Board 8 > Save My Favorite Final Fantasy Characters XXIII: Final Results and Discussion

(+) Yeah! (+)

DoomTheGyarados posted...

I did not forget your help over the years...!

Anyway time for ghido domination next year

I did make sure to add the word more because I suspected a couple of her savers were for me! I appreciate the support we did get, just sad to be *so close*.

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Glad Agrias wasnt in this final. Fear she might have gotten stomped.

One of the best finals ever and it shows. Thanks lefty.


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alright time for year of dads next
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Time for year of Aeris again next for me and every year until we get a win!

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DAMN that was a close one. gg Kefka peeps.
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Damn, that was close. I voted for Aerith but Kefka is a good winner.

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Aw yeah. When Kefka went out last year I almost felt bad as he had a lot of momentum, and had been struggling to win like Squall year after year.

Glad that it just took one year to be able to join late in the game and get the big dub. Aerith is a worthy adversary, cool that it was so close.

But Sephiroth next time right? Or maybe we get another VIII winner? I always wanted to get Laguna a win after voting against him last time.

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3 FFVI characters have won and none of them are Locke.

Must....rectify.

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Pokewars posted...

3 FFVI characters have won and none of them are Locke.

Must....rectify.

Besides Celes and Edgar, who do you think is the fourth winner?

Oh lol your edit came in fast enough for my quote to catch it but I didn't notice before posting.

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pjbasis posted...

But Sephiroth next time right?

unless you've got your yaoi prepared I wouldn't count on it

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Wow, that was a close one. Good job, team Kefka and big thanks Xuxon and RaidenGarai for making it possible.

GuessMyUserName posted...

tbf Kefka > Aeris ended up being bot's decisive choice after I added the full historical saves for users who didn't submit their priorities! (although bot was still under the impression Martin would save Kefka so that's a 20-point swing)

It was also predicting me to save Aeris. It balances out.

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TotallyNotMI posted...

I know it's not a user contest but tbh still a bit bitter that if one more of my friends helped me my main every single year would have a championship.

Gratz to Kefka though.

Yeah I dunno if it makes you feel better but you were one of the reasons I jumped over to Aerith by the end. Remake Aerith is great but Kefka is my favorite FF villain and FFT is overdue for a title so it was a tough choice. I do like Aerith best out of the three but I was considering going elsewhere for other reasons.

So you mightve fallen one person short but it wouldve potentially been worse!

Good winner, sorry to all the Aerith mains. But now she can try again next year and keep climbing the stats.

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This was a fun final either way and Im glad it narrowed after what looked like an early blowout.

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Laguna
Barret
Dr. Cid
Jecht
Galuf
Cecil
Emet-Selch
Hojo
Sazh
Dad

All dad top ten

But what if we throw in Cyan into the mix and make this an Oceans 11 style caper of the smfffc xxiv top 11 spots

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Now there's a finals. Neat how any one person could've flipped it.

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Ktjn 2022

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We've already decided that Jack Garland is going to kill Chaos by dominating the contest next year.
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Mewtwo59 posted...

We've already decided that Jack Garland is going to kill Chaos by dominating the contest next year.

Sounds like

...Bullshit

to me

nominate limp bizkit

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Villains are 4-3 in finals with one of those losses being to another villain

5-3 if you are a Marche believer

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> Checks historical results to confirm Delita is still the true hero of Ivalice
> 100% confirmed, excellent

Delita did nothing wrong

(and hes not a villain regardless, true anti-hero)

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I'd vote Aerith against 99% of characters. Needless to say this final will never be topped in terms of quality for me.

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Well done team Kefka! It took every single one us to pull it off!

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Pokewars posted...

3 FFVI characters have won and none of them are Locke.

Must....rectify.

Kefka finally bounced back from his painful defeat, Locke is next!

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MartinFF7 posted...

Absolute last call for Top 15 rankings, migh

Is this for top 15 overall or ranking the top 15 placing characters in specifically this contest

Hm the least recent of the big 5 to win is X at XVI

Maybe the answer is Jecht.

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Ideally lefty doesn't mind but even if he does - tough! I have some more finals stats since I was tracking things all along just in case. I remember early on just hoping Aerith could get things under 55-45 by the end... didn't think it'd get so close but more new names kept popping in and more importantly, returning for additional saves.



Pages 5 and 6 in the new topic, hoo boy... things were getting a little hot in there!

Still, more savers returned to put in the full 10x on Aerith than expected and I can't thank everybody enough for that. Final count of 10x savers was 39 Kefka, 34 Aerith (Han, KnightOfNee and early-save Denzo landing at 9).

Honourable mention to ScrappyMatt for getting in 8 before his second account got banned, with his primary in purgatory, losing out on 2 potential Aerith saves in the process, absolutely C-L-U-T-C-H rule violation timing.

In any case, I want to thank + congratulate the Aeris savers for getting her this far... I always have 3 primary Aeris savers in my mind from the start, and from prior years (even if only 1 was an active trader - she needs more traders for the stretch run next time!)
-TotallyNotMI
-VengefulKaelee
-yellowwolley

The trinity of Aeris savers, extra-special congrats to all of you getting her through the early going for a new PB. Still can't believe she wasn't eliminated in 3rd place tbh...

And of course BlueCrystalTear coming in for the stretch run; Yuffie refugees StifledSilence and GreatPaul; Pokewars, the Aeris-side beneficiary of the Locke elimination (which in turn basically guaranteed Kefka's endgame run); and MWC... is there a "ChampKefka" account in the works? "FinalistAeris"? "ChampAeris2022"? Has anyone ever registered an "Aeristh" account?

Anyways, I hope the Aeris trinity and all other supporters can help get her on another run next year. If you can get her to the end I'll come back to pitch in to assist, but as things stand I don't think I'll be part of the journey to get there. I can't participate in this game without going 10000%, I just take it too seriously, like it's less a casual game and more a daily event I orient my life around. I don't think I can ever be the guy who's not on constant alert for rounds, it just occupies so much of my headspace for 4 months a year.

I'm only planning to get my nominations in, and maybe pop in for the top 10 and finals, and that's it. Same deal with SMFAS, for those who participate in that. Recognizing I'll probably lose a bunch of my favs earlier than usual and some might get booted but that's life - step 1 in not caring is to not care what happens in a game you're not participating in...? Anyways, just feel like I need to step away and it's certainly my intention right now, and has been for a while; but if I'm right back here on Day 1 next year don't hold it against me or remind me I said this.

I remember after XX thinking about joining the Lightning run the following year, and it's probably then my contest philosophy shifted to just being fixated on getting characters with strong contest histories who hadn't won before, their win. No side characters, no fun runs, no repeats, just getting big characters their big wins. After Lightning won I felt that way about Squall, and Kefka, they were the big two. Now they've both won and... I just don't feel that way about any of the other characters that I did about those 3? Those were certainly the biggest three "due".

I think Aerith is getting into that league with 7 - 14L - 2 the past three years. I'd still like to see a deep Tifa run and I think she could win, a performance to wipe away the stain of the Edgar finals; even if I wouldn't be part of any run getting her to the end. And I like the idea of a Ramza run, even if he doesn't have the kind of historical contest success the Lightning/Squall/Kefka trio did, a Ramza run still feels right to me. But it can't happen without VeryInsane being the cornerstone of it? I guess we'll see what happens.

Looking at what I mused in last year's results topic:



Sephiroth run to top 10, check
Kefka coalescing, check
Selphie run to top 20... maybe could push that further next go-around? (unlikely since Rinoa will ruin it) (Rinoa ruins everything)
YR(P), a force to be reckoned with
.........."Yes, rich Ramza" run TBD??

MartinFF7 posted...

Ideally lefty doesn't mind but even if he does - tough! I have some more finals stats since I was tracking things all along just in case. I remember early on just hoping Aerith could get things under 55-45 by the end... didn't think it'd get so close but more new names kept popping in and more importantly, returning for additional saves.

why are the pages out of order for topic 1

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MZero posted...

why are the pages out of order for topic 1

....oh wow I have no idea. I must have been sorting something and extended my sort range a few too many columns... thanks for the head's up on that!

kateee posted...

Is this for top 15 overall or ranking the top 15 placing characters in specifically this contest

@kateee Ranking the top 15 placing characters in order of your preference in them winning the contest. You were technically supposed to rank them after Day 85 when there were those 15 left but if you do it now and PM it to me before the morning I'll include it.

Just need to reorder these from top (most preferred to win) to bottom (least).

Cecil Harvey
Galuf Halm Baldesion
Kefka Palazzo
Locke Cole
Aerith Gainsborough
Jessie Rasberry
Sephiroth
Beatrix
Freya Crescent
Rikku
Yuna
Ktjn
Estinien Wyrmblood
Ignis Scientia
Agrias Oaks

Oh well, Kefka is a deserving enough winner. 'Grats.

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ook. i do like making lists

Aeris
Beatrix
Freya
Yuna
Cecil
Rikku
Kefka
Locke
Sephiroth
Ignis Scientia
Agrias Oaks
Galuf
Jessie
Estinien Wyrmblood
Ktjn - idk who this is. was this a joke nom? my ranking might change depending on that answer

kateee posted...

Ktjn - idk who this is. was this a joke nom? my ranking might change depending on that answer

it was a spite nom because the dog sticker wasn't allowed in

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wat

Ktjn has some of the best dialogue in FF12.

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Ktjn is right where she should be - locking in your rankings kateee.

....a little disappointed you have Jessie so low since you have a lustrous history of saving like, Aeris, Quistis, Cindy, Vanille... I'll just assume you haven't played remake yet!

Alright let's get my first batch of stats out here, general finalist stats before we get into final preference ranking results (in the morning, going to sleep).

First, average character rankings:

Aerith - 5.02
Kefka - 5.39
Rikku - 6.41
Yuna - 6.48
Beatrix - 7.33
Jessie - 7.46
Locke - 7.74
Galuf - 7.78
Agrias - 8.26
Sephiroth - 8.48
Ignis - 8.5
Freya - 8.65
Cecil - 8.96
Estinien - 10.7
Ktjn - 12.85

Aerith and Kefka with the top 2 rankings, building on last year's leading preference (Aerith 5.65, Kefka 6.09) and a bit of a difference from XXI (Kefka a remarkable 4.81 there, Aerith was pre-remake and below average at 8.73).

Of the 46 participants, 39 had an above-average preference final; 2 dead-even at an average rating of 8, and 5 below-average. Recall last year, which also had 46 participants, was 23 above average / 3 even / 20 below-average. Going to be hard to top this final... but more on preference ranking stats tomorrow.

Ktjn setting a new "bottom" mark of 12.85, taking the old mantle from Edea (11.35). XIV rep Estinien had an improvement (10.70) over Emet the prior year (11.09). Of course all of these are lower than the lowest from the XXI contest (Quina, 9.69).

One thing I liked calculating last year: "net preference score". Tabulating each characters number of #1 rankings and subtracting the #15. I liked it last year since Tifa and Aerith tied for the best score... let's see how this year shakes out

Keeping in mind n=46 (same as last year):

NUMBER ONE PREFERRED RANKING
Aerith: 7
Yuna: 5
Kefka: 5
Jessie: 4
Estinien: 4
Rikku: 3
Beatrix: 3
Locke: 3
Galuf: 3
Freya: 2
Agrias: 2
Sephiroth: 2
Ignis: 2
Cecil: 1
Ktjn: 0

Last year all 15 characters showed up as someone's #1... none of the 6 Ktjn mains provided a ranking to me so she's the odd-one out. Aerith leading the way, unlike last year (Tidus/Tifa/Seymour tied with 5, Aerith had 4).

Big win for the five Kefka #1s: MartinFF7, RaidenGarai, Xuxon, FFDragon, and tennisboy213

NUMBER FIFTEEN PREFERRED RANKING
Ktjn: 24
Estinien: 6
Sephiroth: 4
Freya: 3
Cecil: 3
Galuf: 2
Yuna: 1
Kefka: 1
Rikku: 1
Locke: 1
Aerith: 0
Jessie: 0
Beatrix: 0
Agrias: 0
Ignis: 0

No surprises here. 5 characters with no #15 rankings, an improvement over last year's 3 (Aerith, Barret, Red XIII). Denzokuken the odd man out this go-around with Kefka at #15. GMUN with Sephiroth at #15, better than the absolutely terrible Tifa #15 from last year...

Also checking last year, Kefka had 3 people rank him #15, but two of them didn't submit lists and while andy was the 3rd last year, this year ranked him #14 thanks to... wait andy didn't have Ktjn in 15th? It was Sephiroth?? Wooow... well at least Seph spared a second Kefka dead-last ranking.

So my completely arbitrary "net absolute preference score", the sum of #1 placements minus the sum of #15 placements:

Aerith: 7
Yuna: 4
Kefka: 4
Jessie: 4
Beatrix: 3
Rikku: 2
Locke: 2
Agrias: 2
Ignis: 2
Galuf: 1
Freya: -1
Estinien: -2
Sephiroth: -2
Cecil: -2
Ktjn: -24

Aerith on top, as expected, but then Jessie moves into a three-way tie with Yuna and Kefka for second place by virtue of no #15 ranking for her. Nice!

....Sephiroth joining probably-great-but-too-unknown Estinien, and wow-another-top-15-run-how-swell Cecil at -2. Ktjn truly the queen, outpacing Edea's -15 last year.

Glad to see Kefka win even if I supported Aerith in the finals.

Thanks for holding the contest!

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I'm so happy to see that a character appearing in FFXIV got to win the contest!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFRhYuB93qk

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MartinFF7 posted...

GMUN with Sephiroth at #15, better than the absolutely terrible Tifa #15 from last year...

hey you get the ideal trade pact out of both~

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I liked my note in the topic last year

-***ALERT, ALERT*** GuessMyUserName IS THE USER WITH TIFA RANKED #15, PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF TERRIBLE OPINIONS FOR FUTURE REFERENCE ***ALERT, ALERT***

...lol. It just doesn't hit the same with Sephiroth whose ranking is more understandable <_<

Didnt get to save Kefka as much this year for most of the contest, but happy he finally got his chance to shine!

Aerith too, was a great run and great final.

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Oh...wow, it ended so close? I knew the results of the first topic and realized Aerith had no chance and kinda lost hope back then. To think she managed to get this close..! feels bad, but it's not like I could have done more
Still Kefka is a good character too so at least it's better to me than the last two finals which were character I didn't like/didn't know

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Oops I didn't provide a list and kept meaning to

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Also not much to say on the final except it's pretty nice it was so close. I feel next to nothing for it but couldn't pass up voting anyway since of the final 15, Aerith was at the bottom of my list.

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Thanks for the stats Martin, I look forward to more. Aerith is the people's champion confirmed. Surprised that I'm pretty much alone in disliking Kefka. At least it's less so with Seph. The #15s are a bit less impactful with Ktjn soaking them all up!

MartinFF7 posted...

wait andy didn't have Ktjn in 15th? It was Sephiroth?? Wooow... well at least Seph spared a second Kefka dead-last ranking.

I have made you well aware of my distaste for Sephiroth! As I've said earlier, this final is likely the only time I will be enthusiastically supporting VII. And yet you weren't even rooting for the flower girl in the end!

Good luck with staying away from the contest next year, I understand your reasoning all too well. Though for me it's the last few weeks of the contest that become unhealthy for me, I guess it's the opposite with you lol.

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Ill be joining for the next one!

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Leanansidhe posted...

So now that SMFFFC is over and mafia has been dead for like, two years, what do people do for fun here instead of working? Note, if it's not a simple forum game that gets weirdly political and drives people beyond the jaws of madness, I'm out.

Sorry, Mercenaries has been on hiatus for some time now.

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