The Pangtinuous Ya Team: We Will Rise Again.

There are two things certain in Earthen society, in any nation, state, province, city, constituency, prefecture, and the like. They are taxes and death. The loss of something important is a part of the human spirit that we, as gamers, must understand, accept, and embrace. On November 2017, the Pangya Japan Server governed by GMO will finally close its doors and enter the annals of history. The decision to not allow the world to partake in Japan's ill-fated server and provide new memories for the world is a costly decision, a weight that is the responsibility of its developers to bear.

With Japan and Thailand signing off, there are no official Pangya servers, and the Pangya Celebrity server now becomes the main server of record. It is no longer the new way to play, but the only way to play. Pangya Celebrity is continuous and is now the successor to all of the official Pangya servers and will be the server that provides new content, perhaps new characters, maybe even a new map to swing for the heavens on.

I will let you know this. I do not have any sympathy for an organization that does not listen to the wishes of the world and open its doors to the public, like Square Enix does with Final Fantasy. The appeal to be let in was denied and those who were aggrieved now have their vengeance. So for those in Japan who are grieving the loss of the game, I stand with you in saying, if I was able to play on your server, I would feel the same way but I cannot shed any tear for anyone in charge who choose to let ignorance destroy the dreams of Pangyateers around the world.

I can only feel closure and a desire to march forward.

Pangya may be gone in Japan and Thailand, but through Celebrity, it is continuous. It is more than continuous, it's Pangtinuous. To this end, on my Twitch channel, HomuHomu2093, the Pangya live stream program is now given a name: The Pangtinuous Ya Team, a nod to my favorite rugby league radio program in Australia, the Continuous Call Team on 2GB.

There are two people who anchor the team, of who are twins, one and the same: Bongaboi Pangyatoy and Bangabae Everydae. Bongaboi is the main character, the Gift The Keeps on Giving, the advocate of fast players, a loyal subscriber and VIP, a proud weeberal that prides himself on giving out card packs and active items en masse. Bangabae is the over-obsessed leader, the sasaeng, the fujoshi twin sister who also has a life on Final Fantasy XIV as Kahori Harukawa of Psychic School Wars. Both are glasses, both are nerds, both are one and the same and have a relationship similar to the Kasugano twins of Yosuga no Sora, if not exact and a lot more romantic. Bongaboi (which is me) will do most of the tourneys and content promoting on the program but occasionally, Bangabae (the other me), will take over (only if playing as Lucia or Arin, all other characters mean Bonga is at the controls), and speak with just soundless text (no microphone installed on the desktop). So that is the background to the program. The other program on the channel is a FFXIV x Saimoe crossover program, The Misadventures.

Most importantly, the program's mission is to salute and promote the legacy of Pangya and its lasting impact which is maintained and defended through the Celebrity server and its community, including the Papel Podcast featuring Michael "Atomicpang" Pearce. It is to remind the world that the dream will always live on, even if it dies. The game's Discord now has channels in different languages that reach out to its players from around the world. I believe that as a member of Pangya Celebrity, as a VIP and a subscriber, keeping the faith and believing in the Pangtinuous dream living on is now important, as another somber moment in the history of our great golf game (still the best) beckons.

Never live in fear of the inevitable. Death is a new beginning, in any form. An end yields a beginning. It is like a circle. It is continuous. It is Pangtinuous. And the Pangtinuous Ya Team will see to it that the future of Pangya is in good hands through the Celebrities that play it around the world.

Thank you Pangya Japan and Thailand. We will never forget you and we bid you farewell. Now, with the grace of Bongdal the Magnificent the Most High, it is our turn to lead the way into the future.

We will rise again.

In Pangya's name we pray...AMEN!

In Loving Memory Of Pangya Global: 2005-2016

The first thing I will take out of this: Winning Putt will now be my golf game of choice as a result of this news. Secondly: my money that I could have used to recharge will now be moved to other things, such as buying a new laptop, peripherals, etc. Thirdly, all of the photos that I have uploaded to Flickr, my five Pangya Collections, are now immortalized. My last Memorial Shop item won will have now been a set of Black Platinum Gloves for Hana, now moved over to Hana R.

So I have been proven wrong: Pangya has officially chosen to close down after years of being the golf game of choice. I have been playing this game for a little over three years, since Canada Day 2013. So I have played this game for three years and four months and the game will be shutting down on the Global server on December 12, 2016. There were so many items I wanted to win on Gacha but never won. Black Papel will have remained elusive, permanently, as well as Sporty Pippin. And this closure is in line with other closures in the past, like Pangya Brazil, Pangya Southeast Asia, Pangya Philippines, Pangya GOA, etc.

I may not be as motivated to play online golf now, unless GMO steps in and opens a new Global server. I invested thousands of dollars on my two accounts and now that the server is closing, I now have a very low opinion of Ntreev, and they need to make GMO and everybody on the Japan team the new owners of the game. I liked playing as Madoka and I will have completed the game earning almost all of the possible rares from the collab, save for the Ultimate Madoka set.

I want to share some thoughts from the two player moderators that are signing off.

3 years ago, 3 individuals were selected to be player moderators for the game of Pangya.  These individuals were given the task to find ways to advance Pangya so that players can continue to have fun in a game where swinging a club at a miniature ball is all one does.


3 years later and we find ourselves at the last legs of a long journey.  As player moderators, we ask ourselves: Were there any remaining regrets we had with Pangya?  The answer to that is particularly long and difficult.  Nonetheless, this is an opportunity for us to finalize our roles and wrap up loose-ends regarding this game.



First, let us be clear: We have no regrets on the work we did accomplish these past 3 years.  Regardless of what players may think, we got a significant amount of activities successfully done in these last 3 years in an era of the game that was clearly in a declining, unrecoverable state.  With the Korean developers having long abandoned the game, it was a time where all servers had to fend for themselves using whatever resources were at each server’s disposal.  Fortunately, for Global, a tiny spec of resources remained available still and we made use of them to the best we could possible.  The end result were the additional updates and patches that were added for the game and while these updates were not always perfect, they represented chances - a chance that there was a turning point which would allow the game to pull it out of its hole.

That chance never came and that was where our regrets lie.  For the 3 years that we were player moderators, we devoted a heavy amount of time to researching Pangya’s deeper ends - how items, systems, and mechanics worked.  We placed many suggestions on the suggestions stack.  Just as when we felt we had a better understanding of the information to advance the game with more content, it was too late.  We did not anticipate a publisher change and we did not anticipate that Global’s new publisher would be lacking a programmer.  All the research information we had on hand was now worthless.

If we had the research information much earlier in time, we could have done more for the game.  Would it have changed the eventual outcome?  Probably not.  However, it would have at least made Pangya feel more “complete” as the game approached the last days.  In the end, this was our regret - that we were unable to do a number of things for Pangya still and will never be able to now.

These last 3 years have been a challenge for us as much as it has been a challenge for everyone in this community who have to had endure a game that even the original developers had abandoned.  We are grateful for those who stood by Pangya Global until the very end despite all that has happened.  We are grateful to have been part of a community which once flourished for a game that was praised as the “best fantasy golf game”.  Though we did not do our moderator roles perfectly, we are thankful for the players who have worked with us, helped us, and supported us throughout these years.

This is the last chapter of Pangya Global.  No matter where you will be after this, we hope you will continue to remember the times you had here on Pangya Island.



--- From the Pangya Player Moderators

I'm a player for 10 years (started off in PYSEA-A18-here). I feel the same way as most of you guys do.  Yes, we had the same thoughts as you do constantly.The mods tried but I'd say I didn't try my very best. There were countless of dead ends and frustrations. After knowing how things were working at that end, I've just become less motivated. Most of the things we wanted were just not doable anymore. Nevertheless, we had seen some new recipes being available in Cadie's Cauldron, change in Gacha/Papel/Scratchy until they couldn't. We tried to give out something new within the means even if there weren't major playing events or new items. And then suddenly, it all seems a little too late when we had planned out for the rest of the year, it couldn't be done anymore. That was some time ago already. There's actually so much more I have to say but I'll just keep it within this post.



I've had fun with the community in-game but it is time to say good bye. Take care everyone five 
Thank you Pangya [English] for everything.  



--- noobcat, Pangya Player Moderator

Throughout the 7 years I have been a Pangya player, I have contributed much to this game, both in-game and on the website.  I have created a number of events that players have participated in, many of which have been successful.  The Pangya Wiki has turned from a dead asset to now one of the most widely used resource for Pangya not just for our server but for other servers as well, and not just for English-speaking players but for international languages too.  None of my contributions would have been worked without the assistance of the players of this community.  It is thanks to you that we were able to bring about many great things on this server.

I've met many great people on Pangya and I had fun playing games with all of you.  I wish all of you the best of luck on your journeys beyond Pangya Global.



--- TwinsLight, Pangya Player Moderator

I feel that Smilegate and Ntreev have failed to listen to their players and by choosing to close the Global server instead of handing it over to Japan, they have done a massive disservice to their base. It is the stubborness of this company, Ntreev, that could cause them to go bankrupt and close down forever. With this, Winning Putt now becomes the golf game of choice around the world and is now the people's game for online golf.

I am in no rush to resume grinding on Winning Putt once I get my second laptop. Dynasty simming now has some room and time, as well as fanfic writing. A large amount of my time and money that could have gone to playing Pangya or spending on the game has now been freed up as a result of this historic news that is in no way a positive.

So I officially leave Pangya Island with three-plus years of memories playing the game and zero regrets. I will now play Winning Putt on my two accounts some time in the future. To the Pangya community that has been reading my blog, thanks for stopping by but be sure to keep it here on The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue for more anime, sports and Saimoe news and other BoBA-relevant stuff.

Remember, at The Bedlam on Baltic Avenue, there's always something going on around here. 

Thank you, Pangya Team. 

Good luck and high five.

One Fine Day?

I want to believe that Pangya Global's time is not up. But the old saying rings true: all good things must come to an end. I recently heard the news that Pangya Korea's server will be closing down in late August, on approximately the Chuseok holiday. But what is not clear is whether or not Global's server will have to change hands or if it will also be shut down as well.

At the time of this live blog, I am convinced that the admins at Smilegate West already got the news from Smilegate Megaport that the Korea server is closing down. Knowing that the players on Global don't want the server to close, he/she is negotiating with GMO, the owners of the Japan server, to come up with an agreement to save the Global server and keep it running. Details and fine print are being ironed out, I would imagine, and something official will be coming in the days ahead.

As a Pangyateer of three years with two accounts, it would be terrible timing to have the Global server shut down. These three years of playing the world's best online golf game have been fun, and I believe that Japan owning Global will allow its content to arrive to an audience hungry for new stuff.

It's definitely a sad day for golfers in Korea, I would imagine. Pangya Korea is where it all started. Alternately, I am a believer in rebirth, and even if Pangya Korea gets shut down, if Pangya Japan is robust and strong in its aims, it will find a way to revive the Korea server some time down the road. As for Thailand, they are not affected either, they will keep going.

Before I received this news, I had knocked down a few achievements, won some new rare items, got a couple of club sets ranked up. I had to come back to the game because of the surrealness of real world events taking shape. I did not think that the bad news would carry over into Pangya. Boy. You talk about changes coming in my life, and this is one of them. I am hopeful that Global's future is safe and that GMO takes over and keeps the server alive.

However, I am ready to see it off if Pangya Global cannot be saved. Steve Jablonsky, send help.

They're Getting Desperate, I Know It. And That's Fine.

So I have noticed that parts of the Madoka Magica Collab is now a permanent addition to Pangya Global as a result of Korea still not getting their act together. (The only ones missing are the cut-ins and backgrounds.) And a number of other popular RNG boxes are permanent, including Lucia Hair Kits, Arin Gift Boxes, 2015 Lucky Pouches and 2016 Papel Boxes. The Fro Comet is now a permanent addition to the Pangya Shop. And now people can smack Kyuubey all they want and they have unlimited time to get the Ultimate Madoka Set and/or Madoka Magica Club Set.

This is great news for new players and for veterans who didn't get a chance to have the RNG in their favor. Pangya Team should know that they are losing their players to Winning Putt and how do you get them back? Make some of the limited-time content permanent. So this is a nice touch but I am not going to go after the Madokami right now but I will at some point.

What I am satisfied about is the drop rate for the Hana Grand Prix that is taking place as of this post. I finally got not one, but two rares, in 35 special coins. It only took me 35 on my main account to finally get a couple of rares, albeit they are Ancient Dark Wings and WT-PEP, and on my alternate account I got the 2012 Swimwear. As of this post, I have a rate of 3/125. So about evert 40-50 attempts I get something, although the rates might be nerfed later on, since I have already won something from this event.

Last year, I only won once out of over 100 coins on my main account, the Blue Lagoon Set. RNG was not friendly to me last year. This year, it's changed a bit, and now I have won three rares across both accounts. Hopefully I can win a few more as Hana remains my main character while playing the game.

Another great thing about the Madoka collab being permanent: both my accounts can now have all of the normal clothing sets for Hana, Lucia, Arin, Kooh and Nell. However, they need to also bring back the cut-ins and backgrounds to complete things. So the shop could actually use another update to ensure that there is a wide variety of stuff that can be purchased.

For now, I am very relieved that some of the timed RNG items are now permanent and I got three Hana rare items in the Event Grand Prix, but room for improvement is exactly that, and they will need to bring back some more items from the past and make it permanent. Pangya Team is getting desperate, I know this for a fact, and that is completely fine by me.

Finally, I Have Captured The Chicken!

Though this wasn't among my priority wants among Memorial Gacha, I ended up capturing the elemental mascot Ember on a random Memorial Premium Coin off Scratchy Cards after going 1/15 on another Premium batch (the rare won was Kooh's Fairy Tale set). Ember resembles a floating chicken so it is fair to say that I have captured the chicken in Pangya, and I love fried chicken. Ember is essentially a cross of WT-PEP/Sporty Pippin plus the default Mascot Bonus plus Cadie SC. Throw in the Cadie SR card equipped on Classic Hana's bonus caddie slot to go with the animal ring, and hitting Pangya becomes more straightforward. That's the power of the chicken.

I ended up ranking up a few clubs, unlocked about 10 more achievements over a week across both my accounts and on my main, I am now sitting at 9430 Achievement Points. Oh yes, and on two Premium batches prior to the 1/15 I went 7/20. So there is some game balance among the Premium Coins, but the fact that the Super Rares I wanted didn't drop and Black Papel didn't drop after 5,000 spinning cubes opened leaves me wondering.

I also got to work on clearing some club recovery point achievements, which I didn't get to work on for months. When my next paycheck from Azteca Soccer arrives, I expect that it will go towards my next move to rank up another club set to S-rank. Spika's Voice Club set has been in A-5 limbo for months and I believe it's about time I got her signature clubs to S-rank, or Spika rank, if you will. This way I can focus my next S-rank efforts to my Ruby Air Knight Set, which is on 11,000 club mastery but may go down to accomodate getting the Spika clubs to S-rank.

I am completely mystified by two things this weekend: going 1/15 on Premium Memorial Coins and Jurgen Klinsmann's handling of the game plan for the USMNT against Guatemala away. The premium rates should not be nerfed, period. That's the Normal/Special Coins' responsibility. It is astounding how for a high batch of Premium Coins, the drop rate is abysmal. Complaints regarding this game are warranted, but for me, I have to accept it because on my Dolfini's Locker, I have 67 pages of rares. I have to sell items from my locker only if I am in desperate need of pang to upgrade my clubs or otherwise improve stats. I am also short of Abbot Crystals. I had to spam Abbot Mine a few times just to get the 25 I need to secure a Card Remover that would allow the impact zone of Madoka (a.k.a. Classic Hana) to be bigger.

Secondly, we haven't lost to Guatemala in decades, so if this result is repeated, Jurgen Klinsmann should be sacked immediately. It's not easy being a manager of a team representing a sports-proud nation like the United States. The ramifications of being eliminated early in World Cup Qualification can have long-term effects regarding the game's future. I don't miss coaches who don't do a good job managing the teams I care about. That's my schtick.

In any case, I have captured the chicken.

Lucky Pouches? No Problem, Been There, Won That.

I didn't get stiffed by the 2015 Lucky Pouches this weekend on Pangya Global. Decided to buy five pouches and ended up winning my first set of Elemental Ears and a bath towel set for Spika. Yay, so now Spike can finally golf barefoot on my main account! She joins Kooh and Nell as the golfers who can golf in the game with no shoes or socks on. If only Madoka can join them as well. Combine with winning three other rare items off Premium Memorial Coins, I went 5/8 this weekend, which is pretty good given how much I get nerfed by Pangya's RNG.

I've gotten some nasty complaints about the RNG and it's amusing at times to read the feedback. Here's one you'll like.

---

Hello,

first: sorry about my english, it isn't that good, i hope you understand.

i am really, really, really mad at this game. i am so mad, i think about quitting forever. seriously.

this day i spend 50 (FIFTY!!!!) euro for premium memorial coins and lucky pouches.

i had 19(!!!) premium memorial coins and 6 lucky pouches.

what i won? i guess it was 1 set. ONE. ONE DARN SET! out of 19 PREMIUM(!!!!!!!) memorial coins!!

are you kidding me pangya?! seriously! 50 DARN EURO FOR ONE SET!??!?!

btw i got NOTHING in my 6 lucky pouches!

really, i feel fooled. i feel Pang!, Pang! FOOLED!

i will never again spend ONE darn euro in this game!

thanks for NOTHING!

---

You know, some players have won nothing from their run of pouches. So the fact that I had won something from these pouches means that it was money well spent. Oh yes, and did I mention that I finally got that Band Set (H) from the Opened Spinning Cubes? Hair looks great with a swimsuit. Reminds me of Juri from Aikatsu or something.

Up next, I think, should be another character Grand Prix event, or the Valentine's Day promotion. I may consider keeping some cash to buy my alternate account some chocolate boxes to accelerate the training of the caddies and get them to Level 4. Alternatively, I hope they bring back the Choco Sticks for this one. I never got a Choco Stick because I wasn't playing the game the last time they had it, so bringing this back would be fantastic.

The Aftermath Of The January 2016 Play To Win Campaign

I wasn't too thrilled with what little I won from the January 2016 Play To Win campaign on Pangya Global. Across both accounts, I went 8/40 on rares won from Lucky Pouches and Premium Memorial Coins. On my main account, I went winless on the Pouches but went 5/10 on the Premium Memorial Coins, with the highlight get being the Ruby Air Knight Set, which has now been ranked up to a A-rank Level 5 (it started as an A-Rank Level 3) with impressive control, accuracy, curve and spin. Meanwhile, on my alt account, it went 2/10 on the pounches and 1/10 on the Premiums, the highlight being a Parasol Club Set.

But with my main account earning most of the gets, I focused on that. First, as a result of a new club set arriving, I had to shuffle some cards around. The Spika SC card was eventually moved over to my Lucia, and the two Titan Cham (N) cards were split among Madoka (Classic Hana) and Hana R. Madoka ended up with the Spika SR card as a replacement, and my Hana R ended up with two Hana SR cards and a Lucia SR to bump up the curve stat.

All of my Pang Mastery that I earned from the Lucky Sets and Premium Memorial Coins were burned up to improve the stats of the Ruby Air Knights but I have now some more characters that need upgrading. The only thing that I didn't take care off was the glut of spinning cubes received; that's because my Papel Box wouldn't arrive until the next server reset. However, I am not anticipating a jackpot get from the cubes despite seeing notices of people winning jackpots left and right while I exhausted my GP tickets.

As I have said before, I don't need Black Papel other than having a new caddie to train. My alt account is currently busy with handling three other caddies that were acquired through points. Tiki on my alt is now fully trained, and Quma is now next. He won't reach Level 4 until next month, and after that, I will go to training Lolo, and after that, Mingti. That will take the span of about three or four months, unless I acquire a second computer so I can go back to doing VS. matches with my two accounts, like I did months ago.

But it would be nice to get Black Papel because to me, that is a sign that I have established myself as a user on the Global server. At Top Master E rank, this is overdue. I would love to get Black Papel from the batch of cubes at midnight tonight. I won't expect it, but if I get it, it will be my caddie for a while.

Anyway, now I have three A-rank clubs. I am waiting for a massive injection of cash coming in next month so that I can get rid of a huge chunk of club mastery from my Miracle Voice Club Set and perhaps send that to my Club Set of Wisdom so that it can finally reach S-rank. The Spika Voice Club Set will be next, and then the Ruby Air Knight will be next. How about that. Five S-rank clubs in my main account, possibly by year's end. Another two achievements out of the way.

Going back to the Lucky Sets, I ended up recycling a lot of comets and active items that I don't really need. I salvaged the Pang Mastery, Power Potions, Time Boosters and Auto Calipers. I have enough Power Potions to wrap up the achivements for that but I need to play games. But I ended up respawning my Auto Calipers and now I can do some more beaming, even though I already cleared the final Beam Shot Master achievement days ago.

Mutsuki from Kantai Collection...in Winning Putt.

Oh yes, one more thing, a new golf game has now been released and is currently on open beta. Winning Putt is a game by Bandai Namco and has great graphics and has potential to be a good golf MMO. However, it needs some modes of play that are established in Pangya, with one of them being a one-player tournament mode similar to Grand Prix where the player takes on the opponent AI on the maps available in game and can also face that and other players. Thus, if a player decides to play alone, he or she can still get experience, Gold and Platinum for every hole cleared and of course, higher difficulty yields better rewards.

Kisaragi from Kantai Collection...in Winning Putt.

In a game with potential like Winning Putt, you want to have more options available for the player to use so that he or she can master the skills in grinding for rewards and so forth. So it has promise, but I won't be rushing to return to that game until I get my second computer. Also, on that game, I am playing as Mutsuki and Kisaragi from Kantai Collection. Okay, so they aren't that close to how they look like in the anime but considering that they are Japanese, I decided to make it look natural and realistic. Mutsuki with the short hair, Kisaragi with the long hair...you know what I mean.

Lay All Your Love On Me

I wasn't jealous before we met
Now every woman I see is a potential threat
And I'm possessive, it isn't nice
You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice
But now it isn't true
Now everything is new
And all I've learned has overturned
I beg of you

Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me

It was like shooting a sitting duck
A little smalltalk, a smile and baby I was stuck
I still don't know what you've done with me
A grown-up woman should never fall so easily
I feel a kind of fear
When I don't have you near
Unsatisfied, I skip my pride
I beg you dear

Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Don't go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

I've had a few little love affairs
They didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce
I used to think I was sensible
It makes the truth even more incomprehensible
'Cause everything is new
And everything is you
And all I've learned has overturned
What can I do

Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Don't go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me

Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me
Don't go sharing your devotion
Lay all your love on me
Don't go wasting your emotion
Lay all your love on me

My Alt Account On Pangya Takes The Piss

So I had a fun conversation with this one user on Pangya named Maztrysum while selling a fragment of time. Some users on this game make a big deal over trivial things. Here are some excerpts from the chat which have been capped.

Here's why I find this conversation to be absolutely hilarious.
1. He's talking to my alternate account. Not my main account. You're essentially chatting with a puppet. Of course he doesn't know this yet but I look forward to him finding it out.
2. This alleged spamming of buying/selling items happens all the time. It's common. To voice any faux outrage is unfounded and should be dismissed.
3. I do tell him my age in real life but he chooses to not believe me, saying that I am five years old. It is clear that his definition of a five-year old is extremely skewed and deliberately inaccurate. Not my problem.
4. He calls me a homophobic slur. Absolutely reportable offense as per the Super Genius Games Terms of Use. A massive 1:1 has been filed, so I would like to see what the Game Master does here on Monday.
5. English is not his first language. Mic drop.
6. He professes his hate towards me openly. That means I have been on this game quite a lot and I have made it. And this is my alt account he is despising! What will he think when he goes after my main account? There Will Be Haters. By the way, I return feelings for anyone, anywhere, anytime, whether in game or not.  So if he hates me, it's returned.
7. It's a Spring Fragment of Time. Not Fall or Winter. Spring and Summer Fragments are more expensive. This guy must be new to how the market works in game. Again, not my problem.

As you can see, I do welcome people taking shots at me, as long as it's clean and it's not deliberate harassment. I really wish the TOU at Gamerage did not exist, this way, I'll allow his choice words, but they exist and action had to be taken. People on this game make big deals over nothing and conduct does put these people at risk of being in poor standing. Humanity issue. Humanity has declined. Other than that, I completed the Play to Win Event and may get some decent rares from the pouches and Premium Memorial Coins this Wednesday.

The Christmas 2015 Roundup On The Bedlam

 The old, and the new: Homura Akemi (the iPad 3, left) and Akagi Nagumo (the iPad Air 2, right).

My belief is that every device has the soul of a moekko. My current desktop has the benevolence and purity of Madoka Kaname, a goddess and a proud Japanese nadeshiko onna no ko. I now own two iPads, one old, one new. The one iPad I had had for five years may have seen better days. As it is in a black case, one of mysterious cool and  determined confidence, it was given Homura Akemi's spirit and has been named as such. It is an iPad 3.

Now, I have a new iPad, an iPad Air 2. Originally it was meant to be placed in a blue case, it ended up in a red case due to my fondness for Stanford, for USC, for Long Beach City College, for Lakewood High School, for my old fraternity buddies at the Order of Tong International, for Harvard (though their shade is deeper) even. And for the Liberals of Canada, but not for the Republicans of the United States.

But most importantly, it was chosen red for Akagi, the carrier with an appetite as big as mind and a wiseness incomparable. She is also Fubuki (Tanaka)'s surrogate older sister. If she were given a human name, her last name would that of her last admiral, Chuichi Nagumo. Therefore, the name of my iPad Air 2 is Akagi Nagumo, as depicted in my fanfic, Butteflies and Dragons, which will conclude at the end of the Rio 2016 Olympics.

So for my next check from The Stoppage Time, I need to buy a new wall calendar, new computer speakers, a new webcam, a new headset, and groceries. My next check from the Bar Foundation will go to the bill. The new laptop may not arrive until February because a lot of cash is going to fly out the door the next two weeks. That leads me to my update on Pangya. A lot has happened over on Pangya Island. Let's review!

• My main account is now a Top Master E.
• My alternate account is now a World Pro E.
• My alternate account now has the Jasmine Air Knight Set. The Jasmine Air Knights are currently A-rank Level 5.
• My main and alternate accounts have all Stufffed Santa Boo Stocking Rares, the Santa's Club Set, the Jolly Santa Club Set, Lucia's figure skating outfit, Spika's Christmas Rares, and all the hairbands. Oh yes, and Hana R's Christmas Outfit.
• My main account won a Kaz rare on the 10th coin of the Kaz Grand Prix event. It also won a second Kaz rare from a Premium Memorial Coin gifted from my friend ExcelsiorVindi (IGN: Basium).
• All the quits that I incurred (including the one I got cheaply from going ZZZ in GP on my alt) are expected to be removed at the next maintenance since I have been playing 4 n go tourneys and Event GPs on the grind.
• Madoka (a.k.a. the Classic Hana on my main) now has her own Christmas outfit. She looks fantastic in it.
• Classic Nuri, Azer, Classic Cecilia, Max and Kaz are one filled mastery slot and a 250 games played milestone each from completion on my main. Yay, only 500 tiki points to seriously grind for next year.

So it's been a very eventful Christmas and post-Christmas. I guess with Iowa and Stanford facing each other, it looks smart in hindsight to have iPads in black and red cases. Just need some removable decals and they are ready to be posing next to each other in Pasadena. Cannot wait to ring in the new year, and oh yes, my new iPad is jailbroken, meaning it can watch sports using Kodi. Time to give Akagi some bauxite-er, a recharge.

I Cheated The Black Friday Box Trap.

That's right, I decided to bail on the Black Friday Box Trap because I was happy winning the Kooh Kindergarten Set last year. So what I learned was that the Premium Memorial Coin drop rate from scratchies was buffed, but the rare item drop from the Premium Memorial Coins was nerfed. In my recent batch, I had won the WT-PEP for Nuri, which was kicked over to Nuri R...and I also won the Bunny Girl Set for Hana.

So I ended up getting a new costume set for Hana. However, as it turned out, it was a Bunny Girl outfit. Now, I am 300 opened spinning cubes away from unlocking the Band Set for Hana on my end after deciding to continue to push to find Black Papel from the opened Spinning Cubes. It's looking very likely that he will appear when I reach Top Master Rank. But I already have Bunny Sets for Lucia and Cecilia, so when this arrived on the scene, I was somewhat disappointed because this was not the 2011 Swimwear that I had been coveting for months.

Not a lot of money is coming in this time around. However, I was determined to finally add the PWC Club Set. This is the golf club set that I believe was used at the Pangya World Championships in 2011 and 2012 over in Japan. It's being used primarily by Spika and Hana to do cube fishing, but there will be a time where I finally put this to regular use. However, the money that I would put into buying up a storm in UCIM Chips to fast-track the ranking up of some of my clubs is instead being used to buy a new computer that will allow me to do my world AND play Pangya uninterrupted.

Currently, my screen has gone black more often than not, and it has gotten on my bad side. I am using a touchscreen computer that is, I think, seven or eight years old and I have plans to migrate the data to the new computer that will arrive in December, contingent on my employer's bonus check being substantial to cover expenses. It's gotten bad to the point where I cannot visit Canada next year due to a dire need for a brand new system.

Thus, I am consigned to counting down the days until the day of reckoning takes place in December, when I find out how much I get from my Christmas bonus check. I'm personally on pins and needles because I've had a faulty screen for weeks and I'm tired of seeing my productivity drop. This isn't just a Pangya issue. It's a PC issue. I know that I won't reach Top Master E until next January, though I am less than 3000 EXP away from reaching that mark. I'll get there in time. For now, I long for a brand-new system.

My screen just crashed again as I was about to publish this. That's how bad things are at the BoBA House. None of the computers I own are usable. Clock's ticking.