The Four Pillars is a research programme set up in 1987 by the Geneva Association, also known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics. The aim of the Four Pillars research programme is to study the key importance in the new service economy of Social Security, Insurance, Savings and Employment. The programme focuses on the future of pensions, welfare and employment. The Geneva Association launched its Four Pillars research programme with a view to identifying possible solutions to the issue of the future financing of pensions and, more generally, to organising social security systems in our post-industrial societies. Demographic trends - especially increased life and health expectancy - could be seen as positive if we were able to devise ways of enabling 'ageing in good-health populations' to make a valid economic and social contribution to the functioning of our service economies over the decades to come.[citation needed]
The concept of the Four Pillars owes its origin to the fact that in most countries the funding of pensions is based on three pillars:
Osiris, the Egyptian god, also played the role of Cosmic Pillar (Djed), a role he shared with Seth, his twin and dual. But this mythical symbolism ultimately derives from that of Shiva as the Sthanu, the “Pillar of the World” and that of Shesha (or Vritra), the Cosmic Serpent who was the archetype of Seth-Typhon.
- The 1st pillar: the compulsory, pay-as-you-go, state pension;
- The 2nd pillar: the supplementary (often funding-based) occupational pension;
- The 3rd pillar: individual savings (personal pension and assets and life insurance).
The Geneva Association advocated in its publications and seminars a strengthening of the 2nd pillar and further development of 3rd pillar resources. However, the attention of the Geneva Association has focused above all on a 4th pillar i.e. the future need for a flexible extension of work-life, mainly on a part-time basis, in order to supplement income from the three existing pillars. The reorganization of end-of-career and the new age-management strategy - in which gradual retirement is destined to play a key role - involved in establishing this pillar, also correspond to many of the changes (e.g. in quality of work and the life cycle) that are specific to our contemporary service economies.[1]
Main objectives[edit]
The research programme has had four main objectives:
- Analysis of the key elements in organizing old-age security systems
- Research of conditions for multi-pillar systems of pension financing
- Encouragement of complementary solutions to the challenges of a changing welfare state and new life-cycles, in particular of the key importance of a flexible extension of working life, that is the building of a 4th pillar
- Understanding the role of insurance in the provision of old-age security systems
Main activities[edit]
Over the years, the main activities of the Four Pillars programme have included:
- Undertaking research on key issues and contributing to research undertaken by international networks (e.g. World Bank, International Social Security Association, European Commission, GINA, World Economic Forum, etc.)
- Stimulating pension and similar experts in reconsidering mainstream research and encouraging alternative views and approaches
- Organizing seminars and conferences on these topics and participating in international events (e.g. European Commission, OECD, CSIS, insurance companies, national governments, universities, research centers, etc.)
- Publishing numerous materials such as books, special issues of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance (one dedicated issue every two years), The Four Pillars Newsletter (two a year), dedicated issues of the working papers 'Etudes & Dossiers', brochures in English and French for a wider public, contributions to academic and professional reviews, etc.
Relevance to the insurance sector[edit]
The Four Pillars research programme is relevant to the insurance sector in six main areas:
- Global partnership between the public and private sectors
The current need for reforming social security has been felt in all countries. The main objective of this reform has been to reduce the hitherto substantial share of the GDP devoted to social expenditure. The key challenge here has been to consolidate the partnership between the public and private sectors. Almost all States have had to redesign or readjust their welfare policies on health and pensions so as to avoid creating public deficits which would otherwise place too great a burden upon future generations.
- Development of second and third pillar pensions
With recent and current reforms of public pensions aimed at future sustainability - involving inevitably a fall in the relative level of old-age benefits - the development of second and third pillar pensions has become a priority. In many countries, second pillar pensions have been made compulsory and, where not already compulsory, have been encouraged by all kinds of financial and fiscal incentives. Private pension funds will play a growing role in securing future retirement income.
- Promotion of an extension of working life, i.e. of a fourth pillar
It however must be understood that even substantial development of second and third pillar pensions will probably not be sufficient to compensate both longer life-expectancy and a rising proportion of people over 65 years. With good health expectancy it is not only possible but also essential to plan for flexible extension of working life. Pension funds must encourage and facilitate this extension which will also benefit the insurance sector workforce.
- Encouragement of global savings and life insurance
In a more general way, it is essential to encourage long-term savings for retirement and longer-life expectancy. Insurance companies have a key role in designing adequate and tailored products to cater to a wide range of needs and means.
- Age management
In insurance, as in other sectors of the economy, workforce ageing will require planning for improved age management as a matter of urgency. The Geneva Association's studies at the European and international levels have shown that, among other things, continuing training, worktime reduction, job redesign and a review of the seniority-pay principle, will need increasingly to be addressed by individual insurance companies. Codes of employment might be an ideal place to start in developing new age management strategies.
- Devate and communication
Developing multi-pillar pension systems and promoting an extension of occupational life depend on certain conditions being met and will need to be preceded by a coherent, broad-based, informed and ongoing debate of all these issues. With the research programme and its fourth-pillar proposals, the Geneva Association has been able to do pioneer work in this field and has (probably) made a significant contribution to this all-important debate.
Publications[edit]
- Working Beyond 60: Key Policies and Practices in Europe, by Geneviève REDAY-MULVEY / February 2005, Palgrave Macmillan
- The Four Pillars, Geneva Association Information Newsletter, The Geneva Association
- Etudes et Dossiers, Working Paper Series, The Geneva Association
- The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, formerly The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance Theory (until March 2005), The Geneva Association & Springer
- Special Issue on the Four Pillars, The Future of Pensions and Retirement Income, and Working Beyond 60, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Vol.30 - No.4 / October 2005, Palgrave Macmillan
- Studies on the Four Pillars, Age and Employment: the Firm and the State and The Future of Pension, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Vol.28 - No.4 / October 2003, Palgrave Macmillan
- Global Ageing and Pension Organisation, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Vol.27 - No.4 / October 2002, Palgrave Macmillan
- Studies on the Four Pillars, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Vol.26 - No.4 / October 2001, Palgrave Macmillan
- Studies on the Four Pillars, Financing Pensions in the Future, and New Policies at the End of Career, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Vol.24 - No.4 / October 1999, Palgrave Macmillan
- Studies on the Four Pillars, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, No.81 / October 1996
- Studies on the Four Pillars, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, No.73 / October 1994
- Studies on the Four Pillars, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, No.62 / January 1992
- Studies on the Four Pillars, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, No.55 / April 1990
- The Four Pillars, Aids and Other Insurance Issues, The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, No.49 / October 1988
References[edit]
- ^'The Four Pillars Research Programme Page'. The Geneva Association. Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
External links[edit]
- The Geneva Association website (known as the International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics)
- The ISSA website, International Social Security Association
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Fourth_Pillar&oldid=907807836'
Ys Origin | |
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Developer(s) | Nihon Falcom |
Publisher(s) |
|
Director(s) | Toshihiro Kondō |
Writer(s) | Hisayoshi Takeiri Shinichiro Sakamoto Yoshihiro Konda |
Series | Ys |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One |
Release | Microsoft WindowsPlayStation 4
|
Genre(s) | Action role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Ys Origin (イース・オリジン, Īsu Orijin) is an action role-playingvideo game developed and published by Nihon Falcom for Microsoft Windows in 2006. In 2012, Xseed Games published an English-language localization of the game, via the Steam service and later through other download stores.[2]
Ys Origin is a prequel to the eight previous installations of the Ys video game series. It takes place 700 years before the events of Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, and tells much of the backstory of Ys, Darm Tower, the Black Pearl, the twin goddesses, and the six priests. The game has three playable characters: Yunica Tovah, Hugo Fact, and 'The Claw'.[3] By completing the game with each of the characters, the player sees more dimensions to the story. Each player character has a distinctive story, combat style and skillset. Ys Origin is the first game in the Ys series in which Adol Christin is not the protagonist. The game also differs in some respect as being a straightforward dungeon crawl, taking place entirely within the massive Darm Tower.
The game was also released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2017,[1] and for the Xbox One the following year.
- 2Plot
Gameplay[edit]
Ys Origin features three characters with various fighting styles. Yunica is able to wield axes and greatswords with ease. In addition to standard hack-and-slash combos, Yunica is also able to perform various aerial maneuvers such as the down-thrust and up-thrust from previous Ys games, as well as a crippling lunge attack. Hugo Fact can fire energy from his wand and his 'Eyes of Fact' alike, he can often fill the screen with destructive power, mowing down all enemies in his path before they have a chance to get anywhere near him. With good timing, he can pull off a crippling 'power shot,' generating a debilitating pillar of pure magic with a wider area of effect. 'The Claw' is a short range/high damage character geared towards the more experienced players.[4]
All playable characters have a 'Boost Meter' that slowly fills as the game progresses. Once this meter has reached capacity, that character can be temporarily 'Boosted' for quicker and stronger attacks and far greater defense. Once certain conditions have been reached during gameplay, boosted characters can utilize a special move called 'Burst' that quickly depletes their Boost meter in favor of an ultra-powerful, extremely wide-ranging release of highly destructive energy.
Plot[edit]
Setting[edit]
There once was a wildly prosperous land named Ys, ruled by the twin Goddesses Reah and Feena and their six priestly retainers. It was a veritable paradise, with all its residents able to enact miracles at will through the use of magic – a power granted them by a holy artifact known as the Black Pearl. One day, without warning, enormous demons marched upon the land, bringing death and devastation in their wake. Their numbers and their might were too much for the knights and sorcerers of Ys to handle, so the people sought shelter within their holiest of temples at the top of the tallest mountain. In a desperate attempt to keep these people safe, the twin Goddesses used the power of the Black Pearl to tear this temple from the ground and raise it into the heavens, away from the ever-growing threat below.
The demons were determined, however. They erected an enormous tower from which further attacks were launched, bringing the battle into the skies. An all-out war had begun, with forces concentrated in Solomon Shrine above and the Devil's Tower below. And it was amidst this chaos that the twin Goddesses stole away into the night. No one was told of their departure – not even the Six Priests who served them. It seemed clear that they'd gone back to the surface, but no one knew exactly why. Only one thing was certain: Without the Goddesses, Ys could not survive. Intent on finding their missing deities, the Six Priests organized a search party of the most elite knights and sorcerers in the land. These soldiers were given a single mission: Secure the safety of Ladies Reah and Feena, and bring them back to Solomon Shrine alive and well. But in the desolate, ruined remains of Ys, there's only one place they could have gone...the Devil's Tower itself.
Characters[edit]
- Yunica Tovah (ユニカ=トバ, Yunika Toba): Yunica is the granddaughter of Priest Tovah, one of the six priests of Ys.[5] She begins the game armed with a battle axe, but later acquires a fire sword. The axe allows for rapid attack sequences, whereas the sword affords a wider reach. Although unable to cast any kind of magic by herself, she can use wind or thunder magic with her axe when she has the required magical artifacts that contain the spells to be cast, and fire magic with her sword when she finds it. Yunica's gameplay is comparable to Adol's in The Oath in Felghana and The Ark of Napishtim.
- Hugo Fact (ユーゴ=ファクト, Yūgo Fakuto):[6] The magician Hugo attacks by emitting magic missiles from his staff and from his two small satellites, the Eyes of Fact.[5]
- The Claw (鉤爪の男, Kagizume no Otoko): 'The Claw' is a character surrounded in mystery; he attacks rapidly, wielding two large metal claws.
- Adol Christin (アドル=クリスティン, Adoru Kurisutin): The expansion disk and later editions of the game add Adol to the roster of player characters in the Time Attack and Arena Mode bonus games. The player can choose to play Adol as he appeared either in The Ark of Napishtim or in The Oath in Felghana. Each variation plays as it did in the original game, but with control mechanics adjusted for parity with the other three characters.
Release[edit]
Ys Origin was originally released on December 21, 2006 for Windows XP. An expansion disc was made available to owners of the first edition (a serial number had to be provided to request the upgrade)[citation needed]. The expansion disc added two new difficulty levels, an arena mode, alternate versions of the three main characters with upgraded skills, the ability to play as Adol Christin (in Time Attack and Arena Mode only), and a few additional secrets. The retail version has been re-released three times in order to support new Windows operating systems; Vista, 7, and 8 respectively.[7]
The game was released on Steam on May 31, 2012. On top of the enhancements from the expansion disc, this release added a fully localized translation, proper widescreen support, Steam achievements, enhanced game pad support, and cloud save support.[8] On January 12, 2015, Nihon Falcom announced that this version of the game had sold over 200,000 copies worldwide.[9] The game was later released DRM-free on GOG.com and Humble Store as well.[10]
Reception[edit]
Reception | ||||||||||||||||
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Richard Cobbett from PC Gamer rated Ys Origin a 71 out of 100 and called it 'a cute, quirky anime dungeon crawl that will cheerfully kick your arse until your nose starts bleeding.'[16] Dale North from Destructoid awarded it an 8.5 out of 10 and commented that '$20 gets you a thoroughly enjoyable PC RPG that both looks and sounds great, despite its age. You'll get about 10 hours of entertaining gameplay, really strong narrative (for a Ys game), and a great localization to go with it.'[14]
References[edit]
- ^ ab'Classic RPG Ys Origin Coming to PS4, PS Vita on February 21, 2017'. PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^Yip, Spencer (4 May 2012). 'Ys Origin to Steam with English Text in May'. Siliconera. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^'Ys Origin - Characters'. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^'Ys Origin - Gameplay'. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ abKalata, Kurt; et al. 'Ys Origin'. Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^'Player Character'. falcom.com (in Japanese). Nihon Falcom. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^'Ys Origin Release Information for PC'. GameFAQs. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^'XSEED Games Releases Action RPG Title Ys Origin on Steam'. XSEED Games. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^'Ys Origin Sells Over 200k on Steam'. Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^Massey, Tom. 'Chronicles of Ys: A Series Retrospective'. eurogamer.net. Gamer Network.
- ^'Ys Origin for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^'Ys Origin for PlayStation 4 Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^'Ys Origin for Xbox One Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ ab'Review: Ys Origin (PC, Steam)'. Destructoid. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^'Y's Origin - Test'. Eurogamer.de. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ ab'Ys: Origins review'. PC Gamer. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ys_Origin&oldid=910556462'