December 29, 2001
For those pplz waiting for a Tidus shrine, his biggest fan Tomu has been working on it for the past months. *shakes assy to death*

Another thing, those towns in LOD are nice big and full of things to do. Just hurts my eyes sometimes, and I've got a huge screen...

I'm playing Legend of Dragoon, Rose will roxor me but I'm just a few hours in. The battle system requires timing and a little strategy so far, and the music is way groovy. This game also has the best flowing water I've ever seen on a PSX before. I love the music lots, and I wish the stupid menu didnt have a separate song/loading time. Loading time on battles is also horrid, unless its because of my PSX.

YES. The Khosla 1st gen USA PSX from California. Our first PSX which has been broken for about 6 years and Steve figured out how to fix it last month. After going thru 4 PSXes this one still lives, LMAO.

So yeah, I'm playing more PSX RPGs with my short flea-sized attention span. I've gone thru a dozen PSX RPGs every time I feel like playing on a USA PSX, and never fully clear them due to loss of interest. Most recent abandoned full-clear projects include LOM, CC, Lunar (both), Genso Suikoden 2, TOD, VP, and I am willing to bet, this one too. Only when its an import I feel like finishing, dunno why.

I still have to finish SOM but am too lazy to swim through 50 wires and plugs just to hook up the SNES. Even with our new "multiple connector" switch thing, there's still too many systems.

Gah, diversions diversions.. I'm also blogging blind, this is a new comp and no proper video card yet.

December 27, 2001
Etoh mentioned something about questioning logic in games, that it ruins the mood of fun.

Although I agree with him, I think that if a story game mimics reality, it has to stay believable. It has to be plausible in some farfetched way to be enjoyable.

There's only so much BS and poorly executed plot twists and additions that players can take before they feel they've had enough. In this day and age nearly all games are going on the realism bandwagon, and a scant few are leading the way by really using their imagination.

I don't mind the unrealistic moves in fighting games, physics in overly floaty racing games, complete and utter disregard for the law and other people's injuries or what not..

But if there's a good reason for everything to be so within the confines of a game, and its enjoyably believable, its fun. If I have to dumb myself down to enjoy a retarded story, I've already lost the mood of fun without trying.

December 25, 2001
I saw the english FFX and... I'll be frank. EW. EW EW EW. Ew on many levels. It makes me feel dirty! *stomps on it*

Ayame has many of the same opinions I do, however I'd like to add that along with other unnecessary embellishments, the only interesting change is that the Fayth ghosts have voices instead of just text (which is how it SHOULD have been) and weapons can be sorted (again something we SHOULD have had). FFX International also looks like a ridiculous way to milk hardcore japanese fans who buy anything.

To regain sanity I checked on my "god game" of FFX, many stats (Strength, Magic Strength, Magic Defense, Speed, Evade) are past 120 and most have cleared a bit more than half of the whole board. I actually went and Wairo-ed a Mandragora at Gagazet Mountain to buy about 20 more return spheres, and Wairo-ed some Chimera Brains at Nagi Plains (not Calm Lands) for Lvl4 Key Spheres. Then taught everyone ReRaise with mad Friend/Return Spheres. I should have taken a pic of it, all the cute little icons partying in one spot! I think I permanently memorize the Sphere board now, because I have never forgotten it all these months. Thats just foul!

We'll be going to another house for xmas partying, Merry Xmas!

December 23, 2001
"ON YOUR FEET, SOLDIER!"
I love that line :D Sarah used it to get Kyle going, and dream-Kyle uses it too (only on the special edition). I dunno whats with me and Terminator, but I love it to bits. Seeing that extra scene cut out from T2 with Kyle Reese made my day. The scene was cut out for time, but DAMN that scene was awesome in the movie -_- IMHO

On another note, even Rupaul blogs more than me o_O

December 21, 2001
Yay 4 LOTR. I wanna see it on IMAX. A few times.

Yay 4 SNOW. Should be a white christmas in Toronto this year.

Random plug.

December 16, 2001
I know I know, I've gotten so old that I forgot a few key memories!

I also was on the Neogeo ML, cept I lurked more as it got gheyer and gheyer. Less fighting gameplay talk and more ghey. Homun was there too, known for translations. Translating quotes from soundtracks and games by hand was a good memory. Then there was the #neogeo EFnet chats! Those were the days! People like Onaje and EXAndy brightened my day :D I miss people like OmegaMAD, Greg Kasavin.

Aside from FFO there were multitudes of FF boards I hung out at. FFWA, SG, etc. I always met lotsa good people (some bad). I also was a regular at #ffonline and #ffwa and #squaregamer. I remember when we'd do gay things like taking over #teens and pretending to be jailbait or #catholics and spamming

praise the lord! Lets all lift our arms to the lord and pray! \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/ \o/

Jesus ascii art owned.

Well, everyone's on a nostalgia bandwagon so I'll do mine. My first experiences of an online gaming community were the newsgroups (rec.games.video.arcade and alt.games.sf2) thru telnet and the KOF mail list (run by motoslave). Back then web boards were cranky and web sites were mostly text. I spent most my time visiting my oldest online buddy's site (BBH/Matt Hall) which was about KOF. I also visited MMcafe.com (it was on geoshitties) and prof let me into all his EREET secret boards. I also visited Lancer's Arcade page. Most of us are still in contact thru online and otherwise, just not daily. Around this time the G.A.N.G. started. We loved making fun of and flaming lamers who don't really play the games (ie dumb gameplay posts), or who were just lame and funny on their own.

My first website was the QOF and it was mainly a mishmash, as MMCafe and BBH's was. Back then most websites were really insider-personal-insane and had sections on interests. Mine had game reviews and knockoffs of portals and lame KOF mail list posts. I always had a huge appreciation for people making fun of TEH LAME. I still do, so be looking forward to a site for THE BRUDDAS which should put an end to similar BS.

My first encounter with a lamer was years after my FF7 JP review. It was just some nerd who thought Aerith was better than Tifa, and I didn't care because FF7 was old news. (And Tifa is still the best FF female IMHO) Back then I wandered to some FF sites, though still firmly planted in the SNK world. I was well known in the gaming community for my QOF site, webring (which is now too damn huge) and posts or what not, no matter how many nicknames I had. I wrote for a few online gaming places (which either died or moved onto major print magazines and THEN died) and was involved with video gaming tv shows.

I'd known FF was reaching huge arse mainstream by the time of FF7, because thats when all the stupid portals and stupider fansites began to come out in droves. (Including more Tifa vs Aerith crap when the game was about the WORLD and not some gay "love triangle") I had an editorial about these sites once too. FFO then got a UBB and when I was less stressed with uni, I registered there instead of lurking for FF8 info, and met lots of friends too.

After friends in real life and online saying Rinoa looked like me, I got interested in the character. Mostly thinking she'd be like Tifa, I changed my nick to that online. When I played the JP game I was nuts and it became the more-permanent nickname. I made a little site about her (it started off as a personal site layout, but ended up having Rinoa stuff) that became huge. I didn't know what the craze was with her (aside from the game being mainstream and more graphix whores loving it but not understanding it), maybe they just like the costume, but the the site is still popular.

Around that time I noticed more of these "shrines" popping up since I wanted to find people to link to. 99% of those impulsive bandwagon shrines are now gone and many were tooth-and-nail for content and popularity while they never reached any respectable levels. I know Miho had the Quistis equivalent to my Rinoa shrine but got sick of people ruining the fun (ie STEALING) and bailed out. I didn't let thefts set me back though, even if its too much. Its the self-centered repeat theives and stalkers who use us and our sites, to create their own nerdy "online personas". They really make me 'wanna kick kittens' (tm Olivier).

One day we had a huge AIM meeting with whats now known as most of DF's admins deciding on a new forum's name for us to hang out at. I decided to buy vBulletin since I knew it r0x0red and had been admining one at highervoltage.net. Bear did the first layout and it was ready to go.

And so yeah, DF now really is the girl gaming community. Some people think its just mine or Joan's because its accessible on garnet.nu or rinoa.nu but its really owned by THE pioneers of the girl gaming community who are admins and who had the AIM meetings. We didn't demand respect without earning it, nor did we want blatant ass kissing. We just wanted people to keep it real.

However, it looks like the same types of people who ruined the "anime designing community" are doing it to the gaming one. Looking around, it seems lots of us just don't want to be associated with that degree of gheyness (ie graphics whores, attention needy, copycat syndromes, throwing around terms like "popularity"). I wouldn't worry though. It requires playing games to make GOOD sites about them. You can sit and watch anime, but playing games and understanding them requires more effort than being a graphics whore.

Most visitors can tell when people have ulterior/simple motives for making sites. Visitors indeed have brains and the finished product tells all. When they see a site that sucks, they know it and they leave. They don't come back 'neither. Most visitors are repeat visitors because a good fansite cannot be read in one sitting. And so, gaming sites are for the gaming visitors. If they weren't, they wouldn't be up on the web at all.

One has to be in tune with the visitors to make a site grow and function organically. Whoa, that was long and zen like.

December 04, 2001
Thx everyone for consoling me.. Its been a crappy year, wars, 9.11, more wars, deaths, even commerce is hit hard, I was expecting the worst all the time. I was ignorantly hoping for things to get better when this year was over, but when I hear the news, something always has gotten worse.

Anyways.. I've been spending lots of time updating/cleaning/maintaining my sites o_o and I still have so much to do. *yawns* I've been spending lots of time on the Shiva site, and recently launched NittyGritty?for Hyung-Tae Kim (all w/Embla, Demian and Bera's help)

December 01, 2001
Splendid woglog layout by Redz.

My grandma is also now safely in Zamboanga :E

*looks at itinerary and whines* lots to do yet, lots to do..