gameshogun

What You Should Know About the Dual-Class System

2009-11-05T06:04:44-08:00

Runes of Magic is one of the few Massively Multiplayer Online Game that features a dual-class system. It is a feature that allows a player to choose two classes for his/her character and be able to use the skills of both at the same time.

If you have played a similar game before, for example the pen-and-paper Dungeons & Dragons game or maybe Guild Wars, RoM is similar. But in RoM, you can switch your primary and secondary classes which no other game that I know allows, this is RoM’s dual-class system - it differs from the rest.

Let’s take for example that you started your character as a Scout, then took up the Rogue class as your secondary along the way. Sometime later you decided you want to try playing a Rogue/Scout combo, what do you do? The common answer is: you reroll a character.

Not in Runes of Magic, you simply switched your Primary/Secondary classes and you are as good as a new character. The “Elite Skills” that are only available to “Primary” classes are available to your “new” Primary class. Cool eh?

Here are the important details you should remember when you create your first character:

You start with only 1 class.
Upon reaching level 10, you can get your “Secondary” class.
It is permanent, so choose wisely.
You can only level your active/current primary class. To level your secondary class, you have to switch classes (via your House or Trainers).
Talent Points (TPs) earned by your active primary class can only be used by that class.
There are three types of skills or spells, namely:

General Skills - these skills are usable regardless if the class is an active “Primary” or not.
Primary-specific Skills - these skills are only available if the class is the active primary.
Elite Skills - these skills can be acquired by taking up Trainer Quests. It depends on your current “Primary/Secondary” class-combo, and it depends on your active primary class.

You use the “Equipment Set Switch” button (go to your Character tab by pressing ‘C’) to switch equipments. This is useful if your primary and secondary classes have a different weapon and armour restrictions.
The level of your secondary class will always be no higher than your current primary class. If your Mage/Priest is level 40/20 and you switched to Priest/Mage, it will show as 20/20.

If you leveled your Priest/Mage by 2, it will show as 22/22.
If you switch back to Mage/Priest, it will now show as 40/22.

Additionally, you also gain 10% of your secondary class’ attributes. For example, if your secondary class’ INT attribute is 100, your primary class gains 10% of it which is 10 INT.

You have to remember that the purpose of your secondary class is to augment your primary class’ skills or spells. If your active/current primary class is a Warrior and your secondary is a Priest - you are still a Warrior. If you switch your classes to Priest/Warrior, then you become a Priest and not a Warrior. It is important to remember that. Why? Because your character attributes, skills/spells, and weapon-armour restrictions relies on your primary class and not your secondary class.

RoM ’s dual-class system is your escape from creating a new character, and if you want to play a different class instead of going back to the character selection screen, you just go to your House or a Trainer offering class-switch services (it is free-of-charge), and you are as good as a new character.

Is it good? In many ways yes. Other than getting Elite Skills, you do not have to restart training up your crafting/gathering professions like Blacksmithing and Herbalism. There is also a guarantee that your guildmate knows how to play his “other” class because sooner or later s/he have to level up that class - that is if he ever wants to take advantage of the Elite Skills and being able to use an upgraded General skill from that other class.

Finally, when you choose your class-combo be sure to check the finer details like the weapon-armour restrictions and Elite Skills that you can use. You need to plan, especially that in this game, being a single class is not really an option (you can but you will be less than everybody else). Of course do not forget that whatever you choose, it should fit your preferred play style. Are you a melee player? A caster perhaps? And do you like tanking or healing?

To help you with that, I will be posting the class-combos that are available for each base class in the next few days. The links will be available below, so bookmark this post now. (Press CTRL+D)

Knight Class-Combo
Mage Class-Combo
Priest Class-Combo
Rogue Class-Combo
Scout Class-Combo
Warrior Class-Combo

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

November 28th the Road to Domination 4 Event!

2009-10-30T04:14:56-07:00

Cross-out this date: 28^th of November 2009. Why? R2D4 or the Road to Domination IV, the annual gaming event of IP E-games and X-Play for promoting the Domination gaming convention.

R2D4 will be featuring e-Games’ two newest games - Runes of Magic and OP7 - a Fantasy and First-Person Shooter MMOG s.

Additionally, the National Tournaments for CABAL Online, RAN Online, ZX Online, and OP7 are all happening at R2D4, cheer for your server and your guilds/clans during the competition!

R2D4 will be held at the SMX Convention Center Exhibit Hall 1, Pasay City on November 28, 2009, that is a Saturday. See you there!

(visit the official event website)

Original post at gameshogun™.

Alpha 2 Session 2 Now Online in iCafes Near You

2009-10-30T03:38:34-07:00

Runes of Magic Philippines Alpha 2 Session 2 went online yesterday. This session will last for one week, and probably after this the game will enter Closed Beta Test where more players will be allowed to play the game.

But for now, you need to an alpha code to get in the game. If you need one, just head on over to the RoM-PH Blog to know where to get your Alpha 2 Activation code. Don’t worry about starting at level 1 because you won’t, your first character will be at level 30 (out of 50 levels). Neat?

You can also play the game in select iCafes in the country during this testing phase (and more will be available in the coming weeks). Check out the list of iCafes with RoM-PH here.

See you in-game!

Original post at gameshogun™.

How-To Install Runes of Magic on Ubuntu Linux

2009-10-27T04:29:53-07:00

Once again I am going to guide you in installing a Windows-based MMOG . I showed you before how to install World of Warcraft in Ubuntu Linux by using PlayOnLinux.

This time, I am going to give you the steps in installing Runes of Magic in, what else, Ubuntu Linux! And once again via PlayOnLinux!

Since this is not a Linux-native game we are installing, it is important that we have an idea of the How-To author’s computer configuration, and in any debugging it is standard practice. Here is my Linux machine:

Processor: Intel Core2Duo
OS: Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” 64-bit
RAM: 2gb
GFX: nVIDIA® 7300LE
GFX Driver: nVIDIA® 185
WINE : 1.1.32
POL : 3.7 (with winetricks)

Just like with WoW , RoM runs more faster and smoothly than when I play using Microsoft® Windows™. No kidding. RoM is slow on my machine when I use Windows XP Pro. ^_^

As usual, the process is similar, if not the same, with any other Debian-based distributions like Debian itself and Linux Mint. If you have a non-Debian based distro, simply adjust the instructions if needed and you will be fine.

Of course, I am assuming that you already installed PlayOnLinux, if not just click that link. You may also want to install WINE itself.

So let’s begin:

Install RoM via PlayOnLinux

For the International server:

Open PlayOnLinux (Applications -> Other -> PlayOnLinux)
Click the ‘Install’ button
Select the ‘Games’ category and look for ‘Runes of Magic’

Installing Runes of Magic Philippines, the only requirement is a DVD installer:

Download rom-ph.pol (right-click and save as)
Open PlayOnLinux (Applications -> Other -> PlayOnLinux)
Go to Tools -> Run a non-official script
Click the Forward button then select the rom-ph.pol you downloaded above
Simply follow the installation instructions

Dual-Booting? Follow these steps

Download rom-dualboot.pol if you play in the International servers; or rom-ph-dualboot.pol if you play in the Philippine server (right-click and save us)
Open PlayOnLinux (Applications -> Other -> PlayOnLinux)
Go to Tools -> Run a non-official script
Click the Forward button then select rom-dualboot.pol or rom-ph-dualboot.pol
Follow the installation instructions

Dual-Boot: Creating a symbolic link to your existing RoM installation

Go to your Windows RoM folder
Right click on your Realms of Magic folder and select ‘Make Link’
Cut the newly created symlink and paste it here: ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/RunesOfMagic/drive_c/Program Files
Rename the symlink to Runes of Magic

For the RoM-PH gamers:

Go to ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/RunesOfMagic/drive_c/Program Files
Create a new folder named exactly as: e-Games
Go to your Windows RoM-PH folder
Right click on your Runes Of Magic folder and select ‘Make Link’
Cut the newly created symlink and past it here: ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/RunesOfMagic/drive_c/Program Files/e-Games
Rename the symlink to (exact) Runes Of Magic

Dual-Boot: Symlink your RoM Player Folder

Go to your Windows RoM Player folder (in Windows it is at: C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR-USERNAME\My Documents\)
Right click on the Runes of Magic folder and select ‘Make Link’
Cut the newly created symlink and paste it here: ~/.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/RunesOfMagic/drive_c/users/YOUR-USERNAME/My Documents
Rename (or delete) the existing Runes of Magic folder
Rename your Symlink to (exact) Runes of Magic

Dual-Boot: Creating a Shortcut to RoM

Download tihs icon first: Runes of Magic.ico
Right-Click on your Panel and select Add to Panel
Select Custom Application Launcher
Here’s what you need to do:

Type: Application
Name: Runes of Magic; or Runes of Magic Philippines
Command: /usr/share/playonlinux/playonlinux --run "Runes of Magic"; or /usr/share/playonlinux/playonlinux --run "Runes of Magic Philippines"
Comment: PlayOnLinux
Click the icon box and select the ICO file you downloaded

Original post at gameshogun™.

Integrate winetricks in PlayOnLinux

2009-10-26T23:45:51-07:00

Okay, you already installed PlayOnLinux just as instructed. You already installed games like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. Cool!

But one day you tried installing another game (or any other application) but it requires some Microsoft® drivers and whatever proprietary software it needs. You got stuck. Well, today is the day when you will finally have the solution into your hands!!

Want to know what it is? Or more exactly (since the title already gave it away), how to do it? I’ll show you how.

Just follow these simple steps:

Get the plugin “POL Helper” here: [Plugin] POL Helper
Extract the downloaded file
Copy (or move) the “POL Helper” directory to “~/.PlayOnLinux/plugins/”

You’re done!

But wait, how do you use it? Here’s how:

Open up PlayOnLinux
Go to the “Plugins” Menu and choose “POL Helper”
A new window will appear, look for “winetricks” and click it
Another new window will show up, just select “To POL Launcher”
Then you can choose the POL-wineprefix that you want to update by clicking on the “Open Folder” icon
After selecting your prefix, click on the button “run winetricks”

You can then look for that requirement that your game requires. Simply check the corresponding checkbox and click ‘OK’. winetricks will download it, install it on that particular POL-wineprefix, and you’re done.

Simple? ^_^

More information here:

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

GK Operation: Walang Iwanan

2009-10-26T09:13:58-07:00

Level Up! today announced the GK Operation: Walang Iwanan campaign to help the typhoon victims of Ketsana (local: Ondoy) and Parma (local: Pepeng) in the Philippines. Level Up! Gamers can now donate via their My Level Up! account or via in-game. All proceeds will go to Gawad Kalinga.

More info after the jump…

It is very good news when the gaming industry do and give something back to our society. Social responsibility is something that every company should include in their vision and mission, and in their plans. I am happy to see that the gaming companies in the Philippines are doing just that.

We had Mobius Games and EagleGame Philippines earlier this month, and today the biggest company, Level Up! joins in.

If you are a Level Up! gamer (most of us have LU! accounts) there are two ways that you can donate to the cause. The first one is through your My Level Up! account. Simply log-in to your MyLU! page, click on “Donate to GK", enter the amount, and finish the transaction. This is available up to November 23^d.

The second method, by buying a virtual item in LU’s various game item malls. Here are the items for each games:

Ragnarok Online - Noodle for Ondoy (₱5.00 only; available up to November 18)
Grand Chase - Signboard of Kindness (₱5.00 only; available up to November 24)
Perfect World - SOS firework (₱5.00 only; available up to November 6)
RF Online - Coming soon!

Yes, ₱5.00 only! If you are a player of one of the games listed and you weren’t able to buy at least one ₱5.00 virtual item, then I do not know where your heart is. You get an item for yourself and the money that you spent goes to your fellow countrymen. Many are probably your own online friends and guildmates!

One of the victim of Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) is himself a gamer, a guildmate (of ours), and a father - Alcarcalimo who blogs at Geek Papa. You will be helping them and their families with your small purchase, so don’t be so kuripot.

The screenshot above was taken by Alcarcalimo after buying the SOS firework virtual item in Perfect World Philippines. You should read his post here about it.

Go, log-in now and share your blessings. Your little help will not go unnotice from the real Throne up above.

GK Operation image from: Level Up!
SOS firework screenshot from: Geek Papa

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

The Real Heroes of Video Games

2009-10-25T23:23:30-07:00

Watch this video and be enlightened as to who the real heroes are of video gaming. As the creator and uploader jbsong178 said himself:

As of now, we only know the good guy’s story to the games of PacMan, Dig Dug, Asteroids, and Galaga, but what if their stories are just a cover up to the real heroes.

Watch the video after the jump..

5 Cent Retribution

value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6arOkMj9rNQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&hd=1&border=1″ />

Created by James Song, Francis Roberts, and Catherine Le.

Original post at gameshogun™.

What is an 'Instance'?

2009-10-24T05:41:25-07:00

Runes of Magic as I’ve said previously is a 3^d Generation MMOG . It means that when the development started, the developers were able to look at the first two generations and were able bring the winning formulas and features to their new game, enhanced those features, and add new ones the 1^st and 2^d generations do not have.

There are other criteria or qualifiers of course but the community-at-large do not agree on the generations in MMOGs. Each person or group have their own definition. But personally, I follow the common “generations” definition which other developers like Richard “Lord British” Garriott (the father of electronic RPG s and MMOGs), Brad McQuaid (EverQuest and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes), and others, mentioned in interviews to define the position of their “next gen MMO".

RoM is that, a 3^d Generation MMOG. As such, one of the feature that it got from its predecessors is the instance technology made popular by Guild Wars and World of Warcraft.

So what is an “instance"? An instance in an MMOG is a location that is isolated from the rest of the game world. If a player enters an instance, the game server creates a copy of that location only for that particular player. Any mobs, item drops, quests, and everything in this instance is only for that player and it will not affect any other copies of that location.

This technology came out as a solution to mob camping. I first heard of this from (again) Richard “Lord British” Garriott years ago wherein he explained that there are three types of instances. The first one was implemented in Guild Wars, the second level in Auto Assault, and the third in Tabula Rasa. The common instance type is the first, also known as instance dungeon thanks to World of Warcraft.

What is the advantage? Simple. Let’s say you want to learn the spell Shackles of Light but you need to retrieve first the stolen Ancient Rune Stone Energy Core from the mountain hideout of the most notorious thieves guild in the region. Upon arriving near the entrance to the hideout, there are other players there already. Some were on the same quest as you while the others are on a different quest (maybe they’re on a quest to join the thieves guild).

By now I know that a lot of you are recalling a similar encounter, maybe when your Ragnarok Online guild was trying to get an emperium and you were so out-of-luck for one whole week! You simply can not believe that there are people with lightning reflexes or Internet connection. Really bad right?

Well, you can forget that. With instancing, once you enter that location (in our example the thieves hideout) the server creates a copy just for you and anyone in your party or raid group. You can go on and wipe the whole instance and get all the loots that you can carry without ever worrying about kill-stealers and ninja-looters. You will have your Ancient Rune Stone Energy Core in no time and learn your new Shackles of Light spell.

Did I hear someone say su-weeeeet??

The instance technology is commonly used in dungeons since “traditionally” boss mobs are located inside some cave or abandoned fortress or some network of underground chambers filled with undead. Since I am a newbie in RoM just like you, I can not say if there are what we call outdoor instances in this game. An outdoor instance opens the game into putting boss mobs out in the world instead of the repetitive practice of putting them inside some dungeon.

When you see a transparent portal in front of you (common design is a swirling blue or white/silvery vortex), that usually goes into an instance (unless it is a mage’s portal then it isn’t), as shown below from an MMORPG.com screenshot.

That is an instance. A technology that came from the 2^d Generation of MMOGs, you will encounter a lot of these in the game (that I am sure without the need to explore the world) and most of it will probably require that you setup a raid group. And what is a raid group? That will be the next topic for our What-Is series.

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

the Taborean Chronicles - a Runes of Magic blog

2009-10-24T03:18:32-07:00

Welcome to the Runes of Magic blog of the gameshogun™ blognetwork. Obviously, this will be a dedicated sub-blog of gameshogun for RoM , which is the best free-to-play MMOG I have seen.

It is that great and impressive that I decided to finally play a free-to-play (client-install) MMOG with an Item Mall, and I will dedicate some of my time to it. I will be playing on the Philippine server for RoM once it enters OBT , as a Scout/Knight. A Scout/Knight as defined by Curse’s RoM Wiki is:

a combination which has a broad variety of effects, giving them a damaging Root, a ranged heal, a slight buff to Enhanced Armor, a skill converting mana into focus on demand, and a buff to Healing Shot, causing it to recover mana in addition to health.

If you switch classes, you then become a Knight/Scout which is:

a combination that focuses on the knight’s tanking skills, giving them a ranged taunt, a buff to Holy Strike, a monster type specific root, a ranged area of effect taunt, and an additional chance to reduce damage dealt when using Heavenly Arrow.

Which by the looks of it, a good combination for end-game raiding. I chose this particular combination not because of what any site or players says about it but rather because this is my usual game style - a Hunter type class primarily, and a Knight or Paladin type class as my second option. Since in Runes of Magic we can dual-class, I chose these two together.

I’ll be honest with you. I am a newb (not “n00b") in RoM, and so the first batch of articles you will see here will be about my adventures on the world of Taborea, the planet in the Runes of Magic Universe. You will also see here tips, guides, walkthroughs, how-to’s, and other crazy stuff targeted towards the Filipino gamers of RoM. Oh, did I mention I am also going to show you safe add-ons you can, well, “add” to your client? No, it is not cheating and it is perfectly legal.

Runes of Magic is a 3^d Generation MMOG. It’s gameplay and features were all based and taken out from all the different MMOGs (of course with new and unique features too) - from the very first which is Ultima Online (in the West) and Lineage (in the East), to the 2^d Generation curtain closers Guild Wars and World of Warcraft. (Some will argue that Meridian 59 was the first MMOG, I say no, it is a 2.5D MUD .)

In other words RoM is different, very different than all the local games in the Philippines. If you played the likes of GW , WoW , Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online, Tabula Rasa, and Vanguard then RoM will look familiar to you (some people call it a “WoW Clone", some call it a “WAR Clone", but that’s a topic for another day) and it will also be easy to play.

But if you were mainly exposed to 2^d Generation MMOGs up to before the GW-WoW curtain closing period and except Lineage II, this game will be a whole new game for you and your guild. Gone are the days of camping monsters and hopefully no kill-stealer or ninja-looter will steal your kill or loot. Gone are the days of killing a boss mob by sheer number and force - this time you have to learn (or figure out) the optimal strategy in killing these boss mobs. Through RoM-PH, you the players and your guilds have to up your skills to the next level.

If you are up to the challenge, rewards such as Moa’s Heart Striker and Moa’s Extinguisher are waiting for you. They also have these “blank” items that can be combined to other items:
Flower Thorn
Oriental Royal Military Dagger
Lute

Bookmark this blog now or much better subscribe via our XML feed (Atom or RSS2), so you won’t miss a thing.

* I use “generations” when defining MMOG era.

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

Star Trek: Prime Reality & Nero Reality

2009-10-16T05:45:21-07:00

A Star Trek fan? You are if you continue reading this blog post. But that is unfair because I am going to discuss about Star Trek Timelines. Have you ever asked how Star Trek Online and Star Trek XI movie fits together?

Ever wondered if the events of one affects the other? For example, we know that in Star Trek XI, Ambassador Spock was thrown back in time and never returned. The movie even went on to suggest that the whole timeline was rebooted, that the timeline Ambassador Spock came from is as good as gone. But is it really?

If we are going to talk about the movie which is considered by Trekkers as canon or official, then the story appears to have been rebooted. But, it was never rebooted (yes, breath). There was a timeline split. Imagine a group of kids walking in a straight line, then along the way some walked in the other direction creating a new dirt path. That is a “timeline split". The original path is still there unaffected by the new path and vice versa.

We now have two “main” timelines for story-telling and continuity. The original timeline called “Prime Reality” in Star Trek terminology, and the “alternate reality” or “Nero Reality” as I prefer to call it (which is more clear and distinctly shows when this reality first existed).

Did You Know?
There is a theory that there are as many as 10^{10^10⁷} universes? But the Human brain can only process up to 10^10¹⁶!
Source: Physicists Calculate Number of Parallel Universes (Oct. 16, 2009) The Nero Reality will be where (more likely than not) live-action movies and potentially new TV series will be set. The Prime Reality will be where the current products - from books to comics to games, will continue on (of course we will see books, comics, and games set in the Nero Reality). This is where Star Trek Online lives, it continues the story of the Prime Reality after (from their perspective) Ambassador Spock and the Romulan Nero were pulled into a black hole, which makes them technically and officially dead.

Since Star Trek XI started on the year 2387-Prime and told us how the capital and home planet of the Romulans were destroyed, it also affected the backstory of STO. Ambassador Spock is dead, the Romulan Empire is in a much deeper chaos, and it changes the political landscape of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. Below is an official graphical representation of the timelines.

(click to enlarge)

Everything clear? Now if you have questions as to the canon status of STO, you sheald read this: Star Trek Online - Continuing the Franchise.

And before you go, here is a “timeline” video of what happened leading up to 2409-Prime (25th Century), Star Trek Online’s starting year (30 years after the tenth movie: Star Trek: Nemesis).

You can also start reading short stories of what happened a year before and two years after 2387-Prime.

More (canon) fiction here.

Original post at gameshogun™.

HighStreet5 Typhoon Ketsana Tribute

2009-10-15T23:29:48-07:00

If you play HighStreet5 Philippines, you can post messages to your relatives, friends, and fellow gamers who were hit by Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy). Simply leave your messages here in this format:

Character Name:
Gender:
Message:

The HighStreet5 Philippines team will choose excellent messages of hope and encouragement for posting in-game for all the players to see. In addition to that, all participants will receive a token - Engagement Ring*2. And those whose messages are chosen will receive 30-day Mask*1 (’Sleeping bear’ for female characters; and ‘X-man’ for males).

For more info visit: Show Your Compassion for Your Compatriots

Original post at gameshogun™.

Blog Action Day: This Is Our Story...

2009-10-14T11:21:04-07:00

Today is (Pilipinas) Blog Action Day and the topic is about Climate Change. Here’s our story and my point-of-view.

CC (no, not Creative Commons or carbon copy) is a broad term. One can argue that climate change is a natural process. True enough, because if there were no climate changes in Earth’s distant history we probably wouldn’t be here today. Imagine if our Planet never had rain, or say Earth stayed hot and never had ice ages. Maybe the dinosaurs will still be alive today, and instead of us humans on the top of the food-chain, we will probably be on the top of someone else’s diet!

Climate Change is good then, because it keeps this planet alive and it keeps it balance. But why are we discussing about it if it is a good, natural process? Why all this fuss? These seminars, Blog Action Day, and scary videos that the Earth is going to die soon with humanity in it if we don’t do something?

The answer is simple. We are accelerating the process and we are doing it very badly. How bad? Off-the-charts!! If the natural process of “global warming” for example only reaches “Level 10”, what is happening today is it is hitting “Level 15” or higher! Or as some experts and scientists say the Earth is actually cooling and may enter another Ice Age, instead of it happening for the next thousand years or so, it might happen the next hundred years or less.

I do not have data, charts, or anything of that to show you today (I wasn’t able to prepare for Blog Action Day: Climate Change) but I believe that you’ve heard and read these reports, seminars, and watched documentaries and videos. And many of us today experienced it first hand – Hurricane Katrina and Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy as locally known in the Philippines).

Assuming that all I said above were wrong, that maybe I misunderstood those articles and videos, then to where or which natural effect or process can we attribute the formation of these two deadly storms? To ‘coincidence’ perhaps? Let us not forget that right after Typhoon Ketsana, two new storms formed in the Pacific.

These were no ordinary storms, these two turned into super typhoons in Asian measurement or Category 5 Hurricane in the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Category Scale. The first one was Super Typhoon Parma (or Pepeng as locally known in the Philippines), and the second was Super Typhoon Melor that hit Japan.

My dear readers, Super Typhoon Parma scared the hell out of the Filipino people who are (to this day) still recovering from the devastation Typhoon Ketsana brought upon us, but by some Higher Intervention it moved North and its super typhoon status lowered down (weak Category 4). But still its strong winds and rains were capable of devastating Northern Philippines.

Here in the Philippines, our local weather agency, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Adminstration or PAGASA issues what we call Public Storm Warning Signals (PSWS). I remember when I was young (late 80s / early 90s), Signal No. 4 was born and it was the first time that we heard about a/the “Super Typhoon“. People were scared at that time and were talking about these new terminologies that the generation before us (us = my generation) haven’t heard either.

This sent a message to us that the typhoons will only get stronger and bigger. And so it was, we had plenty of Signal No. 4s and got hit by Super Typhoons as well. Then everything seem to have stopped when the El Niño phenomenon hit us. After two or three hits which spanned some years (if I remember correctly), our “normal” climate returned, or so we thought. It wasn’t the usual weather at all!

Few noticed it, but back in 2007 or 2008, our seasons were either delayed or started early. I remember we had summer-type weeks when it was our rainy and storm season, and storms (even typhoons) when it was supposed to be over (and headed back to summer).

Then we heard about the same thing happening elsewhere on the Planet. We had reports of extended summer in places where they’re supposed to be enjoying skiing already, instead they were still sun-bathing! We also heard of places where winter should have ended but it was still snowing hard!

If these were all coincidences or we have nothing to do with these changes, then let us start updating our calendars! Somehow mother nature decided to change our seasons and climate without tilting the Earth’s Axis or moving our Planet farther away from or nearer to the Sun.

This is no doubt climate change, our own version, our own making. We accelerated it and we aren’t prepared for the consequences (maybe we will never be – since we human beings prefer ‘cures’ than ‘prevention’; we only act and take notice once the problem is there and is affecting us!!) It is time that we all put our act together and get things done. It is time that we cut our corporate and government processes short to get things approved and implemented. It is high time that we forget our own (usually selfish) interests and stop delaying or preventing proposals from being approved or laws from being implemented.

From this day on, let us all be aware of what we are contributing to our society and the environment. As little as stopping burning our garbages (which is illegal in most countries in the first place) can help in keeping our ONLY Planet alive, and give us enough time to do cleaning. For the companies, and automobile owners, do your part and start exploring cleaner alternatives instead of throwing your wastes in the waters, the land, or the air.

The victims of Hurricane Katrina were probably victims because of someone else’s irresponsible waste management. And us victims of Typhoon Ketsana were probably victims of our own irresponsibility. Two similar disasters, yet two different examples. There is no middle ground. Either we make our love ones the victims or we ourselves become the victims, the root cause for both? Because of our irresponsibility to our environment.

It is better that we do something than doing nothing at all! Together, let us move forward and address this issue one step at a time, starting from our own homes, neighborhood, and ourselves; then collectively tackle the bigger problems. To borrow Neil Armstrong’s words “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind“.

God Bless and keep hoping! Mabuhay!!

Photo Credits:

Polar Bear protesting for humans affected by Climate Change photo by oxfam international licensed CC By 2.0.
WARNING: Oil Addiction - causes climate change, funds violent extremism, damages health, reduces wealth! photo by ~~ zorro ~~ licensed CC By 2.0.
Climate Change Refugees photo by ItzaFineDay licensed CC By 2.0.

Except where otherwise noted, this content is
licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Original post at gameshogun™.

Machinima: Luna Air Bender

2009-10-08T21:02:45-07:00

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender is an upcoming 2010 movie adaptation of the popular Cartoon series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just like the TV series, Aang descended from a long line of Avatars but his/her recent reincarnation brought him/her to a period wherein the Fire Nation is bent on conquering the Air, Earth, and Water Nations.

ExcEsc based his Luna Online Machinima entry on this movie, coming up with Luna Air Bender.

And this is the official The Last Airbender live-action movie teaser.

Original post at gameshogun™.