BlogSpeak

The Blogger editor thingy gave me hell, but I managed to set up a way for anyone to leave their comments, courtesy of BlogSpeak.

Game on.

Fynn Elunium, Thief of Morroc

Here's my only character on the pRO Loki server (shown is his combat stance where he wears a dorky Hat and one of those annoying Smiley Masks the King of Prontera keeps promoting, and his sitting position, while waiting for his date in a room at the Pronteran Inn):

Selrotta, Archer Inept

Blitz's constant travelling companion, Selrotta is also a member of A.E.G.I.S. Adventurers. She calls herself "Archer Inept" but she's a better shot than Blitz ^_^ (she's shown here wearing a Red Bandanna).

Laire Allicran, Knight of the Rune

And here's a picture of my knight in pRO (wearing a Helm and Sunglasses... he lost his Phantom of Opera Mask in the 7-day rollback 'coz I was playing with it at the time >_<;;):

Blitz Harper, Fate's Falcon

Here's a picture of my hunter in pRO (he's wearing an Apple O' Archer, Purple Glasses, and a Flu Mask):

An Acolyte's (ongoing) Tale

Not a flash movie, but definitely cool, here's the ongoing account of an acolyte's journey through Rune Midgard: Enelya Vardamir's Adventures in Philippine Ragnarok Online. This daily journal chronicles Enelya's thoughts, experiences, and hopes, on both pRO servers (Chaos and Loki). May fortune smile on you, good cleric!

An Assassin's Tale

Here's a flash movie that'll touch the hearts of most RO players out there. It uses text-based illustrations and BGMs from RO and .hack. It's Japanese-created, and the "Engrish" is pretty bad in most places... but somehow, I was too caught up in the story to notice the typos and grammatical errors. Enjoy!

"Assissin is a very strong job!"

Returning to the fold...

Hi, everyone. I'm very sorry for my absence this past few months. But like I said in my previous post below, "Ragnarok Online has taken over my life..." Heh. Well. Since the game's beta test period in June, until it ended last August, and up to now, which is the second week of pay-to-play service, I've adventured, explored, fought, died, loved, laughed, triumphed and lost in Rune Midgard. And I am looking forward to more experiences still.

My pRO Characters
Here's my two characters in Philippine Ragnarok Online (pRO). They're both on the Chaos server (I've not created any characters for the Loki server yet).

Blitz Harper Hunter Lv. 60/30—Also known as "Fate's Falcon", this mysterious hunter hails from the Forests of Payon. He has travelled the length and breadth of Rune Midgard as an archer, from the Mandragora-infested woodlands northwest of Prontera City to the Hode-spawning ground south of exotic Morroc in the Sograt Desert. Together with his guildmates and a few other travelling companions, he has braved the depths of the Pyramids in Morroc as well as the Coal Mines north of the magical city of Geffen. After these wanderings, he returned to Payon to join the Hunters. He now hunts the Argoses and giant Argiopes on Mt. Mjolnir, with his falcon, Beat, and the huntress Selrotta and her falcon Chopper, as his constant companions. As the world spirals ever closer to Ragnarok, it is yet to be seen what part Fate's Falcon will play...
Guild: A.E.G.I .S. Adventurers [ Fate's Falcon ]
Pet: Rottie Lv. 3(poring)

Laire Allicran Knight Lv. 63/35—this self-styled "Knight of the Rune" once wandered Rune Midgard as a swordsman, fighting the ever-growing monster tide, and aiding those in need. He has since been inducted into the ranks of the Knights of Prontera. While he has mastered the skill of Cavalry, he currently eschews riding Pecopecos. He has fought against the Golden Bug at the end of the Pronteran Culvert, but was unable to defeat it; the reason why Thief Bugs still infest the underground waterways. He has also explored the Undersea Tunnels beneath Byalan Island, helping keep the monster population there in check. He has also taken part in the A.E.G.I.S. Emperium Hunt which scoured the caverns of the Orc Dungeons. Recently, he was last seen near the Sunken Ship, just off the coast of the merchant-city of Alberta, looking for Success, to commission the hard-to-find master blacksmith for the forging of two star-wrought katanas, one with the power of the winds and another with fire. As Ragnarok approaches however, he knows the weapons will be of little help, but he has no choice but to try.
Guild: A.E.G.I.S. Explorers [ Knight of the Rune ]

Well, that's all for now.

Game on.

Ragnarok Online has taken over my life...

This June marked the start of the beta test period for the Philippine Ragnarok Online MMORPG*, and it also marked a fundamental change in my life.

On June 11, I acquired the free Ragnarok Online CD and immediately installed the game client. Then I connected to the 'net, created a game account on the Level-Up Games site. Noting down the password they provided, I launched the game, which then proceeded to download the latest patches, a process that took all of 20 minutes on my 56.6 modem. Finally, I was able to enter the game itself! And it was then that I got hooked. I'd find myself waking up during the wee hours of the morning just so I can adventure some more with my character during the off-peak hours....

As MMORPGs go, Ragnarok isn't actually that groundbreaking. But the anime-ish 2D characters and the rich 3D world both combine to provide a certain magical charm. Most of the game is mindless hack-and-slash, but it offers the same thing the popular Muti-User Dungeons do: a dynamic world populated by "real" people where adventure lurks around every corner.

The Philippine Ragnarok Online beta test will last until August after which Level Up Games will most likely switch to a prepaid scheme just like their "chat game", OzWorld. As if I needed another vacuum for my money...

So until I join Ragnarok Addicts Anonymous, you can catch me on the Philippine Chaos server as the swordman, Laire Allicran, who specializes in two-handed swords...

*Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game

Golem Destiny

Golem Destiny has a new home:

What's Up?

I swear, my posts are getting rarer and rarer by the week... Anyway, back here in the Philippines, the Holy Week had ended with Easter Sunday. The vacation time was much-needed and refreshing allowing me to catch-up with my RP gaming. Yep, had a marathon D&D session starting last Wednesday up till Easter Sunday (well, not actually a marathon but pretty close to one). I was taking my gaming group through the Sunless Citadel and they're almost done with the place. We'll probably see the final battle next session... Which reminds me to set up the Forge of Fury module as a sequel.

What I'm Doing...

... on my PC:
Pleurghburg: Dark Ages -- point-and-click adventure game by an independent company, Gaspop Software.
Icewind Dale 2 -- CRPG based on the Baldur's Gate engine modified for D&D 3e.
Legion Saga 1–3 -- Suikoden-esque CRPG created using RPG Maker 2000.

... on my bedside table:
The Path of Daggers -- 7th volume of the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

... on my TV:
Alias -- cool spy drama series on AXN.
CSI -- 21st century Sherlock Holmes set in Las Vegas; also on AXN.
Rave -- fantasy anime; again, aired on AXN.

... in my head:
The 2nd installment to the Golem Destiny, a series of stories I've recently started.

That's all for now, folks. See you all later, and game on, always.

Golem Destiny

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. I've had problems with my computer, and real life's been hectic as well. Anyway, I've started another weblog over at we::blog. It's called Golem Destiny, and it's supposed to be a serialized story of sorts: a sword and sorcery romp through another world plagued with wars and gigantic walking weapons. Check it out! There's not much at the site right now except for a short teaser, but I plan on changing the template soon, as well as starting the story...

Game on!

If I was insane...

What Psych-Ward do you belong to?

If I was a computer component...

Which Computer Component Are you?

Which Tarot Card Am I?

Which tarot card are you?

Wrestle d20

It's finally out. Wrestle d20 is a pen-and-paper RPG about professional wrestling, based on the d20 Modern SRD. Players create their own professional wrestler complete with signature moves and styles, and fight it out in various circuits. This wonderful RPG pharaphernalia is being published in electronic format by Fantages Studios. I contributed the descriptions to some of the wrestling moves in the game. If you're both a wrestling fan as well as an RPGer, you'd like to take a look at this ruleset. Wrestle d20 is being released as a 5 different modules at RPGnet Mall (I think the first 3 modules are already out; the others released at a rate of one module per week).

Icewind Dale II

Just got this sweet game last week, played a few hours' worth, and then settled down to write this. The game uses the tried-and-true Infinity engine, used by Bioware in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, among other AD&D CRPGs. This time, though, it's been modified to reflect the 3rd Edition of the D&D game system. Finally, a single-player game based on D&D 3e! The game also features a familiar interface (at least for fans of the Baldur's Gate games as well as Planescape: Torment), tough battles, and an action-packed storyline set in the past of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Had to stop playing after getting my entire party wiped out by a bunch of goblins...

Man, half-goblins are tough. But I'll definitely return for more hack-and-slash fun...

Game on!

I am Trunks!

My iRL D&D Stats

Took this online quiz at

http://blanchard.virtualave.net/war/dndstats.html

and here's what I've got:

Strength 13
Dexterity 9
Constitution 11
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 12
Charisma 15

Actually, not so sure about my answers (especially the Strength part which asks you how many pounds you can benchpress... it's not like I can easily look that up on my ID, along with my bloodtype...) Still it's quite amusing...

Game on all.

Been There, Done That

I've had a relatively fruitful Christmas vacation:

1) Finally finished reading Robert Jordan's A Crown of Swords as well as Piers Anthony's Dragon on a Pedestal (reducing the Wheel of Time and Xanth reading backlogs...)

2) Played through The Longest Journey (PC/Graphical Adventure) and Final Fantasy IV (PSX/RPG - rerelease of the classic SNES game), resulting in a reduced gaming backlog.

3) Done preliminary research for my graduate seminar topic and thesis proposal...

Despite that, there's still a thousand things that need to get done:

1) Study for my oral comprehensive examination due this summer...

2) Read Robert Jordan's A Path of Daggers and Piers Anthony's Crewel Lye: A Caustic Yarn.

3) Finish Final Fantasy V on the PSX and Zork I on the PC (using the sweet WinFrotz client).

4) And all those other things that deserve my attention but can't think of right now, since if I did, I'd probably be typing this the whole day.

Well, so many things to do, so little time. But I guess that's just how it goes...

Game on.