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Blizzard poo poo is not universal. I found this out when I bought Diablo 3 online. Diablo 3 was like $10usd cheaper here for some reason because my account was tied to Taiwan. Turns out, that there was a region locked edition of D3 that kept Koreans and Taiwanese on the same servers and was less expensive because it didn't include the ability to change regions or English language, nor could you ever download the English language for it. So I ended up having to create an account on battle.net that was listed as U.S., buy another copy of Diablo 3 then merged the two accounts, after I had gotten a refund on my Taiwanese edition of the game. Lesson here is make sure you buy the English edition that is regionalized to America, and then manually set your region to Taiwan from in the game if you want to play with Taiwanese people.
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Mar 18, 2015 14:17
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politicorific posted:I'm interested in knowing if any of you have seen anyone riding an electric unicycle or seen a place selling them in Taipei/Taiwan. Anyway, Taipei sidewalks are frequently shoddy garbage that can barely even deal with rain despite being in a country where it rains for like a third of the year, so I can't imagine a unicycle is going to fare well. Unless you're cool with riding it on the road I guess. sub supau fucked around with this message at 14:58 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 14:55
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PaybackJack posted:Blizzard poo poo is not universal. I found this out when I bought Diablo 3 online. Diablo 3 was like $10usd cheaper here for some reason because my account was tied to Taiwan. Turns out, that there was a region locked edition of D3 that kept Koreans and Taiwanese on the same servers and was less expensive because it didn't include the ability to change regions or English language, nor could you ever download the English language for it. So I ended up having to create an account on battle.net that was listed as U.S., buy another copy of Diablo 3 then merged the two accounts, after I had gotten a refund on my Taiwanese edition of the game. Lesson here is make sure you buy the English edition that is regionalized to America, and then manually set your region to Taiwan from in the game if you want to play with Taiwanese people. Eeek, all this stuff is just second nature for me like switching power converters and plugs in different countries, sorry 
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Mar 18, 2015 16:36
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caberham posted:Eeek, all this stuff is just second nature for me like switching power converters and plugs in different countries, sorry It was only really an issue because logging into Battle.Net the system the system checked my region and without thinking I just put in Taiwan. So when I bought a key it was all in English, only when I put in my key did I start the download in the TW settings did I realize "whoops just downloaded the Zh-edition", I figured I made an error, went back and there was no English option. Went back, made a new account, thinking "Ok, I'll just download the English language one from the US and then use my key, but nope, my key was region locked". Kind of strange but I can understand them wanting to shift the price around for different markets and not wanting people to exploit that, but I never considered language actually being something that you would charge people more for, like I could understand if you had to pay more for access to U.S. servers but it's strange to me that you'd segregate your customers based on their language preferences. I guess Blizzard is poor and really needs to make sure that people in the U.S. aren't saving $10 by buying it on Taiwanese or Korean accounts.
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Mar 18, 2015 19:16
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A little help if anyone has knowledge please about renting: I know in the USA we have the Fair Housing Act which outlaws discrimination of renting/selling a home on basis of race. My landlady kicked us out because she got divorced and wanted her house back. The first place we moved into has turned out to be a total scam. We're moving into a good spot on Saturday but in the meantime, the apartment agent and the owner of the property are trying to rob us blind on the deposit and other verbal agreements we've made. Does Taiwan have some equivalent of the Chamber of Commerce or Better Business Bureau or whatever that I can go to and report these shady dealings? I've screencapped all my correspondence with the apartment agent, which includes him twice telling me that the property owner didn't want to rent to us because we're foreigners, and includes the other agreements that he's now trying not to honor. My Chinese is still not awesome, but it's good enough at this point that I can handle this and I want to tackle it because who knows how many other people are getting scammed by this guy. Also whether there would be a branch in Pingtung or Kaohsiung. This is pretty crazy info to be requesting I know, like some technical poo poo rather than just "where the good burgers at". Sorry.
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Mar 19, 2015 19:07
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Sorry I don't have any constructive advice other than to point out the foreigner help line, which does cover housing issues: 0800 024 111. At the very least they should be able to tell you where to go with your local government bureau and you'll need your Chinese to take over from there. Landlords in Taiwan can be lovely to foreigners and I've always been disappointed yet bemused by apartment listings like this: "Dogs and cats okay. Foreigners not welcome."
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Mar 19, 2015 20:06
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For a second I thought that poster wrote "electric bicycle" and I was gonna be like "Oh yeah sure dude they are everywhere you can join the legions of ayis who are too timid for a real scooter but somehow still brave enough to go out on a 2 wheeled device in Taipei" Then I saw the links and  I don't see why not though. Hell my school has a unicycle club. As for housing/legal issues, you can also try asking a Facebook group called "Foreigners for Taiwan" for advice. Sounds silly but there are a few long-timers there who are obsessed with being right and striving for social justice.
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Mar 20, 2015 01:13
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poetrywhore posted:A little help if anyone has knowledge please about renting: Basics: When giving money $1000NT is enough for a deposit before you sign, anything more than this will likely be a scam. If she tries a bait and switch, walk If you can, walk the neighborhood at different times like early morning, afternoon rush hour and at 7-9pm to see how loud it is. Otherwise you could have some a-yi screaming at 6 am in the morning everyday(actually happened to a friend) or small children torturing musical instruments. If they say "no problem" and "don't worry" many times, you should probably walk away Verbal agreements are almost always broken. Write it down or forget it. Taiwanese landlords aren't pro-active. Legit Taiwanese people will always want to sign something to seal the deal. Scamming Taiwanese people will try to put you at ease(by saying don't worry/no problem) and take your money as soon as possible. Such as the several foreigners who have been in jail for buying a stolen scooter. Addendum: Always get your movers from, Tsui Mama. Having your stuff loaded on a truck and them refusing to move it unless you pay more is a really annoying. Give your neighbors potato salad to buy human decency and for them not to screw with your stuff. You can buy a lot of goodwill with potato salad in Taiwan. Everyone is watching you at all times and talking about it. Don't be the guy who thinks he's getting away scott free having whores over at his house while the Taiwanese wife is away on a business trip and that she'll never find out. Use a love motel, they can be quite nice and cheaper than a regular hotel.
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Mar 21, 2015 04:00
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okami posted:Don't be the guy who thinks he's getting away scott free having whores over at his house while the Taiwanese wife is away on a business trip and that she'll never find out. Use a love motel, they can be quite nice and cheaper than a regular hotel. Yeah! Be the guy who sneaks in to romance the 一奶 while the husband is away on business.
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Mar 21, 2015 04:12
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Spanish Matlock posted:Yeah! Be the guy who sneaks in to romance the 一奶 while the husband is away on business. Bring a cam corder and make extra money on the side
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Mar 21, 2015 05:05
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okami posted:If you can, walk the neighborhood at different times like early morning, afternoon rush hour and at 7-9pm to see how loud it is. Otherwise you could have some a-yi screaming at 6 am in the morning everyday(actually happened to a friend) or small children torturing musical instruments. Going to reiterate this point. I live next to an elementary school, so I am completely unable to sleep in past 9 am. But that's not an issue for me, and I find the sound of children laughing and playing to be rather calming. When they blare "My Little Apple" a million times during PE class, not so much. On the other hand, one of my coworkers has an apartment that over looks the Family Mart. There are two regular "Pub FM" groups that gather every night - some younger guys (early 20s) and some older Taiwanese/Aboriginal types (like north of 40s I think), and they can get loud. I know this because my coworker likes to inform me of this matter every time it happens, as well as his desire to resolve it using less than legal methods. Otherwise: quote:Legit Taiwanese people will always want to sign something to seal the deal. Scamming Taiwanese people will try to put you at ease(by saying don't worry/no problem) and take your money as soon as possible. Such as the several foreigners who have been in jail for buying a stolen scooter. Didn't realize stolen scooters were a big deal, but it would be wise just to stay away from anyone selling a scooter without the paperwork. Even if it is a bargain.
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Mar 21, 2015 07:24
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If they won't take a $1000NT to hold the place, then they don't want to rent to you. The scooter thing was in the past when the cops let every white face just go on by. You'd see them advertise for sale on tealit or people would offer them for sale at clubs or to their coworkers. Eventually you'd get stopped and they'd run the plates, but not speak to you. If the bike came up stolen and you'd get tossed in jail and deported. They even used to have a scam where you'd buy a used scooter, the motorcycle shop would say that they'd do the transfer for you, but instead go to your house and steal it back since they have your address. So if you buy a scooter from a shop, don't park it anywhere near where the address you gave them to register it to is. Read the Taiwan news Google group, some of the stuff that happens is just off the wall. I'd not place to much stock on its accuracy however.
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Mar 21, 2015 14:42
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okami posted:If they won't take a $1000NT to hold the place, then they don't want to rent to you. What I'm taking away from this is the same sort of advice you'd give people even in America. That is "spend the extra cash to buy from someone/someplace that is reputable rather than save money with someone who is shady as all gently caress. Also, bring a friend who knows what they're talking about."
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Mar 21, 2015 16:28
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YF19pilot posted:What I'm taking away from this is the same sort of advice you'd give people even in America. That is "spend the extra cash to buy from someone/someplace that is reputable rather than save money with someone who is shady as all gently caress. Also, bring a friend who knows what they're talking about." Your best bet is to find the "can do" person at your school and get them to help you. Larger schools generally have one really competent "can do" person. Rules for learning Chinese: Learn stroke order and how to read. It's easy and can be done on your own. 6 months minimum before you're even barely comprehensible to someone not used to foreigner Chinese. The most useful Chinese you learn will be from another foreigner. Please don't be one of those hugely indebted PC newbies only interested in drinking and whoring with no other hobbies as we've already done that. In Taiwan, learn basic Taiwanese, it just makes everything easier. People who look at you like you are cursing at them while speaking decent Mandarin, will miraculously understand your garbled Taiwanese perfectly. I'd suggest Mary Knoll books and learning centers. Please don't speak Mandarin like a girl. A lot of you will learn Mandarin at first from a female teacher or gf so you will speak like a girl. Your students are good for showing you things, but will get wrapped up trying to teach you Mandarin rather than them studying English. The reading comes in handy for finding things in the Taiwanese Yellow pages. You can grab it for free at any Chunghua Telecom service center. Learning how to use it greatly simplifies finding things. You can test the competency of a Taiwanese person by asking them to find something that you already know the location of in the yellow pages. For yourself, go to tw.dictionary.yahoo.com, put in the English and count the strokes of the characters and go to the back of the yellow pages and start looking for them. You can also copy and paste to facebook and usually find a Taiwanese group. When entering the shop: Immediately start speaking Taiwanese to get the boss/boss's wife/underling to get over the fact a foreigner is there and they need to help you buy something from them. It immediately destroys their 2 impediments to them not helping you 1 I don't speak English 2 I don't understand your Mandarin and will talk too fast to be useful. Once they are calm, they'll switch to English or you can switch to Mandarin without much difficulty. For renting in Taipei, it was hard. If you used 591, you normally had to look at the apartment and decide right then, that you wanted it. Otherwise it'd be gone. Networking and talking to people abut their neighborhood and possible open places can help. 591 is ok for central Taiwan. Not sure about southern Taiwan. The days of living in cheap expansive factories are over.
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Mar 22, 2015 03:54
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okami posted:The problem is reputable is a really broad term in Taiwan, and people who know what they're talking about are rare or hard to find. Your paraphrasing sounds great, but the reality is not a lot of people we deal with know a lot. They're normally young women who have been studying for a long time, can't cook and are addicted to facebook. The law is incredibly spotty as well and if you know it well you can get away with a lot. General saying between another long termer and me is: It's legal till it isn't and illegal till it is. what
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Mar 22, 2015 04:16
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In other news, I finally found something to burn all those stickers on at Family Mart: 這是很看!
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Mar 22, 2015 04:42
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YF19pilot posted:In other news, I finally found something to burn all those stickers on at Family Mart: Is that some new kid Gundam? Why not have macross figure? Gross
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Mar 22, 2015 04:51
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caberham posted:Is that some new kid Gundam? I haven't found a vending machine with Valkyries in it yet. But if I did...
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Mar 22, 2015 05:03
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okami posted:Rules for learning Chinese: oh ok
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Mar 22, 2015 07:17
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YF19pilot posted:In other news, I finally found something to burn all those stickers on at Family Mart: lol (also 很好看, fyi)
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Mar 22, 2015 08:05
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quadrophrenic posted:oh ok
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Mar 22, 2015 08:06
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That wall of text is like the kind of advice I'd give someone living with drug dealers in Cambodia.
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Mar 22, 2015 08:17
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Atlas Hugged posted:That wall of text is like the kind of advice I'd give someone living with drug dealers in Cambodia.
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Mar 22, 2015 08:20
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TetsuoTW posted:Really? Because the advice I'd give someone living with drug dealers in Cambodia is "don't." that's funny, that advice perfectly applies to posting that wall of text THE CIRCLE OF LIFE
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Mar 22, 2015 08:55
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TetsuoTW posted:Really? Because the advice I'd give someone living with drug dealers in Cambodia is "don't." You have been missing out in the SEA line chat.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:23
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Atlas Hugged posted:You have been missing out in the SEA line chat.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:26
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TetsuoTW posted:Wait is this that guy that was on hell of yaba and dating a prostitute who stole his poo poo because he went on a meth bender with some random farang while he was supposed to be at work? Last I heard he was a) about to marry the prostitute and b) just back from Cambodia (and undoubtedly more drugs). It's in gbs now
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Mar 22, 2015 09:29
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TetsuoTW posted:Wait is this that guy that was on hell of yaba and dating a prostitute who stole his poo poo because he went on a meth bender with some random farang while he was supposed to be at work? Last I heard he was a) about to marry the prostitute and b) just back from Cambodia (and undoubtedly more drugs). This is unrelated. Another goon just had an adventure through the lovely world of the Cambodian drug trade.
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Mar 22, 2015 09:45
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okami posted:The problem is reputable is a really broad term in Taiwan, and people who know what they're talking about are rare or hard to find. Your paraphrasing sounds great, but the reality is not a lot of people we deal with know a lot. They're normally young women who have been studying for a long time, can't cook and are addicted to facebook. The law is incredibly spotty as well and if you know it well you can get away with a lot. General saying between another long termer and me is: It's legal till it isn't and illegal till it is. @_@
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Mar 22, 2015 11:55
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TetsuoTW posted:lol Alternatively one could add a 的 to the end to at least make it grammatical if a bit of a mouthful.
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Mar 22, 2015 12:58
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TetsuoTW posted:lol Ah, thanks. I'm two weeks into Chinese classes and just know enough to think I know what I'm saying.
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Mar 22, 2015 13:01
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Atlas Hugged posted:This is unrelated. Another goon just had an adventure through the lovely world of the Cambodian drug trade. Link that poo poo
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Mar 22, 2015 15:46
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caberham posted:Link that poo poo It's all in the line chat that you are a member of.
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Mar 22, 2015 15:58
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politicorific posted:I'm interested in knowing if any of you have seen anyone riding an electric unicycle or seen a place selling them in Taipei/Taiwan. Where I live it seems to be a viable means of transportation. I'm not interested in getting a scooter but an electric bike might be an option too. Saw a dude on one of those the other day. He was wearing plaid high-heel boots, a blue, sequin members-only jacket, and had the shittiest k-pop blaring from a speaker on the wheel at 300 decibels. The uni-scooter or whatever it's called complimented the getup nicely.
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Mar 24, 2015 04:28
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TetsuoTW posted:lol Magna Kaser posted:Alternatively one could add a 的 to the end to at least make it grammatical if a bit of a mouthful. I thought 很 was just this word that people say and write without actually meaning anything, like gently caress or sorry, if you're English. I didn't realise it had an actual function.
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Mar 24, 2015 15:29
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House Louse posted:I thought 很 was just this word that people say and write without actually meaning anything, like gently caress or sorry, if you're English. I didn't realise it had an actual function. It means "very", but it's also required (sort of) before all (kinda) "adjectives" I don't know if you're serious or not
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Mar 24, 2015 15:32
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House Louse posted:I thought 很 was just this word that people say and write without actually meaning anything, like gently caress or sorry, if you're English. I didn't realise it had an actual function.
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Mar 24, 2015 15:33
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quadrophrenic posted:It means "very", but it's also required (sort of) before all (kinda) "adjectives" Basically 是 = "is [noun]" And 很 = "is [adjective] So 他很胖 is "He is fat", rather than "He's very fat". Everyone says it means 'very' but like this chap says it's just kind of required before an adjective wether excess is there or not.
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Mar 24, 2015 22:31
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quadrophrenic posted:It means "very", but it's also required (sort of) before all (kinda) "adjectives" I'm always super serious about Chinese and will be sure to check this thread's intel at class tomorrow.
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Mar 25, 2015 02:39
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BottledBacon posted:Basically 是 = "is [noun]"  I always say 他比較肥 instead of 他很肥
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Mar 25, 2015 02:45
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