order for us to achieve our goal. Also, since it is hard for us to gain a colony because of the dominating presence of the Royalists here in Caracci, we must always do our part and avoid pointing fingers every time we fail. This will lessen misunderstandings and unwanted debates which happened with the old Republican Alliance.

†Bayushi† and his l337 toys

DS: The Royalists have dominated the Carracci map for a long time. How will the Republican Alliance change this?

B: As of now, the real issue here is about numbers. The ratio of the Royalists versus the active Republicans is 3:1 or even 4:1. We are trying hard to have more active members in order to increase the population of the Republican Army.

“We may not win this war, but we will meet them in battle nonetheless.” – Theoden, Lord of the Rings Two Towers and Return of the King

DS: What can you say about the Royalist Duke, Chan (FL of Destiny)?

B: Chan is a good friend of mine and I know he will be a responsible Duke and Chancellor. He speaks rarely but is very friendly.

†Bayushi† wearing the Sword of Freedom

DS: What's the best thing about being the Republican President?

B: More work, no pay. Just kidding ^_^. Popularity and respect is what I earned from being the President of the Republicans. I am enjoying it, but I really am not used to being addressed as Mr. President because I prefer being called by my name, Riko.

DS: Any message for the Republicans and the Royalists?

B: Faith is all it takes for us to achieve our goals. Trust is what we need to have a solid foundation with the people who share the same vision. We are the Republicans of Caracci! Through faith and trust, we will move on to survive as one!

The state of the Republican Alliance in Caracci

With the recent map reset, the map of Granado Espada once again starts on a clean slate. And with the map reset, we all know that the only biggest obstacle that lay in any faction's sight that night was about TIME.

Last Sunday's war was my first time to actually participate in the Caracci CW, after patiently waiting for my internet connection not to screw up on me. And so, together with the Outcasts army, we made preparations for the war up ahead. After previously saving in some spots in Katovic, Ustiur Uno and Dos, Scorching and Via Fluvial, the guys headed off first to the snowy fields up north, while I stayed behind to await the next target (I couldn't very well save a warp point to Katovic as I'm still a fledgling weakling XD).

The fight was fast because it was not long before Destiny faction claimed the colony as their own, as they've done so many times before.

We made our way next to Scorching Plateau, in which I was quite excited as I was able to help out in whacking the beacon. It was in this close enounters in colony breaking that I realized that the colony's HP can only last for a few short minutes before finally giving in. And trust me, if you have a deluge of Diegos spamming blenders, Feng Lings, Vikis and levitating Wizards to sweep the competition, you're going to have one massive and messy war.

Our initial targets were soon occupied by the Royalists, with only a few colonies left without owners. I can't very well remember our failed attempts, but I do remember that we got KSed a couple of times, but we eventually owned Bonavista and El Canon de Diabolica (kindly correct me if I'm wrong), that was, until after we were swept by 3 Royalist factions.

Seeing red in Bonavista

Another Republican faction by the name of WarGodz was able to claim Jezebel Glen (again, please correct me if I'm wrong ^^), only to be warred upon by several Royalists.

I may not know the whole political picture of the Royalists and Republicans in this server, but I am just amazed at how the Royalists manage to floor over the Republicans week after week. I may probably get flamed for this, but if ever there are any Republicans or Neutralist factions in Caracci who are reading this, I think it's about high time for a revolution. This goes especially to the Neutralists: make a stand. The odds maybe against the underdogs, but their time will come. It's just a matter of standing up and standing proud in spite of adversities.

Colony owned!

I've received word as I logged in to Caravaggio last night that †Legion† owned a colony last Sunday!

Wooohoo Rion Praire!

It may be a short-lived ownership, but nevertheless, I'm very happy and proud of my faction. Kudos to FL Spardo, Lekz and Leks (our dual expert brothers) for leading the group.

My first Colony Wars in Caracci

Last Sunday's CW session was my first attendance in Caracci under Outcasts. So far, my main team's still at lvl 94 (must plvl soon, I know) and needless to say, this has been the laggiest CW that I've ever attended.

Everybody else in the entire server felt no need to start declaring war at precisely 8PM. For a while, several broadcast chats spammed the server, asking if there was no war precisely because of the eerie silence that ensued. Sometime at 9PM, everyone in the faction was mobilized for a planned assault on Scorching Plateau and the Bonavista River. We all converged at one spot in Coimbra, and at this time we already felt the lag that was to come in battle.

Outcasts meet at the Sea Elephant Cafe

At the appointed time, everyone warped to the first target in Scorching Plateau and was concurrently seized after a skirmish with HuntorHunted Faction. Next, we set our sites on Bonavista, although our first colony was already under attack.

It was at this point in time when I witnessed the Royalist alliance in action. The powerhouse faction of Destiny made an appearance and decimated us Republicans with much ease. As for me, I could barely move an inch as I received the brunt of countless AoE skills spammed by the opponents.

The battle at Bonavista

We may have lost the colony we got, but it was nevertheless an exciting match (sans the lag XD). I'm looking forward to more action come the monthly map reset.

[Picspam Aftermath] POGS 2008 + Thoughts on CW

As most of you all well know, the Philippine Online Gaming Summit (POGS) 2008 was held at the TriNoma Mall. As part of the GE PH team, I spent my Sunday covering the event, along with my GE blogger friends.

Right at the mall opening, there was already a long queue of people buying their copy of GAME! Magazine, which serves as their ticket to the event. I felt quite proud to see the latest issue being sold like hotcakes, with the GE cover story written by none other than NineMoons.

Anyway, I spent most of the day hanging out with NineMoons, the Reclusion brothers, Fixdotter, Mena, Sigrid, BlackSword, and a few other new found friends from Caracci. Speaking of which, I've observed that the Caracci players are rather active in attending events, though it would be nice to see a good representation of PH players in all servers in GE-related events.

Anyhoo, there was much activity in POGS, starting of with the 2vs2 PvP Tournament in which some of the GE bloggers took part of, along with the AdeptasFraternas boys (who emerged victorious in the tourney as expected :P). I was also able to bully ask the technical peepz to play on the big screen two of the winning entries to the Fantazztic Film Awards: Not Another Love Story? and Lonely Hearts Club II.

The event was also an opportune time for us to have an unofficial bloggers' meeting when we had dinner that night. We've talked about a lot of things, mostly about the game and the community, and a few other stuff. But before I ramble further, I'll kill your browsers with some of the pictures in the event. Hehe.

GE PH Bloggers DeSanggria, Darrick Reclusion, NineMoons, Mena, pCM Veya, Fiksdotter, Nate Reclusion

Charles (Outcasts Faction), Darrick, Fiksdotter, Sigrid, me, NineMoons, Mena & Sigrid's friend (forgot your name wah! T_T)

Nate showing off his babies wearing Le Blanc and The Bracelet of the 3 Kings ( * 3 * )

An endless sea of people...

Another vanity shot from the boys.

Mena & Fiksdotter prepare for the tournament (with photo is GE PH Product Manager Ivee Feria)

Fiksdotter-Mena Team of Takhisis v. Pinkzy-Hudiciaro of AF

The Reclusion brothers all prepped up for PvP.

Lonely Hearts Club II on the big screen!

pCM Veya gets interviewed by the POGS host.

Me & Veya with the AF boys.

Nabbed from Fiksdotter: GE Bloggers Tea Par-tay! XD

===


Since I wasn't around to take peek at yesterday's war, I was naturally surprised to see Reconquista down to 5 colonies from last week's 13. O.O Shocking indeed.

Meanwhile, EdeN and Eclipse are getting back on track with 5 colonies each. Not bad, people. ^_^

We have familiar faces on the map again this week, but this time, it's more of a proverbial shift in power. Congratulations to all colony holders! ^_~ Here's to seeing more diversity in Colony Wars in the weeks to come!

An open letter

A recent post from my friend and fellow CW correspondent, NineMoons, brings up the issue on CW reporting.

I was shocked to know that our buddy and fellow reporters, the Reclusion brothers, have given up on reporting as well. And based from NineMoons' post, it looks like they too suffered the same as I did in Caravaggio.

Many in my server have asked about the absence of the reports for Caravaggio. I believe it's about time I said my piece.

I was previously accused of playing favoritism on AdeptasFraternas, my first faction in Caravaggio. During the first few weeks of my reporting, I talked about AF and their war strategies and exploits, taking note of the other factions who likewise waged war. It was one report that was brought up to me, saying that all I ever talked about was AF and nothing else.

After that report, I was repeatedly flamed and jeered in the forums and in the public broadcast as well. Welling was not spared from this; he was probably flamed even more than I was because of the fact that I happened to be this faction leader's SO.

And so, I left AF so that I won't have to bring the faction down with me. Although I admit to my mistake of frequently highlighting the faction, there was never a thought in my head to play favorites. You see, no one can be everywhere all at the same time. Back then, I was still getting to know the server and the people in it.

But of course, not everyone was quick to forgive. For weeks on end, I still encountered people in the server who jeered at me and continued to say nasty stuff behind my back. Until one particular CW where one player actually PKed me while reporting, I thought, what the heck, I'm calling it quits. Regardless of the fact that people say this is a PK server, my point is that whether you are in a PK or non-PK server, respect is still of great importance. I thought that since some of the players are so into CW, they can probably do the reporting themselves.

I never asked for anything in this job. I only wanted to participate in the war in a different way since I could not be much of help to the faction I'm in. The dynamics of the war piqued my interest so much, and I wanted to get to know the people in this server after transferring from my former home in Cervantes.

But as they say, you can't please everyone.

I lost so much when I took on this job of reporting. I really lost so much. But life goes on. I'm actually enjoying being a normal gamer once again. Although my current faction, †Legion†, is rather small and we have few members, I look forward to the day we can go to war as well.

I wrote this piece not to gather sympathy from anyone; I just want to clear up the issue. And I just want to remind everyone that this is just a game that should not run over relationships nor break long standing friendships. You don't have to trudge on everyone's toes just to prove your greatness.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the people who've expressed appreciation in my reports...you know who you are. Many thanks as well to the AF peeps for being my first friends in Caravaggio, and to †Legion† for their continued support. Thank you also to all the people I've befriended while staying in this server...and to that one person who made it all worth my while.

I just do hope that people can be a bit more kind.

Colony Wars (12/16/07): The last one

You all probably know that there will be a colony map rest come the v.2.4 patch, so this is technically the "last" Colony War pending the Bahia Island expansion. For starters, take a look at this week's map in Caravaggio:

Also take note of the following factions that declared war that night:

Revolution v. Azyr
SupperClub™ v. Revolution
Justice v. Revolution
SupperClub™ v. Reconquista
Reconquista v. Azyr
Justice v. Reconquista
RedstarAvengers v. Reconquista
†Legion† v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. Reconquista
Fusion v. Reconquista
Fusion v. SupperClub™
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Revolution
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution
Justice v. RedstarAvengers
BaRuRotBoYz v. RedstarAvengers
Azyr v. Reconquista
*‹‹€ª§tErñDrªgõñ›› v. Reconquista

*warred after the official CW time, but truced a few minutes after.

This war proves to be one of the most lackluster fights, with only so few waging war. For a while, everyone thought there wasn't going to be any war at all, as many were coincidentally offline. Nevertheless, the show went on with SupperClub™ taking down Revolution's colonies at the first half of the war. And since few Revolution members were able to defend, it was but inevitable that said faction was able to claim it.

SupperClub™ does its best in whacking Revolution colonies

Meanwhile in Rion, a mixture of factions such as the defenders Azyr, Justice and Reconquista were gathering around the said colony. For a while, I thought of an ongoing alliance with some of them, only to find the notice announcing Reconquista's war declaration on the current colony owners. Azyr put up a good fight against the aggressors, but such was the number and agility of Reconquista that soon, Rion fell into their hands.

In Rion: Awaiting before the battle starts

Speaking of alliances, a new one was borne out of RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz as they teamed up to take Reconquista's Jezebel colony, but was later on neutralized.

RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz in Jezebel Glen

At this time, EdeN faction made an appearance by conquering additional colonies in Ferruccio Junction and the contested Jezebel Glen. Revolution, who was previously wiped out from the map at the start of the war, was able to secure Tetra Hill after battling with Justice, RedstarAvengers and BaRuRotBoYz.

The previous no-war agreement between EdeN, SupperClub™, Revolution and Reconquista was not seen in this war as well. Pradera de Ceniza, which was long held by SupperClub™ fell to Reconquista after a heated battle.

Bodies litter the earth in Pradera

Towards the end of the war, AF faction leader, Welling, made an appearance and warred Reconquista, but was unable to grab any colonies with the time constraints.

Surprisingly though, Eclipse was a no-show in this war.

For a recap, here are the results this week:

Reconquista - 11
Revolution - 1
EdeN - 4
SupperClub™ - 5

And now let's hear it for the faction leaders on what they had to say for this week:

"We (EdeN & Reconquista) were allies from the start. They had too many colonies so we just took some for HP boost. Anyway, it's going to be short since reset is on Thursday. To put it short, we call it political strategy planning."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

"We are sister factions together with AF and PasawayProphecy. It's a kind of fellowship of the 300; if we merge, the ultimate number is 100. We all stay autonomous, greatly relying on trust.

This week we started by attacking Reconquista, but we realized that they had the whole faction. LOL. Towards the last 15 minutes, we kind of decided to change battle plans by attacking Revolution, but too bad the lag killed us all."
- RedstarAvengers of RedstarAvengers

"It was fun! We teamed up with RedstarAvengers to challenge good defense of Reconquista, but unfortunately, EdeN got the last hit (in Jezebel Glen). It was cool. We had great time with RedstarAvengers. Next time prepare for trouble, and make it double."
- CityJailerz of BaRuRotBoYz

Right after the end of the war, Revolution's leader, Tine, broaded that he will be passing on the leadership torch to another member. Here are Tine's words in my short interview with him:

"It was fun. Although we have lesser colonies, it was nevertheless fun. I'm leaving GE for the better."

We wish you all the best, Tine! ^_^


This is also the last Colony Wars report I write for Caravaggio. It's been a pleasure meeting all leaders and interacting with everyone; it's been fun and a great honor as well. Congratulations to everyone and see you all in v.2.4!

This is DeSanggria, signing off. ^_~v

Colony Wars (12/09/07): The return of the comeback

First up, here's an overview of the conquered colonies this week:

I was actually hoping for a similar intense fight like last week's, but I guess a few known factions were able to bask in the anxiety and excitement brought about by the war. For a recap on war declarations, here's the list (which may be incomplete as I had problems with my connection that night):

Reconquista v. Eclipse
EdeN v. AdeptasFraternas
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
Revolution v. Fusion
Azyr v. Reconquista
Eclipse v. EdeN
RedstarAvengers v. EdeN
Azyr v. EdeN
Revolution v. AdeptasFraternas
BaRuRotBoYz v.SupperClub™
Commander v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Revolution
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution
Reconquista v. †RêßïrTh†
Fusion v. Reconquista
SupperClub™ v. Reconquista
BaRuRotBoYz v. Azyr

The first half of the war saw through a lot of conquests from various factions such as Reconquista (Diabolica), EdeN (Rion Praire & Bonavista), and AdeptasFraternas (King's Garden). Once again Reconquista defended against 5 factions simultaneously attacking their colonies, and even before other groups assembled for an attack, Reconquista's forces were already deployed to defend their territories.

Fusion defends Tetra colony from Revolution

As usual, I checked on Tetra colony to see if Fusion was holding up to their defenses against Revolution. At one time most of the defenders were slowly being decimated but nevertheless, Fusion put up a good fight and gave their opponents quite the time. Revolution, however, overwhelmed them and were able to claim the colony soon after.

Over at Porto Bello's Deserted Quay, a handful of SupperClub™ members were already assembling at Revolution's territory. Surprisingly, these people did not even touch the colony, until only after sometime I learned that they were standing by in defense for Revolution. I concluded thereon that alliances among faction were in the works that night.

Azyr attacks EdeN's Rion territory

The Rion Praire was also one of the contested colonies that day. As EdeN was the first to wrest it away from AF's hands Azyr likewise took a chance in getting the territory. AF was watching on that time, and so Azyr was able to grab the colony without much contest. But of course, EdeN did not go down easily and prompted several attacks on Azyr to reclaim the Rion.

Meanwhile in Pradera de Ceniza, newly-formed faction BaRuRotBoYz and a few SupperClub™ members were deeply engaged in a small skirmish.

SupperClub™ and BaRuRotBoYz skirmish in Pradera

All the while when these fights were breaking out, some colonies were already exchanging hands such as those in Bonavista, Katovic Snowfield, Rio Albi and Lago Celeste. Also at one point during the war, Eclipse was once again exchanging colony ownership with Reconquista. Eclipse was able to grab Hermanas colony, but Reconquista was quick to snatch it from them. With AF's case, Azyr was likewise whacking the colony simultaneously back in Rion once again, and so it was with the former that the colony fell ownership at the very last minute.

Other noteworthy fights that night were those of Commander and Reconquista in Jezebel Glen. Small attacks were launched at the Reconquista territory, but with such small number against the formidable defense of the colony owners, their troops were decimated easily.

In Diabolica, Eclipse members have gathered forces to launch a sneak attack on the defenseless Reconquista colony. A few seconds after they've started hitting the beacon, Reconquista members appeared by the score rendering the otherwise surprise attack futile.

Eclipse gather forces to launch attack on Diabolica

Revolution and Fusion likewise showed their mettle at the standoff in Topolo Durga. The fights were actually a few meters away from the colony as Fusion cannot get near the beacon to actually hit it. However at the latter part of the fight, Fusion was slowly gaining ground and were soon able to push forward to whack the tower. Not to be outdone, Revolution continued to defend and was successful in keeping their colony.

Commander puts up a fight against Revolution

In the middle of the rush to defend and grab more colonies, AdeptasFraternas and Eclipse bore the brunt of the combined attacks of Reconquista, Revolution, EdeN and SupperClub™. In the end, their previous colonies were seized by these factions. I've likewise noticed the absence of some faction leaders such as those of ZONE and Justice to name a few.

Anyhoo, here are this week's colony owners:

Azyr - 1
EdeN - 1
Revolution - 3
SupperClub™ 5
Reconquista - 11

And here's what some faction leaders have to say about this week's war:

"We teamed up with AF, RedstarAvengers, and Revolution to fight Reconquista and EdeN, so we attack them together and just kept going. There were lots of fighting in Rion; I think there was AF and some Eclipse people, Reconquista and EdeN too. We got overpowered when fighting Reconquista...there was just too many of them. But this week was really intense and we are happy to hold Rion."
- AzureRain of Azyr

"We had an agreement not to war Revolution, SupperClub™ and EdeN, so we concentrated on Eclipse and AF. I must say, they are strong, but we did very well this week. Allying with EdeN is the right choice for us because they keep their promises. I just want to say thanks to all my members for attending CW and EdeN for the ally."
- Century of Reconquista

"It was not as exciting as last week as Reconquista wanted peace with us. But well, the war with Fusion and AF was good too."
- Tine of Revolution

"It was challenging for us this time around because factions put up good defense. We gave King's Garden a try to fight Reconquista just a quick one to test the waters, but they defended well. Fusion had a great time in war today. Strong resistance from factions made war a nice battleground."
- Velante of Fusion

"Our plan was to wipe off AF and Eclipse from map, but in the end Reconquista benefited from this. However, this is the best CW we had in months. Eclipse and AF were clearing us this time, but unknown to them, Reconquista was already attacking them."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

Hmm...a lot of my questions were answered by the leaders in this query, so I'd like to thank them for their time in answering my questions. Nonetheless, congratulations to one and all for putting up a good fight!

Colony Wars (12/02/07): Tipping the scale of balance

This week's war goes to show that Caravaggio is indeed one of the highly political servers in Granado Espada. Today we'll see how factions work to tip the scale of power from the current rulers to other groups. This week also saw to a lot of war declarations, perhaps the most number of declarations so far in any CW session as well.

EdeN v. SupperClub™
RedstarAvengers v. Ethereal
Reconquista v. Ethereal
Justice v. Ethereal
Revolution v. Ethereal
AdeptasFraternas v. EdeN
Azyr v. Ethereal
†RêβïrTh† v. Ethereal
Commander v. SupperClub™
Reconquista v. Revolution
Untitled (sp?) v. Ethereal
Reconquista v. Azyr
Reconquista v. Justice
RedstarAvengers v. Justice
Reconquista v. †RêβïrTh†
Fusion v. Azyr
RedstarAvengers v. Reconquista
ZONE v. Reconquista
Reconquista v. Eclipse
Commander v. Reconquista
AdeptasFraternas v. Reconquista
EdeN v. Reconquista
†Legion† v. Commander
Revolution v. Fusion
Commander v. Fusion
†RêβïrTh† v. SupperClub™
EdeN v. Azyr
EdeN v. Reconquista
Commander v. Eclipse
Fusion v. Revolution
RedstarAvengers v. Revolution

I've already heard through the grapevine that Ethereal's faction leader is permanently indisposed, and naturally, all the other factions will eye Ethereal's 5 colonies. But before I headed off to war, I asked a few faction leaders regarding their plans. Here's what they said:

"We war Ethereal, that's all. Unless some other unexpected things happen, then we might have a change of plan."
- Tine of Revolution

"Maybe at the last minute we participate in the war, then go KS."
- HikariX of ZONE

"We're still finalizing plans, but our first target will be Tetra Hill."
- Alexania of Justice

"Basically we have now decided to face the end of Ethereal by wiping them off the map. As usual, we will always be on the offensive."
- IceFox of †RêβïrTh†

As speculated, almost all factions wanted to get a piece of Ethereal's lands. And with a character so unlike Ethereal, no one defended their colonies, thus, conquests from other factions proved to be easy.

Or maybe not.

With no defenders to ward off unfriendlies, Ethereal's colonies had 2-3 factions laying siege on the towers. And so, these factions started declaring war on each other in order to clear the way to get them close to actually whacking the towers. One such occurence I was able to notice was that in Tetra Hill where Justice made good on its initial plan to target the area. But RedstarAvengers was already there first, so it was only a question of time on which faction this colony will fall into.

RedstarAvengers arrive at Tetra Hill

Reconquista at Rion Prairie

While doing my usual rounds in checking the colonies, I noticed a new faction by the name of Reconquista, who seemed to be quite the sought-after group as the other factions were constantly declaring war on them. I learned that the said group were formed by the ex-Ethereal members who've decided to band together upon the absence of their leader.

Reconquista and Revolution battle for Quay colony

One of the earlier fights of Reconquista that I was able to witness was with Revolution in Porto Bello's Deserted Quay. I arrived just in time to see the war declaration with the two groups right at the colony itself. Both factions put up a good fight as neither refused to relent despite massive casualties. Finally, the said colony was won over by Revolution.

Meanwhile, other factions began claiming other territories as well. Eclipse, Azyr and SupperClub™ were able to land new colonies, and so they were likewise subject to defend their land during the first half of the war.

Azyr defends Ferruccio colony

In Tetra Hill once again, Justice had to contend with two enemies in the person of Reconquista and RedstarAvengers, as both factions made simulatenous attacks. Meanwhile in Quay once again, Reconquista gets back at Revolution as they try to make a bid for the colony, and this time around, they were successful.

Reconquista gets back at Revolution

Pradera de Ceniza was well defended by its current owners, SupperClub™. A few families from Commander made an attempt to grab the colony, but was thwarted by the guards manning the tower.

I noticed that the Tetra colony was one of the most contested territory by other factions as there were many attempts to wrest it from its current owners. This time when Reconquista managed to get it from Justice, they were faced with 3 factions warring them (Justice, ZONE & RedstarAvengers). Soon, the colony changed hands from Reconquista to Fusion, then to Revolution, until Fusion made the final claim in the end.

A few of EdeN members take a whack out of Eclipse colony in Diabolica

AdeptasFraternas in Reconquista's Hermanas colony

It's EdeN v. Azyr in Ferruccio colony

Quay colony owned by Revolution

While other factions were busy getting and defending colonies, I noticed the persistent exchange of territories between Reconquista and Eclipse, specifically those of the Ustiur colonies. It came to a point when Eclipse colonies were constantly under threat from Reconquista, but the former incessantly got back their colonies and vice versa. Time became the juror of these battles as Reconquista was successful in claiming both Ustiur colonies at the very last minutes of the war.

The end of the two-hour war saw through the following results:

EdeN - 4
Reconquista - 2
AdeptasFraternas - 5
Eclipse - 3
Revolution - 2
Fusion - 1
†RêβïrTh† - 1
SupperClub™ - 3

Some of the faction leaders were gracious enough to provide their thoughts on this week's Colony Wars turnout. Let's find out their insights below:

"Well, it's fun. GG. Although we are new, almost all war us, I love them all. I think we did a good job with 50 people online. Peace! ^_^
- Century of Reconquista

"I had a lot of fun this week. Lots of action with Ethereal, etc. and I really enjoyed the entire two hours of this Colony Wars."
- Tine of Revolution

"Well, you see, small factions can't really stand up against huge factions so we need help. We sure lost to Reconquista, but if a lot of factions come together, we have chance. We need more people to play GE, otherwise, not enough people."
- HikariX of ZONE

"Lots of colony changing hands today. Suprised that Fusion got Tetra twice. I suppose Reconquista's the new Ethereal and it's gonna be something as expected. They hit us and took our colony (Ferruccio) away on last few minutes."
- AzureRain of Azyr

"We attacked Tetra because it's our aim but unfortunately, we failed due to lagginess and too many players attacking. This is only fun mode because we're not going to take colony, just ally with ZONE and other factions."
- alanyuchenglun of Commander

"Of course, it's very exciting; was fighting Reconquista the whole night. Just too bad we weren't lucky enough to score last hit. We were attacking almost all Reconquista colonies except those in Ustiur. Reconquista is still a strong team and can't be taken lightly, but we'll try again next week."
- RedstarAvengers of RedstarAvengers

"Based on absence of IsDope (Ethereal leader), the fall of Ethereal is imminent, thus the creation of Reconquista is something that happened too fast. We dunno about their existence, thus we forgot about whacking it but at least it's a slightly balanced situation now."
- Tsumura of EdeN (vice leader)

"It's a tiring war for Eclipse. We fought EdeN then changed target to Reconquista because they hit us. I would like to thank all factions that helped us; they kept Reconquista busy while we fought them. Nevertheless, they were able to get our colonies at the last minute. With that said, I made 3 points: one is quantity over quality, second is the help of our friend to boost quantity, and lastly, you have to exchange colony with the time in mind."
- Wooot of Eclipse

Congratulations to all factions who participated in this week's war! Let's make history happen once again next week. ^_~