Depression mode... again

Something really bad happened to me, and I really don't want to talk about it right now...

Because of that, I don't feel like I'll draw or write stories anymore, for that bad experience really destroyed the imaginative part of me. So there, I'll be back to my normal, uninspired self, and I don't care if I'll suffer from both artist's and writer's block, just to make my mom happy... T_T

I'll be in indefinite hiatus and leave behind the artistic side of me, and I'm sorry if anyone would not be happy about my decision. I hope there will be solace, so that I might be back to being imaginative and artistic...


Sorry about my ranting. Thank you and good night...

Going back to Manila in a few days...

I'll be traveling back to Manila togther with my older sis this coming Tuesday, since school starts for me on June 8. Throughout my vacation, a lot of things have happened, especially when I enjoyed playing Cabal. And believe me, my Force Shielder, Crestfallen, had been evolved lately, from being a lowly, inexperienced soldier, now she's a battle - scared templar who knows how to defend herself and others if necessary.

After 2 months of questing, grinding & leveling - up, Crestfallen was now at lvl 70+, currently wearing the Shadow Titanium Armorset for FS and wielding a Shadow Titanium Blade, as well as an Aqua Crystal for her Astral Shield. A friend of mine in - game suggested that I should reach lvl 75 so that we'll both have fun leveling & grinding in Ruina Station, but I'm afraid that I will not make it, although I will try to reach that level.

Since I'll focus on my priorities, I might not able to play Cabal again as always, so I'll let my friend pilot my FS in the meantime. If I have spare time after my schoolwork, I might log in and play.

Well, that's all for now. Jaa - ne! ^^

My first Cabal Nation War: Not a good start

Yesterday, my Force Shielder in Cabal, Crestfallen, had undergone a series of quests in order to choose a nation to fight with. The gut-wrenching part for me was the "Sacrifice" quest, especially when Yuan had announced that Naain had died, risking her life in order to protect and deliver important documents. Even Arionell had felt the pain, for she fainted after my FS gave her the second Apocalypse card, and Aike clenched his teeth as he promised himself to grow stronger before my FS was tasked to report the grievious news to Captain Mark. Perhaps that might explain the strange phenomenon that my FS wasn't able to retrieve the memorial core of the last knight after reaching the dungeon tombstone in the earlier quests.

So much for solitude. Anyway, after that, my FS went to the Officer in Port Lux so that I would choose a nation. After going through a short lecture about the two nations and the start of the upcoming war, I chose Procyon, for my guildmates were there as well.

In order to experience what's like in a Nation War, I joined the 10 P.M. war after stocking up on potions for survival. By the time I arrived at the Lobby for level 52 - 60, there were less Procyon members attending, and the opposing nation, Capella, had more members. Uh-oh, I guess we have to be more careful, especially if we're going all against one...

...and that was considered a stupid plan, for by the time we arrived at the battleground and charged in to attack one of them, Capella was already pounding at us all into pulps, and unfortunately, my FS was one of the unfortunate victims, for even with buffs and in Shield Master mode, I was still no match for them.

To add insult to injury, can you ever imagine that it would end in just a few minutes after all your nation cohorts got respawn back to the lobby? After my FS died, she received only 10 WExp, but unfortunately, second chances didn't exist there, for once a character bites the dust, it's just that. And with all the Procyon members wiped out, that only means one thing, and only one thing: Procyon has lost the Nation war. Way to go, Capella, give yourselves a pat in the back for kicking our asses. >.<

Oh well, I guess I needed to level up more so that I'll get the buff Shield Harden for my FS... -.-

Ahh... Finally at my parents' place

So here I am now, in my parents' place in Escalante City, Negros Occidental. Actually, it was a store wherein people can buy load and cellphone accessories, our family business. Our house was at the back, where my family sleeps after a whole day of work and other stuff.

Ok, let me tell you what I'm going to do for the whole summer vacation: I'll be focusing mostly on my Nevarethian adventures in Cabal, with both my FS, Crestfallen (she just had her Battle Aura a while ago, wehee!), and FA, Westphallia. If I have time, I'll create a Force Blader as well. And also, I have finished watching the 1st episode of Special A. I might watch the other episodes anytime soon.

But don't worry, I'll check if I might play other games mentioned in my previous entry, since the PCs used are somewhat faulty (and my father's picky when it comes to HD space, trust me). I have also tried a private server in one of my former favorites, RAN Online. What pisses me was when my female swordie got killed by PKers (both channels are PK mode, believe me).

About what I mentioned if I'll have unlimited Internet time, my aunt still has tight - ass rules at using it, meaning my time was still limited. I'll have 6 hours per day for the whole vacation. Looks like I must make the most out of it.

Well, enough ranting for now... Must continue my Cabal adventures. Later days! ^^

Rohan: My first encounter

I first heard of Rohan Online through a picture in my Dec. – Jan. issue of GAME! By the time I got my hands on the February issue, I was shocked to discover that this online game was featured as the cover story, so I skimmed through the pages until I discovered the basic walkthrough of the game. And so, finally, when I got this month’s issue, as what my friend Alcarcalimo had said to me beforehand, I received the DVD installer as one of the freebies (aside from the ZX Online CD installer, mind you). That was when I became excited to try it out.

 

I finally became intrepid enough to be one of the open beta testers of the game. But before I could enjoy what’s in the game, I had difficulty installing it. Not to mention read errors and incomplete installations by the time it stopped. I had to delete and reinstall several times before I finally succeeded in getting everything ready for patching. While I was waiting, I was somewhat confused on registering for the Rohan account, but thankfully, I managed to create one without going through the same process as the one I had before going to try out Perfect World. Believe me, patching and optimizing data may take a long time depending on one’s internet connection, not to mention having been warned about having one’s PC shut down once the patching was done, just before going through the optimization process.

 Once everything’s ready, I logged into the game using my registered account for Rohan. I chose to go to Silva server since Alcar was there, with his Elven priest (but he used his Dhan during the Closed Beta testing). During the character creation process, I decided to create a female Human knight, and named her Crestfallen, just like my FS in Cabal & Fighter in Fiesta. With my newly – created toon, I’m all set to start.

 My human first landed on the Tutorial Zone, in an area known as the Hall of Revelation. That was where I learned the ropes of the game, including how to attack, talk to NPCs, sell items, refine or upgrade equipment, etc. Yeah, it was really quite confusing at first, and even nervous, especially about forging and level / stat refining, but thanks to the quests given, I eventually got used to them. My most favorite so far was about the Monster Kill System or M. Kill for short, which gives bonus EXP every time I kill 20 mobs. Great, wasn’t it?

From rohan pics

Even the skills were quite good in effects. I eventually got curious on how each skill would look like, so I decided to learn first the first 4 skills, which were all about status ailments, and then I decided to try my first attack skill. According to the walkthrough in GAME!, not all skills would be needed. It would actually depend on what would be the build for the character. Since I wanted the usual VIT – STR build for my knight, I would concentrate on skills that would compliment the over – all capacity of the build.

So far, I’m having a great time in Rohan. I have to very cautious though, especially when it comes to blood – thirsty PKers who would do nothing but to ruin the player’s experience through PK, especially to poor newbies. By the way, if you want to know where my toon is right now, she’s currently in Einhoren, from the Human region of Del Lagos.

More Rohan adventures to come soon… Ta – ta for now! ^^

So here I am, in Nevareth once again...

I was able to return to the world of Cabal Online last Sunday, since I wasn't able to buy Lineage 2 load and the nearest store was closed, permanently. I was playing at Ingen, one of the internet cafes in Kapasigan when it happened. By the time Crestfallen (yeah, the same Fighter in Fiesta Online), my Force Shielder in Saturn, set foot to Nevareth once more, I noticed that I was given some sort of gift as a sign of saying "Welcome back!". Do you want to know what I received during that time? Well, I checked out my Cabal Cash inventory and was shocked to receive various types of Blessing Beads,for free!

Yep, you got that right, Blessing Beads, which gives you additional EXP and Skill EXP depending on the type & duration. I got the yellow - colored ones, with durations for 5 hours and 1 day. I even became curious with the purple - colored bead, which was actually for pets, since it will grant the user's pet more EXP (Don't know if pets in Cabal really level up, though).

After my FS completed her latest quest in Green Despair (She's lvl 17 - 18 right now, few more levels to go before going to obtain Battle Aura, weheee!), I created my Force Archer (in the same server, of course) and accepted the invitation to join in the Rookie Guild. Starting anew as Westphalia (the name for my FA) was almost the same as my FS in earlier levels, except that she first appeared in Green Despair, the starting point for both Force Archers and Force Bladers (which I plan to create soon), and not in Bloody Ice, the "birthplace" for both Warriors and Force Shielders. I knew that both the FS ans the FA had the same equipment, and that was none other than Crystals. But of course, the method of summoning Astral weapons was quite different. If the FS has the Astral Shield, the FA has the Astral Bow. Cool, isn't it? Believe me, having a unique style of shooting something was fun, except when those PK - maniacs killed me just to have fun, If they would say "Yeheyy!!! I killed another player!", all I could say was "Ugh! No way! Puhlezze!".

But oh well, at least it's worth my 2 hours worth of playing time in my rented PC to return to Nevareth once again. Cabal will be my second option in case I wouldn't be able to buy L2 game time.

That's all for now... Cheerios! ^^

Against my own shadow, my dark side

Every person has a dark side, his or her shadow. It would always take over that person, playing with his or her weaknesses that would cause him or her failure. But if you were giving the task (or advice) to face that shadow and conquer it, would you do it?

That's what I realized during the time Crestfallen, my fighter in Fiesta, was tasked to enter the Shadow Dungeon as part of her promotion quest. After I gave the Shadow Key (the way to access the dungeon) to the Grand Master in the Forest of Haze, I was asked if I'm ready to enter, but before I said yes, I first stocked up on HP / SP stones as back-up.

By the time Crestfallen entered the Shadow Dungeon, she faced her first enemy: her own shadow, which had more HP & SP than her normal self. I tried to kill her shadow, but her normal self died, thus I failed accomplishing it. I knew I had to hurry up because the dungeon has a 20-minute time limit.

She was spawned back to Argos by the time she recovered from her death. I had her weapon upgraded to +3 by Smith Ironhand, and I even bought one Shield Defense buff scroll from one of the vendors near the Storage Keeper. Because of her death, I became more fearful, but I forced myself to calm down for the sake of regaining my composure and to remain focused. And so, she mounted onto her mover on her way back to the Forest of Haze, but in the middle of Pebble Beach, I dismounted her and created some HP & SP potions, just before I resumed her journey.

Thankfully, I didn't have to get another Shadow Key in order to enter the Shaow Dungeon again, for I just to talk to that NPC again for her second attempt there. Buffed with Vitality & Shield Defense, she went in to the dungeon again. Just like in her first attempt, she faced her own shadow first. I dealt damage over her, and I was able to survive her attacks, but she ran away after I took out a chunk of her life, thus I have to follow her there.

Along the way, I had to kill Joker Kebings first, for they disturbed her normal self. She found herself in another room after the gate was opened after killing all of them. Then I had to kill all of those Raging Skeletons & even their Archer counterparts in order for another gate to open. I killed another set of those Joker Kebings again by the time the gate was opened, and so the room became pitch black. But thankfully, there was a blue way of light that led her to the path to the final room, since her shadow told her to follow that light in order to face her again.

By the time Crestfallen reached the ending point, the light went back on, and she was already in the final room. Just before her shadow appeared, she had to deal with those Sparrow Rogue mobs, including the archer & even that giant (I hope I said those names right). Alas, her shadow appared, and I had to kill her again. Adding insult to the injury was when the other mobs began to disturb her. My hands trembled as I spammed my skills (Too bad they have cooldown, though) and my HP/SP stones & pots for the sake of defeating it. But in the end, her shadow was finally killed, suceeding the dungeon, and I breathed a sigh of relief as she was teleported back near the NPC in the Forest of Haze.

She obtained the Sign of Promotion after she successfully accomplished the dungeon. And when I gave it to the NPC, I was given the option to choose the starting weapon for her new job. Since I wanted Crestfallen to become a tank, I chose the Roumen Sword (the one-handed sword type) as her reward, aside from fame. I couldn't help but to shout in jubilation as she was successfully promoted to being a Clever Fighter. There, promotion quest finally accomplished! Wohoo!!

With that experience, I can say that one must not be afraid to face his or her own fears. With faith, perseverance, and even with a little luck & inspiration, he or she will get over it, and that person's goal will become true in the end as a sign of accomplishment.

More Fiesta chit-chat to come soon. Later days!! ^^

Twilight + Fiesta Online + my clan alterations

Yesterday, I just watched Twilight together with some of my classmates in Megamall, and I'm impressed on how the story was presented. I noticed that there were some slight changes in the plot of the movie, for there might be some scenes coming from the book that were not supposed to be viewed. Despite not being able to watch the first parts, I was able to get the perspective of the movie.

For those of you who haven't watched the movie, it's actually based on the novel of the same title, authored by Stephenie Meyer. It's about a human named Isabella Swan who met a strange being, a vampire, by the name of Edward Cullen. As she discovers his identity and his connection with the vampires, she begins to accept him, and most of all, they have developed a relationship. I won't spoil the details on how all these happened, so you better watch the movie, or better yet, read the novel.

Last Wednesday night, I have tried a new online game called Fiesta Online. I first heard of it when I saw the poster on the internet cafe which is also the place for me to buy L2 load. I got the installer free with my December - January issue of GAME! magazine (I'm subscribed to the magazine, by the way). Eager to try it out, I deleted PW first, then I installed Fiesta onto my PC. I even registered for a MYGAME account (MYGAME's the local publisher of the game, the ones also responsible for bringing Special Force Online to the Philipines) so that I counld try it. Good thing the game's free to play, so I don't have to worry about buying load for it.

By the time the update's finished, I logged in and created a character. I named my toon Crestfallen (same as my Force Shielder in Cabal), for I chose to be a Fighter. Fighters can opt to be damage - dealers because of their two - handed weapons, or tankers because of the usual one-handed sword + shield combination. I decided to choose the latter path. By the time my toon was in Argos (the starting point), of course, I followed the tutorial quest, so that I'll get used to the game. Afterwards, I have to talk to NPCs who have quests available at ceratin levels. Yeah, you got that right, the quest system there is indeed similar to Cabal, with items, exp. points & even fame as reward. But still, I have to do these quests one step at a time, although it's better to combine one quest with another with a similar purpose.

That's also where my toon learned to pick out mushrooms & flowers, open clams, chop wood & gather herbs for certain ingredients needed for potions, buff scrolls & even enchantment stones (aside from killing mobs, of course). The Alchemy system is when you'll create potions & stones, as well as to assemble & decompose items (You can choose only 2 production skills, though). My fighter had learned potion production for my pots, as well as stones needed to refine items (believe me, refining items is still risky, as always). I even learned how to use a pickaxe as well for mining ores, as well as to use the mount to reach my destination faster.

As for my skills, I bought skill scrolls from the skill master when I reached the skill requirements. Good thing there's also Skill Empowerment designed to enhance your skills, like adding damage, increasing buff effectiveness & even decreasing cooldown time. Up to now, I still have to get used to that system.

Overall, it's indeed a great experience, although there are lags that would ruin the gaming fun (believe me, it still exists... ><). If you want to meet me in - game, whisper Crestfallen, and I'll try to help you in everything I can.

From fiesta online pics

As for my L2 life, I noticed some changes in my clan, HeavensOracle. My clanmate Hellborne replaced Iriss as the leader of the 2nd order, as the latter will join another clan. Even my clan leader, EvaRavenspell, had her Warsmith, MayaRavenspell, replace her main avatar as the new clan leader. But still, it didn't dampen my interest with the clan, as I made friends with one of the new members, beautyheal, a Bishop from Malaysia.

Well, that's all for my chit-chat. Later days... ^^