Manigong Bagong Taon!

Just saying Happy New Year to one and all. :D

... Damn, where did 2008 go??? D:

Post

I'm sorry I've been out of the loop, everyone. I assisted in Cosplay Mania, an event purely by cosplayers and for cosplayers. Unlike most other places, cosplayers here in my neck of the woods are hardcore enough to want to organise their own event. :P (Same goes for the yaoi fans, in the form of Lights Out, but I'm not one of 'em... :3) I'm sincerely hoping the gamers follow suit soon too -- I KNOW they can do it. d^_^b

I have found two blogs full of massive hate for Cosplay Mania, calling our event an epic failure. I don't really mind, except they seem to have written mindlessly, without the knowledge of the difficulties in putting up an event without tie-ups to large companies as is the norm here. Also, they don't know the full details behind the scenes, and while I suspect that making them privy to this knowledge may make them reconsider their posts, stories like these are never mine to tell. Besides, we already know that space has become a concern. Seriously, call us naive, but we still didn't think we'd fill the whole hall up -- hell, at least I was sure we wouldn't, I'd left all things cosplay behind for at least a year so I didn't think we had such a huge cosplay community by the time I returned -- if we all consider the timing of the event, among other things.

Again, my sincerest thanks to Filcosplay Forums, Ongaku-Society, New Worlds Alliance, Midknighter of Groundbreakers Studios/Mangaholix, and to all the volunteers and staffers for their outstanding support of this endeavour. Thanks to all the sponsors and exhibitors (I don't remember everyone, sorry ;~;) who helped make this event possible. And last but never least, thanks to all the cosplayers and cosplay fans who came, saw and enjoyed the event. v^_^v

God(dess) willing, see you all next year! ;3

Much love,

Haruka173
Cosplay.ph
Cosplay Mania 2008 Staffer

[OPINION] GE =/= serious business, people. >_>0

* Edited for clarity.

Sometimes, I swear, if there's anything Filipinos are great at, it's drama. Even in gaming, oh boy.

Case in point: this thread.

The title alone reeks of flamebait. And I don't understand why it's still up, considering that it went downhill and hasn't recovered since.

FYI, yeah I get into a lot of drama too, especially because I am the type to please people. A notable GE-related example is my Brunie cosplay during the Granado Espada Philippine Launch last September. I admit I look fugly with the pale hair (and now I don't even want to be blonde anymore, which is a big thing because if you know me personally, I wanted to dye my hair blonde for the longest time) and of course the ponytail, but where I was looking for constructive criticism on the costume (since I cannot afford and do not wish to subject myself to risky plastic surgery), many commenters were giving nasty comments about ME ... AND my friends, who were also in costume. I will admit that I was terribly hurt to have it rubbed in my face, but I made sure to report only those who gave particularly nasty criticism without suggesting better alternatives for the sake of being nasty. I did appreciate the critique given to me though, but I still would like to insist that Brunie is more blonde than either completely silver/gray-haired (too unnatural and old-looking for this fine lady, I'm going for realism) or brunette (just... no) based on this, plus the Doratomo character design series.

And there's the brouhaha during the run of the Fantazztic Film Awards. I was seriously pissed because it was dissed AUTOMATICALLY by someone who thought that the producers/directors were just trying to gain internet and GE fame off making a machinima movie in GE. But see, two of the producers were actual hardcore gamers who I looked up to in gaming, since I've been drifting in and out of it since forever - and THEY WERE MY GUILDMATES ON THE OPEN BETA. Also, by "hardcore" I mean, one of them DOES NOT EVEN BUY G-POINTS BUT RELIES ONLY ON GOOD OLD-FASHIONED LEVELLING, and no he doesn't AFK either. The other hardcore gamer is a WOMAN WHO PLAYS, and last I checked even MODS, TABLETOP GAMES (which I'm sure half the GE crowd have never experienced - I should know, I admit to being one of them non-tabletoppers), AND works in an arcade-related company. The third I have no idea about his "gamer credentials," but he works in another gaming company and as far as I know has played a good number of console games, so that should count for something right? It was good that the one dissing them admitted that he was threatened by my friends, which only goes to show that nasty people are jealous at heart. What I found doubly pissy and disappointing was that the behaviour of the person dissing them REMAINS UNCHECKED, and that person does not care that he did character assassination in the first place. WTFH? Again it's one thing to give constructive criticism; it's entirely another IF YOU OPEN A THREAD AND ACCUSE THEM FROM THE GET-GO. It took all of my willpower not to throttle the idiot once I met him in person, and I am so disappointed that he enjoys so much immunity from many people, some of them my friends even.

I dare whoever reads this blog - assuming ANYONE reads it, lol! - to make of it what they will, and possibly DISCUSS. Of course, I'm not sure what's left to discuss either seeing as I have been rambling. I'm not so sorry anymore that I'm hitting a lot of people, but I wanted to get this out of my chest since I am no longer having fun and not enjoying myself in an otherwise trivial online game where, among other disturbing things, I'm seeing my offline friends become bitter enemies. People, a game is a game is a ALWAYS A GAME. We play it for FUN, because WE ENJOY BEING PART OF IT. What do people not get about that??? I don't understand why people think that mudslinging and character assassination are "FUN". And I certainly see why a lot of the other international gamers in GE are pissed off at Filipinos and Filipinos like me.

On the good side, at least the Tribute to the Ladies meet-up/discussion seemed a complete success. I only wish I wasn't so late, but I came from another function that I realised I should have gone to at a much earlier time, since they needed more hands and I was out gallivanting with another crowd (who are friends since high school days and are predomintantly only casual gamers at best, though one was a pRO beta tester who eventually became a Shadowmaiden). D: AND I had to leave early too, but oh well.

[Shoutout!] Congratulations!

Many Happy Returns to Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World, owned by the impressive and wonderful NineMoons!

Congratulations to all the winners of the Fantazztic Film Awards! You may check out the results here.

In other news, why is it that whenever I try to do anything remotely GE, I get timed out or my connection just gets all screwy? I'm not happy about this, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed so that this entry actually makes it... X3

[Event] GEph Blogger's Meetup

Roll Call:

• NineMoons
• DeSanggria
• Deniva with Illuvien
  
• Sigrid
• Mena
  
• Blacksword
  
• Fiksdotter and Artaxerxes (brothers)
• Reclusion brothers
  

I'm sorry I can't write so much on this since I literally stole away from elsewhere just to be there, and I was ... uh, unfashionably late. 6^_^0 But I'm glad to announce that the following issues were brought up:

1. Trading vis/in-game items for real currency - most, if not all, were of the mindset that it's better to earn items and vis the hard way (by playing)
2. Game bugs, scripts, exploits and imbalances - thankfully, no-one seems to be practising those among the blogger-gamers, at least
3. Excessive G-Points dependency on IAHGames' part - I am personally of the belief that it's better to have the combat manuals in-game, instead of limiting their availability to G-Points holders, otherwise ... well, it's all up to them now
4. Drumming up more awareness and support for the game - considering the woeful lack of promotion for GE in the country, count me in!
   

Most of us were also Fantazztic Film Awards participants so it was touched upon as well. Too bad I missed that part. >.<0 Speaking of which, NineMoons has announced the winners of the FFA-Intel Scene & Heard Contest here. Congratulations to fellow bloggers Reclusion, Fiksdotter, Mena and Sigrid for their entries!

For longer write-ups on the subject, please check the links on the roll-call list above. v^_^v

In other news I was supposed to add my first-ever artwork for this blog, so that it could finally live up to its name. Alas, my internet at home keeps dying whenever I try to upload it. DX Oh well!

[Plug] Please support the Fantazztic Film Awards!

Man, I wish I was able to use my editing skills sooner and I had time to go to the Machinima seminars so I could submit my own movie. D:

Anyways what's done is done and Fantazztic Film Awards is in full swing!

Please support the films that my friends worked on: Not Another Love Story, One Letter for Freedom, and the film I played a voice role in, Anhela La Venganza! :D

... To be honest though, I'm also rooting for Granado Superstars to win. XD; Their tweaks on the GE animation were superb and unique. *o*

Please click on the link above to view and discuss.

[Language] Romance in the Romantic Tongue, lesson 001 of ???

I've been wanting to talk about the use (and, well, the humourous misuse) of the Romance languages for some time now, especially since getting involved in the Granado Espada MMORPG phenomenon. I have to admit that my reaction to bungled Iberian Spanish leaves me either in stitches or in incredulous disbelief, and I plan to change all that by writing and (re-)reading Español. I believe that my only advantage is that not only do I have some research and dictionaries on hand, but that, more importantly, I have 13 years of education in a (Iberian) Spanish-run Catholic school to back it up.

On the side I'll be adding a bit of Italian, because I'm currently taking that up IRL (which goes a long way towards explaining why I ironically have no time or money for GE these days... XD;)

First let's do the basics!

Historical Background and Introductions

The Romance languages are rooted not entirely in romance (though the countries that DO use the languages them are known for being quite the venues for romantic rondezvous ;P), but in the Roman language, Latin. You see, modern Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Romania, and even Germany, were once territories of the Roman Empire. All of the people in these countries were forced to speak in Latin, the official language. However, as is true today in all countries, there were two kinds of Latin used: classical, which is the one most visible in written form and is very poetic and formal, and vulgar, which is something like everyday street language. If you compare Latin to modern English, the difference between the two would be that classical language is formal language used by the academe, politicians, generally very important people and cityfolk, with an emphasis on proper pronounciation, proper enunciation and impeccable grammar, while vulgar language would be used in the ghettos or slums, on the streets and in the countryside, with the speakers hardly caring if they mispronounce some words or have an overriding provincial accent while speaking. We owe it to Vulgar Latin (to be precise, some particularly foul-mouthed Romans and their country-bumpkin subjects XD) for the Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French and Rumanian languages today.

While it is true that regional variation as well as constant and uncorrected mispronunciation and enunciation have all contributed to the break-up of the Romance language into Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French and Rumanian, there are still many similarities between them, which makes it pretty convenient when you're lost in any of these countries because they will understand you if you speak a similar language. One of these similarities would be in giving and receiving personal introductions. Allow me to demonstrate.

In my 13 years of Spanish education, the one thing my classmates and I never forgot was this:

• Q: Hi! What is your name?
• A: My name is [name here].
  

In Spanish, this dialogue would run:

• Q: ¡Hola! ¿Cómo te llamas?
  
• A: Me llamo [nombre aquí]. (yes I translate quite literally for as much as the languages allow :P)
  

In Italian, this would be:

• Q: Ciao! Come ti chiami?
• A: Mi chiamo [nome qui].
  

Do you see the similarities? I sure can. It gets even better when you say those aloud. d^_~b

Of course, in these Old World countries, you can't just use those introductions on anyone. The Roman civilization has also spawned class segregation and formal speech. What I have written above are all informal speech, language that you use between peers your age. Unlike the English language which does not distinguish formalities between persons, users of the Romance language must observe politness towards their elders, bosses, superiors and people who have seniority in general, so here are the formal equivalents:

1. Spanish
• Q: [saludo según el tiempo de día*] ¿Cómo se llama usted?
• A: Me llamo [nombre aquí]


2. Italian
• Q: [saluto secondo il tempo del giorno*] ¿Come si chiama?
• A: Mi chiamo [nome qui].

The asterisked phrases both mean "greeting depending on the time of the day", because it is obviously improper to just say "Hi" to a senior. :P

As you can tell the responses are the same, but the questions are phrased differently. To be precise, you normally use the third person of speaking (referring to the person you're talking to as if he or she were not being conversed to) during formal introductions.

Alright! Sadly that's all the time we have today. I promise I will discuss more of these with you as I find more time to do so. Until next time!

Sources:

• Orbis Latinus for the historical background
• IELanguages.com (Indo-European Languages) also for the historical background, and for excellent tutorials in any of the Romance languages (perfect for those who have no time to enroll in class)
  
• Wikipedia entry on the history of the Romance languages
  
• Babelfish, the first and (almost) all-purpose online translator, although it can be too literal in translating words and phrases. Originally in Altavista until it was bought by Yahoo.
  
• ImTranslator, which is better than Babelfish for translating between Spanish, English and French because the translations are actually intelligible and the site also has back-translation! (Though it has yet to feature direct Italian<=>English translation...)
• A VERY OLD copy of Bantam Diccionario Ingles-Español, Espanol-Iñgles. Geared towards Spanish-speaking people, it truly lives up to the claim of being "the best, most complete, compact Spanish & English dictionary available." My copy has been with us since for at least 20 years now and the covers have been torn apart, but it still works very well. I cannot recommend it enough, and I now wish Bantam/Random House had one for Italian too.
  
• Contatto, the trusty workbook for serious students of the Italian language