I can actually pinpoint when it happened for me. The two week delay we had before the 2008 contest. It's not the delay itself did anything. I was still excited going into 2008, despite not liking the format, but I guess those two weeks just allowed my excitement to wear off, and it's never really come back the same way again.
This was kind of inevitable I guess. From 2008 onwards, I got more of a social life/more complicated work and school commitments (although 2006 and 2007 were still "magical" despite the influence of college on me), and I guess this ultimately meant that contests just wouldn't do as much for me. They were a cool part of my summers during high school, but they haven''t really been that way in a while. I barely even play video games anymore, so I'm sure that doesn't help matters much. And I don't like either 4 ways or 12 hour matches as a format that much, so in a lot of ways for me 2006 was the last real contest.
But from 2002-2007, man those were the times.
--
My bracket wasn't good enough to beat SuperNiceDog's in the GameFAQS Rivalry Rumble. Congrats! This is Yesmar.
From: WarThaNemesis2 | #004 When people rallied for Zelda winning Game of the Decade. Admittedly, that was a low point for the contests, especially since we decided Zelda winning was better than the actual best game ever winning.
But other than that, GotD was pretty great!
--
"So cold. I am always by your side." "There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"
I always think I'm out, and never even try that hard on my bracket. Then the first match starts and the excitement of this board sucks me right back in!
contests never had "magic" to me, I first visited B8 either by browsing board lists or via a link elsewhere on the site, I started lurking because I was in a few of Caelus' stories and kept up with them
A regular old character battle would lead to more Nintendomination than we've seen the past few years. Square has continually fallen further and further off the map, and there are no new Western characters to pose a challenge. The most viable Western characters (Kratos, Ezio, Altair) are probably weaker than they were in early 2010, and there's really no one else to threaten. Link will win again, Mario and Samus could be the #2 and 3 Noble Niners, and that Nintendo B-tier of Ganon/Zelda/Bowser/Luigi/Yoshi/the Pokemon will dominate any non-NN competition. And people will complain more.
--
Yoblazer: http://i33.tinypic.com/ml36gl_th.gif Watch and you'll see... someday I'll be... part of your world!
Also, Ezio's probably stronger now than he was in 2010, or at the very least, he wouldn't be weaker. He's had two more games since then. He only had AC2 behind him back then.
Yeah, RR was crap, but it was definitely better than nothing. I still love contests. Whether I'll ever have the hype for a match that I did Sonic/Crono, I don't know.
I wouldn't complain about Mario/Samus > Cloud and Seph, btw
It'd be a fun couple of matches/"upsets", and though I'm not really a Mario fan or Metroid fan they are far, far better than the alternative. And even if we see it coming, it still represents a big change from what we're used to.
Though Link absolutely needs to be banned like holy crap.
--
"My goal is to make this s*** cool again." - CM Punk
When people rallied for Zelda winning Game of the Decade.
The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess would've deserved it completely.
On the other hand, Majora's Mask is a horrible GOTD winner choice. Oh well, better than Brawl at least.
And...that's when these contests lost their magic for me. I have zero interest whatsoever in any of the members of the GOTD final four and IMO Brawl and Majora's Mask are horribly overrated (great games still, but yeah).
I have a good feeling I'll like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (worst game name ever, BTW) more than Brawl.
From: LeonhartFour | #021 From: XIII_rocks | #019 And even if we see it coming, it still represents a big change from what we're used to. what's the big change exactly
We've been trending toward Nintendo completely overtaking Square for 7 years now. ugh
There still hasn't been that one moment where you can say "yeah it's over". When we actually, physically see Samus > Cloud (rather than just strongly predicting it with X-Stats), I'll consider that the big change. Yes, it's been coming, yes, it's a bit predictable, but absolute confirmation of that big change at the top is still a big deal.
-- 2011 WWYD Champion I do things for money and games.
When I went to college in 2007 I kinda stopped following them. I also very much slowed down my video game playing at that point, and the more new characters I didn't know were in the contests, the less of a crap I gave about them.
--
How should I put it? Life is like video footage. Hard to edit. Directors, they never understood it.
Yeah, I know it's a different format and all, but man, what a depressing result.
From: Mershaaay | #025 4-ways, and whatever first signaled Nintendomination (probably best series ever or GOTD-- whichever came first) 2005 when Mario started dominating out of nowhere was when it began.
--
"Stay with me until the end. Please." "Not until the end. Always."
Yeah, I know it's a different format and all, but man, what a depressing result. a) yeah, if it's not 1v1 characters it doesn't count as that "watershed moment" (I guess) that I'm talking about b) lmao that may literally be the best result in contest history. Certainly top 5, not sure anything will beat Sonic/Crono 06 for sheer magnificence though
--
"I wish I was French." - blindhobo13 "I don't think you know what "French" means." - As I Desire
I don't know what years. But I remember liking the first 2 or 3 regular character contests. I liked the game contest that Starcraft tore through. Then it seemed pretty "meh" for a while, outside of a few interesting entries. I liked L-Block winning. I liked MissingNo winning. I liked Mudkip winning. That was about it. It's boring now. I don't even nominate or vote in them anymore.
From: LeonhartFour | #040 FF losing to overrated Pokemon tripe
no thanks FF could never lose to anything more overrated than itself
I mean I could actually accept Pokemon is overrated, but I'd still be in the right because of just how overrated FF7 is. You don't call the opponent of something Final Fantasy-related overrated and get off scot-free.
the contests have been pretty "meh" as of late. I'd say 02 to about 05 was the golden age, with the silver age from about 06 to 08.
I do feel though the contests have gotten worse mainly due to how the internet has evolved, and not necessarily that they have "just gotten stale" or something