The new LunarNET...

[GhaleonOne]

Okay, this is a fairly simple question, and I may or may not be able to do it, but is there anything you guys would like to see on LunarNET that is currently not there? With this new design in full swing, I figured it'd be a good time to ask that question, in case someone has a practical idea I haven't thought of that I'd have the time and ability to implement.

Keep in mind things like ROMs, complete soundtracks in MP3 format, etc. aren't happening.

[ilovemyguitar]

Is there any way we could have music from TSS on the site somehow? Perhaps in a streaming, non-MP3 format? The music from that game was, in my opinion, the best in the series, and I'd love for people who don't have access to it to be able to hear it.

And how about a chatroom?

[LuNaRtIc]

And how about a chatroom?

Setting up an IRC room for Lunar fans would be pretty cool.

[Alunissage]

Chatroom BAD. Not necessarily the concept in general, but it starts getting fuzzy concerning what the site is responsible for and what the rules are if it's hosted by or otherwise specifically connected to the site. RPGFan had that problem some time ago... Also, it tends to divide the people involved with the site into those who have time to be in chatrooms all the time and those that do not. This can already happen informally with people using IM and the like, but having a channel set up constantly creates more of an expectation.

I sometimes wish I were able to chat with people more often than I do, but I think the negatives of having a chatroom associated with the site outweigh the positives.

[phyco126]

An ATM machine would be nice. OH! And a chocolate fountain to get drunk off of!

[Sonic#]

http://web.utk.edu/~jhowar16/lunar-netphyco.JPG

Now the ATM just might work. (G1, we need to talk about this *ahem* privately.) But the chocolate fountain would just get chocolate all over the site design. And you know what that means. ANTS ALL OVER THE SITE DESIGN!

[phyco126]

Speaking of ants, anyone ever seen the screen saver thing that allowed you to put ants all over the screen, then choose from like, a dozen weapons to kill them? Machine guns, hammers, etc. After you where done, the screen was shattered really bad, but nothing a quick refresh of the program couldn't fix. I loved that thing.

[Kizyr]

And how about a chatroom?

Setting up an IRC room for Lunar fans would be pretty cool.

#lunarnet has been around for a long, long time.

It's unrelated to LunarNET, by the way. The name is coincidental (both were thought up around the same time).

RPGCafe Server: 69.90.127.232
Port: 6667

You can visit http://www.lunarnet.org for more information. ...come to think of it, I haven't been there in ages myself...

Nevertheless, setting up a chat room here for Lunar fans would be a very bad idea. KF

[GhaleonOne]

FYI, I have no problem with someone creating a LunarNET chatroom for people from here on IRC. I just won't host it or affiliate it with the site. It's not that I have a problem with chatrooms, but there's too many possible legal issues, as people have already said.

As for the other good idea in this thread, there WILL be streaming MP3s of Lunar games on the new site. Including TSS music. I had wanted to do this for a while, and have been developing a Lunar-ized Radio-type player that launches from the site for those wanting to listen to some Lunar music while browsing.

Another new feature that I'll give away early is that polls from these boards will power the poll on the frontpage. So when I'm not doing official polls for the site (LunarNET Character Tournaments, etc.) polls will be pulled from here. There's a lot of other interaction between the site and the boards coming too, but I'll keep a lid on some of that until it launches.

[Guild_Premier_Ghaleon]

One thing I would love to see; Manga scans. We have the translations, which rocks, but I think it would be awesome if we scanned the manga, translated them, and then alterred the scanned images, just like the fan translated manga I get for numerous series. That would be excellent.

[Alunissage]

No.

I was going to elaborate on this, but realized I was essentially speaking for Kizyr and while he'd probably say about the same things I really should let him speak for himself. But it should be clear enough that scanslations would be part of the "etc." in the "things like ROMs, complete soundtracks in MP3 format, etc. aren't happening."

Selected pages will be scanned and posted, however.

[PrettyGirlJean]

Sonic, that's pretty funny how Dark Althena has that chocolate next to her mouth and Jian's face was completely covered... oh and nice touch with the ATM xD

While I understand that no illegal items are allowed on the site, is it illegal to have scanlations of the manga as it has not officially been translated and distributed in the US and there is no profit involved? I ask because there are a lot of fansubbers for asian dramas, for example; is what they're doing illegal? I hope this is not being taken as goading for an argument, I'm am genuinely curious.

Thanks!

[Kizyr]

While I understand that no illegal items are allowed on the site, is it illegal to have scanlations of the manga as it has not officially been translated and distributed in the US and there is no profit involved? I ask because there are a lot of fansubbers for asian dramas, for example; is what they're doing illegal? I hope this is not being taken as goading for an argument, I'm am genuinely curious.

Pretty much, yes. Fansubbers in general are really on very shaky legal ground, if that's what you're curious about. The issue has nothing to do with no profit being involved, but the fact that one person is distributing another's copyrighted work. Usually folks will use the "unlicensed in the US" argument, but that has nothing to do with legality, only with whether or not there's a US company that can bring the lawsuit.

I've said before that, usually, all the legal issues aren't my concern. But, if something is still possible to obtain, then there isn't any justification for hosting what is, essentially, a bootleg of it up on this site.

One thing I would love to see; Manga scans. We have the translations, which rocks, but I think it would be awesome if we scanned the manga, translated them, and then alterred the scanned images, just like the fan translated manga I get for numerous series. That would be excellent.

I've articulated my point before regarding how I feel about scanslations, so some of the older members on the board are already aware of this... But, scanslations are a cheap excuse for bootlegging, and it falls into the same vein as having ISOs and ROMs up on the site. In other words, it's not happening. KF

[Erroneous]

How about a wiki? lol

[GhaleonOne]

Very funny.

No, I swear, once the new site design goes live, the encyclopedia will become the project I want done and up by Christmas.

[Benevolent_Ghaleon]

One thing I would love to see; Manga scans. We have the translations, which rocks, but I think it would be awesome if we scanned the manga, translated them, and then alterred the scanned images, just like the fan translated manga I get for numerous series. That would be excellent.

more like all of the pictures out of each Lunar artbook.

[Alunissage]

A great many of the images will probably show up in various places on the site, but obviously not the entire book(s) for the same reason as any other set of copyrighted material. Some of the stuff is in multiple books and locations anyway; the SSS artbook is largely stills from the cutscenes, and much of the character sketches in it are also in the Lunar Legend guidebook, for example.

Besides, if you don't own the artbooks you won't know what, if anything, is missing anyway.

[GhaleonOne]

To be honest, the artbooks and manga can still be found on Ebay. And with at least the artbooks, half the time, they can be found for less than I paid for my copies. Though I actually don't have any of the manga yet. Sometime I really need to get around to picking those up.

And for anyone that's tempted to buy them, Lunar I+II is definitely the better of the two artbooks. The SSS one isn't bad by any means, but as Alunissage pointed out, it's filled with a lot of still shots of the cutscenes from SSS. Lunar I+II has a lot of unique concept drawings and such. I would actually like to scan a few of them for the site, but don't currently have a scanner. (then again, I'd also like to get full size scans of all the book covers for the novels, artbooks, guides and manga)