Josh - 9:18 EST

Happy Birthday!

I sent you a photocopier.

Hi Ouro,

There seems to be a slowdown in PS2 RPGs in the next little while (What? Dirge of Cerebus is an RPG?), so I`m facing a bit of a RPG drought until a whole slew of them come out in the fall (Rogue Galaxy, FF12, Vp:Sileria, Okami, and many more). I`m considering trying to go on ebay and finding older games. What do you think about the whole ebay/secondhand game market? Do you think this is a help to the RPG market (fan = yay! I can get an old rare game I haven`t played yet!) or a hindrance (company = what? someone spent $150 on a game and we don`t see a buck of it?)?

Personally, I don`t mind rereleases like the FF rereleases, because there are a lot of great games in the past people have not enjoyed yet, or wish to play again. However, another part of me would rather see new games and spend that extra money on ebay if it means a *NEW* RPG comes out that much sooner. What do you prefer?

Gouden Draak

*Sniffle* While no roll for me on Sunday's column? *Sob* I see how it's gonna be...I'm just gonna have to flood your mailbox with all sorts of mindless crap! Prepare to have your mind numbified...

It's a good point that there are controversies to take into consideration when using historical settings (which the shooter games out there so delicately ignore). Personally, I don't think the controversy is what stops developers. Look at GTA. Loves the controversy! Free advertising on all the news networks! Even more small children rush out to buy the game! See? Everybody wins.

While there are certainly exceptions to the bland fantasy setting, I'm just saying I'd like to see more of them. They tend to be a nice breath of fresh air.

Question time: Who is the most sympathetic villain in an RPG? I always thought it was Jowy/Joei of Suikoden II fame. It seems many games attempt to make their villains' goals somewhat reasonable, but few succeed. What I've always liked about Jowy was that his goals were basically the same as the 108's. He just went about trying to achieve those goals in an entirely different way, a way that happened to conflict with the 108's methods.

The Dilzweld Commander (Dilber? His name escapes me, and I don't feel like looking it up :^D) from Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits also comes to mind. However, I didn't like that the game entirely hid his motives until right before your party decides to kill him anyway. I just really enjoy when villains' motives make some kind of sense. It's impossible to identify with evil incarnate with no goals other than death and no reason other than bloodlust. It may be totally awesome, but it's also totally unreasonable.

Vicissitude (Vid, V-dog, Vfsdfasdk, if it starts with a 'V' it's probably me :^D)

Ouro,

I'd like to say a couple of things on issues that have come up of late, first of which would be the impact of a Civil War RPG on neo-Confederates, etc.

JuMeSyn is unfortunately correct with the assumption that such a game would incite the distaste of one side or the other unless handled tastefully. As related by news stories regarding Confederate symbols on state flags, many Southerners still take great pride in the fact that the South was once its own nation. The issue becomes even worse when one realizes that this pride is reinforced by a "Lost Cause" mentality that has been around since the end of the war. Created by Confederate General Jubal Early, among many others, the Lost Cause continued to assert the moral superiority of the former Confederates long after the war. As detailed in many history books, among them David Blight's excellent 2001 work, Race And Reunion, the Lost Cause came to dominate America's historical interpretation of the Civil War decades after its conclusion. As a result, Confederates came off as morally correct and were applauded for their heroism and bravery, and many Southerners maintain this level of pride today.

Another issue upon which I would like to comment pertains to the use of historical backgrounds such as the Civil War in RPGs. Many readers have pointed out that such endeavors might not be all that feasible, due to possible PR ramifications, but I would cite Xenosaga (especially Episode I) as one that gets it right with its elements of Gnostic Christianity. While the game stops just short of engaging in wholescale theological debate, it does include many Gnostic elements in the parlance of the universe. I think such subtle inclusion merits more attention in the wake of the firestorm surrounding Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. The latter shows that Christians will react to badly-presented controversy, and the lack of vitriol around Xenosaga shows, at least in some respects, that the writers effectively placed Gnostic references in a way that encouraged research, not retaliation.

Sincerely,
Eric

Note: Remember, you can join in THONG at any time! The board is designed to allow newcomers to use their spells and letters to rise up and knock others back! It's an equal opportunity game! :)

I apologize for the short column, but I got caught up in a group project today and it completely slipped my mind. I think THONG is up to date; I think I caught my errors.

Also, next weekend, I have to take a trip to Gettysburg for my internship, so I won't be able to post a column until Monday...So, only 1 THONG roll next weekend, so make it count! Send me letters! Have a good week with Matt!

***Josh gets to sleep in until 7AM tomorrow!