Lurker > BoshStrikesBack

Sort of off-topic, but I'm very pleased that so many people are vocalizing their disappointment with how this contest has been handled so far, both in terms of topic and eligible nominations. We've waited so long, and the product has so far been an unmitigated disaster.

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Houston Texans: 2-1
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I know we've moved on in the discussion, but can we revisit why "joke characters" make a contest bad in the first place? L-Block had an incredible run during a single contest, after which his support fell and he became fairly weak. Missingo. had genuine strength as the first real "glitch character" people recognized on a widespread basis. In both cases, these characters led to some exciting match-ups without disrupting the flow of the contest or making it an unbearable joke-nom-fest.

I understand what happened with GameSpot, but their rules and much lower participation make that a poor comparison.

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Houston Texans: 2-1
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Yeah, SUaJ is a legitimately excellent game. This decision is typical Bacon (aka typical lame)

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Houston Texans: 2-1
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Last week, I was completely convinced that this week's episode had no chance of topping Salud.


Guess who was wrong?

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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but...everyone does want ron paul, that's why the media is trying to erase his existence -_-

literally 6% in the polls

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Current list:

Ness vs. Giygas
Fox vs. Fox
X vs. Zero
Alucard vs. Dracula
Angry Birds vs. Pigs
Charles Barkley vs. Michael Jordan
Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Pokemon Trainer Blue

What else, B8?

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Glad to see B8 selected the right pony for #1!

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It's Pokemon, right? If so, I already nominated them. Also, already nominated Barkley vs. Jordan.

good taste

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Besides, you're proposing a solution for a problem that doesn't exist: parties know that if they back a candidate that's too extreme, they'll lose in the general election. If you want someone to blame, blame the American people.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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You don't really believe that would happen, do you? A tit-for-tat strategy won't work in a politically charged climate with a heavy short-term focus and a four-year gap between elections.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Anyway, Inviso's idea wouldn't work: in practice, both sides wouldn't select a moderate candidate, but rather an incompetent one, so that their party has the highest odds of winning.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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But come on, his current polling is better than the media gives him credit for, but it still isn't that great

...it's 6%. Six percent

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Red vs. Blue
Charles Barkley vs. Michael Jordan

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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No doubt about that: Obama's basically guilt-free. But since we're talking strategy, we have to take into account the knee-jerk stupidity of the typical voter.

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You realize there's a double-dip recession looming due to the crisis in Europe, yes? Obama's probably getting ousted.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Charles Barkley vs. Michael Jordan
Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Pokemon Trainer Blue
Fox vs. Fox (No Items, Final Destination)

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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How many policies do you need? because I assure you, we have more than one. we have many. and they are all popular. this country very much appreciates socialism, they just have been brainwashed against the word to associate it with other, bad things. nobody likes bad socialist programs, everybody likes good socialist programs. when people have issues with things like social security, it is with the way that it has been set up, not with the idea of social security.

There's no concrete number- and this isn't the topic to get into this- but suffice to say that we're far less dependent on socialist policies than every other Western nation. If calling us "mixed" makes you feel better, even though it's an empty label, then more power to you.

And plenty of words, both on the left and the right, have been infused with negative connotations over the years. Just don't act like it's a problem exclusive to Democrats.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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That's an interesting benchmark, but two questions:

1) Plenty of people will argue that the country is far more right-wing today than it's been in a long time, making the "middle" position on any issue a little more conservative than usual. For example, Reagan's amnesty proposal would today be seen as political suicide. According to your standard, such people would automatically be considered "socialists"; then again, what if they have a point?

2) How would you handle mixed cases? For example, say I'm in favor both of decreased taxes and increased authority for unions.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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we, like every other first world country, are a mixed economy, we just are slightly less socialist than others.

If your definition of "socialism" is "having >= 1 social program," then I suppose we're socialist. Then again, that would also mean that every nation on the planet is socialist, capitalist, communist, and fascist. Your definition makes any kind of label meaningless.

"Socialism" is popularly understood to mean a country that adopts a significant number of socialist policies. SMuffin has a point on this one.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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1000% on board with this

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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I saw the conflict between him and Celestia far more interesting than "Chaos chaos chaos, nope friendship."

Me too. As we saw, however, that's not the direction the show opted to take.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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socialism is completely mainstream in this country. how much of a % of this country do you think wants to get rid of all of our social programs? almost none. stop kidding yourself.

Premise: Certain social programs, like Medicare, are popular.
Conclusion: Socialism is mainstream.

ahyup

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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A screen shot of the poll produced by Infowars shows that Paul led with 24,8945 votes, with Mitt Romney trailing in second place with 22,656 votes, of 27 percent of the total. Rick Perry placed third with 15 percent of the votes, followed by Herman Cain with 9 percent.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/election_2012_republican_presidential_primary

Please use credible sources if you're going to try and sound smart.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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You underestimate Ron Paul's supporters.

Ron Paul's supporters are loud, abrasive, and wholly insignificant. It's '08 all over again: despite all the passionate support, no one will give a damn.

Anyone who honestly believes Ron Paul has a shot in hell at the nomination really needs to start questioning some things.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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^ I can see that, but remember, the distinction here is between Friendship and Chaos. The show's not trying to make some deep metaphysical point or anything (although Discord walks a fine line, which is what makes him awesome); the main point is that friendship, despite having its own set of challenges, is worth more than the "chaos" of a maligned relationship.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Yeah, Twilight was great this episode. Current S2 pony rankings:

Rarity >> Twilight = Fluttershy > Pinkie Pie > Applejack > Rainbow Dash

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This is just dumb though. It's the early primaries that are the most important. In the early primaries, many candidates will still be running. The more Perry runs to the center in a cheap attempt at pandering to hispanics, the more the tea-party/libertarian base is going to turn on him. They might not vote for Romney, but enough of them might vote for Paul, Bachmann, Gingrich, or Cain to ensure that Romney wins it.

And Perry's aware of this. From his position, he knows that Bachmann will win Iowa (home court advantage, huge number of kooks) and Romney will win New Hampshire. What he's banking on is a top-3 finish in both states and a win in South Carolina.

Once the primary becomes a two-man race between Romney and Perry- and it will become a two-man race, barring any major gaffs- Perry's a lock.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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I don't know if you guys are intentionally trying to make mediocre lists, but neither ranking currently has The Wire, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, or The Sopranos- the four most acclaimed modern programs- placed anywhere. This needs to be fixed.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Perry is being really dumb. You aren't going to rally the tea party to your cause by claiming that anyone who wants the border secured doesn't have a heart. If people want a centrist, they'll just stick with Romney.

Do you really need this spelled out to you, SMuffin? Perry knows that the only two viable candidates left are himself and Romney, who continues to isolate the Hispanic vote with his "turn off the magnet" rhetoric. Though the Tea Party may resent him at times, Perry is making the calculated move to shun them on this particular issue in order to pick up minority support as the primary progresses, because he knows the Tea Party will support him over an elitist, Mormon, Obamacare-light candidate.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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You need to check again. Perry's ship is sinking fast.

He's still leading the polls, and his competition is pathetic. While he may be irritating the Tea Party a little with his immigration policy, who are they going to vote for? Romney?

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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90% of Democrats aren't communists, they just hold economic positions completely identical to communists!

Oh please. Moderate to slightly-above-moderate regulations on the private sector and union love = communist now?

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sig

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And double post time, but all of this talk matter, because- pending some kind of major gaff- Perry's got the nom locked.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

But not Romney? Good man.

Although I'd still probably take Perry over him, if only because he's political savvy enough to know to adhere to whatever platform he puts forth.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

Ask, receive:



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Well, this actually is the grossest thing I've ever seen/read. Topic title didn't lie!

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Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

That is all.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

Not nearly as good as Fox vs. Fox

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

Welp, this just earned my nom.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

That's something I quite like about Rarity: though she's the element of generosity, she has a strong need to feel appreciated, and is sometimes tempted to apply her generosity selfishly. Anti-Rarity has the scales tipped too far in the wrong direction, to the point where she begins to not only obsess and covet, but even try and steal. It fits in with what the other ponies were dealing with:

Honesty -> Dishonesty
Loyalty -> Disloyalty
Generosity -> Selfishness
Kindness -> Meanness
Laughter -> Anger

That part didn't bother me, at least not nearly as much as the "let's have Discord laugh and say chaos for twenty minutes and then rush the ending" approach.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

First half of the episode showed promise, but man that ending was disappointing. Discord was much less entertaining this time around, and the whole thing felt rushed and sloppy.

A couple great set-pieces though, but they could've done more with the whole "chaos" theme.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

glad i'm not the only one who finds this contest theme stupid

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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I'm always entertained by tinfoil-enthusiasts who genuinely believe Ron Paul has any shot at winning the primary.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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...you know what i just realized? i'm pretty sure this is trying to appeal to old, wealthy white men.

does everyone get this weird with age?

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Houston Texans: 2-0
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Give him time



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They're following the Mein Kampf playbook

Hitler reference on post seven. Well played.

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Oh, wait, you're talking about the awful people who didn't like it and said so ITT. Sorry, my bad!

Oh yeah, that's what I meant. If anything, the critical reception underrated the game. It really ought to be a top 20 lock on any respecting gamer's best-games list.

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.

One of the most universally adored and unique games of the past generation, receiving mixed-to-awful reviews.


i swear b8, sometimes i do not understand you

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Houston Texans: 2-0
Guys, eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain.