Not Final Fantasy IX; the character of Vivi. And not just not knowing who he is, but perhaps not knowing him well enough to vote for him just based on his character.

Eh, people like Vivi because his character evokes sympathy. Nothing like an identity crisis and questioning your very existence to get the general audience to feel sorry for you.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

See, the reason I can't stand you talking so much about this BMF nonsense is because Vivi is one of the most developed characters in the entire SERIES. You keep saying nobody will know his character when he's the first one to even see any development at all in 9, and is fleshed out more than any other Final Fantasy character to make the contest other than Cloud. And yes, Cloud is a very well developed character, if you disagree then you quite simply are a hater and nothing more, your opinion is invalid and I don't want to hear a word you have to say, period. Take his as a person who has never considered Cloud to be in the top half of his favorite FF7 character list, let alone an overall character list.
---
Not to put too fine a point on it, Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet. Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

The Black Mage Factor doesn't really apply to those who have played FF9 but to those who haven't. Yes, it's a new school FF game and this is GameFAQs, but I wouldn't expect more than around 60-65% of the GameFAQs population to have played it. After all based on the latest poll, only around 75% of GameFAQs voters have a PS2. This still leaves quite a large portion of users who have not played FF9. Of those who haven't there's at least a good size portion who can recognize a FF Bacl Mage. And of those there's a small portion who are willing to vote for a character who they recognize as a Black Mage, in this case Vivi. I believe those voters are what creativename refers to as the Black Mage Factor.

With that said, I don't agree with the idea that it has any significant impact. It just seems like a variation of "The Picture Factor". While I'm sure there are people who will vote for Vivi for the sole reason that he looks like a Black Mage I don't it causes a significant change in Vivi's ranking. It also doesn't matter much because Vivi will have it in every match he's in.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

i'll admit it. i am a person who voted for Vivi solely because he is a Black Mage. i played FFIX and i liked it a lot, but i never really cared for Vivi. he always struck me as an insecure cowardly guy, like Edward from FFIV. well, not as bad as Edward, but similar. but i like Black Mages, and he represents all Black Mages, so i would vote for him over quite a few other characters, especially Donkey Kong. so, even if it's only one person, the Black Mage Factor does exist. it may not be hugely significant, but it does exist.

---
VOTE FOR ULTROS!!! G'FHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Trivia XIV: MEATWADD SUCKS!!

only around 75% of GameFAQs voters have a PS2

Final Fantasy IX was released on the PS1. I'm sure there are plenty of people who bought the PS1 but not the PS2. Besides, ownership of a console/game doesn't mean that the voters haven't played it. After all, Panzer Dragoon Saga got more votes against GoldenEye than it had total sales.
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"Impossible is a word people use to make themselves feel better when they give up." - Vyse the Legend

Final Fantasy IX was released on the PS1. I'm sure there are plenty of people who bought the PS1 but not the PS2.

And there are plenty of people who bought a PS2 and not a PS1. It's only a rough estimate anyways.

Besides, ownership of a console/game doesn't mean that the voters haven't played it. After all, Panzer Dragoon Saga got more votes against GoldenEye than it had total sales.

That's certainly true. GameFAQs could very well have more people who have played FF9 than PS2 owners, but it doesn't strike me as a very likely possibility. I estimated that the people have played FF9 is roughly around 75% of the people who have PS2's. But as I said it's a rough estimate and doesn't exactly have a whole lot of support.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

You keep saying nobody will know his character

That is not what I am saying at all; like I said before, I think you and I are having a different conversation.

TRE got it.

And again I emphasize--"significant" is the focus here. To say that the Black Mage factor (as I defined it) was significant is a weak statement. This statement is really not saying much at all; there's no "oomph" to this proposition.

TRE mentioned the pic factor; that's tough to measure, but I think that the consensus is that in most matches it's influence is "insignificant". I believe the black mage factor in Vivi's case to be much stronger than the pic factor for general matches, for the sake of comparison. Though certainly nothing that would greatly alter Vivi's position. That is why I say that this proposition is very weak. Conversely, saying that the proposition is false is pretty strong thing to say.

It's just a question of how the population sets overlap. Logically, they overlap quite strongly; but far from perfectly. That isn't saying much.


So GameStop bought out EB games huh? Doesn't mean much to me...I always used to get GameStop confused with GameSpot.
---
In America, men flirt with women. In Shinra Midgar, Don Corneo flirts with YOU!

And there are plenty of people who bought a PS2 and not a PS1

Which doesn't stop them from playing FFIX.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

Which doesn't stop them from playing FFIX.

It's a rough estimate. The only point I was trying to make is that there are some people on GameFAQs who haven't played FF9.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

From: Phediuk | Posted: 4/18/2005 8:09:18 PM | Message Detail
Just for fun, I'm going through each member of the Noble Nine's respective series and averaging out their GameFAQs review scores. This includes only main series games; no spinoffs.

You are insane. Have fun with that, dude.

~*ST*~
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*Ulti* Lettuce Kefka is my God!!
Losers complain about doing their best. Winners go home and **** Ulti. -MasterTonberry

Well, there's no doubt about that. I'm sure there are people who've never played FFVII or OoT either. I don't see any reason to think that FFIX's sales numbers would be a hindrance.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

I don't see any reason to think that FFIX's sales numbers would be a hindrance.

I never meant to imply it was. I suppose my post was just a roundabout way of saying that there is at least one person who voted for Vivi because he resembles a Black Mage so the Black Mage Factor exist. Whether or not it's signifcant is open to interpretation.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

Well, people here have admitted as much. I just don't think it accounts for very much at all. People liking Vivi for being a black mage is different from people who don't know Vivi voting for him because he looks like a black mage. You can like somebody for whatever the reason. That doesn't really matter. I just don't think Vivi got a lot of, "Oh, I don't know who that is, but he's a black mage. I'll vote for him." If we're going to include fan votes for people who know Vivi as part of the BMF, we might as well generate a Big Sword Factor for Cloud and Link fans.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

I think Vivi's opponent had something to do with him as well. Everyone knows who Donkey Kong is, but no one votes for him.

~*ST*~
---
*Ulti* Lettuce Kefka is my God!!
Losers complain about doing their best. Winners go home and **** Ulti. -MasterTonberry

Just like Pac-Man, but that certainly didn't do Kefka any favors.
---
"Impossible is a word people use to make themselves feel better when they give up." - Vyse the Legend

You only need 50% of the voters on your match day to win a match, possibly less depending on joke-votes. Since Vivi won a match with room to spare, you know that at least 50% of the voters recognize him. Some of them just choose not to vote for him.
---
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
- Darth Vader

Thank God EB didn't buy out Gamestop... GS is one of the few placest left to acquire rare playstation games, as EB never has anything marginal PS1 in stock ever.

---
RIP: Tnote827 - 4/4/05
Fighting Illini (37-2): #2 in the nation, #1 in our hearts

Our mall has a GameStop and an EB Games.
---
O, flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! ~Mercutio

I thought Gamestop was buying out EB?

~*ST*~
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
"If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh!" -Magus Zeal

Thank God EB didn't buy out Gamestop

Don't. Misread. The Contraction.
---
O, flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! ~Mercutio

Thank God EB didn't buy out Gamestop... GS is one of the few placest left to acquire rare playstation games, as EB never has anything marginal PS1 in stock ever.

The EB in my mall usually had a pretty good selection of PS1 games - FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFT, MGS, MMX4, and lots more. Their N64 selection kinda sucked though.
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For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to refer to Gordon Freeman versus Tanner as Schrodinger's Match. -Phoenix Flattener

I put 50,000 for my tiebreaker. I haven't messed with bracket since a few minutes after it was initially released. In a mixture of the matches I'm torn in being debatable, and me wanting to be in the Top 50 led me to avoid touching it. =p

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“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

Wow, either you expect this to be the smallest tournament yet in terms of vote totals or you really disrespect Sephiroth's ability to pound Ganon's ass into the ground.
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Not to put too fine a point on it, Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet. Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

I'm defintiely expecting this to have some of the lowest vote totals we've seen in a contest.

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

1. Liquid Snake is beating Seph.

2. CATS is beating Ganondorf.
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O, flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! ~Mercutio

It would bring me undescribale pleasure to see the crap known as Sephiroth to lose to Ramirez in the first round. It's a shame that it won't happen.

Although I wouldn't mind if he lost to anyone, to be perfectly honest. So I approve him losing to Liquid Snake!

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

Good god, that guy who's compiling all the review scores is insane.

hasn't he heard of www.gamerankings.com?
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"I AM THE BLACK MAGE! I CASTS THE MAGIC SPELLS THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!" RPGE777:ChocoCid

I don't think he approves of MGS for GBC being #1.
---
O, flesh, flesh, how art thou fishified! ~Mercutio

He's compiling the GameFAQs review scores. That's a big difference between what places like IGN or GameSpot think, especially in possible relation a contest.

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“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

I'm not saying my tie-breaker (just to be a paranoid foo'), but I have it several thousand higher than HM's 50,000; Link and Cloud are guaranteed vote-getters, and Ganon and Seph haven't done too bad for themselves. Add to it being the final match (keep in mind last year's Spring Contest was the only Final in a contest yet that didn't break 100,000 votes...and it was less than 300 away from doing it) and the fact Sephiroth should pound Ganon pretty good as-is (even worse if he had somehow suffered SFF against Cloud last year, though not likely), and you'll see somebody with a higher tie-breaker than 50,000 win this contest.
---
Serious Reminder: Vote for Dr. Wily in 2k5
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the contest-hype.

I put 59876. Even if it's low, the match isn't going to be too close so the winner should have a few extra than you might expect.
---
Jon Thomson - knows nothing
Ridley's Road to Victory - Round 1 vs. (7) Diablo

wait, what?
MGS for GBC is the highest ranked game on gamerankings?
WTF?!

*goes to gamerankings.com*

O_O
WTF?!

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Ocarina of Time
Soul Calibur
Metroid Prime
Tekken 3

that's among the worst top 5 list i've ever seen.

CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 4?!?!


FFT:A over FFT?
okay, screw gamerankings.
-_-;


---
"I AM THE BLACK MAGE! I CASTS THE MAGIC SPELLS THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!" RPGE777:ChocoCid

I'm defintiely expecting this to have some of the lowest vote totals we've seen in a contest.

Sephiroth-Ganondorf won't be anywhere near the lowest though.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

I don't expect it to be the lowest match, but I also wouldn't expect it to be over 100,000 total votes. I might be wrong on that, but it's what I'm predicting. And I'm certainly not touching my bracket to update a tiebreaker. I am not trying to say that it's going to be right, but I just stuck a number in there and called it a day. It probably will not even be of use.

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“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

It probably will not even be of use.

Not with Ridley over Diablo it won't. ;)
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"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease." -- The Art of War

I don't expect it to be the lowest match, but I also wouldn't expect it to be over 100,000 total votes. I might be wrong on that, but it's what I'm predicting.

Eh, but with your tiebreaker, it's like saying the final will only have about 80000 votes. I think it'll be more than that.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

There goes my tie-breaker's usefulness too then.
---
Serious Reminder: Vote for Dr. Wily in 2k5
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the contest-hype.

You gotta put the last spring's final into perspective... It was two RPGs and a match so decisive (no matter how close it got FF7 couldn't lose) that cheating wasn't necessary, and cheating was on the outs anyway since ceej had improved his ability to catch them by a bit. So yeah, that wasn't the best finals, but this time we're tlaking about a NvS finals, and we're talking about Sephiroth here, what's the lowest a match he's been in ever scored for vote totals? C'mon, think about it, he's the 3rd biggest vote draw in the big show, he's not having an under 100k match for the finals.
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Not to put too fine a point on it, Say I'm the only bee in your bonnet. Make a little birdhouse in your soul.

Sephiroth's first two matches in SC2K2 were in the 60-70K range, but that was before the contest really picked up. Other than that, his match with Auron was his lowest, scoring just a tad above 80,000.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

My favourites bracket:

Bowser
Andross
Ocelot
Wily

Indifferent
Indifferent
Mother Brain
Liquid Snake

Indifferent
Indifferent
Bison
Ridley

Ganondorf
CATS
Robotnik
Master Hand

Bowser
Wily

Indifferent
Liquid Snake

Indifferent
Ridley

CATS
Robotnik

Bowser
Liquid
Ridley
CATS

Bowser
Ridley

Ridley
---
Jon Thomson - knows nothing
Ridley's Road to Victory - Round 1 vs. (7) Diablo

Not with Ridley over Diablo it won't. ;)

No, you see, because of that I will be ahead of all of those who might have been potential winners - or at least weed out a large number of them. It'll be the reason I won't need it, but not in a negative manner. ;)

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

Sephiroth won't exactly be in danger of losing in this finals match either. The match with the lowest total votes that Sephiroth has been in was 66191 in a battle with Crash Bandicoot. Keep in mind that a 100k vote total match isn't as easy to get as it used to be. There were only 2 in the Summer 2004 Contest. Cloud vs Samus barely made it and the other was Link vs Cloud.
---
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts..."
"All dreams are but another reality. Never forget..."

I don't care for trying to justify a random number that I threw on there. Like I said, it is unlikely that I'll ever use it.

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

I'm just joking of course.

You think Diablo will get destroyed in his first match; I think Diablo has the potential to upset the winner of Ganon/Kuja. I'm sure that the Prime Evil's true strength lies somewhere between our two extremes.
---
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease." -- The Art of War

but this time we're tlaking about a NvS finals, and we're talking about Sephiroth here,

That is not a guarantee that the match will be over 100,000 votes. Especially considering the fact that this contest will be "weaker" popularity-wise than the Summer Contest last year and that one only had what? Two or three? I remember at least two of them featured Cloud.

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

From what Mumei has been telling me, site traffic has increased since SC2K4.
---
"It feels as though the raindrops are blessing our victory." - Kuja
"I never trust a Frenchman." - Revolver Ocelot

Yeah, I knew you were kidding.

But I don't think Diablo will get flat-out destroyed, but I don't think he'll ever prove to be competition for Ridley. I'm expecting a 59 - 41 match. Diablo doesn't get blown out, but he isn't competitive either.

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

From what Mumei has been telling me, site traffic has increased since SC2K4.

I would still doubt that this contest will have the same vote totals as what we saw in SC2K4, or even the previous
Spring Contest. I mostly think that because of the fact that is is a villain contest, where the majority of these entrants are nothing but fodder.

---
“Booster has such a nice place…I miss my fortress…I miss the good old days…Toadstool screaming in terror, Mario rushing in to save her…”

Just a friend reminder: CATS and Dr. Wily both deserve your votes and support.
---
Serious Reminder: Vote for Dr. Wily in 2k5
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the contest-hype.

That means you, everyone.
---
Serious Reminder: Vote for Dr. Wily in 2k5
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the contest-hype.