Boojum - 22:54 EST

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS, loyal Q&A readers!

Since this is to be the first of several co-hostings, I suppose it would be appropriate to start by introducing myself. My name is Gareth Hughes, also known as Boojum. I'm about a year and a half out of college, currently working customer service in the game industry while looking for opportunities to move into something more interesting. I've been into RPGs of all sorts since the original Wizardry, and my all-time favorite is Fallout 2. When not playing games, I keep busy with writing and with designing an independent game, as well as getting ready to get married in a couple of weeks.

But enough about me. You're here to talk about RPGs, and it's certainly a good time to do so. Final Fantasy XII has been out for almost a week now, so at least some of you must be partway into it. Besides that, we've got two new consoles launching in under two weeks, so congratulations if you were one of the lucky ones to get a pre-order in on your machine of choice. And that's not even mentioning the deluge of other anticipated games that we're in the middle of. This is certainly a good time to be a gamer (as frustrating as it might be for those of us whose backlog already looks insurmountable).

Anyway, on to the letters!

SlimeyD optimizes "need I say more than the tragedy that was "Earthbound 64"? Of course, they didn't even FINISH that one. Maybe they'll come through. One day."

Well judging by this following site's comparisons, it doesn't need to be "FINISHed" per say.

(Note: Probably contains minor spoilers, I can't actually be sure!)

http://starmen.net/mother3/gameinfo/comparisons/

Although that probably wasn't what you meant by them coming through for us. :)

"wow, if I wrote something like that, I think I'd be too worried that the power would go out while typing and that I'd lose it ALL!"

I recommend you use Notepad, or perhaps a slightly more in depth word editor (your choice really,) and then you could save to your heart's content. Once finished, it should only be a simple task to copy and paste it into the e-mail(/etc).

(Sorry Josh. No doubt he'll now be pushing onto that 1000 word limit himself!)

"Next Tuesday, in fact, Boojum will join us. You might want to ask him how on earth he achieved the impossible, though it's up to you!"

Sure I'll bite (not literally). Boojum, I want to ask how on earth you achived the impossible and came up with a name that looks like it sounds rude, but only sounds like it feels sticky?

No? Umm....*nibbles*

P.s. As for the trivia being too obscure. How about less chooses with the more obscure ones, such that people have a decent chance for making a guess at the very least?

There's an interesting idea. I think the purpose is already somewhat served by having higher point values on the obscure questions, which makes them more valuable to guess on (a 20% chance of getting 1,500 points is better than a 20% chance of getting 1,000 points.) We'll have to wait and see what Matt does with SOCK 2.0 in (hopefully) January. Thanks for writing in!

Honestly, I'm glad we're taking a break with SOCK. I spend too much time on some of the questions. I realized this when I went to try to figure out the answer to 365. I turned the game on, and five minutes later asked myself if I ever want to get out of school. I turned it off shortly thereafter.

And then picked up DQVIII, of course! =^D

I did attempt to play FFXII, but the game is overwhelming me right now.

Speaking of which, my biggest problem with it so far is the camera. It makes me disoriented. And controlling it with the right analog stick? Bleh! That's just evil. What do you think?

Laurie

Agreed! I've mentioned this to a few friends in a non-Q&A setting already, but it's true. The camera isn't bad at all, I find, until you find yourself in almost any really tight spaces. The camera angles change without warning, and it's really not fun to get backed into a corner fighting monsters for that reason. I do think, though, that it's a fairly minor issue in the scheme of things.

Anyway, Laurie, thanks for writing in yet again!

Ooops, forgot to send in answers again! Doesn't bode well for me getting a Mega Man X game, does it? Anyway, I've been playing and enjoying FF12 a lot. I can finally see a city that's actually *populated*, thanks to the "can't talk to NPCs without a little symbol" thing. 'Course, the sudden "bigness" is both good and bad, since it's harder to keep track of who you've talked to, and it's kinda intimidating.

The Gambit system is working out to be more and more of a necessity, given the new complexities of battle. I'm thinking of it less and less as masturbation (as Penny Arcade put it), especially since I'm always manually controlling the party leader.

And there looks to be lotsa sidequests too, which I love (but also make me nervous, 'cause I don't wanna miss any!). The bounty hunting system is something I liked from Arc the Lad 3, and I'm liking it here too.

(PS: SOCK 2.0 in April makes me a sad panda. In January makes me a happy panda! Just FYI. YMMV, since you're the one running this thing, after all. :))

I think quite a few people have their fingers crossed for January. I'm certainly eager to see what new and interesting changes will be made (though I kind of expect to have a bulls-eye painted on my forehead). Thanks for the letter, Leaper!

*Sigh* I'm so sad about some of the changes made to FFIV:Advanced. Yes I realize I'm behind the times by about a year, but that's what I'm playing right now.

Playing it this weekend, though, did get me to thinking about the spell Sight. I mean, in battle it has one effect - allows you to see an enemy's status, and out of battle it has a completely different effect - allows the user to see a wider view of the world map. Now how many other spells do you know behave that way? I certainly can't think of any other off the top of my head...

Have a good one!
Maggie ^_^

Is that the difference between the original and the new version? I thought that in the original SNES Final Fantasy, "Sight" did absolutely nothing in battle, and it was in fact Peep instead that allowed you to see enemy stats. I do remember that Sight allowed you to zoom out a bit to view your surroundings, which was a really neat idea, though by the time you've played through the game about seven times, you of course have little need for such a spell.

So, what changes are bothering you the most? Realize that many of the "new" elements are actually things that were actually included in the original Japanese version before they were ripped out for us Western-world "simpletons". Of course, many of the new elements are indeed new, too. Hopefully, despite everything, you're still enjoying your questing across the Blue Planet!

Hey there, Matt!

Here is what I have to say about Kingdom Hearts, after getting nearly to the end. Wow. And I mean wow. So many twists and turns in the plot, such a wonderful story so far. I'm also so very close to getting all the puppies. 6 more to go.

It helps that I've been writing up a storm for NaNoWriMo as well, so I don't feel guilty about taking time to play a game. I'd say my November is going well. How's yours? I really hope you're getting enough time for Final Fantasy XII.

-CW

If the villainous Novembra doesn't completely gut me of my soul or kill me, it will certainly have done a good job of trying. I'm doing my best to get gaming time in, though, and thankfully, none of my hairs have lost their chroma as of yet. As for Final Fantasy XII, I've got a solid seven hours on the clock so far, which isn't terribly bad, considering my situation... and also considering that I'm playing Xenosaga III concurrently! Thanks for asking, and take care!

Hey, Matt,

Anyway, now for a real question, have you seen the latest Zelda videos that are on Nintendo's Wii website? http://us.wii.com/soft_loz_tp.jsp They are slightly spolierish, though, but not very much so. I feel so fickle, but that makes me even more giddy than I have been for Final Fantasy XII. I'm going to have a backlog of great games this Christmas; thank goodness I have a lot of vacation coming. Anyway, exciting things that I have read in response to the vids and early plays of the game...

I've posted a couple of observations below. I've read how you feel about spoilers, so please don't read them if you don't want to know. There's nothing too, too spoilerish here, and I'm trying to avoid putting some of the other stuff I've seen down.


*ZELDA: TP SPOILERS*

The vast landscape of the title sequence reminds me of Shadow of the Colossus...which is a very good thing. I've never felt more immersed in a video game landscape than in that game. The music sends chills down my spine.

- I've read several remarks how Link's facial expressions are even more dramatic than in Wind Waker. :o)

- Midna is shown with someone who looks to be Zelda, but it's not definite. That would end speculation that Midna is Zelda, which I never believed, anyway.

- A mysterious masked enemy has been introduced in the latest trailer, and there's a lot of speculation about his identity. A close examination of his armor reveals a Gerudo Symbol.

*End Spoilers*

I'm said because my financial situation dictates that I'm going with the cube version rather than initially purchase a Wii. So, I have roughly 6 weeks to stay out of Twilight Princess media. Sigh. I understand Nintendo's business decision, but I still lament the fact that I won't get to play the game for a while. It will give me something to look forward to in December, though. I just hope there are not any differences in actual gameplay content.

Sundoulos

Hopefully, the only difference is in the controls. Gamecube owners who can't upgrade to a Wii right away have had little else to look forward to for the past year or two, so giving them a crippled version of the game would really sting. I still haven't decided which version to get. I probably won't be able to afford either version right when it comes out, but I do plan to get a Wii in the next few months sometime, shortages permitting. I'm a bit curious as to how much impact the new controls will have on a game that was initially designed for the Gamecube. If nothing else, those videos of people playing the swordfighting portions make me itch for a more dedicated, precise, fencing simulator using the Wii controller. Thanks for writing in, Sundoulos!

This is Matt, speaking: I DID NINETEEN HOURS OF MATH IN A ROW YESTERDAY! This column was such a refreshing break. Tonight, I should even get time to sit down with a certain new game!

#364. a) Nightmare - 1,500 points
Yep! "Dead Beat" was the background music for the swampy Stages 4-1, 4-2, etc, which led you on a one-way trip to Stage 5-1, 5-2, and so on, featuring Alucard and the creepy "Nightmare" theme! Taking a different path through Stage 3 will bring you to a Stage 4-A instead, a pirate ship level with the "Anxiety" theme; that path doesn't meet back up with the first until you're into Dracula's Castle in Stage 8.

#365. c) Booster's Tower - 1,500 points
Anyone who has played Mario RPG will know this one. I remember how excited I got the first time I discovered this!

#366:
A character in the original Suikoden has a name that is the same as that of a unit of measurement for what? (2,000 points)

a) Catalytic Activity
b) Illuminance
c) Electric Conductance
d) Luminous Intensity
e) Magnetic Induction

The final item that will be introduced to this competition will be Boojum's Lycanthropic Curse: As long as you possess this item, you have been infected by a werewolf. For all columns posted in the first seven days of the month, the full moon is considered to be out, and you have the Werewolf status (see below). Additionally, you gain Werewolf status for the first seven days immediately after acquiring this item, regardless of the date. This item can't be stolen or destroyed normally, but it can be removed by an Esuna spell targeted against it. If you get both of today's questions right, you'll be entered into a draw to obtain it! Best of luck.

Werewolf Status: While you are a Werewolf, you lose the benefit of all items in your inventory. However, any attacks against you deal only half damage. Additionally, once per day, you can make a bite attack against any target in the top 35. This deals 5,000 damage. You gain half the amount of damage dealt as bonus points. The bite can be blocked by armor, shields, or other defensive items. Finally, any target injured by the bite has a 50% chance of being infected with lycanthropy. Anyone that is infected is immediately given their own Boojum's Lycanthropic Curse.

Note that this is IT, people. The slates are all being wiped clean in just a few days, so take advantage of using your items while you can, if you plan to, because they won't be of any use in SOCK II! The last day with questions will be Thursday, and whoever has the most points by Friday, other than the grand prize winner, Boojum, will win a final, bonus co-hosting position! Stay tuned for more!

Thanks to Boojum, who did a stunning job as Q&A co-host today! He has many more ahead of him, so you'll be sure to get your fill over the weeks to come. For tomorrow, I want to hear from everyone who has played CHILDREN OF MANA. This really long-awaited DS Action RPG has really been swept under the rug; at one time, it was one of my most wanted games, even. But now, it has come out, and well, Final Fantasy XII has stolen the show, as predicted. Has anyone given this little potential gem a whirl? Please, tell me about it!

Otherwise, any old topic will do. Thanks for reading, everybody!