Desbreko

[color=indigo]Well, I've become quite anxious over Final Fantasy XI lately. I won't be able to get it for two or three months yet, from lack of money for a new PC, but that won't stop me from making banners and avatars. I don't have all that many yet, but the collection will no doubt grow over the coming weeks. (Anyone remember that old Four Swords/Metroid Prime thread that I had in here? It's gonna be like that). So yeah, I don't have much yet, but I'll be adding any new banners or avatars to this thread as I make them. So, here they are. Comments are welcome, and if you want to use any of them, just ask. [b]Banners[/b] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/WhoWillYouBe.jpg[/img] [size=1]In this, my first FFXI banner, I was trying to go for the "just starting" feeling of creating a new character. On the right, you've got a plain, male Tarutaru (the race I'm going to be) -- the default for that race/gender, I think. Over to the left of this you have the text, as if asking who you're going to be in Vana'diel (FFXI's online world). And finally, in the background, you've got a slightly faded, black and white image of some Tarutaru mages casting a spell together. It's kind of like a glimpse of what you, starting as that plain little Tarutaru on the right, can become. So if anyone didn't get it, that's what that banner is about. ^_^[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI.jpg[/img] [size=1]At first, this banner may look extremely simple and easy. I just slapped a couple pics against a background and then stuck the FFXI logo in between them, right? Wrong. Look [i]really[/i] close and you'll see that that isn't the actual FFXI logo. What I did, was download the font that the FF logos are in, and spaced out the letters just right and added a white drop shadow. The "Online" and underline bits I did cut out from a picture of the actual logo, but they had to be heavily editted in order to fit correctly with the other text. The result is a good FFXI logo that isn't blurry or anything from being cut out of another image, and I'm rather happy with how well it worked.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/RepublicOfBastok.gif[/img] [size=1]After brainstorming over ideas for another banner, I finally came up with the idea of doing ones for each of the countries. So, this is the Bastok one, obviously. I like how it turned out, with the flag on the left, separate from the rest of the banner. (The gap is actually transparent, too, not just white space, so it'll work on other backgrounds). As it pretty much always is, the text was the hardest part, but I think the font and color fits the rest of the banner fairly well. And the background is a screen shot of the Port of Bastok, which I think fits nicely, with a Hume, the dominant race of Bastok, in the foreground.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/KingdomOfSandOria.gif[/img] [size=1]This banner, I actually made after the Windurst one below, but since the countries seem to always be listed in this order (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst), I figured I'd put it here. But yeah, this is just the next, and maybe final, banner in the series I'm doing. I think it turned out pretty good; I think the Elvaan picture and background work well (my favorite background out of the three), and the text isn't too hard to read for being in such a weird font. I had thought the Elvaan's hair was going to be a pain to cut out, but after resizing it so small, the bit of white edge just blended with the grey hair, which in turn blended well with the background. Convenient, heh.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FederationOfWindurst.gif[/img] [size=1]Continuing the series from the Bastok one above, here's a Windurst banner that follows the same pattern. I'm kind of disappointed with this one, however. I couldn't get the text to be as easily readable as the Bastok one, and it came out a lot grainier when saving it as a gif. Also, I had to re-use the same Tarutaru picture from the "Who Will You Be?" banner, since I couldn't get any other good Tarutaru pictures. I guess if you don't look at it too close, it's not that bad, but I'm still not as happy with it as I am the Bastok one. Hopefully the San d'Oria one will be better.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Adventure.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Beauty.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Mystery.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Serenity.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/FinalFantasyXI-Solitude.gif[/img] [size=1]Here, I've got a series of little banners that I made just now, one after the other. They weren't very difficult to make, seeing as the only thing I really had to do was resize/crop the backgrounds and do whatever effects I wanted on the text, so they didn't take long. And speaking of the backgrounds, all four pictures are concept art that I got from the official FFXI website. Dang I love that site. My favorite one is the Adventure one; the text in it kind of blends into the rock a bit, while still looking nice and sharp if you really look at it. Also, the green dropshadow blends in with the bit of plantlife behind the text, making it fit in even more. Added the Serenity one, which I just made.[/size] [b]Avatars[/b] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-BastokFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-SandOriaFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-WindurstFlag.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-JeunoFlag.gif[/img] [size=1]These are just avatars of the four countries' flags. (Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno, respectively). Nothing really special about them, I just thought they'd make good avatars.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-HumeMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruMale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-Galka2.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-HumeFemale3.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanFemale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruFemale1.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-Mithra1.gif[/img] [size=1]These are some avatars I made using images from a little character creation demo thing on PlayOnline.com. (The link to it is at the bottom of [url=http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/citizen/]this[/url] page, if you want to try it out yourself). And actually, for each of them up above, there's two more; three for each race's gender. I didn't want to use [i[i][/i]mg] tags for all of them, so if you want to see the rest, just go to my [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/]image site[/url] and follow the links from there.[/size] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-TarutaruBlackMage.gif[/img] [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-ElvaanArcher.gif[/img] [size=1]Just a couple misc. character avatars. Both of these are from the opening movie.[/size][/color]

[color=indigo]*points at own signature* Despite what it looks like, that's actually only four lines -- I can't wait till we can get another sig limit up. I think people need to learn how to be concise when it comes to signatures. I think they also need to learn the magic of free web hosting and the [u[i][/i]rl] tag. If something's going to make your sig long, slap it on a web page and just put a link to it instead of using twenty lines for an AIM quote or whatever.[/color]

[color=indigo]Heh, to tell the truth, my excitement for Double Dash right now is being almost completely drowned out by my anticipation of Final Fantasy XI. :cross: Though I'm sure that will change once I get it and breath deep the scent of a new game, heh. The church that I go to is actually in an old movie theater, so I'm hoping I can maybe set something up so people can come and we can all play up on a theater screen. Playing videogames on a movie theater screen is just awesome; especially when you've got a WaveBird and can sit anywhere in the theater, and not just in back next to the system. ^_^[/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Zidargh [/i] [B][color=silver]I will find the server name for you Des but I have to catch my flight home soon so I'll update you tomorrow. On the character side, yes I did become ther Hume Warrior, I'll post some pictures up of myself ^_^;. Mages are incredibly handy, whether they be Black or White, it's nice effects on spells too. And I'll take the Bastok avvey please Des ;) [/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Ah, okay. You may not actually have to get a World Pass yourself, depending on what server you're on. I know some people over at another message board that have the game, and they'd probably get us a World Pass if you're on the same server as one of them. I'll be sure to ask when I get the name of the server. Also, here's something that a guy on there posted up. Apparently, there's a quicker way to remake your character over and over until you get on the server you want. This could be very handy if it works as well as it says it does.[/color] [quote]as posted on RealLifeComics "Archamedies, on Bismarck, sent me this e-mail with info on the quicker way to run through the random server roulette wheel: You mentioned that you can keep rerolling until you land on the server you want, but as I'm sure you're aware it can be a VERY time consuming process. There is a trick to make it much, much faster though. 1. Make a new character 2. Select all the attributes, race, job, etc etc 3. Select starting town. 4. ***The important step*** When the screen comes up to associate a handle with your character, press Escape. This will take you back to the main menu. Go to character select and check which server your new toon is on. If he isn't on the server you want, delete, and when you go back to Create Character it has your previous settings memorized. You can literally spam the enter key through the options, get to the handle, escape, and check again. It typically only takes 5-10 minutes to land on the server you want, as each attempt only takes about 10 seconds on a fast computer. While it isn't as good as, oh I don't know, actually selecting the server you want, it does make getting your friends in the same spot a lot cheaper. Hope this helps! Thanks, Archamedies!"[/quote] [color=indigo]So yeah, tell us what server you're on as soon as you get the game running at home. And also, tell us your character's name so people can watch for you. ^_^[/color]

[color=indigo]Yeah, I miss Koopa Troopa from the original Super Mario Kart. Him and Toad were my two favorite characters, though I prefered Toad. They went a little slower than other characters, but they had spot-on handling. Very nice for the harder tracks with lots of twists and turns, as well as making quick maneuvers in battle mode. And what's wrong with Daisy? I happen to like her more than Peach. :p I don't think she's any more pointless than Baby Bowser instead of Koopa Troopa. [spoiler]I'm happy that Toad is going to be in Double Dash, though. I wonder if they'll bring back the Poison Mushrooms from the original that shrunk people? (They were Peach's and Toad's set item for the CPU). That'd be awesome. ^_^[/spoiler][/color]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Zidargh [/i] [B][color=silver]But now to the main point, guys I seriously need some of you to play with me, we'll actually go on a an expedition with other troops if we form a party and that's an easy 500 gil as I only have 10 lol. See you around.[/color] [/B][/QUOTE] [color=indigo]Well, people kind of need a World Pass in order to play with you, lol. Unless they want to just restart their characters over and over again until they happen to get on the same server as you. I've talked to people that have done that, and it took them hours, apparently. And that brings me to an important question: Which server are you playing on? In addition to the World Pass password, we'll need to know the name of the server you're on. So yeah, find an easy source of money. There's gotta be some other way you can make money besides fighting, if you're still too weak to beat enemies that give you a decent amount of Gil. Bastok is supposed to have a lot of mines nearby; try mining for a while to scrape up enough Gil for a World Pass. Or fishing, or logging if there's trees around, or whatever. Maybe you can beg for money. ;) Also, I'm curious about what you decided on for your race and job. Did you go for the Hume Warrior like you were thinking? Oh yeah, and by the way, I made a few avatars of the nations' flags. (As you can see from my Windurst flag avatar). If anyone wants to use them, you can find them on my image site: [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-BastokFlag.gif]Bastok Flag[/url] [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-SandOriaFlag.gif]San d'Oria Flag[/url] [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-WindurstFlag.gif]Windurst Flag[/url] [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/avatars/finalfantasyxi/80x80-JeunoFlag.gif]Jeuno Flag[/url][/color]

[color=indigo]Wouldn't Paladins be like Holy Knights? But yes, I was annoyed when I found out there wasn't a Dark Knight class. For the Sword Breaker, I didn't think it was hard to get, it just took me a while to get to a mission where I got it as a reward. Then I got a second one from another mission, I think. And right now, I have Marche as a Hunter. He's learned all the Soldier, Thief, Ninja, and White Mage abilities, plus all the Fighter, Paladin, and Archer abilities that I can learn so far. Does anyone know how I can get the weapons that teach the combo abilities for Fighters and Paladins? I'm pretty sure that those are the only two abilities I'm missing for those jobs.[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, I haven't heard back from Sephiroth yet, and according to the little message tracking thing, he hasn't even read my PM. So, after talking to Zidargh, who's getting FFXI today, I decided he should just go ahead and get a World Pass. If all goes well, he should be able to get one today, and then I'll be able to post it up in the main thread. Gah, this is turning out to be a lot more trouble than I thought it'd be. I hope it's worth it, and people actually use the World Passes to get on the same server. It'd kind of suck to have spent hours organizing all this and only have two or three people make use of it. :twitch:[/color]

[color=indigo]Well, you have to use quotation marks in HTML tags -- that's just the way HTML works. So yeah, if you want to use a color or image tag or something else that uses quotation marks in places other than your intro and posts, you'll have to replace it each time you want to edit something in that section. If you really want to keep whatever it is, however, I suggest just making a text file with the entry for that section written out with the HTML. Then when you go into edit something, and it erases part of the entry, you can just copy and paste it back in instead of having to type it all out again.[/color]

[color=indigo]My two favorite scents would be new games and new books. I love opening up a new game's case or the pages of a new book and inhaling deeply. Both give me a sense of anticipation; of wanting to jump into a new story and just let my cares fade away while I spend time practicing one of my favorite hobbies. While they're two different smells, I like them both equally, so I can't really pick one over the other. (And yes, I know, I'm an obsessed freak). I think my second favorite smell, which comes close to my favorite two, would be the scent of rain. I love going out on a cold winter day just after a big storm, when the air is so fresh and clean. *looks up at the post above this* Lol, I didn't even notice that before now. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Oh, and I also like the smell of some (but not all) car exhaust. Isn't that weird?[/color]

[color=indigo]Yeah, if James thinks you're qualified to be a mod, and there's a need for another mod, he'll PM you and ask if you'd like the job -- simple as that. If you want, you can take a look at the PM he sent me. (Yes, I still have it saved, heh).[/color] [quote]James wrote on 02-13-2002 11:16 PM: Just wondering if you're interested in joining our staff -- as a moderator in the Nintendo forum. We'd be happy to have you. I look forward to your reply. :) Regards, James.[/quote]

[color=indigo]This should go in the Suggestions & Feedback forum. Banner/Avatar Request is for making requests only. *moves* As for your problem, your host may not allow direct linking to files. If that's the case, you'll just have to host it somewhere else that does.[/color]

[color=indigo]Are you putting your quote in quotation marks? If so, that'd be it. It was doing the same thing with me until I stopped using quotation marks. Also, it seems like when you use HTML in stuff other than your introduction and Otaku Life posts, it'll sometimes cut the text short when you go back in to edit something. It does this to my Otaku Life post titles whenever I edit a post, and I end up having to type them out again. I have no idea why these things happen, though. Probably just bugs in the code.[/color]

[color=indigo]I don't know how many characters a server can hold, but it has to be more than a couple hundred. There are only 30 [url=http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/server/index.html]servers[/url], and one of them's a test server. Plus, everyone in Japan is already playing on them, so it's got to at least be in the range of thousands. And something has just come to my attention. Apparently, a World Pass can is only good for one week after it's been issued. And, even worse, each World Pass can only be used for the creation of one character. So, that kind of throws a wrench in the works of my plan. I had thought a World Pass could be used over and over again, but I guess not. So yeah, there's been a change of plans. Sephiroth, go ahead and get a World Pass after you start a character, and PM it to me. I've already got a basic plan on how to do this, for getting a World Pass for everyone that wants one, but I need to write it up and patch it into the thread that I've already written. If I could have someone get a new World Pass each week as they expire, or whenever one is used, that'd be the easiest, I think. Anyone interested? This would be so much easier if I were able to get the game when it comes out on the 28th, and not have to wait a few months. Then I could just get World Passes for the thread myself... I [i]will[/i] make this work, though! The OtakuBoards FFXI clan will live! ^_^[/color] [b]Edit:[/b] [color=seagreen]Okay, a bit of good news. Turns out a World Pass can be used five times, not just once...so that'll make things a bit easier. I've also got the main thread all written and ready now, with a sort of chain system for the World Passes so that when a person uses one, they'll also get a new one and post it. I'm just waiting on Sephiroth to get FFXI and send me the first World Pass. Here's a [url=http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/polnews/news930.shtml]link[/url] to the latest news on World Passes, by the way.[/color]

[color=indigo]Yes! get Marche some Thief abilities so he can become a Ninja. And as soon as you get the Nosada katana, equip it to learn Doublesword. Dang I love that ability. Two attacks in one turn from Marche is awesome, especially if he's a Fighter or Paladin. A Time Mage/Black Mage combo for Montblanc would indeed work well. Time magic is more useful than I first thought, and you'd also have black magic for attacking. Personally, though, I made Montblanc a Thief/Juggler. Jugglers get all kinds of cool abilities that cause status effects and damage at the same time, and I just love being able to steal. For Watoo, a Sage/White Mage is one of the most useful Nu Mou combinations I've found. You get a bit of everything with them; healing magic, protective magic, attack magic, status effect magic... Sage is my favorite Nu Mou job, and white magic makes them a powerful healer as well as a powerful attacker. Becile, I'd try and make her an Assassin. This may just be me, but I haven't found my Sniper to be all that useful. Or, if she's got decent magic power and MP, you could try going for a Red Mage. You'll probably need to switch to Fencer for a bit, though. As for Zoik (yes, definitely a great name), I wouldn't bother making him a Gunner if he's already learned a decent amount of Juggler abilities. (Though I would highly recommend getting another Moogle to use as a Gunner). Most Gunner abilities deal status effects, same as Juggler abilities, though there are some different ones. Personally, I'd just keep him as a Juggler/Thief until you learn all the abilities for those two jobs. I'd keep Carlos as a Blue Mage, but only until you learn the Learning ability and Damage>MP (and maybe Blue Combo). After that, you can switch him over to another job, keep Learning ability equiped, and still learn blue magic from being hit by it. That's what I'm doing with Hoffman, my Blue Mage, right now; he's a White Mage/Blue Mage currently. Good, good, Illusionist/Black Mage is another excellent Nu Mou combo -- I'd do that for Elvos. Stand back and cast phantasm spells while out of range of enemy attacks, and if anyone does get close, take them out with a powerful black magic spell. I'd recommend spending a bit of time as an Alchemist to learn the Magic Pow+ ability, though. For Janeth, both Elementalist and Summoner are good choices. With an Elementalist, you get attack magic that also deals status effects, as well as a couple healing spells. With a Summoner, you're going to be using her to mainly attack with her powerful summons. I'd go with either a Summoner/Elementalist combo or Elementalist/White Mage combo. Depends mainly on whether you want the character to be more offensive, or more defensive, really. On Goodwin, an Alchemist/Black Mage combo is also good. It's sort of like the traditional FF black mage, with attack and negative status effect spells. Unlike the Illusionist/Black Mage combo, you'll be more in the thick of combat, but the Alchemist abilities will wreak havoc among the enemies, and you still have the powerful black magic for dealing serious damage. And besides, what's more fun that beating on a group of defenseless frogs? Personally, I wouldn't recommend making Schneider a Defender. They're similar to the Paladin job on humans, but I don't like their abilities as much as a Paladin's. I'd make him a Templar instead; they're good fighters, and they also have some useful sacred tech abilities such as Haste. Also, they can use some spears, giving them double the range on normal attacks. And the Trident spear teaches them Weapon Atk+. Oh, and some advice, if you ever want a Bishop: Don't make a Bangaa a Bishop unless he started out as one when he joined. Bishops are the only Bangaa class to rely mainly on magic, so unless the Bangaa starts out as a Bishop, he's going to have low magic power and low magic points. And on a character that relies mainly on magic, that'll kill you.[/color]

[color=indigo]My favorite Zelda boss has always been Mothula in A Link to the Past. The moving floor, tons of constantly moving Spike Traps, and three-way beam attacks from Mothula, not to mention trying to hit the thing while dodging all this, adds up to one of the most frantic boss fights in the game. I love it. The only problem is that, if you use the Fire Rod or Tempered Sword, it's over way too quickly. I should see if I could do it using only Sword Beams sometime. The Kholdstare fight, also from LTP, comes in a close second. There, you've got three moving targets and falling chunks of ice that shatter when they hit the floor, making three smaller chunks of ice fly out from the point of impact. Again, however, the Fire Rod makes the fight too short. I should try using only the Bow & Arrows next time I play through. [i]That[/i] would be a challenge, considering how slow the arrows travel in LTP. As for my least favorite boss...hmm... I think that'd probably be the single Dodongo that is the boss of Level 2 in the original Legend of Zelda. Even Aquamentus is harder and more fun to fight than a single Dodongo. :twitch:[/color]

[color=indigo]It doesn't matter whether you use a World Pass or not; either way, you can't switch which server your character is on. The only way to choose which server you're going to be playing on is by using a World Pass when you create a character. Once you start a character, you're stuck on that server.[/color]

[color=indigo]It's been confirmed that they're making a movie; trailers have been shown. And we already have a thread about it [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31540]here[/url], meaning this thread is obsolete. Please post in the other thread if you have something to add about FFVII: Advent Children. [img]http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/Lock.gif[/img] Thread Closed[/color]

[color=indigo][quote]If anyone has any questions, they should be PMed to me, not posted in this thread; only applications should be posted in this thread.[/quote]*sigh* ... Ah well, I suppose this thread'll be deleted soon enough, so I guess I'll just answer the questions. First off, I'd expect people to already know what a World Pass is if they're going to be supplying one... But basically, it's just a password that lets you create a character on the same server as the person that gave you the World Pass. You can go [url=http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/gameplay/06.html]here[/url] for the details on how they work. Second, that's kind of the whole purpose of this thread and the thread that will be replacing this one. So that people who are getting FFXI can all play together on the same server, from using the same World Pass. If you're getting FFXI and you want to play together with other OB members, you'll need to wait for the World Pass to be posted before you create a character, so that you can use it and play on the same server.[/color]

[color=indigo]Lol, yeah, I did the banner. Where'd you get the idea that it was Syk? :whoops: And yes, the cutout of the foreground image could be a bit better. I forgot to smooth out the edges while making it, and then after I was done, I didn't want to go back and change the banner again. Yeah, I know, I'm lazy. As for the text, that's the English logo for the anime. (I tried making my own text, but I couldn't find a font that I liked. And besides, it's usually hard to do better than something's logo). So I didn't actually make the text myself, but I did do more than just cut and paste it. The only (halfway) decent image of it I could find was a grainy gif, so after I cut it out I had to smooth the edges a lot. And then I had to get the black drop shadow just right in order to make it look like it did originally. (The logo was on a dark blue background, so I couldn't cut out the dropshadow without leaving a bunch of blue around it -- not without doing it all by hand, which I did [i]not[/i] want to do). There was also the problem of trying to find balance on a dropshadow going diagonally up/left. I had to get it so the edges of the text wouldn't blend together with the background and be hard to see, while at the same time making sure it wasn't so dark that it would actually change the look of the text. I'm still surprised at how well the whole thing came out. Overall, for a "making it up as I go along" banner, I think it turned out pretty good. I was changing it around, trying different pictures in it as I found them, until I finally settled on the two I used plus the logo for the text. :cross:[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, that post was almost completely illegible, mangagod. Please try and improve your post quality. Capital letters, punctuation, and correct spelling would all help immensely.[/color]

[color=indigo]I've finally made an anime banner for myself; something I haven't done before. The one other anime banner I made was a request, so this is the first one I myself am actually using. Whee. ^_^ Basically, I just watched the series Oh My Goddess! (or whatever you want to call it -- I've seen a few different translations) and I liked it enough to make a banner for it. And when I was done, I was happy enough with the result to actually use the banner, so here I am. Go [url=http://www.angelfire.com/ex/desbreko/banners/OhMyGoddess.jpg]here[/url] to see it. Comments would be nice.[/color]

[color=indigo]Okay, just to clear a couple things up, you should [i]know for sure[/i] that you're going to be able to play and get a World Pass the day that the game comes out. (Though I guess if no one can do that, I'll have to settle for the day after or something). And a World Pass isn't something you actually purchase from Square Enix; all it is is a password that you get from certain non-player characters in the game, which you can then tell to your friends. Or, in this case, you'd be writting the password down and sending it to me. As for the amount of parties and that, yes, there is a limit to the number of characters in a party. That number is 6, and alliances can be formed from a maximum of 3 parties. So everyone that joins up using the World Pass may not be able to play in the same party/alliance, but we can always have multiple alliances and still just work together if we want. And one of the things I'm going to be using the new thread for, that replaces this one once I get the World Pass, is keeping track of who's in what party, what parties are in what alliances, and all that.[/color]

[color=indigo]My brother, whom I mooch off, currently has 168 AMVs. I've seen a good number of them, and for the most part, they're well done. In my opinion, AMVs are a good thing for the series unless they're absolutely horrible. I've actually watched a couple animes because I saw the AMVs for that series and thought it looked good. As for a favorite, I think that'd be a Cowboy Bebop one done to Metallica's Unforgiven II. That or one done to Van Halen's Right Now, using various clips from a bunch of animes. The first one's cool and serious while the other is funny, and I just can't decide. ^_^[/color]

[color=indigo]This thread can be used for discussing anything about the storyline of FFVIII. I would only ask that people refrain from comparing FFVIII to other games, talking about the graphics, gameplay, and other stuff like that. We've already got another thread for that [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30210]here[/url]. This thread should be used only for discussing the story, not rating the game. And if you want the subject changed so that it covers a broader range of storyline subjects, and so that the change appears on the thread list, I can do that for you. Maybe something like "FFVIII Story Questions"?[/color]