October 26

[Zeke]

Sorry for the dropoff in updates -- last week I had to proctor and mark the undergrad midterms, and this week I have two of my own to write. Last one's today, though. And there's good news too: my copy of Mega Man Zero 4 just arrived! Wait, that's the good news for me. The good news for you is that there's yet another subsite event almost ready to go. This one's not a launch, but a relaunch and refurbishing of an existing subsite. Feel free to speculate on which one if you're into that sort of thing.


That should start tomorrow. Meanwhile, Derek has unveiled an exciting new utility he's been working on, designed to automate parts of the guest fiver process. It currently covers Derek's two subsites and 5MB5. Read his explanatory thread for the scoop.

[Xeroc]

That's definitely a cool utility! 8)


And very useful too!

[Sa'ar Chasm]

ast week I had to proctor and mark the undergrad midterms, and this week I have two of my own to write.

You're writing undergrad midterms?

[Anonymous]

I was just curious how long it usually is between registration and all of our old called fivers catching up to us on the page.

[Nate the Great]

Sorry, that was me.

[Derek]

If that's directed at me, I don't have you down for any past 5MD or 5MSV fivers, so there's nothing for you to catch up on. (If that's in error, email me.) I can't speak for Sa'ar and 5MB5.

If I did have you down for something, I would hopefully be able to match you on your email address when you created your account. Thus the first time you logged in, you would see all your past called and written fivers. I realize some people will probably not type in the email address I have for them and thus not see their called episodes right away, and I will try to fix those people as quickly as possible, but in your case, I didn't have anything for you.

And of course, my site only covers 5MB5, 5MD, and 5MSV presently, so any fivers called or written for any other series is unavailable.

[Celeste]

Hey Zekeypoo, you gonna do anything special for Halloween? Cause like, its the best holiday EVER. And its my birthday. Mwuah.

[Zeke]

Yep. IJD and I came up with a Hallowe'en plan months ago, actually.

[Celeste]

Awesomness.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for not noticing the DS9 requirement. I just hope that should this system be successful, we can expand it so that all fivists can keep track of all of their fivers, both published and called. It seems to make sense. I do feel that the time requirement will help, as will the ability for us to manage ourselves.

Again, deepest apologies.

[MaverickZer0]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Sorry for the dropoff in updates -- last week I had to proctor and mark the undergrad midterms, and this week I have two of my own to write. Last one's today, though. And there's good news too: my copy of Mega Man Zero 4 just arrived! Wait, that's the good news for me.

It still counts as good news, doesn't it? At least Zero 4's proving easier than the first two. Three. Uh, I can't count.

[Blue Midget]

Originally Posted by Zeke

The good news for you is that there's yet another subsite event almost ready to go. This one's not a launch, but a relaunch and refurbishing of an existing subsite. Feel free to speculate on which one if you're into that sort of thing.

5MVG, to make space for 5MM, mayhaps?

When I have a mind, it is quite singular.

[Zeke]

Nope. That newspost is from before the Smallville event, and that's the one I was referring to. If by 5MM you mean Metroid, that's unfortunately still a back-burner event -- IJD and I often talk about it, but we haven't had the time to sit down and do it yet.

Blue Midget is Hejira, for those who've forgotten. Do you want me to change your username, Hejira? 'Cause I can do that.

Originally Posted by MaverickZer0

At least Zero 4's proving easier than the first two. Three. Uh, I can't count.

I'd say it's about the same difficulty as Z3. It's much easier to pick up EX skills now, but it's harder to take advantage of bosses' elemental weaknesses. I beat the game on my third day, and while I didn't have much trouble, the final boss fight was brutal -- I used all four Sub Tanks and was still one hit away from death when I finally won. I love a battle like that. (I'm currently working on Hard Mode, where I've learned that Craft is a real bugger when you can't charge up.)

As for how good a game it was, I was very pleasantly surprised. Ever since the game came out in Japan, I've been hearing things that didn't sound good at all: few returning characters, just one Cyber-Elf, no Rod weapon, and so on. The funny thing is, while all that was true, the execution was so good that I didn't mind. Z3 was an X-series fanboy's dream, so of course I was nervous that this game was taking such a different direction, but damned if it didn't work. I barely missed the Rod with all the new Z-Knuckle weapons to try out; the new Cyber-Elf system actually felt fairer than Z3's, which was sort of overcompensating for the harshness of the first two games'.

As for the story, I don't think it was as disconnected from the rest of the series as some people say. X may not have appeared, but he gave us fair warning about that (and he does play into one awesome bit that I won't spoil in case you haven't seen it). The Guardians were due for a break -- we've already seen them as bosses and as part of the plot. The three really important Resistance characters are on the train with Zero, and most of the others are either mentioned or seen briefly. And characters aren't everything. Z4 has a very strong thematic connection with the rest of the series, especially in the awesome final scenes.

And if ever a game had an ending sure to get people talking....

[Blue Midget]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Nope. That newspost is from before the Smallville event, and that's the one I was referring to.

That'll teach me to come to a party late, part of a reason why I hardly ever go to them.

If by 5MM you mean Metroid, that's unfortunately still a back-burner event -- IJD and I often talk about it, but we haven't had the time to sit down and do it yet.

This, I can understand. Do you include sequence breaks and glitch exploits? Does Samus encounter dead ends, as you'd think she would, only having one chance to save or blow up whatever planet she's on? (For various obvious reasons, question is not compatible with Metroid Fusion.)

Do you want me to change your username, Hejira? 'Cause I can do that.

As long as it doesn't involve me having to answer an email. I can't login to gmail to save my life. Or activate an account to bags a Deep Space Nine episode to five. Either one is good.

[MaverickZer0]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Nope. That newspost is from before the Smallville event, and that's the one I was referring to. If by 5MM you mean Metroid, that's unfortunately still a back-burner event -- IJD and I often talk about it, but we haven't had the time to sit down and do it yet.

Blue Midget is Hejira, for those who've forgotten. Do you want me to change your username, Hejira? 'Cause I can do that.

I'd say it's about the same difficulty as Z3. It's much easier to pick up EX skills now, but it's harder to take advantage of bosses' elemental weaknesses. I beat the game on my third day, and while I didn't have much trouble, the final boss fight was brutal -- I used all four Sub Tanks and was still one hit away from death when I finally won. I love a battle like that. (I'm currently working on Hard Mode, where I've learned that Craft is a real bugger when you can't charge up.)

As for how good a game it was, I was very pleasantly surprised. Ever since the game came out in Japan, I've been hearing things that didn't sound good at all: few returning characters, just one Cyber-Elf, no Rod weapon, and so on. The funny thing is, while all that was true, the execution was so good that I didn't mind. Z3 was an X-series fanboy's dream, so of course I was nervous that this game was taking such a different direction, but damned if it didn't work. I barely missed the Rod with all the new Z-Knuckle weapons to try out; the new Cyber-Elf system actually felt fairer than Z3's, which was sort of overcompensating for the harshness of the first two games'.

As for the story, I don't think it was as disconnected from the rest of the series as some people say. X may not have appeared, but he gave us fair warning about that (and he does play into one awesome bit that I won't spoil in case you haven't seen it). The Guardians were due for a break -- we've already seen them as bosses and as part of the plot. The three really important Resistance characters are on the train with Zero, and most of the others are either mentioned or seen briefly. And characters aren't everything. Z4 has a very strong thematic connection with the rest of the series, especially in the awesome final scenes.

And if ever a game had an ending sure to get people talking....

Yeah, although I've heard rumors that there's extra stuff lying around some of the levels on hard mode. I've been too busy playing the extras in BN5 to deal too much with Z4. Battle Network always takes precendent for me. I'm on about the twelfth boss in Z4, I think...I haven't replayed any levels yet, and that's usually my only means for counting.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Blue Midget

This, I can understand. Do you include sequence breaks and glitch exploits? Does Samus encounter dead ends, as you'd think she would, only having one chance to save or blow up whatever planet she's on?

There will definitely be stuff along those lines, but it may not happen the way you expect. I shall say no more.

As long as it doesn't involve me having to answer an email. I can't login to gmail to save my life.

Do you have a more reliable address? If so, email it to me and I'll adjust your member details accordingly. I see that you already have an account here as Hejira, so maybe the best thing would be for me to reset the password of that one so you can use it again. I'd need an address for that too, though (so I could send you the new password).

As for Derek's system, he's the one to talk to if you're having trouble with it.

Originally Posted by MaverickZer0

Battle Network always takes precendent for me.

I'm the other way: I love BN, but I love Zero more. Lately I've been playing a lot of BN4, though -- because my save file killed itself! And I was halfway through Super Hard! I had SP NaviChips you wouldn't believe! And this time around I got ThunderSoul instead of SearchSoul! Arrgh!