Strategy SP - Question & Answer thread

[TweenDoriru]

1. I was wondering if there are any drawbacks to avoiding audition invitations from 961 and if so what are they? According to tlwiki's translation he will pay you back for turning down his offer especially in the end.

[snip]

Lastly Bandai can suck my nuts only releasing 1 of 4 Tales games in the US I'd smack them if I could. Sorry about being so rude but I'm am so sick of the treatment they give to us in America. They don't even need to waste their money on English dubs I prefer the original Japanese voices.

If you just ignore them, nothing happens. There are some accessories that you can only get by doing the rival auditions, and you get a lot of fans for doing them iirc, but if you don't do any of them, Kuroi isn't going to do beans to you.

Also, I think that NBGI NA-division (or whatever it is) is waiting for them to release the souped-up re-releases of stuff. Tales of Graces F is being translated.
I'm pretty sure they didn't do Tales of Vesperia PS3 because they did all the work and then would have to translate it more, record more voice, etc.
So after that, they probably decided to just wait them out. I don't know about Xillia, though. I've heard that US/NA release has been hinted at.

Then again, that's just my guess...I don't follow the Tales series that closely. I've only done Symphonia & Vesperia. But, it would make sense if the English-translating division did wait for the re-releases if they expect them, since not everyone wants to buy the same game twice and it saves them effort.

[Codesterz]

Okay thanks for the help. This means I can stop quitting every time I see 961 Mail which has been getting more and more common lately. Now I only have to keep quitting every time I get the morning greeting incorrect. I'm to much of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this.

Yeah I can't wait for Graces F to release out here. I still have some hopes for Xillia as someone found some file endings of SDBENG(though currently are empty) and the files ending with SDBJPN is where all the Japanese text for the game is held. I also have some hopes for Tales of Innocence as it is being remade for the Vita. But then again none of the PSP remakes made it to the US so my hopes aren't to high on this one.

[Cael K.]

Okay thanks for the help. This means I can stop quitting every time I see 961 Mail which has been getting more and more common lately. Now I only have to keep quitting every time I get the morning greeting incorrect. I'm to much of a perfectionist when it comes to things like this.

Correct answer is pretty much random, like the answers right before an audition, so I recommend saving your sanity.

[BT2]

then at the end of each round, they take the higher of their own score, or the highest score among every one else plus some random single digit number.

It's either 3 or 5 iirc. They'll take the highest scorer of the round for each appeal and add 3 points.

@BT2 I think so long as you don't live in Japan pirating this game should be A-OK. They obviously didn't want other people's money otherwise they'd actually have the game localized for them.

Not implying that I don't actually pirate games, but still I fail to comprehend why you're implying that it's okay to pirate a foreign region-free game. Also think about it, even if bumco localises the game it'd be too niche to actually sell, thus making them lose money rather than making some.

Also cfws are awesome have you not seen all the great homebrew applications out there.

And someone completely missed the point.

Let's start from the start shall we.
- LiNa_chan seems to have problems saving and the game keeps jumping back to the main menu.
- iM@S SP uses a rarely used, though easy to circumvent, anti-piracy check that blocks the usage of isos and cfws, making the game loop to the main menu
- BT2 says: Stop pirating the game or stop using those silly cfws like that.
- "using like that" implies there are ways to get it to work, but BT2 didn't feel like explaining how
- Forums Rule 6: No piracy. Thus making it the only answer I could give.

[Codesterz]

1. Once again I have some questions. Why do you sometimes lose or gain stats based on changing trends? Do you gain stats when the new top trend is what your highest stat is maybe?

2. There is an audition called Vocal Master I can't pass. Right now my Voice thanks to my current song choice is pretty much maxed out but I can't gain any stars for Vocals despite putting more points into vocals than anything else. Why? Does your idol rank maybe affect point gains as well? As my rank is only D and most of the contestants seem to be C to A.

@BT2 I don't think they made the SP games for the because the PSP because it was region free. That is something they have no say in. Both Fate/Extra and Record of Agarest War did pretty good in the US and neither one of those games wasted money on English dubs. This should be more than enough info to say that Idolm@ster or Tales of games could sell well with only text translation thus greatly decreasing the budget needed to localize these games. I'm pretty certain they could at least make their money back. The problem is that if they aren't making at least 4 times their money back they see it as a waste of time and money. I despise the greed of the current gaming industry. As for the cfws I suppose I did miss the point. Nobody is perfect in the end.

[animagic4u]

1. Basically if you have too much stat in something that isn't trendy it goes down. That way you are trendy! Haha. Bad answer I think...^^;;

2. How is your level based on the other idols? If you're much lower you should train more. Do you use your memory appeals?

[Naryoril]

heya

i'v been playing tons of Im@s 2 on the PS3 in the past few weeks and it is so much fun that i ordered Wandering Star and it should arrive today or tomorrow, so i'v been reading up a bit to know what to do

it seems to be quite different from Im@s 2 so it seems my strategy knowledge from there won't be much of a help. Is there somewhere a post or site that explains a good strategy for the auditions (and on what to focus with training, or do you need to raise all 3 stats evenly)? all i'v found is that the usual strategy is 4 - 3 - 2, but there are also variations like 4 - 4 - 1 where you ignore the least important stat and use memory appeals instead (not even sure about this). is there somewhere a more detailed explanation, especially as to why to do it that way and when/how to exactely use memory appeals?

[ikuto-sama]

heya

i'v been playing tons of Im@s 2 on the PS3 in the past few weeks and it is so much fun that i ordered Wandering Star and it should arrive today or tomorrow, so i'v been reading up a bit to know what to do

it seems to be quite different from Im@s 2 so it seems my strategy knowledge from there won't be much of a help. Is there somewhere a post or site that explains a good strategy for the auditions (and on what to focus with training, or do you need to raise all 3 stats evenly)? all i'v found is that the usual strategy is 4 - 3 - 2, but there are also variations like 4 - 4 - 1 where you ignore the least important stat and use memory appeals instead (not even sure about this). is there somewhere a more detailed explanation, especially as to why to do it that way and when/how to exactely use memory appeals?

http://whitefox284.livejournal.com/75999.html

This link posted on the first page of this thread explains the Audition process as well as other parts of the game much better than I would, so it should be of some help to you. 

My strategy while training is to have all stats as even as possible. Like iM@S 2, your stats are also affected by the items you equip. The vocal lesson is always hardest for me as it requires you to unjumble lyrics in Japanese, and my Japanese isn't that good, so I usually try to equip more items that raise my vocal stat.
As for auditions, my strategy is using 1 memory appeal per round (if I miss it, then I'll try again) then using something that is more like 3-3-2. In order to keep using memory appeals, you'll have to do promotions and get good enough communications on them, though.

On an added note, although the author of the link above says that reporter appointments aren't that useful, I still try to do one before a major audition because they raise your image level, therefore raising the amount of points you can get from appeals. Be mindful that once you've raised your image level once (indicated by blue flashing on your stats), if you visit a reporter again nothing will happen until their article stops running (once the blue flashing stops after a few weeks), then you can go again.

[Naryoril]

i know the link, actually that's the way how i found this community it explains the mechanics, but doesn't explain strategies

one more thing about the training strategy: i'm in the same boat as you concerning vocal lessons/understanding japanese. is it better to do the pure vocal lesson even though i won't be very good at them or is it better to do the "dual" lessons that raise vocal and something else but don't require japanese knowledge?

[Cael K.]

heya

i'v been playing tons of Im@s 2 on the PS3 in the past few weeks and it is so much fun that i ordered Wandering Star and it should arrive today or tomorrow, so i'v been reading up a bit to know what to do

it seems to be quite different from Im@s 2 so it seems my strategy knowledge from there won't be much of a help. Is there somewhere a post or site that explains a good strategy for the auditions (and on what to focus with training, or do you need to raise all 3 stats evenly)? all i'v found is that the usual strategy is 4 - 3 - 2, but there are also variations like 4 - 4 - 1 where you ignore the least important stat and use memory appeals instead (not even sure about this). is there somewhere a more detailed explanation, especially as to why to do it that way and when/how to exactely use memory appeals?

Depends if you can read Japanese or not. The judges will comment on idols as the match drags on, and you can get a feel for everyone's standings by reading them. Usually, if a judge compliments someone, that guy's leading the ranking. If they start railing on someone, they're probably last. There's also comments for nobody really aiming for that judge.

Just Appeal a category at the start of the phase only to be put down by that judge? You've got the lowest stat of everyone.

[animagic4u]

In the tougher auditions the AI can sometimes use a pretty human-like technique...but please use this one with caution.

If you're nervous about one of your stats but have really high other stats you can keep spamming your bad stat to force one of the judges out. I rarely do this, but it saved me a couple times in my first few playthroughs of boxm@s.

The dual lessons are okay.. I managed to get the highest level using mostly dual lessons. Although you could also pause on the vocal lesson while reading the kana and trying to piece it together. Unlike in 2, you can't use your memory appeals to save you all the time because you can only store 3.

[Naryoril]

thx for the info

i can read a bit japanese, i'll see if it's enough to understand what they want

i don't understand the one with forcing the judge out but i guess i'll find out when i try it. if not i'll come back to you

i'm really looking forward to the game now (if the post service doesn't screw up i should have it in my mail box when i get home today)

[animagic4u]

It should make more sense once you get the game.
Instead of a total point system...there are judges for each stat. When their interest runs out they can exit. It is both frustrating and rewarding.

[Cael K.]

If you're nervous about one of your stats but have really high other stats you can keep spamming your bad stat to force one of the judges out. I rarely do this, but it saved me a couple times in my first few playthroughs of boxm@s.

Let's see if I can bullet point the process.

3 phases of 9 appeals each.
The idol with the most stars wins. Stars are only awarded at the end of each phase.

Each phase operates on a bidding system. You may choose to put points in each of three categories, nine times per phase.
The effectiveness of your bids is influenced by your stat and your idol's tension (higher = more efficient bids).
Top 3 bidders per phase get stars, but different categories give more stars than others.
Last place gets a negative star.

When any idol (of the six available) appeals to a judge, he gives points, but loses interest.
When a judge's interest reaches 0, he walks. All stars he has given (including negative ones), are lost.

Succeed a memory appeal to gain points in all stats (large amount), and recover all judge's interest.
Fail a memory appeal to lost points in all stats (small amount), and damage all judge's interest.

Notes:
The judge that awards the most stars is the most likely to be appealed to. Thus, he is the most prone to walking. Over-appeal, and you'll come out with nothing.
Some people attempt to rank in the two worst categories, then kill off the most popular judge (sometimes with failed memory appeals).

[satty]

I still remember that there's a method for using those 9 appeals: 4 times for your strongest stat, 2 to the other stats, and 1 should be for a successful memory appeal.