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Monday, January 26, 2009

2ND GE PH Communtiy Gathering Aftermath

Because many GE players wanted to have another gathering, so we'll give it to them
The 2nd GE PH Community Gathering was held last January 24 at Phooze ICafe at the Anonas Complex in Quezon City

We tried an Internet Cafe as the new venue so the community can enjoy playing GE during the gathering. Good thing the owner of the Cafe is also a GE player and he gladly accepted using his shop as a venue for the gathering.

There were some new comers and new players that attended the gathering which is a good improvement to the community
and also some retired players showed up and still gave their support to the PH Community

The GE gamers in the gathering


Sigrid and Kincaid listening during the discussion

And as usual, we've talked about the major problems Filipino players are experiencing; from the lack of advertising of Granado Espada in the country to the 70k gpoints accessibility problems.

We also discussed about the project for the E-games Domination like the cosplays, merchandises and promotional posters, the GE cosplayers managed to showed some of their finished props like Kincaid's Phobitan Knuckle. NineMoons also showed some concept arts for the promotional poster and calendar and also a desgin for the ID lanyard

GE Gamers discussing on their costumes for the cosplay


NineMoons with the Phobitan Knuckle weapon

Sadly, there is still no E-Games representatives that showed up on the said gathering which made the players think that E-Games are ignoring or worse, abandoning the community and the game itself

After the discussion, the players continued to hang around with other GE players and enjoyed a gaming session of GE and other LAN games like DotA and Left 4 Dead

AUGLab enjoying a quick game of DotA


Welling and co. duking out in DotA


Clairemont and Serpentes having fun in GE

Overall the gathering is a blast like the previous one, And I'd like to thank again all the players who attended the said gathering, to CM Hrin who still support the community, NineMoons and Greeniot for the pictures and to Nunik (LeCat) for letting us use his shop for the gathering





And don't worry, there will still be another 3rd GE Gathering in the future, so stay tuned GE gamers

till next time...

*side note
During the same day, DeSanggria and the other GE cosplayers made a pictorial on Fort Santiago, Intramuros, Manila. You can check the pics here

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Epic Fail on NTC

If your a person who uploads pictures on friendster, post comments on forums, make articles on blogs or even play online games, what if your required to pay a license in order for you to do any activity in the internet. Would you feel violated? or you feel like you being stripped off your rights?

Well the blokes at NTC are proposing a law that requires online users to register for a license
and it cost around P6000 annually

Full proposal:

====================================================================

2 December 2008 draft

MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR
No. ______________________

SUBJECT: GUIDELINES ON THE PROVISION OF CONTENTS, INFORMATION, APPLICATIONS, AND ELECTRONIC GAMES

WHEREAS, the 1987 Constitution fully recognizes the vital role of communications in nation building and provides for the emergence of communications structures suitable to the needs and aspirations of the nation;

WHEREAS, the promotion of competition in the telecommunications market is a key objective of Republic Act No. 7925 (RA7925, for brevity), otherwise known as The Public Telecommunications Policy Act of the Philippines, which mandates that “a healthy competitive environment shall be fostered, one in which telecommunications carriers are free to make business decisions and interact with one another in providing telecommunications services, with the end in view of encouraging their financial viability while maintaining affordable rates.”

WHEREAS, RA7925 further defines the role of the government to “promote a fair, efficient and responsive market to stimulate growth and development of the telecommunications facilities and services”;

WHEREAS, the provision of contents, information, applications, and electronic games to the consumers creates demand for telecommunication networks and services – the development of contents, information, applications, and electronic games should therefore be encouraged and facilitated;

WHEREAS, the entry of more contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers in the market will result to lower prices benefiting the consumers;

WHEREAS, to further encourage the development of contents, information applications and electronic games, the prevailing access charge regime between the contents, information, applications and electronic games providers and the networks providers which is revenue sharing should be replaced by fixed access charge;

WHEREAS, in the power sector the consumers can purchase their power requirements from independent power producers – power producers are not subject to nationality requirement;

NOW, THEREFORE, pursuant to RA7925, Executive Order (EO) No. 546 series of 1979, and in order to encourage and facilitate the development of contents and the provision thereof to the consumers, the National Telecommunications Commission (Commission) hereby promulgates the following guidelines:

A DEFINITIONS
1. The following terms as used in this Circular shall have the following definitions:
a. Content – refers to all types of contents delivered to/accessed by the users/subscribers such as music, ring tones, logos, video clips, etc.
b. Information – refers to all types of information delivered to/accessed by the users/subscribers, e.g. road traffic information, financial information, visa application information, etc.
c. Application – refers to all types of applications delivered to/accessed by the users/subscribers, e.g. mobile banking, electronic payments, point of sale service, etc.
d. Electronic Game – refers to games played online except gambling.
e. Contents Providers – are persons or entities offering and providing contents to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers.
f. Information Providers – are persons or entities offering and providing information to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers.
g. Applications Providers – are persons or entities offering and providing applications to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers.
h. Electronic Games Providers – are persons or entities offering and providing electronic games to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers.
i. Contents Developers – are persons or entities creating contents.
j. Information Sources – are persons or entities providing information to Information Providers.
k. Applications Developer – are persons or entities creating applications.
l. Electronic Games Developer – are persons or entities creating electronic games.

B REGISTRATION
1. Contents, Information, Applications and/or Electronic Games Providers, Contents Developers, Information Sources, Applications Developers, and Electronic Games Developers are required to have commercial presence in the country and shall secure Certificate of Registration (COR) from the Commission.

2. There shall be no nationality requirement for contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers, contents, applications and/or electronic games developers and information sources.

3. The application for registration shall be filed and acted upon by the Commission not later than seven (7) working days from date of application.

4. The application shall include the following documents:
a. Valid registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Department of Trade and Industry and Articles of Incorporation;
b. Facilities lease agreement with duly enfranchised and certificated public telecommunications entity; and

5. The Certificate of Registration shall be valid for a maximum period of five (5) years. Applicants for registration may opt to apply for shorter period not shorter than one (1) year. Certificates of Registration shall be renewable.

D FEES AND CHARGES
1. The following fees and charges shall be imposed:

a. Filing Fee : PhP 300.00
b. Annual Registration Fee: 6,000.00
c. Surcharge for late : 50% of the annual registration fee if application
filing of application is filed within six (6) months from date of expiry
for renewal 100% if filed after six (6) months from date of expiry

E RATES
1. The rates shall be deregulated. The contents, information, applications and/or electronic games provider shall inform the Commission of the rates for each of the content, information, application or electronic game offered at least three (3) days prior to the offering of such content, information, application or electronic game. Contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers seeking increases in rates shall inform the Commission of the details of such increases at least five (5) days prior to the implementation of the increase. The Commission in the exercise of its mandate to protect consumers may not allow the increase. If the Commission does not act on the information within five (5) days from receipt of the same, the contents, information, applications and/or electronic games provider can impose the new rates.

F ACCESS CHARGES
1. Networks, systems and/or facilities providers shall provide access to contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers upon request and based on an access agreement. Access to the networks, systems and/or facilities of duly authorized providers by registered contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers shall be mandatory.

2. The access charge shall be negotiated. The access charge shall be cost-oriented and shall not be higher than the prevailing retail rates, not promotional rates, for the service where the contents, information, applications and/or electronic games are offered/provided.

G CONSUMER WELFARE AND INTEREST
1. Contents, Information, Applications and/or Electronic Games Providers shall strictly comply to the provisions of MC No. 05-06-2007 (Consumer Protection Guidelines), MC No. 04-06-2007 (Data Log Retention of telecommunications traffic), and MC No. 03-03-2005 (Rules and Regulations on Broadcast Messaging Service) and its amendments.

2. Complaints from the subscribers/users shall be presumed to be valid. The burden of proof shall be upon the contents, information, applications and/or electronic games providers.

H Sanctions
1. Violation of any of the provisions of this Circular shall be a ground for the revocation or cancellation of the registration as Contents, Information, Applications and/or Electronic Games Provider.

2. The Commission may direct the disconnection of the access to the networks, systems or facilities of authorized providers pending the investigation of a complaint filed by a subscriber/user if the Commission finds that there is strong evidence against the contents, information, applications and/or electronic games provider.

3. Any violation of this circular shall be dealt with in accordance with law.

E Final Provision
1. Any circular, order, memoranda or parts thereof inconsistent herewith are deemed repealed or amended accordingly.

2. This Circular shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and three (3) certified true copies are furnished the UP Law Center.

Quezon City, Phlippines _________________________.

RUEL V. CANOBAS
Commissioner

JORGE V. SARMIENTO
Deputy Commissioner

JAIME M. FORTES, JR.
Deputy Commissioner

====================================================================

more info in the following links
http://codamon.com/2009/01/ntc-requires-license-for-pinoy-online-content-creators/#comments
http://mikeabundo.com/2009/01/21/philippines-content-license/
http://killmouthdragon.blogspot.com/2009/01/ntc-requires-license-for-pinoy-online.html
http://mrng.ej.am/?p=58

All I can say is that it's like they're using it to rake more money or stripping off our rights to use the interent

It's the stupidest proposal i've ever heard for this year, if this happens, I believe no one will use the internet, seriously

Granado Espada V3.0

In a few hours, We'll be having a new patch for Granado Espada,which is V3.0 or The Zeia Expansion
New RNPCs, stance and weapons awaits the pioneers of Granado Espada
For more info you check out the official website
you can also check on the official forum (requires an IAH account to access)



Here's a trailer of the Zeia expansion


You can now download either the full client or the manual patch here

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Many Faces of Mario

We can compare Mario as the "Mickey Mouse" of video game
Heck, he's even more famous than Mickey

The famous plumber that changed the face of video game as we see today

But during the three decades of the Italian Plumber's career, he had been into different facial make-overs, and some of it really went wrong.

Games Radar made a compilation of the different faces of Mario thru the years.

Click here

Friday, January 16, 2009

Back to Basics

Video Gaming is one of the most entertaining hobbies for all of us, heck it's the reason why we still play video games until we get old and wrinkly, because it's so darn fun.

We all also have our first times, it can be your first console, first game (be it online or offline), first achievements like beating a game for the first time or collecting all the characters or even performing a super killer combo.

Sometimes we tried to shift to different genres, starting from playing games consoles then shifting to PC games, then it evolve to LAN games and then online games, we did it because we want to experience something different, it's like entering a different territory and then conquering it.

But in the end, we all return from where we started...

After two years of playing, it's time for me to lay down my sword, unload my guns and retire my Blacksword family in Granado Espada

Yes, I'm now retiring from the game, it was a wonderful experience, this is the first MMO that I've been fully dedicated to support till the end. I've met many new friends, became a game mentor, forum community crew, community event organizer and even a blogger. I also made many achievements that I've never attained from previous MMOs

It's really sad that I have to leave this incredible game but sometimes we have to move on, we can't always play GE forever and go back to where it all started: console games

I just finally purchased a PlayStation Portable last January, and I've been hooked into console gaming again
sometimes a gamer will return to their favorite once in a while

So we'll never know if I'll return to Granado Espada in the future....

Friday, January 9, 2009

Famous Lines and Spoilers

I know you guys are excited to watch the upcoming movies the my friend Sigird featured on her blog.
While we wait till those films arrive in our theaters near you, let's relax and remember some of best movies and best memorable scenes.

Of course nothing beats making a video montage of your movies, luckily, some fellow by the name of Matt Belinkie created a video of some of the best movies and managed to create one amazing speech out of it, and he called it; 40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes. Just watch this video and enjoy.




Another video from thefinebrothers.com created something more different, they'll tell the spoilers of 100 movies in around five minutes



Well, hope you guys enjoyed on these videos, Hope to see you again next time for more cool stuffs...