It’s another year, and again, it’s time to prepare (this early) for another massive online gaming event – Level Up LIVE 2008.

We all know that last year’s event is the biggest so far, and this is not a “claim”, it’s a fact. Thanks to all you loyal LU gamers for making it a huge success.

As early as December of last year, the brand managers, the community managers and I have been preparing for our biggest event for 2008. And yes, Virginia, we plan to outdo ourselves again this year. Time to put on both my Project Manager and Tournament Director caps and see to it that all “lessons learned” last year are noted so that we can provide for solutions this year.

After the break, I’ll share with you some initial ideas that were tossed around…

LIVE 2008 BRAINSTORMING

• More teams – instead of having just 2 finals teams, I plan to have maybe 4 teams so that there will be semi-finals at the actual event. That way, we get to do all final matches on Sunday
• Bigger side-events – one of the ideas was to hold whole-day side tournaments for non-tournament attendees. That means, the majority of our guests. More on this in the weeks ahead. Also, the Filmfest and Art Competition has to be reworked so we might give incentives to early submissions.
• A blog-based LIVE 2008 site – we plan to put this up this month (Feb) and we’re counting on the community to submit content like photos, videos and even posts. The site will try to also “go nationwide” and capture the news of the various regional competitions that we will have
• Regionals – and speaking of Regionals, some of the games are already planning some provincial sorties. We want every player in the Philippines to participate. The games are nationwide after all.
• Better prize structure - a review of the prize payout is in order. We hear ya, mga kuya.
• Improvements on Level Up “City” - there were some other ideas (which I can’t share yet) that will improve upon the various guild booths that we will be providing for those who wish to participate again. This time, we’ll have better rules, mechanics and logistics.

As of this writing, we are trying to finalize a “theme” for the big day.

Suggestion are welcome.

More ideas for the event? Let me hear them below

Woot! I never expected to win something at Ad Congress. With a lot of gadgets, stuff and even cars being given away, I only had a 1 in 3,500 chance of winning something (0.03% – just like a boss drop damn it)

I’m NOT that unlucky with raffles. In fact, I have the unofficial title of winning back-to-back grand prize raffles at the Level Up Christmas party – having won 2 refrigerators last 2004 and 2005.

Anyways, I took home P20,000 cold cash at the GMA 7 dinner “Bingo” held Friday night (November 23, 2007) here at Subic.

The story after the jump!

Each dinner or lunch sponsor here at the Ad Con had a different way of doing raffles. For some it was an electronic one, others used a small, remote-controlled blimp to drop special balls. For the GMA 7 raffle, they used bingo. Arnel Ignacio was the host.

Each player was given 3 cards and they had games that gave away prizes ranging from 30,000 to 75,000 bucks. For the last bingo game, it was a “blackout” (mark all the balls, baby!) and the grand prize was P250,000 big ones!

Oh no, I wasn’t the winner of the P250,000. It was Lester, officemate of Tey Sandiego, the wife of Level Up Marketing Director, Jake Sandiego. Tey was there with her team (they’re an agency). At any rate, I just happened to be SITTING BESIDE THE GUY.

When we were celebrating the victory of our table, Arnel Ignacio asked who was the “katabi” of the grand winner – that would be me and another girl from Tey’s team, the winner’s officemate, and each of us would get P20,000 just for being there! Holy cow! Yippekayay!

After signing a voucher, the folks at GMA 7 handed me the cash.

Woot! Thanks, GMA 7… and thanks also to Lester for remembering my name. Congrats, dude. You deserve the win.

From now on, Kapuso na ako!

Anecdote: When Arnel Ignacio called a pair of winners (one guy and one girl) to get up on stage for an interview, he first read their names (from their IDs) and then the company… ABS-CBN (OMG!).

It WAS a GMA 7 dinner and now they were giving P75,000 to two ABS-CBN employees. The two Kapamilya folks were kinda proud knowing that they scored a coup. But Arnel would rain on their parade when he said “Ok, kumain naman kayo tapos nanalo pa, pwede bang pakisabi ‘salamat GMA 7 at Kapuso ako ngayon’? Tapos siguro, gawa na rin kayo ng resignation letter”. It was really funny. But in the end, even epic wars were shoved aside as all is fair in raffles and bingo. Hehehe.

Duped items are always a pain in the neck. Players don’t like it. We don’t like it.

But this one is an exception.

During Level Up LIVE 2007, the pRO guild, Frailty, who had a booth at the LU City came up to me and brought a member of their guild. They told me that he’s my exact “clone” or “dupe”.

It really is like looking at a mirror. So sorry but I forgot his name. If anyone from Frailty can comment below, I’d be more than happy to give him credit.

So, who’s the real GM T?

Kudos to kirstinkaye for the pic!

Now, I’m taking this opportunity to greet and thank all members of Frailty. Thanks also for the cool t-shirt which I wore at the event (waw! sponsor /no1)

UPDATE (11.17.07): His name is Jermaine aka Shir. Thanks to the comments below

Seeya!

Ciao,

GM T

So sorry for this delayed post.

Just came back from Korea and took time for me to compile the list from several departments and people in the office.

All roads led to the World Trade Center last November 3 and 4, 2007 as Level Up! gamers witnessed the epic final battles between teams and individuals for their respective games! 

During the two-day event, seven (7) tournament finals were held for the following Level Up! games: Ragnarok, RF Online, Perfect World, FlyFF, FreeStyle, Khan and Pangya.

As for me, I get nothing… hehehe… no worries, I got this

Aside from that, I have the most valuable prize of all – knowing that thousands of people and players were happy and entertained during the event…priceless!

Official Winners after the jump

Here is the official list of all winners for the Level Up! Live 2007: Logged and Loaded tournaments and side events.

 We offer our congratulations to all their success and hard work!

 
FREESTYLE ALL STARS 2007

• Champion: UPC Ace (2-0)
• Runner Up: UPC Elites

RF ONLINE NOVUS ELITE SQUAD TOURNAMENT 2007

• Champion: Ineffable (3-0)
• Runner up: Demonz

RAGNAROK PHILIPPINE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007

• Champion: Bozanian Beastfighters (3-2)
• Runner Up: Armada

PANGYA PPT 2007

• Singles Champion: Christopher Pernia
• Guild Champion: Tomahawks

KHAN BAKBAKHAN 2007

• Champion: Shadow Raven (2-0)
•  Runner Up: KhanMestres

FLYFF DRAGON COLISUEM 2007

• Champion: Team Bellona (Shade) (4-0)
• Runner Up: Rekta

PERFECT WORLD 1^st QUEST FOR THE JADE NIGHTINGGALE

• Champion : Holy Order of the Light (3-2)
• Runner Up: Mythical

RAFFLE WINNERS:

INGAME PRIZES:

GAME                    NAME

Perfect World        Jaypee E. Mabasa
Perfect World        Lounell Joseph Areta
Ragnarok        Joab Ramos
RF Online        Rey L Rojo
RF Online        Mark Ericson G. Que
Ragnarok        Karissa Paula Faa
RF Online        Francis C. Tabusao
Perfect World        Jay-R Ribano
RF Online        Marvin Jay C. Sagaral
Ragnarok        Juno Flotildes

GADGETS:

Christian Dave Aquino    Nokia 1600
John Gaisano III        Nokia 1600
Randel Rivera            MP3 Player
Jeffrey J. Selorio        Digital Camera
Carlo Pateña            Digital Camera

FILMFEST WINNERS:      

1st Prize            Real Life Online
2nd Prize            Countdown to War
3rd Prize            Kending Kamias

GUILD BOOTH WINNERS:      

LU City Best Booth        Children of Asgard
Best PW Booth        Hyper Angels
Best RF Booth            Demonz
Best RO Booth        Kingdom of Justice
Best Pangya Booth        Level Up Games Pad Booth
Best Flyff Booth        Rekta

COSPLAY WINNERS:       

Best Male            BMALI(RF Online) – Robert Ong # 14
Best Female            Creator (RO)- Caress Valdes # 16
Best in Craftsmanship        MAYA (RO) – Hanna Ong # 12
Best NPC/MONSTER     Turtle General (RO) – Jacob Gil # 18
Best Child Cosplayer        Super Novice (RO) – Alexa Alegria # 44
Best Group            The Frost Joker # 1
Crowd Favorite        Ragnarok Online Gypsy – Hazy Atienza

ON THE SPOT DRAWING CONTEST WINNERS:   

SENIOR: 
1st Prize        Justice Mateo
2nd Prize        Grace Estrella
3rd Prize        Mars Bozar

JUNIOR: 
1st Prize        Elmer Santos

NATIONAL FAN ART WINNERS:       

CONVENTIONAL:       

SENIOR:
1st Prize        John Paul Antido
2nd Prize        Ma. Shinehah Aubrey B. Dagal
3rd Prize        Precious Jewel R. Gamboa

JUNIOR:
1st Prize        Josemaria Medina Castro

DIGITAL:   

SENIOR:
1st Prize        Abigail Dela Cruz
2nd Prize        Gianna Li
3rd Prize        Raymond V. Vidal

JUNIOR: 
1st Prize        Jamie Janine Riesgo

A total of more than P1.7M in cash and prizes were given away!

However, please take note that we are currently processing all of the prizes and it will take us anywhere from 2-3 weeks from this point to complete all the allocations of the designated prizes.

We ask for your patience as we complete all that is required so that all may receive their prize at the soonest possible time.

If you have won an IN-GAME item, it will be inserted to your account/character as per what you registered for. If you think that you have not provided us with this data or would like to clarify anything, kindly write and e-mail to live@levelupgames.ph to inform us.

If you have won cash or real-life prizes, you need to CLAIM it at the office. Please bring a valid ID (driver’s license, passport, school or work ID) and go to our office at 11F Pacific Star Bldg, Makati Ave cor Buendia. Look for Pam or Joie.

Thank you for your understanding, and once again congratulations!

During Level Up Live 2007, you probably got colored stubs with funny looking codes, right?

A lot have been wondering on HOW TO USE THEM.

Here are some helpful step-by-step instructions on how to use and claim your free in-game items using the redemption codes. You may have been given this if you bought a bundled Poring or won a prize of some sort.

Anyways, it’s really easy. All you have to do is go inside the game and use an NPC.

The FULL INSTRUCTIONS after the jump.

REDEMPTION MECHANICS

1. Go to the Ragnarok Redemption Page .
2. Type in your username and the redemption code written in your claim stub, then click submit
3. Log in to Ragnarok and claim your headgear through the Cool Event NPC located at Alberta Town.

For Ragnarok attendees, we shall be having an official announcement on when we can insert the Neko Mimi for you. Note that you don’t need to use the redemption code . Please stay tuned for official announcements.

Thanks,

GM T

I promised the campers out at the WTC on November 2 that I’d show the vid on the blog, hosted by Level Up Youtube

GM Atma and myself were there to say hi to the scores of people all camping outside the event area as early as 11:00pm. One even bought a cool beach chair so he can wait in style. Both Ragnarok and FlyFF players were out braving the night and doing lotsa things, playing cards, telling stories and basically, just hanging out.

I sure hope that you guys were lucky enough to be part of the first LIVE 2007 Early Birds.

Anyways, enough of my yammering… let’s go to the video

Good friend Alex Villafania of Hackenslash interviewed our CEO, Jane Walker at the LIVE 2007 event.

Jane talks about the event, the state of our new game, Perfect World and even RF Online, which recently re-launched as a Free-to-Play service.

She also explains how game design and payment models make sense in business decisions.

Check out the video of the interview below.

Peace out!

First, the good news:

Philippine Ragnarok online will have a bonus EXP week as announced at the pRO website.

• WHEN: November 7 to 14, 2007
• HOW MUCH:
  • Baldur, Freya, Tyr, Thor: 3x EXP
  • Urdr: 5x EXP

Thanks to all who attended the LIVE 2007 event and that’s also for Boza clinching the RPC title.

Now, do you remember the colored pieces of paper that you got at LIVE 2007? Those containing weird numbers or codes? I got a lot of questions, mails, text and even YM about the confusion brought about by this.

Let me explain after the jump

1. First, those are REDEMPTION COUPONS which you can use to INSTANTLY GET YOUR IN-GAME ITEM REWARDS be it Early Bird, Cosplay, Side-event or the free stuff that we gave away to all who chose pRO (those who attended).
2. You go to a special website, enter the code and then go to an NPC inside the game to claim your prize! Presto! Easy!
3. The website, the NPC and the system is ALL WORKING
4. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication, some of the stubs were wrongfully distributed.
5. There’s no excuse for that. Two words – WE’RE SORRY
   
6. Good thing, the Waukster and I already talked and have a plan in motion. Please check the official statement that he released at the pRO site. That’s a good start. I asked him to add what is due to whom. Meaning, list down what prizes are due to those who were given code… i.e. what will you get if you’re an Early Bird, side-event winner, etc.
7. We are fixing the site where the codes will be inputted. Wauks is on top of this. As soon as it is up, we’ll have detailed instructions on how to claim your prizes. For the most part, we will just automatically insert bulk of it. So stay tuned for developments here and at the Waukster

I hope this clears things. We’re also cascading this information to our Customer Support agents so they can answer your questions.

Ciao,

GM T

The yearly cosplay for Level Up Live is already a tradition.

It’s one of the biggest productions and one of the most anticipated parts of the program. Of course, last year, we were wowed by Gamer Babe Charlene as the feisty succubus in her group’s skit. This year, it’s Master Diwa’s time. Diwa, together with the “Frost Jokers” pulled off one of the most original concepts for a group skit. Syempre, showcasing his natural talent for the violin.

For those who may not know it, Diwa is a professional musician and not just one of the pillars of the pRO community.

Anyways, congrats to Diwa and gang for winning the Group Cosplay segment.

Here’s the video for all to see! Enjoy!

Ok, my digicam is a battery monster. Have to find money to replace the damn thing.

This means that most of the cosplay pics and other parts of the event, I had to find from other LU peeps.

Which makes a good segue into SHARING LIVE 2007 pics.

If you have an online repository of pics or even video in your blog, youtube, or even slideshows, let me know by commenting below. Put the URL and I’ll be more than happy to compile this and feature it in a separate post.

Okies? Salamat po!