At the start of the game, a knight of Dalmasca has killed the king, the princess committed suicide, Dalmasca ended up under the rule of the advancing empire unopposed, Vayne is looking for overall peace, and Balthier is a nobody sky pirate who wants the dawn shard for the wealth it will bring him.
Nothing changes?
As for ccoa, I'm done with you, really. Thanks for playing. I'm done trying to make my concessions clear as day, and to litter my statements with as many IMOs as I can fit in there. I may have made a few condescending comments (meant mostly in in the spirit of joking), but I most certainly have not attacked anyone. I've made it clear from the start that I believe this game has value that you, specifically deny, but I have done so by discussing the game, specifically, at length, and you have countered by doing nothing but hurling insults, insinuations, and generally nothing more than calling my character into question for refusing to admit that everyone is right, I'm wrong, and that there can be no discussion.
I'm sorry, but if I'm not allowed to debate opinions, and to perhaps try to sway people to see things the way I do, then for all I'm concerned, this sub-forum should be closed. Let people state their opinions, unmolested, on their blogs.
My stating that people ruined the game for themselves is no an effort to make their opinions invalid, rather being a way for me to introduce the concept that the game can be approached differently to alleviate many of the complaints rendered against it. If explaining to people that they are playing a game in such a way that their enjoyment is certainly diminished by the way they are playing is some sort of unforgivable sin at rmxp.org, I'm sorry. I am, honestly, only trying to help people enjoy a game that I, and many others, consider to be a masterpiece.
If my restatements are reworded to a different effect in later posts, this isn't me trying to be underhanded - indeed, in the instance you pointed out, I had intended to explain that I was making a clarification in rewording my original statement. If that wasn't clear, I'm sorry, but that's the way it was intended.
As far as characters being well-rounded and deeply characterized, please understand that I am speaking relatively. We can go all day quoting examples of famous books with famous characters who are shallow or who are well-rounded, but the point of all of my arguments is that, in the grand scheme of things, I felt I understood the motivations and characters of the character in Final Fantasy XII very well, compared to other places where characters are considered well developed. The questions you ask about Penelo may well be answerable, and I think I could even approach a few, but the fact is that in a majority of games and literature, you couldn't answer those questions about anyone, even in games with "well-developed" characters. I also made a specific point of stating that I think characters can be overdeveloped. In fact, I think many characters in Xenosaga were, in fact, overdeveloped, but Xenosaga also had very good characters who were, but your definition, severely underdeveloped. Characters like chaos or Wilhelm, whose value as characters comes largely from the speculation about their lives. I'm not saying that the character in Final Fantasy XII are superb pinnacles of development, but I think that, in the greater context of effective literature and memorable characters, the cast of Final Fantasy XII is, at worst, worthy of further contemplation.
Now, while my position may be indefensible, and I may be arguing from what may well amount to nothing more than a bizarre personal connection, this is, as I've tried to make clear, my own opinion, and I am not in the business of attacking people's characters over differences in opinion.
Also, I never once quoted gamefaqs. I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. You can repeat that level grinding was necessary until you're short of breath, but I can state matter of factly that it's not. Fact - if you state level grinding is necessary to complete the game, and someone completes the game without level grinding, you've been proven wrong. How many people now have stated they didn't have to go level grinding? 3? 4? I don't want to suggest that, maybe, you just sorta sucked the game (or maybe you're gambits weren't as good as a human pilot would have been, which is one of the reasons I stopped using them), but there is clearly some sort of disconnect happening. If you are suggesting that we are all lying, then that's different, but please, at least, state as much clearly.
I'm sorry I missed your statement about the plot. That was my mistake, apparently, and I apologize for putting words in your mouth. However, I reiterate my assertion that the quality of political machination is sufficient to call the game a "political" one. No, it's not a murder mystery, and it's not a political mystery story, but nobody said it was. I thought the plot was delightfully politically driven, and was well-executed in that respect. You are free to disagree.
So, in summary, and to backstep a bit, any sense that I'm arguing other people's opinions are invalid are based on my personal believe that they are opinions formed without some critical piece of the puzzle. Some elusive quality that I've seen that they have not. This mindset may be one of me doubting their understanding of the story or the gameplay mechanics, but for the most part, I would never assert in so many words that someone's opinion was invalid. We all have reasons for disagreeing with other people's opinions, and my reason being, in some cases, that they are "doing it wrong" is, as far as I'm aware, a fair are civilized one.
Attacking me, my opinions as a whole, and my character itself, is completely inappropriate, and entirely out of the scope of indeed this entire forum. I may be a sucky mod and a sedentary member, but if my person comes under fire again for such a pointless and juvenile reason by the administration of this forum, no less, then I will walk away, and leave you to it.
It's clear, at least, that I'm not welcome in this thread, so ccoa and Marcus, enjoy. Sorry for being a horrible human being.
