GW2 Free to Play Tips

Guild Wars 2 has gone free to play. Here are some tips based on my experience with playing a main character and an alternate character to level 80.

Race and Profession Tips

• Although each of the races have different racial skills, you should
  choose a race based on aesthetics i.e which race would you enjoy
  looking at. Humans can be dressed up with T3 cultural armor. Asuras,
  with their small height have easier times in certain jumping puzzles
  and have some advantage in PvP as its hard to see their moves.
• You can choose any profession for solo or open world play but groups
  prefer the following professions for dungeons:
  
  • warrior - close combat / damage buffing
  • guardian - close combat / reflection / protection
  • elementalist - range combat / aoe damage
  • mesmer - close combat / reflection
  • thief - close combat / stealth
  • engineer - range combat / stealth

Main Character Leveling Tips

• After the tutorial, you will be dropped on to the world at Level 2 in
  the starting zone for your race. All the waypoints to the starting
  zones of the other races will also be available so you can
  start playing with your friends by warping into their starting zones
• If you are solo, just stay in the starting zone of your race and
  complete the hearts in level order while exploring vista and points
  of interests. Participate in events when you encounter them on
  your way to the next heart. Also try to do daily achievements that
  can be completed in your current zone.
• Do your personal story objectives as soon as they become available.
  After completing the personal story objectives for the first time at
  level 10, complete the map of your races home city. Afterwards
  return to completing the map of your starter zone.
• Move to the next zone from your starter zone and complete the hearts
  in level order.
• When you get to level 20, do your personal story then afterwards,
  complete the second zone to bring your level up to around 25.
• Move to the next zone to get to level 30 and do your personal story
  objectives. Afterwards visit Plains of Ashford and look for
  Ascalonian Catacombs Dungeon and do the Story Mode
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 40. Do your personal story objectives then go to Queensdale and
  do story mode of Caudecus’s Manor Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 50. Do personal story objectives then go to Caledon Forest and
  do story mode of Twilight Arbor Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 60. Do personal story objectives then go to Dredgehaunt Cliffs
  and do story mode of Sorrow’s Embrace Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 70. Do personal story objectives then go to Fireheart Rise and
  do story mode of Citadel of Flame Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 76. Go to Frostgorge Sound and do story mode of Honor of the
  Waves Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 78. Go to Mount Maelstorm and do story mode of Crucible of
  Eternity Dungeon
• Complete the previous zone or move on to the next zone to get to
  level 80. Go to Cursed Shore and do story mode of the Ruined City of
  Arah Dungeon
• Start farming Ascalonian Catacombs explorable mode for the dungeon
  tokens. Purchase the weapons you use first then chest and leg armor
  then the other armor pieces
• Once you’ve completed, farm Citadel of Flame explorable mode for the
  dungeon tokens. Purchase the weapons(berserker) you use first then
  chest and leg armor then the other armor pieces

Alternate Character Leveling Tips

• Follow the Main Character Leveling Tips above to get to level 10
• Go to your home city and learn armorcrafting, leatherworking or
  tailoring depending on the armor type required by your alternate
  character
• Use the gold and materials gathered by your main character to get to
  level 300 of the crafting skill you learned above. This will also add some
  levels to your alternate character
• Craft 18 slot bags and replace the smaller bags on your main and alt
  character. This is a big improvement when farming
• Learn artificing, huntsman, or weaponcrafting depending on the
  ascended weapon type that you want to craft for your main
• Use the gold and materials gathered by your main character to get to
  level 450 of the crafting skill you learned above to create ascended
  weapons
• Use your alternate character to refine ascended raw materials. This will increase the ascended weapon crafting level and eventually reach 500.

Items, Gold and Karma Tips

• Hoard liquid karma and only use them when karma booster is active
• Hoard Writ of Experience and convert them to Tome of Knowledge
• Save your gold. Try to use just the items that you find. Don’t
  purchase weapons unless the ones you are using is 10 levels below
  your current level.
• Sell all white/blue/green items that is unusable by your profession
• Make sure you always bring gathering tools so that you can gather the
  resource nodes you encounter as you explore the map. This will lower
  the cost of crafting the items you want later on
• At the minimum, craft 18 slot bags by leveling to 300 the required
  crafting skill of your alternate character

Relief Repacking at Villamor Airbase

How to get there?

The repacking site is located at Villamor Air Base, Multipurpose Hall, Pasay City.

Villamor Air Base is near Resorts World and NAIA Terminal 3.

You need to enter Gate 4 then keep going straight.

Then take a left turn on the intersection with a Petron station to your left.

Then go straight until you are past the church and past the first intersection.

Take a left on the next intersection and take another left on the next intersection.

Go straight and you will see the the multipurpose hall to your right.

See map below:

Site Layout

Repacking Process

• Each sack should contain 6 food packs
• Each food pack should contain:
  
  • 6 kilograms of rice
  • 8 sachets of coffee
  • 8 packs of instant noodles
  • 3 cans of sardines
  • 3 cans of corned beef

Volunteers prepare the bags at the bag line by placing a yellow plastic bag inside a white plastic bag. The bags are provided to volunteers ankle deep in rice grains who use a “tabo” to scoop the appropriate amount of rice grains into the yellow bag. The yellow bag is then closed with 2 knots. The rice grains in the scooping area are periodically replenished by other volunteers who have to carry the sacks of rice from the rice inventory. These sacks must be opened with scissors or cutters.

Volunteers in the goods line fill a bag with the appropriate amounts of coffee sachets, noodle packs, sardines cans and corned beef cans. The bag is closed with 2 knots. The bag is then moved to the packed goods file. The boxes of coffee, noodles, sardines and corned beef used at the goods line are replenished periodically by other volunteers who carry the boxes from the Boxed Good inventory. The boxes must be opened with scissors or cutters.

The white bag with the yellow bag containing rice grains are then moved near the packed goods pile. A bag from the packed goods pile is added to the white bag to complete the food pack. The food pack is then moved to the area near the sacks of relief packs where they are placed in sacks. The sacks are then closed using a straw ropes. The sacks are then piled in pallets. Periodically, the sacks are carried out to fill the shipping containers outside.

In search of my BIR TIN

In search of my BIR Tax Identification Number(TIN)

We went thru the process of applying for a Korean VISA and we found out that the number I was using for the past 13 years is WRONG. So my Korean VISA is now in PENDING status.

To remedy this, I was asked to verify and obtain my correct TIN. I checked the official BIR website to see if they have some sort of online verification system. Their website is so slow and the services they are offering doesn't seem to be working. I then tried to find a number to call on their website. The first number I called just kept ringing with no one answering. The second number I called connected me to their IVRS where I ended up in an infinite loop as it tried to connect me to a possibly non-existent operator. Using some google fu, I was able to come across the following number:

BIR TIN Verification Office:
9268339

I called the above number and I finally got answered. I told them about my problem and they asked me to call another number instead.

BIR TIN Verification Office:
9817250
9818888
9817000

I called the first number above and got answered by someone who then proceeded to transfer me to someone who can do the verification. According to him, the current TIN in my ITR was indeed invalid. I gave him my first, last and middle name and he confirmed my birthday. I found out that two numbers on my ITR was switched, 91 instead of 19.

I hope this post proves useful to someone else with the same problem in BIR TIN Verification.

Globe NAKAW LOAD?

Shame on you Globe!

The prepaid sim is being used only for text messages. I enabled superunli alltxt!

Your balance as of 04/25/2012 23:00 is P122.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your Globe SUPERUNLI ALLTXT and 10 remaining voice mins to Globe/TM will expire on 2012-04-26, 23:12:53. To check remaining mobile internet minutes, text POWERSURF STATUS to 8888 for free.


Your balance as of 04/25/2012 23:38 is P97.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 06:00 is P97.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 07:00 is P97.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 08:00 is P97.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 09:00 is P67.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


The load dropped by 30 pesos? Why? SUPERUNLI ALLTXT is still active!


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 10:00 is P67.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 11:00 is P67.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 12:00 is P37.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Another 30 pesos drop! Why? SUPERUNLI ALLTXT is still active!


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 13:00 is P37.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 14:00 is P37.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 15:00 is P37.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


Your balance as of 04/26/2012 16:00 is P37.00 valid til 06/09/2012 14:07 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone.


If you are from globe and you want to checkout my story, here is the prepaid number: 09177378512

Health Lessons from my dad

This post documents in detail what happened to my dad(he passed away) and the lessons to be learned from our experience:

• At the age of 60 and above, anything that is unusual or does not feel normal should be cause for alarm. Get immediate medical help if any body part is painful 
• Any sign of discoloration merits an immediate trip to the hospital. When a limb turns grayish to purple, it could mean blocked blood flow which could result to cell or tissue death(necrosis)
• Blood flow should be restored immediately and in my dad's case, it was done with an emergency embolectomy where they had to surgically remove the blockage
• Once blood flow is restored, the damaged to the tissues must be assessed ASAP. If tissue or cell death has occurred then the patient must be convinced and prepared to undergo amputation. My dad did not want to undergo amputation
• If amputation is not done, the cells undergoing necrosis release harmful chemicals and toxins to the surrounding cells. This could trigger a chain reaction of further cell death.
• In my dad's case, the toxins released by the cells undergoing necrosis triggered renal(kidney) failure. When kidneys fail to filter properly, waste accumulates in the blood and the body. My dad's kidneys were already weak to begin with so he had to undergo dialysis twice.
• My dad also suffered from pneumonia which was most probably a complication from the failed kidneys and the toxins from his left foot

Please share this post with others as it really could save lives. Thanks.

My father passed away

My father passed away at the age of 69 on the eve of my 33rd birthday.

It happened in Heart Center where he was confined from July 6 2010.

He was initially admitted because of blocked bloodflow to his left foot. Blood flow was restored by an operation but the foot did not recover. The doctors recommended immediate amputation but my father wouldn't have it. Gangrene set on, his kidneys failed and he went into cardiac arrest.

This is the first time that something like this happened to our family. I hope that others can take what happened to us as a very important lesson.

How your favorite super hero can help with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill?

In a lengthy discussion over lunch, a group of seasoned developers discussed what their favorite super heroes could do to help with the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill.

Gorge: Green Lantern can create a machine that cleans up oil.

Jess: Ironman will probably burn all the oil with some fancy lasers coupled with flashy explosions while taking a pose for the cameras.

Joven: Superman could use his breath to freeze the water then lift it up and throw it into space, plants and other sea life included.

If you have other ideas, feel free to comment and join in.