Desbreko

[color=#4B0082]Anymore, I don't even really look at the titles in the instances where I actually take into account whether someone is new or not. Instead, I check their profile to see how long they've been registered, then I check out the first page or so of their most recent posts with the "Find all posts by " thing. That, I find, is about the best way to check someone's familiarity with OB. Whereas a title based on post count is worthless in pretty much every way.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]It's a GBA game that was released last October, I think. But anyway, [url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/code/924102.html][u]GameFAQs[/u][/url] has a code listed for this. If you haven't already looked there, you might check it out.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]First, what you should've tried before posting questions here: [url=http://www.google.com/][u]Google[/u][/url] Second, the threads these questions should've been posted in had the above failed to provide answers: [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=32777][u]Final Fantasy VIII[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=37213][u]Xenosaga[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=44879][u]Xenosaga: Episode II[/u][/url] Third, the reason for the above and for the closing of this thread: [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=37270][u]Important Notice: How to post in Play It[/u][/url] Remember, always read the stickies before posting. Thanks. ^_^ Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082][url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=31540][u]Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=42730][u]Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=43502][u]Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII[/u][/url] [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=44035][u]Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII[/u][/url] We already have the above threads for all the announced FFVII spin-offs. And a straight "Final Fantasy VII-2" game most likely isn't happening (and hasn't been announced), considering that's basically what Advent Children is, only in movie form. So, sorry to do it, but we already have threads for everything FFVII related. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082][url=http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/game/197341.html][u]GameFAQs[/u][/url] is your friend. Please check there before asking help questions here. But just for reference, here's the breeding steps to get a Gold Chocobo: Good Chocobo + Great Chocobo + Carob Nut = Blue Chocobo Good Chocobo + Great Chocobo + Carob Nut = Green Chocobo Blue Chocobo + Green Chocobo + Carob Nut = Black Chocobo Black Chocobo + Wonderful Chocobo + Zeio Nut = Gold Chocobo Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I've heard as early as Summer 2005 from various places, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it's released later, around the holiday season. Then again, I thought the same thing about The Wind Waker (though in its case I think it could've used the extra time, for more dungeons to be put in), so who knows. We'll probably have to wait till E3 to get an official release date for the game. Putting aside the April Fools joke, though, I wonder if Nintendo is actually going to have any sort of pre-order bonus. The OOT/OMQ disc and the Collector's Edition disc were both really well received, so I think it's possible they'll do something with this new game. But what could it be? With a Game Boy Player, you can already play every Zelda game on the GCN. Unless ... a collection of the CD-i Zelda games?[/color]

[color=#4B0082]If you're looking for instructions on how to code a table with a background image, you might try taking a look at my [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/rupees/myotaku/htmlfaq.html#postbackground][u]HTML FAQ[/u][/url]. While I mainly wrote it for people trying to do things with HTML on myOtaku, it still applies to use on OB -- HTML is HTML, regardless. Also, [url=http://www.w3schools.com/][u]W3 Schools[/u][/url] is a good place to learn HTML, for a more comprehensive guide than my little FAQ.[/color]

[quote name='kaisha']Besides we're talking about video game characters, not anime.[/quote] [color=#4B0082]Yes, let's try to keep this on the topic of video game characters, please. You'll probably be able to find a similar topic regarding anime characters in the Anime Lounge, if you'd like to post about them. But let's see here. ... The video game character I find most annoying? I'm actually having to think about this one, heh. Surprisingly, none jump immediately to mind. Maybe Tidus, from Final Fantasy X. His whiny attitude, coupled with the horrible voice acting, really got to be annoying at times. Not to mention he's completely clueless half the time. That group would've been doomed if Auron hadn't shown up and played babysitter.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Mine would probably be either Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy IV. It's a hard choice. ... I like them both for about the same reasons, and I don't think I've really played one more than the other. First off, for Chrono Trigger, I really liked the battle system. Double and triple tech moves really added a lot to the game, especially when you're trying to balance healing with dishing out damage. Do you go for that awesome triple tech move and hope you can survive long enough to heal next round? Heal with one character, and do a less powerful double tech with the other two? Or maybe heal with one, and just wait till that single character is available again to do the triple tech. If you plan your moves and timing well, you can do some crazy stunts in battle -- I'll never forget the time I pulled off four consecutive triple techs against the end boss without getting hit until after the fourth one went off. Second, I can't help but take an interest in most of the game's characters. Especially Frog and Magus' whole story, and how you can actually have Frog [spoiler]avenge Cyrus by killing Magus (that was an awesome 1-on-1 fight), or put aside the grudge and let Magus join your party.[/spoiler] And even though Crono never actually speaks, I sort of became attached to him. I was really shocked and devastated when I realized [spoiler]he was actually dead. A bit of the thoughts that ran through my mind went something like, "He can't die. He's freaking [i]Crono,[/i] damnit!"[/spoiler] Not many other RPGs have characters that I take as much of an interest in as I did with Chrono Trigger's. [size=1]Sorry for all the spoilers, it's just that all the best bits involving the characters' stories kind of give stuff away.[/size] Third, the story in itself I also find to be pretty interesting. Yeah, it is another "save the world" story, but it's not too terribly cliche in the way you go about it. And there are a fair number of twists and turns to keep the game alive and interesting for at least a dozen hours. Not all that long compared to some more recent RPGs, but still a decent length; quality over quantity and all that. As I said, I like FFIV for much the same reasons, but in its case, I rate the characters higher than the battle system. Cecil, the main character, remains to this day my favorite character from any RPG. I really like his personality, and he isn't one of those invincible badass characters (i.e. Cloud). And the rest of the game's main cast are all at least interesting/funny (well, except maybe Edward), without having too many cliched stereotypes. It's fun just to watch the characters interact with one another (Edge and Cid, anyone?). The battle system is the solid ATB system used in FFIV-FFIX, so no complaints there. Not incredibly interesting after using the same system in so many games, but it works, and unlike some later FF games, FFIV's difficulty actually makes you work for your victories. The main fun I get out of the battle system anymore is trying to find little strategies that get me out of each battle with as little HP/MP loss as possible. Just reread the paragraph on Chrono Trigger's story in place of this; I find each about as enjoyable as the other, for basically the same reasons.[/color]

[color=#4B0082][i]See Dagger's and Shinmaru's posts for my views on that sweeping generalization about casual gamers.[/i] The main thing I dislike about people who buy games and then trade them in after a couple weeks is that they're wasting money on what are, for the most part, crappy games. It annoys me because I know I could put that money to so much better use, heh. Here you have people who can afford to buy stacks of games based off nothing but box art and name recognition, and just trade back the ones they don't want to keep, while I'm sitting here unable to keep up with the releases that I know are good. But other than that little irking, I don't really care. Nintendo has always catered to its "hardcore" fans, as well as trying to attract new gamers, so I'm happy there. And there are lots of other developers that put out more than generic GTA clones and the like, so I don't really see the washed gaming masses (as opposed to those of us who are unwashed on account of spending too much time spent gaming) as hurting the quality of gaming in any significant way.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, VIVI isn't a correct roman numeral, so it could be mean a few things depending on how you look at it. It could be VI + VI = 12, V + IV + I = 10, VI and VI = 66, or maybe even V and IV and I = 541. ... And considering how I don't remember if they ever actually tell you his number in the game, I'll leave it at that, heh. But anyway, while speculation about the meaning of Vivi's name is interesting, the quiz threads died out a quite a while ago, and we'd kind of like to keep them dead now. I always liked them as a way for people to learn more about whatever series the quiz is about, but they attracted a lot of spammy posts. So like the others, I'll be closing this. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]An icon in the postbit would just be an annoying bit of clutter, though a separate entry in a person's profile I wouldn't mind. We have a profile entry for gender on myOtaku, so why not here? And if people weren't forced to simply choose from a drop-down menu or something, one could have all sorts of fun with it rather than simply having "male" or "female" in its place. I mean, wouldn't it be funny to look in someone's profile and see their gender as "neuter"?[/color]

[quote name='Drizzt Do'urden']I'd like to apologize to everyone especially the mod, I thought I hit edit and I must've hit reply I did not intend to spam[/quote] [color=#4B0082]No problem, don't worry about it. It's a simple matter to get rid of the extra post. Oh, and just so you know, you can delete your own posts. Click the Edit button, and then up above the text box where you can edit the post, there should be an option to delete it. Handy for getting rid of accidental double posts and the like.[/color]

[quote name='pSYoniKgHOsT']well i was just wondering since this is my first post on the forums and i didnt have time until now to read everything...can i post PC games to since i saw a lot of PS, gamecube, xbox games but for pc nothing?so can i? :D[/quote] [color=#4B0082]We have a PC/Mac forum for discussing PC/Mac related things, though in the area of games there's obviously going to be some overlap with consoles. So if you want to toss a couple PC games in with other recommendations, that's fine. But if all you're going to post about is PC games, you should use the PC/Mac forum.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]A reminder for threads like this: One-liners almost never supply a good reason (no, "I loved the story/action/what have you," doesn't count as a good reason) for selecting a game, and as such, are spam. Look to Shinje (sic)'s post to get an idea of what you should be aiming for when giving reasons for your votes. Remember, if you're going to write something, you should make it worth reading.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]I might be a bit biased here (heh, you think?), but I've always thought that the second quest in the original Legend of Zelda is the best extra/easter egg ever. Some might not really consider it an easter egg, as it's quite a big thing, but whatever. It's an extra thing that opens up when you beat the game (or use the name ZELDA) at any rate. The awesome thing is that it basically doubles the length of the game. Because, while the overworld may [i]look[/i] the same, that's as far as the similarity goes. Nearly all the secrets are moved around and even most of the dungeons are hidden, not to mention being completely different inside. The second quest is also much harder than the first, and there are new types of enemies (Blue Bubbles anyone?) and whatnot. You really can't say you've completed The Legend of Zelda until you've beaten both quests.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]First, answering the original question: No, I wouldn't drop my staff position just yet, even if there were someone else that could easily fill the spot. I like being able to help out the site by moderating, which I rarely see as being a pain anymore. I don't know if this is just me or what, but it seems like after having modded for so long (three years now by the way, if you missed the little event I posted yesterday), taking care of spam and whatnot has just become a natural part of logging on and reading through the latest posts in the Hardwired section. Though granted, Hardwired sees fewer posts than any other section of the boards, so I don't have as much to deal with. Maybe that contributes to me enjoying the job as much as I do? In any case, yeah, I'd like to stick around as a staff member for a while longer. In fact, I probably won't quit until I'm too lacking in free time to continue, or until James fires me. (And we all know the latter will never happen.) Okay, with that out of the way, time for the good part: A bunch of random comments on earlier bits of posts in the thread. I love doing this.[/color] [quote name='Reise][COLOR=DarkRed][SIZE=1]Again, moderating isn't a privilege, it is a responsibility. And you can't fool around.[/SIZE'][/COLOR][/quote] [color=#4B0082]Oh, I don't know. We have our ways of finding fun in the job. ... Or I do, anyway. Most of it involves having a bit of a laugh with Shinmaru or someone over some of the stuff I end up having to delete. Another way involves ... well, just Shinmaru, I guess. How can you not find something [url=http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/obpics/details.php?image_id=249][u]funny[/u][/url] about him? Moderating loves company, heh.[/color] [quote name='Panda']Now I totally agree with what many of you have stated in this thread already about some people seeing the Mod position as being oh-so powerful. It is easy to over look the negatives. The angry people PMing you or trying to flame you in the forums for some decision you made concerning their post or thread. At times it is very difficult not to let it get under your skin. There is also the repetition of having to close, in the case of the OL, all the "Hi, I am new here!" threads. It is totally understandable where the burn out comes from.[/quote] [color=#4B0082]My secret is to just not give a crap. Sure, I'd like members who start off spammy to improve and become good additions to the community (wow, it almost sounds like we're trying to assimilate people), and I encourage them to do so. But I've no qualms about stepping on peoples' toes if I need to; I'll say what needs to be said, and I will say it politely, but if they don't respond I figure, "Whatever, their loss." People can flame me, get mad that I deleted one of their posts or closed one of their threads. ... And I don't give a crap. I look at it as people should: The rules are there to be followed, I'm enforcing those rules, and it's other peoples' problem if they break them. If people get mad at me for enforcing the rules which they agreed to when they registered, well, why should I care about their misplaced anger? What they're really mad about is being restricted in what they can post, but you can't really complain to an inanimate list of rules, so they turn to the first human behind those rules to vent their anger at. And I don't care to pay any more attention to that than to give them a warning for flaming. I guess all of this comes from the fact that I have very little respect for people until they show me they're worthy of being respected. It's a bit cynical, yeah, but it really doesn't take all that much to earn some respect. Breaking the rules enough to warrent a warning, and then flaming me for it, just doesn't do it for me though. Now, if someone has a valid complaint, I'm willing to take notice and listen. But that's a different matter.[/color] [quote name='DeathKnight][color=crimson]Hmm, I guess I don't have any grand lectures or pointers to give people who want to be moderators, lol. Just go with the flow and don't try [i]too[/i'] hard to be a moderator. It will come to you, you don't necessarily go to it, yeah?[/color][/quote] [color=#4B0082]I think that's actually pretty good advice. Both for trying to become a mod, and then just after becoming one. I remember it took me a while to really get into things and learn how to deal with stuff, so if I'd been really gung-ho straight off the bat. ... Well, there probably would have been a lot more mistakes and reprimands, heh. Oh, and now that I've written it, I find the phrase "gung-ho straight off the bat" amusing. Just thought I'd mention that.[/color] [quote name='Shinmaru]And I haven't cracked Team Leader status yet. Who the hell knows what [i]they[/i'] get?[/quote] [color=#4B0082]It's a secret to everybody.[/color] [quote name='Charles']I've never thought better of you than I do now. I just thought you should know that.[/quote] [color=#4B0082]I'm with Charles, definitely. Shin knows what it's all about.[/color] [quote name='Xander Harris']Hmmm. That brings some interesting notions to my mind... if someone WANTS to be a mod, and they were replying to this thread, then they would have to say they don't want to be a mod. But if they say that than chances are they won't get asked to mod. So, the way I see it, anyone who replies to this thread (who isn't a mod already) and wants to BE a mod is screwed the second they hit 'submit reply.' ;)[/quote] [color=#4B0082]There's a difference between stating that you'd like to be a mod, and flat out asking to be one. ... Though that doesn't stop us from descriminating anyway. So maybe people are screwed, maybe they aren't. It'll probably depend mainly on how good looking they are.[/color] [quote name='Semjaza Azazel']As for Shinmaru, no one really likes him anyway. It's all an ellaborate façade.[/quote] [color=#4B0082]Wait, don't shatter his spirit yet! I still have some use for him.[/color] [quote name='Adahn']There is the light feeling of joy when a moderator replies to your thread, or something you yourself specifically said.[/quote] [color=#4B0082]So you're saying I spread joy wherever I post? Wow, I gotta find a way to take advantage of that. Maybe I should start charging people for each reply to threads they've created. That could bring in some money. ...[/color] [quote name='AzureWolf][FONT=book antiqua][SIZE=2][COLOR=blue]Out of curiosity, which part of the team decided it'd be fun to constantly leave a link for members to click on, only to be informed that they don't have the privilege to see the link. I'm talking about the constant reference to the [B][U]Deal with this member[/B][/U] thread, which hasn't stopped popping up in one form another, in one person's blog or at the awards thingies. It's like, "Dude, you gotta see this thread," and then you click, and it's like, "Oh, wait, that's right! You can't! Ahahahaha!" It's annoying, and I don't think it shows maturity on the side of the moderators.[/COLOR][/SIZE'][/FONT][/quote] [color=#4B0082]*waves* I was the first one to nominate the thread in the 2004 Otaku Awards, and also the only person (to my knowledge) that nominated it in the 2005 Nifty Fifty awards. Those are about the only times I've linked to it, though. The rest is other people taking what I started and running with it. Really, it started off as just a joke that I came up with. I thought it would be funny to nominate the thread and see if it could actually win, despite not being able to be viewed by the majority of the people voting. (Or in the case of the Nifty Fifty, everyone that was in charge of putting together the list short of maybe Shy.) Though others are right in saying it's had a decent impact on OB, in the way moderating is handled, so I would say it does also actually deserve the recognition. But mainly I just wanted to see if it could win, and then have a laugh over it if it did. And I'm proud to have sparked something that James deemed, "...perhaps the dorkiest post I've ever seen on OB."[/color] [quote name='James][color=#334366']OB7.5 will probably see a reasonably big round of new staff intake.[/color][/quote] [color=#4B0082]The way you word it, it almost sounds like you and the board are going to devour them whole. ... Though maybe that's not actually too far off.[/color] [quote name='Mimmi][SIZE=1][COLOR=Sienna][FONT=Verdana](I know this is all very exaggerated to those who do this job with a breeze but it's a breeze to you because you're gods. The rest of us aren't :p)[/FONT][/COLOR'][/SIZE][/quote] [color=#4B0082]Thanks for the compliment. ^_^[/color]

[color=#4B0082]How is being happy on a holiday rubbing your happiness in the faces of those who aren't? And how is it different than being happy any other day of the year? Personally, I didn't even really care that it was Valentine's Day yesterday, and I didn't do/give/receive anything, but you make it sound like people are wrong for being happy. And I just can't see the logic in that. I mean, how can you blame someone for being happy when the cause of their happiness isn't related to you at all? (In this case, it would be related to Valentine's Day and the experiences thereof.) Yeah, life isn't fair; some will be happy and others unhappy at any given time. But I doubt most people actually have an attitude of rubbing their happiness in the faces of those who are unhappy. If you're unhappy and seeing people who are happy reminds you of your unhappiness ... is that really their fault? At this point, you have to ask the question, "Are people accountable for what another person thinks as a result of their actions?" Myself, unless that action is inherently wrong (and I don't think being happy falls into that category), or unless it's knowingly done with the intent of negatively affecting other people, I don't consider it their fault. Think about it: A man is walking down the street in a good mood with a smile on is face, while on the other side of the street, a second man in a depressed mood passes by the other way. The first man doesn't even notice the second, yet the second sees the first and is put into an even more depressed state by seeing the first's happiness. Now, wouldn't it seem just a bit absurd for the second man to stop the first one and tell him he's wrong for being happy? So no offense, but I think in this sort of situation, the problem is most likely in the minds of those who are unhappy. Comparing yourself to others is rarely, if ever, a good thing. I used the word "happy," and varients of it, way too many times in this post. :twitch:[/color]

[quote name='Siren']I don't remember R/B having the Ultra Effective damage, but it's very interesting in FireRed/LeafGreen. I'm looking forward to sending out Pikachu against a Gyarados, because Electric types are Super Effective against both Water and Flying types, so Gyarados being Water/Flying would suffer Ultra Effective damage. It should be fun, muahaha.[/quote][color=#4B0082]It doesn't say "ultra effective" in R/B/Y, but you can tell it's still doing 4x damage rather than the normal "super effective" 2x damage when an enemy Pokémon's types are both weak to the attack hitting it. Playing my copy of Yellow, it was wonderfully obvious that this was the case when I had Pikachu use Thunder on Lance's Gyarados for a one hit KO. I still remember grinning at that the first time I did it. Pokémon Snap, by the way, was tons of fun when I rented it. It didn't stay fun for an incredibly long time, or at least not long enough to make me buy it after renting it, but I really loved trying to get the absolute best shots of the Pokémon. I've always had a bit of an interest in photography, so I thought the game had a really neat concept. I even printed out some of my favorite pictures at one of those little station things they had at Blockbuster Video. One shot of those two Pikachu using Thundershock on the treestumps in the first area, and then one shot of each of the three legendary birds. But the game I keep hoping they'll make a sequel to is Pokémon Trading Card Game for Game Boy. It was a lot of fun being able to actually use all the rare cards and have free reign for building decks, without having to spend hundreds of dollars on cards. Plus, it let me play the TCG any time I wanted, rather than almost never because only a couple of my friends also had cards. I probably wouldn't hesitate to buy a sequel, were one to be made.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]You can never go wrong with abusing Shin's nads. I'm liking this story already. :toothy: Though I think a better line for the end of chapter 2 would've been, "Can't...stop...doing...the monkey!" Because sneaking in Simpsons quotes is awesome and second only to the aforementioned nad abuse.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Didn't want to do this, but the thread is just attracting way too many spammy posts to be worth it. Thread Closed[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Well, Morpheus' post did contribute to the thread -- it's not like it was a spammy post -- with just the one little comment that I ended up quoting. (You can see the thread [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=45259][u]here[/u][/url], by the way.) So I have to give him credit there.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Helpful tip that no one ever seems to use: [b]Use the Advanced Search function, set it to only search in thread titles, and type in the title of the game to see if there's already a thread created for it.[/b] But yeah, I've merged this with the original FFTA thread. As for the game being meant to be played for 150 hours, it really just depends on how fast you go. If you want to be thorough, it can easily last that long and more, however; just depends on how much you want to do. Completing all 300 missions, plus the extra ones, will easily take over 100 hours, though. Personally, I have 182 hours logged on my file (as you can see in an earlier post, along with my clan and character stats). It probably took me about 150 to complete all the missions, and beyond that was just leveling up characters, playing around with abilities, trying to find those dang mythril weapons, etc. Gets a bit boring after you've completed all the missions, though, since there are so few that you can do over again. Also makes raising your clan level really hard -- I'm at 86, though I would've worked towards 99 if there were more than about two missions that I could do over and over to gain clan points. For tips, the biggest one is what Meggido said: Don't throw away mission items unless you have multiples or you know for a fact that you can get more. It takes a while to reach the limit (64) that you can carry, but it's still a good thing to always keep in mind. I didn't have any trouble with this myself, but I just naturally horde items, heh. Also, another thing that I didn't realize for a long time is, always send mission items along with characters on dispatch missions if you have spares. If you look at the items' descriptions, they have various effects when taken along, some of which can be extremely helpful. One of them, for example, doubles the amount of AP that a character gains upon successful completion of the mission -- very useful when you want someone to learn an ability fast. Third tip: Diversify your clan! I know some people don't want to be bothered with managing a full, 24 character clan, but it can really pay off. (I know some people have played through only using six characters, and it's possible, but it can come back to bite you sometimes.) Regularly using a lot of characters means your clan's members will be lower level than if you only used a handful of characters for every fight, but you can have a lot more abilities at your disposal if you use a variety of characters with different jobs. So even if your characters are lower level, you can field people whose jobs give them an advantage in nearly every battle. This, combined with the fact that enemies' levels are adjusted depending on your own, is invaluable at times. Just starting off, don't worry about having a big group of regularly used characters, but I tended to accept every character that wanted to join. I'd take a look at their stats, abilities, etc., maybe use them a bit, and decide if I wanted to keep them around. If not, no big deal -- you can just boot them from the clan with no worries. Just keep on the lookout for characters that start out good in a particular area, if you want to add a new clan member and actually use them regularly. For example, if you decide you need another mage, don't accept a fighter type into your clan and just change his job to a mage. A character's job when they first join your clan is always the area that they'll be best in, so if you're looking for a mage, wait for a magic user of some sort to offer to join, and use him. Same thing with any other job. If you do this, your party will be all around more powerful than if you just chose randomly, because your characters will be holding jobs that reflect their stats. One of the greatest things about FFTA, I think, is the amount of the depth the game has, while still allowing people to get through it without tons of strategy and planning. They'll have a harder time, sure, but with some leveling it can be done just fine. And for people that really want to get into it, there's tons of factors that you can consider when building your clan, to get the best performance possible out of your characters. The game gives people the best of both worlds.[/color]

[color=#4B0082]Wow, you actually took that as a serious warning? I figured the obvious reproduction of the tone you used in the quoted bit, plus the :rolleyes: smiley, would make it clear that it wasn't any sort of real warning. Guess I should start using more ;) and :p smilies, to make sure people can distinguish a warning from a playful reminder. Really, if I'm going to actually warn someone about playing mod, I'll usually do it through a PM. (As with most things.) And if I were to post it within a thread, I'd be more specific and go to greater length than that. I don't give single sentence warnings, as it were. Siren kind of hit on the reason I even posted that bit at all, though: Your remark did seem a little blunt to me. When something crosses the line from being a helpful tip about what's expected here, to a "you're doing this wrong" post, is when I start to consider comments to be playing mod. And I thought the sentence I quoted in my post was treading the line a bit -- hence the reason I posted a humorous little reminder, rather than something more serious. Sorry for the confusion, then. I'm really not all that strict about most things, and am usually willing to let stuff slide if it can be easily corrected. Such as with double posting -- I'll just combine the posts, leave a little reminder, and be done with it. If a person continuously double posts, I'll send out a warning, but just for here and there things it doesn't really matter.[/color]

[quote name='Morpheus']It really helps to post YOUR opinion to get a topic rolling.[/quote][color=#4B0082]It also really helps to let the moderators do THEIR job. :rolleyes: But yeah, it is a good idea to start a thread off with your own opinion or whatever, to get the discussion started. I'll rarely close a thread if one is lacking in that regard, provided other decent discussion is happening, but it's always encouraged. Just take a look around the boards for a bit and you'll see what's expected, though -- reading the [url=http://www.otakuboards.com/rules.php?][u]rules[/u][/url] will help a lot, too. As for my own opinion of Pokémon, I guess my interest in the series has dropped off, but I still consider myself a fan of the games. Pokémon Stadium 2 was the last game I bought, and now I'm just waiting for something to pique my interest again. My first experience was with the TCG, which I dropped in relatively short order simply because I didn't want to spend tons of money on booster packs just to get a decent deck. Plus, I had very few people to actually play against, which contributed a lot to my dropping the card game. While I was still having fun with the TCG, though, I heard about Pokémon Yellow version. I already had a GBC with Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, and had heard bits and pieces about Red and Blue before that though I really didn't know much about them. But I decided to get Yellow upon its release anyway, just going off the fact that I liked the TCG. Turned out my blind purchase couldn't have been better -- I instantly fell in love with the game, and probably put in about 150 hours over two play throughs, getting all 250 Pokémon the first time. Later I got Pokémon Stadium and had fun with it, though I've never enjoyed the stadium games as much as the Game Boy RPGs. Also got Stadium 2 when it was released, though I played it even less than the first one. I kind of regretted its purchase later, especially since none of my friends ended up getting Gold or Silver. But having loved Yellow to no end, I was absolutely ecstatic about finally getting my hands on Pokémon Gold in October 2000. I swept through Johto and beat the Elite Four, then headed into the classic Kanto area. This is where I started to get kind of bored, since not much had changed in Kanto since the time of R/B/Y. I did get all 16 badges from Kanto and Johto, but still couldn't get into Mt. Silver after doing that, so I just kind of stopped playing. Later I picked the game back up for a bit to capture Lugia, though I never did go through Mt. Silver or get a full Pokédex. When Ruby and Sapphire were announced for the GBA, I was excited, but only until I started reading reviews. It all sounded like just more of the same, except for a few little tweaks and without the cool clock features in G/S/C. A friend ended up getting Sapphire, but I just didn't think Ruby was worth the money, considering how many other games were higher up on my "most wanted" list. So I skipped R/S, and I have no plans for getting Emerald. Same with Colosseum and FireRed/LeafGreen, too. Too much of the same stuff, with too few changes that actually interested me. Right now I'm looking forward to hearing more about Diamond and Pearl versions for the DS. If they make some substantial changes that actually set the games apart from the GB/GBA series, I'll probably end up getting one of them. If it's just more of the same with gimmicks thrown in to use the DS's unique features just for the sake of using them, however, I'll pass. If I spend $30 on a new game, I expect a decent amount of new gameplay. So here's to hoping, I guess. There's a summary of my experiences with Pokémon, then. So like I said, I'm still a fan of the series -- just not a big enough fan to buy the same thing over and over again.[/color]