Internet gaming was perceived impossible some 50 years back. A total flip side of today’s society where we are all get slapped and spanked with gadgets and gaming breakthroughs. To some this brings excitement. And to some, a threat.

Video games, online/offline RPGs and a whole lot more are consuming the attention of kids, teenagers and yuppies. No wonder most parents, girlfriends and wives hate this stuff.

I am into online games — I play Mü, an online RPG. I confess I’ve spent thousands for load-up cards since I started playing (around 2002). I play to vent out stress from work and the hassles of everyday life. It’s fun. On top of the game excitement, I’ve met friends.

I pity those men being shouted at by their girlfriends or wives forcing them to quit playing and get out of the Internet cafe in the middle of a bloody DOTA battle. There are classic stories of mothers bringing broomstick in the middle of a highway, looking for the Internet cafe where his son could be playing. Undeniably, some issues have gotten out of hand. On a larger scale, there are countries promoting programs and rehabilitation centers for video game addicts. Rehabs for gamers and Internet addicts are found in Daxing (China), Amsterdam, Britain and perhaps many others.

Their programs are designed to help “game addicts” replace the excitement of the fantasy world with real excitements through therapy sessions and group interaction.

I agree playing can be addictive. When one plays hard, learning strategies for great character builds, looting weapons and sets, the game can absorb the player, creating a carefree, and totally exciting environment, often creating a virtual existence that is not achieved in real life.

Online gaming is fine in moderation, just like all the pleasurable stuffs in life. If kids are into RPGs and video games, I suggest parents check out what the game is all about, what characters are created, how much does the game cost and who does he play it with. The same goes for wives or girlfriends who get mad when their partners choose to play instead of staying with them. It’s when parents/partners do not participate in their loved one’s lives that they get addicted not only to games but to other destructive things like drugs, alcohol, even sports — anything that excuses them from staying “home.” When the gaming seems to get in the way of relationships, perhaps the issue should be viewed the other way around. Could gaming be the vent of a sour relationship?

I found a perfect spot to level up my Agility Elf - xcelent_kipr.  It’s at Tarkan 1, coords 123 69.  The reason why I got to this spot at all is… I received a gift from Viper Bow +9 from my husband and my stats lack Str to carry the weapon.  So I spent hours and hours on Tarkan just to pump some XP points up.  I was hunting near the cacti for a fast kill of Mutant and Bloody Wolf monsters but then the respawn was just not as quick as I wanted.  So I moved further up and found 123 69 with 5 monsters respawning at a time.  Just perfect.  In a matter of hours, my beautiful Viper Bow is daintily carried by Kipr.

…I can’t sleep.

I logged into the map. Checking the inventory and fitting new outfits (armor sets, actually) and jewelries (pendant of fire and ring of wizardry you like?) by the Devias gate. Someone pounced me and invited a party. I said sure, I will party you, you superheroes ^_^ We were off to Tarkan 2. You see those heroes wanted to test something in their armory, attack and defense rates so they chose a high level map. I was just tugging along, not really enjoying the scene of a noob Magic Gladiator and a Dark Lord splatting dead each time the monsters hit their bones. If the battles were real, they would really need a, say, plastic surgeon in San Diego, CA to correct their battle-shattered faces. They only asked me to tank them for extra damage and not defense nor healing. They attack and die. Attack and die. At that instant I wanted to switch to my Agility elf and do the killing myself. That could have been more rewarding. But since I am a gamer who keeps her word, I obliged to keep them company for like 15 minutes. But what a blessing in disguise. I ran out of game hours and had to exit the game. hahaha. I don’t usually enjoy getting logged out while in the game. But this time, I am just so glad!

So am here blogging instead.

“Why are you still up at this time of the night???!!??” I asked my husband who was seriously fiddling his laptop keyboards.

“Huh?” he answered as if he’s listening.

“Who are you talking to at 3AM? Why are you still chatting at this wee hour when you should be asleep. We have work in the morning, remember??” I pressed on trying to get him to really hear me.

“ahhhhmmm… huh?” this is all he replied. I didn’t bother to ask some more as I feel he was just wasting my time. I thought I’d better hop back to bed.

The following morning, he woke up late. As expected. It was almost lunch time when he came by my desk, with eyes still barely half-opened and lips grinning excitedly “I bought you an Excellent Guardian set HP +DSR (Defense Success rate) for 20 Jewel of bless and some Jewel of Souls” (in USD, it’s as much as having a breast reduction in Houston, Texas do you think?)

“oh? when?” I asked.

“Last night.. errr.. 3AM. The negotiation took quite a while but it was all worth it.”

“Sou desu ka…” I replied in Japanese tongue then I smiled. So that’s why he was just so consumed then, a negotiation was going on all along, all for a Guardian set for my xcelent_kipr Agility Elf. Cool.

Annjee the Energy Muse Elf was my first character ever. I just leveled it up not really knowing what to do with the spare stats. I topped it all on the energy tank so that I can bring pets along during hunting. I was happy to hunt on my own until I was informed that the way my stats are built, it’s more efficient to hunt along with a party. The perfect party would be with a Str BK and an energy Wizard for a fast kill in a quick re-spawning spot. Add ons maybe sweller BK and some AE. True enough, partying with these characters boosts my exp real high!

Believe it or not a party is never as efficient without the Energy Elf. The EE tanks the party with additional damage and defense. And because there are not too many EEs in the game, Annjee shines bright in her sparkly +12 HP +DD vine set. During valley battles, she raises her head high like she just had a Beverly Hills California revision rhinoplasty done. But of course guild mates’ request for tanking come in first.

Back in the global days, Mulandia takes pride in being a home to Mutizens of various origins. The hunting days were full packed with gamers gathered from all over the world. What made the hunting more interesting then is that the party all speaks in English hahaha! Buffing the Japanese Dark Wizard, healing the American Blade Knight, tanking and tanking the newbie little Fairy Elf playing all the way from Amsterdam. It was heaps of fun. Of course it must have took Mobius some serious International tax planning to get everything in place and order. But as much as they want to keep the fun going, the whole game is getting heavy and takes time to load.. and the maps, too crowded. Countries have to split then. And thus, the Mu by country began. And that’s the time when I lost interest in gaming - for quite a while, that is. The thrill in meeting new friends is just never the same anymore.

But after about a couple of years, my boyfriend then (husband now) encouraged me to even just take a look around the new game and who knows I might play again. And so I did and he didn’t even need to prod me further because as soon as I took a tour to the new maps wearing new sets and weapons, a weird, good-to-the-feeling wave of excitement welled inside me. And I told myself…it’s GAME TIME!

The Valley of Loren gets infested with monsters from all maps on every specific time of the day.. to be specific, its during 10AM, 2PM , 6PM.. and so on.. if you notice, there’s a 4-hour interval on each attack time.

So I was standing by the Devias gate, piloting my xcelent_kipr Agility Elf when the announcement came. The battle is starting shortly. So I warped to Lorencia right away. Hoping I’d see interesting sights, as if I’m in La Jolla CA, I was disappointed to find the warp zone so full that I can hardly find my way out of the market and into the gate then push with the coordinates and get to the Valley battle on time. I tread and tread and I made it after pushing all the guys out of my way. And to think the character was a Muse. The act just didn’t match the Lady ^_^

Would you believe that the player is actually expecting and was due to deliver anytime soon?

The XLF25 Guild just celebrated their 4th year anniversary last 25th of Feb.  All heroes gathered to celebrate.  We had guild events, lots of picture taking, and heaps of fun.  Congratulations to those who won the 3 events!

To read more about the event, check out the guild site at: www.xlf25.com and log on to forums.

I am not a cheater. But cheats in the online gaming context takes quite a different route and meaning. There’s PVP cheat where you cheat your fellow player and there’s Private Server Hacking. What some geeky gamers do is they look for bugs or system glitches and they work their hacking from there. Some gamers resort to this just to upgrade sets, build, weapon, speed up level and various reasons… just to make the game more exciting. Does server hacking really makes the game fresh and exciting?

For Mü, here are some common Hacks.  I don’t employ this (or maybe just one)  I’m just sharing this for everyone’s information.

PRIVATE SERVER HACKS:

* 99QJ 2.6b Translated - Advance bot with various features for 97d servers.
* 99QJ for 99b - Bot for 99b servers (is not translated)
* HahaMu 1.16 - Same bot as 99GJ except it bypasses the authentication server.
* HahaMU Bot 1.16 full translator V1.1 - A translator required for full translation of the HahaMU 1.16 bot.
* WindowMode - Original minimizer
* Travis - Minimizer
* MuBot + Pickit + Minimizer - Auto right/left click, auto pickup of items, packed with the Travis minimizer
* Auto Buff for elf - Enables a Elf to AFK auto buff a party. (I loooove to use this!)
* MUSH v2.00 - Conveniently enables and disables the Speed hack instead of you copying and pasting.
* Chaos Machine Bug - Bug that allows you to get items such as Box of lucks, Star of Sacred Birth, Medals, Sack of Magics, Heart of loves, etc.

PRIVATE SERVER BUGS:

* Trade Duping - Works on 0.97 server versions.
* Chaos Machine Bug - Bug that allows you to get items such as Box of lucks, Star of Sacred Birth, Medals, Sack of Magics, Heart of loves, etc.
* Duping with the chaos machine (in .99b+) - Works on most .99B servers with the chaos machine enabled
* Dupe with 99qj - Works on most private servers except advance ones.
* BC/DS Duping - Works on 0.97b servers except for ones that disable tradw while BC/DS menus are open.
* Duping with a Packet Editor - Allows you to dupe in most servers using any sort of packet editor.

MISC. HACKS/PROGS:

* Klick0r - Continously clicks right or left. Nice when you need to add a lot of stat points or continously use skill ingame.
* MuPie HG Version 3 - Generates the approximate hitcount you should use to give you a higher probability of getting drops for specific mobs with other information such as useful teleport coordinates.
* Max Hitpoint Trainer
- Generates the approximate hitcount you should use to give you a higher probability of getting drops for specific mobs.
* AutoClick
- Help your mouse live longer by adding massive stats points for you