Blogapalooza’s Generation D (Digital) 2017

I just came home from attending Blogapalooza’s Generation D (Digital) at the City Of Dreams (COD), Manila. It was full of bloggers as well as influencers that gave tips and inspiration to start and continue blogging. It was definitely meant for Millennial bloggers as well as Generations X, Y – Generation D (Digital) in general.

Most of the influencers and PR guru advised the inclusion of video contents, having a niche in the blogosphere and well written blog posts. Other tips I got are:

"Video Content and Distribution Strategy"

Why Video? Based on analytics, it’s the most popular means to communicate with your audience.

Facebook is usually used for short videos (or previews) and YouTube is for long videos or the actual video.

Lloyd Cadena is a very popular YouTube personality and also a Disc Jockey (DJ). He will release a book called “X Rated” about exes.

Micco Solis of www.weduetstyle.com is a fashion blogger.

Team Lyqa gave tips on how to deal with bashers.

Look at your analytics to know the length of the videos that works best for you. Extend up to where your audience watches.

Focus on quality when starting up a video channel or a video blog (vlog).

There was a question from the audience about thumbnails. It’s a 1 picture that represents the entire video. For Gadget Philippines, they do the thumbnail right before the unboxing of the gadget. No misleading thumbnail. For Lloyd, he recreates thumbnail with caption about the video.

“Gawin mo yung gusto mo. Kung ano yung nag-work, dun ka mag-focus”.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Mario Domingo talked about the “rise of the machines” or the artificial intelligence (AI). He mentioned that in 2 years, AI will affect the following industries:

1. Finance and Logistics
2. Healthcare
3. Consumer – Telco, Media

"The Agency-Business-Influencer" Relationship”

Jason Cruz is a mountain climber and outdoor guy. He said that fairly or unfairly, rumors of bad behavior of bloggers stick. He also said that Instagram is used mostly for food and travel and that articles can be posted on Facebook (for comments). He gave examples of success stories like Masarap Ba? And Let’s Eat Pare.

For analytics, they mentioned that most readers and audience like videos of cooking, travel and pet. It’s best to know each platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat) advantages and that each type of blogger may be stronger in a particular platform but seldom in all platforms.

There was a brave soul in the audience who asked how much are bloggers paid. It’s my first time to hear about bloggers’ compensation. According to Jason Cruz, banner ads are already there (given). It’s still the quality of your blog’s contents that would lead to endorsements and projects/campaigns. Every influencers/PR guru are in unison when they suggested on focusing on (blog’s) content and not the monetary value of blogging.

There were also practical tips on being bloggers with good attitude and that it will greatly help in getting invites to events.

What are the changes in the digital content? Today, there are more videos, more visuals and heavy content like infographics.

Before, blogs are of the long form – 800-1,000 words in a blog article. Now, it’s bullet-point with lots of pictures and videos. Before, it’s pure reach (number of followers). Now, it’s engagement and strong affinity which equates to higher probability of buying.

Ten years ago, bloggers are hobbyists. Today, blogging is an art form. In 2005, the blogosphere was taken by Rex Navarrete. In 2009 it was Happy Slip.

Influencers can be niche bloggers. Just follow your passion and be authentic.

Build your (fan) base. Market yourself. Cross-promote yourself across platforms and stay true to your craft and passion. Tip from Donald.

Establish your own niche. Specialize or be known for something. Invest in your own brand and be true to that brand. Focus on writing well and create well-written content. Be passionate in writing. PR companies look for bloggers that fit the brand or clients.

They strongly suggest not to copy+paste PR contents (media kits) and it is still best to reword it. They also said not to go after loot bags.

Eon uses Gravity to know bloggers’ known ranking. They no longer rely only on Google Rank or Alexa. They also rely on human factor: pool of panelist. She also coined the term #Foodstagrammers

Press release is a great guide in writing the blog article. It’s best to have a 1^st person view in writing the event and experience the product (or event). Videos in blog posts are okay but it’s also useful to have a write-up so that clients and readers can search for the product in the future.

The issue of being a brand influencer and a political blogger is also tackled. The PR Panelists and speakers are united in saying that brands are apolitical and therefore looks for brand ambassadors that are also apolitical. I guess I really should create a different account for my political views if I want to be a brand ambassador.

"Internet Rockstars: Stories of Influence in the Digital Space"

Here are some tips on how to go from 0 followers to hundred thousands:

• Authenticity is key.
• Regular update, whether blogs, Instagram or other social media account, is essential.
• Engage with your audience and reply to comments as often as possible.
• Ramon Bautista emphasized the advantage of being first (or trendsetter) in a platform. Look at the trends.
• Collaboration is also crucial Bloggers can collaborate with YouTubers for more engaging content and new ideas.

Before Ramon Bautista spoke with his fellow influencers on stage, he sat beside me (one empty seat in between) at the 2^nd row. For about 10 minutes, I was actually starstruck and I just pretended that I didn’t know/notice him (myself being uber shy). I could have taken a picture with him or have his autograph but I didn’t.

I listened to him attentively during their panel talk since he’s very famous on the Internet and among bloggers. He talked about his early days in the blogging/YouTube industry. He gave practical tips with his signature humor.

Joyce gave a very subtle comment against voting for Mocha in the future.

“Until the Next Blogapalooza Event”

Sadly, I need to go home early. I wasn’t able to stay around for the raffle of the Sony Experia C4. Blogapalooza’s Generation D (Digital) emphasized the attitude (of bloggers) of being “light to the world”, advocating the “Think Before You Click” attitude and using blogging to advocate volunteerism and promoting positive change to society.

Blogging is also about being responsible in fighting against fake news and learning from the (cliché) tagline “with great powers comes great responsibilities”.

Special thanks to the sponsors by the way: Vidanes Celebrity Marketing, Gomoto, Zalora, Kimstore, Paymaya, Globaltronics, DMAIPH, Wilkins, Coke, among others.

Gravity Launches Ragnarok Journey PH

Gravity just announced the release of Ragnarok's latest incarnation -- Ragnarok Journey. It's basically Ragnarok Online but for browser. No need to install a client on your PC. It’s also referred to as Casual MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).

In today's launch party held at Glorietta Activity Center in Makati, no less than Gravity Chief Operating Officer (COO) Yoshinori Kitamura announced the launched of Ragnarok Journey PH (ROJPH) – browser MMORPG where players can battle against colorful monsters, gain new abilities and participate in quests in a fantasy world.

Here’s what different about Ragnarok Online:

• Auto play – Turn it on and your character goes on full auto mode killing monsters and looting.
• Choose a specialized class at level 10 – such as Magician (Mage) or Swordsman.
• Characters can also accumulate new abilities by manually adding skill points. You can unleash devastating attacks on colorful monsters (the same model used in the classic PC Ragnarok Online).
• Undertake quests from NPCs and enjoy daily rewards just like great MMORPGs.

Betong Sumaya (of GMA 7) and Arianne Bautista hosted the event with several performances from Gracenote. I guess the highlight of the launch party is the introduction of the game’s ambassadors – Ann Mateo, Alex Diaz, Bekimon and Shehyee.

There was also a performance by 6 Cycle Mind and a guy from The Voice PH. This event is made possible through partnership with ROG - Republic of Gamers, Redragon, Seagate, Nissin Yakisoba, Jack ‘n Jill Calbee, Universal Robina Corporation among others.

Please visit Ragnarok Journey PH page at www.facebook.com/RagnarokJourneyPH and pre-registration page http://www.playrowebph.com/preregistration/preregistration.aspx

Technorati Tags: Ragnarok Journey PH,Ragnarok Online

DotA 2 Update 7.07

I'm a huge fan of strategy games since college days when Red Alert, War Craft 2 (Tides of Darkness) and Star Craft (Brood War) are the games you normally see on computer shops.

When War Craft 3 was released, a lot of players made full use of its Map Editor to create custom maps like War of Philippine Super Heroes and Defense of the Ancients (DotA). The first DotA map I played was version 6.22 and I believe it was IceFrog who updates it regularly before.

I played DotA along with Ragnarok Online (RO) for years and when IceFrog decided to come up with DotA 2 under new company Valve, I also played it. I created my first account, played 10 games after reaching the required level for the Ranked Match and was disappointed to have an MMR of around 400. It went as low as 200+ and level 20 something when I decided to create a 2nd account (thinking that I'll get a better MMR).

To my disappointment, I got 581 after the calibration matches. I'm guessing it's because I used mostly Necrophos (Necromancer before) in those 10 matches.

Similar to RO, I mostly play support and range. My other characters includes Ogre Magi, Outworld Devourer, Treant Protector, Gyrocopter, and Skywrath Mage.

This year, most of my coworkers play DotA 2 so I'm playing it more often. I haven't played the game for too long (I was in Rune-Midgard most of the time) that I was surprised that Roshan was transferred from the Sentinel side (upper-right side of the map) to the middle between Sentinel and Scourge on the left side).

Sentinel was renamed Radiant in DotA 2 while Scourge became Dire. Aside from the usual gem that gives special ability (like illusion) there's also gold that pops up in the map once in a while that also gives experience (XP). Also, aside from the 4 skills (3 regular and one Super/Special Skill (SS) a.k.a. Ultimate), there is now a Skill Tree when a hero reaches level 10 and higher.

Now that update 7.07 (Dueling Fates) is released together with 2 new heroes, it's a totally new gameplay. The patch includes new items, a rework on some heroes and updates to skill trees. There's also a new Turbo match (faster All Pick map) and an updated Ability Draft Mode wherein you could pick your 4 skills from a pool of random skills. MMR will also be recalibrated in two weeks and there will be new medal system. Sort of achievement medals similar to most Android games.

In other words, I need to play the game more often.

1 Month Into ROPH

It's a little over 1 month since the relaunch of Ragnarok Online in the Philippines under new publisher Electronics Extreme. It's a rough 1 month and amidst the hype, disappointments, lag and other issues, I was able to level my priest to 72 (job 50).

Almost the same time as the relaunch of ROPH, the International Ragnarok Online (iRO) based in the United States also launched their own progression server named RE:START.

I also made a priest in RE:START and it turned 73 yesterday. Both priests have no decent equipment to date. No rare item yet nor expensive (and useful cards). Both priests have their own guild -- Bloodline in ROPH-Loki and Untouchables in Odin (RE:START server).

From the beginning, ROPH was plagued but the issue of lag and constant disconnections. It also started with a controversy -- when the publisher failed to erase the items generated during the Closed Beta Testing (CBT). They gave 33,000 Rok Points during the CBT. For some reasons, if the items you purchased during that time were put on storage (Kafra) it remained there until the Open Beta Testing (OBT).

The publisher promised to wipe out all the items generated during CBT but seeing all those snake hats, Elite Siege Boxes (ESB), Robo Eyes, there are doubts that they were able to delete all those CBT items.

The relaunch of Ragnarok Philippines was a huge success -- judging from the numbers of players online during peak hours (8pm-12mn) which is around 20,000. The lowest I've seen is 9,000 around 4am-6am. Loki server has higher population than Thor server.

The next controversy was banning players that are playing outside of South East Asia (SEA). The publisher said that this is needed to fix the lag issue and frequent disconnections. They were asked to use Virtual Private Network (VPN) to be able to continue playing ROPH.

Some of these players that were unable to play in ROPH transferred to the new iRO server Odin. I saw the population of Odin increased from around 2,000 to it's current 5,900 population. It's also partly because RE:START was launched in the popular website Steam (the one that publishes DotA 2).

Going back to Ragnarok Online Philippines (ROPH), the disconnection issues persist until this day. In fact, after maintenance last Wednesday, ROPH server undergone another maintenance yesterday, almost the entire day. I haven't played at ROPH since yesterday.

The other thing that I felt disappointed is the release of the Zaha Doll this early in the game. The 2-2 jobs were not released yet, but they already released the Zaha Doll in the Cash Shop. It enables the use of Magnificat lvl 3. My character Zach_Roerig is a priest. Imagine what that item will do to a priest and to the party system.

The good thing is, in spite of all these issues in the game so far, I'm still determined to continue leveling my priest, my merchant (Jerick) and my swordsman (Sebastian). I'm still happy playing the game. I'm still happy meeting new people, partying with previous players I've met before and hunting rare items in the sideline.

After all, playing Ragnarok Online is happier the second time around. How about you, what makes you still play the game?

Technorati Tags: ROPH,Ragnarok Online Philippines

After 14 Years, Ragnarok Online Still Has a Lot to Offer

When pRO closed in March 2015, Ragnarok Online was at Episode 14 El Dicastes. I was able to migrate my characters in the International Ragnarok Online (iRO) server but I only started playing there in November 2016. I was on hiatus for almost 2 years.

I was updated with RO contents while playing at pRO. My AB was at max level at that time (150) and was able to finished the required quests to obtain the accessory to instantly teleport to El Dicastes.

When I started playing at iRO, I was a bit shocked at how the game progress in 2 years. The major one being the level cap -- it increased from 150 ato 175. That's a lot of grinding.

Episode 15 Phantasmagorica was also launched along with the Crimson Items. These items are for level 70 and up, so it's for my low level characters. Crimson Items is similar to elemental weapons but it has slots for cards i.e. Crimson Mace, which could either be Neutral, Fire, Wind, Water, Earth, Holy or Dark.

Some of the other things that I need to learn right now are the following (which proves that there are still a lot to learn/experience in RO):

1. Enchanting weapons
2. Desocketing and Slotting gears and weapons
3. New Maps -- Verus City, Mora Town
4. Instances -- Nightmare Toy Factory, Old Glast Heim, Jitterbug
5. Biolabs 4 Entrance Quest
6. Overseas Care Package (OCP) Items
7. Vicious Items
8. Episode 16 Banquet for Heroes
9. New Map: Rock Ridge (coming this June 2017)
10. New Cards

Technorati Tags: iRO,Ragnarok Online

“Make brushing more fun with Minions!”

I’m actually single and I can’t imagine how difficult probably it is for dads to have their kids brush their teeth. I believe it’s not something that a kid looks forward to (like going to the dentist).

But if ever I have the task of teaching my inaanak (godchild) the habit of regularly brushing his teeth, I have to make sure that I brush my own teeth with zest, gusto, and happiness. I have to make it appear that brushing my teeth is one of the best activities that we can have.

Here are the things I can do to make brushing more fun for the family.

1. I’ll let him watch a cartoon show about brushing his teeth on his tablet. A good story about fighting cavities seems like a good idea.
2. We’ll brush together – with a catchy nursery rhyme or something playing in the smartphone, about brushing our teeth. I will teach him the basics of squeeze, brush, rinse!
3. I will complement my inaanak on how beautiful his teeth are after brushing. I will also have a calendar wherein he can encircle the date 3 times in a day corresponding on how often he brush his teeth. Then I’ll reward him at the end of the month for not skipping a day without brushing.
4. Lastly, I’ll give him a smaller version of my toothbrush – with same color and design! Since Minions are very popular these days, I will definitely give him the Colgate Minions Oral Care Pack – complete with the Colgate Minions toothbrush and Minions toothpaste!

Colgate Minions Kids 2-5 Years Old (Junior) Oral Care Pack:

http://www.lazada.com.ph/colgate-minions-kids-2-5-years-old-oral-care-pack-4804587.html?spm=a2o4l.sis-363.0.0.1sWUa5&ff=1

Colgate Minions Kids 5-9 Years Old (Youth) Oral Care Pack: http://www.lazada.com.ph/colgate-minions-kids-5-9-years-old-oral-care-pack-4804586.html?spm=a2o4l.sis-363.0.0.1sWUa5&ff=1

My inaanak Yuri and my kumare. He just celebrated his 9th birthday recently.

Technorati Tags: Nuffnang Philippines,Colgate,Minions

Ragnarok Online Philippines CBT Starts June 20, 2017

Mark you calendars guys. The Closed Beta Testing (CBT) of Ragnarok Online Philippines (ROPH) under new publisher Electronics Extreme is set for June 20, 2017.

It’s a race to get those desired in-games. Would someone be creating such memorable names like Pritong Kandule and Tiger Lily? It’s also a race to get the first Emperium and be the first guild in Rune-Midgard Kingdom.

See you guys in-game!

Technorati Tags: Ragnarok Online Philippines,ROPH