Just Returned My G7 To The Shop

Logitech is one of the best manufacturers of PC peripherals: mice, keyboards, game controllers, webcams, audio speakers, you name it, they have it. Since 1982, Logitech's fame and reputation comes from their mass-produced mice and its improvements made over the years. Such improvement still exists today with their wide range of mice, each with its own size, style, features, and purpose. Their recent innovation, called "Darkfield Laser Tracking" technology, eliminates the problem of using the mouse in surfaces that recent optical and laser sensors won't read, especially clear glass. For the PC gaming enthusiasts, Logitech offers PC peripherals specially designed to aid them in their games. They call it "Logitech 'G' series". Read the Logitech's press release regarding their 'G' series here.

That's the reason I bought the Logitech G7 Cordless Gaming Mouse last year. There are a lot of cordless mices out there, but I find the G7 unique. It has the same bean-shaped look and its on-the-fly DPI switch button (+ and -) found on its predecessor: the G5 Gaming Mouse. The difference is the G7's side button has only one (G5 has two), and the G5's weight tray slot is replaced in favor of the Lithium-Ion battery for the G7. For the batteries, Logitech provides two of them, with a span of 2-3 days or a minimum of a day when heavily used (mine was more or less 2 days). When one battery runs out, there's another to replace in as easy as 3-5 seconds (or even less), thanks to the spring-type eject mechanism on both the mouse and its charging station. The provided lithium-ion battery takes 10 hours in normal mode (or 2 hours in boost mode) to be fully charged. With that in mind, you don't have to worry about running out of batteries. It's on-the-fly DPI switch buttons is darn useful in FPS and RTS games with its 2000 DPI max resolution (there are 3 default settings:400, 800, and 2000; and up to 5 settings through Logitech's Setpoint software). 2000 DPI is useful for fast movements, while 400 DPI is for slow movements (like sniping). The USB reciever has 2.4Ghz of cordless power with 500 reports/sec; the g7 can even be used for at least 20 feet (that would be insane range, but surely is assured coverage wherever you use your mouse or put your reciever).

I really liked the G7. The design is appealing to my eyes (mine is a black edition with black&grey checkered style). The DPI swtich buttons are not only useful for games, it's also useful for applications that needs accurate yet sensitive movements like Adobe Photoshop. Its shape is comfortable on my hand and grips well even when my hand is a bit sweaty. Although a bit heavy at first, I've gotten used to it. Its teflon feet glides so smoothly that you don't need a mousepad for it. Oh yeah, priced at 4,350 Php, it's pretty expensive, but it's all worth it.

Well, even the best products have one or more problems. And G7 isn't an exception.

My G7 mouse is slowly showing its common problem: the freezing. Yep, that's what others called it as I've read some complaints from other G7 users on Logitech's support community forums, although I thought of it as "hang". It happened last July at a computer lab in our school while I was browsing for the MS Office 2003 menu bar. I thought maybe the battery is kinda loose, so I ejected and re-inserted it, and it was back to normal. Several minutes later, it froze again. Then I remember about wireless devices like wireless routers may affect the G7's wireless performance, so I tested it at home. But as usual, freezes still occur. After days of finding and trying all solutions, from the manual to the forums, and even searching on Google, the freezing problem is still there.

Losing my hopes on getting it fixed, I sent an email to Logitech (it was on October 1), citing my problem. After more than 3 weeks of contacting Logitech through email, I got nothing but copy-paste response. For one last time, I sent them an email, while being frank with their copy-paste response. Then I got an email from them on the 25th, telling me that my problem is escalated to their management and I'll get a call or email from them for 3-4 weeks. I'm glad that they already acknowledged my problem and they'll do something about it, but what the hell? A month of waiting?! Oh well, I guess I have no other choice but to wait.

It's now December... wow, time sure flies fast. So fast that I forgot about the last email they sent me. I was looking for something on my closet, when I saw the G7 mouse I've set aside since its freezing distracts my everyday PC use. Then I remember the email about getting a response from them in regards to my problem with my G7 mouse within 3-4 weeks. After checking the inbox, I still don't get any of their replies. I sent another email to them on the 5th of December:

It's been more than a month now since the last email you guys sent me, stating that "Your issue will be escalated to our management and expect a call from them or an email regarding this issue 3 to 4 weeks from now." I still don't get a response from your management, while I didn't use your so-called zero-lag cordless gaming mouse for a month now due to severe freezes that it makes my everyday computing irritating. It's so depressing everytime I'm stuck with a generic optical mouse.

I thought it would last for 3 years, since it has a 3-year warranty, right? I even thought that Logitech makes the best peripherals. I thought that G7 cordless gaming mouse is so cool and has great features. I put my faith in your company's good reputation, that's why I bought it, even though it's expensive. I thought that it's all worth the hard-earned money. But you think I would buy the G7 cordless gaming mouse just to get back to a generic mouse with generic fuctions after a more than a year of use and proper treatment? I don't think so, and you guys wouldn't think otherwise, right?

You guys said "3-4 weeks". That may be a long week to wait, but I decided to wait patiently. But knowing that I didn't get any responses, I'm starting to slowly losing patience.

Please, do something about this matter.

At first, I thought that "man, it'll be the same old copy-paste response", or "maybe they won't bother helping me on my problem, as other Logitech users have experienced". But surprisingly, I got an email on the 10th of December, and it was from Aileen Chua, asking where I bought my G7, the receipt, and my contact details. So I immediately sent a reply email with the things she asked for. Then I get a reply from her:

I have already arranged the replacement of your unit with the owner of Thinking Tools. The only concern now is the distributor does not have G9x to replace your unit. You will have to wait for 1-1.5months to get the replacement since the distributor will have to order the unit from the region.

Now THIS is the email response I've been waiting for the past 2 months!! Thank God for the shed light of hope! 1-1.5 months is pretty long, but I'll try to wait. I was hoping for the same G7 replacement though (I just love the G7 that it's hard for me to let it go). But I think G9x Gaming Mouse, although corded, is enough for a replacement. Too bad the G7 is discontinued. I hope they'll do something on the problems with the G7 and release a successor for it, as cordless mouse is my type.

After getting back home from school, I got a text message at 3pm this afternoon (as of this writing) from Aileen, that she tried to call me but can't. I intentionally turned off my cellphone since I'm still at school that time. I texted her back to call me again. She indeed called, telling me to return my defective G7 to Thinking Tools, the PC shop where I bought it, so the staff can send it back to Manila as early as possible. Knowing that SM City Davao closes at 9PM, I immediately returned the whole G7 package: the mouse, charging station, USB receiver, batteries, manual, and the software CD. The Thinking Tools staff issued a claim stub to me, as they need it in order for me to get the replacement.

Oh yeah, I took pictures of the G7 box and me holding it before returning it to the shop, as that will be the last time I get to see my G7.

Davao Cyber Expo (DCE) '09

This year's DCE '09 was better than last year, with more events happened. Aside from DoTA tourney, LAN Party Xtreme, Online Gaming, TechXtreme Exhibits, and PhotoOps! (amateur photography competition), there are some added events:
1) Cosplay Competition
2) Street Fighter 4 tourney (using a extremely modded high-end rig and a choice of game controller: gamepad or arcade-style joystick)

As usual, local online gaming companies organized tourneys for their top-notch games. Only two of them showed up at the event: MyGame Philippines ("Special Force", "Fiesta Online", and their upcoming games namely "Twelve Sky 2" and "I-Date") and E-Games ("RAN Online", "Cabal Online", "ZX Online", "Audition", "O2Jam", and "Granado Espada"). Which means AMPED (ABS-CBN) and LevelUp! Games isn't around. I could care less about AMPED, but I don't know why LUG didn't show up, since Rohan seemed to me as a great game and a sure successful publicity for them. As usual, the local distributor for Lineage 2 SEA isn't there, and so are Mobius Games (MU Online PH) and Eaglegame International Limited (Highstreet5).

Nevertheless, "Special Force" from MyGame stole the attention of the crowd with its lively team battle tournament that reminisce the same energetic atmosphere of most Counterstrike tournaments. After all, they won't use the slogan "Counter Strikes Back" for nothing (although sounds kinda cheesy for me). I don't know about E-Games, it's just weren't the same as before. It seems.... dry. Really dry. It was the same thing last "Road to Domination III". All of their tourneys for their games were dry. You see, Special Force tourney was still going and lots of spectators watched the entire game session (and in a huge projected screen, too) even though it's almost the end of the 2nd day of the event, while the entire E-Games booth is deserted. RAN Online was their top-notch game before that a very long line of players wanted to signup for the tournament, but it was so like yesterday during the event. I don't know about Audition though, since I haven't been there on the 1st day. CMs from every online game failed on getting the whole booth lively, IMO.

I can't say anything about other events since I'm in the middle of the exam week. Really, of all the days DOH can quarrantine STI and other 3 schools due to reports of 6 more students positive of AH1N1 here in Davao City... it was conducted on the 2nd week of July?! The exams were moved from 16-18 to 23-25 because of it. I missed the LAN Party, I missed the DoTA tourney, and most of all... I MISSED THE COSPLAY COMPETITION!! DAAAAAAAAMN!! >.<

As for this year's lineup of heavily modded PCs, it was better than before... A LOT BETTER!! :D There's the Hummer H2 concept with CoolerMaster "V8", a CPU HSF (Heat Sink Fan), which is... yep, a term for a muscle car's engine (and it looks like one, too). There's also an orange-colored PC case with styles of slick curves, edges, and designs that reminisce the style of custom-made body frame of a souped-up street racing car (well, they got the concept from an orange Toyota Supra that Paul Walker used in The Fast And The Furious, as the owner of that concept PC case displayed a car figure of the orange Supra on top of it). But of all the PC units displayed, 2 of them really stand out: "Team DAMAK!" and "L.U.M.O.S. (actually, "lumos" is a bisaya dialect term for "drown", but it's acronym for that concept is Lighted UV-Reactive Micro-ATX Oil-Cooled System), both oil-cooled PC systems with two things in mind, Presentation and Performance. Both have eye-catching presentation with its aquarium-like case (mind you, the whole system is submerged with oil) and a pump (a radiator, actually) is connected to it to circulate the oil from being too hot, just like some water cooling solutions for PCs. Oh yeah, it creates bubbles inside, something that you may find on most aquariums. Truly an attention-seeker. As for performance, oil cooling is one of 3 common methods of cooling a PC system (the other are air cooling and water cooling). But unlike air and water cooling which focuses on certain areas (mostly processor and video card), both oil-cooled systems made sure the whole area is covered with a container full of circulated oil, which can keep the whole system cool. Yeah, sure is a nice concept, but I don't know about the cooling performance though. I've read some forums here and there saying oil cooling is just for looks yet getting worse temps, but some do say it's effective. I'll leave the judgement to you, guys. :D

Ok, this will be all for now. I still have classes, so I'll post the pics when I get back home.

UPDATE: Here are the pics taken from the said event. Click "View All" for hi-res images. Enjoy viewing! :D

Do I Get A Chance On Having My Own KORG Keyboard?

That would be a "yes". Actually, I'm hoping on this chance of having my own KORG keyboard someday.

We had a nice talk with BJ, my friend and former classmate of STI College, just a while ago (as of this writing). He had quite a success in his work at Edge Radio. We talked random things, but the main core of our conversation are two things:

1) He's willing to help me buy any keyboard I like for a low price from his friend who sells slightly-used devices from Korea.

2) He knows how to play the keyboard (and pretty good at it, too, since I saw him playing "Listen To Your Heart" so good that I can't help but compare it to the Roxette original), and he's willing to teach me anything.

There are other brands out there, and each of them has their own unique identity and features. Based on what I read at most internet sites and what I saw on most music instruments shops, there are 3 top brands: Roland, Yamaha, and KORG. Out of the three, I just can't help but to like KORG's lineup of music keyboards.

KORG has 5 categories on their keyboard/module lineup: Workstations, Synths, PA Series, Concert Pianos, and Pianos/Organs. My initial interest is the Korg X-50, which has the same instruments found on Triton series, but at an affordable price (since workstation keyboards are pricey). I do want to have my own KORG Triton Extreme, which is one of the best workstation keyboards from KORG, based on reviews from Musician's Friend, Harmony Central, and ZZSounds. The problem is, Triton Extreme is discontinued, replaced by KORG M3 series, which is 2nd to OASYS, the ultimate workstation keyboard which is KORG's flagship product. Seeing M3 as a successor of Triton series with more features, I can dig with it.

My current concern is that if they can find a slightly-used M3 for me (since it's pretty much newly released for me), and for how much. If they can't find it, I can dig on Triton Extreme (but I bet it's kinda hard to find due to the discontinuation of the product), or TR series. I just love touchscreens, so I hope they can find either M3 or Triton Extreme for me. If the price is beyond my reach, I'll prolly borrow some from my mom or dad. This is my only chance so I have to grab this opportunity while it's there.

I can't wait to get my hands on a KORG keyboard. :D Sorry, Yamaha & Roland.

KORG M3

KORG Triton Extreme
(Yep! The same keyboard that Tsumugi from "K-ON!" uses. See below.)



KORG TR-61

KORG X-50

The Final Day To Say Goodbye...

...to my Granpa, Severino Hinayon.

He passed away at early morning (between 4-6AM, i dunno, mah mum and others who witnessed it only knows about it, and dun want to ask about it either) at age 78 on April 26, 2009.

I just can't believe that it was sudden to leave us, and I mean way too sudden for me. Things were fine when we brought him to our home and take good care of him. He was slowly recovered, and he even cracked a joke or two. Totally unbelievable.

It happened when my mom received a call from my granpa's relative in a countryside area of Ula, that he is weakening badly that he can't stand. We then rushed to that place and pick him up. I just stunned on what I saw. He REALLY is weakening badly. What I can't believe about it is that he was totally fine and healthy last week before it happened. Then I heard that the reason about him getting weak is that he didn't eat properly, and the reason for it is that he's out food supply to eat at all and instead giving those supply to his neighbors. I don't know if it's true, but if it is, those so-called neighbors really sickens me! That's one of the things I hated most: selfish bastards who only think about themselved and not even caring for other people around them.

When we got home, my mum suggests him to take him to a hospital, but insists that he wants to stay at home and take a rest. After taking medications and having a good rest, he slowly recovered, which is good news for us. Heck, my father and uncle are even watching pacquiao-related boxing matches (which is also my grandpa's favorite tv shows to watch) with smiles on their faces.

My cousin and her wife were taking care of him while we were sleeping (not for me, since I was playing online games that late night). We thought things were doing fine. We really are. Not until he has signs of hard breathing and uneasiness. My cousin thought he had a fever, but my mom checked him and said he was fine. At 6AM (maybe 6:30, can:t remember exactly), I went downstairs only to be told by my mom that he passed away. I was like, "huh" and paused for a few seconds. I think she's joking or something. But when I see my grandpa not breathing anymore and his entire body pale yellow, I was totally shocked that it hurts me inside. I almost lost appetite to play online games and went to a balcony, still in shock. Then words coming out of my mind: "why it was too sudden?"

My mom cried, my relatives cried, even my brother cried. But I don't. I don't know why. Maybe I'm thick-headed, or maybe I was too shocked, or maybe up until now I still don't believe that he passed away. But after I saw him that morning, I can't see his face inside the coffin. Even if I wanted to or forcing myself to see him, I just can't. I always back away from seeing him. I still can't believe that the coffin is there where he's inside whenever I see it. I wanted to forget all of the things happened by watching anything or playing any PC games or sleeping, but I just can't forget that those things just happened so suddenly. I just can't let it off my mind.

This morning will be the day he'll be buried at Forest Lake Memorial. I don't know if I can see his face and say goodbye to him one last time, because if I did, I don't know if I can hold back my emotions... I don't know how long can I keep crying... I don't know if how long can I be strong to accept the reality. But whatever it is, I can only say for sure: I owe him big time for the love and support he gave me since I was born. I owe him big time for being there for me through hard times. I owe him big time for the happy days we spend together (I still can't beat him to a game of checker, or "dama" in bisaya dialect). I will always remember him as the best grandfather of my entire life. I will always remember our nice chat together last December, because that's the last chat we had that long. And most of all, I will surely miss him.

Just to be sure if even I can say this to him before and after the burial, I'll say this in advance.

Lolo, I love you very much, and goodbye.

E-Games Just Screwed Me! >.<

Although getting sleepy, I bought GE300 from LoadCentral at 1AM yesterday (April 2, to be specific), since I'm almost out of G-Points. Thinking the card code was from IAHGames' GVC code, I logged in to IAHGames's passport to top it up. What I get was GVC code error, so this card code maybe an EP (E-Points for E-Games) one, so I logged in to E-Games' "My Account" section with my E-Games username and password. OK, time for some top up action!

I typed the card code and the pin correctly, and pressed the "send button". When I get the confirmation, I just saw 360EP credit... what the, I made a wrong top up! I accidentally topped up on E-Games topup instead of Granado Espada Top Up! Getting worried, I hurriedly filed a ticket. Got a reply, but it's not the reply I wanted. Here's the detailed reply:

Date:
4/2/2009 1:33:31 AM

Email:
djash1983@gmail.com

Status:
Resolved

Game:
Granado Espada

Category:
Account

Area:
EP-GP Conversion

Attachment:

Description:
IAH Games Passport / Granado Espada Login Name: djash1983
Transaction Reference Number:
Problem Description: I accidentally topped up 300EP on e-games topup instead of EP-GP conversion thru granado espada top up. Can u do something about it? I don't want to waste my 300 pesos for a mistake that i didn't meant to. I forgot the transaction referencce number, but my card code is 5HE36329BE, which I bought it thru LoadCentral.

Thanks.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email handled by e-Games Support Center

Agent Reply:

Date: 4/2/2009 7:35:51 AM

Comment: Hello e-Gamer,

Thank you for writing to e-Games Helpdesk, this is Kenneth assisting you.

With regard to your concern, I'm sorry to inform you that we don't have a service to convert successfully topped up e-points into g-points.

We at e-Games always welcome your inquiries, comments and suggestion/s.

And We’re inviting you to attend e-Games’ Domination III, our third year anniversary celebration and 2009’s biggest gaming event. Win great prizes, watch live tournaments of your favorite e-Games and X-Play titles and performances from GMA Kapuso Stars. See you there.

Sincerely,
Kenneth
e-Games Helpdesk Team

NOTE: e-Games will NEVER ask for your password!
Protect your account by NEVER giving out your log-in name and password to anyone! e-Games Portal

What?! They can't do anything about already topped up EP? Wait.. what's with this? I admit that I made a mistake, but this is no reason for me to correct my mistake. We're only human, tend to make mistakes. I dig that they can't do about converting it to GP, but at least they'll give me a chance to top it up properly!

Now I wanna get some real answers. This time I tried using Live Chat system and talked to a Customer Service Operator named Samantha. Here's the chatlog:

Welcome e-Gamer! Your request has been directed to the Live Chat Support department. Please wait for our operator to answer your call.

Call accepted by operator Samantha. Currently in room: Samantha.

Samantha: HI! this is Samantha assisting you, how can I help you today?

djash1983: I just got this from e-games help desk:

djash1983: **ommitted, refer to the quoted post above**

Samantha: I would like to check your report, please provide me your ticket ID.

djash1983: BML-4bMGj-634

Samantha: Kindly wait for a moment.

Samantha: As I see on your report you said you accidentally topped up the e-points.

djash1983: yes

Samantha: I'm sorry also but we really don't have a service to convert it into g-points if you already loaded it into e-points.

djash1983: Then what should I do with the 300EP i accidentally topped up then?

Samantha: If you are playing other games of e-Games you can used to the e-points there.

djash1983: What if the only online game I play is Granado Espada?

djash1983: You see, if you guys are doing this kind of service, and someone topped it up by mistake...

djash1983: Then isn:t that called a "waste" already?

djash1983: I bought EP bcoz i want to topup for granado espada, just to buy barrack slots

Samantha: Actually I'll make a report about your concern, but for now I can't assure it to you if there will be a conversion of successfully topped up e-points to g-points.

djash1983: what's with the "I can't assure"? You mean we're stuck with useless EP if you can't do something about it?

djash1983: Hey, hey, it's still money, earned money from my job

djash1983: and you guys can't do something about it?

Samantha: We have to wait for the further announcement if it will be possible.

djash1983: WTH

djash1983: it was suppossed to be used for granado espada

djash1983: if this would be the case, then how about me topping up 2000EP for 70000 Gpts?

djash1983: and i accidentally topped it up, would you guys say the same thing u said to me a while ago?

djash1983: i'm planning on spending 2000 EP, but this would hold me back

Samantha: I'm sorry but we really don't have a service to convert your successfully topped e-points to g-points.

djash1983: then how would i get my 300EP back?

djash1983: don't tell me such things as use it on your games coz the only game i play so far is granado espada

djash1983: that's what made me purchase EP in the first place

djash1983: if you guys can't let your customers have assurance that their money is spend on games they love, then why bother having such service, anyway?

djash1983: having a EP-GP conversion yet we can't get our EP bcoz of a top-up mistake

djash1983: isn't that unfair already?

Samantha: I do understand your concern, but we really don't have a service to convert it into g-points.

djash1983: then how would I get my 300EP back? if i can get it back, then this time i'll top it up correctly

djash1983: a simple question

Samantha: For now I do suggest that you should file a new ticket and we will forward your concern to the e-Games management.

djash1983: Where?

djash1983: helpdesk?

djash1983: already sent one, yet i got that response

Samantha: At the e-Games helpdesk where you filed your first ticket.

Samantha: Please file a new one and indicate your concern on how you can get you e-points back.

Samantha: Since you topped it up accidentally into e-points.

djash1983: Ok, I'll file a new ticket

Samantha: Is there anything else?

djash1983: nothing

djash1983: just my problem regarding getting my EP back

Samantha: If there will be no more questions, thank you for using e-Games Live Chat. Have a Nice Day!

Samantha has left the conversation. Currently in room: djash1983.

Is she serious?! She already got the idea that I play Granado, hence the Granado Espada Top Up, and she told me to use the accidentally topped up EP for games that I don't play! What the hell?? Instead of helping me with my problem, it looks like she's ditching my problem!

But for the sake of easing my worries, I filed a new ticket like she suggests. But exactly a day passed, I get no replies!

Feeling irritated, I almost got no appetite to play GE, so I logged out without even bidding goodbye to my friends and factionmates.

E-Games, what the hell should I do to get my 300EP back?! I bought 300EP with my money! 300 pesos is still big money! IT'S MY MONEY AND I WANT IT TO BE SPEND AND USE PROPERLY DAMMIT!!! It's like I'm throwing away my money for no reason or purpose! I got that money from my hard-earned work, so I have the right to complain about your crappy service!! Why doing EP-GP conversion if there are problems like this?!

If this won't be resolved, THEN I HAVE NO REASON TO BUY 2000EP FOR 70K GPOINTS!!

SO MUCH FOR THE "70K GPOINTS" HYPE WHEN OUR MONEY WILL BE DOWN THE DRAIN WITH THIS STUPID PROBLEM!!

I HATE GETTING SCREWED! THIS WILL BE THE FIRST AND THE LAST TIME YOU GUYS AT E-GAMES WILL SCREW ME!!

Still Having Doubts on Joining The "e-Games Correspondents"

Presea PM me yesterday about joining the "e-Games Correspondents". It's an official E-Games community blog writing articles related to E-Games like game info/guides, event happenings, technical problems and solutions, etc.

Here's the full entry I posted on the site:

Character Name: DelaValliele (family name)

Game: Granado Espada

Server: All Servers (mostly in Rembrandt)

Your Gaming Blog (optional): Absolute Randomness (http://djash1983.blogspot.com) -- not really a gaming blog, but I do post some Granado Espada related blog entries.

Why do you think you are qualified to be an e-Games Correspondent and how would this help the gaming community?

This is kinda difficult for me to write my reasons about joining this group, but I wanna let out my thoughts based on what I feel right now (as of this writing).

First of all, I'm neither a professional blogger nor a pro gamer. I'm only into blogging because I wanna let my online friends know about the events and experiences happening in my life that is worth writing: life at home or outside, school, work, etc. Gaming is no exception, either. As for gaming, I only play games, LAN or online, just to have fun and have friends but not really that competitive. I can be competitve if I wanted to, but not to that extent. I've tried and played most online games served inside and outside of the philippines, but Granado Espada is the only game that I played for a year; longer than other online games I've played.

Gaming is one huge part of my life. I've been into video games since my childhood days where Nintendo FamiCom was the hype of recreation before. Hell, I even cut classes on my highschool days just to play SNES (Super Famicom in Japan) and Playstation. 1997 was the beginning of my PC lifestyle by surfing the net at nearby netcafes (it was P75/hr that time, and there was no DSL that time). Then 1999 came and Starcraft & Counter Strike were popular games that time. Other game titles followed after. PS2 was released and played most game titles, including Metal Gear Solid 2 and Need For Speed Underground. I also played arcade games, but more into music/dance simulation games like Dance Dance Revolution and DrumMania. Online gaming went boom when LUG's Ragnarok Online, the philippine's first MMORPG, was launched as open beta. Of course me and my friends joined the hype. More online games and game service providers followed, like Mobuis Games (Gunbound and MU), NetGames (Flyff, Khan, Pangya), and, of course, E-Games (RAN, Audition, Supreme Destiny, O2Jam). I meet a lot of online friends, but as what a saying goes, "friends come and go". That never stopped me from playing online games though.

Looking back, I sometimes say to myself, "it would be great if I took time writing those events so I can live myself back to those times". I did have a journal, although in a MS word document format. Then I read about online blogging. I was hesitant on going along with it at first, but decided to give it a try. I made my first blog at MIXI, fully-japanese social community site much like friendster and myspace, ever since I was active at Apricotweb, a japanese-english learning site (and had japanese friends, too). Then I decided to have my own blog, which is currently named as "Absolute Randomness".

One of my favorites and longest blog entry was the "Davao Cyber Expo" where E-Games and other game service providers show their own stuff, as well as other well-known companies showing their PC techie stuff. That event really drove me to write a blog entry. Oh yeah, I do love going to local gaming events, especially E-Games events. I even remember joining Granado Espada's PVP tournament with my friend (and got pwned within less than a minute at the quarterfinals) during the "E-Games Evolution" event.

Now, some people here wants to join the group of correspondents because they have writing wkills, extensive knowledge on games served by E-Games, have the skills in handling PC and game technical problems/concerns, and other skills needed to become a good E-Games correspondent. I was like, "Wow... they really look promising. They could really help the entire E-Games community."

I got a PM from a friend of mine who encouraged me to join this group because she knew about me helping sGE Davao players, which is "valiant" to her. She's right though, I DO wanna encourage Davao players to play Granano Espada and help them as much as I can, as the game that I love is fading away from the netcafes around Davao city. But it seems that it isn't enough for a game to become popular again. Or more likely, I felt helpless. That's why up until now I'm still hesitant to join this group.

I do love Granado Espada. Hell, I even despised it during the open beta because of the huge PC requriements and, I have to admit, the game title is so "corny". But after I tried playing the game, I said to myself, "this is the game I've been looking for!". And because of my love of the game, I really wanna share it to others who haven't played the game yet, and help other players who already played it by any means like sharing client installers and dealing with technical problems/concerns. If writing a blog is one of many ways to share my love of the game, then I'll give it a shot.

I was like, "Whoa... I've done it again: a wall of text!". But since I want to let out my thoughs about it, I decided to post it anyway. :D

But even though I've already submitted my entry, I'm still having doubts on joining the community blog. Most of the people submitted their entries has higher standards on their motivations and objectives on joining than I am, thus having higher chances of being chosen. And most of all, am I really fit into joining that grand community blog? I'm not that good at comprehensive writing. Others has more knowledge in online games served by e-Games; I don't have enough of it. But I only know one thing: expressing my own thoughts, views, and concerns about what's happening on the online gaming community, especially related to Granado Espada.

Since I've already posted my entry, seems to me like backing off is not an option. *sigh*

3x The Events, 3x The Fun! :D

This day really made me happy. First up....

I've been woke up by knock on teh door. My mom told me there's a call from someone who needed me for a PC troubleshooting. Turns out to be uncle Jonard, one of my "clients", if you may, who is asking me for a lookup on 2 PCs at their office: one that the monitor suddenly turns off, and the other won't display at all. Easy on the other one, but the other really made me worked up. Turns out there's a problem on the power supply part, specifically on the power cable outlet. I told them how to turn it back on by pulling and pushing back the power cord socket to the monitor's power outlet. Then uncle Jonard noticed something lacking: a printer for the other PC. We bought one at a local PC shop, brought it back to teh office, and I'm the one installing the printer's cables and ink cartridges. After that, I finally got the pay. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAI! XD Now I have a reason to buy another GVC card! :D

Second...

The "[GCR In-Game Event] Win A Date With a Troll" day 2 is also as fun as day 1. This time, Presea (a.k.a. DeSanggria in sGE) joined teh event and gave Maki (a.k.a. Straightener in sGE) lotsa chocos! I thought Sinacy (a.k.a. Darjeeling in SGE) would pwn the rest of us on the event. :D Nzi wansn't able to attend the 1st day of the event, so I'm glad she had time on the 2nd day. Me and Maki thought there would be more voters on the 2nd, but it turned out to be lesser than the previous. During the event, we had a lot of funny things like doing a lot of poses from our characters, taking screenshots, and chatting random stuff. Oh yeah, gotta love poking fun on Nzi and Presea's female characters in a pervie way, nyahahahaha :D Imma SOOOOOOOOO evul! XD

Third....

Presea is on a FrogFish hunt to help her friend finish the FF quest. Maki and Al (Vashal in sGE) decided to come along, so I thought it would be fun to go along with them as well. Good thing my main characters are all veteran levels. And most of all, I'm a bit curious on why most players are having a hard time finishing the FF quest. Turns out that it's one helluvah monster to beat up. I mean, we have 8 (or 9, can't quite remember) on our squad but managed to kill the FF in 5 minutes! Not just 1 FF, but 4 of them! The swamp FF is the longest to beat in more or less 8 minutes. It was a bit disappointing though, since I have a lot of quests to catch up before proceeding with the FF quest. But it was still fun. At least I made Al piss off about him scaring Presea, hahahahaha :D Just kidding, Al! :D

That's it for now. I'm sooooooooooooo hungry now! *opens teh cabinet for canned goods for supper* :D

Update: Here's a group screenie from the event:
From left to right: GCResidents (Desmond), DeSanggria (Presea), Straightener (Maki), DelaValliele (Dj Ash 1983), and Vashal (Al)

Having A Sideline Job Rockz! :D

Lol, it's been a while since my last entry. Or rather, I've done it again: too lazy to write a blog. Anyway...

Just got my pay from getting two PCs back to its good condition. Really, it was one helluvah work:

* Getting the display to work: Looks like a PCI-E slot is kinda loose for the vid card to fit in. Just enough dose of vibration on the card and you're in for some serious trouble... getting the mobo to detect the vid card.

* Stupid virus: Ever heard of a joleebee virus? It's much like SoWar, but in a more annoying way. Why? Coz before "Welcome" shows up, a window dialog pops up, greeting you with a message full of gibberish. Also, if you think SoWar can be eliminated easily, not this one. Even if you attempt to install any antivirus software in teh net, teh stupid virus automatically closes the window if the contents are the installer files of teh antivirus! Regedit? Gone. Folder Options? Hidden. Task Manager? Nada. MSCONFIG? I don't think so. Safe mode? Forget it! The only way to get rid of it is to reformat the HDD. Nuff said. Oh yeah.... two units suffered from it, all bcoz of a USB flash drive which teh files prolly came from a small-time netcafe. Sheesh.

* Games.... LOTS of games: The only way to please the kids is to give them a lot of toys to play with. In my case, I have to load both PCs up with lots of PC games, be it classic or close to latest. Added online games and kids' nagging into the mix, and I get 2 day trip to their house just to finish 'em. But seeing the kids' smile on their faces when they play those games makes me feel good emotionally.

When I was working on a netcafe before, I get Php 1,500 on a payday which is every 15 days, while I get the same amount on just 3 days. Wow... never imagined I get this much on a sideline job. My plan was to charge me Php 2,000 for it but since I'm kinda fresh to PC dagnostics/repair, that amount is kinda expensive for them. But still, having a proper job is the best way to earn money though. Now that I resigned from my job (and saved a lot from it), guess I have to wait for someone to call me for another techie service.

Still, having a sideline sure rockz, man. Even more cooler than that is if I decide to end my long break and find another job, a technician-related job, that is. :D