Howdy!

[Grefyrvos]

Hi there!

I've poked my head around here a few times in the past, but only as a few passing glances through the topics here and there (though I've browsed the main site extensively in the past); it wasn't until I had the random urge to just goof around in Eternal Blue Complete again the other day that a thought popped into my mind that caused me to sign up.

I know that activity is a bit slow around here, given that the series is a bit "long in the tooth" these days, and I can't even guarantee that I'll remember to check back every so often and remain active, but I'll at least make an attempt to keep conversations going.

As I'm familiar with message board etiquette, I've already read through all of the topics in Rules and Announcements, so no need to point me over in that direction. :] (Mostly standard stuff that I'm already familiar with anyway, but I digress.)

Let's see... some basic information about myself:
I'm not a die-hard when it comes to my love of the series (compared to some here, from what I've seen anyway) - I've beaten both SSSC (twice) and EBC (probably like 5+ times in total), and I've seen parts of Dragon Song and SSH, though I've not actually played them myself. (Dragon Song because I didn't enjoy the changes that they made to the mechanics at all, and SSH because I never owned a PSP.) I also know that Sega CD originals are vastly different/harder than the (Saturn/) PlayStation remakes, but I also don't own a Sega CD nor did I ever feel the urge to go through less than legal means just to play them.

One of my close friends first got me into the series when he borrowed EBC from one of his friends and was playing it while I was hanging out one afternoon. He happened to be right at the end of the Disc, but the disc itself was scratched and the ending cinematic(s) couldn't finish, preventing him from progressing onto Disc 2. Some time after this, I happened to notice that my cousin had both SSSC and EBC in his entertainment center and he let me borrow them both along with his old PSone (slim) and several other classic PS1 RPGs, and thus began my foray into Lunar.

I do own a small amount of merchandise for the series (outside of my copy of EBC - I don't own SSSC right now, as I always enjoyed EBC more), but nothing really spectacular: I own the (English) Hardcover guidebook for EBC (just because I enjoy the game so much - I've never actually used it to play the game since I haven't played through it again since I bought the guide) and I own a promo poster that has the artwork from the front cover of the guidebook on it - such a great piece of artwork.

So, uh, that's pretty much me and my ties to Lunar in a nutshell.

[Alunissage]

Welcome! Always nice to see another Lunar-appreciator. The board is, um, calm these days, but conversation does still happen, and conversation on Lunar topics is of course particularly welcome.

Forgot to mention, there are quite adequate SegaCD emulators (though come to think of it I haven't used the one I use since I stopped running Windows XP), and you can run them with the actual game disc, which is what I do. The two games can be found easily on eBay, though EB tends to be expensive.

[Sonic#]

Welcome to the board! You own more merchandise than I do - or at least different merchandise. I was never able to buy the hardcover guide for EBC. I asked Working Designs about it mere weeks after they had sold out of their last printing, and the high prices on eBay have kept me away.

Why do you prefer EBC to SSSC?

[Grefyrvos]

Welcome! Always nice to see another Lunar-appreciator. The board is, um, calm these days, but conversation does still happen, and conversation on Lunar topics is of course particularly welcome.

Forgot to mention, there are quite adequate SegaCD emulators (though come to think of it I haven't used the one I use since I stopped running Windows XP), and you can run them with the actual game disc, which is what I do. The two games can be found easily on eBay, though EB tends to be expensive.

Hadn't thought of that option, honestly. Though, my gaming backlog is so long these days that even if I felt the drive to play the original versions, I can't really justify spending the cash on the discs when I have so many unplayed games that I've already spent money on.

Thanks for the welcome!

Welcome to the board! You own more merchandise than I do - or at least different merchandise. I was never able to buy the hardcover guide for EBC. I asked Working Designs about it mere weeks after they had sold out of their last printing, and the high prices on eBay have kept me away.

Why do you prefer EBC to SSSC?

I can't remember how much I paid for the hardcover guide, but I don't remember it being a ridiculous amount - maybe I just got lucky with the listing I found, though.

While I fully recognize that Silver Star has the better storyline (and isn't as trope-y with its characters, *coughluciacough*), I'm definitely more of a mechanics guy. SSSC just felt too... sluggish to me - micromanagement of inventories and equipment (because of the limited spaces), the slow(er) battle speed, staves requiring use to cast their spells (and only some of them having this option) and so on. Having pre-attack knowledge of how effective attacks will be in EBC was also an improvement I liked. (One of the things that I disliked in the transition from SSSC to EBC though was the loss of the mechanic when you hit your max range in SSSC and forego one of your attacks to continue moving.)

I'm probably colored by the fact that I played EBC before SSSC, though.

Thanks for the welcome too!