~ 14. Most Powerful Fictional Character ~ Created by: Anagram Currently Owned by Ed Bellis List Appearances: 5 Total Points: 29
2 great write ups for this one, so i'll post both. Firstly, from Anagram - Split in to two parts.
It's not difficult to see why the Most Powerful Fictional Character contest has consistently been one of the most popular and highest profile contests in a board that probably hosts more user-run contests than any other. The MPFC contest is the only way for fans to answer that oldest of questions, "Could X beat Y?", that has even an inkling of legitimacy. It's one thing when someone posts a write-up about how, say, Sora could beat Darth Vader in a fight because keyblades are immune to being destroyed because they're made out of friendship and you can't cut conceptualized friendship with a lightsaber. It's a completely different matter when people agree with you.
There are so many potential MPFC battles, so many characters, that you could run a dozen of these contests and only cover a fraction of the potential this contest holds. It's also one of only a handful of contests that can lay any legitimate claim to being an objective analysis that involves voters, whereas "Save my X" or the multitude of user contests that are all over Board 8 revel in the fact that they are popularity contests. There's nothing wrong with popularity contests, but MPFC is different from that. Not above them, but aside from them: it does something no other contest does, and it does it in a way that very few other contests even try to do.
Of course that's not to claim MPFC actually succeeds in its attempt to be objective. There are multiple matches that went in ridiculous directions due solely to the fact that one character was from a more popular franchise than the other, such as Luke Skywalker's victory over Adam Warlock. At the same time, however, because MPFC at least attempts to be something other than a popularity contest, even characters from obscure works can do well, the most obvious example being Dark Schneider's victory in the first contest and consistent victories in Tournaments of Champions.
Aside from "Which movie was better?", one of the most obvious ways to compare two works is to take two characters from it and say "If they butt heads, who would butt the hardest?" It's a great way to compare two different universes, even if we're technically only supposed to compare characters outside of those universes' contexts, but let's face it: you can be the most powerful character ever, but if no one on Board 8 has read your book or seen your movie, you still won't get into the contest.
My favorite matches usually involve trying to analyze how the mechanics of two universes would work if they collided: as an example, there was one character, I forget his name, who had a sword that absorbs your soul instantly if he can so much as scratch you with it. So what happens if he tries to fight Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who explicitly has no soul but is still intelligent and animate? Does it just act as a regular sword? Who knows, other than people who will argue in contests run through the medium of message boards? And matches like these go on forever.
And let's face it, there's a certain mystique to the whole affair. This is one of the rarer contests, only coming around every eight or nine months or so. There is a never ending flood of most other types of contests. And don't forget that this contest builds up to a definite climax: my second contest ended with Sarda demolishing Yuki Nagato early on, making 16-1 and even invoking the Mercy Rule, but I opted to ignore the rule on the grounds of it being the final match, and Yuki not only made a comeback, she won by nine points. Such potential for a climax adds to the MPFC contest's status as something special.
None of that is to say that MPFC is without its problems. Aside from the fact that popularity does seep in even if people try to ignore it, and the rampant alt voting, there are a few problems that are harder to deal with.
Obscure characters are the first, and lead to the second: bad write-ups. A lot of people complained in my second MPFC contest that some of my write-ups for more obscure characters were of poor quality, and I won't defend them, they were pretty awful. But I will explain them. The host of the contest is usually going to write most of the write-ups, and that's completely fine and expected of him, but characters from works he isn't interested in, who don't have helpful Wikipedia articles with a Powers and Abilities section, become enormous problems. Sometimes another Board 8er will provide a write-up, but these write-ups are often themselves of poor quality and what do you get then? A bad write-up for an obscure character, the type of character who needs a good write-up the most. No one cares if Superman's write-up consists of "Superman is a DC Comics character who can do a lot of stuff," but when the character is someone like Saemon Havarian from Baldur's Gate II, a write-up of "Dude's an unscrupulous smuggler who can use magic and likes scimitars" isn't quite what people need. Sadly, there's no way around this. The host can't be expected to delve into every single work for each character to make a good write-up, so unless there's easy information available on the internet or another Board 8er provides a write-up, what can you do?
The next is that the contest thrives with characters with very clear power levels. Guys like Wolverine or Superman are fine. Guys like Cthulhu are not. My first contest involved a lot of Cthulhu Mythos and Touhou Project characters, and I learned from that mistake: my second contest involved only two of them. Then you have characters who do stupid nonsense like only use a fraction of their true power so who knows exactly how powerful they are when the chips are down, the biggest offender being Arcueid Brunestud. I have nothing against her personally, I've never read or seen anything with her in it, my problem with her is that she makes it very difficult to quantify her power, which is what this contest is all about when you come down to it. Of course, she's nothing compared to the master of annoying power quantification: the Doctor. Oh my God, the Doctor. I won't even go into him, he's such a pain in the ass to deal with.
The next is that a character gets into the contest based on popularity power. I mentioned this earlier, but I'll say it again: you get in based on how popular you are and you perform based on how powerful you are. Thus, this contest is no place for Batman or Solid Snake despite how popular they are, and they always get into every contest because of their popularity. Sure, okay, it's fun to argue about Batman versus Spiderman and Snake versus Wolverine, but human level characters rarely make it past round two. They aren't quite fodder, but there are more deserving characters, I'm sorry.
The last major problem is a sad necessity of how the contest is set up: when two characters are about the same power level, but one is clearly stronger, the results are really skewed in his favor. A good example is Superman versus Wonder Woman. WW is entirely capable of getting in some good hits and would doubtlessly go down with a tough fight, but that's thing. She would doubtlessly go down, so you would get results like 29-1 Superman-Wonder Woman even though she doesn't deserve such an embarrassing score. I can't think of any way around this that wouldn't complicate the voting process needlessly.
Who wins in a fight between two characters is one of the most commonly asked questions when fanboys get together. The very first MPFC on Board 8, the Most Powerful Fictional Hero, pitted 64 heroes (some of dubious heroism) against each other with writeups detailing their powers and personalities. This set the template for all subsequent MPFCs: writeups, arguments, votes, winner moves on. Later contests would streamline the process, introducing mercy rules (when a character just isn't coming back) and mandatory bolded votes to make it easier on the host.
MPFC at its height became a strange entity unto itself. Nobody seems to remember the countless blowouts and strange pairings, but the good ones are the stuff of legends. The first Hero contest ended with Dark Schneider (a sex-crazed sorcerer) vs. Morrigan Aensland (a succubus), and a common argument was that they would have sex in lieu of an actual fight. The Villains contest gave us Juggernaut (Marvel Comics) vs. Buu (Dragon Ball Z), which may have lasted for four topics. Not pages - topics. The Movie contest gave us the infamous Broly (another DBZ character) vs. Stanley Ipkiss (The Mask) match, which is still quoted and referenced on the board. Other matches include Superman vs. Rand al'Thor (Wheel of Time) and loads of TYPE-MOON and Godzilla characters.
What makes MPFC so notable is its emphasis on arguments. Of course there are multiple times when people enter a topic and just vote based on the character they know without reading anything else. But among the regulars the phrase 'waiting for arguments' indicates a certain level of respect for the process and a willingness to hear both sides of the coin. Entire matches have been constructed around opposing arguments, which is – in theory – the best part about this entire endeavor: why bother with the match if it's a no-brainer? Asking if Rand's Balefire (which can erase anything) can pierce Saber's Avalon (which can block anything), or if Shiki Ryogi's Mystic Eyes (which can also erase anything) can cut Luke Skywalker's use of the Force (which is... the Force) might be a stupid, silly endeavor, but it's certainly an entertaining one.
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If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? [HERO'S PLUNGE] http://img.imgcake.com//wesker.gif
I kinda follow MPFC but I don't vote in it because I don't know enough about "canon ability" and stuff like that to vote. One thing I think that would be neat is if one of the MPFC contests had "tiers," kinda like how RPGDL does with their contests, with a Light, Medium, Heavy, and Godlike tier. I think it'd open it up a bit more and you could create some interesting matches between some lower tier characters who'd never get to face each other because they're getting squashed by guys clearly out of their range.
Edit: Maybe this has been done in the past and I'm not aware of it, but I don't remember it being the case whenever I paid attention to it.
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"The great GF...Bahamut." "...GF? I...? Using my powers...It is you humans...I fear..."
37. Shakespeares: This is a huge bit of B8 history that I missed out on; I stuck around on the board for the first three Character Battles and missed almost the entire offseasons before becoming a regular in 2005. Shake was apparently big into orchestrating drama on a large, board-wide scale, to the point of faking his own death. I don't really 'get' the appeal of these beyond the basic trolling mechanism of laughing at people who fell for it; maybe I just had to be there.
Eh, I was the primary (albeit ironically unintended) victim of the first and best Shakespeare and I gotta say, it was classic stuff.
You should check out the older topic, I believe it was. I summed it up.
-- The Legend of Snake: http://tinyurl.com/3cal86z The LoS Instruction Manual: http://tinyurl.com/3jlax8h
The one on the Wiki? I just read the summary - definitely seems like 'had to be there' material. Maybe we're just in a more cynical era of internetting now, but the concepts of board marriage, roleplaying swordfights and the like - it all seems so surreal, like it might be able to happen on a different forum but not this one. I guess the board really did have a different culture back then!
I prefer my own summary over the Wiki's. The Wiki fails to capture a few of the nuances.
That being said, it was definitely a different culture. For one, the average age at B8 was a lot younger. There was also, for better or for worse, a stronger sense of hierarchy. You know how Ulti has something of a cult now, but it seems less serious and more an old joke to laugh about? Back in those days, really popular users like Shake and Amazing Telephone (and to a smaller but notable extent, even MWIS!) really did have cults of personalities, and it felt like it meant something.
The Board community was simultaneously closer-knit but also obsessive and excessive.
I'd say overall things are far healthier now than they were then, but to be completely honest, a part of me still waxes nostalgic about the old days, because B8 membership was taken seriously then, and the community was...better defined? Simultaneously larger yet more exclusive?
-- The Legend of Snake: http://tinyurl.com/3cal86z The LoS Instruction Manual: http://tinyurl.com/3jlax8h
I dunno. I guess it's hard for me to notice the changes in Board 8 over the years, maybe because I've been here consistently for most of the time, and maybe because I've always fit into the same niche. I never really had a "clique" that I belonged to aside from the stats topic, but I've always been one of the guys who just posts anywhere and everywhere on Board 8. Never really cared about hierarchies and all that!
Plus, I've never really been all that popular to begin with, although there was one year I finished in like the top 15 for UotY somehow.
~ 13. The Fanfiction Project ~ Created by: Sir Bormun List Appearances: 5 Total Points: 30
Write up by Ed Bellis
“64 chairs were set out on the lawn.” When Sir Bormun started his plans to write the 2003 Character Battle as a fighting tournament between the contestants, few people expected it to get so big. This was in the heyday of Board 8 writing projects; everywhere you turned there was a CYOA or a fanfic or some sort of creative juices being spilled, and the FFP was a large part of this.
Bormun started out writing 'village fics' that took place outside of the actual matches and allowed for exploring some of the characters. Eventually the writing team expanded to include fan favorite BigCow, and as the writers grew so did their ambitions: eventual stories included Link's gradual corruption and descent into outright villainy, searches for Chaos Emeralds, poker games between the vanilla humans, a budding romance between Samus and Snake, and a lengthy subplot involving Bowser kidnapping Aeris. Sadly, the 2003 FFP – the most popular version by far – never finished, stopping at the penultimate battle between Link and Cloud. An archive of everything to that point can be found here:
There were other FFPs after this, but none of them met with the same success and recognition. 2004's FFP ended before any matches began once the writers realized they couldn't continue a story that hadn't finished yet (2003's FFP was still up in the air). 2005's FFP, edited by yours truly, petered out in the middle of Round 1. 2006 saw a revamp of the overall tone, but again stalled out. The FFP with the largest potential (imo) was the villains contest – 32 baddies wandering variations on purgatory, confronted by their own inner demons. Other writing projects have arisen during Character Battles, but the last formal 'FFP' was in 2006.
The FFP was one of the most notable writing projects in the board's history, generating a large following and even memes among its readers (STUPID SEXY MAGUS). Though its overall quality is rocky in parts, especially towards the beginning, the project as a whole stands as a great combination of ideas and form, and its accessibility and quality make it a treat to read even today.
Man do you really want my writeup for SMFFFC? I'm just the self-appointed book keeper! And according to some people, my mere existence ruins the series!
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If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person? [HERO'S PLUNGE] http://img.imgcake.com//wesker.gif
~ 12. Best Ass in Gaming ~ Created by: yoblazer List Appearances: 4 Total Points: 33
Write up by yoblazer
Best Ass in Gaming is exactly what it sounds like a contest about voting for the best video game butts. It got people to laugh. It got people to vote. It might have gotten some people legitimately disgusted and others to pleasure themselves. Its best not to think about it (because itll never happen again).
Ayvuir posted... Ok, after combining creativenames poll updater and the gamefaqscontests.com votes in to one, things have shifted about a bit, but not much, but it did get in to the top 20.
So we'll start at 21.
~ 21. Legend of Snake ~ Created by: MyWorldIsSquare List Appearances: 3 Total points: 21
I unfortunately don't know much about this project, and as i didn't get a write up from MWIS this is likely going to be an awful start. From what i gather though, it seems to be a story of epic proportions! Just by looking at the website I can tell a mass amount of effort has gone in to this, and as far as writing projects go its gotta be up there on volume of content alone.
I know this was started a few years ago, but MWIS eventually stopped it when he left the board for a while, but it now seems to be back in fairly full flow, and I can tell by looking at the topic that the fans of the project are really excited about it, so it'll definately be interesting to see how it turns out.
IIRC, I love how all the nominations for The Legend of Snake came in before MWIS came back and declared its revival. Not bad for a two-year old project that never finished and barely got off the ground =D =D
TLoS, SO GOOD
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Pyre GIR (9:26:57 PM): You lack a basic grasp of human nature that can only be learned through living IamSoCool84321 (9:28:07 PM): ur dumb
~ 11. Saving Bacon ~ Created by: Ayvuir List Appearaces: 8 Total Points: 39
Write up by YOURS TRULY!
First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Smurf and KamikazePotato for their Board 8 RPGs: Rising Stream and Hopeless Journey, for this project would never have happened without their influence.
Saving Bacon took Board 8 RPGs to another level, and is currently the only one released on RPG Maker VX. The premise of Saving Bacon when i started it, was to keep it nice and simple, easy to play, and to involve everyone on the board, even if it was just in a minor role, and although some of the lesser known users missed out, i did pretty much include everyone.
The story was about a man who had lost his memory, and was given the name "Uzer". He and other playable companions you meet throughout the game (23 in total, the largest in any other Board 8 RPG) go on a journey to save the King of the land: "Bacon". Along the way though, the situation changes, and something more sinister is uncovered.
I tried to keep the story uncomplicated and easy to follow. The RPG also focuses a lot on Board 8 history with memes and references throughout that most Board 8ers would understand. The battle system was a lot more balanced than previous Board 8 RPGs and the game also included many side quests which gives the gamer between 15-20 hours of game time, depending on how much you do.
I was very happy with the way the game turned out, and the reaction it got from the people who played it. The fact that it appeared on 8 lists out of the 26 that voted is a huge plus for me.
The sequel "Saving Bacon: End of Days" is well under way and I hope to improve on the first game by all I learnt from making it. If you would like to know more please visit the current topic which can be found here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/59294427. There is also a link in there for the original game if you have yet to play it. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.
I only hope we get some more Board 8 RPGs on the go, and completed, because I have personally found each and every one a lot of fun to play, even the ones that just get to the demo stage.
-FFDragon- posted... Man do you really want my writeup for SMFFFC?
Yes. Yes, we do.
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As a biologist, I firmly believe that when you're dead, you're dead. Except for what you live behind in history. That's the only afterlife - Craig Venter
~ 10. Caelus' Random Elimination Stories ~ Created by: Caelus List Appearances: 5 Total Points: 41
Write up by Caelus
When it comes to writing, the most important part of my process is f***ing up while experimenting. When I know which direction I DON'T want to go, I can narrow down my options until I figure out exactly what I want to do. Random Elimination is a bit different though. I can do whatever and just roll with it and I don't even have to remember what I wrote. I could use one idea a second time by being too drunk the first time to remember it and I would just make it seem like I meant to do it and it would work. There are no rules or boundaries to answer for, no logic required, no facts that need checking, no concept off limits even if utterly ridiculous.
The only thing that can stop me is the discouragement and inconvenience of a topic purging >_>. That combined with the shifting in interest toward new projects/stuff to do is the reason why half of them never finished. One of these days I'll write something that, as a finished product, will live up to the delusions of grandeur that fuel my initial ideas...
- As a side note, I would personally like to add that I love that this made the top ten. I followed this series from the first ever one and although some of the recent ones never finished, i never stopped loving them.
The only thing that could make that write-up better would be Bruce Campbell appearing midway withcarrying that gun from The Expendables while the nurses make out on both sides of him and-
Oh crap, my number's been called! NOOOOOOO
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“So we’ve cornered Andy and Kyle in the Swarts stairwell and then this guy comes out of NO WHERE like ****ing Batman or something.” ; ExTha is the man
The only Shakespeare I was around for was the Shake faking his death thing, and I'd agree that it's a "you had to be there" thing. I know that "Shake fakes his death and then reveals he didn't die" doesn't look like much on paper, and yeah, it may have been in poor taste. But it was incredibly well planned and orchestrated, everyone on B8 talked about it, and stuff like Horatio (who kept insisting Shake had, indeed, died) outarguing everyone on the topic added a lot to the "fun."
I'll admit I'm one of the "those were the glory days" people. The B8 of today, where people don't bother to come up with more creative trolling than "u suck XFD," makes me nostalgic for Shake's antics. Shake faking his death was one of the few things I'd call "good trolling."
~ 9. Serious Business ~ Created by: Icehawk List Appearances: 8 Total Points: 45
Write up by Ed Bellis because Icehawk is a lazy good for nothing mother****er.
It's difficult to explain the appeal of Serious Business to those who've never listened to it. The concept of a podcast devoted to the social aspects of a message board created to discuss video game character popularity battles might prove baffling to some, but then you realize this is a weirdass ****ing board. And there is a lot to talk about.
In the (as of this writing) 59 episodes of SB, the hosts (always Icehawk, usually neonreaper, sometimes Ed Bellis, probably Wigs, and a bevy of guests) have interviewed a good deal of regulars, many of whom have the personalities of cardboard. We've covered BREAKING NEWS like Rusty's brain surgery, Palmer's Just-for-fun bracket, creepy Luster Soldier conversations (as if there's any other kind), Wigs's secret life with Alanna, the HeroicKrauss/TUM feud, Sess's crusade to end racism, and Pun's murder of baby raccoons with bricks. We've coined new terms, like 'playing the game' (modifying user relations in an effort to increase your e-popularity) and... I guess that's the only term but IT WAS A GOOD ONE. We've brought the board candid moments like Warning_Crazy telling his girlfriend on the air that he told the board when she gave him a handjob and that he called it a “handy.” We've laughed at Justin_Crossing. A lot. And we've talked about User of the Year maybe once or twice.
The appeal of a lot of programs relies on the personalities of those who present them. Icehawk plays the straight man, the guy who's not above insulting the guests (or his cohosts) but who has to keep the show grounded, who keeps the program running (relatively) smoothly. neon is the comic relief: on his off days he's doped up on pain meds and trying to get me to play Skype Bowling, but when he's on his game he doles out one-liners like nobody's business. Ed (that's me!) is something of a balance between the two: not as coherent as Icehawk, not as funny as neon, but a nice mixture. Wigs is there to be a punching bag. (JK <3 U WIGZ!!!) Together the SB hosts have a unique dynamic that, in the immortal words of Icehawk, “rocks some ****.”
Why SB succeeds when other podcasts/radio shows have failed has a lot to do with Icehawk himself. He's very good at keeping the episodes moving forward and structuring shows around good content. A lot of it also has to do with the particular climate of the board right now – a good bit of B8's socialization currently comes from offsite chats, and a lot of notable things happen 'behind the scenes.' The podcast thus fills a void by keeping people up to date on things they might otherwise have missed. It's also good at maintaining a relatively high level of quality; sometimes the episodes can become a trainwreck but by and large they're pretty entertaining.
But do you know the main reason Serious Business is so successful? Complete lack of competition. It's the only really successful project of its kind to stick around for more than a few episodes – RKO Radio is still very new and is on a hiatus that would put Icehawk to shame, the Show and We Came to Play cater to a completely different market, and... that's it, really. It helps to be consistently good; it helps even more to be the only game in town!
I've had loads of fun recording Serious Business; the hour-long flamefest we did recently is one of my all-time top B8 moments. It's a neat way to bring a new dimension to a message board centered around text, and the people involved are quality. We really should put together a Best of SB compilation (but that will literally never happen because it's me and Icehawk).
On the shakespeare things, they were significant in that they essentially pioneered board 8 as a drama hub which was something that stuck ever since, they got the community hooked and were some of the early things that made board 8 more than a contest discussion board, it forged a community. Granted a strange twisted community obsessing over parody alts but a community nonetheless.
The projects themselves weren't anything incredible and it probably wouldn't impress anyone to re-tell them. Although back in those days everyone was incredibly naive so the majority believed most things were as they seemed.
~ 8. The Show ~ Created by: NGamer List Appearances: 9 Total Points: 51
So The Show wins the battle of the podcasts... But only just!
Write up by NGamer.
I've been involved in quite a few Board 8 projects over the past 9 years (understatement alert, understatement alert!). I'm probably most famous for The Guru, I've spent the most time on the Board 8 wiki, lol x-stats has generated the most hits, the Chat Stats have raised the most eyebrows (except maybe BABEball... or Would You Hit It?). ...but out of everything, I'm most proud of The Show.
Season One kicked off when the last Character Battle bracket came online back in 2009, and the original intention was just for me and my co-host Ed Bellis to discuss poll results for 20 minutes or so each week. Those early episodes were "okayish," but we really found our stride as the season moved along and The Show morphed into what it is today: roughly an hour of (tightly edited!) entertaining and engaging conversation relating to the GameFAQs Contests, featuring a wide cross-section of B8ers as special guests. Ed was great, but I felt that the show took another step forward in Season Two (now with yoblazer taking up the co-host role).
So thanks to Ed and yo, thanks to our many guests over the years, and a special thank you to our loyal listeners who voted this as one of their favorite projects! And if you're NOT one of those listeners, I'll just say that The Show isn't all about being a Stathead and crunching numbers like you probably imagine. Give us a listen during Season Three (coming soon) and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!