Speak-up on Kotaku returns this week, with commentary on the greatness of Final Fantasy X-2, a question about DSi travel cases, Aion banning, and getting sick of preorder bonuses.
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About Speak-Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have that little box on the front page of Kotaku. You know, the one with "Got something to say?" written in it? That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Just make sure to include #speakup in your comment so we can find it. Every Wednesday we'll pull the best #speakup posts we can find and highlight them here.
Preorder Insecurity
DaemonGildas has had it up to here with preorder bonuses.
Is anyone else just about f***ing had it with "Pre-order Bonuses"? I'm the kind of gamer who prefers to rent a game before I buy it, so it kind of sucks to miss out on content, just because you didn't pay for a game you weren't even sure you would enjoy.
It just seems like a cheap tactic to me, and comes off a little bit insecure.
I'll go ahead and agree here. Delivering a high quality game should be good enough, right?
Let's Play Final Fantasy Dress-Up!
MrNose passionately defends the finer qualities of Final Fantasy X-2, the girl-driven sequel to Final Fantasy X that gamers love to hate.
You know what? Final Fantasy X-2 was awesome, I don't even care what anyone else says. Screw an important story, it had a superweapon, or something something filler to make it important. I don't remember, but it doesn't matter because that's not what the damn story was about!
The story was about a girl who had spent her entire life trapped in a role not of her choosing trying to figure out how to live a life after that role is ended. It was a great coming of age story, and the parallel Yuna/Lenne thing was cool. Sometimes RPGs don't need to be about the galaxy being at stake, they just need to be about the person.
Also: It was an excellent early example of how to do a hub/mission structure in an RPG, combining their ship with a mission map.
Finally: The characters were fantastically well done. One of the characters had the same VA that Bobby from King of the Hill did, which was great. With the amount of sidequesting and the well written characters, it is a quintessentially "good" RPG imo.
And you know what? The game was fun! When did that not become enough in an RPG? The pacing and action were excellent, and it never felt like you were grinding.
That's not really a cogent critique, but that's not what I'm trying to put here. I'm here to defend the honour of an awesome game!
He actually makes several good points here, but many of you will be blinded by hatred. I still love X-2, no matter what anyone says.
Casing DSi Cases
Metroidsashimi is looking for the best possible Nintendo DSi case. Apparently mine wasn't good enough.
I have a question for anyone who cares to help me out: What's the best DSi travel case available? I currently have the one in the picture, and I like it a lot for keeping the DS around the house, but it only holds six games (seven if you keep one in the unit), and I have to store the charger and any headphones separately. I'm going abroad this fall, and I want something that will travel well and carry a lot of games and the charger and a pair of headphones. It doesn't have to be a dedicated DSi case. If you use something else, but it really works for you, let me know. Any and all suggestions are welcome.
Banned In Aion
Jimmy Pippins was banned from Aion for using bot software. Jimmy Pippins claims the GSU is out of control.
My Aion account was banned for using bot software. I have never purposefully or intentionally installed or run bot software. Every hour logged onto my account has been with me at the controls. However, the GSU(Game Surveillance Unit) has emphatically denied any of my requests to find a "false positive" in their detection methods. The team lead GM Rob even went so far as to say, "The fact is that based on all of the information I have reviewed regarding this account, I simply do not believe you when you claim that you were not using a Bot program." This team is banning without warning, without email notification, without providing proof, and without allowing account holders to provide any kind of defense.
The GSU department is out of control! If this department continues their current "banning" policies they will continue to run innocent players out of Aion. And, countless others will stop playing or never start playing in fear of "unfair" banning policies.