Slowflake, your examples involve distance between the matches.

Cloud/Seph happened two days after Cloud beat Link and ripped everyone's rather good brackets to shreds.

~*ST*~
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
Currently Playing: Fire Emblem 8, Advance Wars 2, We <3 Katamari

Indeed, characters aren't joined by the hip. There's also the remote possibility that Sephiroth overperformed against Link just like he supposedly did back in 2K2...

Also, I flat out guarantee that Sephiroth/Cloud 2K3 went exactly as it should've been. Just look at the x-stats, and how they predicted matches the next year. 2K2 and 2K4 certainly didn't predict next year's matches like 2K3 did, and 2K3 did it by pairing up almost ANY combination of divisions. Heck, even using stats from back in 2K2, and using them in conjunction with how all the matches went so far in SC2K3, Cloud/Seph went exactly as it was supposed to. (Just ask creativename, who predicted it accurately way back at the time)

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

Actually, factoring in a Sephiroth overperformance would make Cloud and Link look better...and I think it wouldn't be too unreasonable to think that Cloud and Link both increased a couple points from last year.

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

No wait, I figured the whole shebang wrong.

Still, there's no apparent reason as to why it happened in 2002, and I have no idea why it should happen again three years later.
---
I took a test today, at the free clinic for Hepatitis. Kicked ass too, got an A, two Bs, and a C. -Rezzman

15 Stationery__Man 204 ---

Woohoo!

I did pretty damn well this time 'round.
---
MARIO WINS SUMMER 2005 TOURNAMENT.
Jman_gamerX8, Lord of all Gurus. Well done!

funny how cloud did not win a single match this year
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

Better him than Link, I say.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

*sigh* It seems there are people out there that still would pick Magus to beat considerably stronger opponents. So much for picking Sora over Alucard because of overcompensation.
---
I took a test today, at the free clinic for Hepatitis. Kicked ass too, got an A, two Bs, and a C. -Rezzman

If a Magus/Kefka match were to ever occur, I would expect bracket-attempts to be at an all-time low due to people refusing to pick against either character.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

I actually doubt it'd have an effect, though I do expect a lot of people to get that match very wrong. Seriously, people would probably just pick Kefka and be done with it.
---
Jman_gamerX8 teamed up with Mario to kick my ass!

FYI, here's how the after-school vote has gone in today's poll (since, ya know, it's Halo and all)...


With Peter Jackson producing the Halo movie, are you interested in seeing it?

At 11:55 AM (GameFAQs-time):
Absoutely, with or without him 22.16% 7369
Yes, now it sounds good 17.49% 5815
Maybe, I'm still not sold 30.05% 9992
No, I hated Lord of the Rings 3.05% 1015
No, I just have no interest in it 27.25% 9063
TOTAL VOTES 33254

At 6:30 PM (GameFAQs-time):
Absoutely, with or without him 24.16% 14955
Yes, now it sounds good 17.42% 10786
Maybe, I'm still not sold 29.17% 18060
No, I hated Lord of the Rings 2.99% 1854
No, I just have no interest in it 26.25% 16254
TOTAL VOTES 61909

Between 11:55 AM and 6:30 PM (GameFAQs-time):
Absoutely, with or without him 26.47% 7586
Yes, now it sounds good 17.35% 4971
Maybe, I'm still not sold 28.16% 8068
No, I hated Lord of the Rings 2.93% 839
No, I just have no interest in it 25.1% 7191
TOTAL VOTES 28655


...again, Halo excels in the after-school vote, game or otherwise. Comparing the just-over-6-1/2 hours of after-school vote with the votes it was getting in its first half (save for five minutes), the absolutely-option drew in an extra 4.31%, and the no-interest-option dropped 2.15% too. So, not only does the after-school vote show it more love and less hate than other times, it also shows more love than hate (26.47 > 25.1). On top of that, the after-school vote shows less flip-flopping, too (1.89% less picked the maybe-option during after-school hours). What's kind of weird though is that, although the hated-LotR option went down .12% during after-school hours, people thinking it now sounded good due to Peter Jackson went down .14%.

Thought I'd throw it out there.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

Heh, it was sarcasm more than anything Chichiri.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

How does between 11:55 and 6:30 have less total votes than at exactly 11:55?
---
MARIO WINS SUMMER 2005 TOURNAMENT.
Jman_gamerX8, Lord of all Gurus. Well done!

I separated the votes that were cast between those times into its own section.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

Hi. I made this bracket for 2005, where I re-arranged everyone's placement in the bracket but kept everyone's seeds the same. I think this is perhaps even harder to predict than the 2005 bracket, mostly because there are whole divisions of midcarders and half the Noble Nine is in the first half of the bracket. (Any bracket where Rikku and Zidane have good shots at getting to the Sweet Sixteen while either Yoshi or Knuckles lose in the first round isn't going to be fair.)

I tried predicting it as I would have before the contest, and as I would now. Naturally, some things were a little bit different.

So, here it is. I had fun making it, that's for sure.

---

Mushroom Division:
1. Mario
8. Yuri Hyuga
4. Riku
5. Carl Johnson
3. Kefka
6. Chun Li
2. Lloyd Irving
7. Rikku

20XX Division:
1. Mega Man
8. Cecil
4. Gordon Freeman
5. King of All Cosmos
3. Tifa Lockheart
6. Ryu Hayabusa
2. Sora
7. Pac-Man

Chaos Division
1. Sonic the Hedgehog
8. Conker
4. Kratos Aurion
5. Sam Fisher
3. Kratos (God of War)
6. Tommy Vercetti
2. Revolver Ocelot
7. Zidane

Gear Division
1. Solid Snake
8. CATS
4. Donkey Kong
5. Vincent Valentine
3. Ganondorf
6. Vyse
2. Luigi
7. Albert Wesker

Dream Division
1. Kirby
8. Manny Calavera
4. Sarah Kerrigan
5. Zelda
3. Yoshi
6. Knuckles the Echidna
2. Auron
7. Agent 47

Devil Division
1. Dante
8. Jin Kazama
4. Vivi
5. Frog
3. Magus
6. Alucard
2. Ryu
7. Big Boss

Flood Division
1. Master Chief
8. Terra
4. Tidus
5. Leon Kennedy
3. Bowser
6. Laharl
2. Squall Leonhart
7. KOS-MOS

Zebes Division
1. Samus Aran
8. Joanna Dark
4. Ness
5. Diablo
3. Zero
6. Yuna
2. Crono
7. Geno

---
Because I figured out how to make a username with spaces.

i know it's the off season but can i start the next stats topic now?
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

The off-season is too slow to make one yet.
---
So, if someone says "Who are The Patriots?" people will be able to answer "Oakland"? ~paperwarrior
Jman_gamerX8 + me + Guru Contest = PWNED!

oh right. and i really can't see this topic reaching 500 for another day or two anyway.
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

I figure, with this being off-season and all, anytime once we hit about 425 posts should be good to make the next topic; it's hard to tell when a big active debate is about to go down sometimes. Seeing how we're right around 425, I wouldn't have a problem if the topic was made now or not.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

in that case i'll make it in about an hour unless someone else makes one.
but man i wonder how long it will take for the last contest to be forgotten.
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

No sense in waiting an hour. If you want to do it now, by all means go ahead. A new stats topic now isn't going to hurt anyone.
---
MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

It hurts me.

Although I'm probably just looking for something to complain about right now because I am incredibly bored.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

i feel so hurt at being called an impostor
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

Well, at least you're not an "imposter" like in Tales of Symphonia.

You'd figure they could figure out that they were misspelling the word eventually after using it so many times, but nooooo.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

From: voltch | Posted: 10/6/2005 2:17:44 PM | Message Detail | #417
i know it's the off season but can i start the next stats topic now?

No.

~*ST*~
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
Currently Playing: Fire Emblem 8, Advance Wars 2, We <3 Katamari

From: LeonhartForever | Posted: 10/6/2005 4:10:08 PM | Message Detail | #425
Well, at least you're not an "imposter" like in Tales of Symphonia.

You'd figure they could figure out that they were misspelling the word eventually after using it so many times, but nooooo.

Do explain.

~*ST*~
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
Currently Playing: Fire Emblem 8, Advance Wars 2, We <3 Katamari

tss alright i don't mind anything really i ain't complaining at any rate though.
---
Nominate CATS,Jay Solano,Weedle and Ifnkovhgroghprm for sc2k6

What do I need to explain? Tales of Symphonia repeatedly spells the word as "imposter," which is clearly wrong. Of course, I'm an English major, so of course this bothers me.

If you're wondering who the so-called "imposters" are, then it's that group...

*TOS SPOILERS, JUST IN CASE*


...who pretend to be the Chosen's group and take advantage of people to get nice treasures.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

Wow, I've always spelled it imposter and never noticed it was wrong.

~*ST*~
---
Winner of the Spring 2004 "Best. Game. Ever." Contest
Currently Playing: Fire Emblem 8, Advance Wars 2, We <3 Katamari

Such are the ways of the video game generation. Nobody is invalidated, but nobody is right.

...Wait, that's something else entirely.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

I'm pretty sure that both spellings are considered correct.
---
There is only one war of the brood!

I'm pretty sure "imposter" is incorrect.

Well, I'm in a library, so I'll check.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

Hmmm...I'm puzzled as to how "imposter" is considered correct because all other related words use -"or" and never consider "-er" correct.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

Wait, it's impostor with an O? Never would've guessed.

On the topic of ToS, there's a "your" that took the place of a "you're", as well... though I'll be damned if I find out where that is.
---
I took a test today, at the free clinic for Hepatitis. Kicked ass too, got an A, two Bs, and a C. -Rezzman

Before Contest.

Mushroom Division:
1. Mario
4. Riku
6. Chun Li
7. Rikku

Mario
Chun Li

Mario

20XX Division:
1. Mega Man
4. Gordon Freeman ;_; (Luckily, Ceej would never put us in this position.
3. Tifa Lockheart
2. Sora

Mega Man
Tifa

Mega Man

Chaos Division
1. Sonic the Hedgehog
4. Kratos Aurion
3. Kratos (God of War)
7. Zidane (Bias)

Sonic
Zidane

Sonic

Gear Division
1. Solid Snake
5. Vincent Valentine
3. Ganondorf
2. Luigi

Solid Snake (complete toss-up, I figured Vincent would be right there with Ganondorf and Bowser, and I took Bowser in the upset. I don't care for Vincent though, so that would have been the deciding factor. I could live with Bowser messing up my bracket. I couldn't live with Vincent doing as so)
Ganondorf

Ganondorf

Dream Division
1. Kirby
5. Zelda
6. Knuckles the Echidna
2. Auron

Zelda
Auron

Auron

Devil Division
1. Dante
4. Vivi
3. Magus
2. Ryu

Dante
Ryu

Ryu

Flood Division
1. Master Chief
4. Tidus
3. Bowser
2. Squall Leonhart

Master Chief
Bowser

Bowser

Zebes Division
1. Samus Aran
5. Diablo
3. Zero
2. Crono

Samus
Crono

Samus

Mario > Mega Man
Sonic > Ganondorf
Ryu > Auron (Ryu or Auron in the final four????)
Samus > Bowser

Mario
Samus

Samus

Now:

Mushroom Division: I'd take Rikku over Chun-Li. Rikku impressed me.

Chaos Division: Kratos over Zidane.

Gear Division: Solid Snake over Ganondorf. At least until TP. And of course I'd take Mario over Samus.
---
MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

You'd figure they could figure out that they were misspelling the word eventually after using it so many times, but nooooo.

I've been spelling it "imposter" for as long as I can remember. Apparently, both spellings are accepted. Just checked dictionary.com and Word accepts it. Haven't checked any other sources.
---
MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

Well, the first entry is always the most correct in a dictionary, the second is just there to appease the people who can't/won't spell properly.
---
Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.
Congrats to Jman, for knowing that on GameFAQs, men are always > women.

It doesn't really matter which is more correct if they're both correct though. Regardless, I never knew it could be spelled as impostor, heh.
---
Much like priest-sex, Jman_gamerX8 molested gurus by the hundreds.
Congrats, for your dominance has now been compared to priest-sex.

You guys need to realize that the common people decide what's spelled right and what's not...not the English professors. Language evolves, ya know...things have been grammatically incorrect in the past and are encouraged today.

Cecil vs. Vyse...who wins? Also, assume Cecil doesn't have his SC2K5 picture, and not his Amano Paladin picture, either...

Another thing to think about: if CATS had an Eggplants picture in a future match, would he perform closer to his 2K2/2K3/2K4 levels or more like this year?

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

Funny thing... I see you would have taken Ganon over Snake, but I'd have not... even after taking Bowser to beat him. Taking into consideration bias, the fact that it's wouldn't really be an upset among my peers, general distrust of his performance on Seph and MGS3 I'm pretty sure I'd have taken Snake to win over Ganon.
---
Jman_gamerX8 teamed up with Mario to kick my ass!

Deep down, I would figure that Snake would win... but the upset would have been too tempting to take. Bowser was even more so, since I'm actually a huge Bowser fan.

With both matches, I EXPECT Snake to win. I'd just be pulling for the upset. I trust Ganondorf's performance in the Spring the same way that I trust Bowser's. I think it Seph's fault, but that's another issue entirely.

As for Snake? I don't think his "boost" was all from MGS3. I saw flags last year with his performance against Mega Man. I just decided to use last year to kick him while he was down. Snake may have been slightly weaker last year, as his match against Knuckles showed, but I don't think he was as weak as his match against Mega Man indicated. That face-blasted pic against Mega Man was absolutely horrible for him. I think he could have done 1-2% better against Mega Man... probably in the 45% range tops.
---
MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

"I think it Seph's fault,"

Almost all the evidence points to the contrary. If you ignore Ganon (and only Ganon) every thing looks right. The reason it looks like Seph dropped any (which he didnt) was because there were too few repeaters in there to do a proper LSE. If say Bowser and Ganon take large leaps forward in actual strength it makes Seph look weaker. If we assumed Ganon = Bowser, put LS back in and took into consideration the fact that CATS looks legitimately stronger then you probably get a much more accurate read on Sephiroth. If a few more repeat apperances (for stable characters) were made in that contest I bet things would have lined up a lot better.
---
Jman_gamerX8 teamed up with Mario to kick my ass!

Regardless, I never knew it could be spelled as impostor, heh.

More like it's how it should be spelled. It's just one of those things that eventually becomes a part of language, regardless of correctness because it's so commonly used.
---
Raiden: "They said you were dead."
Snake: "No, not me. There are still too many things I need to do."

If you ignore Ganon (and only Ganon) every thing looks right.

No, it doesn't. The Sephiroth that faced Bowser and Ganondorf four months ago was considerably weaker than the Sephiroth that faced Mario and Link a few weeks ago; going through Seph/Mario/Snake/Bowser and comparing that to Seph/Bowser should be proof enough of that. I don't know exactly where Seph was in the Spring or where he is now, but I think it's safe to say that he's pretty close to BL now, like he was in 2k3, and that Ganondorf/Bowser aren't close to 40% on BL.
---
Congrats to Jman_gamerX8, who pwned all the Gurus in SC2k5!

Incidentally, doing Spring least squares assuming Bowser=Ganondorf=35%BL and CATS=17%BL give 44.30%BL for Sephiroth, compared to the 49.08%BL that's my best estimate for SC2k5.
---
Congrats to Jman_gamerX8, who pwned all the Gurus in SC2k5!

When can we change our sigs back to normal?
---
Nominate Fox McCloud for 2006! And support Yoshi!
I got smoked by Jman_gamerX8 in the guru contest! Congrats!

I think it's 2 weeks after the contest.
---
Congrats to Jman_gamerX8 for winning the Guru Contest.

Ok. When is that exactly, I'm too lazy to check.

The contest ended 1 week, 6 days, and 21.5 hours ago.
---
Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.
Congrats to Jman, for knowing that on GameFAQs, men are always > women.