Opinion: The Life of a Chaser

I was walking around the area of UST with my girlfriend when this I saw this poster of three cute girls (which might remind you of the Powerpuff Girls) in a computer shop. My girlfriend said “Hey! I tried that game! I bet you’ll be interested too!” I was skeptic at first since the “Powerpuff Girls” poster didn’t strike me much. But when I tried the game, I got really hooked into it. As a huge fan of Megaman games, it immediately gave me a reason to love it instantly.

From the first three characters, Elesis (my waifu~) would become my definite pick since Lire was a bit complicated for me to use. PLus, every friend of mine knew that it would be a disaster every time I use a mage, so Arme is automatically not a good choice. But for the sake of completion, I struggled to learn how to use them, and unlock their job advancement and the additional characters, like Ronan, Lass and the rest of the gang. One good point is how easy it is to love the game not just because of the gameplay, but also of the characters. This is also the reason why most of the people in the community are anime and manga enthusiasts.

GC’s First Characters: Elesis, Lire & Arme

Meet the chasers!

I’m the type of player that never bothers checking the forums of an online game (I don’t even bother checking patch notes) because I was never a fan of reading walls of text. However, I did learn that forum admins were actually giving away cash points as prizes in forum events so I started to linger around (yeah being poor is suffering).

My entry for “Sta. Cruzan” fan-art contest

This is also the first time I haven’t played with my usual friends. Not to mention, my girlfriend had her own guild at that time (I wasn’t confident in passing that guild’s initiation test). So I joined a different guild, the group called the “One-eyed Pirates”. Here, I met interesting and nice people. I slowly warmed up and began to interact with other people in the forums, initially from the people who loved art and eventually talking to other random people. And because of this, I learned a great deal about the many different people residing/lurking/socializing in the internet, a first-hand experience for me. Some of these people were very talented, interesting and so modest; some were just plain jokers and trolls; some of them misunderstood; while some of them got sharp tongues but good guys in real life (and vice versa).  And because I’m so engrossed in the game and its community, I started attending live events (even if meant taking a leave from work). I certainly enjoyed the company of different players, which actually boosted my social skills from being a guy who can only talk to my closest friends, to someone who can freely make friends and strike some conversation to anyone casually.

One-Eyed Pirates

Shadows of Grand Chase and Team CHASERZ

The year was 2010, and almost time for Level Up Live. And with LU Live, came LU City, a place for guilds to sell merchandise. The Shadows of Grand Chase, which acted as the Grand Chase Support Group then, also held events for players such as Attendance, Pick-A-Prize, Raffles, Find-the-GM, and others.

GC’s first Guild Meeting at the LevelUp! Office.

Equinox Guild Pool Party

My girlfriend was already part of Shadows group when she told me that they needed help for layouting some material needed before LU Live, thereby introducibg me to Albel, the founder of the group. It spiraled up from there. Unknown to me then, some members of the SGC were also in the Forum Moderator Team, and after several times of waiting for FM Shannon during their moderator meetings, finally GM Mac just said, ‘Why not be a moderator as well?’ So I did.

Shadow of GrandChase / Ex-FM Moderators

We went to Digmaan Regionals as marshalls; conceptualized merchandise and events for LU Live; held in-game PvP and dungeon running events. As forum moderators, we banned trolls, made and policed forum events, and generally did our best to make the public think that we are separate from SGC. Eventually, the tandem of GM Mac and GM Cassiel ended and the era of GM Cydie and GM Zhi rose. Most of the FM quit due to their busy schedule and some new FMs applied. But of course FM or not, they were still part of the SGC team.

GM Ashak, GM Voodo, GM Cassiel & GM Mac

GM Zhi and GM Cydie

We managed to have an official booth in LU Live 2012 (finally!) and I managed to have a chance to become a commentator during the Digmaan Championship.

Our booth last LU! Live 2012

Commentating for GC Digmaan 2012

Finally the chase has come to an end…

Nothing lasts forever and the journey has to come to an end. Truth to be told, I already knew the news about the game’s closing months before, yet I couldn’t help but feel sad and cry a bit after seeing the official announcement come to pass. Yes, I somewhat got angry after seeing the compensation, but instead of raging, it felt sadder knowing that the game that I loved, spent time, money and effort has now ended. But just like what GM Mac said:

“Don’t be sad, just think of all the good that GC has given your lives!”

With Grand Chase, I learned how to be passionate in something I like. I learned to communicate well with other people especially other players and eventually be friends with them. Also thanks to Grand Chase and everything I learned from being a volunteer/FM, I am now applying these skills with my current work at Ankama Philippines (who serves Wakfu APAC) as a community executive, working under GM Mac.

Wakfu Booth last Cosmania ’14

So despite Grand Chase’s closing, I won’t forget what this game has given me and made me experience. This is CrimsonExia / Colocoy/ FM Zexion/ FM Crt saying that even though the chase has ended, let’s lift our heads and proudly say that we’ve been part of this wonderful journey!