Lurker > azuarc

I guess I don't count.

Who is that leet speed runner?

First I'm aware of, but my memory doesn't count for much.

Meh, who cares about the HD=1? It's not like I can hear the difference. (I am apparently impervious to sound quality or lack thereof.)

And if I voted for Guest, that would mean I could vote for myself, so yeah. According to my rank 500, the winner on overall quality was angelo. Ed had more total points, but also more songs.

superange128 posted...

Guilty Gear- 5
Isuka- 1
X- 2
XX- 1

I realize I did drop out of college briefly, but I did finish my math degree, and I'm pretty sure that only adds up to four.

BTW, SD3 has two games? I only remember one, err...Swivel, I think?

Ed Bellis posted...

It was.

http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=426223&tclass=ALQVCMCST

No way. The winner was totally MAIN MEN!

Ok, yeah, it was Xeus.

I thought the easiest way was to copy-paste the link as-is, and then cut off everything after the video identifier.

Two DoDonPachi in three days, zomg! Now I have something to listen to along with Xanadu.

The Mana Sword posted...

When I was going through stuff I though "I bet this is a song Nee would upload" and wouldn't you know it he already uploaded something else from the same series way back when.

azuarc would, too, except azuarc isn't an uploader (except for one day during guest week.) However, Nee's old upload was Romancing SaGa, no? Or is there an actual GameBoy track I missed?

Ed Bellis posted...

Whoa, check out this comment on the most recent video:
Alright! It's taken me literally months, but with this video I have *finally* listened through the entire VGMotD archives. My ears are so overflowing with awesome right now you wouldn't believe it. I don't even know where to begin with my long-ass list of favourite songs and OSTs I've discovered%uFEFF through here. Thank you to the uploaders for keeping this channel going, and I'll hear you again tomorrow! :)

OneMoreNameless 52 minutes ago

Why, I don't know at ALL what that's like...

*contemplates ranking 501-750 when the time comes*

MartinFF7 posted...

It'd be the most convenient way to get around the whole "final five" issue, especially if/when it's proven to be the strongest of the 5.

This. It's your best solution to "field is not a power of two" problem.

That said, I should probably start voting in some of these rounds. I just seem to always miss the thread.

(1) Anxious Heart
(3) Words Drowned by Fireworks

Restandre would pout about not having the opportunity to collect a weapon since they fall at all the wrong times, but she has already taken an action, and she doesn't need a weapon to protect herself when she is armored by her faith in the Elven Goddess of Life, Growth, Nature and the Moon, Tunarehlonnalune. And a giant rubber shield.

Oh, alright, I'll vote in this thing already.

...and it looks like I'm voting straight Colombia.


Davalos
Posada
Velez

ScepterOfLove posted...

Why do they eat testicles

You mean you don't? They're delicious!


...I wasn't supposed to say that, was I?

Within reason, I would pay whatever I could afford. On the assumption that the knowledge wouldn't reveal that I would die tomorrow, I'd want to keep *some* cash around. Let's say -$25,000.

Restandre summons an Aegis of Rubber to protect from falling objects overhead.

Restandre stands under this Aegis rather than getting pelted by falling soup cans, while meditating to her goddess on whether rubber is really the best choice of material for a protective shield.

Inviso posted...

You have more than one?

This is why I clicked the thread...

First one I recognized was the big kid from your hometown in Secret of Mana.

Fallout 3

Loot the armor off RED DEMON'S chest.

uh-oh...performing actions to kill stuff that's already dead can be bad...either I'm about to get whooped by my own hammer or it's going to sit there and mutilate a dead body.

Restandre summons an Unswerving Hammer of Faith, and sends it at RED DEMON. (This is an unintelligent pet, not a piece of equipment. It flies around, attacking its target until it or the target are dead.) Restandre knows well enough to stay the **** away from the hammer since it cannot be controlled or given new commands.

ctesjbuvf posted...

Look at it this way Restandre....hey, I got you out of trouble didn't I.

<= Not complaining, after being double-targeted in the previous round and still being alive...for now.

Restandre casts anti-demon magic at RED DEMON.

one last time before I leave this thread to the mercies of the forum gods (or whomever else decides to strike up conversation)

saveus_Maria posted...

[All actions for the next phase must be submitted before 3:00 PM EST. That's when I'll begin writing the next phase.]

Bleh, I went to bed last night before your last update because I had to go to work today, which I'm now home from and apparently just missed the update. At least I don't appear to be dead.


Restandre casts a spell of Divine Light into the Magical Darkness.

bump just to prevent a purge before anyone who wants to gets to see this

I don't drink and don't really have business in this thread, but my friends are beer snobs and love Founder's. I'm pretty sure they've even had Frangelic. So on their behalf, I'm going to put: Good stuff.

Zachnorn posted...

You know there's a wiki for everything when even boards like this have one!

Does the board wiki have its own wiki?

woot.

Is it just me or does it look like Dan is embedded in the pavement from the waist up in 487?


"Did you just jump up the side of the building?"
"I got lost."


Anyway, I am entertained. And since I'm not supposed to post any commands, then, uh...

>Sit and be ENTERTAINED.

SoliPants posted...

Yeah maybe you shouldn't let us see the spreadsheet until after it's over, if at all.

If I wasn't lazy, I'd have made two files -- one just a list with the songs and their youtube links, and the other a private spreadsheet.

I am, however, lazy.

thundersheep posted...

Now it's not because drinking is good or fun or something that everybody needs to do... it's pretty dumb and it's not something that I particularly enjoy doing myself. But not even trying something that plenty of people enjoy because you've seen or heard it have some negative effects on others just seems weak to me. It's like they don't have enough faith in themselves to think that they would be able to handle it and just have a good time without going overboard and doing something stupid.

But I guess that feeling doesn't really have anything to do with drinking and it's more about people who don't like trying new things.

So what you're saying is that you take offense to people that are not willing to try things that are hazardous to their own well-being? Or rather, that a wide body of knowledge informed them of, rather than them finding out first-hand?

I'm pretty sure that it's not healthy to slit one's wrists either, and I don't really care how much pleasure it brings to people who think they need to inflict pain on themselves to "feel," I'm not about to try that either.

Restandre, a cleric (and also a stereotypically hot elf chick,) comes up the stairs and casts a protective ward.

wg64Z posted...

You need to try it at LEAST once.

No, no really I don't. Thanks for telling me how to ruin my life, though!

To clarify: I form habits really easily. In first grade I saw other people biting their nails and wondered why so I tried it. I've never stopped biting my nails since. My way to not become an alcoholic is to never have the first drink.

Nice. For a math major, it's kind of surprising that I never really had to take a class on statistics. (I took a "stat and probability" course, but that was more about probabilistic distributions and less about practical application.) I wish I knew more about that stuff, but I'm not enough of a self-starter to teach it to myself.

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who participated on this list. Kenri, ArkOfTurus, Ed Bellis, and Mega Mana especially devoted themselves tirelessly to ranking as much as humanly possible. When it became impossible to give them new lists of 5 because they had seen it all pretty much, others like xp1337 stepped up. Quite a few others took multiple ranking sets, and I appreciate that greatly considering that we ranked each one six times, and therefore that was 600 songs to rank.

I hope you all enjoyed the festivities, the body of works that were used, and the results. Maybe we'll do it again some time with user submissions and user rankings.

1. ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2: THE 2ND RUNNER: BEYOND THE BOUNDS

Score: 29/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 14

Comments:
(Kenri) Aside from that crazy noise at like 40 seconds in (and I've even started to tolerate that after listening to this so many times), I'm a fan of every part of Beyond the Bounds. It even has one of my all-time favorite lines from all the VG songs with lyrics I've heard: Fear to see "The World to Be"
(xp1337) Beyond the Bounds is pretty good. Not my favorite Zone of the Enders song, but even still.
(NioraptH) delicious vocals, random twang-ey instrument thing, violins... SO GOOD~~~ and Dingo Egret

After 40 seconds of prelude where you're wondering if the song comes in, it gives us this sudden opening with a sound effect I can't identify and Nio has told me we should just refer to as "twang." Surprisingly, for a top pick, this is a vocal track. Not that I have any idea what the singers are singing, as it doesn't even sound like words to me. (Yes, I know it's in another language, but at least normally the "words" sound like they have actually phonemes in them.) The verse is engaging, the chorus (which switches into English) serves as a decent change-up, and then the bridge starts at about 3:30, and treats us to a great violin solo. We get more of that in the ending at about the 5 minute mark.

I'm not the least bit surprised this song went high. I am slightly surprised it went #1, as the only person to not give it a 5 was superangelo128 in the first round with a 4. As a result of being a point behind, it wasn't at the top of the list each time I sorted until the songs that did start with straight fives like Dire Dire Docks, Silver Will and Hepatica got out of the way. Meanwhile, BtB just get plugging away with fives and didn't look back.



So there you have it, folks. Your list of 100 ranked songs, the list that YOU ranked. Certainly a little different than the usual "hey give me 100 songs and I will rank them all by myself" and perhaps a little more entertaining on the part of the host. Instead of trying to frustrate myself trying to put these songs in some semblance of a perfect order, I got to simply do data entry. (OK, that's not fun, but seeing the results was.)

Your complete list and all the delicious data about what happened can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoS8GGHS9FDGdEdBOG04RWtuV0hSS0RhaVVWcW5xOXc

3. Dungeon Fighter Online - Hamelin

Score: 27/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 12

Comments:
(Ed Bellis) pretty cool, I love ASIAN SONGZ
(xp1337) DFO song that isn't Wind of You/Main Theme? Eh, whatever. (Hamelin's all right)

I seem to be the biggest (or maybe only?) supporter of music from DFO on the board, so needless to say I'm absolutely astounded that this came in third. However, nobody gave it below a 4. Maybe I shoudln't be surprised; it's a really good song. It's just one I didn't think was going to garner a great deal of support.

I've played a fair bit of DFO, but I haven't gotten far enough into the game to see the part where this is from. Actually, I've only gotten as far as the third main map area, come to think of it. Plus, the U.S. version of the game often lacks behind the Korean. For whatever it's worth, DFO just went up on Steam, so if anyone's playing it let me know and maybe I'll start up again.



2. Super Mario 64 - Dire, Dire Docks

Score: 28/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 4

Comments:
I know many considered this the likely winner, and it just missed. The only difference between DDD and our #1 is that the lone person who did not give it a 5 assigned it a 3, whereas our #1 got a 4 besides it's Yahtzee of fives.

The song itself is quite possibly the greatest for a song on an N64 game. Nothing else comes to mind to rival it, at least, and the piece definitely adds to the magic of Mario 64. After finishing Bob-omb Battlefield and then a brief stay at another level, Jolly Roger Bay opens up. And while JRB is peaceful and tranquil, it's a water level. How often is a water level enjoyable? Like Fear Factory, this is a song that placated me while I got frustrated with the area it plays in. DDD also resurfaces later in the level for which it is named, which is another frustrating water level. Still, the song breaks free of being associated with annoying water stages and is simply plain good. It's funny how it can loop and just add a subdued drum track and add to the vibe of the song.



AND FINALLY, YOUR NUMBER ONE...


1. Crazy Bus - Title Screen

Score: 30/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 0

Comments:
(xp1337) AMG, Crazy Bus so good!
(Ed Bellis) It's so bad it's awesome.
(Kenri) Listening to this is like being entranced by hypnotoad.
(TheArkOfTurus) Easily the best track in the whole list, perhaps anywhere.
(NioraptH) The random noises are so <3. First I was T_T, and then I went T___T, and finally T_______T

Ah, dear sweet Crazy Bus. It was so unfair putting this on the list, because seriously what else on the list was going to compete with it? Perhaps a horrible decision of mine since it would have been nice to see what B8 things when I already know exactly what they think about this piece. But I suppose we can just ignore this one and look at the next track down as the real #1.

So, er, speaknig of the real #1...

I fail to see Trine 2 on that list. I hope it goes on sale independently at some point.

All I know is it's past due for this thing to start already. I'm waiting for a sale on Trine 2, and probably other stuff I don't even know I want.

5. Legend of Heroes VI - Silver Will

Score: 24/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 51

Comments:
(SoliPants) Tol choice was pretty obvious here.
(xp1337) Silver Will was the other song I was very familiar with before. I actually was having fun with this during the other songs. I was hoping for this version of Silver Will because I prefer this one, but you said Legend of Heroes VI and not SC, so I started second guessing myself on what Silver Will I was going to get (Kind of like Hepatica last time, except I feel the default answer there is (KOS-MOS) as it was.) It started getting intense because I think first place on the rankings was depending on the version here, because I think I'd take Run and One Final Effort over the other Silver Will.
(Kenri) I remember listening to this once a while ago and just thinking it was "okay"... But it's actually pretty good. Maybe I'm thinking of a different song. Anyway, this does have some weird sections that I'm not a big fan of, and it's kind of long, but when it's good, it's really good.
(th3l3fty) oh my god did you seriously give me Positive force and Silver Will in the same set...Silver Will would get +5 from me in literally any group without Positive force

You'll note the one person who ranked it that did not comment was Ed Bellis, who apparently has it in for this song. Silver Will had a near perfect record until he decided to nail it with a 1. He was determined to see it not be the #1 on the list, and quite frankly I agree with him. It's a great piece, but we've had three pieces in a row that are a touch on the slow side, and Silver Will in particular just seems to sit on its melody and not do much with it. It's perfectly deserving to be somewhere in the upper end of the list, but it was on pace to go top 3, and I think that's just a pinch too high for a song this monotonic.



4. VVVVVV - Positive Force

Score: 25/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 8

Comments:
(xp1337) Positive Force is great though. Probably my favorite VVVVVV song, although Pushing Onwards and Predestined Fate are both up there with it.
(NioraptH) delicious chiptunes and it just sounds so CUTE and FLUFFY~

And finally we have our first song to transcend an average of 4.0 per round. With three fives and two threes (and a four,) it just comes out above the line, but just misses top three. Well, ok, not really, since third place had 27/30, but it was one place away from medalling. I can't say it wouldn't be deserving; it's rare you hear a chiptune that deserves such honors, but of course this is a contemporary chiptune rather than an old school NES piece. IIRC, I read somewhere that SoulEye wrote the piece using exactly two sound samples. VVVVVV's soundtrack in general is excellent, but this song is indisputably the crown jewel in the collection.



ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF AZUARCBALL Z: Now down to the top three, who will bring home top honors? Dire Dire Docks looks poised as the favorite to snuff out its remaining competition, but Beyond the Bounds is not prepared to go down without a fight. Meanwhile, as the two are duking it out, could underdog Hamelin stun the field and the world by defeating them both? Find out next time!

8. Gran Turismo 2 - Moon Over the Castle

Score: 24/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 2

Comments:
(Ed Bellis) ...has good parts but is overrated
(NioraptH) the intro is like "how pretty~ my fragile heart~" and then suddenly.. BADASS RIFFS AW YEAH!!! TWANG~ Somehow this song sounds really ~romantic~ <3 <3

This will be the last time my ranking is higher than the board's. MotC took a pair of threes, a pair of fours, and a pair of fives. I love the piano work at the beginning and end of the piece, and the energy of the guitar sections in the middle. I've listened to a few other versions of Moon Over the Castle, and I can't say I like any of them better than GT2's.



7. Xenosaga III - Hepatica

Score: 24/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 74

Comments:
(Kenri) Not the best XS3 choice. Give me Godsibb any day. I will say that Hepatica is really cool as a boss theme, but outside the game it suffers from long stretches of time where basically nothing happens. ...Not that those aren't there in-game too, but they're much less noticeable. All that being said, when Hepatica is actually doing something, it's really good! I just wish it was about half as long so it could always be doing something.
(xp1337) Hepatica was the only song of these 5 that I knew for sure I heard before, and I knew it was pretty much automatically going to be the highest ranked of the 5. Excellent song, though not Xenosaga III's best (Godsibb.) Such a great OST, one of my favorites. As a bonus, this is the best of the 3 Hepatica versions in the game.
(Ytterbium_70) It's a beautiful song, though it drags on for a bit though, and that annoys me a tiny amount

I think this song is a bit overrated. I like it; it wouldn't be here in the first place if I didn't like it a little, but I'm amazed that across five rankers, it got 23/25. It would be challenging for the top of the list if I weren't forced to fill in for somebody and assigned it a 1. (It had good competition.) Still, where others have pulled down songs that are slower or more touchy-feely for being boring, I have to admit that I find this one rather soporific. It's pretty, but it goes on for over five minutes, which is a bit more than my attention span can handle.



6. Baldr Sky - Ruins of Silence

Score: 24/30
Azuarc's Ranking: 30

Comments:
(TheArkOfTurus) One of my favorite new discoveries of VGMC6.
(xp1337) Eh, Ruins of Silence is okay I guess, but that's about all you'll get out of me.

What Ark said, basically. The first time I listened to RoS, I wasn't sure if I even liked it or not, but after hearing it a second time and getting into the right listening mood for it, I was blown away. Unlike Hepatica, this slower piece maintains my attention more readily, as just when it's about to lose me, the guitar enters. That spanish guitar. while not technically impressive, is a masterful part in being exactly what it needs to be without trying too hard. The toughest match in my VGMC6 prediction brackets was this vs Savior of the Waking World (or whatever that Homestuck song is called.)

Kenri posted...

While its final two marks were strong, they weren't fives, and here it sits at 11th.

Uhhh not quite. <_<

Whoops! OK, here it sits at 13th. My B.

I feel like I know what #1 is because I was keeping track of scores before you removed them from the spreadsheet, but I won't spoil it. >_>

You might be surprised, depending on when the last time you looked was. The current leader got there when the previous leader(s) dropped a bit in round 5.

That's a really solid top 8 though. Good job everyone!

In spite of my best efforts to get you all to vote for cruddy songs, I have been foiled once again. Curses!...Incidentally, my #74 is still floating somewhere in that top 8, as well as 51. (The rest are 30, 14, 12, 8, 4, and 2.)