If you happen to have any questions regarding the game or the speedrun route, this is the place to ask them! I guess any question is valid here as long as it is related to Legaia 2. :)

I have found that starting up the game with a memory card alters the RNG for a NEW GAME.

It tries to read from the memory card at start up. Try starting up the game without a memory card and you will see it asking if you want to continue without one.

I believe that this is the reason why RNG can be more predictable in a run that has started up with a Memory Card. I have experienced this myself a lot. In my old route the first encounter in Kabel Ruins were always the Stone Golem (and other signs too like the distance between encounters).

So let's say you happen to have a set of save files in your memory card which allows you to get through most areas reliably with less encounters than normal OR get Lyps on-the-run every single time? Would we want to use this kind of manipulation? Or shall everyone start from a fresh console restart without a Memory Card inserted? I can't tell what others should do, but I don't want to have an advantage over someone else either. Will it be fair to others without a Memory Card? I always have a goal to provide speedruns that can be done WITHOUT the use of a memory card altogether (Single-Segment). I could see Memory Card Manipulation runs going into RTA category since you are allowed to save and load.

I did get Lyps on-the-run on my latest run without the use of a Memory Card at the beginning, but what did I lose? Well, I got more encounters than usual in every area. However, battle distance can be very predictable to an extent. Running the same area over and over will result in similar results. It is also easily detectable to see who has started a game with a Memory Card inserted or not. The CONTINUE option is unselectable/greyed out when no memory card is inserted.

[IMG]http://i66.tinypic.com/2vum3bm.png[/IMG]

I do believe that I have crippled myself for the longest time. I have thought that I was horribly unlucky, but there were no real randomness involved in why I was NEVER getting Lyps on-the-run. My Memory Card loaded a set of RNG that simply prohibited me from getting into a Lyps encounters by random.

I vote +1 for NO MEMORY CARD MANIPULATION when speedrunning Legaia 2. At least that way we get a random fresh start where everyone have the same chances of getting Lyps or whatever else may change with Memory Card Manipulation.