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The Eternal Sphere - Game or Reality?
This is quite possibly going to be another briefly written topic. However, despite its potential brevity, I find the subject to be quite fascinating.
Of course, most players of the Star Ocean series don't know they're playing a video game set inside a video game until they're engrossed in Till the End of Time. It is the third game that lets everyone know, hey, the universe is created by these other entities who live on a higher plane of existence than in what the characters enduring their trials exist. The shocker for this information isn't that these four-dimensional beings created the universe, it's that the universe was created for the sole purpose of entertaining them. It's a simple program called the Eternal Sphere, and anyone in the four-dimensional realm can enter and play. It's a game, a toy, something to be discarded when the four-dimensional beings are bored and want something new.
But is that really the case? Is the Eternal Sphere a creation of Luther's brilliant mind or was it a happy accidental discovery on his part? This is something that's more fan speculation than in-game speculation, as a few of the key players - Robert Leingod, Blair Lansfeld, and Luther Lansfeld - seem convinced that Luther and his team programmers created the Eternal Sphere rather than discovered it. But if that's more the truth than what anyone realizes? That Luther discovered this alternate reality on accident and found a way to manipulate the lifeforms living in it? I don't think it's very likely . . . as much as the idea does intrigue me. While Luther is a manipulating control-freak, the last thing he is is dishonest. He has no reason to lie about anything.
So what does it mean then that the Eternal Sphere has taken on a life of its own? I personally believe that, while the Eternal Sphere started out as a program, it has somehow gained something, thanks to Luther. There's something within Luther to be able to create life. It doesn't make him God since there are other potential candidates in the four-dimensional realms who could contain the same symbological skills, but, in Luther, they're especially strong. Because of this, it means I believe that the Eternal Sphere is one of the greatest things Luther has created. He's done something no one else in the four-dimensional realm has ever done or could ever do after he's passed on.
* * * *
Fanfic Writing Tip #5 - Crossovers
Like most fanfiction authors, those who write for Star Ocean aren't just fans of this particular series of games. We're fans for other things: manga, cartoons, anime, books, movies, TV shows . . . other video games. One thing many fanfiction authors like to do is cross our favorite fandoms with each other.
There is a trick to writing crossovers, a trick that I've noticed some authors can't seem to pick up on is the ability to effectively explain how two or more particular fandoms can coalesce. Some fandoms don't need an explanation of how it is they're able to come together. For example, if I wanted to crossover Star Ocean with Final Fantasy, one of the best ways I can write that is to offer up the explanation of an alternate reality gaming program created by Sphere 211 that's as equally popular as the Eternal Sphere gaming system. Heck, giving that the entire concept of the Eternal Sphere is that of massive, multi-timeline MMORPG, any fandom can fit into the entire scenario.
However, for writing in other fandoms to cross them, finding the common thread to unite them can be quite difficult, and I know that there are some authors who simply won't care about taking the time to find that thread of believability. I've seen it when browsing for fanfiction to read, especially in fandoms that have nothing in common. Creating a common bond to cross the fandoms will actually go a long way and will help to bring about a creativity in the author that s/he might not have known existed.
Convention Talk - Larger Conventions vs. Smaller Conventions
Now we've come to the point in our convention talk on how to decide which convention is the best one to attend. Naturally, this is up to the convention attendee and can often be determined by a number of factors, the biggest one of all being cost.
Factor #1 into Costs - Location
The location of the convention is perhaps one of the biggest things a person should take into consideration. How far is it from where you live? If you live in Northern Michigan, like I do, and the convention you wish to attend is in California, like Comic-Con or Anime Expo, you can expect to pay a good amount for pre-registration, hotel, travel, and food. When it comes to travel, how will you travel? Will you take the bus? Go by train? Fly? Drive with friends? Traveling a large distance will never be cheap, and it's often determined by how much time you're able to take from work. If you've earned vacation time, you won't be too hard-pressed to keep your finances in a relative healthy situation.
However, if you don't have a lot of time to take off from work and you can't travel too far, a smaller, local convention will be more suited to your convention needs. You won't have to travel too far or take too much time off from work.
Also, if you don't like the larger cities such as Los Angeles or New York City, the conventions in smaller cities, like Traverse City or wherever you happen to live, will be your best bet.
Factor #2 into Costs - Travel
Getting to the convention location, as has been mentioned in the previous Convention Talk, is perhaps one of the biggest costs when it comes to attending. How you get there is just as important as getting there. Traveling to the larger conventions will not only require a healthy amount of cash but advanced planning on the part of the attendee. If you have vacation time, get it in early. Summertime is a popular time for conventions. It's also a popular time for family vacations, and many parents will be planning ahead. Be sure you do the same, especially if you're driving or taking the bus to your destination.
Of course, there's always flying, which also requires some advanced planning. I have friends who will fly to the convention location, and I'm sure that they buy their tickets as soon as they're able. The further out you book your flight, the cheaper you can fly.
If you're not fond of overly long road trips or flying or even taking the bus, then the smaller, local conventions are just for you. They're within a reasonable driving distance and will definitely be cheaper overall when it comes to pre-registration, food and lodging, and fuel costs.
Factor #3 into Costs - Hotels/Lodging
Naturally, if you're considering traveling to the larger conventions, you're going to need a place to sleep. Hotels are often the most popular place for staying when traveling abroad. Booking a room in the convention center hotel in advanced will save you money because they are offering a specific rate for that particular event. BE SURE TO MENTION YOU'RE ATTENDING THAT CONVENTION WHEN BOOKING YOUR ROOM(S). Otherwise, you will be charged the normal rates, which are at least $20 or more per night. Also, be sure to book in advance, the way you would for a bus or plane ticket. The hotels for the larger, more popular conventions fill up fast. Also, check the convention's website for other hotels participating and how far they are from the convention site.
There are two ways to save when it comes to traveling to a larger convention. One is to use social media networks like facebook and myspace to help you find a friend who lives in the city and will allow you to stay with them for the duration of the weekend. A word of caution for this: Be sure you're staying with someone at a legitimate address and have a phone number available just in case, and leave those pieces of information with family members. Find a way to save money but be smart about your own safety as well. The second way to save on hotel costs is travel to the site by RV. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it's how one friend of mine saved some money when attending BotCon in 2004. We rode with him to Pasadena, in his grandparents' RV, and he stayed in the RV while the rest of us stayed in the hotel. Just be sure to compensate for fuel because most RVs, to my knowledge, aren't necessarily fuel-efficient.
Smaller, local conventions won't necessarily run up a high lodging bill. If you live within a certain distance away from where the convention is being held, paying for a hotel actually wouldn't be very cost effective whereas driving every day to the convention would be more economical. For example, I live in a rural part of northern Michigan. Conventions like Cherry Capital Comic-Con and the Northern Michigan Anime Convention are both located in Traverse City, which is about fifty miles to the north of where I live. To stay in a hotel would run me about $100-$150 for the weekend. To drive from my house each day would cost me around $60 for the whole weekend. For a convention that's sixty miles or less away, I'd say simply drive and enjoy the beautiful weather.
Factor #4 into Costs - Food
No matter what, a person is always going to need to eat. The type of restaurant you want to eat will either increase how much you spend on food. Despite how much you might love McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, or Subway, a steady diet of them will become quite boring, especially if you're traveling a great distance. Local, sit-down restaurants won't always be as cheap as a major fast food chain, but it will offer an insight to the local cuisine. Even what's offered at the convention - if they have a concessions stand - will be on the costly side and they don't offer, generally speaking, a large variety.
Factor # 5 - Crowds and the Dealer Rooms
The upside and downside to the larger conventions is how crowded places like the Dealer's Room/s can become as well as the guest panels, cosplay events, and Artists' Alleys. You get to see more people in costume, but you also may feel like you're suffocating. Not everyone can handle the large crowds. Smaller conventions don't bring in nearly as many people. Personally, I recommend a convention attendee to go to both kinds of conventions. The popular conventions, like Otakon, Anime Expo, and Comic-Con, while they can be quite costly and quite crowded, as has been mentioned repeatedly, have larger, sometimes multiple dealer rooms and artists' alleys. They simply have more and are often able to get guests the smaller ones simply can't afford because they are small and often times low budget. The smaller conventions happen to be more on the local level, and, while they're not exactly the biggest show around, they can sometimes do things that the larger ones often can't due to time constraints - fan panels. I won't say that the larger conventions aren't run by fans . . . because they do start out as small conventions at some point. Each convention is for the fans. While there may be some big names from the industries at the conventions, know that the organizers are trying to find what they think the fans want to see, and they do this based on feedback.
And there is one more reason to support both the large and smaller conventions: the economy. Whether you're traveling a great distance or just fifty miles, many local businesses will benefit from convention attendance.
There's always a reason to attend. :)
This is quite possibly going to be another briefly written topic. However, despite its potential brevity, I find the subject to be quite fascinating.
Of course, most players of the Star Ocean series don't know they're playing a video game set inside a video game until they're engrossed in Till the End of Time. It is the third game that lets everyone know, hey, the universe is created by these other entities who live on a higher plane of existence than in what the characters enduring their trials exist. The shocker for this information isn't that these four-dimensional beings created the universe, it's that the universe was created for the sole purpose of entertaining them. It's a simple program called the Eternal Sphere, and anyone in the four-dimensional realm can enter and play. It's a game, a toy, something to be discarded when the four-dimensional beings are bored and want something new.
But is that really the case? Is the Eternal Sphere a creation of Luther's brilliant mind or was it a happy accidental discovery on his part? This is something that's more fan speculation than in-game speculation, as a few of the key players - Robert Leingod, Blair Lansfeld, and Luther Lansfeld - seem convinced that Luther and his team programmers created the Eternal Sphere rather than discovered it. But if that's more the truth than what anyone realizes? That Luther discovered this alternate reality on accident and found a way to manipulate the lifeforms living in it? I don't think it's very likely . . . as much as the idea does intrigue me. While Luther is a manipulating control-freak, the last thing he is is dishonest. He has no reason to lie about anything.
So what does it mean then that the Eternal Sphere has taken on a life of its own? I personally believe that, while the Eternal Sphere started out as a program, it has somehow gained something, thanks to Luther. There's something within Luther to be able to create life. It doesn't make him God since there are other potential candidates in the four-dimensional realms who could contain the same symbological skills, but, in Luther, they're especially strong. Because of this, it means I believe that the Eternal Sphere is one of the greatest things Luther has created. He's done something no one else in the four-dimensional realm has ever done or could ever do after he's passed on.
* * * *
Fanfic Writing Tip #5 - Crossovers
Like most fanfiction authors, those who write for Star Ocean aren't just fans of this particular series of games. We're fans for other things: manga, cartoons, anime, books, movies, TV shows . . . other video games. One thing many fanfiction authors like to do is cross our favorite fandoms with each other.
There is a trick to writing crossovers, a trick that I've noticed some authors can't seem to pick up on is the ability to effectively explain how two or more particular fandoms can coalesce. Some fandoms don't need an explanation of how it is they're able to come together. For example, if I wanted to crossover Star Ocean with Final Fantasy, one of the best ways I can write that is to offer up the explanation of an alternate reality gaming program created by Sphere 211 that's as equally popular as the Eternal Sphere gaming system. Heck, giving that the entire concept of the Eternal Sphere is that of massive, multi-timeline MMORPG, any fandom can fit into the entire scenario.
However, for writing in other fandoms to cross them, finding the common thread to unite them can be quite difficult, and I know that there are some authors who simply won't care about taking the time to find that thread of believability. I've seen it when browsing for fanfiction to read, especially in fandoms that have nothing in common. Creating a common bond to cross the fandoms will actually go a long way and will help to bring about a creativity in the author that s/he might not have known existed.
* * * *
Convention Talk - Larger Conventions vs. Smaller Conventions
Now we've come to the point in our convention talk on how to decide which convention is the best one to attend. Naturally, this is up to the convention attendee and can often be determined by a number of factors, the biggest one of all being cost.
Factor #1 into Costs - Location
The location of the convention is perhaps one of the biggest things a person should take into consideration. How far is it from where you live? If you live in Northern Michigan, like I do, and the convention you wish to attend is in California, like Comic-Con or Anime Expo, you can expect to pay a good amount for pre-registration, hotel, travel, and food. When it comes to travel, how will you travel? Will you take the bus? Go by train? Fly? Drive with friends? Traveling a large distance will never be cheap, and it's often determined by how much time you're able to take from work. If you've earned vacation time, you won't be too hard-pressed to keep your finances in a relative healthy situation.
However, if you don't have a lot of time to take off from work and you can't travel too far, a smaller, local convention will be more suited to your convention needs. You won't have to travel too far or take too much time off from work.
Also, if you don't like the larger cities such as Los Angeles or New York City, the conventions in smaller cities, like Traverse City or wherever you happen to live, will be your best bet.
Factor #2 into Costs - Travel
Getting to the convention location, as has been mentioned in the previous Convention Talk, is perhaps one of the biggest costs when it comes to attending. How you get there is just as important as getting there. Traveling to the larger conventions will not only require a healthy amount of cash but advanced planning on the part of the attendee. If you have vacation time, get it in early. Summertime is a popular time for conventions. It's also a popular time for family vacations, and many parents will be planning ahead. Be sure you do the same, especially if you're driving or taking the bus to your destination.
Of course, there's always flying, which also requires some advanced planning. I have friends who will fly to the convention location, and I'm sure that they buy their tickets as soon as they're able. The further out you book your flight, the cheaper you can fly.
If you're not fond of overly long road trips or flying or even taking the bus, then the smaller, local conventions are just for you. They're within a reasonable driving distance and will definitely be cheaper overall when it comes to pre-registration, food and lodging, and fuel costs.
Factor #3 into Costs - Hotels/Lodging
Naturally, if you're considering traveling to the larger conventions, you're going to need a place to sleep. Hotels are often the most popular place for staying when traveling abroad. Booking a room in the convention center hotel in advanced will save you money because they are offering a specific rate for that particular event. BE SURE TO MENTION YOU'RE ATTENDING THAT CONVENTION WHEN BOOKING YOUR ROOM(S). Otherwise, you will be charged the normal rates, which are at least $20 or more per night. Also, be sure to book in advance, the way you would for a bus or plane ticket. The hotels for the larger, more popular conventions fill up fast. Also, check the convention's website for other hotels participating and how far they are from the convention site.
There are two ways to save when it comes to traveling to a larger convention. One is to use social media networks like facebook and myspace to help you find a friend who lives in the city and will allow you to stay with them for the duration of the weekend. A word of caution for this: Be sure you're staying with someone at a legitimate address and have a phone number available just in case, and leave those pieces of information with family members. Find a way to save money but be smart about your own safety as well. The second way to save on hotel costs is travel to the site by RV. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it's how one friend of mine saved some money when attending BotCon in 2004. We rode with him to Pasadena, in his grandparents' RV, and he stayed in the RV while the rest of us stayed in the hotel. Just be sure to compensate for fuel because most RVs, to my knowledge, aren't necessarily fuel-efficient.
Smaller, local conventions won't necessarily run up a high lodging bill. If you live within a certain distance away from where the convention is being held, paying for a hotel actually wouldn't be very cost effective whereas driving every day to the convention would be more economical. For example, I live in a rural part of northern Michigan. Conventions like Cherry Capital Comic-Con and the Northern Michigan Anime Convention are both located in Traverse City, which is about fifty miles to the north of where I live. To stay in a hotel would run me about $100-$150 for the weekend. To drive from my house each day would cost me around $60 for the whole weekend. For a convention that's sixty miles or less away, I'd say simply drive and enjoy the beautiful weather.
Factor #4 into Costs - Food
No matter what, a person is always going to need to eat. The type of restaurant you want to eat will either increase how much you spend on food. Despite how much you might love McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, or Subway, a steady diet of them will become quite boring, especially if you're traveling a great distance. Local, sit-down restaurants won't always be as cheap as a major fast food chain, but it will offer an insight to the local cuisine. Even what's offered at the convention - if they have a concessions stand - will be on the costly side and they don't offer, generally speaking, a large variety.
Factor # 5 - Crowds and the Dealer Rooms
The upside and downside to the larger conventions is how crowded places like the Dealer's Room/s can become as well as the guest panels, cosplay events, and Artists' Alleys. You get to see more people in costume, but you also may feel like you're suffocating. Not everyone can handle the large crowds. Smaller conventions don't bring in nearly as many people. Personally, I recommend a convention attendee to go to both kinds of conventions. The popular conventions, like Otakon, Anime Expo, and Comic-Con, while they can be quite costly and quite crowded, as has been mentioned repeatedly, have larger, sometimes multiple dealer rooms and artists' alleys. They simply have more and are often able to get guests the smaller ones simply can't afford because they are small and often times low budget. The smaller conventions happen to be more on the local level, and, while they're not exactly the biggest show around, they can sometimes do things that the larger ones often can't due to time constraints - fan panels. I won't say that the larger conventions aren't run by fans . . . because they do start out as small conventions at some point. Each convention is for the fans. While there may be some big names from the industries at the conventions, know that the organizers are trying to find what they think the fans want to see, and they do this based on feedback.
And there is one more reason to support both the large and smaller conventions: the economy. Whether you're traveling a great distance or just fifty miles, many local businesses will benefit from convention attendance.
There's always a reason to attend. :)
