GE Special: IAH visit and interviews with the GE team!

Posted by tsubaki | Filed under Granado Espada

A few days ago, I went down to Infocomm Asia Holdings (IAH), the company that is behind Singapore Granado Espada for an exclusive photo taking and interview session with the GE Team. I’ve also taken quite a number of pictures of their very beautiful office as well.

Once you enter IAH, you will be greeted by their Granado Espada merchandise gallery, which is quite a sight to behold.

All the GE goods are from Korea, and I hope those are available to us soon. There’s a TV screen playing the trailer videos of Granado Espada and on the other side are their Hellgate London merchandises, which I don’t really care. Hahaha.

GE T-Shirt and the OST!

And a standie which I’m plotting to steal eventually, hahaha just kidding.

I also took a short video clip of the corridor.

The glass doors are plastered with Granado Espada characters and the rooms are really awesome. It’s a pity I didn’t take more pictures of the rooms because it’s really awesome.

Now, the GE Team has also shared quite a lot of insights regarding GE and I’m very excited to share all of these with you guys! I’ll just let the interviews with the Product Manager, Community Manager and the Game Masters tell you what’s installed for us!

Jonathon Sze, Product Manager

Tsubaki: Hello Jon, would you like to introduce yourself to my readers, again?

Jon: Hello, my name is Jonathon Sze and I am the Product Manager of IAH.

Tsubaki: Alright, what does a Product Manager do? I don’t suppose you’re in charge of the prices of goods being sold in game eh?

Jon: Of course not, basically as a product manager of G.E, my scope covers all aspects of the game, including technical implementation, event planning, product development, marketing, sales, distribution, legal implications, game-mastery, customer service, community building, etc.

Tsubaki: Oh, wait. I’ve heard that before already. All right, tell me something new. What’s it like working as a Product Manager?

Jon: Hahahah, challenging. It’s a non-stop, adrenaline-pumping job. Currently I have to do a lot of coordination with our regional partners in Asia regarding GE and my msn window is flooded with conversations with our partners.

Tsubaki: Uh huhs. What other games would IAH be bringing to the region as well?

Jon: We are bringing in 2 upcoming games, one of Hellgate London and the other is Emil Chronicles Online. Hellgate London’s a MMORPG with FPS element, while Emil Chronicles Online is cutesy type MMORPG.

Tsubaki: Great. But it doesn’t concern me since I’ll be playing GE all the way. Hahah. So, what do think of the response of the current Closed Beta Test?

Jon: I would say it’s well within our expectation, for a CBT.

Tsubaki: Really? That’s awesome because the sever’s always so crowded. Now, do you think Granado Espada will be the next big game in Singapore?

Jon: Yes! We’re expecting the next version (v2.0) to have a stronger impact on the game community. As you can see from Hrin’s recent post, there’s so much in v2.0 that has to offer for gamers.

Tsubaki: Yeah I can’t wait for v2.0 as well. Why did you start with v1.8 then, if you are going to go v2.0 anyway?

Jon: Well launching CBT as v1.8 is actually more of testing our business platform, whether we are ready to go and whether we can synchronize well with our partners. It give us some room to make mistakes first so that we are more ready to handle the big v2.0.

Tsubaki: Okay, I’m expecting to see great things from you guys then. Are you guys going to have another big offline event like the GE Alpha LAN party?

Jon: In fact, we will be having 2 very big parties for GE. There will be a pre-OBT LAN party again, this time held at 3 places- Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines. It’s going to quite happening. Also, the next big party that I am very excited about is a PVP tournament that will held in Singapore. We are discussing the possiblity of flying players from other countries down to Singapore just for this event and it may be held at a very happening club.

Tsubaki: OMFG. NO WAY. PVPING AT A CLUB? LOL. But what’s the PVP grouping going to be like? In terms of level range and all?

Jon: Oh you don’t have to worry about that. The PVP tournament will be very similar to the ones in the Korean server. Each participant will be given a set of pre-made characters with maxed levels and stances and they don’t have to worry about training their characters to a certain level.

Tsubaki: Shit, that’s awesome. That means it’s going to be a battle of skills instead of grinding prowess! Oh god I can’t wait for this. Thank you for your time Jon!

Jon: Yeah no problem.

Hrin Danielle Kuek, Community Manager together with Jonathon

Tsubaki: Hrin! Hahaha, guess I don’t need to introduce you since everyone in the GE community knows how you lovely you are.

Hrin: Nonsense! Hello everyone, I’m Hrin Danielle Kuek. I’m the Community Manager for GE and I am in charge of moderating the GE forums, checking fan mails, interact with the community and blogging about GE! And eh, can you don’t take my picture? I’ve got eye bags lah. *points at eyes*

Tsubaki: Nonsense you look fine. I’m sure everyone knows that you’ve been working very hard.

Hrin: How about just taking pictures of my boots? *beams*

The idea of getting kicked by these didn’t appeal to me,
so I took a photo of them, no questions asked.

Tsubaki: Boots…? Lol, anyway let’s get started with the questions. What do you think of the current GE community in CBT?

Hrin: Hmm, I find the community very friendly and helpful. I’ve been getting a lot of feedbacks from the players and it’s very heartening to read their mails. I must also say they are very forgiving and encouraging of IAH too.

Tsubaki: Cool. As a CM, is it tiring to answer players all day long?

The face of someone who tries to reply 2,000 emails a day

Hrin: Well I receive about 2,000 emails a day from players.

Tsubaki: OMFG GG PWNED. Seriously?

Hrin: Hahah, yeah it’s physically exhausting, but not emotionally. I try to reply to everyone but sometimes I can’t find the time to reply to all, I read all emails. Everyone’s very very nice and I like communicating with them. Also I feel that each player has a face of their own and identity in game, and there shouldn’t be a line between real life and virtual life. I feel strongly against words like ‘No life’ and all because players are still having a life even in a virtual world.

Tsubaki: Wow. That’s deep. At least you love our pixel selves. So, what’s your favorite character combo in the game?

Hrin: Wizard, Elementalist and Scout. I love magic based classes. I like the female Wizard and Elementalist armors but I think the female scout is ugly so I prefer a male scout.

Tsubaki: Me too! I agree on how ugly the female scout looks. She only looks good if you get her lvl 72 armor and wig though. Oh, and what’s your favorite NPC?

Hrin: ANDRE!!!!! HE IS SO HOT! He’s my dream guy~!

Tsubaki: LOL ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Hrin: Yeah, I love Andre so much~

Tsubaki: Uhhh… okay. I would lke to give my Andre to you but he’s just too damn good in PVP to lose.

Hrin: Well, actually… I have Andre already. A GE player gave him to me cos he knows I have the serious hots for Andre! Isn’t he a sweetie? I was so touched that I named the Andre character I created after him ‘Voyage’. So now I own a ‘Voyage Hrin’.

Tsubaki: LOL! Okay that’s cool. What about your favorite location in Granado Espada?

Hrin: Definitely Port of Coimbra. It’s such a beautiful place! It’s got this really melancholic feel to it as well and the music for that town just rocks.

Tsubaki: I agree! Port of Coimbra is my favorite town too. It’s very convenient since the NPCs and Warp Portals are so close to each other. So, what will you be doing during pre-OBT?

Hrin: I hope to be able to join different guilds and basically do some more community level stuffs. I want to get to know the players more and all.

Tsubaki: Oh, so you’ll be moving from guild to guild eh? T.T Yakisoba’s going to miss you.

Hrin: Hahah, I have to fair to the other guilds as well. But I can only join them if they choose to invite me.

Tsubaki: Yakisoba will just declare war on any guild that tries to take you from us. Hahaha, just kidding. I’m sure you will have no problem with getting people to invite you. Anyway, you have quite a large fan base now, what do you feel about your sudden popularity?

Hrin: …I’m quite flattered. I hope to continue to do a good job and hope everyone will continue to support me.

Tsubaki: Oh and speaking of fan base, I found this really lovely valentines day letter on your table. It’s so sweet and really cute. I wonder who is this for?

Hrin: Oei you’re not supposed to see that!

Tsubaki: HAHAHA. And I know who sent you that. Yakisoba shall go pk him.

Hrin: Wei! Don’t do that ah. You are not to disturb him! *evil glance*

Tsubaki: *swt* Errr… don’t worry I won’t. We <3 you after all. Dear Sweet Lady Hrin....

Hrin: Oei!

A GM character.
Due to the company policy, GMs are not allowed to be photographed.

Tsubaki: And the last group, the invisible GMs of Granado Espada. It’s such a pity I can’t show everyone how cute GM Aranel is. Anyway, since I can’t reveal your names or faces, tell us your GM family names at least.

GMs: Well there’s GM Crugeon, GM Great and GM Aranel here.

Tsubaki: Are you guys always hidden in game? Because I don’t see you guys at all, and now that I have to hide your identity, you guys are never going to be known to players

GM Crugeon: We are hidden all the time, but I do appear in town sometimes.

Tsubaki: Alright, I’m just going to shoot, and one of you can answer. What do you think of the community?

GM Great: The community bonding in the game seems a little lower in my opinion because of chat system in the game. But the forums are more happening and I love it there. It’s really fun.

Tsuaki: What about players who whine or flame about every single thing on the forums? How do you handle them?

GM Crugeon: Well we usually try to keep discussion civil and all. Complaints are fine since it help us know what needs to be improved and all, and if the complaint is reasonable we will try our best to fix it.

Watching you from the shadows…

Tsubaki: Hmm, have you all banned anyone in CBT yet?

GM Aranel: None so far, since it’s CBT we are a little more lenient.

Tsubaki: Okay, what’s your opinion on the AFK-leveling issue that has split the community into two different camps? And why hasn’t there been any official word about it?

GM Great: This feature is part of the game and there’s currently no policy against it, so we are not taking any actions against players who AFK-level. However, players who macro bot, now that’s a different issue.

Tsubaki: Ah hah, so you guys do know about it. Good. Well, how’s the preparation for the CBT event coming along?

GM Crugeon: It’s coming along fine. We are almost done with it. Currently coordinating this event with our regional partners in Malaysia and Philippines for this event.

GM Great: Oh and a little hint for everyone- This event is going to be very big. Don’t go alone.

Tsubaki: Oh that’s cool. Thanks for the hint! Now some players have expressed unfairness at the OBT reward where winners will be specially invited to play the server 3 days before the actual launch of OBT. It’s been claimed that it’s possible to hit level 60 in 3 days. What are your opinions on it?

GM Crugeon: At the moment, the actual number of days that will be given to winners is still being discussed by the management. So the 3 days reward is not 100% confirmed yet. But whatever the confirmed reward may be, I would say it’s fair because players who have worked hard for the event deserves it. And since we will won’t be wiping OBT, we cannot give players items that will tip the balance of the game. Giving them a head start is fine since everyone will hit the cap level ultimately.

Tsubaki: Great. I guess that settle it. Thank you for your time!

And that’s all for now. I’ve also managed to secure some GE Goodies (GE Poster Calendar and Ang Baos) that I will be giving out as prizes, so stay tuned for the next GE-related entry!