h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

im playing ffv at the moment, and it should eb easy to get synopses off the net for the others. give a brief rundown of the way the game works, also. ffv uses a weird system of jobs. surprisingly good, though

That'll be good. Are you willing to do some stuff about FFV? I'll be back working on the article for FF IX before too much longer, and if we can structure all the guides the same way, that'll probably work best.
RFJS_...why did I think you might volunteer? Feel more than welcome to do so when you've got time. Oh, and yes, I am male.

Oh, and RFJS_ (or anyone else for that matter) - that comment about where I was stuck on FF VII was by way of a hint...

You're getting to know me, then.

Regarding structure -- I see you've gone for a character list and a general heading 'The Story' in the FF9 Entry, and I've done much the same in the FF7 one, of which I hope to have a work-in-progress version up soon. I'll have to write something about the gameplay, of course; how much will depend on how much you decide to write in this Entry. (FF7's main standout feature is the Materia system, but I don't think it would do to go into that much detail.) I'm quite keen to have a section on the graphics, since FF7 was the first to move away from 2D sprites; plus there's the character style (part super-deformed, part not). The soundtrack I'm not sure about; maybe it could be lumped in with the graphics.

One thing I'd like to do that might not necessarily get replicated in every FF Entry is discuss some of the arguments and theories that have surrounded the game's plot -- especially the J=L Theory (which even gets a mention on my Personal Space). Currently, I've also included this footnote:

having split with NintendoThe story of the rift between Square and Nintendo is subject to much rumour and speculation, especially since, now that the two companies have substantially settled their differences, neither is particularly willing to talk about it. It is known that Nintendo's decision to retain the cartridge format for Nintendo 64 games, rather than the much higher-capacity CD format used by the PlayStation, was a major factor in Square's decision to develop Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation; the game's world, and especially its numerous video sequences, ended up requiring three CDs. It is also known that the personality of Hiroshi Yamauchi [check], then Nintendo's president, was a significant factor; according to some accounts, Square intended to create games for both the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64, but Yamauchi was so angered by the defection of a developer formerly loyal to Nintendo that he refused to permit Square to develop for Nintendo's console. The details, however, are not public knowledge. — and neither

I didn't know how much, if anthing, you were planning to write on this, so for the moment I've included this footnote; we can discuss whether to leave it in later.

I've got to go now, but if you post details of where you're stuck I'll try to help you out.

there already is an ff vii one

I'm well aware of that; but A412543 lacks the breadth and detail that now tends to be expected in Peer Review, and so provides considerably less information than LeonardQuirm's FF9 Entry looks set to. The Update Forum gives as a criterion for wanting to update an Entry: 'Is there newer, better information available that should be included?' Not newer, except where the plot theories are concerned; but the information in the Entry is scanty, and I think a game as renowned as FF7 warrants 'better' coverage (especially with Advent Children forthcoming). It's not a replacement I'd attempt in isolation, but as part of an attempt to improve the Guide's coverage of FF it will be necessary if FF7's coverage is not to be below standard.

The Update Forum clearly states that replacement Entries can be written:

'There is a subtle but important difference between a rewrite and a completely new entry. If it's a question of junking the whole thing and starting completely from scratch, then the entry should be submitted to Peer Review with clear instructions in the first posting that this is a new entry intended to replace the old one.'

What isn't transparent, since the juxtaposition of 'newer' and 'better' and be read both as 'newer AND better' and as 'newer AND/OR better', is whether newness is an absolute necessity.

So, I'm off to ask at Editorial Feedback.

i was just making an observation

There's already an Edited Entry on the Final Fantasy series.

Is this an Update?

It would be very awkward to fit a large body of new information around the structure of the existing Entry, since it would have to be woven in rather than added as discrete paragraphs, so I'd be inclined to go for a from-scratch approach, which according to the Update Forum can be done. However, if anyone wishes to advise me otherwise, I'll take that advice into account.

I've checked -- F47997?thread=417988 -- and the submission of intended replacement entries is okay. For reasons already stated I favour a start-from-scratch approach for FF7; my impression is that LeonardQuirm is intending this Entry as a rewrite (the existing Edited Entry being another sketchy one), but that I leave to him to decide.

Okay, I think that the majority of this is about complete - but a few points:
1) I may yet do an "evolution" from one game to next - but I need some more info for that. I'll have a look for myself some time, but if there are any actual players of the games out there, then it could speed up the process if you were to pass on some info.
2) Seeing as this is to be a "hub" entry linking to articles about the specific games, I suppose the links need to be entered before this goes through any review process. I don't know if it would be possible just to create a quck skeleton frame for the articles then actually write them later when I have time - the main problem being if someone actually responds to the Challenge H2G2 I put up and does the earlier FF games, rather than waiting for a couple of years for me to get them. In this case, could the skeleton frame be passed on to them to write?
3) Sort of related - at the moment the article has a couple of references to the upcoming articles, saying just that. Possibly I should remove them right now? Advice gratefully received.
4) The comments about FFXII making the entry soon out of date. Yes, it will. But what choice do I have? The series looks to go on and on (and I hope that it does so), and even if I take the extreme and wait for it to come out in the UK, and then include it, FFXIII will be out within another year or two, so it'll still soon be out of date. The best I can suggest is that I update it at the appropriate times.

And I suppose this is an intended replacement of the existing entry - comparatively speaking, this is Ford's new entry about the Earth compared to "Harmless". (No offense intended to the original author).

Any further feedback on the above points, or anything else, is fully welcomed!

I'll try to find time to provide some assistence; unfortunately I've now got exams/revision until the beginning of June, so my time is quite limited (and progress on the FF7 Entry is consequently glacial; I'd been hoping to have an early draft ready to upload for comments before the revision season kicked in, but as it turned out I didn't have time -- plus I'm currently not sure how to handle Advent Children anyway).

The problem with linking to 'skeleton' frames is that Edited Entries can't link to unedited Entries, and I'm very much inclined to doubt that skeleton Entries would be allowed in the E.G. I wouldn't worry about links to upcoming articles at present, though, unless you very strongly want to declare the hub finished right away (which would rather negate the point of its being a hub).

I'll have a look at the current state of the hub Entry shortly.

Oh, I hadn't realised EG links were limited to other EG articles.
Why not upload the unfinished guide anyway - I'd like to vsee what you're doing with it so far, and I'm as you know, I'm working on the site.
Also, how far are you going with the story of FFVII? I'm tempted with mine to only go to the end of the first disc - or somewhere in X and X-2 - because although they've been out for a long time, people may not want to see spoilers. In your case I might suggest a point slightly before that, for certain reasons...
But if you disagree with me in this, I'll have another think about it. I can certainly see it being a problem if you want to mention some theories.

By the way, I've put in a message for the Gurus asking if it's possible to get FF as a topic of the week, seeing as Challenge didn't seem to work. And another point you may be a little interested in...

"I love deadlines. I love the wooshing noise they make as they go by." Douglas Adams

Factually it's looking pretty complete now, although the references to continuations between games could do with some descriptive fleshing out -- otherwise people will be left wondering what 'chocobos' and 'moogles' are. Of course, that can come as part of the proposed evolutionary aspect.

Regarding Crystal Chronicles, a C.C. game for the Nintendo DS is promised, although as yet nothing more about it seems to have been announced.

http://www.ninty.net/article517.html

It also occurred to me that, since you've mentioned the films, it would make sense also to refer to the much-hated anime Legend of the Crystals and Final Fantasy: Unlimited (the latter of which is currently being released in the U.K., although I've seen only the first episode, and currently I have my doubts as to whether I'll acquire the rest).

http://www.ffodyssey.com/ffcrystals/index.shtml
http://www.animecritic.com/finalfantasy/anr-finalfantasy.html
http://www.ffwa.org/news/27-08-2003.html
http://www.ffudvd.com/main.php

By the way, I just found this:

classic.anipike.com/ff.html

The rule about linking not linking to unedited Entries is quite well hidden; it's under 'Linking to h2g2 Entries': http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/SubEditors-GuideML

I'll upload the FF7 Entry when I've got the basic structure sorted out; currently I'm focusing on the stuff I need to research in order to do the polishing, e.g. where the name Nibelheim comes from (Wagner's 'Ring'), intending to write most of the core of the Entry once I have all the information and therefore know what shapes I can make the Entry take. Since this is intended to replace an existing Entry, and concerns one of my favourite games of all time, I want to make sure it's as good as I can possibly make it, which means including added value, as it were.

What I've written about the story so far is essentially background; I've avoided mentioning (except through vague hints) any spoilers. The problem with the plot theories -- which will contain tons of spoilers -- ties into the problem of what I'm going to do about Advent Children, since it's likely that the film will have a significant bearing on the theories; it's already generating plenty of its own. (Plus, thanks to the trailers' inconsistency, I now have two Journal entries mentioning the problem of how to pronounce 'Jenova'.) I may put the theories in an Entry on their own, but that doesn't fully resolve the problem.

The times when my brain is active enough to write good stuff tend also to be the times when I am, or ought to be, revising, but I'll try to knock the Entry into some sort of structured form in between worrying about epistemology and epiphenomenalism.

Coming along nicely.

I may have given you a link to this site before, but anyway, it may be useful; I'm providing a link to the Species page. (Note: where it says that Moogles/Mogs are called 'Mogli' in Japan, that's an Anglicised form; from what I've found elsewhere, it appears that the name is 'Moguri' and that it's thought to be a combination of 'mogura' -- mole -- and 'koumori' -- bat -- which does fit in with the creatures' appearance.)

http://www.ffcompendium.com/h/species.shtml

I'm about to attack the FF7 Entry once again; unfortunately I have three exams (out of six) next week. After the 2nd of June, however, I shall have lots of free time in which to get the Entry done.

Wow...that entire site looks extremely useful, especially for any evolution chart or otherwise I create. Thanks a lot for that one. And that description of moogles as a cross between a mole and a bat seems a good way of putting it.

Sure you don't want to be credited as a researcher? I may be finding and writing up the specifics, but you're the one finding most of the websites.

Best of luck with the exams.

Thanks for the offer, but a lot of this stuff is what I'm coming across while researching the FF7 Entry, so having my name on that one will be credit enough.

By the way, something I've noticed in my own writing: I change between putting a space inbetween the FF and the number (like FF VIII) and not (like FFX). I probably ought to use one as a constant. Any suggestions which one in particular?

Well, just to complicate the matter further, for the FF7 Entry I've been writing out Final Fantasy VII every time; and thanks to cut-and-paste that's not hard to do. If you'd rather not, I don't really favour either option over the other. Another possibility would be using Arabic numerals instead (as I have above, and as is quite commonly done).

I'd rather not use arabic numerals, for the reason that they're not used by the games. There's also the slight problem of someone misinterpreting 10-2 as a very strange way of writing 8, although I suppose it's not that likely. And also, I personally prefer FFX to FF10, and I would prefer not to switch between Arabic and Roman numerals.

Problem that I find is that FFVIII looks a little too long and FF X looks a little silly. Still, I'll probably replace them all without the space. Writing out the entire name seems a little unnecessary.