Bangbang's audition journey

Yoz peepz,

Finally I can blog about my very own audition journey. Actually I was the first of the cyberwellness team to venture into audition for the very reason that I love music and dance related games. And I am glad that my other team players are venturing because it makes it all the more fun to be playing Audition. To me, the game is just spelled SHIOK!!!

S IMPLE

H IGHLY ENGAGING

I NTERESTING MUSIC

O RIGINAL

K ICK ASS DUDE!!!

After some time of playing, I finally got myself upgraded from a "Stiffy" to a "Novice" and the feeling is undescribable. But that actually makes me more motivated to want to reach the next license level and pit my hands and rhythm to see how fast and easy I will get it. Currently at this level, the license was relatively easy to get so it wasn't that great a challenge yet and knowing myself, if the license was more difficult to get, I may find myself playing more and the satisfaction derived after will definitely be greater then the current one.

hmmmm.... does that spell more audition-ing for me?!?!

Maybe.....

Maybe not...

Let's wait for the next update which will be when I get the next license.

Till then.... rock on!!!

Omelette Plateau's Audition Experience

I started playing Audition a week ago seeing how 'passionate' wakylala was with it. (HAHA)

I spent a long time signing up for an audition account, though I won't regret doing so.
First, I had to get an Asiasoft Passport Account. Thereafter, I had to activate my Audition account and create a character. I think I spent half an hour on that before I finally managed to create both the Asiasoft and Audition account.

I named my character omelette_plateau, which is actually a combination of my favourite food which is omelette and my favourite subject geography. (BEAMS)

While I created the character, I get to chose some basic apparel for omelette_plateau before embarking on my first dance experience in the virtual world.

My first few attempts were horrible, missing manymanymany keys and omelette_plateau stood there most of the time, while others were dancing away.

After a few more plays, I improved and I enjoyed the game more. I can even choose my favourite Korean songs such as tracks from Wondergirls to dance to!! (and sing to sometimes..haha)

What’s more, when one or more of your friends join in the fun and dance together in the same room, we can complain about how fast the song is and cheer when we play the game well. (of course hearing lots of each other's 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' when we miss the beat)

My take on the game?
It is good entertainment though gaming does have its own negative consequences. But it is still a stark fact it does serve as a good ice-breaker. (:

Written by: Omelette Plateau
Edited by: Wakylala

(Omelette plateau is one of our volunteers who started playing Audition with us. She's a sociology undergrad-to-be)

I've obtained my Novice License!!!

I am officially 'promoted' to a NOVICE today.

Heyz 'STIFFY' Bang Bang, Semukun, Cyberyappy, Gnez... get the license soon... dun remain as *noobs* for so long!!! =P

A novice license is obtainable when you reach 100%EXP for level 5. Without the license, you cannot earn any expereince points. It is like a license to level up to lvl 6.

To obtain my 'Novice' License, I have to pay 200 dens and complete the task (as shown below) - to acheive an overall score above 200,000 with at least 10 perfect dance sequences including 2 consecutive perfect sequences.

Dressing Up (Part II)

After asking some youths at the centre, I found out that I can buy an item 'indefinitely' using A-cash.

If you have read my previous post, it means that I won't have to pay $5/week to 'maintain' my new style. I'll just have to pay more to have them 'indefinitely'. (well, indefinitely as long as the game doesn't 'close down')

So I did my sums again...

To change from

Sassy Cropped Hairdo: 6,600 @cash

Pink/White Apple Print Top: 9,000 @cash

Belted Jeans: 9,000 @cash

Sweet Heels: 3,600 @cash

Total: 28,200@cash

I'll need to buy a $30 A-cash card that would cost me SGD$30.70 (incl. GST)

Seriously, I think I'd rather spend this $30 on something more 'tangible'...

...like REAL clothes for myself?? ...

...treat myself to a good meal (REAL food)???...

These items for my character in the game look good... but they are ultimately still a bunch of 1s and Os in the computer; and in case you are unaware, these virtual items bought with YOUR money is NOT yours after purchase - In theory, it still belongs to the game developer.

I have decided.

These virtual items only deserve virtual currency - 1s & Os for 1s & Os.

The only REAL currency I'd spend on these items is TIME... Time spent playing to earn the in-game currency. And not just any 'time' but my 'entertainment time' so that I won't neglect other aspects of my life.

More about this in subsequent posts... =)

Flashdance!

I have never been very fond of "Audition"... not because I hate dance or music. In fact, I love music, and dance had been in my family for a long long time (My dad and mom met through a dance class). I even want to go learn contemporary dance this year... but that is another story for another post.

However, I just don't get Audition. Even though I love dance a little, I just can't seem to understand how pressing buttons-indicated-by-arrows can be fun. So when Wakylala and a bunch of 13 yr old started playing and raging about it (again!), I just thought, "What the heck, let's try it!" After a few games, this is what I found out about Audition that draws me!!!!! AH!!!

1. I like the competitive nature of the game, where you try to out-do one another by trying to score as much points as possible.

2. It is not fun and friendly as it looks, with all the cute animation and cool dance moves. I don't really care much about those, I just WANNA GET TOP SCORE!!! ROAR!!!!!

3. The music do get to you. I am now listening to JJ Lin music, after listening to "I'm always online" on Audition for the past few days.

So well, this is my take on Audition... so don't disturb me.. while I start training my fingers now... I MUST GET TO LEVEL 10 SEQUENCE!!! ROAR!!!

In this picture, I am in FIRST PLACE!! But sadly, Wakylala took over... SHARKS!! ROAR!!!!

Dressing Up...

Well...like most role-playing games... you 'identify' with your character.
For me, one of the first things I wanted to do was to 'change' the way my character looks...

That means to the 'fashion mall' for some shopping...

In the game, there's a FASHION MALL where you can purchase 'skin lotion' to change your character's skin colour, change her hairstyle, buy clothes, shoes and accessories etc...

And so there I was at the mall...happily shopping and 'clicking away' to 'try on' the clothes and check out how Wakylala looks in the various hairstyles.

The items can be purchased using
Option 1: 'dens' (in-game currency) or
Option 2: A-cash (@cash; obtained with using real $$ to buy A-cash cards)

Finally ... these are the new looks I'd like for my character...

Option 1:



Hairstyle: 50,000 dens

Pink/White Striped Top: 150,000 dens

White Pants: 150,000 dens

White shoes with ribbon: 150,000 dens


REAL cost: many hours of playing time (approx. >100 hours)

To my astonishment, it's gonna 'cost' me at least 500,000 dens for that. This means I have to train my character very hard for quite some time to earn enough 'dens' for the 'make-over'.


Not willing to wait that long, I decided to check out Option 2 and find out how much it'll cost me to pay some money for a new look...

Option 2:


Hairstyle: 1,200 @cash (lasts for 7 days)

Pink/White Top: 1,200 @cash (lasts for 7 days)

Dark Blue Jeans with Maroon Belt: 1,500 @cash (last for 7 days)

White shoes: 1,200 @cash (lasts for 7 days)

REAL Cost: Real money to buy @cash games card (exhange rate: SGD$10.70 = 10,000 @cash)

This will set me back by at least 5,000 @cash and it'll only last 7 days!!!

No way am I gonna spend $5 a week just to have my virtual character look this way!!! (but you'd be surprised to know many youths playing the game actually would)

Looks like I've got to stick with my current out look until I earn that 500k dens ... that'll translate to hundreds of hours gaming!!! (depending on your level of proficiency in the game)
And that'll take me many months to earn!!!

Patience...

The start of my 'dance training'

I created my Audition character on 14th April 2009.

It also marked the NEW revolution at our centre...
I got into 'Audition' to play with a group of 13 year olds who come regularly to our centre... And soon, 4 other staff and volunteers also joined in our new lunch-time recreation... =)

Well... 3 days into my 'new craze', at level 3, I finally got to play with the group (who seemed like pros whenever they come to the centre to play together) and guess what... I actually 'out-danced' most of them to achieve a 1st runner up ranking!!! (well...I supposed it's because they picked a 'slower' song..hee)

Introducing... .


Wakylala...
Currently a level 5 'stiffy'... or in other words... *noob

Watch this blog for more updates as I explore this game world of dance!!