Zephyr

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by satan665 [/i] [B]Hey does anybody know about how to get aromatic grass? Elk and Mia always ramble on and on about it. Is there a level that has it in .Hack/Sign? [/B][/QUOTE] When you reach Theta server (Dun Loreag) you can start to raise Grunties from the ranch at the far side of town. If you manage to raise an Iron Grunty it should have Aromatic Grass that you can trade for.

Sieg is the name used by Tomonari Kasumi (I think that is the name) who is Mai's boyfriend in the first OVA. He is the one that winds up in a coma at the begining.

Hmm, I like the avatar, but I think the butterfly needs to be a bit more solid (higher opacity, IIRC). It is too light when compared to the background. As for the banner, it just feels a bit cluttered to me. Too many shadows, or maybe just that red paint effect. I will have to disagree with Ayokano on the border part, though. For this style of border it would just not look right.

Why does this site insist on making my pictures so much darker when I post them? The entire thing looked perfectly fine on two of my computers, but is way too dark on here. [QUOTE]This is a good banner cept for a few things. One the pics are too blurry. 2 the text is too hard to read. Thats all I can see right now. Fix those and it willlook better. Much better. FOr now the rateing is 5/10.[/QUOTE] Hmm, you are right about the blurry pics. I guess I will have to adjust that. As for the text, it would be easy to read if the boards did not make everything so dark when it was attached. [QUOTE]Hhhhmmm. I will be honest.... I don't like it. The picture in the middle is.... not good quality. The text could be improved, the background could be plainer. The layout is good though. I advise a bit of remodelling. Nice try! 4/10[/QUOTE] Wish I could do something about the center pic, but that was the best quality I could find. Pictures of Aura from the games are hard to come by, and good ones are even harder. I prefer the background to not be too plain, which is why I chose a pic that had some texture to it. Anyway, I kinda like the effect that the background gives to the pic (even if I am the only one). [QUOTE]Try making everything fit nicely, and not use all the colors of the rainbow. Better quality would be nicer and the light behind the chicky seems kind of corny =/[/QUOTE] I hope you will notice though that I kept the colors down to a minimum, and left them darker to add a certain effect to them. As for the lens flare behind the center Aura, that is meant to show that she is an important part of the series she came from. Also, it gives the image that she is pushing back the darkness behind her.

From what I have heard things are getting so bad that DB's creator is fighting like mad to try and keep someone from making a Live Action version of DBZ. It is bad enough the series ran dry after the cell saga, but Live Action is guarenteed to ruin it once and for all.

After a long wait I have finally found the time to finish my second banner. The background is not as dark as the last one, so the pictures do not seem as bright as last time. I also used another version of Photoshop that had more options then the last one. You may noticed a small border around the corner pictures. For that I used a section of the background and placed it behind the pictures of Aura. This keeps it from having the "pasted over the background" look that the last one had (and gave me a chance to test out a few things). So, comments and complaints are welcome. [b]EDIT:[/b] Okay, I have altered the original banner and attachted the new version. Hopefully it will work better. [b]Double Edit:[/b] Just a small edit this time. I changed the color of the left side text so that it did not seem so dark anymore.

I will help the best I can, while trying to limit the spoilers to just the basic storyline up to last night's episode. [b]Overview[/b] Tsukasa, a young Wavemaster (magic user) class player wakes up in the first episode to realize that he has lost consciousness after opening a treasure chest. He meets Mimiru, a Heavy Blade, who tries to befriend him, but he simply leaves the area (which annoys Mimiru). Shortly thereafter he finds he is unable to log out from the game (called "The World"), and can actually feel pain when Mimiru hits him (becasue of his attitude). The barbel-shaped monster that follows him is his Guardian, and has the ability to send other players into comas in the real world, which happens to Silver Knight. This means he is now under the watchful eye of the Crimson Knights, a group created to enforce the games rules. He is also lead to a strange, hidden room in the game by a cat-like character, where he finds a young girl floating in the air over a bed, asleep, and a disembodied voice that seems to want to help him. Hope that gives you the info you need. If it did not, just ask for more and I will try to help.

I get the feeling from watching it that there must have been multiple artists working seperately from each other. Each character seems to change multiple times throughout the series, leading me to believe that artists were given an assigned scene and let loose. One instance of this is in one of the last three episodes (IIRC) there is a point where Krim is talking to SK on the boat in Mac Anu, and his face and hair are completely different from normal. At least, that is how I see things.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Braidless Baka [/i] [B]Well, if you watched the OVA (I forget how to spell it) that came with the PS2 games, you can see how "The World" is played. Forget all this talk about motion capture, and reading brain waves etc etc. It comes down to a simple visor and a joypad... And that's it. I could even give you a screenshot, but my computer hates me right now... So, really, if the demand was there, they could develop the game in a couple of years. I mean Final Fantasy 11 is supposed to be [i]very[/i] similar. So, it's possible. It may not happen, but I'd certainly say it was possible. [/B][/QUOTE] The PS2 controller works well for a game with limited movement options, but something along the lines of a motion suit would be needed if someone wanted the game to be realistic. As you can notice, a controller or keyboard only has so many buttons, which limits the realistism.

[QUOTE]Motion suits? Geesh, that'll take a while to perfect.[/QUOTE] Not really. By motion suit I meant something like the kind used to animate CG characters. Basically, it is a black, form-fitting suit with "markers" (such as white spheres) along the arms, legs, back, chest and head. As the person moves cameras would record the markers' movement and a computer would translate the motion into the game. [QUOTE]1) The cost. I mean, how long will it be until every household in the world has some sort of motion suit or two in it? Once that is achieved, then MAYBE the prices would come down, but that would most certainly take a long time. [/QUOTE] I am not sure of the price. The suits and cameras would be cheap. It is the computers and the programs that would be expensive. All I know is that the suits are only used in Hollywood, and other areas where a computer generated character needs to move like a human. [QUOTE]2) Space Restrictions. Wouldn't such a thing take up so much space it would kinda be hard to play in a cluttered computer room or at-home office or wherever your computer would be? If you have the visors on or something like that, you would be quite likely to knock over the vase containing the ashes of your grant aunt Sophia or something of high value [/QUOTE] Hmm, you would need the space for free movement, and a black backdrop so that you do not confuse the computer. The other issue would be the walking/running part. You would need a treadmill that moves with your feet so that you walk, yet remain stationary. As for Great Aunt Sophia, just hope she put a good word in for you [i]before[/i] you knock the vase over. [QUOTE]3) If you have such realism suits, wouldn't that mean some more perverted players could take advantage of the attractive female players' skimpy skirts? And if that is the case, with the game being so realistic, plus all of the different ways a human body can move, you can't go "yah they could just block that kind of action" or anything to that extent. That would be near impossible, if not entirely out of the question.[/QUOTE] Well, the skirts could be programmed not to react, and any other actions like that would be quickly reported (most times) and the player banner in very short order. If the punishment is severe most players will not take the chance too often, and may never get the chance if they have the same IP address each time.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Itami [/i] [B]I've read a similar post like this on another site. At first glance, you instantly think "That would be awesome!" And it would be cool if it were to work. But they brought up something I had never thought of, hackers. If the game is connected to your brain, what do you suppose a hacker could do with that? Not pretty, eh? Gets past the all kinds of protection and they could screw your brain up for life.:drunk: [/B][/QUOTE] Not really. If those visors read the brain they would be a passive electronic system. To translate, it means they only read the signals in the brain, they do not send any signals of their own. The brain is too sensitive to make any good use of electronics that send signals into it. Anyway, were are a long way from such "neurohelmets" (as they are called in Battletech), and a simple motion suit would work much better.

I think there are a lot of threads on this site that ask the same thing. Most of them seem to stem from the fact that the question card in the back of the game instruction manuals always ask if people would be interested in a real MMORPG version of the world. Hopefully it can become a reality, but with the low tech that exists right now I would not expect much right away. I wonder though, do you think the creators would call the original game "Fragment"?

How about telling your Soc. advisor about the cross-cultural values in anime. A lot of anime has info about the past of Japan. I think that Rurouni Kenshin is close to historically accurate in the background story of the Meiji Revolution. Others, like Grave Of the Fireflies, shows the darker side of WWII's effect on Japan (it is very drepressive, though). Then there are some like .Hack//Liminality (vol. 3) that have information on some of Japan's regional mythology. Just a start, but hope it can help.

I think there is one thing about this she did not think out too well. If she sues and wins she will get the money, but not all at once. Instead it will be a piece at a time (at least from what I have heard about such cases). Meanwhile, her taxes are probably going to shoot through the roof, and that pocket change she gets each month will seem a lot smaller. The part that pisses me off is the fact that everyone else will have to deal with it too. Also, she will suddenly realize how many "reletives" she never knew she had, but that thought amuses me.

[QUOTE][B] 1) "Highlight" Members - the ability to bold members in your 'friends' list. Kind of singling out extra-special members. This has been controversial.[/B][/QUOTE] An interesting idea, but I agree with Terra on the fact that it does not sit right with me. I agree that some people may want it, but so long as it is not manditory I have no arguement. [B][QUOTE] 2) Member List - sorted by popularity rank, when otaku life was last updated, and when joined.[/B][/QUOTE] I like it. Personally I prefere the alphabetical order that is active now, but getting to know when someone has updated their site is good. [B][QUOTE] 3) When Otaku Life was last updated on all friends in backroom[/B][/QUOTE] As stated last time I like knowing when people update things. [/B][/QUOTE] Anything else you'd like to see? Right now we're focusing on small things...I can't really afford anything big right now in terms of programming... [/B][/QUOTE] How about a small HTML instruction guide. I know that a lot of people (like me) do not know much about the HTML coding used to change things, like adding images and backgrounds.

I cannot really say that I have had that problem. There have only been a few times that anime has come up between my friends and I. I know one of my friends that enjoys DBZ and had the DVD's of the end while CN was still trying to get up to the "Otherworld Tourney." As for the rest of them, I am not sure how many watch anime. I think I was taking to one of my friends at college last week about anime, but I cannot remember exactly. :p

I have seen it before. I have rented the DVD's from the library in town, but still missed a few episodes since the collection is not complete. To say the least it is a very interesting, yet strange anime. I am still trying to figure out if the ship is alive, since they refere to it as a living being numerous times. I believe there is also a second version of Vandread, which I have seen sitting in one of the library's offices.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Ani_Freak [/i] [B]Do you remember in which magazine was that you read it. and Black Phoenix, do you remember the site or anything? [/B][/QUOTE] The site was [url]www.gamefaqs.com[/url] . If you go to the page that has .Hack listed on the far right there will be a link named "Forum". As for what post it was, I am not sure. I think it had something to do with the "SIGN Phantoms" appearing in the game.

Sounds like a good idea to me. After all, if it becomes a problem people can just delete the posts, and if all else fails the ability can be removed from MyOtaku by the the site admin(s). Just a suggestion, if possible, set up limits so that the size cannot too big.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Yamibakura [/i] [B]i thought there were only 26 episodes [/B][/QUOTE] Episodes 27 and 28 were a marketing gimick to get people to preorder the .Hack//SIGN DVD's in Japan.

I found out something that sounds kind of cool about Quarintine (though I cannot confirm it). Supposedly a few characters from .Hack//SIGN are supposed to join your group. I have heard that it was Subaru and either Tsukasa or Mimiru. As I said I cannot confirm it, but on another site someone said they had a pic from the Japanese version that showed Subaru in a group.

What?!? No mention of me? Well that just deflated my ego :bawl: (good thing, my head was getting crowded). Anyway, back to the point. I do not think that any here has really changed me. I am still my happily, abnormal self. I do have to blame the mods/admins for enforcing the rules, and thus taking away my ability to create havoc. :p I do enjoy most of the .Hack forum's frequent viewer, since they usually give me something to debate about. :D

Bah. Normal is an overrated concept. People should be more like me. I am better then normal, I am abnormal. Anyway, normal is simply what people make it out to be. My tip, next time someone tells you to "act normal," ask them to define normal. If they actually manage to come up with a semi-coherent answer, then tell them how you define normal (or just tell them that is not your defenition of normal, like I do). Messing with people's heads like that is fun. :demon:

I was here just before the Cowboy Bebop lounge was taken down, I forget if there was a Trigun one also, but the CB forum had basically run completely dry. There were only about ten posts, on a few of which had been accessed recently, and the discussions were going downhill fast. Bringing it back would be a bad idea. As for a Rurouni Kenshin board, that I might support. There does seem to be a lot of buzz about it in the Anime Lounge. Maybe not enough to make a seperate lounge out of, but enough to show that it is a very active topic.

[b]Note: Potential massive spoilers ahead!!![/b] First off, when Tsukasa says "mother" he/she is refering to Morganna (the voice) which tricks Tsukasa into beliving she is his/her mother. As for Maha, she is number six out of the 8 Phases, a group listed in the Epitaph of Twilight and created in the game by Morganna to do her dirty work. Maha (The Temptress) is used to lure Tsukasa to Morganna and Aura in order to allow Morganna to turn is attitude negative and as a result change what Aura will be like once awakend. And Aura would only awaken when Tsukasa could log out.