The topic for last week's mailbag was:

Secondary EarthBound Sites - It may not be the most original query, but it should be quite interesting to see where this goes at this point in time. As time goes by, Starmen.net lingers longer and more powerfully than any other EarthBound site on the internet. Do you visit any secondary sites? If so, what are they and why are they worth checking out? What are some of your favorite EarthBound sites of the past? Keep self-promotion to a minimum, and try to have fun with this. A little nostalgia, a little multi-EB site love, and the chance for you Mailbaggers to talk about the finer, smaller sites of years past. Enjoy.

At first I was going to think up something really controversial to talk about, like the current state of the sites forums/new forums, the chat, or just the community as a whole. And I mean why not? I've been at this site for a long time, I know alot of people, and things aren't all they could or should be, and if you really asked me it's going to take something more monumental then bringing back radio. It's going to take this new site design, or like 5 Jonks all on speed an sleep deprived. Or maybe its not possible. Anyway I didn't want to write about this.

I have an English paper about modernism to write, but quiet frankly I think mailbag is more important? WHY? Because its like posting in the forums except your guaranteed replies, that are required to be just as thoughtful as what the person sent in. You send in something stupid insulting falc or something random "oh look I'm crazy wacky har har" you deserve to get made fun of. Anyway, I never posted in mailbag until Falc joined the squad and then I started taking an interest in what our people were doing, so now I see that Mailbag is good because you can talk about those things that need to spoken about in the site, and have it seen by people who care and might be able to pass your words on. And all of my awesome explanations for why this is true are used up for my English paper so I'll just save it for another day.

Lastly for picky, League as in continuum Death star battle league. I thought most everyone knew about that, since I've been pinned as a fanatic of the game or something. Just wait till the winter continuum tourney, I'm going to rock.

OK bye bye Falc and mike and person who is gonna reply. Say Hi to luna for me since I warned her on AIM for setting a stupid bot on me.

- atticus

Something more monumental... like a new massive, community-wide project EB walkthru? It really has seemed to be a bit stagnant since we got the last petition news, but I'm sure that we can come up with some good, reinciting ideas among ourselves- that is, aside from the crazy ones reid and Tomato are cooking up together at 3 AM every other day. I have an English paper I need to write too, but it's senior year so I'm more worried about my college essays.

- DarthAndonuts

Actually, at this hour, I should've probably finished my final revision of my senior project paper that is due Monday morning. Alas, I've been more focused on Mailbag. Anywho, I really dig what you think about Mailbag, and I completely agree. Good luck with your Continuum ventures, and if you see Falcsy, tell him to come home.

- Mike

I keep up with whatever secondary sites are worth keeping an eye on, but there haven't been as many lately. But Eagleland News Central is still worth visiting when it updates.

"More people should show Mikey some love :("

IF MIKE WAS FEATURED ON EVERY SECONDARY SITE ON THE INTERNET, PEOPLE WOULD BE ON THE INTERNET 24/7 GETTING NOTHING BUT MIKE

- Jim

Maybe if I'd read all of last week's mailbag, this letter would make more sense than Doug Flutie winning games wherever he goes and then getting benched. Mikey needs more lovin' than he gets paid, though.

- DarthAndonuts

ENC certainly is the hottest thing going as far as I'm concerned.

Speaking of concern, DA's response has sparked a topic of its own. I appreciate all of the lovin' yall Mailbaggers can dish out, but a few greenbacks wouldn't be bad, either. ;D

- Mike

Well look here, it's a rarity! A topic I feel inclined to bust out and write about!

As some of you may know, I am the cowebmaster at EarthBound IPM, and I also write articles and write an ailing mini-column here. I think secondary sites are extremely important. All though the site is dubbed by many as a "Starmen.net Clone," I find it a wonderful use of my (lackluster) talents.

Also, if Starmen.net was to somehow be completely destroyed, (and all the backups reid and 'Mato have made over the years simultaneously explode for no apparent reason) there'd at least be the second most comprehensive EarthBound site on the web still standing (All though at the going rate there must be a virus on the go deleting any type of file on any computer or disk pretaining in any way, shape, or form to EarthBound. We'd be deleted too!)

Also, with secondary sites around, Starmen.net knows they have competition. If the work ethic and content just stopped flowing here, people would eventually look elsewhere, and other secondary sites might just grab the opportunity to create a better site, and dare we may, overthrow the monopoly. Highly dubious as it sounds, it's not completely out of the question.

Another great benefit of secondary sites is how they can expand on one very small aspect of a game in the Mother/EarthBound series. Check out Eagleland News Central or /EarthBound. Original concepts churned out by visitors to this very site. Neat eh?

So, that's my two cents. Thanks for the great topic kids.

- Leeman

I remember when you had that tiny site waay back (as in 2 years ago) with all of this completely random junk on it. Aside from the big huge gaping margins of trees on the sides, this is a great improvement. Good groovin'.

- DarthAndonuts

Oh, shut up. It's Falcsy's thing, but you got your TSP.

Seriously though, great entry. I remember the days of Leeman and n42 (who, ironically, made two of the hottest entries this week) over at EBParadox. Another ENC mention with a side of EarthBound IPM and /Earthbound pluggage. I can dig it.

But what I can't dig is these smnet doomsday words. Creepy.

- Mike

For you see, I don't think there is any "exclusive" material on secondary EB sites, apart from things like Paper's EB comic, which used to be exclusive until the opressing capitalist giant of a zepplin that is SPEC snatched it with its razor-like claws, twisting and beating it with a small firearm, in a hope that new comics will be printed out at regular intervals in some sweaty Albanian factory in Japan but anyway

The other EB sites are actually pretty cool, like "Pedro's Earthbound Shack-a-lak" or "Fat Horace's Mother Restaurant" where the latter turned out not to be an Earthbound site but rather something of a Mom and Pop caf� promotion therefore I was very upset and hungry.

By way of registered members, I don't think many other sites can compare to the goliath that is the forum of buzzing Earthboundling-a-dings that provide us with humor and anger at the best of times

I think places like ENC have got it right, where a site should be dedicated to a particular medium of channeling your love for Earthbound (so in ENC's case, articles) And by doing so, we can spread the talent that seems to be centralised at Starmen over the web. Maybe in doing so, we can find some raw new talent

In summary: No.

- Hawaiian Shirts

I must say, one thing that this mailbag is doing for me already is persuading me to go and check out a lot more of these secondary sites, and I'm quite pleased. Though the demise (as far as I know) of pages like The Bound Report and Yutz's Entitling Flukes is disheartening, it's good to see pages like ENC providing both originality and alternatives to Starmen.Net. The Links section, as a whole, is much better; great job on that. And finally, Hawaiian, the period is your friend.

- DarthAndonuts

Ugh. I was around when ENC first hit, and the concept alone is nothing short of genius. For those that don't know, ENC allows you to write in the site as any EarthBound character to vent on about anything you want that character to say; a type of fanfic/article hybrid fansite thing, if you will. RaSeb, the site's creator, is not only one of the more creative people we've ever had, but he's also one of the nicest. It's good to see so much praise go to such a genuinely swell guy. I'm sure it does him well.

- Mike

First off, I'd like to say that I love Mikey. Falcon, you can't get everyone to love you.

Now, for the biased mailbag entry. My favorite 'secondary' site is EBIPM.net. I'd have to say that next to Starmen.net, it's one of the best EarthBound website's on the net. If you just check out the EarthBound section, it has tons of info. SkatePunk Mike began an extensive walkthrough, though sadly, I'm not quite sure he'll complete it.

The site is quite so sexy also because of it's original layout. It's very simple, but very effective. Right now you can't see it because of the sexy Halloween design, but when you go to the site for the first time, the layout is completely random. It chooses from 16 different choices (all of the towns in Earthbound) to set. All of the colors and images are changed to that town's theme. But if you only like one of the layouts, you can go down to the bottom of the side bar and you have 17 choices. Random, Dalaam, Deep Darkness, Dusty Dunes Desert, Fourside, etc. I think that has to be the most EarthBoundy website design's I've ever seen.

One other reason I love it so dearly is quite biased, really. I'm basically the web-monkey of the site. I do the backend php and hack up the UBB when they need it. I don't think many of the users realize what I've done to contribute to the site, but that doesn't matter to me. I can pull stuff off that no one else could ever do without SPM yelling at me. I mean, the site's been around for what, almost 3 years? That's some hardcore work, there, if you know that Starmen.net is always gonna be the beast.

What have I done for the site, you may be asking. Well, I recoded the HTML for the design so it was much more efficient. Now whenever we want to change the layout completely, we change only a few files. It's all completely dynamic. I also coded the extensively devilish random layout generator. It may seem simple, but having to code in 16 layouts was quite the evil little child.

Right. You know what I find very.. uninspiring? The fact that you can only become EarthBound Site Spotlight once. I find that very irritating, because if you make EBSS, you freak out. Your traffic raises 200%, and you need to work really hard to get your act together and get the content rolling in. Well, it fades after about a week or two. When the month is over, the visitors from Starmen.net forgot about you. They just recognize the button on the left bar. You'll never get a boost of traffic and recognition again. Well, I don't know about you, but I build website's for the users and the coding experience, then the content. I mean, it's no fun making content and not having anyone view it, is it? What's the point? You can't get that big promotion anymore. I'd give up after that. But, see, the real hardcore webmasters keep going. Either they already have a well built, loving community, (eg EBIPM), or they do it because they love to see their stuff on the web. These are the ones who deserve a second EBSS. Despite the fact that Starmen.net will always be mightier, they keep going. That's true EarthBoundman..ship..ish.

Now that I've made my point that EBIPM is the best fan site out there, I'm gonna go on about something else. Hmm... what about.. ah. Yes. Articles. They intrigue me, I'd love to submit.. but it just seems so challenging. You see, I'm not quite that good of a writer. I can't debate very well, though I love to do it. Essay's make me frightened once I sit down and start to right. My think is spewing out whatever comes to mind, which is more of a Mailbag thing. To me, Mailbag and Articles should be merged.. but I'll discuss that in anther entry. You see, I'm afraid to submit anything I write, or heck, anything I create to this website, for fear of being outcasted in to the shrine of idiots-who-failed-submitting-good-content-hahaha-you-suck-losers. I mean, people I look up to in the world of EarthBound do stuff like that. Leeman, my god of articles. Mike, the god of coolness. SimonBob, the sexy fanfics leader. guru, the mu-training master of every piece of writing. Heck, I don't even know who reads the stuff. reidman? Tomato? MOM? The thought frightens me. What if I do something stupid that makes me look childish. Heck, I'm only 13, but most of you realize I'm not your typical 13 year old.. sure, I can act my age at times, but that's because I want to enjoy my time as a child. I don't want to show that here at this website. The only place I can submit without fear is Mailbag. It comforts me. I have no fear in the Mailbag.

This is actually my first letter, ever, so please excuse me if it totally bites. Thanks for your time, I was bored. Now I feel like talking all officially like. and stuff. eh..

--Ness_42 (aka n42 [aka colondee {aka dad}]

P.S. MIKE CAN I HAVE YOUR BABY

P.P.S. FALCON ONLY BIRD LOVERS LOVE YOU AND THEY LOVE OTHER BIRDS SO THEY CANT LOVE YOU THE MOST BECAUSE THAT WOULD NOT BE VERY BIRDLOVERESQUE

P.P.P.S I THINK I JUST SOILED MY SELF

(Px4).S I just had to make four postscripts, sorry.

(Px5).S Oh yeah, and sorry if there are typoes, grammatical errors or just plain

stupidity in the letter. I didn't proofread because I'm too lazy.

-n42

Colondee! So that's where you went. I haven't seen your name in ages; I thought you pulled a bloop or something. That's what you get when you spend, more or less, an entire summer away from SM.Net. I need to write another article sometime (which you can find if you look really hard; it used to be the last one in the A-D section until someone else took that honor from me), but it's just a problem of figuring what to talk about. After all, you can't just do a page and a half straight of stream-of-consciousness, which other *ahem* opportunities allow you to do. I'm pretty sure my mom's never going to read either of them.

- DarthAndonuts

Before I start, you get a TSP. Falcsy's gonna blow his top.

I really appreciate the love. Honestly. I forgot to tell Leeman this, but you IPM guys really could have something special over there. If your submission/update rate was as wickedly awesome as you or your lovely site themes, I'd go there every day. If I had the time, I'd personally help SkatePunkMike with his walkthrough, but I'm pressed for time as it is. Good luck with the site. Once the Links stuff gets straightened out, maybe we'll get a change in EBSS policy. At the slower rate of new secondary sites out there, it may be for the best at the time.

Have no fear in Mailbag, but have no fear in articles, either. I wrote the bulk of mine in a horribly depressing time. I had a great deal of personal stuff going wrong for me at the time, no online access, and only a hunk of junk 486 to Wordpad some articles down. The section really lets you vent in the most creative and EarthBoundy of ways. I, for one, would love to see more n42 in the section. ;D

I think you read too much in the age thing, but if you still do, you can be my baby for all I care, and that would play right in with the soiling of yourself. Don't worry about proofreading. I know it'd probably help things if I corrected you Mailbaggers, but heck, you'll probably see me making more grammatical and spelling mistakes than most of our submitters. Some of the best Mailbags around have errors, and I wouldn't want to jive with that; or my laziness. Solid entry.

- Mike

Okay first I'll reply to the topic: Pffffft. Why do I need to go to any other site. Most a cruddy and have little info that you can't get here.

Now I'll make my own:

If you dunces haven't noticed, my name has changed. I was Mr. Zup on the old forums, now Zup on the new. I'm Zup everywhere else, so pshaw. I've noticed other people have changed their names as well. This is good.

I think that Starmen.net is going stale. You guys need some stuff to get me interested. Otherwise I'll remain the angry lurker that posts in the mailbag, infuriating the dunderheads that control the failb-, I mean mailbag.

- Zup (AKA Mr.Zup)

Good, because I was always confusing you with that pesky trio of Dr. Zup, Sir Zup, and Wha Zup. Now that you've dropped your title, it's so much easier to differentiate.

- DarthAndonuts

This was nearly Stupid Box material, but I wanted to be a bit more fair as the Stupid Box typically has some value in the humor department. Anywho, to jive with you folks that thought only Falcon could play the bad cop, I'll demonstrate a good heel turn.

I know your name must've changed because I had to paste your stupid AKA thing by your name. Other than that, why should we notice? What have you done? Who are you? Could it be you dropped the Mr. out of some recent loss of manly mojo? Was the previously mentioned mojo even there to begin with?

Failbag? I like it. Since you use the prospect of submitting as a threat, be a pal, write in some constructive steps to success Falcsy and myself could do to make this (and pro-actively, Starmen.net) the type of success you've been known for all these years, Tito. Infuriate? Girlfriend, when it comes down to it, all you've done is get the attention of The Funk (AKA Mr. Mike). Now, deal with it before you get dealt with, Cochise.

- Mike

You're honestly trying to pass that peach fuzz off as a goatee? Go back to the monkey bars, kid. I'm tired of all these angry children riding their bikes around town yelling stuff at me. When I was a kid, I was afraid of everyone else. Deadly afraid. I wasn't about to yell at some twitchy guy in an aviator jacket before darting out into the middle of Main Street without even looking. Kids have no galdurn respect. I overheard my younger sister's friend berating her parents over the phone. But it wasn't just any old phone, it was A FREAKING CELL PHONE. Considering my sister is 13, I would imagine the little brat's parents bought it for her so she wouldn't actually have to come home to whine. What a bunch of brats. I was afraid of my parents. I didn't think they were going to clock me or something, but I wasn't about to mouth off to them. And look how I turned out. Or at least look at something. Because we all need to start reading more. Or something. Anyway, back on topic, no I do not visit secondary EB sites. I've been playing EB since it first came out and was absolutely obsessed with it for the last years of my gradeschool education. If there was something more I wanted to know about EarthBound, I'd know it by now. It's all about the community. It's like they say, it takes a community to raise your children. This is especially true if your town is "Population: You and your family." Is somebody writing this down? I think NBC has their new Sunday evening hit.

- Grandpa

I was watching an rerun of "Everybody Loves Raymond" today when Ray had a big controversy over her wife secretly having a mustache (or "peach fuzz"). Much like the first half of this letter, the controversy seemed quite pointless. Still, there are too many spoiled kids in the world, I agree. And didn't you use to go to The Hidden Files Of Zeal?

- DarthAndonuts

I know the small EarthBound section of it was poorly kept, but Grandpa was indeed a Zealfiles dude. You bring up a good point with things being all about the community now. Lots of friendly folks around to talk to, but isn't the saying about a village instead of a population? Anywho, yes, I'm also taking notes when the great Grandpa pays us a visit. Words of wisdom, I tell ye.

- Mike

HEY YOU! That was a cheap shot! I was working on a witty, yet awsome entry, but I get shafted. Thanks guys, I feel the love.

Actually, I think my next entry is going to rock HARD.

I think we should have an arm wrestling conevtion? Why? Because I had nothing to put there.

Still not quitting the band,

- DarthBelch

You didn't have a letter I could find in the mailbag last week, so I have no idea what you're talking about. You should start doing fantasy sports again, though; we need more people. And that would rock HARD. Can I really write letters this short and still make the website?

- DarthAndonuts

I honestly don't remember snubbing you, but I'm genuinely sorry if such a snubbing indeed took place. Rock hard, but do so while entrenched in a staring contest.

- Mike

Nope. No other sites. Period. Only one EarthBound site for me. Yep. Right here. Sentence fragments. Are fun.

On the other side of the spectrum, I have been studying something called "String Theory" in physics class. In essence, it claims that miniscule vibrating strings compose all matter. Now, it's one thing to be told by your teacher that you're merely a genetic accident, originating from monkeys. It's an entirely different thing when your teacher tells you that you're a series of random vibrations from microcosmic strings.

Just a little something to make everyone feel just a tad bit more insignificant.

- Apple Kid

Dude, string theory is awesome. It's like a justification of quantum physics and a creation of a Unified Field Theory all rolled into one. I'd say more, but I frankly don't know enough about it to give a cogent description. What kind of physics are you being taught? I wish we had stuff like that in my science course. We did have a guy come in and talk about the basics of quantum mechanics for my AP Chemistry class, but that wasn't anything I hadn't known about by reading Crichton's Timeline. If you want to read a good short science fiction story sometime, by the way, try Connie Willis' "At The Rialto". She's a great author. And that, by the way, was not a non sequitur.

- DarthAndonuts

Enjoy Starmen.net and Physics but remember to do so while feeling slightly more significant than you are.

- Mike

Well, I visit mine... except it's not online... and nonexistent.... that's not a problem, is it? I sure hope not.

Anyhoo, I think I should stop the Falcon-bashing. Even though the humor is endless, I have yet to get a Totally Sweet Point since I started it. I WANT A TOTALLY SWEET POINT!!! Maybe I should get a start on that EB site... Hey, Falcon, if I make an EB site devoted to you do I get a Totally Sweet Point? I need some because ninjas are cool.

- masterzora

What, there was Falcon-bashing and I missed it? I, too, have a website I've been bouncing around in my head for the last few months. Once I get some time to work on it this spring (after college apps and all that fun stuff), some SM.Netters might be pleasantly surprised at its results. Fortunately, it doesn't require much HTML, just lots and lots of writing....

- DarthAndonuts

You're tied with Skulryk. :o

You got your TSP not because you begged, but because you were willing to turn a new leaf for the sake of rewards, and presumably, Falcon love. You should really get into making an EarthBound site, and I would advise you to do so before Falcsy finds out the exorbitant number of TSPs I've been giving away while he's gone. Take care.

- Mike

I would like to take just a moment to address these two buttons just underneath this text box. The first one says "Ride With Kings;" the second one says "Quit the band." I think this is pretty humorous, but I do have a problem with it, which is that not everybody who submits to mailbag realizes that these are substitutes for "Submit" and "Reset Form." The result of this is that someone who thinks "Quit the Band" is humorous and wants to see what it does, not knowing the unspeakable horror it will inflict, clicks it after spending twenty minutes typing out a well-thought-out entry and then becomes so distraught when his entry irrecoverably melts into thin air that he goes out and overdoses on bullets.

No, I think that, as fun as these buttons are, it probably is a good idea to make them a little bit more indicative of what they actually do. Actually, now that I think about it (and I admittedly didn't think about this until after I quit doing the mailbag), why the Scaraba do we even have a "Reset form" button? What, people can't use their DELETE key anymore? People don't know how to use their mouse to obliterate an entry they don't like? Do we really live in a society that has regressed to the point that we need a reset form function to do what we very well ought to do for ourselves? Or is this just a representation of humanity's common wish that life had a RESET button, that if the day wasn't going well, that you just lost your job, your wife ran out on you, and you just drove your car into a tree at 37 MPH while cursing out your window at the 96-year-old, possibly blind woman that just cut you off, you can just hit Reset Form and wake up with a clean slate. Well, life ain't like that, kids. Ain't no red pill in this world. And furthermore...
Blah blah
blah blah

It's usually those tax evaders who...
blah blah
blah blah

We don't enjoy blocking off the roads, you know...
blah blah
blah blah

It's usually the local whiners that make a big deal out of emergencies and meteorites!
blah blah
blah blah
blah blah

- The Artist Formerly Known As CPTCrunch

I didn't know how to use the DELETE key until this week. I don't think bloop ever gave you some gimmick NFL Pick'Em selections, but you reminded me that I need to do my own NCAA Football picks before I leave for my quiz bowl tomorrow. Has Anthadd ever co-responded to the mailbag, I wonder? That would be an interesting week to read, methinks.

- DarthAndonuts

Always a pleasure to have TAFKACC around the old stomping grounds.

The reset button personifies the current state of onlinetastic folks and their ever-increasing need for convenience. Think about it. Folks downloading movies and music online instead of getting out of the house to purchase those items, some go shopping and participating in online auctions, and others use voice and video conferencing to cut down on those long distance bills. It was always a "get rich quick" scheme of mine to develop various computer add-ons so that people wouldn't have to leave their lovely internet-wielding units at all.

First, you've got your food needs. I would suggest taking out the floppy, CD, DVD, and whatever other drives out completely for a tap that would be fashioned near the top of the CPU unit. Off to the side, it would have a hose connected to a large, refrigerated tank of whatever beverage tickles the fancy of the user. Meanwhile, you place an Easy Bake Oven or small microwave oven where you would typically find a printer or scanner, and you use your CPU fans to cool down whatever nuked treats you might want (I have a taste for CPU fan exhaust). Who needs speakers when you've got pudding dispensers?

Secondly, there's bathroom/cleanliness issues. All of which are nothing new to what your local Counter Strike fan is already probably doing. Thanks for stopping around.

- Mike

It's awesome to have Earthbound websites everywhere. Some information that may not be found at one site can just be aquired from the next. I mean, thats the point of the internet right? Other sites may also have certain programs and fan games that other do not, all of which use different software languages, which are cool, except for Java, that is satans program language, should not be on net... One site in particular (gone now dunno where it went) had a neato program that you would let you click on a town, say, Onett. Then you could visually (not text driven)do certain things like simulate different strategies for the game.

Great idea to have many sites, bad idea for competition, then you lose information here and there as other sites close. *sigh*

- Morph

As someone who is currently learning Java programming in AP Computer Science AB and someone who is reading Paradise Lost in AP English Literature, I can verify doubly that Java is, indeed, the programming language of the devil. Those of you who have never programmed cannot know the emotion one gets when they find the reason their program hasn't been working for the last 45 minutes is because you didn't put a set of null parentheses after your boolean (true story). What Starmen.Net needs is one person running a competitive server that has *all* of the EB secondary websites on it, and it alone. That way, the sites can be preserved if Ness133742 decides to up and leave, and inspires them to make new, original content. After all, if their site is the exact same as another one on the same site, why should people visit theirs? In short, the Internet is cool. Give Sephy money.

- DarthAndonuts

Our little prodigy returns!

What an optimistic and uplifting entry; except for those who read this that are fans of Java. I've seen plenty a site close down, and I've probably been involved with most of them at some point. *sigh* Keep on trucking, man.

- Mike

Ahhh, i remember the old days kickin it out at the old IRC. But after leaving i got feeling nostalgic, and came back here because this has been, still is and always will be the best Earthbound site, EVER! And now isay farewell and leave again for another long time. And remember Picky, Randy Moss owns you, and congrats on being crowned King of the World Mikey. Later.....

- blitzripper

Thought that a haiku
Would be a unique response
To blitz's entry:

Starmen.Net rocks;
Sorry to hear you're going,
But Hines Ward owns Moss.

- DarthAndonuts

You, sir, are a sight for sore eyes. I personally hope for a blitztastic return soon, but thanks for dropping by for now. We'll touch the topic of IRC this week, and I'd like to know what university Randy Moss went to.

- Mike

Pfft, what's the use in secondary EB sites? All they've become is little societies with a few SMnet members and a couple doofuses knowning not of SMnet's existance.

Though I'm a hypocrite for saying that because honestly, I was staff over at Carpainter's short-lived EBAnthology.net. We had been up for only 2-5 months, I can't quite remember. In addition to being moderator of a few forum areas, I do remember being in charge of 3 places: flukes, comics, and a game I had made up called "EarthBound Coincidences", which was a very farfetched game I made up. Each games consisted of 3-5 things in EarthBound that had something in common with each other. Carp made one up about how Lier X. Agerate, Carpainter, and Monotoli all had something in common: they were all in possession of the Mani-Mani statue. The hardest one I ever did was three enemies, all whose PP were at 0.

Sadly, due to lack of interest, and the major suckitude that FlatFace.net emitted, EBA ended up being down most of the time, and ultimately died sometime in the summer. Carp wanted it to come back in another form, which would've been EBA version 2. However, plans for that apparently fell through and what should've been EBA version 2 ended up being ENC, seen at EBIPM.net.

So while I thank EBIPM for being the home of ENC (and for helping me out a little bit on the side), I still must say that EarthBound Anthology was, is, and forever will be, the greatest secondary EarthBound website. EVER.

- Mansion_Maniac

The respondents are feeling EVER-so-emphatic this week, I see. Not that my co-webmaster status gives me any bias in this at all, but I have to say that Moonside.Net was by and far the best secondary website ever. Jeb designed like crazy, Orb ragged on him to do the basic stuff, and I peddled for fanart like Doug Funnie outside of Roger Klotz's big Lucky Hat building. Heck, someone wrote an article somewhere comparing the two sites- if we were good enough to take this here behemoth on head-to-head, we must have been pretty spiffy.

I also beat Sephy in a formal debate back we both ran our respective Fan Art sections.

- DarthAndonuts

Great entry! I think EBA was as much of a hoot as ENC is today, but it takes a great deal to have staying power in the world of EarthBound fan sites. Just look at my favorite fan site of all-time, Moonside.net. As DA mentioned, it was darn spiffy. Even it's latest, non-Jebular incarnation wasn't bad. It takes me back, man...man.

- Mike

Aight Ya'll. I thought I'd talk about how I got my Earthbound cart. I've been searching for about ten years. My search started about ever since I first played the game. Now, I've finally got it in my clutches...er...on the way from Texas.

When I got the internet, I started to search. I was such a noob. I got the net like four years ago. I finally found EB on Ebay. I talked to my parents and I told them that I wanted it. They said no because they were new to the internet also. Then, I finally set things straight. I had my $28 in hand and I found someone. I told my mom that I had enough hunting for EB for the past Ten years. She realised how much I love EB. We created an account and quickly bidded on it. Now, It is on the way to my house. I might get it within the next several days.

I knew that there was the EB rom, but I wanted to be a true Earthbound fan and get the real game. Also, I would always have EB no matter what.

After my ten year search, I will be able to hold my fond memories of playing EB back when i was in preschool. My past is complete and I can now relive the EB past.

- Barcode

This is going to sound heretical, but I can't remember where I first got my EB cart from. All I can remember is that I rented it, liked it, and got it and the game guide used later as a present or somesuch. Congratulations on finally getting EBack again. We're over so soon? But I was just getting started!

- DarthAndonuts

Congrats. Cool to hear you went for the cart after this long to show you're a indeed a true EarthBound fan. I got my copy around the time the game was still fairly new, but I did so at a pawn shop and without the box or guide. Maybe I'll swing another copy in the future, but I really hope you have fun with the nostalgia and wicked gameplay you're bound to have when you're copy arrives. Have fun.

- Mike

EarthBound Line of the Moment:
"You humans are such cowards!"

Hey, I know I should have put this in the Earthbound 64 Fan Thoughts Section, but eh, sew me. Ok everybody knows of the EB64 demo at the Spaceworld 99, right? Well, to play the demo, Spaceworld had to have the EB64 cartridges, right? Well, if they were destroyed or whatever, poo (no pun intended). But Spaceworld might still have one or two lying around in an office or something. Tomato buys the cart (or makes a bribe :)). Then we get a rom dumper, then, Batta-Bing Batta-Boo we got ourselves the first EB website with an EB64 rom. Oh, and if by this some rare unbelievable chance this actually works, give me a copy of the rom. I think youve got my e-mail but here it is again (I don't care if you e-mail me with Spam)

ljearo@eskimobob.com

- Alex R.

Mike wanted me to say a few words about the Idiot Box, so sure- why not? Actually, I won't. I think the requests to be sewed and for others to perform bodily functions, the wishes for SM.Netters to obtain and distribute highly illegal gaming substances, and the grammar of a level which I would expect to see at, say, Something Awful speak for themselves. That being said, it was a hoot and a holler to do the mailbag this week, and though I didn't get nearly as much time to respond as I'd have liked, I know that whatever I wrote, it was better than Falcon. (And I hope you enjoyed it, because after that there's no way in Hades I'm getting a reinvitation back here.)

- DarthAndonuts

Another late night Mailbaggage, but this time, with no Falclicious responses. We had an amazing week, and as such, we had amazing entries. It was great to see some secondary site folks chime in from the shadows this week. We can all see that most here obviously use Starmen.net for their EarthBoundy needs, but sites like EarthBound IPM and Eagleland News Central are out there for folks wanting a change of pace.

I'd like to thank our co-responder, DarthAndonuts, for joining in this week, and I promise more Falcon for next week's edition.

Huggles and smooches,

- Mike

I'm so generous.

TOTALLY SWEET POINT STANDINGS:

Skulryk: 3
masterzora: 3
Torankusu: 2
Mattchu: 2
DarthBelch: 2
Ness: 1
Madfish: 1
M.Z.: 1
GuyInSummers: 1
EBFan2000: 1
fireside: 1
Hawian Shirts: 1
Super Psycic Psyco: 1
StAREYe: 1
StarmanDeluxe: 1
Tessie Watching Hippie: 1
Psionic Brawler: 1
chay: 1
Eric: 1
tony: 1
Jeff Maxwell: 1
Mystery Dude: 1
Magnus: 1
Kutan the Moogle: 1
GimeChronoBreak: 1
LiarXAgerate: 1
Apple Kid: 1
SimonBob: 1
MadWilliamVane: 1
Leeman: 1
n42: 1
MikeTheEBGuru: RETIRED
YOU: 0

Falc, SimonBob, and Mike's Archive:

July 15, 2003: Mother 1+2 US Release, EB Merchandise, Fanfics
July 20, 2003: M 1+2 Import, Sanctuary Locations, Trivia League
July 28, 2003: EBFGPS, Sword of Kings, Time Capsule feat. pre-staff SimonBob
August 9, 2003: Starmen.Net Forums feat. Grandpa
August 17, 2003: Mailbag Improvement Week feat. PappyCat
September 16, 2003: Fun Stuff Suggestions feat. Sephy
October 7, 2003: Petition Mention feat. Skulryk
October 20, 2003: EarthBound the Movie
October 28, 2003: Free Topic Week feat. Giovanni
November 6, 2003: Halloween Funfest 2003 feat. Jim
November 9, 2003: Starmen.net Radio feat. Picky
November 15, 2003: Alternate EarthBound Sites feat. DarthAndonuts
November 22, 2003: #earthbound feat. Carpainter
November 29, 2003: Staff Improvement feat. AoE
December 14, 2003: Forum Improvement feat. Atticus
December 17, 2003: Holiday Funfest
January 2, 2004: EB No Matsuri
January 10, 2004: Starmen.net Site Development
January 19, 2004: EarthBound in 2004
January 24, 2004: EarthBound Quotes
January 31, 2004: Mother 1 Soundtrack Re-release
February 8, 2004: EarthBound Over Easy
February 15, 2004: Change of Pace
February 22, 2004: Favourite Foodstuffs feat. Steve-o
February 29, 2004: Killed Off
March 21, 2004: Catch A Bunch
March 27, 2004: Then and Now feat. Steve-o
April 5, 2004: Winter Funfest Results feat. Carpainter
April 12, 2004: Something Springy feat. Jamie_M
April 20, 2004: 1+2=what now? feat. Dash
May 1, 2004: New Forums
June 1, 2004: The Site That Gives Back
June 29, 2004: Wacky Genetic Experiments
July 18, 2004: E3 Speculations
August 11, 2004: Summer Funfest feat. Tomato & AmzRigh
September 23, 2004: EBFGPS04
October 23, 2004: Vacation Special
October 30, 2004: Soundtrack Songs
November 6, 2004: Site Fundraiser
November 14, 2004: Halloween
November 28, 2004: EarthBound Influence
December 11, 2004: Scientific Errors
January 17, 2005: Space Time Conundrum
January 28, 2005: Is Mother 3 Coming?

TAFKACC's Archive:

May 25, 2003: Starmen.Net's Future, EB Date, Ness's Nightmare
June 1, 2003: Mailbag Length, Online Walkthru, EB Theory Special
June 8, 2003: EB Characters in Mother 3, Flukes, Mailbag Critique
June 28, 2003: Articles Debate, Pokey's Past, Topic Suggestions
July 6, 2003: Xod Tribute, PK Call'n, EB Trivia

GuyInSummers and StarmanDeluxe's Archive:

Here is the Hall of Fame, which contains the best letters from each week.