Quote Originally Posted by Deadbeard View Post
And thats what it's all about, isn't it? Being able to overcome bad dice rolls and other circumstances and still win a match against good players gives you a feeling like no other, am I right?
Episode 3 was certainly at its best when you were in an epic match with a competent partner. Winning a match against good players was the most fun you could have on Phantasy Star outside of Challenge Mode.

A lot of people have faulted the game for being purely "luck-based." However, the random nature of it was something you had to account for in your deck construction and what ultimately made the game fun.

Ryna, you obviously were around when the game was online. Did we ever run into eachother? Or even play against one another? Also, what was your favorite setup, Arks or Hunters?
I remember seeing your character around, but I don't think we played against each other. I liked playing against other PSOW members and tended to avoid Vega. The wide-spread use of Red Slime and Machine/Dark Spam decks by lower-level players was a turn-off after a while.

As for my online history, I started playing right after the game's North American release. I was a very active player up until the end of the Card Revolution Festival (November 2004). After that, I only put a lot of time into the game following the game's last Card Revolution in April 2005. After I got to 100%, there really wasn't much point in making a significant time investment. All of my friends had switched back to playing Episode 1 and 2. It was becoming very difficult just to get a group together for a card auction. I still play through Story Mode on occasion, but the AI doesn't pose much of a challenge.

When I was playing online, I primarily used a Kylria gun deck for about 60% of my co-op and tournament games. I also liked using Ino'lis and Arkz-based tech decks. A properly employed tech deck was a beautiful thing to behold.