Desbreko

[color=#4B0082]After reading through these recent posts, I really wonder whether most people even know how the ESRB actually works, or what the different ratings are given for. Those not living in the US, I can understand, but others... Unlike movie ratings in the US, ESRB ratings are purely suggestions. Stores can sell whatever game, regardless of rating, to whoever they want, regardless of their age, with no consequences. It's only the stores' policies that have them carding people who buy M games, in accordance with a [url=http://www.esrb.org/about_partnership.asp][u]Retail Partnership[/u][/url] they made with the ESRB. If stores are supposed to card people, it's only because they chose to do it. Now, more on the subject at hand, are the ESRB's [url=http://www.esrb.org/esrbratings_guide.asp][u]Game Ratings[/u][/url]. If you actually read the descriptions, you should be able to see why San Andreas was changed to an AO rating. M rated games, "may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and/or strong language." AO rated games, "may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity." The key difference in this case being the words "prolonged," "intense," and "graphic." So basically, because you actually see the sex happening, and you see it for a good while, that bumps the game up into the AO category. Nudity itself isn't really even an issue here, because M rated games can contain nudity. But what they can't contain is the graphic depiction of prolonged sexual acts; content of that type requires an AO rating.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Indeed there is. It's pretty easy to do with some simple CSS. You can find the necessary bit of code in my [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/rupees/myotaku/htmlfaq.html][u]HTML FAQ[/u][/url], under Other Examples.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I'd have to agree that warrior and elementalist are probably the two easiest classes to start out with. Both have the same depth as the other classes, but it's pretty easy to just hack away at things or toss spells around and still do okay. Playing a ranger, or mesmer, or necro, things are more complicated right from the start. And monk ... yes, an unskilled monk will indeed doom a group. So unless you really want to do healing and you know your place in a party (i.e. you stay with the group, don't aggro, and focus on healing), or unless you mainly just want to do smiting, I wouldn't really recommend it for a first character. But still, it mainly just comes down to preference. What you think you'd enjoy, and what you think you'd be good at. Myself, I did actually start out with a monk for my first character and I did fine, but I've always enjoyed playing healer roles, so it came pretty easy for me. If you have any preference, I'd say just go with that, then learn as you go. You may not be the greatest player for a while, but chances are, you'll enjoy the game more if you're playing a role you actually want to play, rather than playing something just because it's easy.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I suppose that had something to do with my choosing necro as my ranger's secondary. ... But mainly it was just because I didn't have any other characters with necro primary or secondary, and I thought death magic would work well with ranger. So far I'm finding I'm right, as sitting back and shooting things while sending minions to fight up close, or setting off putrid explosions, is a lot of fun. Arik and Amelia are still my two favorites, though. Healing and burning -- how can you go wrong?[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I think that's what he's saying. There's no hub for Paranoia Agent on theOtaku, so one should be added so that people can submit their art/wallpaper/what have you.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Another reason would be that HTML is disabled in signatures, so you'd have to use vB tags to insert the image and link, rather than the HTML provided on theOtaku.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Or something else that you could do is put up a little post in the thread saying "post in progress" or whatever, so people know you're already in the process of writing. Then when you're finished, edit the post and replace the "in progress" message with the actual post. Just make sure you don't stop in the middle of writing without deleting the message. People might end up waiting a long time, heh.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Indeed, I was the only monk, except for the warrior being a secondary monk, I think, and he was the only warrior primary. That mission gave me a new appreciation for necros, heh. When I did it the first time, we had two monks, three warriors, and an elementalist I think it was, and it was hard as hell. Though I should note, we really did need that warrior. He'd draw a lot of the aggro, then I'd slap Healing Seed and Shielding Hands on him, and it would seriously reduce the amount of energy I had to spend on healing. Yay for tanks.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]People have been making custom case designs for consoles for a long time (earliest I remember being for the original Game Boy), so I'm not really surprised that companies are picking up on this. A good number of people obviously want it, and the companies are giving it to them. Nintendo, by the way, is also doing the same thing with the Game Boy Micro. You'll be able to buy different face plates for it, to use in place of the regular one. They'll just screw on and off. Personally, I wouldn't pay more than maybe $10 for something like that, but it would be neat to have if they made some decent designs. I wanted one of those NES style GBA SPs for a while, but didn't want to buy another SP since I already had a platinum one; interchangeable face plates would make it so you wouldn't have to shell out so much money just for a new look.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Whee. As of today, Arik is ascended. I did the Thirsty River mission earlier today, and the group I was in got it on the fourth or fifth try. I'd say it was about as hard as Elona Reach, if not a little harder. I'm glad we had a good party of people who were actually good and knew what they were doing, because the battles got really crazy at times. Especially considering that, unless you take out the priest in the group -- who's guarded by all the other baddies in that group -- within two minutes, [i]all the enemies in the group get revived.[/i] And did I mention you have to kill six groups like that, each having about 10-12 baddies each? Yeah. ... There's a reason they practically just give you a 10% morale boost at the start of the mission. You need it. The time that we finally got it, we pulled through with a crazy comeback. Me and the other monk in the group (who was a Mo/W in Censor's armor, so he could also put out some damage) ended up having to run away after the rest of the group got wiped, until we could regen some life/energy. Then the other guy made a mad dash for the rest of the group while I slapped some healing spells on him, until he could take cover behind this nearby wall. Then I rushed in while everything was still distracted and attacking him, and sat there healing him while he held things off. Then I started rezzing people with Rebirth, teleporting them back behind the cover we were hiding behind, and finally I got the whole group back up and we were able to clear out the rest of the baddies and complete the mission. As awesome as that mission was, however, the fight with the doppleganger just before ascending really disappointed me. I don't know if it's any better when you're playing a different class, but as a monk, it's just lame. The reason being, they make him do way more damage than you. He still has the same skills as you. ... He just does about 50 damage with normal attacks, while you can do maybe 10. And that forces you have to completely rearrange your skill set to something entirely impractical, which you will never use outside that single battle. In my case, I took Empathy, Healing Breeze, and a couple near-useless hex spells for him to waste time with. The winning battle plan? Sit there, without attacking, and let him beat on me while I cast Empathy on him and Healing Breeze on myself. And of course, the only reason that worked is because it seems he won't use Healing Breeze. ... Can you see why I say the fight was lame, now? Fighting yourself is a cool concept, but it was executed really poorly in this case. But now, on a lighter note, I present screen shots of the little foursome that me, James, Warlock, and Mitch had while waiting for Alex to come back so we could do a guild battle. If you ask me, I think it improved our teamwork. ^_~ [URL=http://img276.imageshack.us/my.php?image=guildhallfun18td.jpg][IMG]http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/1310/guildhallfun18td.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img276.imageshack.us/my.php?image=guildhallfun23ri.jpg][IMG]http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/7489/guildhallfun23ri.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Also, be sure to check my list of [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?p=667393#post667393][u]free crap[/u][/url] from back a bit in this thread. I'm just going to be editing that one post to update the list, which I just did.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Free crap! Come and get it! Looking for something else? Tell me and I'll keep an eye out for it. Oh, and just for reference, these are the max damages for each weapon type: Sword: 15-22 Axe: 6-28 Hammer: 19-35 Bow: 15-28 Wand: 11-22 Staff: 11-22 [size=1][i]Last Updated: 07-29-05[/i][/size][/color] - - - - - - - - - - - - - [b][u]ONE-HANDED WEAPONS[/u][/b][size=1] [color=purple][b]Ebon War Axe of Axe Mastery[/b][/color] Earth Dmg: 6-28 (req. 8 Axe Mastery) Damage +11% (while in a stance) Lengthens Crippled duration on foe Axe Mastery +1 (14% chance while using skills) [b]Cane[/b] Chaos Dmg: 11-22 (req. 9 Domination Magic) [b]Air Wand[/b] Lightning Dmg: 11-20 (req. 8 Air Magic) [b]Fire Wand[/b] Fire Dmg: 10-18 (req. 6 Fire Magic) [b]Fire Wand[/b] Fire Dmg: 10-18 (req. 9 Fire Magic) [b]Holy Rod[/b] Fire Dmg: 10-17 (req. 9 Divine Favor)[/size] [b][u]TWO-HANDED WEAPONS[/u][/b][size=1] [b]Ball Hammer[/b] Blunt Dmg: 19-35 (req. 8 Hammer Mastery) [b]Air Staff[/b] Energy +10 Lightning Dmg: 10-20 (req. 7 Air Magic)[/size] [b][u]FOCUS ITEMS[/u][/b][size=1] [color=purple][b]Protective Icon[/b][/color] Energy +12 (req. 8 Protection Prayers) Armor +4 (while attacking) [color=royalblue][b]Flame Artifact[/b][/color] Energy +10 (req. 8 Fire Magic) Fire Magic +1 (20% while using skills) Health +30[/size] [b][u]UPGRADE COMPONENTS[/u][/b][size=1] [color=royalblue][b]Fiery Sword Hilt[/b][/color] Fire Damage [color=royalblue][b]Sword Pommel of Fortitude[/b][/color] Health +20 [color=royalblue][b]Axe Grip of Defense[/b][/color] Armor +4 [color=royalblue][b]Axe Grip of Warding[/b][/color] Armor +7 (vs. elemental attacks) [color=royalblue][b]Poisoner's Bow String[/b][/color] Lengthens Poison duration on foe[/size] [b][u]MAJOR RUNES[/u][/b][size=1] Elementalist - Air Magic Mesmer - Domination Magic Mesmer - Inspiration Magic Monk - Protection Prayers Warrior - Hammer Mastery Warrior - Tactics[/size] [b][u]MINOR RUNES[/u][/b][size=1] Common - Vigor Elementalist - Air Magic (x2) Elementalist - Energy Storage Elementalist - Fire Magic Mesmer - Domination Magic Mesmer - Fast Casting Mesmer - Inspiration Magic Monk - Smiting Prayers Necromancer - Blood Magic Necromancer - Curses Necromancer - Death Magic Ranger - Beast Mastery Warrior - Axe Mastery[/size]

[color=#4B0082]I merged this with the original TWW thread, just so people know. Anyway, my opinion of the game could probably already be found scattered throughout this thread. ... But I still like talking about it, heh. Personally, I really fell in love with the cel shaded style after playing the game for a bit. I was really sceptical of the graphics when I saw that first Space World trailer, but as I saw more of the game, and then actually played it for myself, I started to like what I was seeing. I think if more people just looked at the graphics for what they are, and not what they aren't (Ocarina of Time, or Twilight Princess now), they wouldn't have near as much of a problem with them. Now, about the only problem I have with the graphics is the Link character model. I do still think it could've been done a bit better, mainly to make it so more people wouldn't look at it and go "Ew," and dismiss the entire game based on that alone. The rest of the characters I think are fine. Wacky and outrageous sometimes, but fine -- just look at some of the characters in OOT, or MM especially, and try to tell me you don't see the same sorts of characters. Zelda has had weird NPCs since LTTP, and I love it. On the gameplay side of things, I think TWW is an improvement over OOT and MM. I don't know about others, but combat in TWW was much, much more fun for me than OOT/MM ever was. Yes, the game is extremely easy and I could wade through 100+ baddies and only take a few hits (Shark Island, anyone?), but trashing those hundreds of baddies was [i]fun.[/i] OOT's combat, on the other hand, is so easily broken that it's not even funny. Stalfos Knights? No problem, constant spin attacks will take them down faster and easier than anything else. Iron Knuckle? Jump attack, two backflips, jump attack, two backflips ... repeat until the armor is gone, then move in and mash the B button until it dies because, you know, it can't attack while being hurt. The [i]only[/i] reason OOT and MM are harder is because enemies do more damage and don't drop as many hearts as in TWW -- it certainly isn't due to the enemies themselves being harder to kill. Dungeon crawling I found about the same as OOT -- though MM is a step below both OOT and TWW in this regard, if you ask me -- provided you disregard the enemies, as combat is a separate issue. I did enjoy the partner dungeons, but not really any more or less than the others, so I don't really have much to say about those. The main thing is just that there are only five in the game, so OOT does have an advantage there. And I'll leave the sailing thing alone, since it's pretty much just one of those "love it or hate it" things. I personally enjoyed sailing around to explore each and every island, and getting every treasure chart, but that's me. I love wandering around and exploring in games, so it suited my tastes fine. Though if there's one thing I would fault with it, it would be the lack of real weather and enemy hazards out at sea. I mean, you shouldn't be able to start sailing in a direction, set the controller down to go do something else for ten minutes, and come back to be exactly across the map from where you started. As for the story ... who plays a Zelda game for the story? If you do, go play an RPG instead; you'll walk away much more satisfied, heh. I did like TWW's story, though, and it was nice to see the characters with more personality. I wouldn't say it's any better or worse than previous storylines in the series. And at the very least, it was more original than OOT's storyline, which was almost completely cut-and-paste out of LTTP, except for a few details required due to the game being the first in the timeline. And thus closes yet another of my mini essays/rants/whatevers about TWW. :animesmil[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, I dunno if this is done the same way outside of Windows 2000, but you can go to Start > Run... and type in dxdiag.exe and it should bring up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. That'll list your system specs, as well as what version of DirectX you have installed, under the System tab. DirectX 9.0c is the latest version, I believe. If you don't have it already, you should be able to get it [url=http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0a9b6820-bfbb-4799-9908-d418cdeac197&displaylang=en][u]here[/u][/url].[/color]

[color=#4B0082]*feels the love* :animesmil And you don't need to tell me my graphics card sucks, Tony. I'm quite aware of that, heh. A new one is third on my list for PC upgrades, below a new hard drive and a DVD burner. As for what you need to play Guild Wars. ... Well, what are the specs for your PC now? Graphics card, RAM, CPU? The game doesn't take much to simply run, though if you want it to look pretty, you'll need a decent system.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I was out wandering around in the Maguuma Jungle earlier, exploring and then doing the bonus for The Wilds mission. The whole area is gorgeous, but in particular, I really loved the area around this one lake. (It's the little one just above the map marker for The Wilds.) Here's a couple screen shots I took, from a little island out in the middle of it: [URL=http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=junglelake13fo.jpg][IMG]http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/3214/junglelake13fo.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=junglelake29yx.jpg][IMG]http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/8568/junglelake29yx.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL] I can't wait to get into the jungle with Amelia, also. The big groups of jungle trolls, moss scarabs, and maguuma spiders will be great for blasting with my fire magic.[/color]

[QUOTE=James][color=#737373]How about we wait until these systems are actually finished and on the shelf before we start making these types of threads? You haven't even played one of them yet. And you have no idea about the pricing yet; it hasn't been announced for either system. Way, [i]way[/i] too early for a thread like this.[/color][/QUOTE][color=#4B0082]:stupid: Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082][b]The Time:[/b] Five minutes ago. [b]The Place:[/b] The Flame Temple Corridor. [b]The Mission:[/b] Solo every group of charr in the area. [b]The Result:[/b] Pure ownage.[/color] [URL=http://img209.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soloedflametemplecorridor6sx.jpg][IMG]http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/2608/soloedflametemplecorridor6sx.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[color=#4B0082]If you'd like to talk about the next gen consoles, we already have threads for all of them, which you can find links to in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=46746][u]Play It Thread Direction[/u][/url]. So please post in those. Though I should forewarn you, you'll need to provide some real reasons for why you don't like the Revolution if you post in its thread. Unless you [i]want[/i] your points to be shot down and completely discredited, that is. :whoops: Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Got some more good stuff to give away, if anyone's interested.[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Mesmer Rune of Major Inspiration Magic[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Improves Inspiration Magic Health -50[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Mesmer Rune of Minor Illusion Magic[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Improves Illusion Magic[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Warrior Rune of Minor Absorption[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Reduces damage from attacks.[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Hale Staff Head[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Health +11[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Staff Wrapping of Enchanting[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Enchantments last 11% longer[/color] [color=deepskyblue][b]Poisoner's Axe Haft[/b][/color] Upgrade component [color=deepskyblue]Lengthens Poison duration on foe[/color] [color=purple][b]Cane[/b][/color] Chaos Dmg: 8-13 (req. 5 Domination Magic) [color=purple]Energy +2[/color] (while enchanted) [color=deepskyblue][b]Focus Item[/b][/color] Energy +10 (req. 8 Healing Prayers) [color=deepskyblue]Armor +3[/color] (vs. physical attacks) [color=deepskyblue]Armor +5[/color] (while casting)

[color=#4B0082]Actually, downloading ROMs isn't legal even if you own the original cartridges, due to some laws regarding personal backup copies being different for video game ROMs. ... But that's another story. My all time favorite game would be another Super NES classic, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The main reason is that it just never, ever gets old for me. Between the SNES and GBA versions, I've played through the game nine times, and each time has been as fun -- if not more fun, as in the case with my minimalist run -- as the last. It's one of those games that I can pick up anytime, anywhere, and have fun with.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Not a whole lot of details have been released, but all the currently known info has been posted in the original SC3 thread, I think. You can find a link to that in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=46746][u]Play It Thread Directory[/u][/url]. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Given the popularity of the other DDR thread (which you can find a link to in the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=46746][u]Play It Thread Directory[/u][/url]), I'd say there are a fair number of other DDR players around here. Someone in there might know where to find that song. Though in any case, please use that thread for all DDR-related discussion. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]It is an awesome game, though I don't know if I'd say it's better than Chrono Trigger. However, we already have a thread about it -- which you can find [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31877][u]here[/u][/url] -- so please post in that one if you'd like to talk about the game. Thanks. Thread Closed[/color]

[quote name='GTK']In the future, you may wanna use spoiler tags as I don't think everyone has beaten FF7 ^^;[/quote][color=#4B0082]Yeah, true. *adds them* People have been throwing around references to the game's ending and whatnot, also. Guess I should pay a little more attention to the use of spoiler tags in here. But then I do have to wonder, if someone doesn't even know FFVII's complete story yet, why are they reading a thread about Advent Children -- a continuation of that story? Just the info about the movie itself will end up having spoilers relating to the game.[/color]

[quote name='Lostcause']Red XIII was a freakin cat, NOT A BEAR. That cant be him. Its too bear-like. Plus, where are the plumes. his scars. And don't forget, in the end of FFVII he had cubs and a wife somehow. I remember seein them. I think he's busy playin the father game, rather than being a servant for some dumb doll who is controlled by a woman in a room full of computers. i mean, COMPUTERS CAN BE PRETTY HEAVY.[/quote][color=#4B0082]Okay, first off, don't double post. Use the edit function instead, please, as double posting is against the rules. Second ... have you ever actually looked at the official art of Red XIII? (See attachment.) Those two pictures -- the art and the movie shot -- look awfully similar. And the game never specifically says he's a cat, by the way. Third, that scene of him [spoiler]with the cubs at the end of FFVII is preceded by a nice, little "500 years later" subtitle.[/spoiler] Advent Children is set much, much closer to the end of FFVII than that, so there's no contradiction with the game's ending there. Fourth, [spoiler]Cait Sith is controlled by a man -- Reeves, to be exact -- not a woman.[/spoiler] And fifth, don't you think Red XIII would be strong enough to carry around a small, robotic cat? I mean, come on, the thing can't be all that heavy, just considering its size. Red XIII isn't that weak.[/color]