This week's mailbag topic:

Random letter selection.

Many letters. So many, I had to randomly select most of them this week. That's why some may seem strange. But that's ok! We have AmzRigh, the EB Zero maintainer on the site, co-answering. So hopefully it'll be all good. On with the letters!

EB could have been a bit none linear, maybe there could have been a few points where you could make decisions which effected the rest of the game. Sub quests perhaps? How about having to save apple kid from a huge killer fanged worm half way through the game in order to get the grass to turn yellow?

And giant singing pies with metallic centres.



Yes this letter was sane at one point. Thanks for writing in.

- EBounding



Y'know, you may be on to something with the pies...

- AmzRigh

I think EB/M2 could have been better with more characters. I mean, really, there's no such thing as a game with better graphics than EarthBound!

If some of the characters had heavier interaction, and the plot had been done with dialogue, like JonBound, instead of monologue, like 90% of the games made by Nintendo (I can think of one GBC game with dialogue, but it wasn't translated and I can't remember the name anyways). And lastly I'd like to say PLEASE LOOK UP THE MANUAL FOR DETAILS.

~Adereth_2000



Yeah, the topic for this doesn't make sense. Anyway, I think they kept the dialogue simple, because they were too busy making the compression for all the other stuff really crazy.

- EBounding



Well, with large numbers of characters, you run into some problems. Either you deal with the annoyance of switching out characters (and keeping them all levelled evenly), or the designers have to deal with the problem of balancing the battles. Itoi kept it simple with the tried-and-true 4 characters.

- AmzRigh

Ok, fisrst off i have to say, this site ownz i always visit it when i go on the internet, this along with some zelda sites and stuff. And you are THE best eb site out here, all others sites about earthbound i have found don't come near your superiority. With that said, back to the topic.

When you beat the game, A new house appears somwhere,i really dont care where, just anywhere. Anyway in this building theres a boxing ring in the middle of it and a Mr. Saturn will be standing outside of it, when you talk to him he should go, Boing, we see you very strong, ZOOM! You battle more for us? Then a list of ALL the Enemies appears, from Foppy To Gygas. You choose one and how many of them, or you can combine them into different teams, (You encounter Gygas and foppys) then when your done choosing you battle them. Now THAT would be cool.

From the closest thing to reality you can get...

Virtualboy.



That'd be cool if it was somewhere during the game so you could win prizes and stuff. Like a cookie.

- EBounding



After you've beaten the game? Sounds more fitting as a way to in-game bonus-type items, like FF6's Colliseum.

- AmzRigh

Yeah, your site rocks and stuff. But I have a burning question...Where the heck did Pokey go after he crashed in Deep Darkness? He just kinda disappeared until the end of the game!



Well...Pokey is the one that made the Tendakraut smell. How, when, and why he did this, is still a mystery.

- EBounding



Well, the Tendas in Deep Darkness mention him, so one can guess he made it from there to the West Cave, swiped a Phase Distorter, and headed back in time to wait with Giygas.

- AmzRigh

YUOR T0PIC M33NZ NU7HING TOW M3. I WILL S3ND IN L3773RS TH4T A3R C0MPL3T3LY 0FFFFF 2321356812 T0PIC. HAHAHAHA. Goodness, I have no life. =( I'm glad I wrote this before I noticed that EBounding didn't care about off-topic mailbag stuffz0r, if he ever does. And this is out of the blue, but I think there should be a mailbag topic where everyone types all l337z0rs. I could be a mailbag co-host, and pose as Mr. T! Hahaha. Haha. Ha. Leave me alone.

P.S.
Ph33r 73h ch3353c4k3



LOL what is a cheesecake? Such a thing is ridiculous.

- EBounding



0\/\/, |\/|`/ |-|34|)...

- AmzRigh

You mail bag people always try and be funny but you never really are... :(

Make me laugh, I could use a good laugh.

And by the way, the only way EB could have been better is if the chickens would join your party and help you fight after they hatched out of the fresh eggs. That would have been cool.



I wasn't there when whoever said that line in the topic. But it sounded neat, and very appropriate.

- EBounding



Fighting chickens? I dunno, that gets it a little close to becoming a monster-raiser.

Oh, and you want funny? Check this out.

- AmzRigh

Hmmm... what would make EarthBound better? Oh, how about getting to name more characters? Name Tracy, name Picky, heck, name Pokey, if you want! On second thought, maybe that's a little TOO dangerous to let the gamer name a villain. You'd end up with a bunch of VERY interesting names, then...



Well why didn't you write in what the names would be?? This is tasteful family entertainment we have going here.

- EBounding



Yeah, it's never really a good idea to name NPCs. I mean, you want to be the main characters, not the villain, or some dude you talk to in the 3rd town from the end. :\

- AmzRigh

The stupid scratch 'n sniff card contest should have had a card that smelled like something identifiable.

...umm, now that I know it's pizza, do you think it's too late for me to send in my entry? :p



The smell only lasts for 20 minutes. And if you put it in your car, I'm sure your friends will think you have an ungodly obsession for pizza Pringles. Gross.

- EBounding



Yyyyyyyup.

- AmzRigh

First of all, I'm sorry that I'm obviously not committed enough to the Earthbound world to have everything down to my screen name in some way related to EB. I certainly do loooooooooooove Earthbound, though. I could rant and rave all about my memorable experiences with the masterpiece of a game, Mother 2, but I know that you have seen the light as well. I can't believe I finally stumbled across this awesome site - it has everything!!! Unfortunately, I'm not much of an avid computer user, but I have managed to figure out how to only begin to involve myself in this glorious Earthbound community. I never dreamed of a place so connected and obsessed with Earthbound as I had thought I only was. The internet is a wonderful thing, isn't it? I know you guys are probably ignoring this long, seemingly frivolous message, but consider it a roundabout way of expressing my relief to have found such a place, and consider it my congratulations on the excellence of the site. I have made acquaintances with such people as Bo Koerber who runs Bo's Earthbound page, one of your affiliates. I hope I can find the time away from my hefty loads of schoolwork and college prep (yeah, I'm pretty old, I'm a senior in high school, though I have yet to start) to send you a couple of flukes. Unfortunately, I have a Mac with a relatively slow connection so that creates a few drawbacks and obstacles. Anyway, I'm glad I've found this EB Heaven where membership is free! Now I must write again sometime, and maybe include myself in some of the topics, if I can find the time. This is my most frequently visited site, you know... =D

- Ben, Earthbound fanatic -

P.S.- Can you refer me to any



Your P.S. mysteriously dissapeared. I think Xod's new Mailbag thingy ate it. Thanks for writing in.

- EBounding



Thanks for your enthusiasm, Ben! Be sure to play EarthBound Zero! ;D

- AmzRigh

Ok I know this isnt on topic but I just heard about NeoPaulas departure.And i have one thing to say.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO F@#$ S#$# M#$$%$ @&$&*$ $%^$%#%#%#%#%#^#^&**@$^%!!!!!!!

I am extremely sad she has to leave.But I understand her situation.So to NeoPaula or Liz i wish you good bye and a special message from me which is : Ill pour one out for you on the curb.Peace and good luck Liz.

-Josh



RUN NEOPAULA. To your Boarding School of safety!

- EBounding



piez :(

I'll miss you too, Neo. ;_;_;

- AmzRigh