These folks have LONG intros, so I'll give them room.

Silkenray: Hiyas, Heylas, Hullo-Hullo, Greetings, Good Eve, etcetera ad nauseum to you, good readers. First, a little bit about myself. My name is Susan, alias Silkenray, alias Celes-Dawn. I am a 16 year old freshman in college, double-majoring in Theater and Psychology. As the people from a *cough* channel who's name I shall not mention under penalty of death from the regulars there know, I draw, act, sing, compose music, and play one or two songs on the harp when I feel like it ;) Unlike the rest of the guest-hosts, I am here because I did something only tangentially connected with RPG's. As most or all of you knew, I drew "Google-babe's" sig pic. What this means is that, while I have the charisma that a Q&A host needs, I may not necessarily have the knowledge. Hence, I bring with me my brother. "What's his name?" you ask... My answer: Does it matter? Thus, he will be known from this point forward as "Susan's Brother."

"Susan's Brother": Thanks, kiddo. For those wondering who I am, I have agreed that my identity will remain a mystery. I've done this because I was quite naturally insanely jealous when I heard that my sister was chosen as Google's guest host just pecause she drew a picture! And to think, I introduced her to the site! Oh yeah, and there's the fact that I don't want slime face here hitting on my sister... But I digress. I'm an 18 year old RPGamer who has been playing and enjoying the little bundles of joy since the original Final Fantasy was released in the US. I've been frequenting the site for quite a while (Since Josh Reid was the Q&A host... now there was real host. Kids these days... Never appreciate the classics...). I'm a senior in high school, and I hope to be valedictorian of my class this spring. But all of this is probably irrelevant, as I don't even have a name you know.

Silk:
Hey! No greeting for me? *pouts*. Oh well... To answer your question, usually (though I am not positive in this particular case) when you are at a high enough level, with all the proper stats etcetera to learn a skill, and you don't, it usually means that either you haven't reached a point in the game where you can learn it, or that you don't have an item necessary to do so. My advice: Keep on playing. Don't neglect corners of dungeons or such where items might be hidden. Eventually, you will get that skill, so just be patient. Hope that helps. ;) Oh, and that furry thing...? What's short and cute and looks like a combination of a rabbit and a cat?

Bro:
Well, Kev... I've played Grandia, but I was too interested in the storyline to spend a lot of time leveling and gaining magic skills. Plus I never tought Justin Earth magic. But, here's something that might help you out. Check the list where it shows what skill levels you have to reach to gain new skills. If it doesn't appear there, then chances are you can't learn it. I'm not positive about this, but... Let me just say that even though I never learned the Dragon Cut, I'm pretty sure Justin used it in a ceartain story scene I saw. As for the furry thing... Why don't chu guess?

Googleshng:
Neither of you knew this? There's a point in the plot where the ??s in Justin's move list turn into real numbers, then another for Feena's. Keep playing.

Silken:
Huzzah! A greeting this time, all of my own! :) Oh, and Hiya, Zook. Hey, people, meet one of my loving stalkers/friends/cult members! ;) About the first, I know no more than you. As for the second, I'm assuming that the age listed is the age Laguna was during the initial "flashbacks". Elsewise, chalk it up to Temporal Paradox.... Temporal Paradox is fun... but be careful with those alternate timelines. They can get rather bothersome ;) Oh, and I called Ramus Ramsus too, before I went insane after hearing "La la la la LAAAAA" ninety billion times. I'll have to play that game through with the sound off. :)

Bro:
I haven't the foggiest about the release date of the WonderSwan... And is it just me, or is that the dumbest name imanigable for a game system? But I'm moving off on a tangent once more. As for your FF8 question, you do have a point there. But I'm inclined to agree with my sister, here. Laguna ceartainly wasn't 10 in the flashbacks, so obviously the age they mentioned for him would appear to be in reference to him there. On the other hand, it would technically be possible for a 10 year old to have a kid... But I don't think Sqare advocates that kind of stuff... (Yuck...).

Googleshng:
Yeah, that's the age of Laguna when first seen. Now here's a real math problem for you. Look at the ages involved in FF7. Vincent must time travel...

Silken:
Once again, no greeting for me... *sniff, sniff*. Hello, Xenochick! Um... that's quite a... *wink, wink* coincidence there, isn't it? *draws out a pocket watch, swinging it back and forth, baaaaack and foooorth* There is no Square-California conspiracy... There is no Square-California conspiracy....

Bro:
Hi there! I'm single young man looking for companionship. I enjoy long walks on the beach and... *Insert slap from Silkenray here* Ow! Sorry! Anyway, Square's chances of taking over the world are pretty slim, especially with my Trance Silksteel Garrisons guarding the coast. (A proper nod to all the Sidgamers out there, who understand the reference.) Ok, but seriously... It MAY be true that Square gets the names of its characters from cities and corporations in California, but I wouldn't worry. How can a company with cool characters like "Sacremento" and "San Diego" be evil? Square is obviously trying to save us from ourselves.

Googleshng:
My cousin once found an oily metal plaque on the sidewalk that said "DO NOT OIL MECH" on it. Think about THAT.

Silken:
First... Ryoga Hibiki. Hmmm... wonder where I heard that name last? ;) Second, all of these are common themes in Fantasy style games/movies/anime/manga. Though it's fun to imagine connections, the ones you see here were probably entirely unintentional. If not... then... *takes out pocket watch just in case*

Bro:
I must admit that I've never seen the series in question, but come on! How can you resist rich people in airships and giant robot knights? These cliches exist for a reason. THEY'RE COOL! So there. I had a good feeling!

Googleshng:
Actually, I noticed the Square-esque look to Escaflowne also. It just so happens that Escaflowne's character designer (Nobuteru Yuuki) has worked for Squaresoft for many years. He wasn't on the FF team ever to my knowledge, but he'd still have been hanging out in the art department. Oh, and then Xenogears has character design that's AWFUL similar to Escaflowne in return, so it's a full circle kinda thing. 8)

Silken:
I've given up on people greeting me by name... er... um... alias. So...Two words... Great costumes! Oh, and I agree with you. FFVII was bashed far too much, in my opinion. It had it's flaws, but it was fun, with an interesting plot, and great music. It seemed to me that most of the FF bashers heard one of their friends bash it, and decided to hate it then and there.... Ah well. No hypnotism for you! Next time, propose a conspiracy theory, okay?

Bro:
Where was I... Oh yeah... I like long walks on the beach, intelligent conversations, and... *Insert yet another Silkenray slap* OW! Sorry! God... Anyway, I enjoyed Final Fantasy VII, though VI was my all time favorite. I think the main flaw with VII (in my opinion) was the depth given to some of the characters, and the complete lack thereof of the rest. For example, Cloud and Aeris were characterized throughout the entire game, but Barret was basically done after Gold Saucer.

Googleshng:
Well, FF7 has it's highs and lows. I personally have some complaints with the music, especially during the ending. I mean the actual ending, not One Winged Angel (although that does rip off O Fortuna, one of my favorite songs). Still, I like the materia system.

Silken:
I...I was greeted by name! *swoon* Seriously, now, I am looking forward to FFIX, and not just because of it's more "old school" feel. In my humble opinion, Square almost always produces games of extremely high caliber, and so another one (and so major a project!) is definately worth looking forward to. Oh, and I agree with your statement that FFXI should not be in the numerical order if it is going to be so drastically different from the other series. However, we don't have much say in what it will be called. "Big Brother", "The Man", and all that jazz. ;) Oh, wait! I just proposed a conspiracy theory... *hands her brother the pocket watch, frowning guiltily*

Bro:
*Does the pocketwatch thing* Big brother is your friend. All hail the computer! When I clap my hands three times in a row, you will cluck like a chicken... There we go... All fixed up. As for looking to Final Fantasy IX... well, duh! God, if it's anything like FFIV, I'm going to be paralyzed by happy nostalgia... Now, I'm not too sure exactly how Final Fantasy XI is going to be done, so I can't immediately say that it will be a bad thing. It will ceartainly be unworthy of the Final Fantasy title if it's just another Everquest or Ultima Online. However, done properly, it could be a great deal of fun, and worthy of inclusion in the numbered series. It's just a bit too early to tell.

Silken:
*Finishes clucking like a chicken, and snatches her pocket watch back*

Googleshng:
I agree with everyone here, although I seem to recall hearing from someone that it might actually be a console style RPG with multiplayer online support like PSO, but then I seem to recall our news story says that's how FF10 works and that FF11 is just an icky ol'Online RPG. So, phooie.

Silken:
Good point, that. I reply by saying "all of them". Frankly, Square almost always produces excellent games, and I have no doubt the tradition will continue, despite changes in system and online capability.

Bro:
Good point. I have a few reasons to look foreward to FFIX more than the others, though. First of all, it will be released sooner. There's no point in pining away after something you won't see for ages. Next, IX has a traditional fantasy setting, which should bring back memories of the "good old days" for many of the people here. Finally IX will be for the PSX, which means that I won't have to shell out another $250 for a new system (don't let Susan fool you into thinking that SHE pays for these things!) just to play it. These are all pretty signifigant factors in IX's favor even before you consider mechanics, plot, and characters.

Googleshng:
It is a bit odd to have that poll. It does tell you some things about the tastes of the readers as is though. It seems a return to fantasy is prefered to an online RPG.