GM Tristan Online Nominated for Phil Blog Awards

Yey!!!!

GM Tristan Online is an official entry in the Entertainment Category of the 2007 Philippine Blog Awards.



Just being nominated is an honor enough. To win is a bonus.

Thanks to all you, my dear visitors, for making this blog a success.

Strength and Honor!

Interview with makmak641 (Alliance Leader - pRO)

The legendary makmak641, is the founder and leader of Alliance, the biggest guild in Philippine Ragnarok Online - and most probably in the entire Philippines. He shares with us his insights about pRO, the guild and how his leadership serves as a source of inspiration to old and new gamers alike. A continuation of makmak's interview from Waukeen's site


GM T: Kuya mak, your achievements in pRO are almost legendary. You're the founder of the largest organized guild in RO (maybe even in the Philippines). Tell me how did it all begin?

Makmak641: I was an ordinary Knight in Chaos back in the old days or Ragnarok, dreaming to be a member of a famous guild.

At around level 88 (and after being with a couple of guilds which were not keen on expanding) I applied with the major leagues when I was level 94. Most wanted just to see my equipment and some even asked for a PVP match. Sigh.

On my way to get my battle gears, a friend Knight (from my Byalan days) was surprised to see me “guildless” and invited me to the Blood Trident guild, a force in Prontera Agits. It had 7 extensions then but it ballooned to 30. That's when I got out-mostly because of my own doing. I left because of the bad reputation it was making for itself and it was not the kind of guild I envisioned a guild to be.

I made the 1st Alliance guild and gave birth to the name, even though the main GdM was my former GdM in Blood Trident named Succubus. After more than a month, he passed the mantle of leadership to me because he was busy getting married. From thereon, my difficult experience of having to organize and lead a great guild was now upon me.

I made Alliance the “guild of the masses” whose main purpose is to give the chance to ordinary players to have a home in Chaos which would be their 2nd family next to IRL (In Real Life).

GM T: Is it hard managing and organizing a lot of players? How do you delegate tasks? Do you have an organizational structure?

Makmak641: Trust in each other and constant communication with the leaders and members made my job easy. Actually I allowed every member to attend our meetings and this made things simple. Me and my co-leaders see to it that it was carried out.

GM T: What are the goals of Alliance? How do you support each other?

Makmak641: The goal was simple. To establish bonding and friendship in real life which is our priority more than in-game accomplishments. This is the reason Alliance is still here today and why I still play the game up to now.

GM T: This year, will you defend being Chaos Champions? What are your plans?

Makmak641: This year my sight is set on the Unity of Chaos to compete with Loki when they merge and becomes Baldur.


GM T: Ah yes… the pRO team are working on the merger na. Anyways, Kuya Mak, what are your suggestions para dun sa mga gusto gumawa ng malaking guild? Any special tips so that the guild will become "solid"?

Makmak641: Accept offers from everyone who would want to try to become a GM of an extension of your guild. You will find a many a great leader among them as time goes by.

GM T: In short, a true leader will be tested. Now, what do you think of the state of pRO today? Any ideas on how we can better improve the game?

Makmak641: It saddens me to see and experience the diminishing number of players. I will suggest as I suggested before. Take a big step in solving the player’s account problems and bring back the hack/delete policy and you will see the game boom again.

GM T: That’s exactly what were doing now. Thanks to your suggestions even before pa. Lastly, please share any message for your guildmates and all pRO players out there

Makmak641: Respect everyone always no matter what. In time they will see the value of this virtue because it is the best thing you can give to any person.

I am humbled to be interviewed by a great person and a great friend who rose to the top because of sound judgement and good leadership such as GM Tristan! In behalf of Alliance Family and Chaos Server, Maraming maraming salamat po!


----


Thanks po kuya mak for giving me a few moments of your time. I know you are a busy man. Dear readers, makmak641 is a man I admire becuase of his leadership, his love for pRO, his love for his guildmembers and his love for his family and God.


God bless you and Alliance, Michael. Rok On!



- GM T

This interview is actually a two-parter. The first part is in Waukeen's Blog

MMOG Trends and Demographics surveyed

In a report by gamasutra.com, they noted that big dude, IGN Entertainement released the results of a recently conducted survey amongst 5,000++ of their readers.


The results of the survey are as follows:


Typical Gender of average MMO player - Male (why isn't this surprising? Duh?)

Age Group - Between 13 and 34

Average/Mean Age - 27

Heavy users - 50%, who play 18 hours or more a week

Casual players - also at 50%, who play only 10 - 12 hours a week

Best Feature players wanted - Character Customization. Yawzaaa! Perfect World scores a whopping 10 here

Top 3 reasons for leaving or not continuing play - 1) No new content 2) Unbalanced Classes 3) too many bugs (Okies... LU GM Team, please take note!)

They also noted that MMO gamers *will* try other new games but tend to play one game at a time.


Kayo? Are you a typical gamer as outlined above? Sound off below...

Interview: Waukeen (GM T vs. Waukeen - Round 2)

After my interview in his site, I decided to return the favor and put Wauks on the hot seat.

Without further ado, here's GM T vs. Waukeen Round 2. *boing* *boing*

(ala Frank Sinatra): I did it myyyyyyyy wayyyyyyy

GM T: Hi Wauks, mild-mannered-reporter-from-Daily-Planet here, tell me; how was it like to first be a critic and then get into the gaming industry at last? Were the "point-of-views" different?

Waukeen: I never planned to be part of the industry in a professional capacity. For the longest time my dream was to become a politician because of my grandfather, the late Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Blas Ople. Even when I was a critic, my only concern then, as it is now, was the welfare of the game and of the players. The only thing that changed between then and now is that I have the power to change things for the better.

GM T: I knew you were always a leader and players listened to you. I admired that in you. But during your player days, you also had some critics and enemies inside pRO. How did you deal with them?

Waukeen: Everyone has their own share of critics – and I’m thankful for people like BerserkerCritz who kept me grounded. At the end of the day, you should always pause and think about what some of them say about you. Most of them might not be true – but there might be something to learn from them. In my long word wars with BC, I’ve learned the values of humility and tact. If I did something wrong, I’d apologize, and I’ve done this a number of times already.

GM T: I see.... now that you're calling the shots in the game, how does it feel to be doing the things I was doing when we were in heated discussions (but of course ladies and gents, we were always friends)?

Waukeen: My convictions then compared to now are still the same. Obviously it’s too late to stop the proliferation of bots, but we can still focus our attention to the welfare of the players. For example, in just a few days time, Ragnarok will finally have hack compensation again. This is one of the things that have always been close to my heart, and I am very happy to see this finally come up.

With regards to being on the other fence, I find everyday a challenge to meet the expectations I set when I was still a player. Of course I’m bound to falter sometimes, but I will always try to get up, no matter the cost.

GM T: A lot of players had different views about botting in pRO. Do you think this is the cause of the exodus of some of the leaders and the players? What's your personal opinion about this issue? Will a fair and final solution ever be found?

Waukeen: Definitely. I know a lot of people who left because of bots. Third party programs ruin the community aspect of the game – and this was something that should have been addressed sometime in 2004-2005. However, even now Gravity is having a hard time providing us with a full-proof solution against bots. The best solution is to have a bot free server, but we still have to work on that because Thor still needs more security.

GM T: Some say pRO is at its "twilight" and there will always be "better games". Do you believe this? As a certified pioneer of pRO, and now the Brand Manager, what are your plans to bring back the "good old days"?

Waukeen: All products have a shelf life – but it all boils down to the creativity and dedication of the people running the business if the product will eventually die. Ragnarok is still the breadwinner of the company, and I strongly believe that it is still one of the best games out there. There are a lot of things we can do, and it will all happen this year. We will see Hugel, Server Merge, RPC 2007, and maybe even a new server that’s F2P. The possibilities are endless. We are only limited by our imagination – and fortunately I have a lot of that, and I have a very competent and dedicated team behind me.

GM T: You asked me this question too... now that we're members of the same team, how do you feel finally working for LU, directing pRO's marketing and working with me?

Waukeen: At first it felt weird. It’s actually ironic that I’m in RO now because I worked so hard back then when I was handling FlyFF to get the RO guild leaders and players to switch games. Now I have to undo all of that and more.

As for working with GM Tristan, it’s been okay so far. Together, we still have to iron out a lot of stuff with the game and some procedures (to make it better), but I’m more than willing to help out in any way. To me, gaming is no longer a hobby or a past time. It is a service that we render, a business of satisfying the needs of our consumers. So many people depend on us for the security of their accounts and the quality of game play, and I will do everything humanly possible to make sure that they get the best gaming experience possible.

GM T: Lastly, what's your take about the many games (and companies) out there who are hell bent on stealing pRO's loyal community base? Why should players still play pRO?

Waukeen: Like what I said in my earlier post, let them bring it on. pRO is still the king-of-the-hill. Whether they like it or not, they still have a lot of catching up to do. And for the question on why players should still play RO… the answer is simple. Ragnarok is the home of the Pinoy Gamer. Kahit saan ka man pumunta, darating ang panahon na uuwi ka rin.

-----

Rok On! Wauks! Proud to have you with the LU team!!!

GM T

Disclaimer: The opinions above are NOT the official stand of Level Up Incorporated but merely personal views of the personalities interviewed

Waukeen vs. GM Tristan III

In his blog, Waukeen interviews me....

I really liked the questions. Quite controversial, if you ask me.

Oh btw, you'll see the relevance of the pic above once you head on over there!

Thanks, Wauks!

You the man!

How to secure your online game account - 2

In Part 1, I discussed some of the basics of securing your online game account. Here, I show some tips to enhance security.

Since most online games played here in the Philippines are done on Internet Cafes, most of the tips below are for café players (where, sadly, most of the hacks and scams are

Anyway, here are some preventive measures on how you can secure your account:

1. BE WARY WHEN IN A CAFE. Only play in a café that your trust. Ask around if there were incidents of hacking in a café you plan to play with. And also inquire about what security systems are installed in the PCs so that you can be positive that you’re playing in a “clean” café and limit your worries.
2. DONT SHARE YOUR PASSWORDS. Be VERY VERY paranoid about your passwords. Don't share it to ANYONE. Even if he is your GuildMaster or close online friend. Only you and God must know your password!
3. BE SMART IN YOUR PASSWORDS. Avoid simple passwords like "cute_me" or "joker". Brute-force hacking tools use the dictionary. If possible, use combinations of both uppercase, lowercase letters and numbers. Here’s an online resource on how to make strong passwords.
4. AVOID PLAYING IN CAFES WITH AUTO TIME-OUT. There are some Internet Cafes with a “time-out” feature. More often than not, your account is still logged on while your PC is ‘locked’ by the café software. If this happens to you in the middle of game, politely tell the café owner to let you log out of your account first before paying and checking out of the café.
5. SCAN YOUR PC FIRST BEFORE PLAYING. Most Cafés will have an anti-virus or spyware scanning tool. Simply ask the Café Manager to scan the PC for you.
6. CHANGE PASSWORDS REGULARLY. Make it a healthy habit to change passwords regularly. Doing so will keep those hackers and keyloggers off your tracks. Trust me, taking a few seconds away from your game time to change your password every other day will go a long way towards securing your account. Remember to ALSO change your e-mail passwords. Sometimes hackers can also ‘keylog’ your e-mail (or instant messenger account) that contains the passwords sent by the game company. If you’re gonna change your password, do it from home or a separate, secure PC.
7. DELETE YOUR ‘CHANGE PASSWORD SUCCESFUL’ E-MAIL CONFIRMATION. Whenever you change your password, memorize it. Then open your e-mail to delete the password confirmation e-mail from the game company.
8. HAVE A LOW ONLINE/OFLINE PROFILE. As much as you’d like to show off your Safety Rings, +10 Immune Mufflers, Mjolnirs or Slotted Sunglasses to all your friends, please avoid doing so. This will make you prime targets for hackers. It's merely a matter of time before they take note of where you were sitting in café and do their evil work. Sometimes they use the video function of cellphones to spy on you. So, beware!
9. HAVE RECORDS. Always take regular screenshots of your characters and items. This will serve as your evidence in case you do get hacked. Just press “Print Screen” (and your files will be on C:\ Program Files\Gravity\RagnarokOnline\Screenshots if you play Ragnarok, for example) If you play on a café, you can email the files to yourself or save it on a virtual harddrive like Yahoo Briefcase
10. GET A SECURE BROWSER - I prefer Firefox for added security (see the right column on how you can get your copy)
    
    

In case the dreaded thing happens, report it as soon as possible. Most game companies have a centralized hotline or online customer care system. For Level Up, it’s simply http://www.levelupsupport.ph/

If you have any other tips that you think might help our dear readers and fellow MMO players, do comment and share them below.

Many thanks!

GM T

Win 10K just by writing about online games

We're currently looking for a pool of writers to write about Level Up gaming topics. We're giving away P20,000 in cash for the lucky ones who make it!

If you love writing about games, why don't you give it a shot?

The complete mechanics are here

And you can also download the application form.

Good luck! I'm one of the judges who'll be reviewing the submissions. Hope to see tons of entries soon.

Thanks!

Level Up titles win MMOSITE Reader's Choice Awards

Wohoo!!!

This just in from MMOSITE's Reader's Choice Best of 2006 Awards:

Level Up titles dominated the above contest. These are the winners:

1. Ragnarok - 20.3% votes
2. Silk Road - 17.7% votes
3. RF Online - 11.5% votes

Thanks to all who voted! You can check out the full details in the Level Up article here

A toast to all 3 titles above!

Cheers!

New at Level Up Youtube: Perfect World Teaser

I just uploaded the teaser video for for Perfect World.

Check it out, peeps!

Join my blogroll

Guys,

Thanks for visiting my blog. The hits have been going up. Thanks to all my friends, fellow gamers and members of their own respective LU communities.

If you have an MMOG or gaming related blog, tell me.

I'll be happy to add it to my blogroll below. Just comment below

Ciao,
GM T

How to secure your online game account - 1

I’ve decided to reprint some of the articles that I wrote for Ragnabeat. I was the regular writer for Ragnabeat, published in the Manila Bulletin and the Internet. I think I wrote some 60-or-so articles (once a week). At any rate, the article below is a classic reprint back from 1994:

Hackers! Everyone hates them. It’s an online player’s nightmare… waking up one morning and finding all your precious rares and over-upgraded gear ALL gone in the blink of an eye! What’s worse is that your high-level character could also be the target of the now infamous “hack-delete”. If this becomes your fate, then all the hours you’ve poured into the game will be for naught. Nothing can replace the time and effort one has invested for a high-level, legally leveled, MMORPG character.

Like the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, the same holds true for online games. As both a GM and a player, allow me to share with you some tips and tricks to keep those nasty hackers off your account – for good!

Don’t be a victim.

There are a lot of pit traps that can make you a hack victim. It’s best to know the most common M.O.s so you can avoid becoming one. One of the most common cause of hackings are keyloggers (I also think negligience is also up there). Keyloggers are small (often invisible applications running in the background) that track all your keystrokes. With this illegal application, one can just get your username and password without any effort. Some people also “lend” their accounts to friends and even guildmates. This is a “no-no”! Still, others don’t even know how to change their passwords regularly. Finally, some fall victim to scam e-mails and even fake “Game Masters” who ask for their usernames and passwords ingame. Remember, GMS WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER ASK FOR YOUR PASSWORD.

In part 2, I will discuss some tips so that you can avoid becoming a victim.

‘Until then…

GM T