S4 Self-Design Clothes

Another neat feature on Season 4 is the "Self-Design" system to create your own artistic outfits for your favorite Characters. You can proudly wear your designed outfits to show off in the game, or sell it for Pang. I'll go in depth to explain how this system works.


The shop will carry blank design shirt and pant for each Characters. There are two types you can purchase; cookie and pang design outfits. The "cookie" blank design are used to draw your outfits, and the "pang" blank design are used to make copies of your designed outfits. In other words, the only way to draw on your outfits is to purchase the cookie design. The cost for each Character's self-design outfits will be different. As you can see, the cookie outfit will give you full power and control while the pang version will be less.


The picture above displays three blank outfits in my room. There's a cookie blank shirt, cookie blank pant, and pang blank shirt. You can tell apart by looking at the box icon on the bottom right corner. The icon with a pencil is the one you can draw, while the other one is to make copies. I'm going to click on the blank shirt to draw.


Think of this like MS Paint. It's a little difficult to use for newbies, but it comes equipped with some basic materials that can get the job done. You can flip the shirt from front to back, add a grid to make adjustments, etc. Once you exit, you can either finalize your design, save your work, or completely exit without saving. Remember that once you accept the design, you cannot go back and redo it again. You also cannot take the design and copy it to a different outfit.


Once you make your design, you are ready to make copies if you like. I'll use Hana as an example. I will now purchase both shirt and pants for Hana. It'll be the pang outfits so I can make copies of my "Yukata" Design.


Now you are ready to make copies. I will start by copying the shirt. So I'll click on the copy icon where my cursor is pointing.


Once you click the icon, you will get a list of all the shirts you made that you can make copies. I only have one shirt designed so that will be the only shirt to make a duplicate. Once you accept, the copy will be made and you cannot revert it back to blank again.


So I have both shirt and pants copied from my design. You can equip your pang outfit if you want for some reason. Since the copied design is pang, you know what that means.


Selling time! People can buy your designs and wear your creative outfit for everyone to see. Players who buy your outfits can also resell to someone else too. I would like to thank Fresca for making this outfit for me awhile back.

Final Fantasy XIII

NEW Final Fantasy XIII trailer
I'll start with Final Fantasy XIII. SquareEnix had a countdown timer on their site that just finished recently. Once the timer ended, they delivered a very nice trailer with gameplay footage of the battle system. After watching the trailer, it made me very excited EXCEPT that I will have to wait for an English version in 2010!

A demo version of the game is expected to release on April 16th. The problem is, you will have to purchase the new blu-ray of Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete bundle which will cost roughly around $65 (excluding fees and shipping if you plan to import it). If you think the cost for this bundle is too much, it has been mentioned that the demo will keep you busy for around two hours. Plus, the new Advent Children movie will have added scenes that the first AC didn't include. So if you are a true Final Fantasy fan, then save up your money and get to preordering now.

If you hate the movie, or you really don't want to spend too much just to play FFXIII demo, then it has been reported that the demo will have a separate release sometime after the blu-ray movie comes out. Whether you can buy the disc alone, or download from the store isn't known yet.


Final Fantasy Advent Children Complete Trailer

A18: The Lost Hope

You disappoint me yet again OGP, wait I've been disappointed several times already before. When OGP didn't update last Thursday again, I held myself back for saying anything bad about them and give them one more week to redeem their lack of updates. I was a fool to believe that now and look what happens today. No update nor word (as usual) about today's supposedly updates.

Even if there was a single hope for a drastic change, it's too late now OGP. They've either waited or ignored too long over the faults that we are seeing in A18 as of today. No communication from the staff, over priced Astro items such as Auto-Calipers, pang hackers are still at large, too many players who doesn't speak or speaks broken English, and I could just go on and on. Rather than seeing improvements in this game, each passing day it's growing worse. And what's worse, is that nothing has been done about it. Which is why everyone is to believe that OGP doesn't care anymore because they are shutting down. There are sources too whether you want to believe it or not. Want to read all about it? Here you go: Preparing for the aftermath.

If you all are planning to continue your Pangya career elsewhere, then maybe your only option would be GOA. Many long time players from Albatross18 already moved there. From my perspective of GOA, they look like the company that really cares about the community that A18 players hasn't receive that kind of treatment in ages. GOA may have just started Season 3 so it feels like a downgrade version of Albatross18, but you have to give them time since GOA is the last Pangya server that has opened up to the public. I also have to mention that they are working fast to catch up with other Pangya servers too.

As for me, I'm not going to join you guys on GOA. I hate to start all over for the fourth time so far. I used to have Japan but IP security has increased again, and now A18 is going down the dumps. So basically all I have is Korea. I'm fine with just Korea myself. Plus I've been playing Korea for a long time so I don't feel like I'm starting all over. Actually, I haven't been playing Pangya much at all lately. I'm just... bored with it I guess. Perhaps I've seen everything Pangya has to offer. Rather than quitting it, I just play whenever I'm in the mood. Plus if I quit Pangya, then this blog will go along with it. I'll give it a few more months until I may decide to close everything together, and move on with my life.

Well that's all that I have to say for today. I need to get ready for today's class. I'm keeping busy as you can tell.

Lunar New Years

Best wishes for everybody in Korea. Happy New Year!

새해 복 많이 받으세요. 기쁜 새해가 되기를 발함니다. 올 여름에 한국에 감니다.

리차드가 미국에서.

Kimono JPN

I know some of us are still torn for not having Pangya Japan anymore, especially Hinano and myself too. But, I figured I still take a peek on today's update from Japan. Not surprisingly, they brought out the 2nd set of the snowflake outfits, but wait, there's more!?

Speak of the devil, we were just talking about the Kimono outfits in our previous discussion. As mentioned before, the Kimono outfits were released back in Season two in the Gachapon lotto. So Kaz and Lucia are the only two missing. Now you can get the remaining two along with snowflake outfits too.

^ Click thumbnail for larger view ^

The color on Lucia's Kimono outfit really does fit her. I am disappointed that they didn't do anything to her hair. They must have gotten lazy and added a ribbon on the back of her head to be done with it. Kaz's Kimono outfit is impressive, especially two swords on his back. His robe isn't fasten all the way so he wants to show off his hairless chest to the guys. I say Kaz's outfit compared to Lucia is better.

Source:
Pangya JPN site

KR Update (1-20-09)

Pangya Season 4 Delight on Korea will be having server maintenance from 4:00 ~ 9:00 AM. Eastern time converts to 2:00 ~ 7:00 PM. Server has been delayed, but servers are fully functioning now. Servers opened around 10:45 AM (8:45 PM EST)

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Content Update:
1) Hanbok re-release sale
Sale date: 1-20 ~ 2-3

2) Scratch rare update
30th Scratch Set - Snowflower Outfits Set #2

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1) Hanbok re-release sale
Korea's traditional dress known as Hanbok will be arriving in the shop for a limited time. This is the most important traditional holiday for the Koreans since Lunar New Year's day is one of the few special occasions of the year when Koreans wear their Hanbok. The beauty lies with its vibrant colors, and lines shown vertically on the clothing.




2) Scratch rare update

Snowflower Outfits Set #2 - Arin, Kooh, Cecilia, and Azer

The Legend of Four Rings

There are a total of four rings ever to release on Korea's scratch rare system. Albatross18 already brought in one ring in the eCard lottery, but there are still more to come. I'll be reviewing all four rings so let's take a peek to see if these rings are worth spending your money on Albatross18.


Crimson Ring
Effect: Increase distances by +4 yards.

You'll simply receive four extra yards added to your distance. It's basically having your power stats increase by two with no penalty to your control and accuracy if you reached above your power limit. The odd part about this ring is that even iron or wedge clubs will have the increased distance effect too (excluding putter). Players who approaches the hole with a 6I may need to adjust their power or else the ball will pass the cup. Crimson ring is essential to players who wants to improve their score thanks to the mini distance boost to make reaching places very flexible. This is Albatross18's first ring to be released so far. This ring cannot be passed up so easily for players who loves longer drive distances.

Rate: 9/10
+ Receive 4 extra yards at no cost
+ No penalty to your CTR/ACC
- Iron and Wedge club may throw you off with the added distance


Star Cat Ring
Effect: +1 added to combo gauge upon hitting Pangya. +3 added to combo gauge upon missing Pangya.

If you are the kind of person that performs powershots quite often, then this ring will give you a tiny extra push on your combo gauge meter. If you are the type of person who always miss Pangya, then you'll be ready to make a powershot in no time. However, it sounds very contradictory if you think about that concept. If you miss Pangya so many times to gain great amount of combo gauge, then how will it help you make a successful powershot if you miss Pangya all the time? But, each shot you make you'll gain extra amount of combo gauge regardless so there's no harm there. However, the next ring is so much better than this ring.

Rate: 5/10
+ Bonus added to your combo gauge
- Concept of missing pangya gains more combo gauge than successfully hitting Pangya
- The next ring after this one is much better than this ring


Mystic Ring
Effect: +1 added to combo gauge each turn (including initial turn when you first begin). +3 added to combo gauge when performing powershot or using items.

You read the effect correctly, there is no mistaken how powerful this ring is. Let's closely look at two effects here. First, you will receive +1 added to your combo gauge each of your own turn. 1 pixel might not be anything by itself, but if you play a full 18 hole game it'll make a difference. Secondly, you will gain +3 even if you perform a powershot or using an item. Normally a powershot, and some items will not increase your combo gauge on that turn. So imagine if you use 7 power potion, and perform around 5 powershots in a tournament. That's a total of 12 shots that your combo gauge hasn't increased. So just think about it, 1 pixel added for every turn, and your gauge increases even if you are a powershot junkie. You are basically filling up around 2-3 bars on your combo gauge for free. If you want to improve your score, you can replace 2 power potions for two silent winds if you like. Don't miss out on this ring at all cost. This ring screams for repetitive powershots on Ice Spa.

Rate: 10/10
+ Small bonus added to your combo gauge each turn
+ Increase combo gauge even if you use item or perform a powershot
- You will have to decide between this ring and Crimson


Hybrid Ring
Effect: +1 added to combo gauge each turn (including initial turn when you first begin). Increase distances by +2 yards.

So now that you've read about both Crimson and Mystic Ring, are you having trouble deciding which ring to use? Well how about take both rings, downsize the effect a bit, and transform it into one ring! That is why it is called, Hybrid Ring. Combining two great rings into one is an excellent idea, but the effects has been lower from its predecessor. A small gain for no cost is still marvelous, but you may want to use one of the greater rings such as Crimson or Mystic. But still, it may be hard to judge if this ring will be a great replacement between the two best rings in the game. It really all comes down to your play style.

Rate: 9/10
+ Combine both Mystic and Crimson Ring into one
+ Small gain on both combo gauge and distances
- Downsize effect of both rings may make you wonder if the small gain is worth using

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Well I hope you enjoy today's segment about the four rings. Both Crimson and Mystic Rings are about equal upon their usefulness, but it really depends on you though.

This will be a nice discussion to talk about, and I would like to hear some opinions about which rings you would use and the reason why. Will you go for the Mystic Ring so you can replace power potions for other useful items? Will you go for Crimson Ring to chip in hard to reach places easily without lowering your control stats? Or will you go for both with downgraded effects?

PSP cable a No-Go

So I finally have my own PSP at last. I've played a little bit of Pangya Portable before, but I'll have to start back all over again since the PSP I borrowed didn't have a memory stick. The cables came in the mail yesterday so I could finally broadcast Pangya Portable over to my JTV channel. So how come I didn't broadcast last night?


This is why I didn't broadcast last night. I even switched to Progressive format like the screen mentioned and I still get that message. I figured I could search the net to see if anyone encountered the same problem. Then I found the answer to why it won't work, and I was very baffled about it.

The cables are meant to display movies and pictures only. So you cannot play games on your TV screen. Then what's the point in releasing these cables that you can't play games then? Why would you want to watch a movie from a PSP when there are Blu-ray or DVD players?

Well I soon discovered that you can use programs like "Remotejoy" to have your PSP played on your PC monitor. That can work since I can broadcast what's shown on my desktop easily. So that problem is solved. However, I knew it wasn't going to be easy, and it's not. Now I need to have a custom firmware so I can go into recovery mode to allow certain files on my PSP so it will sync to my computer, and etc. It's pretty much too much trouble to deal with this.

But the big reason why I ordered a specific PSP was to get a Pandora battery anyways. Since you can get custom firmware with that, I could use that "Remotejoy" program to play my PSP on my monitor easily.

So yeah... Trial and error works best to uncover the truth. I'm still new at this since I never had a PSP before. But I'll be an expert on it before too long.

A18 16th eCard

Typically, around once every month a new eCard rare will be released. The current eCard rare "animal suit" came out on December 11th, 2008. Albatross18 didn't update this week because they released several outfits from last week's update. So it's a safe bet that updates will be next Thursday along with a new eCard rare at long last. It has been over a month already so I'm sure A18 will get a new eCard rare. The biggest question is, what rare will it be?

When a new scratch rare comes out on Korea's Pangya server, nobody knows what it is until it comes out. On the other hand, Albatross18 eCard originally comes from Korea's scratch rares so we can anticipate future eCard releases.

I have not kept up with A18's eCard rares lately, but I am surprised that they are up to the 15th rare so far. Let's look back at the history of Korea's Scratch rare that has been released so far, and compare it to Albatross18. The ones that are in bold are the rares that has already came out on Albatross18.

1st = Umbrella Club set
2nd = Hammer Club set
3rd = Wedding Dress
4th = Golden Medievals Club Set & Crimson Ring
5th = Magical Girl Oufits
6th = Magic Sceptre Club set
7th = Animal Outfits
8th = SSAF Set #1
9th = SSAF Set #2
10th = Starcat Ring
11th = BIG Papel
12th = Elf Ears
13th = Swimsuits (S3 ver.)
14th = Pajama Set #1
15th = Pajama Set #2
16th = Cat Set
17th = Mystic Ring
18th = Fantasy Outfits Set #1
19th = Fantasy Outfits Set #2
20th = Gothic Dress
Special 20th = Gothic Dress + Wedding Outfits + Starcat Ring + BIG Papel + Elf Ears
21th = Pirate Outfits Set #1 + Lucia's Wedding Outfit
22nd = Pirate Outfits Set #2
23rd = Fairy Wings
24th = Swimsuits (S4 ver.)
25th = Olympic Outfits + Air Lance 3
26th = Gypsy Outfits
27th = Halloween Outfits + Lucia's Elf Ears
28th = Hybrid Ring + Lucia's Pajamas
29th = Snowflower Outfits

So any guesses on what the 16th eCard rare is going to be? You can vote on the poll to your right to see how close our guesses will go from there. I have listed six rares on the poll that are bound to be one of them coming out for the 16th eCard rare. As much as I want to put Fairy Wings for a possible release on the polls, I'm certain that won't be coming out anytime soon.

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Poll: Guess the next 16th Rare


Starcat Ring
Effect: Hitting Pangya grants you +1 bonus added on your power gauge. Missing Pangya grants you +3 bonus added on your power gauge.


Pajama Set
Characters: Arin, Scout, Max, Hana


Wedding Dress
Characters: Cecilia, Kooh, Arin, Hana


Mystic Ring
Effect: Each turn you will receive a small bonus added to your power gauge (including initial turn). Power gauge increases even if you use a special shot or an item.


Cat Outfit
Characters: Arin, Kooh, Cecilia, Hana


Fantasy Outfit
Characters: Hana, Max, Arin, Scout

Still waiting for Valkyria

Yes, I want to play Valkyria Chronicles badly, but the problem is I don't want to spend $60. So I have to turn over to my online video game rental site, Gamefly. I'm sure they'll have this game available~


Or not... I've been waiting for at least four days, and it still hasn't shipped yet. I guess several people missed out this game last year are wanting to play it now. Looks like that's bad timing on my part. I almost want to buy it at the store, but I continue to resist hoping that Gamefly will reserve that game for me and send it to my precious mailbox.


Alright Alicia, I'll continue to wait a bit longer. If I hadn't bought a PSP, I would already be playing this game. Ah that's right. I decided to order a "specific" PSP system two days ago. I may get it sometime this week hopefully. Then I bought the cable so you can hook it up to your TV and play it. Finally, I'll be able to play Pangya Portable now.


Wait, so I'm getting a PSP with cables to plug into the TV? I could also plug it to my capture device too. So are you getting my drift eh?

A18's Pang economy

Pang economy on Albatross18 is far worst than I excepted. I haven't kept up with everything that is going on in their servers, but I do know that it's infested with pang hackers who gets around 80-90k a round on Ice Spa plus their additional bonus pang hack you may not know about that they receive for each shot. And to top it off, Albatross18 is having double pang and xp event for two weeks while they are still on the loose. Each hackers can make new accounts and level up to Rookie E quicker, and obviously receive more pang in their pocket.

Then I hear that selling or even buying can lead your account in the wrong direction. If you sell in PSquare and a pang hacker buys from you, your account is linked with that hacker that could get you in a dilemma. In worst case scenario, your account getting banned.

I decided to test it out for myself to see how bad PSquare is doing. I looked around and it wasn't a shocker to see that most Black Papel, and seasonal limited-time rares are selling for unreasonable prices. I have some rares on my main account that I don't mind parting with so instead of using my main account as test, I'm using my other account in case a Pang hacker happens to buy my stuff.

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Since I don't know how much these items are going for, I went with the price based on the people that are currently selling at this point. So I set the price as so:

Romeo Mask (UB): 7,100,000 [sold]
Doom Cap (S): 7,600,000 [sold]
Juliet Mask (K): 8,000,000
Juliet Mask (C): 7,400,000
Devils Feather (C): 180,000 [sold]
Pink Blush (UB): 5,000,000 [sold]


Five minutes later, Bob's pink blush was sold. I was hysterically laughing at how bad this economy is going. Five million pang for Bob people, Bob.


Fifteen minutes later, Cecilia's devils feather was sold. It's no big deal, but I was surprised it sold since I think I saw several people selling for less than that.


Around one hour later, Scout's Doom Cap was sold. I've sold a total of over 10 million pang so far. How ridiculous is that. Who knows if it'll keep going.


Around two hours later, Bob's Romeo Mask was sold. I'm going to close the shop now. This is truly unbelievable that I'm almost at 20 million for only two hours.

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If this keeps up, almost every account will have at least 20 million pang, which may be equivalent to 7 million pang on Korea. It's that bad.

Oh, and I wouldn't be surprised once A18 gets Season 4 that you cannot buy cards in PSquare for the sole purpose of this. But if they do make it where you can buy cards, then expect Titanboo and Control Cards to be at 10 million then. Brie cards will have to be done privately since it'll obviously be worth more than 10 million. But maybe on the bright side, selling these cards in PSquare could let players spend their overwhelming pang so the increased prices will stop. But who knows really.

I'm not sure if Korea or A18 expected to have pang hackers on A18's server in the near future, but I'm kind of glad they didn't implement to sell eCard rares when A18 launched Season 3. Can you imagine how many people and hackers are going to ask for your rares over and over to the point where you may end up wearing Astro or Pang outfits to avoid those kind of people? You'll even have to part away with your Air Lance 3 or else they'll ask for that too. I do give them props for doing eCard exchange events, so I do encourage them to keep going with that.

Women of Pangya

Probably the most important reason why people are playing "Pangya" is for the female Characters. If I were to ask someone the reason why they play Pangya, then I'm certain they'll mention, "because of Kooh" or "Arin is hot." I'm sure those people are not the only ones who would answer the same way as well. We all may have heard the issue about sex and violence sells when it comes to media entertainment such as video games. There's definitely no violence or nudity in the game, but if you get the right equipment gear for your scantily clad female characters, she will be playing golf with less cloth, and more skin.

If you go on the internet and type "Kooh" on the search engine, you will find most images of her either exposed or posed in a naughty way. That's part of the reason why Pangya is popular. Without memorable cute Characters like Kooh, Pangya may not be the same as of today to satisfy a large number of players. When it comes down to genders, there are a lot more female Characters and Caddies than males. That's not a surprise even if you don't count Dolfini in the list. Most players are more likely to play with female Characters rather than males. It's true.


As for me, I don't think I play Pangya for the sole purpose of the girls. I do play with female Characters all the time, so I may have an urge to let them wear a bikini or wear something to show more skin. I wouldn't say that I have twisted mind for doing that, it's just part of who we are. Being obsessed is a different side of the matter though. And yes, it's hard to resist Lucia sometimes.


Lucia is a good example of this. She is the type of girl that you either hate, love, or become obsessed with her. She has breast that moves independently and a charm that most guys will say, "I'd hit that." Now that Season 4 has introduced Lucia in the mix, there are four male, and five female Characters that are playable in the game. Ntreev knows that releasing more hot chicks = big money in their pockets. I somehow don't think she really fits into the Pangya storyline at all, but she's there for the sole purpose of delivering fans of what they want, more pretty women~




If there's one thing to spice up a boring game of golf, add in some hot and young girls to play with and you have one popular game. I'm sure some of you play the game for the sole purpose of the girls? No? Do you think all this sex appeal is going to far for a game like Pangya? Do share your thoughts and reason behind all of this.

Pangya Portable OST

Download Pangya Portable OST here
162.68 MB
Pw is sweatdrop. Enjoy~

Kooh figurine

For those who purchased Pangya Portable Limited Edition from us should have received it by now. I just received mine yesterday that I had to pick up in the post office. Thank you all for putting your trust in us. This is the first time I've done something major like this, and I was a little worried if something bad might happen. But, I think everything turned out great and everyone was nice to understand that we had some issues to deal with that you guys didn't take it negatively.

I was in charge of organizing and receiving payments from you all. So I would like to thank Kagami for doing the money transfers, and a special thanks to a special lady from Korea that pre-ordered all these bundles and shipped them directly to us.


Release Date: 4-09-2009
System: PSP
Cost: 5,040 Yen
Players: 1 - 8 players (ad hoc play)
For those who missed out on getting Korea's Pangya Portable game, Japan will be receiving theirs around April of this year. Importing games from Japan is much easier than Korea. But who knows if Japan will have a Limited Edition set with Kooh figurine included. Probably, since this is Nippon we are talking about.

Download JPN Teaser Trailer from Takaratomy
The clip is similar to Korea's version, but it shows different gameplay footage.

So now that I have my very own "legit" copy of Pangya Portable, I can't play it yet because... I don't have a PSP yet. I do plan on ordering a slim-2000 model that has component/composite outputs that I can play it on the TV. I could also plug it into my video capture device too. Get where I'm going with this? So maybe expect some gameplay footage of me playing this game LIVE on my JTV channel soon.










Sources:
Hinano
Takaratomy