This week's mailbag topic:

Current Sm.Net Projects

Here's this week's mailbag, with co-answer person Plo!

I am a moron. i once owned a copy of earthbound...but then foolishly sold it for some cash along w/ my SNES and 32 other Nintendo games. not realizing the error of my ways. it's now a few years later and i crave earthound. i need earthbound (not to mention a ton of other super games i gave up). It goes w/out saying that earthbound is shall we say...difficult to find, let alone buy...but i don't care. i must have a copy along w/ the booklet and i will do almost anything to get it. i can't get onto ebay because i don't have credit card and no used games stores have any copies. so this message is a plea and a warning. If u own earhbound...never, ever, ever let it go. and if u happen to be so obsessed w/ the game that you happen to own a second copy...do a needy fan a favour and sell it to me.

~Rilla



Well as I and many others have said before, Ebay is really the only place you'll be able to find the complete game. There may be the occacional retail store or deal that you'll find online, but those are just too rare and too expensive. As for signing up for it, I don't think Ebay requires a credit card number if you're only buying stuff. But then again, they may have changed the rules since so I'm not sure.

~diospadre



You did WHAT?!!??!?1? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! AIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! *rolls on the floor convulsing* Well, send me an e-mail, and I'll see what I can do. And in the mean time, JEEZ! Don't give me any eye-contact for awhile! :-(

~Plo

I personally think that hacking into most games is ridiculus and a waste of time, being the 10yr. gaming veteran I am though...not that many people share my belief that games are better played and are more rewarding to beat when they are played without a walkthrough or hacking. Don't get my wrong over time there have been games that drived me insane and I thought there would be no chance of winning unless I got help, but I made it and felt better that I beat the games on my own. Earthbound was one of those games. Even though it came with a strategy guide I challenge anyone to tell me that the game was more rewarding to actually use the guide.

~mike the SNES guru



Being the 16 year gamer that I am, i think neither you or I are qualified to call ourselves veterans. As for the hacking, you seem to have missed the whole point of Pk and Eb0 Hack. They're not there simply to take out the enemies or lower their stats to 1, (although that is possible,) they're there to let the user akter the aspects of a game they have been playing for the past five years. I completely agree that beating a game without the guide or cheating is very rewarding, but do you really feel as rewarded when you beat EarthBound now as when you did when you first played it?

~diospadre



Heh, well, I'm a shameless cheater. I usually rent games when I know it has cheats to it. Though, on RPGs, it does sorta suck to cheat. Like, after beating EarthBound a few times, I used a game genie on it, so my character has maximum stats. It was neat to be able to strike down enemies with a touch, until about 3 minutes later. So, yeah, cheating on EarthBound isn't all that fun. Guides however, I think are a great idea, since it keeps you from ripping out your hair, though it is more rewarding to beat it on your own. heh, I'm a living EarthBound guide.

~Plo

I dunno a whole lot about what's going on with the EB0 Hack, but judging from what he says in #smnet (on those occasions when you can understand him), Xodnizel is busy tinkering with the EB0 ROM. I don't know the status of the text changing, but I know it would really, really cool if we could pull that off. It would be something that starmen.net's name would be on forever.

Speaking of things that starmen.net's name ought to be on... the walkthrough. I'm still writing stuff (actually, at this point I'm not, but I will be in two weeks), and I'll be done writing by the end of May. I think it should definitely be done, or close to it, by the end of the summer. However, I may be wrong, and if so... a thousand apologies.

I think that the SM.Net community should really rally behind these projects we're doing. I'm also trying to come up with more interactive things to do on the site (like the debates that we just started.) Also, sometime soon I hope to be restarting the EarthBound Trivia contest. Every EB site should have one, and we are the #1 EB site.

So everyone, show starmen.net your support with their projects. And don't die or anything.

~CPTCrunch



I have to say it, I'm very excited about the EB0 hack project that is underway. I hate to admit it, but the primitive nature of EB0 kept me from coming back to it. Maybe it was just because it was on the computer, or the overall crudeness of the visual portion of the game, but I just couldn't get into the game. Enough of that though, you hear my thoughts on the game a few weeks back.

The walkthrough is also the most important thing we may have ever done. Maybe not from the users eyes, but we really feel it will help make the site complete. I'll elaborate more on that later.

~diospadre



Play Plo's HARD Trivia!!!!! I bring you spiffy pics!

~Plo

All I have to say is the Funfests are the best projects starmen.net can ever host. They show just how many talented EarthBound fans are still out there. AoE is the best thing to hold you down until there does happen to be a Funfest. Say staffers (*hint*hint*) there are only a couple months of planning left for a Summer Funfest.

~Yutz



Do you guys really like funfests? Maybe it was the bad coordination of the last few (my fault, I admit it) or the disasters that happened during them, or Tomato always yelling at me about them, but I think we seemed to have done them to death back in 2000. If you guys really want another one though, you should speak up on the forums, and the liklihood of a Summer Fest in July or August would be pretty high.

~diospadre



Yeah! Funfests rule! I wanna play AoE when I get the time, as I've been too busy with PHT to do pretty much anything else.

~Plo

The EB0 hack is good cuz then it will make sense and be good and happy and people will play more emulators but Nintendo will be sad. Walkthrough? Why? I know my way around EB. BTW, I think Peaceful Rest Valley and Saturn Valley are the same but the mushrooms in Peaceful Rest Valley make you think they are different. Crazy Mr. Saturns are really Happy Happyists.

~CursedBurger



Last week may have thrown you guys off, but you've probably noticed by now that there are usually nine decent letters in the bag each week, with one slightly offbeat one. This submission is meant to make the reader slightly dumber, and the humorous comments contained within give said reader a euphoric sense, keeping them coming back to Sm.Net for more.

Starmen.Net: We're not just a website. We're your addiction.

~diospadre



I think Happy Happyists look like Mr. Saturn when you eat the mushrooms from Peaceful Rest Valley. Heh heh.

~Plo

I think for one project you should figure out what the heck happened in last week's mailbag. I mean, what was with all the random letters? Half were about beating your mother (by the way, NeoPaula, nice response to CPTCRUNCYH) and some had no relevance. And what the heck is up with Plo? Has someone finally figured out that he is updating EXCESSIVELY? *ahem* Anyway, yeah the projects are cool. Bye.

~EBeeble



As for last week's mailbag, I think I've explained it enough times that my hard drive died and I was forced to reformat, losing all of the *good* mailbag entries. After another week, I was blessed with 6 sub-par entries, and when it came time to update I forced some people to submit.

There's your explanation. Again. Let it die.

~diospadre



What the heck is up with Plo?!?!? ::Turns into Ploqaz::

GWAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!? PLO HAS BEEN UPDATING A LOT BECAUSE HE WANTS TO AND HAS NO LIFE!!! ::eats newbies:: MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

::turns back into Plo:: Woah, whats up with Plo? *shrug* I dunno. Heh, but anyway, I'm updating a lot more because I've been sorely lacking updates. Anyway, I doubt I can sustain these update rampages, as I am not getting enough sleep, and I'm gonna get a job soon. Anyway, I've already made the newest PHT pretty pic, so allz I gotta do now is update!

~Plo

Personally, the walkthru is a good idea, but they have great ones already at www.gamefaqs.com so all this work is for a project already done. The big map is nice, but the players guide already has those. It just seems like you are putting a lot of work into something not needed.

~d`Jeu



As I said before, the creators of the Sm.Net walkthrough were thinking more of the site, and less of the visitors when they were planning the walkthrough. As everyone knows, we are an EarthBound site. When Tomato and reidman first started molding earthbound.net into what it is now, their one real goal was to make it the best EarthBound site on the internet. There is no question in anyone's (legally sane) mind that they have since done this. However, The one thing that the site needs to really be completed is a real walkthrough. How can we really be an EarthBound site if we don't have the walkthrough? We know fully well that 99% of the visitors to the site don't need the walkthrough, but that is no reason why we shouldn't have one.

~diospadre



Much like this mailbag response, eh?

~Plo

I think all of the sm.net projects are great. Sure, they aren't as big as some of the previous projects like Zoiff or the petitions, but it's still good to see big projects like these. I haven't been able to keep up with the site lately, so I don't know how these projects have been going, but it looks like lots of people are participating in the walkthrough. That's great to see. I've been hearing about how the community isn't as active in the chat room, but this just shows that it isn't.

I also think that the EB0 text hack is a great idea. Not only does it fix the text, but it gives people the opportunity to download the EB0 rom from people they can trust.

~Jim



Yes, there are a whole bunch of people participating in the walkthrough. The one person I really feel the need to mention is Ulanshad. For those of you who don't know, Ulanshad is the man. He has sent me like four maps over the past week, and is definitely going in the Mega Big happy lucky kareoke thank you section when the walkthrough is complete.

~diospadre



Yeah, never accept roms from Ploqaz. He'll send you a pair of Plo's socks and/or a clip of Plo acting crazy.

~Plo

I think it is great what you guys are doing. Creative projects like these are what makes this site stand out from all other fan-based video game sites. I just hope you guys can follow through with them and they don't go the way of Zoiff.

~EBFan2000



Ah ZOIFF. Make your own EarthBound. The very mention of it shames reidman, evokes confusion from the newbies, and sets Keichii to kill mode. This would have been the biggest, bestest, neatest accomplishment in all of Sm.Net history for all time, no matter what happened. Ever. To this day, I still have faith that deep somewhere in Joliet or Aurora or wherever the heck Mars lives, he is toiling away on some $9000 computer on the project. I still have faith Mars! Don't give up! Please?

~diospadre



Well, as long as Mars (the king of procrastination and grunge) isn't working on it, it's bound to work out better!

~Plo

First, concerning last week's topic. EarthBound Zero is NOT a "fanslation". It was truly translated by Nintendo. When NeoDemiForce dumped it, he simply affixed the Zero to the title screen.

Anyway, I believe that the current Starmen.Net projects are good ideas. The walkthrough will help us to get back in the game further than we already are. The EarthBound Zero re-translation is also an inspiring idea. I do admit, even though I haven't played the game in a long time, the translation could probably win the Literal Award. I mean, Breath of Fire II and Harvest Moon (which I believe to be two of the worst-translated games) aren't completely literal. Well, perhaps Harvest Moon is, but Breath of Fire II just had grammar trouble.

(And as a side note, play Plo's HARD Trivia! It appears he's returned from his hardships imposed upon him by Ploqaz.)

~Anthadd



quote:

---

Originally Posted by diospadre:
Wait, it was already translated, sorry. Looks like my use of the word 'fanslation' was innapropriate, as nothing was fanslated. Fanslate.

P.S. Don't mess or you'll get capped.

---

Pay attention to both of those lines, Anth.

~diospadre



All your Base are belong to us!... Okay, I just killed it for the millionth time, but hey! Someone had to say it!!... Anyway, Starmen.Net is about to get something that reid has been peeing his pants over for months! Brand Spankin' new Mugz0rz and Post0rz designed by Meeellla, and manufactured by reid!!! Get yer' $20 bill ready, and you'll be drinkin' royal tea in style! Anyway, I think the guide is a great idea, and it could include all the little tricks and strategies we use in the game!

~Plo

And one more thing. What the heck is a Stupid Box???