IAH is on the Business after all...

ok, guys... here's the moment of truth and moment we've waiting for to believe and to frustrate about and to be happy about too (T_T) after reading the whole thing... i dont know what to think about it since they've did it for real! you may now judge, but there's a point too of all of this... and they have the right.

The time is now. It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Finally, after long speculation and deliberation, IAHGames is announcing the Granado Espada business model, the guidelines of continuation for the English version of the 2006 Korean Game of the Year.

Before lifting the curtains and firing the cannons, we want to thank all of you for playing Granado Espada, and voicing your opinions on the business.

IAHGames has taken into account all of the concerns and opinions voiced, and mixed them with our own professional experience to finalize a model that we feel will provide the best service standard for you.

Several points stand out in our final decision. While the biggest advantage of a free to play model is unlimited accessibility, there are several possible pitfalls to such a system.

1) A free to play system creates a significantly larger base of players who do not invest anything in the game other than time. Some of these players will not care about following rules of conduct or fair play. If they receive a warning or ban, they can instantly create another account for free and re-enter the game.

2) An extremely large player base can also lead to server crowding, without providing adequate revenue for IAHGames to install and run new servers. It is our goal to maintain an optimal volume of players on all worlds, and to open new worlds as necessary. A free to play system would hamper our ability to do so.

3) Along with server crowding, Customer Service and support lines would be stretched to accommodate the large player base, once again without providing the necessary revenue that allows IAHGames to expand the CS staff to meet the number of needs and requests of our gamers. We do not think it is fair if customer service experiences a queue of some 99 requests, and a paying customer, one who supports the service, is stuck 99 slots behind players who is not paying for the service.

4) The accessibility of a free to play system also opens the doors for gold farmers, scammers, and others who wish to manipulate Granado Espada’s in-game world to meet self-serving desires other than entertaining game play.

5) We feel that players who invest both their time and money in Granado Espada will be more likely to show love for the game, their fellow gamers and the Granado Espada community as a whole. These are the kind of gamers we cherish at IAHGames, and the type of customer we consider first when providing our services.

In the end, it boils down to an ability to realistically provide a quality service based on perceived gamer populations and anticipated revenue. This is a community, your community, and we want everyone to be treated equally. IAHGames made the decision based on these principles.

Granado Espada will run on a hybrid pay to play model.

Gamers will be required to invest at least SGD$9.90/P300/RM$20/USD$5.60 into the game per month via various payment methods. Minus a nominal fee, this amount will transfer into G-Points which can then be used at the cash shop for premium items. Players have the option to invest more than the minimum per month for large cash shop purchases:[/b]

i) G-Points With Game Time

click for image for whole view!

Players will get locally priced game value cards from their local distributors. Watch your local distributor's official GE websites for more information.

This model ensures that everyone in Granado Espada will be supporting the service with a real investment, but that investment will also offer a real return in the form of premium items.

There are no moochers or paying players. Everyone will invest in the game, but that investment still belongs to you, the gamer, for use at the cash shop. We feel it is the best way to maintain a quality service and game environment.

As a gesture of goodwill to celebrate our flagship online game, IAHGames have decided to reward all gamers who have been with us since the start of Pre-Open beta phase. 90 days of Free Game Play time will be allocated to all gamers who have at least 1 character above Level 20 during the transition to commercial phase. For more information on this, check out the FAQ here.

Thanks for your support of Granado Espada so far, and we look forward to seeing your continued adventures in this beautiful online world.

Jonathon Sze
Regional Product Manager
Granado Espada S.E Asia