Board 8 > Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1367

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's wild because the top game in the hierarchy very rarely changes, especially when the top game is a 90s game.

But no, MGS2 has not been noticeably any better over time. Arguably 2004 was its best showing, even, so that idea is overblown anyway (much like FFVIII, which was more popular when it was more actively "hated" than it is now).

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I wasn't really talking about contest strength though.

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okay

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I wish FFVIII got matches against X or VI when it was at its peak.

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pjbasis posted...

I wish FFVIII got matches against X or VI when it was at its peak.

Yeah, it's kind of a shame we never got to see some of those big intraseries matches in their heyday. I wanted to see VI vs. X too.

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To think FFIX might be the most interesting entrant to see go up against them now! Could it beat X?

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I don't think it's there just yet. It barely beat KH1 in 2015. I think FFIX is kind of uninteresting in terms of facing other games in the series because I feel pretty confident about what games it will beat and won't beat. FFVIII is kinda there, too.

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I mean in that case the pecking order would be pretty set. I doubt X is beating VI now.

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Yeah, I know. I think X's window to win that match has closed. The tier below VIII and IX feels wide open but other than that, it might be pretty set.

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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6138-best-game-ever-day-22-round-2-final-fantasy-xii-vs-zelda
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6129-best-game-ever-day-20-round-2-super-mario-64-vs-final
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6135-best-game-ever-day-22-round-2-zelda-a-link-to-the-past-vs

Im thinking FFIV => FFT > FFXII

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XII is more likely to fumble against V than really compete against FFIV, imo.

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After Cecil lost to Crash Bandicoot I will never again underestimate FFIV's ability to lose in embarrassing fashion

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Well given that FFIV looked better in BGE2 than FFVIII and things have been consistently trending in IV's favor that means if FFIV loses to Vaan, at least VIII does too.

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Eh, it's hard to take anything away from VIII's performance in 2015 because it was in Undertale's division. I'd be surprised if IV pulled the upset there.

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Leonhart4 posted...

It's wild because the top game in the hierarchy very rarely changes, especially when the top game is a 90s game.

That's usually because the top game is on another tier relative to the other games. We see it a bit more often among series where the top games are closer to each other. Like it's pretty clear Super Mario Bros. 3 loses to Super Mario World (and possibly Super Mario 64) and I doubt anyone would take Brawl > Melee anymore (ignoring that Ultimate is more likely the strongest game in the series now). Additionally, there's a decent chance Metroid Prime was stronger than Super Metroid prior to 2015.

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MGS1 was probably stronger by a decent amount for quite a while though. Mario 3 and Mario World probably were never that far apart.

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Yeah Metal Gear Solid 1 has never been decisively on top of the series, especially when MGS3 came out. It's even possible that as early as 2009 MGS3 was stronger than MGS1 and 2015 was just past results showing up head-to-head.

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I dunno. MGS1 looked clearly better than MGS3 in 2009 to me, although it's hard to tell definitively since it got mixed in with the Pokemon run. It's also hard to imagine MGS1 struggling to get 40% on Majora's Mask back then, too.

The interesting thing in 2009 would've been to see how MGS4 would've done against it! I think you could argue it might have been #1 for a year, although I wouldn't go quite that far!

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It would be interesting to see SSBM and SSBU go up against each other in a unrallied match before SSBU starts to decline. Unfortunately, I doubt the "unrallied" part will happen even if we do get the matchup. But perhaps we get to see enough of the match before the rallies kick in.
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Melee fans are the worst

I've often said Cloud > Link 2003 is the most important result in contest history but Brawl > Melee might be #2 because Melee fans here never got over it.

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If Melee won, then Melee fans would never stop talking about it.

It was a lose-lose match

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Yeah, but if Melee goes on to win Game of the Decade, do they go all in during 2015? Maybe they do (because again, they're the worst), but it's interesting to consider.

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If an off site SSBM rally takes off against SSBU, it wouldn't surprise me if that triggers a counterrally by SSBU fans.
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Leonhart4 posted...

Yeah, but if Melee goes on to win Game of the Decade, do they go all in during 2015? Maybe they do (because again, they're the worst), but it's interesting to consider.

Uh obviously yeah. 99% of 2015 ralliers didn't care about Brawl beating Melee in GotD
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Team Rocket Elite posted...

it wouldn't surprise me if that triggers a counterrally by SSBU fans.

SSBU fans are like normal FGC fans in the way they passionately hate their game

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Mac Arrowny posted...

Uh obviously yeah. 99% of 2015 ralliers didn't care about Brawl beating Melee in GotD

The ones who were rallied didn't.

But people here started it.

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Kinda doubt MGS1 loses to RE4 in '09, but it might have.

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I was looking something up from GotD2, and for some reason my brain cannot perceive that this contest actually started just as the pandemic was starting. For some reason it felt like the last contest was way before covid

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Leonhart4 posted...

Also, I think it was the other way around. MGS2 and 4 were day matches and MGS3 was a night match because I recall people saying 3 only won because it was a night match and SotC couldn't take full advantage of its bandwagon.

Can confirm. While it was a fantastic result, MGS3 was the favorite to win it here despite the bandwagon because it was a night match.

Also, I would probably go far enough to say MGS4 was #1 for a year.

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Another random thought popped into my head while watching horror-related content: would Slenderman be eligible for a contest?

While he didn't originate from the video game, it's not like forum posts or youtube videos are widely recognized as a source for characters, and there's no doubt the game made waves in establishing him as a character. Not that I think he'd be strong; I'd peg his contest strength around Minecraft Steve's level.

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Not after Smash.

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Is the Slenderman in the games any different than the one originating in (digital) folklore? Basically could he be eligible for the same reasons Dracula/Hades/Zeus/Hitler were eligible in previous contests?

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Well, Slenderman is inconsistent within the folklore itself, so the version in the game is purely the creator's interpretation. There's no "canon" version.

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Slenderman isn't a video game character, just a character who showed up in a video game.

Are we putting Goku or Batman in the contest just because they show up in games?

FBike1 posted...

Are we putting Goku or Batman in the contest just because they show up in games?

let's hope so

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Bump
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Anyone think FF14 can parlay the Endwalker hype into a contest entrant, assuming we have a character battle next year?

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You can probably find enough people on this board willing to support someone from FF14 if you really want to see one get into a contest. I'm not sure any of them would actually be stronger than Noctus, though. Even if FF14 is GameFAQs's favourite MMORPG it is still an MMORPG.
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Yeah, FFXIV got nearly 40% on MK8, which is pretty good, but I'd be skeptical of the strength of any individual character.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8628-which-scheduled-november-release-are-you-most-looking

Endwalker is an incredibly hyped final part by FFXIV fans and it finishes 4th to SMTV, the D/P remakes, and the GTA remasters.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/8204-are-you-currently-playing-an-mmorpg

Even if you assume the second-to-last option is all FFXIV, that's only a 50% playrate at best.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6802-are-you-one-of-the-10-million-cumulative-players-of-final

In 2017, that number was only 25%

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/6872-which-final-fantasy-title-is-your-all-time-favorite

The only FFs it beat here are II, III, and XI. Granted, that's from 4 years ago and the game has garnered quite a bit of acclaim in the time since, but I'd be hesitant to expect a lot from it.

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It would also suffer from not having a nominatable protagonist. There's no single fan favorite from the rest of the cast either. Strongest might be... Y'shtola? Estinien? I dunno.
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Ive never played the game and know next to nothing about its characters but I recall a lot of hype and praise for Emet-Selch.

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who

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What about the dragon that destroyed version 1.0?

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Bahamut? I feel like Bahamut would perform reasonably well in a contest. Better than Boko did back in 2013 at least.
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I feel like people have tried to get Bahamut in before, but it hasn't materialized yet.

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FF14 fans would be the worst if they weren't so damn nice about it

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pjbasis posted...

FF14 fans would be the worst if they weren't so damn nice about it

Could any fanbase really be worse than the super racist Call of Duty fanbase?
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sorry the worst fans are deus ex fans and this topic series cannot accept any argument otherwise

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Deus Ex's fanbase isn't the worst by enough

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