Desbreko

[color=#4B0082]My reaction to the controller as expressed through smilies. Everyone likes smilies. -_- --> :therock: --> :eek: --> :drool: And yeah, that pretty much says it all, heh. At first I was really sceptical, but after reading more about it and watching the video demonstration, I couldn't (and still can't) wait to try it out. The idea of mouselook-like aiming in Metroid Prime 3 and using it for sword strokes in Zelda is, as James once [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showpost.php?p=176185&postcount=5]put it[/url], orgasm inducing.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, I can't really speak for others regarding their policies on letting people use their work, but I wouldn't think anyone would care. Considering that the whole point of submitting them in here is so that others can use them and all. So yeah, I'd say go ahead and use one as a custom avatar if it didn't get added to the archive or is still pending. Also, I add avatars kind of sporadically -- basically, "when I feel like it" -- since it's not exactly a high priority thing. I try not to let too many pile up before doing an update, but sometimes it'll be a while before some submissions get added, so don't think something was rejected just because it hasn't been added yet. Most of the time I'll make a post in here whenever I add new submissions (such as my post before this), to keep people up to date on which have been given the yea and which the nay, and anything after that post will be left until the next update/post.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Right, so I went and downloaded Advent Children. (I know, it's less than legal, but I'm going to be getting it on DVD when it comes stateside anyway. Seeing it early has only confirmed that even more.) I'll post some thoughts about it, but be aware that there [i]will[/i] be spoilers -- though marked with spoiler tags of course -- so don't get pissed if you highlight them anyway and have something ruined for you. Overall, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, and as mentioned, I'm definitely going to pick up the DVD when it's released in the US. The fight scenes -- and there were a lot of them -- were amazing and a lot of fun to watch. Having played FFVII a lot, I already knew Cloud was badass, but there's only a few scenes in the game that really show it to its full extent. In Advent Children, it goes above and beyond. Seriously, he does some crazy ****. But while Cloud was awesome, I was a bit disappointed in the other party members' roles. [spoiler]Tifa had some good parts, and Vincent had his bit in the Forgotten Capitol, but the rest of them seemed like they were thrown in just so that they'd be in the movie. They pretty much came out of nowhere for the fight with what I'm guessing was a summoned Bahamut, and they kicked ***, but it was very shortlived. I was expecting more from at least a couple of them.[/spoiler] The story. ... I guess it was okay. Obviously I wasn't expecting an hour and forty minute movie to have the same depth as a 70 hour game, but even so, I could tell they were putting the action first and the story second. [spoiler]As cool as the Cloud vs. Sephiroth fight was, there was still that, "Wait a minute, how is that supposed to work?" moment when he first appeared. Maybe more is explained outside of the movie in some form, or maybe the fansub didn't pick up on everything, but it seemed like there were some plot holes.[/spoiler] I have to agree with MajinVegeta about the sheer level of attention to detail that was put into the movie, though. I noticed a lot of little things referencing the game that made me smile. [spoiler](The bit with the victory theme ring tone, especially, was classic.)[/spoiler] And being a fan of game soundtracks, I really enjoyed listening closely and picking out the songs from the game that were remixed in Advent Children. I'd be really surprised if I caught all the little details just from my first watch, too; there's got to be more that I didn't pick up on. In the end, I don't know that I'd call Advent Children a masterpiece or anything, but I think anyone who's a fan of the game will enjoy it. I certainly did.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Okay, I added the six Kain avatars and the one of Vayne from FFXII; I thought the jpg artifacting was a bit too noticeable in the others. When saving avatars as jpgs, always be sure to use a low amount of compression. When I save avatars as jpgs in PSP7, I tend to set the level of compression to 5 out of a range of 1-99. I also added 26 Tales of Symphonia avatars that I recently made, and I organized the Final Fantasy avatars so that they're grouped by the game they're from.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]That might help, but I don't think a simple name change for the ratings will clear things up entirely. And I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't do much of anything. The reason being, I don't think it's so much an issue of people wanting their RPG to look "mature," as that they want it to look like it has the themes and content that goes along with the M rating. As long as large amounts of language, sex, and violence are deemed "cool" by people, they're going to keep using the ratings in the same manner they are now, regardless of the name. Right now, the only thing I can think of that would help the problem is for people to start creating more accurately rated RPGs. Especially if more lower rated RPGs could be made successful and popular, maybe more people would see that an RPG doesn't need an [M-LSV] rating to attract people. Lead by example and all that, you know?[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Screen shots: [URL=http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sorrowsfurnacefountain2od.jpg][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/8832/sorrowsfurnacefountain2od.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jehsangels7nj.jpg][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/8848/jehsangels7nj.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img368.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nippletouch4hg.jpg][IMG]http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/3691/nippletouch4hg.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] The first is from Sorrow's Furnace, down in what look to be natural cave formations (as opposed to the mining areas that were cut out of the rock). It's a really cool place -- and I still want to eat some of the shrooms growing down there. The other two screens are. ... Well, you can see what they are well enough. By the way, more of you guys who are ascended also need to get to the Ring of Fire islands. There's tons of really good elite skills to capture there.[/color]

[QUOTE=Bombu][color=darkred]Yeah, it is a great game in itself, but I can still think of a few others that match its style (like Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II and Tales of Symphonia) that I'd much rather play instead. But I definitely agree with you on your opinion about the multiplayer mode. It SUCKED, mainly because of the Chalice. There are only two people I know who play video games on the same kind of level that I do, and played FF:CC with me when the game came out -- one's a stingy bastard who would try to stall me into holding the Chalice for as long as possible, and the other would refuse to carry it at all, ultimately meaning us making no progress whatsoever. This really should have been thought out some more by the developers in the interest of fair play. After all, the Chalice is merely a gimmick (a bad one at that), and doesn't have to be there, so why bother. Perhaps FF:CC DS will give the name justice though.[/color][/QUOTE][color=#4B0082]Your friends suck then. :p Whenever me and my friends play FFCC, we take turns carrying the chalice. None of us really care, since we always just drop it during combat anyway, unless it needs to be picked up and moved mid-fight. I never found the chalice to be very cumbersome, though I do hope they get rid of it for the DS version. With each person having their own two screens, you should be able to split up if you want (or need) to. Being able to split up could also be used to expand the variety of gameplay, especially in regards to puzzles. Areas reminiscent of the multiple-party dungeons in FFVI could be a lot of fun in the real time setting of FFCC.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Like Baron said, it's not the ratings system itself that's the problem. The ratings are doing exactly what they were meant to do: Warn people that threads may contain things which they don't wish to read. The problem lies in people not having a firm idea of what they want their RPGs to be like, so they slap a [M-LSV] rating on them "just in case." But the thing is, there doesn't seem to be any feasible way of correcting that problem. Yes, moderators could read every single post in every single thread and update the thread ratings as necessary, but that would require far more time than the staff has available. Removing the ratings altogether would put us back to square one, with people not being able to tell what kind of content is in an RPG, which is no better than the way things are now. Believe me, I've also thought a lot about this and I haven't been able to think of a solution. So sure, if someone can come up with a better way of doing things, it'll be taken into consideration. But that hasn't happened yet, so I'm not really sure what you expect us to do. :huh:[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, you can either look at it as being behind others, or you can see it as an opportunity to leech off people who are farther along, heh. I'm looking forward to trading items and whatnot with everyone else on OB who has the game (because trying to complete some of the furniture sets on your own can be a real pain), as well as just visiting others' towns. And I certainly know that if the Super Toilet makes a return, I'll be passing those out to everyone I know as soon as I get one. :p[/color]

[quote name='Goddess][size=1][color=indigo]>:-o I think I'm handling fine! .....okay, yes. Having Arik, Amelia, or Eddie really does pull things along. Shamed. :animesigh[/color'][/size][/quote][color=#4B0082]:animeswea Okay, I made some runs into the Furnace with my brother (Mordrec Dekarn) and a few other guys we picked up at the War Camp in Grenth's Footprint, and I gotta say it's damn awesome. Enemies are hard without just being overwhelming -- skill counts for a lot rather than just numbers -- and the place is [i]huge.[/i] We explored for a at least three hours on the first run, and it looked like there was still quite a bit of area we hadn't covered. There are also quests that you can get while in the Furnace, and the xp you get both from them and just from killing things is insane. Especially since the collector items you get down there can be traded for xp-increasing scrolls. I think I gained three skill points during the course of the night, which translates to around 45,000 xp. And the gold. ... Man, the gold you get down there is crazy. It's easy to make a couple thousand just from gold drops, and then when you sell stuff back in town you can get even more. Or if you salvage things, the amount of crafting materials you can get is also crazy. I think I got close to 500 wood last night, from salvaging all the bow and staff drops. If you aren't already, Sorrow's Furnace will make you rich; if you are, it'll only make you richer.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Yeah, my net connection was out yesterday, so I couldn't play Guild Wars at all. But I shall be playing tonight, so if anyone wants some help getting to The Granite Citadel, Arik, Amelia, or Eddie will be on hand to [strike]pull along your dead weight[/strike] accompany you. I'm really looking forward to exploring the Furnace with fellow guildies.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Tell me any spoilers and I'll ban you. :modrod:[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Guess I'll post a quick update on my progress in the game. I'm now played for (exactly) 22 hours, and just got past the "Big News" -- my name for the plot twist that invariably changes the outlook of the story in most RPGs. So in the case of Tales of Symphonia, [spoiler]Colette completing the angel transformation and all that jazz inside the Tower of Salvation.[/spoiler] Currently I'm saved in the Meltokio inn, having just arrived there. I did kind of see it coming, though not entirely. [spoiler]Kratos turning out to be an angel caught me off guard. Like Raine, I could tell something was up with him, but wasn't able to figure it out in time.[/spoiler] But regardless, the story seems to be in full swing now, and really has my interest. Before this it was sort of, "Eh, okay, stuff is happening. Just let me beat down the baddies in my way and I'll be happy." Now I actually care what happens, which is nice. Speaking of the characters, I've also grown more attached to them. Sheena has become my new favorite, though I can't quite put my finger on why. She's just a fun character, I guess; I like her personality. Colette has been growing on me, but she was still really naive. Though now I'm looking forward to seeing [spoiler]what she'll be like after I get her back to normal. I have a feeling her character is going to be changing somewhat after that.[/spoiler] Kratos -- I was liking Kratos more and more, [spoiler]but then the bastard had to go and beat me to within an inch of my life. I'm still interested in his character and true motives moreso than any other character I've met so far, however. His, "Don't die, Lloyd," line tells me something is afoot, and has piqued my curiosity.[/spoiler] Combat is also getting more fun as the game progresses. The baddies getting harder have made me work on my blocking and evasion skills, which I think are getting pretty good. (I'm currently working on making better use of Lloyd's Guardian defense technique, as well as jumping over attacks which can't be dodged with a back jump.) [spoiler]Remiel almost got me, though I prevailed without too many deaths. The main problem was that I couldn't tell who he was targeting with his spells until it was too late to use Guardian.[/spoiler][/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, I got to The Granite Citadel with Amelia today and decided to go ahead and take the plunge. Yes, that's right; I got her a set of 15k pyromancer robes. Luckily they didn't require any special materials, so I had more than enough cloth and scales to craft them. After adding in the cost of a replacement minor energy storage rune and eight purple dye, the total cost came to around 61,000 gold. But I'm happy with the choice. Take a look: [URL=http://img373.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ameliastarfirepink15kpyro16do.jpg][IMG]http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/1923/ameliastarfirepink15kpyro16do.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img373.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ameliastarfirepink15kpyro22ou.jpg][IMG]http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/6169/ameliastarfirepink15kpyro22ou.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I dyed the 15k set the same color as the Droknar's set, which was red/purple/purple. And I like the shade of pink that it ended up as on the 15k set better, too. Most of it is a lighter shade than on the Droknar's set, which is what I wanted to begin with. Also, I really like the white on the 15k set. I had been wishing that I could use silver dye on the black parts of the Droknar's set, so the white is perfect.[/color]

[quote name='Siren']You enchant yourself with G.M.[/quote][color=#4B0082]Here's the problem with your strategy. Glimmering Mark is a hex spell that you put on a foe, rather than an enchantment that you put on yourself, if I'm not mistaken. So you can only cause the blindness by hitting the foe who you put Glimmering Mark on. Hitting others wouldn't do anything unless you put Glimmering Mark on them, also -- in which case you run into the recharge time on Glimmering Mark.[/color]

[quote name='Morpheus]Always check [URL]http://www.gamefaqs.com[/URL'] for cheats and walkthroughs.[/quote][color=#4B0082]:stupid: What he said, heh. Also, we already have a thread for [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=39858][u]Inu Yasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask[/u][/url], so please use it if you'd like to talk about the game. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]You do get to fight her -- it's the mission's bonus. After she's done talking, but before you run through the portal, go pick up one of her eggs to start the fight. But anyway, I probably won't be playing Guild Wars as much for a while. I bought Tales of Symphonia today, so I'll likely be playing it a lot instead. At least until that new game hype wears off.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, after months of saying I was going to get it and never actually doing so, I finally got off my butt and picked up Tales of Symphonia. I've played for about five hours so far, stopping just after getting through the desert ruins place (the name escapes me). So far I've had a lot of fun, especially with the combat -- not many other RPGs have me actively running into enemies just because I enjoy fighting. I'm still getting used to the battle system, but I think I've come a good ways in my five hours of play. Or at any rate, I'm not just mashing the A button anymore. Blocking, dodging, and properly timing my techniques is becoming natural, which is only making the battles more fun. As for what I've seen of the characters, I'm kind of split. Lloyd is okay; he can be amusing at times, and I don't really find him annoying, so good enough. Colette seems a bit too ... generic, I guess would be the word. She's cute, but I haven't really grown too fond of what little personality she's shown so far. Kratos is just kind of dry, and I haven't seen much of what Raine is like yet. But Genis is probably my favorite so far, as he's actually made me laugh aloud a few times when he was picking on Lloyd, which can be pretty funny to watch. Comments about the story will have to wait till I get farther into the game. Things are only just beginning to pick up, so I can't really make any judgements yet. Overall, my initial impressions are good. I'm enjoying the game, and I look forward to playing more of it.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]For the record, Teh Silly Circus lasted from the 22nd to the 31st of January, 2004. If anyone really wants to read it, I have a near-complete log on [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/rupees/otakufiles/chatlogs/2004.php][u]OtakuFiles[/u][/url]. As for starting up a regular AIM chat room, I've actually thought about starting another Teh Silly Circus and seeing if I could get it to rival the first. Might not be such a bad idea. There are other instant messenger clients out there that you can use to connect to AIM besides AOL's, though. Personally, I use Trillian, which I find to be a lot nicer. Do a search and you should be able to find others without much trouble.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]If they're out there, [url=http://www.google.com/][u]Google[/u][/url] (and its image search function) should be able to find them. Search engines are for searching; OtakuBoards is for discussion. :whoops: Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]For the record, posting lists that are devoid of any kind of thoughts or discussion can get threads closed.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]We keep a single thread for each anime in this forum, so if you'd like to talk about Chobits, please use its already existing [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=30479][u]thread[/u][/url]. And I see you're new here, so welcome to OtakuBoards. Please be sure to read the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]rules[/u][/url] and any sticky threads within a forum before posting. Enjoy your stay! Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Sigh. ... Okay, here's what I'm going to do: Change the title to "Movies Made with Game Engines," to state more clearly what 50 cent intended the thread to be about. And as such, Advent Children does not fall under that category, so please use its dedicated [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31540][u]thread[/u][/url] if you want to talk about it. And also, posting what amounts to "OMG Advent Children are teh pretty!" is something I normally delete for being spam when I see it. It's pointless to say nothing but that, as it adds nothing to the discussion, even in the Advent Children thread. No one cares since everybody already knows the graphics are amazing, and there are hordes of other people who are excited about the movie.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, what I've been fearing has finally happened: Twilight Princess has been delayed until Spring 2006. (Source: [url=http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?type=story&storyid=1103][u]N-Sider[/u][/url]) It's kind of disappointing, what with the previous announcement of a November 2005 release having gotten fairly close, and now having to wait twice again as long as I thought. But I'm not too annoyed. They said the delay is being made so as to have more time for adding new levels and extra depth to the game. And after TWW's measly five dungeons and the Triforce runaround, I'm happy to wait a while longer if it'll get more dungeons into the game. From the start they've made a point of just how big Twilight Princess is supposed to be, and I'd rather wait than be disappointed about that. And besides ... [url=http://media.cube.ign.com/media/572/572738/imgs_1.html][u]new screen shots![/u][/url] Guess they figured they had to give fans [i]something[/i] along with the announcement, to keep them going completely crazy over the delay.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Only 300 hours? Wow, you really are behind; /age has me logged at over 500 hours now. But yes, you definitely need to start playing more. Myself as Amelia, Alex as Jade, and Alec as Immortalis did two of the ascension missions in the Crystal Desert a few days ago, which was a lot of fun, but other than that I haven't played Amelia very much lately. I'd be more than happy to accompany you through the desert. Anyway, my stock for weapons and runes changes so often that I've kind of given up trying to keep a current list in here. I try to remember and ask in game if I think someone might be interest in something I have, but if you could use something in particular, ask me and I'll see if I have anything for you.[/color]