Friday, May 30, 2008

Hardcore Leveling Guide for WingElf Archer from Level 1~50:-

An archer does best by staying back and carefully analyzing a situation to ensure he/she cannot be caught off-guard by enemies. They are weak up close but masters at ranged combat.

Level 1 ~ 10:
Start leveling from Level 1~5 and try not to go against monsters that are higher level than you. Do remember to complete all quests and tasks, the weapon you get from the beginning quest reward is quite good. At the City of Feather, you can get a new set of armor by completing a task given by the Elder, it is strongly recommended that you choose heavy armor over light armor, because its strength requirement is not high and it adds vitality and increases your defence as well. Learn Blazing Arrow then go after the turtles in the nearby lake. When you reach level 8, go to the town and learn some new skills then head off to Bamboo village. Bamboo village has many level 6 to 10 monsters.

Tip: Please take note that from level 1 to level 10, you are strongly recommended to add all your stats points to agility with only enough strength to fulfill the requirements of your armor. Do not put any points into intelligence nor constitution. If you do this it should not be difficult for you to kill any monsters at your level. When you reach level 9, head back to town and begin your cultivation with your master. You must complete your cultivation in order to learn new skills.

Level 11 ~ 20:

From level 11 to level 15 , start to add constitution every level. Obtain a level 13 glove to conquer South Stalking Stronghold. When you reach level 16, obtain the quest about to send a message to the sentinel given by the master of South Stalking Stronghold. You will be able to claim a level 16 bow when you complete this Quest. This bow is as powerful as the level 19 bow. When you reach level 17 , you are asked to moved on your journey to Astound Ridge which is full of melee attack monsters. Level 17 Peachblossom Iblis may be ranged attackers, but the poison is still deadly and will stack up. Worse, Wing Barrier does not protect against it. Do not test the wild boar, they are range physical attack type with very heavy attacks. When you reach level 19, do the cultivation quest, then you can start your journey to Ancient Dragon City. Be careful along the way to Ancient Dragon City.

Tip: It is recommended to use your Wing Barrier while fighting monsters. Against melee types it is strongly suggested not to use your bow to finish them. Instead, engage your Wing Barrier and kill the mob with physical attacks from your glove. This will be faster than using a bow. Although you are using a martial glove to hit the monster, you do not have to add your stat points to strength. Remain adding your stat points to agility and constitution. For your information, 20 points to agility will result in a 1% critical gain.

Level 21 ~ 30:

Level 21 to level 25, go to the north gate of the Ancient Dragon City and do the repeatable Rancor missions. Kill them and hand in the mission to the officer in charge just right in front of the gate. Do not leave the area when you reach level 24, there are 2 types of ghouls to kill for the reputation missions. Continue doing this till level of 26. For level 26 to level 30, go to the south gate of Ancient Dragon City and continue your journey by finishing the story line quest. Through this, you will reach level 30 in a short time.

Tip: Repeatable Rancor missions give not only experience from those monsters that you have killed, but you will also receive Reputation Points and celestial stones too!

Level 31 ~ 40:

Level 31 to level 35, there are 3 places that are suitable for your leveling journey. They are: the north part of Ancient Dragon City, Orchis Serene Valley,and Mirror Lake Residence (Actually at the valley of Valley of Scorpion). Level 36 to level 40, the 3 training spots that suited to your level are: There are north part of Orchis Serene Village, south east part of Allied Army Camp and Hero's Tomb. These levels are a trying time for your character because there are a huge number of monsters who are ranged melee attack types . If you really find it hard going, try to group up with a healer to kill those monsters and wolves. After that , you can change your leveling spot to another village called Fishing Village. There you can kill those poisonouns spiders.

Tip: Always use Plume Barrier to kill those spell attack monsters and use fists to kill those melee attack monsters. If you want to kill poisonous spiders, you have two options , one is bring along plenty of health potions or you bring a healer with you .

Level 41 ~ 50:

Level 41 to level 45, head back to the City of Feather, the skies of Fallen Tassel Village are full of flying snakes. You only need normal attacks to kill them . Those flying snakes will spawn every 30 seconds, and there are a great many in the sky . When you reach level 45 you can try to hunt those monsters around the Camp of Sumor. Level 46 to level 50, form a party then go to Sundown Town and kill those Conquest Terrawraith Warriors.

Tip: There are a few missions at this level that require you to kill several bosses who are level 55, so there no need to rush to finish those missions.

Hardcore Leveling Guide for WingElf Priest from Level 1~50:-

As a WingElf Priest, always play to your strengths. Wood elemental monsters are excellent targets because your high intellect means you are resistant to their attacks and you deal extra damage to them because your own attacks are of the metal element.


Level 1 ~ 20:

Just do all your quests and you will reach Level 20


Tip: Make friends with high level players and get them to help you out. The FB19 Weapon will serve you well into your 30s.


Level 20 ~ 30:

At level 20 ~ 22, go to the North Entrance of Ancient Dragon City and start killing Devil Arbor Hide and Envenom Ghoul.
At level 23 ~ 24, walk along the Red Sparrow River at south of Ancient Dragon City, kill those Greater Envenom Ghoul or DenseEarth LeechDrakes.
At level 25 take out Quillhog Enchanter Kaiser. You can move on to Shining Tide Woods to kill Quickening Gnomes, Gigan-Belly Araneids and those level 28 scorpions. When you have reached level 29, go east of Tears of Heaven City and kill those Decaying BaneGhouls at Mirror Lake Residence.


Tip: Purify removes negative effects and is wonderful against poisons.

Level 30 ~ 40:

At level 30, kill those VastCrura Araneids at southern Lake of Sky.
At level 31, go East of Orchis Serene Valley kill the Devil Arbor Root.
At level 33, go East of Orchis Serene Valley, kill BackStab Scorpioc and TigerStripe Araneids, but beware of Argentwave HexSabres.
When you are at level 35, the Killer Pismire around the Orchis Serene Village make a good target.
At Level 36 ~ 37, Try the skies above the Allied Army Camp and kill those bees to keep leveling till level 39. Then go to the Fishing Village to kill those giant spiders until you reach level 40.


Tip: The repeatable rancor quest gives greater than usual reputation for Tiger Stripe Araneids.


Level 40 ~ 50:

Go kill the snakes in the airspace above Camp of Sumor. At level 45, kill those poison flowers at Foredawn Plain, it is a water elemental. At level 46, kill those Wolven Guardsman and Spring WizenXylary nearby. Once you reach level 48, you can change your leveling spot to the sky above Town of Arriving and Skeleton Mountain and start killing those flying serpents.


Tip: Casting Whisht Heart just before an enemy hits you will allow you to keep your HP up while getting hit when fighting difficult monsters.

Perfect World Marriage System

Whether mortal or celestial, Cupid’s arrows are just as potent. Love can grow from a bud or strike like a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky. Some are brought together due to unexpected encounters, for others, fate clearly had something in store. Whatever the reason, Love is indeed the most powerful force and the deep passion that drives people to tie the knot is now something you can experience in a Perfect World.

A long demanded feature for Perfect World, the Marriage System is patterned after the traditional Chinese Valentines, also known as ‘The Seventh Eve’. Once this feature is installed, players will be able to add a joyful ambience to the wedding ceremony through celebratory fireworks such as “The Heart”, “Peach Heart”, “I Love You”, “Red Rose”, “Heart To Heart”, “Love”, “I Luv U” and “Love At First Sight”.

For longtime players of Perfect World, the game has always brought romantic appeal and magical moments to everyone. A world so wonderful and picturesque, populated by such as the fascinating and seductive Werefox, the saintly gentleness of an Elf Priest, or the imperturbable and mysterious Magician. Mighty Warriors from every extravagant corner of the world, whether knightly or otherwise all seek without exception, a beautiful and loving companion who will stay by their side.

Of course, faint heart has never won fair beauty, and the quest for a soulmate is an epic on indeed! For those exceptional few who succeed at such a venture, a Wedding Ceremony is a must. For all the lovebirds seeking to become a ‘Legitimate Couple’, there are certain procedures you need to go through. But fear not as we have for you a “Seventh Eve’s Wedding Guide” to help couple successfully walk down the aisle.

Wedding Attire
The Wedding Gown is one of the most important items of a proper wedding, no ceremony should ever lack this ceremonial outfit. For what woman does not dream of the moment when she walks down the wedding hall with her most beloved half wearing a very beautiful wedding dress, to be for that moment, the most attractive women in the world.
Exceptional traditional Chinese Wedding Gowns have exquisite lace and stitch work with the color of red for happiness and gold for elegance. The groom is himself resplendent in matching yellow and red hues.
Marriage Requirements:

1. One devoted pair of lovers who are deeply in love (1 Male 1 Female).
2. Both must realise that they must take responsibility for their current condition and commitment they are bound to, so must be at least Level 20.

Fulfill these two requirements and then follow the following steps to wedded bliss:


Step 1 : Team up with your beloved one (Only two in a team. After all, how could there be a third?) Head forth to the west of Ancient Dragon City, look for the NPC, Moon Elder (522,655).

Step 2 : Get the Marriage mission – Tie the Bond. To accomplish the mission: Male character must bring along 1 “Seal of Everlasting Love”, Female Character must bring along 1 “Silk of Forever & Ever”. These 2 items can be purchased in the Fortune Sack (Virtual Item Mall) list. ‘Bridegroom Gift Box’ has the “Seal of Everlasting Love”, and ‘Bride Gift Box’ has the “Silk of Forever & Ever”.

Step 3 : When both of you have accomplished the task, the team leader can then hand over the mission - Tie the Bond, this indicates that you and your beloved half have successfully completed the wedding procedure. A System Announcement will then send out message to notify every corner of the Perfect World.
You can take wedding photos and arrange for a honeymoon; or you could come up with your own activities… we’re not stopping you!

And now, Congratulations! You have found your soulmate. Each of you will now have the extra title of “Husband” or “Wife” with the name of your spouse before that to indicate your married status.

If Happily Ever After is not quite what you expected then it may be better to make a decision to end this marriage. And so, we have a “Divorce Guide” as well.
Steps to Separation:

Step 1 : Still the same, head forth to the west of Ancient Dragon City, look for the NPC, Moon Elder (522,655).

Step 2 : The Moon Elder will give you a mission: Departed Swallows. You’ll pay the Moon Elder an in-game gold fee of 2,000,000 gold.

Step 3 : After payment of the 2,000,000 in game gold, both of you are now declared Divorced, whatever wonderful memories between you and your spouse are now a thing of the past…
Despite the challenges, nothing should dissuade you from having the wedding of your dreams in Perfect World. Go forth and seek out your wedded bliss!

Monday, May 26, 2008

WOW Honor System

Okay, so people have been asking me to explain how the honor system works. Why they seem to think I'd know... that I do not know. But I do have a theory on how it works and it seems to be somewhat accurate. So I'll present what I know here and figure out the rest as I go along.

Section 1: Terminology

Firstly it's very important to get familiar with the terms I'll be using else a lot of misunderstanding can occur.

'Rank' - This is your player rank which goes from 1 to 14. (ie: Private to Grand Marshal)

'Ranking' - This is your "Standing" as shown at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/index.html?r=Shadowsong&faction=a#top which is the column on the far left and basically lists players from highest 'Rank xp' to the 1000th highest. Some people refer to this as 'Overall Standing'.

'Rank xp' - This is your "Rating" as shown on the far right column of http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/index.html?r=Shadowsong&faction=a#top which is actually your progress on the 'Rank' bar of your character screen. I call "Rating" 'Rank xp' because it helps Illustrate things better.

'Standing' - This is your 'weekly standing' as shown in your character screen. (You will see it under the section "Last Week") You must not confuse this with the "Standing" on the official website. (Which I call 'Ranking')

'Honor' - This is the amount of Honor you have or have gained or will gain. Some people call this 'CP'. This term easily gets mixed up so I need to explain that when I say 'Honor' it refers to the amount you gain on your character screen. The 'Honor' stat is more or less reset every week. (Goes back to 0)

'HK'/'HKs' - This I believe everyone knows as 'Honorable Kill'. You must not confuse this with 'KB' which is the 'Killing Blow' stat used to rank players in the BG games. Generally this is a for fun stat, and has no bearing except when used in cut-off point calculations.

Section 2: Ranks

Alright now that that's out of the way, We'll start this off with a small table showing the 'Rank' and 'Rank xp' required for each 'Rank'.

Rank Rank xp Title
1 1-2,499 Private
2 2,500-4,999 Corporal
3 5,000-9,999 Sergeant
4 10,000-14,999 Master Sergeant
5 15,000-19,999 Sergeant Major
6 20,000-24,999 Knight
7 25,000-29,999 Knight-Lieutenant
8 30,000-34,999 Knight-Captain
9 35,000-39,999 Knight-Champion
10 40,000-44,999 Lieutenant Commander
11 45,000-49,999 Commander
12 50,000-54,999 Marshal
13 55,000-59,999 Field Marshal
14 60,000-max Grand Marshal

As you can see, except for the first two ranks, it's 5K 'Rank xp' for each 'Rank'. To obtain Private, all you need are 25 HKs.

Section 3: Earning Rank

So, how do you obtain these 'Rank xp' in order to gain 'Rank'?

You do this by earning 'honor' to gain 'Standing' to gain 'Rank xp'. To earn honor, you can gain it from:

- Killing valid PvP targets (ie: Opposing Players and Racial Leaders in the appropriate setting)

- Doing damage to a valid PvP target that dies (aka: Getting HKs)

- Being in a group or raid that kills a valid PvP target and being in xp range. (and alive)

- The above 3 are subject to Diminishing returns when killing Players. If you kill (or gain credit for) the same player more than once during a 24 hour period, you gain less honor than is displayed in your combat log. (1st kill of the day = 100% of what you see in the combat log. 2nd Kill = 75% of combat log. 3rd = 50% 4th = 25% 5th kill onwards 0 gain)

- Handing in PvP Quests (ie: Marks of Honor)

- Getting Bonus Honor from winning or loosing BG Games.

Now here comes the tricky part.

'Honor' does not directly translate into 'Rank xp'. While the amount of 'Honor' you gain determines your 'Standing' which determines how much 'Rank xp' you gain, it is very possible for you to gain more 'Honor' yet receive less 'Rank xp'. (Compared to previous weeks)

Here's how it goes:

When the servers go down for maintenance, the system totals up your total 'Honor' for the week and lists them from top to bottom. Any player with less than 25 HKs during the week are removed from the list. This is the 'cut-off point' mentioned above. Even though I say 25 is the minimum, based on what I read from http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/pvp-article-part2.html and http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/honor-system-faq.html this is not mentioned, BUT I have it on good authority that there IS a cutoff point and anyone who does not make the minimum number of HKs is considered inactive for the week.

From this list, the server assigns your 'Standing' (your Weekly Standing).

Once you have your 'Standing' it then assigns you some 'Rank xp' based on your 'Standing'. I do not have the exact data on how much 'Rank xp' you gain for each 'Standing' but from what I have calculated:

Standing 1 = 13,000 'Rank xp' (Actually, it seems to be 12,999.. could be a minor rounding error in my formula)

Standing 23 = 10,253 'Rank xp'

Standing 40 = 9,838 'Rank xp'

Standing 100 = 8,401 'Rank xp'

In case you are wondering... 23,40,and 100 are the weekly standings I got after the 1.8 patch.

Which is why they are here and reflect my actual 'Rank xp' gain. For data comparisons sake:

31,721 to 35,215 with Standing 40

35,215 to 36,573 with Standing 100

36,573 to 39,512 with Standing 23

Section 4: Decay

Now if anyone has actually been paying attention and doing the math, they would realize the figures above do not add up. They also do not explain why more people aren't Rank 14 by now. So here's the important part:

There is a 20% Rank xp' decay every week.

I'll say it again,... you LOOSE 20% of your 'Rank xp' EVERY WEEK.

This is the reason why some players like Jaena have been stuck at rank 13 week after week. It's because with the massive amount of 'Rank xp' that Jaena has, he needs to gain more than he looses each week in order to see any form of advancement at all. Currently Jaena is at 59,492 'Rank xp' which means Jaena looses 11,898 'Rank xp' each week. (if I recall correctly, Jaena had 59,440 'Rank xp' last week meaning he gained only 52 'Rank xp' this week. Had Jaena gotten 'Standing' 23 like I did, Jaena would have gone down in 'Ranking' and dropped below Xsassyboy who has 58,467 right now, but would have remained in 2nd 'Ranking' due to having 31 'Rank xp' more than Johnslayer who is at 57,716)

There are 2 exceptions to the 20% decay rule.

1) The maximum 'Rank xp' loss you can ever have in a week is capped at 2,500. (ie: You will never loose more than 2,500 'Rank xp' during a week)

2) If you do not earn more than the 20% decay, you only loose 10% of your total 'Rank xp'. (Subject to rule 1 above which means you will loose either 10% or 2,500, whichever is LESSER.)

And there you have it folks. Everything you need to know about the PvP Rank System.

Section 5: FAQ

Some FAQs:

Q: How much 'Rank xp' do I loose for a DK (Dishonor Kill)?

A: The exact figure is not known as the loss is immediate, yet the official PvP Standings page only updates once a week. It is possible to immediately loose rank for DKs. Some claim 50 'Rank xp' per DK. I do not have the data to verify.

Q: What 'Standing' do I need to maintain 'Rank' X?

A: I do not have enough data, but based on some conversations, It would seem that to maintain Rank 6 (Knight) you only need to be in the top 900 ('Standing' 900 or better each week). Please note that there is a huge difference between 'maintain' and 'obtain'.

Q: How much 'Honor' do I gain from healing?

A: None. When I spoke with the Devs at Blizzcon they indicated that they would change the Honor System to reward a proportion of the 'Honor' for a kill to players who heal during combat. However, currently you gain no 'Honor' for healing people not in your group/raid. (You don't gain honor for healing people in your group either... but if THEY live long enough to kill people then you gain part of the share.)

Q: How much 'Honor' is 1 HK worth?

A: Please read Section 3 again. Also read: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/honor-system-faq.html As it states, the targets 'Honor' value is determined by their level and 'Rank'. You gain a proportion of that value based on the percentage of damage you (or your group) inflict on the target. This new value is then subject to diminishing returns. So most of the time 1 HK is worth 0 'Honor'.

Q: So HK's really do not give me much honor?

A: Please read Section 3 again. If you only BG once a day then yes, HKs would be a substantial part of your honor (Especially if you loose by a huge margin). But if you face the same group more than once, or are doing AV or having a really long WSG game, then HKs generally do not contribute much.

Q: So if I play BG once a day it's best for me to 'tag' as many Horde as I can?

A: No, it is a very BAD idea to tag Horde just to get HKs. The reason is because of diminishing returns. Lets say you're a Paladin and no one is inviting you to the raid. So you run up to the flag and Consecrate hitting every horde there for piddly damage then run back out to heal yourself because if you die, you do not get any 'Honor' or credit for the kills. Let's say everyone else kills those horde while they are still in your xp range. Because you did a small amount of damage to each target, you gain a HK for each one that dies, but if you look at your combat log, you only gain 1 to 5 'Honor' for each one that dies... once you factor in diminishing returns, you can quickly see that even if you tag the same guy 4 times and he dies all 4 times, you only get a grand total of maybe 3 to 10 'Honor' for it (and for the rest of the day you get 0). Far better to concentrate on 1 target and obtain a full 200 to 398 honor. (If solo that is)

Q: Is it better to solo or group?

A: That question goes way beyond scope, there are too many variables to consider such as class, play style, BG type, skill level of opposition, tactics and strategy employed by both sides, number of Bit torrents you are running and whether Murky is dancing at that moment. In general it is best to group.

Q: But then why is it some of those elite solo players do so well?

A: Again, many variables. Solo players don't necessarily do well because they earn more 'Honor' but more because they reduce the amount of 'Honor' that everyone else gains. You must keep in mind that the Honor System is a relative scale. It doesn't actually matter how well your side is doing but rather how well you perform relative to everyone else on your side.

Q: Explain?

A: Here goes - As already explained, the amount of 'Honor' you gain is proportional to the amount of damage inflicted. So assuming Horde X was worth 300 'Honor' and Alliance A,B & C all did 33amage to Horde X and killed him. Each Alliance A,B & C would receive 100 'Honor' each if they were not grouped. If they were grouped... each would receive approx 125-150 (I have no idea what the actual numbers are, but the 'bonus xp' for being in a group are quite decent). Lets say Alliance A is solo and B & C are grouped. The split would then be, something to the effect of A = 100, B= 115, C= 115. (This is actually wrong... because bonus xp only applies to groups of 3 or more, but I really don't want to confuse things by saying B,C,D,E... and so on... that and I have no idea if the bonus honor rules for being in a group follow xp rules exactly. Certainly, you get far less xp for being in a raid group, yet the raid group penalty for xp does not apply to 'Honor')

Here you can see that the soloist actually gets LESS 'Honor'. So why do they do well? ... this is largely due to play style. The soloists are typically hardcore killers. Because of this, they inflict massive amounts of damage and play a lot more than the average player. Once you bring diminishing returns into play, you'll start to see where the advantage lies. Lets say an attack group of 5 moves in on the BS accompanied by a soloist. The attack groups focus is obviously taking the node, (Capping, Healing, CC) while the soloists focus is dealing as much damage as possible.

Assuming the same Horde X was at that node and the soloist did half the damage. Soloist A would gain 150 'Honor' while attack group splits the other 150 'honor' 5 ways for 45 'honor' each. (Yes 150/5 = 30, but you get bonus... so it goes up for a net total of 225) Here then is where the big difference lies, in that the soloist got more than the [i]individuals[/i] in the group. Stay with me though, it gets more amusing... the soloist is typically a hardcore player and it's not his first kill on that Horde for the day. While Horde X may have been worth 150 'Honor' (it says so on the soloists combat log) the actual honor gained after diminishing returns is 0. Assuming the Attack group is having it's first game of the day ... the 45 'Honor' they are gaining for that first kill really is 45 'Honor'.

Those who have been paying attention would have realized that if the soloist had joined the attack group, it would have been 300 'Honor' split 6 ways for approx 80 honor each. The soloist would still receive effectively 0 'Honor' due to diminishing returns, but the others in the group would have gained 80 instead of 45.

The effect of soloists is to reduce the net amount of 'Honor' gained. This is beneficial to the soloist because even if the soloist does not gain anything, it is important to make sure that others gain less. (The soloist however still wants to win the game because bonus honor is handed out to everyone.)

Q: Isn't this very unfair? Something needs to be done!

A: It is simply the effect of the system in place. If everyone were allowed to gain full honor for a kill they(or their group) did not contribute to, then everyone would go solo. The Developers ARE aware of this and have stated that in upcoming patches, raid groups for BGs will be formed automatically once technical difficulties have been worked out.

Q: So in the end it is better to be solo?

A: I never said that. The question was "why some of those elite soloists do so well?" and that was what I answered. Those soloists who do well, work hard for their rank. Even if they grouped with you, they would still be ahead.

Q: Can I join your pre-made?

A: I do not run a pre-made. I am very seldom even in one. The vast majority of the time, I queue solo and then simply form the raid once in the BG if it has not yet been formed. If I have the power to, I will always invite everyone and anyone in the BG. If you are bugged, log out and back in to clear the bug so I can invite you.

Q: Can I have your babies?

A: I already have a Baby Murloc, and it's soulbound. So no, you may not have Murky.

The Bardic Paladin,

Champion of Light,

Ordus Libratus Divinitus.

On Star Wars: Ep III Revenge of the Sith

First off, I'll just say that I really enjoyed episode III.

Did it live up to my expectations?

NO

Is it a good movie though? I'd say YES. My expectations for Star Wars are unnaturally high. There are many scenes in SWepIII which I thought were sub-par (Hayden can't act, plot inconsistencies, campiest romance dialogue ever, weak Jedi and finally: NOOoooooo!) but overall I really do think that Lucasfilm did the best that they could within the restraints that they had.

So those who have somehow managed to avoid this show should still go for it... to show you how good SWepIII is, I'll just say that I took my mother to see it and after it was over, we went home and loaded up SWepIV: A New Hope (special Edition) at HER request. Which was stunning because this is the same woman who has never been a big fan of special effects movies. (We took her to see LOTRIII:RotK in New Zealand during the opening week and booked the expensive VIP class chairs and during the show she fell asleep! Had to wake her up every so often because we were afraid her snoring would disturb others...).



So I'm a raving fan boy... so what's new?


Anyway, instead of my continued praise for the show or talking about how SW politics shadows real life... I want to point out what seems to be the main topic of this thread which is:
'What comes next?'



So far, we've had people saying there will be a 7, 8 & 9 ... then there are those who say that this is the end... and of course there are the usual puns and jokes.

What I'm here to do however is point out that originally there were NEVER 9 Episodes.

Not many of you will recall, but when Star Wars was released in 1977, it was called: "Star Wars: A New Hope".

Only when it was re-released in 1978 was it called "Star Wars IV: A New Hope". The reason for that was George Lucas was trying to secure funding to film 2 additions to Star Wars (no hint of 7, 8 or 9) and it was only in the mid-80's AFTER SWepVI:RotJ that Lucas said that there were plans for 9 episodes in total. HOWEVER...

Old George fell prey to licensing and all the money staring in his face (and he didn't really have a solid idea on how he wanted his 7, 8, and 9 to go) so he let everyone else license out the future of Star Wars but tried to keep its past under wraps. Basically he went and told all his licensees that they could have free reign on the future within guidelines.

Now, I'm not going to bother explaining the storyline after Ep6 because it get's all whacky with Luke turning to the Dark Side and Anakin Solo (yes, SOLO... OMG Anakin's BACK) being the new ubber Jedi (for those who guessed, Han Solo married Leia Organa and had the twins Jacen and Jaina followed by the new Anakin) and Luke marrying Mara Jade (a sort of Dark Jedi who was sent to kill Luke) .. the list goes on, the death of Chewbaca, the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong (aliens from another galaxy and because of that they have no midi-chlorians and thus are immune to force powers) and Maryanne consenting to my marraige proposal....





.. alright I'm digressing...

Back to what I was saying:


Quote:
What I'm here to do however is point out that originally there were NEVER 9 Episodes.


Originally Star Wars was just Star Wars... in fact.. it was:

"Adventures of the Starkiller, the Star Wars"
-only in the second screenplay draft did it become "Star Wars: A New Hope" The film was prefaced with the statement, "in the times of greatest despair there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the 'Son of the Suns.'"

.... freaky, I know.


The freakiest bit was that Star Wars was actually heavily influenced by Japanese film. Specifically the film "The Hidden Fortress" by none other than Akira Kurosawa.

Basically old George had latched onto the idea that you could take an Akira Kurosawa film, and re-film it as your own in a different setting and it would become a huge hit a la "Magnificent Seven" (itself derived from "Seven Samurai") which has since been copied over and over again most recently seen in "Last Man Standing." (starring Bruce Willis)

The Hidden Fortress is a 1958 film where a young princess escapes from an enemy clan with her faithful commander. They travel through the countryside dressed as peasants, hiding their fortune in bundles of firewood. They are helped along by a pair of farmers who hoped to share in their wealth.

Here were the original freaky characters for "Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode One of the Star Wars":

Darth Vader
-the evil General of the Imperial army, Vader overthrew the Alliance and proclaimed himself Emperor in the original story treatment of Star Wars: A New Hope. In the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Vader is a General to Valarium. In the second screenplay draft, Vader was set forth as the primary villain, the seven-foot-tall black knight who controlled the Bogan Force. He was searching for the Kiber Crystal, hoping to retrieve it before the Jedi Bendu.

... at this point you're already saying "Bogan Force", "Kiber Crystal", "Jedi Bendu" ??? WTF??? ... hehe, but stick with me a bit longer. The bright side here is that Darth Vader at least from the very beginning is George Lucas 'bad guy'. Everyone else is not in the form you know them to be...


Valarium
-the evil Black Knight, and Darth Vader's right-hand man, from the original story treatment of Star Wars: A New Hope. In the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Valarium is the Black Knight of the Sith, the head of the sinister warriors opposing the Jedi Bendu. Darth Vader is his grim-looking General.

... notice how Valorum first started out as the lackey? Incidentally, initially it was the Sith Knights vs. the Jedi Templars. (to give it a sort of middle-ages Crusades feel) And now we move on to the heroes:


Leia Starkiller
-in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Leia Starkiller is the daughter of Kane Starkiller. She was sent away to a distant galaxy for safekeeping until the Jedi bendu can eliminate the threat from the Knights of the Sith.

... Leia is central to the whole plot of Star Wars, because of this she is the one character that remains almost unchanged from the original concept, (Basically the young princess from the 1958 film) she and Darth Vader are basically the central axis of Star Wars. (her last name does change a lot though from Starkiller to Lars to Aquilae and finally Organa) All the other characters were basically changed around her. Which leads us to:


Luke Skywalker
-the character of Luke Skywalker was originally that of Princess Leias faithful commander and protector. He was a long-time friend of Kane Starkiller, and agreed to continue the training of Kanes son Annikin. This character was introduced in the second draft as Deaks brother. Luke later became a Jedi Knight, one of only two surviving, who helped Leia Aguilae and her family escape Darth Vader and Valarium. From the first screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke is one of two surviving Jedi Bendu. The other is Kane Starkiller.

... notice that Luke starts of being something like Obi-Wan but that changes towards the 3rd draft (by then Leia is no longer a Starkiller, but becomes an Aguilae - the name before Organa) but even then, the Skywalker is still a minor character... (and most importantly, Luke is an old man just like Kane Starkiller! The original description for Luke made him out to be something like Gandalf and George had in mind Sir Alec Guiness to play him) the main heroes are still the Starkillers as we shall soon see:


Annikin Starkiller
-one of the two surviving Jedi Knights, and friend to Luke Skywalker, from the original story treatment of Star Wars. Annikin was revised in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars as the eighteen-year-old son of Kane Starkiller. Annikin's brother, Biggs, searches Annikin out in hopes that the two of them can rescue their father from the Emperor. In the rough draft, Annikin was sent to rescue Leia. This later version of Annikin became Luke Skywalker in the final script. Annikin was used again in the third screenplay draft of Star Wars: A New Hope, this time as the deceased father of Luke Starkiller.

... here we see that originally Anakin was the hero of Star Wars, the so called 'Son of Sons' but was eventually dropped out of the picture. After Star Wars was completed, George then went back and tried to see how he could once again make Annikin play a role and came up with the strange fallen-anti-hero that Anakin/Vader would eventually become. Note that originally, Anakin and Vader were two separate characters, it's only during SWepV:ESB that the two characters combine since Star wars was filmed as a complete standalone movie.

Kane Starkiller
-in the first screenplay draft of Star Wars, Kane Starkiller is one of two surviving Jedi Bendu. He was the father of Annikin, Deak, Biggs and Windy Starkiller, and hid on the planet Utapau from the Sith Knights. Kane was described as a burly man dressed in the distinctive robes of a Jedi, and was training his sons to be Jedi. Kane was a native of the planet Aquilae. The story treatment for Star Wars indicates that he wore his Jedi robes to disguise the fact that except for his head and right arm - he was a cyborg. He and the other survivor, Luke Skywalker, believed in the "Force of Others." Kane's character evolved into the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

... here you can see that Kane and Luke actually merged to become Obi-Wan and then Annikin got supplanted. What's noteworthy about Kane is that George already had in mind that he wanted a cyborg, eventually Vader would inherit this cyborg trait. (Vader was NOT a cyborg in SWepIV:ANH) It should be noted that the "Force of Others" is none other than the "Kiber Crystal" which was a small diamond like stone which could intensify either side of the force, Ashla or Borgan.


Deak Starkiller
-in the first draft of Star Wars, Deak was the 10-year-old brother of Annikin Starkiller. In the treatment, he was a blond-haired boy with a large scratch on his cheek. He was killed by a Sith Knight who lands on Utapau and attacks the Starkiller family. In the second
screenplay draft of Star Wars, Deak Starkiller is the 25-year-old brother of Luke Starkiller. He is also the captain of a group of Jedi Bendu, and commanded the ship on which R2-D2 and C-3PO were working. He is captured by Darth Vader, and his brother comes to his rescue. The second draft indicates that Deak was captured on Alderaan, after a lasersword duel.

... another character that completely disappears. (but re-appears in Ep I in a rather strange form) While he may initially seem to be the source for Han Solo, he is not. (Han Solo may have been captured by Darth Vader in EpV and Luke rescues him in Ep6 but keep in mind that Ep5 and 6 came about way after the script for SW:ANH was finalized.) The key thing that Deak contributes is actually the lazersword duel, which later evolves into lightsabers. (And where would Starwars be without Lightsabers?) Note that the original lightsabers in SW:ANH served as little more than fancy glowing swords, it is only in SWepV:ESB where you see them put to greater use in reflecting blaster bolts and cutting open bellies of Taun-Tauns and AT-ATs. (In SW:ANH Luke did use them to block attacks from a training droid, but could not reflect attacks.)



R2-D2 and C-3PO were originally named simply A2 and C3. Originally they were Imperial agents who had been captured by the rebels (watch "The Hidden Fortress" to see who they originally were) but eventually evolved into droids. A2 became R2-D2 when George happened to spot the label on a film can which read 'R2D2' - short for 'Reel 2, Dialogue 2'.

Speaking of "The Hidden Fortress", you might be miffed to know that even before they were the Starkillers, they were the Valor... as in:

Valor, Akira
-this was the name used for Kane Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars. It was derived from the name of the director of The Hidden Fortress, Akira Kurosawa. Akira Valor was described as a Dai warrior from the Townowi System.

Valor, Bink
-this was the name used for Deak Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars. Now you know where Jar-Jar came from... ugh...

Valor, Justin
-this was the name used for Annikin Starkiller in the early treatments of Star Wars.

Personality Tests and getting to know me..

They're fun to do! You find them everywhere from Reader's Digest to newspaper pullouts to any kind of magazine. Usually widly inaccurate, but fun notheless. Online thse things seem even more prolific!

A lot of profiles here love to put up a tone of those personality tests in their MySpace, I find that tends to clutter things up. Especially when they have 50 YouTube videos all over the place. So I decided to place them elsewhere... which in this case would be one of my old 'websites' in the day when it was a fad to have your own website on a freehost. (As opposed to today's Friendster/Myspace/Blog craze.)

According to the records, I've had it for 274 weeks... wow... how time flies.

See Personality Test Results

Reminder: unreliable accuracy.

Perfect World Heal Formula

Thanks to Elissie who found the formula!
(http://forum.perfectworld.com.my/viewtopic.php?t=7907)

The Formula For Heal Amount is :-
[ -10 + ( 55 x Heal Lvl ) ] + [ 10 + 2 ( Heal Lvl ) % MAtk]

SRO Elements Price Guide

I realize some of you guys do not know how to price elements yet so I thought I would help you out. Also keep in mind that SRO is a forever changing economy so these are not set in stone. This is just what I have learned from selling elements for awhile now as my main source of income. Hope this helps some of you.


FIRE

1. 150 each
2. 800 to 1k each
3. 400 each
4. 500 each
5. 800 each
6. 900 each

WATER

1. 200 each
2. 350 each
3. 750 each
4. 500 - 600 each
5. 900- 1k each
6. 1k each

WIND

1. 300 each
2. 1.5k - 1.8k each
3. 750 each
4. 1.5k - 1.9k each
5. 900- 1k each
6. 1k each

EARTH

1. 200 each
2. 350 each
3. 400 each
4. 500 each
5. 1k each
6. 1k - 1.2k each




120 Wind 1 = 28,888
80 Wind 2 = 88,888
300 Wind 3 = 188,888
80 water 1 = 13,888
120 Water 2 = 38,888
300 Water 3 = 188,888

60 Fire 1 = 8,888
60 Fire 2 = 38,888
120 Fire 2 = 68,888
300 Earth 2 = 88,888
28 Wind 2 = 38,888

Red Fraction

So I think Black Lagoon is the greatest Anime ever and the song "Red Fraction" just won't get out of my head. I think the lyrics are brilliant and I MUST share it with all of you!


I have a big gun
I took it from my Lord
Sick with Justice
I just wanna feel you
I´m your angel
Only a ring away
You make me violate you
No matter who you are
It´s all up to you
No one lives forever
Been burn in the hell
By all those pigs out there
It´s alway been hell
From when I was born
They make me violate them
No matter who they are
Get down on your knees
Get a good head on you shoulders
if it´s for your guys
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you think
Give it with dedication
I´ll put out your misery
Have no prayer
So, I keep the gun with me
For my safety
I´ll do it with no sweat
They mean business
No time for sissy pig
Queen of ocean
Sing "the Volga" to you
No need to think about it
You do it or you die
Those aren´t tears
Don´t let trick on you
I am hard as steel
Get out of my way
Pay back all at once
Suck away the tender part
You made a mess
For Christ sake, this rotten wourld
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up the fire
Right on the power
Weapon... I have it all
Get down on your knees
Get a good head on you shoulders
if it´s for your guys
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you think
Give it with dedication
I´ll put out your misery
You made a mess
For Christ sake, this rotten world
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up th fire
Right on the power
Weapon... I have it all

Strange Dreams

Everyone Dreams, but the dreams I mean here are those that come from all that REM at night. The kind that seldom makes sense and is only recalled if you wake up suddenly, as if from a nightmare.

It starts in what might be a postbattle settting. A Pioneer Wild West sort of feel. It follows a bunch of boys, adolescents really who seem to be running away from a battlefield in the winter. The boys seem to be from 2 families or clans.

They come upon an abandoned farmstead near a lake. But there seems to be a sinister air about the lake. I think they discover a pile of money in the abandoned farm and they send one of them off to buy food for the rest while the rest continue to search the farm. The eldest boy sends of one of his younger brothers because he senses something wrong about the whole situation. As if it could turn bad at any moment, and pulls the brother to one send trying to hint to him that he should not return. The elder suspects that the other group might turn against them...

The boys begin to find food... and the elder realizes that sometimes, the food seems to replenish or become fresh again when near the lake. Also, some injuries seem to disappear from those who have been in it.

Scene seems to shift a little to the future... or past.. but it seems to show the same lake.

This time we follow 2 girls wading through the pools thick grasses. One looks to be about late teen while the other is early teen. The younger is commenting about how she would love to have a baby when they come upon what looks to be the corpse of a young girl, maybe 4 or 5 who looks to have drowned. The young teen girl is frantic to pull the little girl out and revive her while the older is trying to make sure the younger teen does not herself drown. Mysteriously though, as they pull the little girl to shore she coughs and seems to revive.

Scene shifts again to a 'town' it's still rustic and wild west-ish.. but there seems to be modernity in the form of a vehicles.
We find that the Town Mayor talking to some kind of accountant about his preserves (bottles of fruit?) and trying to get some sort of tax evasion thing?
The accountant is short , and blames the Mayor for it during the mayor's 'colleciton' periods when torture was used to obtain more taxes.
After they get to some sort of agreement, the Mayor shows the accountant/tax official his 'car?' and almost gets killed. The Mayor sends the accountant off.. and when the accountant gets into the car next to the garage and smiles at the Mayor who has gotten into his car, the car explodes.
At this point, a slow motion detonation occurs.. but is no ordinary explosion, as it reverberates throughout the town. The force at the heart of the explosion is enough that the vacuum created sucks in debris and glass.. the glass sucked in actually superheats and causes another plasma explosion to occur in the same location.

The rest of the dream I might recall some other night...

Postulation on Supreme Commander

First off this is about the single player game and be warned for I am posting spoilers. Like some other gamers, the end game videos except for the Aeon were unavailable to me. At first I thought it was because I finished the Aeon last and that I had to 'unlock' the other endings so I tried the campaign with all 3 factions again (on Hard), but this time left the UEF to last and did the Aeon first.

But I still ended up with the same blank screen with Alt-F4 as the only way out.

While I would like to engage in discussions as to the possible unit types of the 4th faction, it is perhaps of too large a scope to effectively undertake. I do agree however that it is likely to be of a bio/mystical nature with units reflecting such. But while the actual units may not be easy to predict, the storyline is perhaps more transparent.

As I have not been able to view the other two endings, I cannot postulate as effectively (I especially loved the detail behind the scanner colours posted by DeadMG) but this is my theory:

The 4th 'Faction' for the coming expansion is the Seraphim, or the progenitors/legacy of the Seraphim. This is because during the Aeon campaign, the Princess herself often wonders 'why the Seraphim gave us these gifts', once she 'Transcendes' and discovers her 'true purpose' or 'true destiny' she utters a 'NO!' hinting that she may have doomed all of humankind rather than save it.

Combine that with Brackman's observation that the Aeon do not know what marvelous technology they have. To quote 'they just put it in a temple and worship it but do not know what it can do.'. Once you realise that Brackman intergrated Seraphim technology into QAI, then QAI's response for 'Primary Objrctive Completed' becomes more obvious.

With regards to the UEF ending, besides the stealth indication, it's usually the first faction you play and thus provides more of the 'there's more to come' part of the story.

This allows for any of the 3 factions victories to allow for the explanation of the 4th.

UEF:
Destruction of the Seraphim by Xenophobes and actually using Black Sun proves to the remaining Seraphim/whoever that Humankind is a threat that cannot be ignored and must be annihilated. It helps that the UEF just quantum disintegrated a number of their own worlds and are now ripe for invasion. The stealth attack is probably to eliminate Black Sun.

Cybran:
The Seraphim tech altered QAI to 'summon' the 4th faction. The reson the 4th faction did not previously attack was because 'The Way' had not yet weakened humankind. When QAI destroyed all the Quantum Gates humanity was now isolated and could be destroyed in pockets. It is aslo probable that QAI provided valuable intel (combat data, weak locations, etc) as part of the Seraphim programming.

Aeon:
As the pawns of the Seraphim, the Aeon did exactly what the Seraphim wanted, which was to 'Cleanse' most of humankind. After all, an 'Infinite War' is not without it's cost. With their powers of precognition, the Seraphim may well have seen their demise at the hand of the humans. 'The Way' may not be so much a path for the humans but more of 'A Way Out' for the Seraphim. A thousand years bought with the sacrifice of many Seraphim and much much more human blood would have given the remnants of the Seraphim enough time (1000 years, ie: The Infinite War) to make a comeback. And as we all know, "Repensum est Canicula".