Lusipurr - 17:25 GMT

Letters. Send them to me!

We may have a guest host next week; it is a surprise, so I am not going to say any more. However, you really should send letters. Then, I can forward them to our worthy guest-host. Do not let me down, people!

Where will I be next week? Holiday! Think of tropical beaches, beautiful vistas, exotic locales, and girls carrying drinks with little umbrellas on them. Have you got that marvelous picture in your head? Excellent. You now have conceived of exactly the opposite of where I will actually be.

I will now address your tiresome and annoying questions.

Indeed, it is true that I am leaving Q&A. However, I am not leaving the site. I will continue on as Head of Interaction. You see, right now I am essentially doing two jobs for the site. I barely have time for one! When Autumn rolls around, I will be hard put to it.

As for the podcast, it is something I genuinely enjoy doing and I hope to remain a regular member of the group. However, this is a decision I have placed firmly in the hands of the podcast host, Sabin. Rather than telling him who is supposed to be on the podcast, I think it is better that he make such decisions himself. Of course, should he choose unwisely . . .

As for our video-based feature, we have run into a snag. I have a script. I am ready to film. However, the person in charge of filming and editing has quite simply disappeared. I have not seen him in months. I am not sure what the deal is, but I think it very unprofessional. Until someone else is found who is willing and capable of doing the shooting and editing, the project is sadly on hold.

It is such a pity, too. I imagine everyone would have enjoyed seeing me stomp around in a frozen waste wearing shorts and a pith helmet.

Trevor, you have misused the word effected. This is a major annoyance to me, so we will pause the column for a brief lesson.

The words affect and effect seem similar. However, they are used in profoundly different ways. Affect means 'to have an influence upon' or 'to make a display of/to deliberately cultivate'. Effect, on the other hand, means 'the result of a cause' or 'to create'.

Hence: The game had an emotional effect.
And: He was affected with great emotion.

So, the question you want to ask is: "Has a game ever affected you with great emotion?" (Alternately, "Has great emotion ever been an effect of a game?" or "Has a game ever effected great emotion in you?" Your original sentence is wrong because you have made you the object of effected--unless you actually mean to ask if a game has ever caused me to exist, in which case the answer is yes.)

If it seems a little confusing, that is because it is a little confusing. This is, however, no excuse for failure to abide by the stringent rules of grammar which govern our glorious language! I am sure you will remedy such failings in future and will go on to do many great things. This site is useful as a helpful reference if you need it.

What was the question again? Oh yes, has a game ever affected me with great emotion?--I remember now! Yes, I can think of several key moments:

- Aerith's death in Final Fantasy VII
- Various scenes and the ending to Eternal Sonata
- Many of the memories in Lost Odyssey
- Certain Scenes in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
- The end of Final Fantasy IX
...et cetera.

In the circumstances mentioned above, the sound effects and music (or lack of it) played a key factor in the way the story was presented. I think this is a sign of an excellent production. When storyline, sound, and music come together in a way which fills the player with emotion, a success is taking place. The point of RPGs, more than any other genre, is to put the player in the persona of the characters. Therefore, when the player feels the emotion of the characters, the game is succeeding.

This brings up a great question for next week: what are your favourite emotional moments in games? Happy, sad, or frustrating; what games have truly filled you with emotion? Write in and tell me all about it!

Those horrible Harmonians and their gophers. When will their meddling cease?

If I was going to pick an RPG setting for the sake of sheer novelty, I would choose the reign of Henry VIII of England. The player would have to navigate through political intrigue and subterfugre--in addition to very difficult strategy maps!

Conjecture aside, my favourite setting is the Final Fantasy-esque medieval+steampunk nonsense which you see going on in games like Final Fantasy IV, VI, IX, and XII. Everyone is using swords and armor, but there are flying ships, giant engines, machines, guns, and a whole host of other anachronistic devices. Of course, there is also magic--another key requirement. This is not to say that I dislike all other settings. Rather, I only mean to say that for my part, these games have the sort of setting I enjoy. Of them, I think Final Fantasy IX is perhaps the best-realised. This setting is also employed in the Suikoden series with which you may be familiar. Final Fantasy Tactics is more true to the medieval setting with less of the steampunk stuff. It is probably the closest thing to my conjectural setting above.

What about you, dear readers? What sort of setting would you pick for your ideal RPG?

I am happy to say that there is some recent news on the Crystal Bearers front. Recently, through interviews and references to the project, Square Enix confirmed that the game is still in development, though there is no release date at this time. I suspect we will hear more about it after The Little King is released via Wii-Ware.

That was a nice easy question! Time to move on.

This may be the world's only short JuMeSyn letter. Take a screen-shot, people.

JuMeSyn poses a difficult question. In my opinion, Breath of Fire started out average and went downhill from there. So, I suppose you could say that the most recent game is the worst. When the next BoF game is released, that game will be the worst.

Of course this is not a very fair assessment of the series, seeing as I have only played a few hours of Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II. So, I will throw this one to the readers.

Which Breath of Fire game is the worst, and why? The person who makes the most sound argument will have their decision enshrined forever here on RPGamer. This is your chance to be the ARBITER OF GAMING JUSTICE. Write in today!

The letter bag is empty again. Send letters so your guest host will have something to answer!

I now have a week's holiday before I go back to University for the duration of Summer. At least the class load will be lighter, though the prospect of a four-hour-long class every weekday evening fills me with dread. Alas. I will have my laptop to keep me company--and, in a couple of the courses, my fiancée.

I purchased a few games this week. As a result, the sidebar has been updated. I now have too many games, and I am doing the worst possible thing with them--trying to play them all at once. The result is no progress in any game. Worse yet, some of these games are games which I have finished already. I cannot decide what to play!

This means I will almost certainly end up playing Final Fantasy XI instead.

Pip pip!