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Googleshng - March 15 '04- 2:00 Eastern Standard Time
Text adventures are written in a happy little language called Inform.
It's quite handy and versitile, and anything which the creators didn't take into account when creating
it can be jury-rigged if you know what you're doing. I however don't know what I'm doing, so in attempting
to create a game where the stanard compass of north/south/east/west/up/down don't apply, and there's
a new strange set, I came up with the interesting problem that going in a direction where there's no
exit, rather than resulting in the message "You can't go that way," dumps you into a horrible pitch
black nethervoid from which there is no escape.
Admittedly, there's a certain appeal to this, but it's a bug I should really fix. Ideally without resorting
to some lame cop-out like renaming the preset compass directions.
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Rereleases.
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This is kind of a weird question, but I figure since you deal with a
lot of
RPG fans on a regular basis, you're a good person to ask.
I've noticed that Square Enix fans have a tendency to get upset over
the
Japanese rereleases of their more popular games (FFX International and
Kingdom
Hearts Final Mix, for example). It's understandable, because the
rereleases have
a lot of neat stuff added to them. I don't know why Square Enix
doesn't seem
to think they'll sell here, but it seems very disrespectful to the
non-Japanese
fanbase, IMO.
This brings me to the release of Star Ocean 3. SO3 has yet to be
released
over here, but the Director's Cut is already out in Japan. Squenix
hasn't
announced any plans to bring over the Director's Cut, but I'm not sure
it's safe to
assume that the extras from the rerelease are being added to the
American
version.
If the Director's Cut is NOT being brought over here, Square fans
could have
a chance to voice their opinions about the rereleases. If fans
boycotted the
game, and SO3 had poor initial sales, it would hit Square Enix where
their ears
are (their pockets).
The question is, do you think the boycott is a good idea? I'm still
not sure
if I'm jumping too far ahead of myself, and the fans might not be
willing to
put off buying the game. There's also the matter of all the running
around and
spreading the word, which is going to take a lot of effort.
What say you?
Solaris Magnum
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Googleshng:
First off, it should be noted that generally, when a game has a Japanese rerelease with new features
added, those "new features" are the ones that popped up while it was being brought over to the U.S. (or
occassionally Europe). So 9 times out of 10, you're getting the same things they are in Japan, without
the annoyance of having to buy the game twice or waiting an extra year.
That said, your boycott notion here is fundementally flawed. You are proposing people show a company
that there's a market for a game in a region by refusing to buy that game. The only thing that could
hope to accomplish is making sure the next Star Ocean game to come out isn't released in this country
at all.
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Review type gripes.
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I love this site, it`s great for info on up coming games and stuff,
but one
thing really bother`s me. Why is it that when a new game comes out
people
hurry up and try to make a reviews as fast as they can. For example,
some of
the reviews for Final Fantasy X-2 frustrate me because some of the
things
the reviewers say are not accurate and they are also too subjective.
They
throw around their opinions and personal beliefs when really, rpg fans
don't
know if the game is aimed at teenage boys, give me a break. Seeing
Rikku's
thong straps wont stop me from playing the game. I read one that said
changing dresspheres was a cool concept but said afterwards that later
on it
"becomes tiring and too long", and that you can`t do anything about
it. If
that person did more research, in the configuration menu you could
change it
so that you don`t see the sphere change sequence at all, only the
change in
battle. I could go on, but I think you get the point. So like I asked,
why
do they put reviews out on the internet when some of the thing the
reviewers
say are not accurate? Would it not be better to fully understand the
game,
and then put out a review without being too subjective and let the rpg
fans
make there own opinion?
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Googleshng:
Well, with reviews written by the actual staff, we have a pretty thorough system of checks and balances
in place to make sure our reviews are factually accurate, and free from any major personal bias. When
you start discussing reviews sent in by readers (which I assume is what you're griping about here) it
isn't really possible (or practical) to have that sort of quality control. Of course, the bottom line
here is that reviews, as a general rule of thumb, or going to have inaccuracies and bias from time to
time, no matter who writes them. Really, the best thing to do is just find a reviewer you agree with
most of the time, and hope the trend holds. Of course, a reviewer you always disagree with works just
as well.
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Oddness
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Hey Andrew,
I noticed in your last Letters Column that you are a Harvest Moon-avoiding ninja. What an injustice to everything RPGness! Geesh, how can you call yourself an RPGamer when you neglect the most original and immersive RPG series ever made? Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life promises to expand and improve on the tried and true formula that has made this series so well-loved by fans all over the globe. If you should have the audacity to pass this game up, I will locate your location of existence and kill you.
Sincerely,
Peckmoe Gallant
P.S. Oh no! I've insulted the terrifying doom leader an alternate game universe where I seemed forced to play the terrible games you like to play! Run for your lives!
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Googleshng:
Well, my name isn't Andrew, and I have no intense hatred of the Harvest Moon series, so uh... these aren't
the droids you're looking for?
Of course, it should be noted that nobody has ever come close to giving me a good reason to consider
Harvest Moon an RPG.
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