I recently chanced across this song on the net, and I felt that just a bit of lyrics tweaking and it'll be so fitting of the man who led our economies into the daylight:
Mr Goh Keng Swee.
Initially I didn't know that much about him but, when I realised he's the Finance Minister and the dude behind the whole SAF shtick, I thought to myself, "This guy is really cool." Of course, I don't mean the superficial, in-the-streets kind of cool, I mean he's achievements-cool. Someone probably not that high up as Albert Einstein (aka, to me, the coolest dude of the 20th century)
In fact, I realised, most of us are able to surf the net and stuff because the road to prosperity was laid by this cool guy, Mr Goh. As his body lies, an empty shell of the great mind that led Singapore to where it is today, I really would like to pay my own kind of tribute to this man whom, if he'd never existed, would've condemned all us Singaporeans to doom a long time ago.
***
I'll Be Missing You (Tribute to Mr Goh ver.)
Yeah... this right here (tell me why)
Goes out, to everyone, that has lost someone
That they truly loved (c'mon, check it out)
Seems like yesterday he lead Singapore
Out of the doldrums and then some more
So far from resting on his laurels up the post
Mr Goh Keng Swee, we benefited the most.
Life ain't always what it seems to be
Words can't express what you mean to us all
Even though you're gone we still remember ya
Through your legacy we'll fulfill your dreams
In the future can't wait to see
If you'll open up the gates for us
Reminisce sometime
The night they took our friend
Try to black it out but it plays again
When it's real feelings' hard to conceal
Can't imagine all the pain we all feel
Give anything to hear half your breath
We know you still livin' your life after death
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
To whom do the responsibilities of passenger safety befall?
Singaporeans would be more acquainted to this piece of news. A primary school kid (elementary school, for those on the outside) got flung out of a mini-sized school bus and died of his injuries. Reports of him not putting on the safety belt in spite of reminders put a rather peculiar spotlight to something we wouldn't really think twice about.
I mean, come on, how many times as a civilian driver do you ask your passengers to belt up? Or, as a passenger, do you find that bloody strap irritating? I'm sure you do; luckily, I'm trained (or psycho'ed, as some of you might say) not to feel this way. It is there for a purpose, but, well, it's all up to the person himself.
Yet, it was on the back of such a notion that this issue was suddenly thrown up, all the way to, whoa, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) here. Again, for those on the outside, this is yet another one of Singapore's (exceedingly) numerous government agencies, responsible for everything from road taxes to road safety education. Anything with regards to public/private transportation and anything to do with something called "tarmac roads" go to this organisation. So for a little accident to reach the LTA within say, like 3 days, it must've been one real hoo-hah. And I'm not at all surprised, given the parent-power thing that would give rise to parent-mass-panic.
"Oh, my gawd, how can you not make my child belt up?!"
The above-mentioned is not at all exaggerating, I would say. If you had a kid, more or less you'll be worried. I mean, come on, being flung out of a mini school bus is not a joking matter (I'll save my net speak jokes for this one, it's not appropriate for this blog) so naturally all the parents are up in arms about this.
Then, the problem starts to surface menacingly. Of course, like I said in the second para of this post, in the school bus driver context you'll be hard-pressed to check each and every one of the kids to see if they had loosened their belt in the process. As a kid, naturally, it's something irritating to them... so they naturally loosen their life-savers.
Of course, I'm not saying all kids do not listen to instructions and would not even put them on, but they will just take their belts off after a short while even if told not to do so.
Herein lies a perennial problem, then. If the kids loosen their buckle and something happens, society would condemn the driver, not the kid; "Why did you let my poor little boy-boy/girl-girl loosen the belt? Where are your responsibilities as a driver?!" would be a statement far more likely to occur from a distraught parent, than, say, "Why, boy-boy, I ask you to put your seat belt on, yet you never do so?"
But is it fair to the drivers? Seriously, no. Remember, these blokes are drivers out to earn a living, and they don't earn too much per month. Couple that with the phenomenal rise in oil prices and everything else, and you're practically getting these blokes to drive for far less than they should, for all the work they put into mass transportation. So, is it fair to them? No. But is it fair to ask of the parents to at least, for (insert religious authority here)'s sake, educate their child in this? I would say yes.
Because, ultimately, the parents are responsible for the children. It is only fair, no?
Then we shift our focus to adult passengers.
Recently, a bloke who ran out of the country after causing the deaths of two of his relatives in a horrific crash, was arrested when he came back to Singapore, ready to 'fess up. The parents were aghast when the bloke said that the two kids did not buckle up, therefore he should not be made responsible for their deaths.
Let me cite an example from my current NS experience now. Transport Operators (as they usually call drivers) are made to check for the state of their vehicles (mostly because military vehicles are more prone to breakdowns) and for the behaviour of his passengers, BUT he is not empowered to control his passengers. This responsibility falls on his co-driver, who must be the highest-ranked passenger on the transport.
So, in short, while the driver must be prepared to assume technical responsibilities arising from vehicle breakdowns and crashes, his co-driver has to be responsible for everything else that occurs, including injuries to passengers because they were being rowdy and rude and whatnot.
So, in the civilian context, it's almost the same. It's only fair for the driver to assume responsibilities for causing the car crashes AND causing the injury/death of his, or other vehicles' passengers. BUT at the end of the day, passenger safety can only be at its best when all passengers do the necessary to ensure that, bar disastrous circumstances, they could at least walk off crashes without much injuries.
So, ultimately... passenger safety starts with the passengers. Simple enough?
I mean, come on, how many times as a civilian driver do you ask your passengers to belt up? Or, as a passenger, do you find that bloody strap irritating? I'm sure you do; luckily, I'm trained (or psycho'ed, as some of you might say) not to feel this way. It is there for a purpose, but, well, it's all up to the person himself.
Yet, it was on the back of such a notion that this issue was suddenly thrown up, all the way to, whoa, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) here. Again, for those on the outside, this is yet another one of Singapore's (exceedingly) numerous government agencies, responsible for everything from road taxes to road safety education. Anything with regards to public/private transportation and anything to do with something called "tarmac roads" go to this organisation. So for a little accident to reach the LTA within say, like 3 days, it must've been one real hoo-hah. And I'm not at all surprised, given the parent-power thing that would give rise to parent-mass-panic.
"Oh, my gawd, how can you not make my child belt up?!"
The above-mentioned is not at all exaggerating, I would say. If you had a kid, more or less you'll be worried. I mean, come on, being flung out of a mini school bus is not a joking matter (I'll save my net speak jokes for this one, it's not appropriate for this blog) so naturally all the parents are up in arms about this.
Then, the problem starts to surface menacingly. Of course, like I said in the second para of this post, in the school bus driver context you'll be hard-pressed to check each and every one of the kids to see if they had loosened their belt in the process. As a kid, naturally, it's something irritating to them... so they naturally loosen their life-savers.
Of course, I'm not saying all kids do not listen to instructions and would not even put them on, but they will just take their belts off after a short while even if told not to do so.
Herein lies a perennial problem, then. If the kids loosen their buckle and something happens, society would condemn the driver, not the kid; "Why did you let my poor little boy-boy/girl-girl loosen the belt? Where are your responsibilities as a driver?!" would be a statement far more likely to occur from a distraught parent, than, say, "Why, boy-boy, I ask you to put your seat belt on, yet you never do so?"
But is it fair to the drivers? Seriously, no. Remember, these blokes are drivers out to earn a living, and they don't earn too much per month. Couple that with the phenomenal rise in oil prices and everything else, and you're practically getting these blokes to drive for far less than they should, for all the work they put into mass transportation. So, is it fair to them? No. But is it fair to ask of the parents to at least, for (insert religious authority here)'s sake, educate their child in this? I would say yes.
Because, ultimately, the parents are responsible for the children. It is only fair, no?
Then we shift our focus to adult passengers.
Recently, a bloke who ran out of the country after causing the deaths of two of his relatives in a horrific crash, was arrested when he came back to Singapore, ready to 'fess up. The parents were aghast when the bloke said that the two kids did not buckle up, therefore he should not be made responsible for their deaths.
Let me cite an example from my current NS experience now. Transport Operators (as they usually call drivers) are made to check for the state of their vehicles (mostly because military vehicles are more prone to breakdowns) and for the behaviour of his passengers, BUT he is not empowered to control his passengers. This responsibility falls on his co-driver, who must be the highest-ranked passenger on the transport.
So, in short, while the driver must be prepared to assume technical responsibilities arising from vehicle breakdowns and crashes, his co-driver has to be responsible for everything else that occurs, including injuries to passengers because they were being rowdy and rude and whatnot.
So, in the civilian context, it's almost the same. It's only fair for the driver to assume responsibilities for causing the car crashes AND causing the injury/death of his, or other vehicles' passengers. BUT at the end of the day, passenger safety can only be at its best when all passengers do the necessary to ensure that, bar disastrous circumstances, they could at least walk off crashes without much injuries.
So, ultimately... passenger safety starts with the passengers. Simple enough?
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Kindred Spirits - Another afterthought on the Sichuan Quake
I'm sure you guys won't need me to know that China is seriously in trouble at Sichuan. What I'm more focused on now is the aid that's so, so forthcoming.
Recently, there was a televised donation gathering show in Singapore meant for the quake victims. Guess what? It became the top donation-gathering show in the history of Singapore's televised donation shows. Originally thought to be a jaded way of gathering donations, it quickly became an effort surpassing SGD10 million, wow! Totally unbelievable.
Talking about myself for once (breaking my own rules), I was somehow "forced" to donate for the Sichuan quake victims while purchasing some "lifelines" at a petrol kiosk recently (because someone from the back of my queue just went up and placed coins into the tin can that says "Sichuan Quake Victims' Fund", but oddly, I felt happy to be "forced" to donate. Usually I would just treat them as annoyances and deliberately ignore the tin cans altogether.
This then leads me to note an interesting story in China itself. A beggar in China's urban area, and a shoe polish woman, not very interesting characters to say the least since they're dime a dozen in China. What sets them apart from their peers is their selflessness (let's just assume they're not there for the media hype, I doubt they even knew!). The beggar takes almost all his alms and then donates it into a community fund box thing, saying that he was just "doing his part". As a Chinese? As a fellow human being? As a compassionate kindred spirit? Whatever it was, it sure meant a lot to the victims at Sichuan. The same goes for the shoe polish woman, whose claim to fame was to queue in a bee-line for 30 minutes to put in about close to 200 yuan (around SGD40) before going back to work. Random anonymous worker there noted that the same woman ran up and down the bee-line at least ten times. That's... like 2000 yuan, not as substantial as the amount put in by Zhang Ziyi (around 2 million+ USD... or yuan?) and Yao Ming (who had to be "coerced" by Chinese netizens slamming him for donating too little, so his donation amounts, now, roughly to the same as Zhang Ziyi's) but nevertheless a spirited effort.
Like, wow. Random Chinese-on-the-streets-so-far-away donates whatever they can in spite of their own hardship. For those of you out there who still thinks that the Ah Tiongs should be left for dead (like Sharon Stone) you better f***ing "wake up your idea".
It's not a time for all that stupid debate between US and China that has gone on for so long. Indeed, all the meaningless debate wouldn't stop if *this* hadn't happened. Let's just hope the world can be a lot more happier from now.
Let's just hold out for hope.
Recently, there was a televised donation gathering show in Singapore meant for the quake victims. Guess what? It became the top donation-gathering show in the history of Singapore's televised donation shows. Originally thought to be a jaded way of gathering donations, it quickly became an effort surpassing SGD10 million, wow! Totally unbelievable.
Talking about myself for once (breaking my own rules), I was somehow "forced" to donate for the Sichuan quake victims while purchasing some "lifelines" at a petrol kiosk recently (because someone from the back of my queue just went up and placed coins into the tin can that says "Sichuan Quake Victims' Fund", but oddly, I felt happy to be "forced" to donate. Usually I would just treat them as annoyances and deliberately ignore the tin cans altogether.
This then leads me to note an interesting story in China itself. A beggar in China's urban area, and a shoe polish woman, not very interesting characters to say the least since they're dime a dozen in China. What sets them apart from their peers is their selflessness (let's just assume they're not there for the media hype, I doubt they even knew!). The beggar takes almost all his alms and then donates it into a community fund box thing, saying that he was just "doing his part". As a Chinese? As a fellow human being? As a compassionate kindred spirit? Whatever it was, it sure meant a lot to the victims at Sichuan. The same goes for the shoe polish woman, whose claim to fame was to queue in a bee-line for 30 minutes to put in about close to 200 yuan (around SGD40) before going back to work. Random anonymous worker there noted that the same woman ran up and down the bee-line at least ten times. That's... like 2000 yuan, not as substantial as the amount put in by Zhang Ziyi (around 2 million+ USD... or yuan?) and Yao Ming (who had to be "coerced" by Chinese netizens slamming him for donating too little, so his donation amounts, now, roughly to the same as Zhang Ziyi's) but nevertheless a spirited effort.
Like, wow. Random Chinese-on-the-streets-so-far-away donates whatever they can in spite of their own hardship. For those of you out there who still thinks that the Ah Tiongs should be left for dead (like Sharon Stone) you better f***ing "wake up your idea".
It's not a time for all that stupid debate between US and China that has gone on for so long. Indeed, all the meaningless debate wouldn't stop if *this* hadn't happened. Let's just hope the world can be a lot more happier from now.
Let's just hold out for hope.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Of earthquakes and cyclones (2/2)
China and the Sichuan Earthquake - before, during, after?
12th May 2008, a massive earthquake shook Wenchuan county, Sichuan to the core, causing catastrophe to the entirety of Sichuan and with a death toll of over 60,000 people.
Simple as it sounds, the deaths could very well have been avoidable. Without going into the human tragedy that ensued, the fact that this occurred at such an ungodly timing may be an indicator of more to come.
Rumors abound that Chinese builders, faced with the increasing difficulty of constructing infrastructure to provide for its two billion people, was beginning to build unsafe structures in a bid to hasten the speed of progression, thereby leading to the collapse of an absurd number of buildings in the area surrounding the epicenter of Wenchuan county, Sichuan, and the eventual death of tens of thousands under cold, immobile rubble. While some companies may do so, not all companies would do so, and even more of these companies, in my opinion, cannot be held liable for what happens at the crack of a tectonic plate.
Basically, earthquakes occur not at random, but by geographical components called tectonic plates. When these plates rub into each other, they create friction not unlike hands rubbing against each other, except on a much larger scale and with much more significant impact. In the case of Wenchuan county, it bore the unfortunate brunt of the damage because the plate movements primarily came from that area, thereby causing Wenchuan and surrounding counties the worst damage of the lot.
Still, amidst all the rumors and the blame game, there was lots of humanity to be found in desolation. A far cry from Myanmar, indeed, where help has been prompt and devastating damage minimised to a semi-manageable state. Miracle stories abound of people who have been trapped for beyond seven days and survived (although reality sets in when such people inadvertently exhaust all their life energy in an attempt to prove that they have the will to live.)
Because of all that is miraculous, there is little for me to complain, whine, or actually discuss much about. Instead, this post is dedicated to all those who have managed to survive the rubble, their families and their loved ones.
"For the winds to blow once again
To replace the green pastures lost to fate;
For life to bloom once again
where tragedy attempted to undermine the human spirit."
PS: China needs a lot of tents. If you have one, give it to the next person who can make sure it ends up in China. Spread the word.
12th May 2008, a massive earthquake shook Wenchuan county, Sichuan to the core, causing catastrophe to the entirety of Sichuan and with a death toll of over 60,000 people.
Simple as it sounds, the deaths could very well have been avoidable. Without going into the human tragedy that ensued, the fact that this occurred at such an ungodly timing may be an indicator of more to come.
Rumors abound that Chinese builders, faced with the increasing difficulty of constructing infrastructure to provide for its two billion people, was beginning to build unsafe structures in a bid to hasten the speed of progression, thereby leading to the collapse of an absurd number of buildings in the area surrounding the epicenter of Wenchuan county, Sichuan, and the eventual death of tens of thousands under cold, immobile rubble. While some companies may do so, not all companies would do so, and even more of these companies, in my opinion, cannot be held liable for what happens at the crack of a tectonic plate.
Basically, earthquakes occur not at random, but by geographical components called tectonic plates. When these plates rub into each other, they create friction not unlike hands rubbing against each other, except on a much larger scale and with much more significant impact. In the case of Wenchuan county, it bore the unfortunate brunt of the damage because the plate movements primarily came from that area, thereby causing Wenchuan and surrounding counties the worst damage of the lot.
Still, amidst all the rumors and the blame game, there was lots of humanity to be found in desolation. A far cry from Myanmar, indeed, where help has been prompt and devastating damage minimised to a semi-manageable state. Miracle stories abound of people who have been trapped for beyond seven days and survived (although reality sets in when such people inadvertently exhaust all their life energy in an attempt to prove that they have the will to live.)
Because of all that is miraculous, there is little for me to complain, whine, or actually discuss much about. Instead, this post is dedicated to all those who have managed to survive the rubble, their families and their loved ones.
"For the winds to blow once again
To replace the green pastures lost to fate;
For life to bloom once again
where tragedy attempted to undermine the human spirit."
PS: China needs a lot of tents. If you have one, give it to the next person who can make sure it ends up in China. Spread the word.
Of earthquakes and cyclones (1/2)
I don't suppose anyone in Singapore (bar the absolute recluse) would not know that there have been a spate of unfortunate natural disasters that struck several countries in the Asian region. For those who really don't know, here's a simple report on what happened to our SEA neighbours as well as in China.
Cyclone Nagris versus Myanmar's military junta
In Myanmar and some parts of SEA, a Cyclone, named Tropical Cyclone Nagris, moved at high speeds into the northern part of Myanmar, causing widespread destruction that has at present (and according to official figures) caused the deaths of tens of thousands. You know the benevolent nature of the world and our NPOs, almost as if we're actually kiasu to all rush to Myanmar and help.
That's when the government steps in and spoke out proudly and adamantly: "We don't need your help, world, thank you very much, we can handle this by ourselves!"
Perhaps there was the usual dramatisation, but somehow I felt this all wrong. Hurricane Katrina, the tragedy that struck the States not too many years ago had caused so much destruction to
more than just a few states, warranted public apologies from President George Bush Jr. because he "mis"underestimated the impact of the disaster and provided relief at crap slow rates. Yet right now, with this experience in hand and with NPOs rushing to help, Myanmar is saying no to foreign aid?
I'm sure this would more or less have political elements involved - anyone forgot the dissent created by Burmese monks not too long ago, excuse me, by civilian elements unhappy with hikes in prices when their situation in life is miserable enough? By denying its people help from world government agencies, I can draw an analogy that goes like this.
Let's say we have a meek child and a strict parent. The strict parent puts pressure on the child to score well so the parent can show off to other parents that the child is doing well despite the strictness, and the child has no choice but to perform. Suddenly, the parent decided that the child isn't doing enough and demands that the child perform 2 times better. Frustrated, the child yells and shouts and protests at the parent, only for the parent to beat up the child for disobedience. Other parents protest, but the strict parent does not care.
As this episode dies down, a few months later a wild dog walking on the street randomly pounces on children, including this meek child. On the brink of death, the child cries out for help as blood flows freely on the road, and the parent noticed the child - yet did nothing much than just stay by the child's side. Many other concerned parents and their children all offered to help at the first sign of trouble, but the strict parent disallows help from the other parents, saying that the damage was manageable when it wasn't.
From here on, there are two situations. Either the child dies of excessive blood loss, or the child recovers and grows to resent the parent for ill-treatment. By this analogy, it is obvious that the child cannot die (because the child represents the nation's people), but that resentment will only grow further and further as time passes by. Eventually, the strict and unreasonable parent would be forced into an ultimatum - treat the child nicely or beat the child further as warning never to show dissent.
Outside of the analogy, it is obvious what is happening in Myanmar now is but a repeat of previous such conflicts in other nations. "Bullying" its own people into submission (right now, I see this as a government message which goes like this: "See, I don't agree with what you did last year. Therefore this year the foreigners cannot give you help, BECAUSE I SAY SO!") is a short-term tactic that, appropriately so, may work for the short term, yet at the same time it is alarming that the military junta of Myanmar seemed to have ignored the consequences of such actions in the form of their almost-immediate neighbours - Sri Lanka. Despite different motivations, the LTTE was a malign formation of what could very well have been something avoidable. By extension, Sri Lanka may also have ignored what happened in Yugoslavia as well as Northern Ireland. And by further extension N. Ireland forgot what happened during WW2, and so on and so forth.
Quote from Mr David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary:
"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime."
How true. Moving on to China in the next post.
Cyclone Nagris versus Myanmar's military junta
In Myanmar and some parts of SEA, a Cyclone, named Tropical Cyclone Nagris, moved at high speeds into the northern part of Myanmar, causing widespread destruction that has at present (and according to official figures) caused the deaths of tens of thousands. You know the benevolent nature of the world and our NPOs, almost as if we're actually kiasu to all rush to Myanmar and help.
That's when the government steps in and spoke out proudly and adamantly: "We don't need your help, world, thank you very much, we can handle this by ourselves!"
Perhaps there was the usual dramatisation, but somehow I felt this all wrong. Hurricane Katrina, the tragedy that struck the States not too many years ago had caused so much destruction to
more than just a few states, warranted public apologies from President George Bush Jr. because he "mis"underestimated the impact of the disaster and provided relief at crap slow rates. Yet right now, with this experience in hand and with NPOs rushing to help, Myanmar is saying no to foreign aid?
I'm sure this would more or less have political elements involved - anyone forgot the dissent created by Burmese monks not too long ago, excuse me, by civilian elements unhappy with hikes in prices when their situation in life is miserable enough? By denying its people help from world government agencies, I can draw an analogy that goes like this.
Let's say we have a meek child and a strict parent. The strict parent puts pressure on the child to score well so the parent can show off to other parents that the child is doing well despite the strictness, and the child has no choice but to perform. Suddenly, the parent decided that the child isn't doing enough and demands that the child perform 2 times better. Frustrated, the child yells and shouts and protests at the parent, only for the parent to beat up the child for disobedience. Other parents protest, but the strict parent does not care.
As this episode dies down, a few months later a wild dog walking on the street randomly pounces on children, including this meek child. On the brink of death, the child cries out for help as blood flows freely on the road, and the parent noticed the child - yet did nothing much than just stay by the child's side. Many other concerned parents and their children all offered to help at the first sign of trouble, but the strict parent disallows help from the other parents, saying that the damage was manageable when it wasn't.
From here on, there are two situations. Either the child dies of excessive blood loss, or the child recovers and grows to resent the parent for ill-treatment. By this analogy, it is obvious that the child cannot die (because the child represents the nation's people), but that resentment will only grow further and further as time passes by. Eventually, the strict and unreasonable parent would be forced into an ultimatum - treat the child nicely or beat the child further as warning never to show dissent.
Outside of the analogy, it is obvious what is happening in Myanmar now is but a repeat of previous such conflicts in other nations. "Bullying" its own people into submission (right now, I see this as a government message which goes like this: "See, I don't agree with what you did last year. Therefore this year the foreigners cannot give you help, BECAUSE I SAY SO!") is a short-term tactic that, appropriately so, may work for the short term, yet at the same time it is alarming that the military junta of Myanmar seemed to have ignored the consequences of such actions in the form of their almost-immediate neighbours - Sri Lanka. Despite different motivations, the LTTE was a malign formation of what could very well have been something avoidable. By extension, Sri Lanka may also have ignored what happened in Yugoslavia as well as Northern Ireland. And by further extension N. Ireland forgot what happened during WW2, and so on and so forth.
Quote from Mr David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary:
"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime."
How true. Moving on to China in the next post.
CABAL's shortfalls? A seasoned player's take.(3/3)
OK, I admit, I must've been too hyped up when I typed the second part. But still, there are some parts of gameplay balance that I feel should be addressed.
For example, my understanding is that Force Bladers, at Transcender skill level (for the uninitiated, that's the highest level) has a lock-down skill that aims against magic casters - Mana Freeze. According to a person within my current guild, to shut down an entire enemy guild would only require less than six such FBs if the correct posture is used. That basically leaves entire groups of magic casters - meaning the Wizards and the Force Archers - totally useless. While one or two may not be a problem it would be more so if there are many such FBs, and given time it is possible for multiple guilds to be this strong in one single year's time.
Talk about break of gameplay and strategies involved - all cut down to THE FB(s).
People might dismiss what I say as being too worrisome, that there are strategies that can counter such. I wouldn't discount such arguments. Maybe I worry too much for my own good, but the fact that six FBs can shut down a guild's magicians seriously disturbs.
The other thing that may not be so much of a shortfall is the way weapons and equipments are more commodities than really rare drops, as was the case with RO and Maplestory (think godly equipment that isn't really player-accomplished but rather, through lucky drops and gachapon mechanisms). This means that anyone can make weapons, or armor, but a select group of individuals would control the economy because they can craft a certain kind of equipment. Localising control of the economy to these select few may be a bad idea in the making, since prices are dictated by the equipments they make.
An example - Early May the prices of Bluestin Adept +3exp equipments would cost a pretty penny, closer to 800k alz, and then Bluestin Adept +4exp would fetch for 2 million alz a piece. But by late May the prices have all universally dropped to less than 450k a piece of the former and to around 800k for the latter. With time, the same situation is to be expected of the Titanium equipment series.
There is one anomaly though, but probably because of the limited market for this series of equipment, which is basically the weapons, whose prices haven't dropped as drastically. Perhaps there were some complications to weapon-making that my inexperience hasn't covered, but what is for sure is that the prices of such weaponry would drop as well once enough players have discovered the difficulty in breaking the over-saturated armory market.
Everything I've said here is my sole opinion, with regards to the pluses and minuses of Cabal as a whole, including the current trend in the SEA server. I am in no way related to ESTsoft or its SEA distributor, AsiaSoft. So please, minus all that legalese and everything, we're not related to each other and this blog post is only meant as an illustration of the current situation as I see it.
With it, that's the end of my blog posting on CABAL's shortfalls as a whole.
For example, my understanding is that Force Bladers, at Transcender skill level (for the uninitiated, that's the highest level) has a lock-down skill that aims against magic casters - Mana Freeze. According to a person within my current guild, to shut down an entire enemy guild would only require less than six such FBs if the correct posture is used. That basically leaves entire groups of magic casters - meaning the Wizards and the Force Archers - totally useless. While one or two may not be a problem it would be more so if there are many such FBs, and given time it is possible for multiple guilds to be this strong in one single year's time.
Talk about break of gameplay and strategies involved - all cut down to THE FB(s).
People might dismiss what I say as being too worrisome, that there are strategies that can counter such. I wouldn't discount such arguments. Maybe I worry too much for my own good, but the fact that six FBs can shut down a guild's magicians seriously disturbs.
The other thing that may not be so much of a shortfall is the way weapons and equipments are more commodities than really rare drops, as was the case with RO and Maplestory (think godly equipment that isn't really player-accomplished but rather, through lucky drops and gachapon mechanisms). This means that anyone can make weapons, or armor, but a select group of individuals would control the economy because they can craft a certain kind of equipment. Localising control of the economy to these select few may be a bad idea in the making, since prices are dictated by the equipments they make.
An example - Early May the prices of Bluestin Adept +3exp equipments would cost a pretty penny, closer to 800k alz, and then Bluestin Adept +4exp would fetch for 2 million alz a piece. But by late May the prices have all universally dropped to less than 450k a piece of the former and to around 800k for the latter. With time, the same situation is to be expected of the Titanium equipment series.
There is one anomaly though, but probably because of the limited market for this series of equipment, which is basically the weapons, whose prices haven't dropped as drastically. Perhaps there were some complications to weapon-making that my inexperience hasn't covered, but what is for sure is that the prices of such weaponry would drop as well once enough players have discovered the difficulty in breaking the over-saturated armory market.
Everything I've said here is my sole opinion, with regards to the pluses and minuses of Cabal as a whole, including the current trend in the SEA server. I am in no way related to ESTsoft or its SEA distributor, AsiaSoft. So please, minus all that legalese and everything, we're not related to each other and this blog post is only meant as an illustration of the current situation as I see it.
With it, that's the end of my blog posting on CABAL's shortfalls as a whole.
CABAL's shortfalls? A seasoned player's take.(2/3)
As promised, an in-depth analysis of the game for the first 90 levels (for your info, I'm a level 8X Force Archer on the server.)
Basically, the first good points of the game are that the quests and leveling are paced together very well. The quests you will receive will, for the first run-through, gradually give you a feeling of being an undefeatable Mary Sue (who, like in all MMORPGs, will revive anyway) in a long-running story.
I imagine this might actually entice the seasoned gamer more, since players who have been in contact with RPGs for a long time would generally like a running story to go along with a usually static gameworld. The good can sometimes be a bit too good, with the game seeing many level 100s in the space of just 4 weeks because of what I perceive to be "nannying" the player.
Not that I'm complaining, honest injun, just that it becomes a bit too quick and then you're going to have lots of players at the upper tier instead of the lower tier (with lower-level characters mainly installed as merchants for the mains)
Then here comes the biggie. On every server, half of the channels are available for PK. Goodness, that can encourage a lot of fighting, and a lot of childish spats can occur. Bleh. Currently, the guilds at higher levels are generally more or less well-behaved, although guilds are a constantly changing variable and can be subject to ups and downs. I'd be worried, because if a few guilds decide to go rogue and PK the innocent, then it would be up to the other guilds to stop these rogues, but often it's a heck-care situation (unless a nosey parker like me tries to go in, and ends up getting a bleeding nose). Good thinking on arranging for non-PK channels, but then it also excaberates the problem of controlling bots. (I personally would deal with bots the PK way, lulz.)
Remember I mentioned that there could be a potential situation whereby lots of high levels could occur? This is a very major catalyst for so-called alz sellers, and already many cases of hack-and-ban has been reported to AS because desperate players, in a bit to go for the stronger equipments, often risk their passwords and ID by visiting these dangerous sites. The regulation of such sites are almost impossible since they're only damaging company policy (i.e. no alz selling), not breaking a criminal law (and thereby falling away from the radar of the police). Already it is too late to fix the situation because there are too many alz sellers (and multiple IDs) and too little GMs to police the game 24/7.
Next time, I'll post more on a current, upsetting balance in-game that would turn players more to certain professions.
Basically, the first good points of the game are that the quests and leveling are paced together very well. The quests you will receive will, for the first run-through, gradually give you a feeling of being an undefeatable Mary Sue (who, like in all MMORPGs, will revive anyway) in a long-running story.
I imagine this might actually entice the seasoned gamer more, since players who have been in contact with RPGs for a long time would generally like a running story to go along with a usually static gameworld. The good can sometimes be a bit too good, with the game seeing many level 100s in the space of just 4 weeks because of what I perceive to be "nannying" the player.
Not that I'm complaining, honest injun, just that it becomes a bit too quick and then you're going to have lots of players at the upper tier instead of the lower tier (with lower-level characters mainly installed as merchants for the mains)
Then here comes the biggie. On every server, half of the channels are available for PK. Goodness, that can encourage a lot of fighting, and a lot of childish spats can occur. Bleh. Currently, the guilds at higher levels are generally more or less well-behaved, although guilds are a constantly changing variable and can be subject to ups and downs. I'd be worried, because if a few guilds decide to go rogue and PK the innocent, then it would be up to the other guilds to stop these rogues, but often it's a heck-care situation (unless a nosey parker like me tries to go in, and ends up getting a bleeding nose). Good thinking on arranging for non-PK channels, but then it also excaberates the problem of controlling bots. (I personally would deal with bots the PK way, lulz.)
Remember I mentioned that there could be a potential situation whereby lots of high levels could occur? This is a very major catalyst for so-called alz sellers, and already many cases of hack-and-ban has been reported to AS because desperate players, in a bit to go for the stronger equipments, often risk their passwords and ID by visiting these dangerous sites. The regulation of such sites are almost impossible since they're only damaging company policy (i.e. no alz selling), not breaking a criminal law (and thereby falling away from the radar of the police). Already it is too late to fix the situation because there are too many alz sellers (and multiple IDs) and too little GMs to police the game 24/7.
Next time, I'll post more on a current, upsetting balance in-game that would turn players more to certain professions.
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