GameFAQs Contests

Just a quick comment about the Noble Nine:

The 9 strongest characters in any given year not losing to outsiders that year is not particularly impressive.

A group of N characters who have never lost to any outsiders existing is not impressive at all (it's guaranteed to always exist!).

A group of 9 characters that we select after the matches have already taken place, who did not lose in any of the matches to outsiders, is not the least bit impressive.

A group of 9 characters, chosen 7 years ago, who still have not lost to outsiders since then- THAT is impressive. That is the concept of the Noble Nine. It has as much to do with our selecting those characters as the Noble Nine after the 2002 contest or during the 2003 contest as anything else.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

We're in the heart of Cecil's worst time, and he's still getting 49% updates.

Yeah, Cecil wins a night match, and maybe wins a 24-hour match.
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http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh293/zukiraphaera/war-sig-1.png

Because people are totally gonna vote Tails when they see this pic:

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6859/match32.png
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I honestly believe Dissidia pretty much bombed everywhere but gamefaqs, it seems like the kind of game where the FF fans on this site, of which there are many would buy it.
Also I think these are the guys who love cloud and squall and FFX, but really don't know much about FF pre-VII so i think Dissidia might have in way introduced some of the older characters to people who have mainly played VII and X.
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Shakes Fist!

Man definitely a shame this match wasn't at night.

Would've been fantastic to see Knuckles become the next Magus.
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Or in other words, in 2002/2003, we said:

These are the 9 strongest characters in the contest. We think no one else can beat them. 120 or so matches later, they still haven't lost.

You can't expand the Noble Nine to Ten or Eleven because then it becomes meaningless. You are then predicting after the fact instead of before. It's not possible for the Noble Nine to ever be broken if you're willing to keep expanding it like that.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

It also didn't bomb in the real world; it sold over a million units.
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Hello, Dexter Morgan

Actually.

I thought it was "Hey these 8 guys made the elite 8 and Crono went even with Mario".
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Oh, and the overall record of the Noble Nine against outsiders is......

Samus - 16-0
Snake - 16-0
Sonic - 15-0
Crono - 14-0
Megaman - 14-0
Sephiroth - 13-0
Link - 11-0
Mario - 10-0
Cloud - 9-0

Total: 118-0
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

From: Swarles_Barkley | Posted: 1/20/2010 4:06:59 PM | #357
It also didn't bomb in the real world; it sold over a million units.

1.8, and it would have been a lot more if people didn't pirate PSP games so easily.
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I thought it was "Hey these 8 guys made the elite 8 and Crono went even with Mario".

Well, no one really cared that much about the Noble Nine until 2004 or 2005, when we realized, hey, these 9 character we thought were strong, they're like 80-0!
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

Cloud is the weak link in the Noble Nine time to boot his ass.
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From: red sox 777 | #356
Or in other words, in 2002/2003, we said:

These are the 9 strongest characters in the contest. We think no one else can beat them. 120 or so matches later, they still haven't lost.

You can't expand the Noble Nine to Ten or Eleven because then it becomes meaningless. You are then predicting after the fact instead of before. It's not possible for the Noble Nine to ever be broken if you're willing to keep expanding it like that.

Actually, I've been arguing that it should be a top ten including Vincent since before his first match myself. Just because there were no matches yet to prove me right doesn't mean I can't expand it in my own little world. It's not Vincent's fault Ceej kept using Aeris when she's not all that popular.
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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift

From: KleenexTissue50 | #358
Actually.

I thought it was "Hey these 8 guys made the elite 8 and Crono went even with Mario".

Crono went to the final four. The two that didn't make it to the elite 8 were Sonic and Mega Man who lost to Samus and Sephiroth. Scorpion made the elite 8.
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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift

Although, at this point the concept of the Noble Nine really is on life support, as Sonic would already be a big underdog on the board against Vincent, Squall, Tifa, and Auron at least. Probably the best thing that can happen is for it to finally break this year.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

I was referring to 2003, obviously, not 2002. Noble Nine didn't exist in 2002.
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Sooo anyone worried about Ken? You know, Ryu didn't look so good last year either.
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*is Dranze*
Krahen Prophet did a fatality.

The weakest SF character performance is expected to get 60% on Wesker. Ken *should* be much, much stronger than Akuma.
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Wesker nearly went even with Sackboy last year.

I don't think Ken has anything to worry about.
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Using Wesker's old stats is probably pointless since he just got his first starring role since 2002. And probably more importantly, his first starring role since the series broke into the mainstream with RE4
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A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

(I still have Ken though)
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A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

The Noble Nine against non-Noble Niners in one-on-one matches:
(the important stats)

In 2002: 24-0
In 2003: 25-0
In 2004: 25-0
In 2005's Villain Contest: 5-0
In 2005's real contest: 20-0
In 2006: 17-0
In 2010 up to Cecil/Knuckles: 2-0
CURRENT RECORD: 118-0


The Noble Nine against non-Noble Niners in four-ways:
(assuming you can beat three people every match, including rematches)

In 2007: 84-7
In 2008: 92-4
FINAL RECORD: 176-11



COMBINED RECORD AS OF TODAY (just for looks):
294-11
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From: KleenexTissue50 | #366
I was referring to 2003, obviously, not 2002. Noble Nine didn't exist in 2002.

Even then, Crono was already a previous final four guy and had gone even with Mario twice, so it's not like he was selected without very good reason.
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"Principally I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas and so forth" - Jonathan Swift

Using Wesker's old stats is probably pointless since he just got his first starring role since 2002. And probably more importantly, his first starring role since the series broke into the mainstream with RE4

The series was actually even more mainstream when Resident Evil Playstation Triology was new and fresh.
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Ngamer64: Zylo, you're making less sense every day. KrahenProfit > Me

I'm not sure why you're getting the impression I meant that about Crono. I'm just saying that my understanding of the origins of the Noble Nine was the fact that they were the Elite Eight from 2003 + Crono.
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Okay, now I'm confused. If the Noble Nine is always going to be the Noble Nine, then it really doesn't matter if they remain perfect against outside competition, because they're always going to be the Noble Nine, right?

...Of course not. That's stupid. The idea that the concept of the Noble Nine becomes meaningless if it becomes "predicting after the fact instead of before" is completely outlandish, because it's never been about predicting; it's about results, which these Nine have put up without fail. If someone manages to beat one of the Nine, it clearly means that that character is also elite-tier. Now, as described in the article on the Noble Nine, if one of the current Nine loses, we cannot simply remove that one member, as each of the Nine has at least one win over one of the others and by turning any one of them into "outside competition", the whole thing falls apart. So subtraction is out of the question. Addition isn't, as long as it's not too outlandish. If Kirby manages to repeat his 2008 performance and beats Sonic again? Oh yeah, it's finished; Kirby's previous record means the elite tier would number at least in the high 20s, and more likely somewhere in the 40s. Even if Ganondorf beat Sonic, it would shoot up to no less than 19--probably much too high. But if it were someone like Vincent, Bowser, Tifa, or Zelda, who have all been in multiple contests and have yet to lose a 1v1 to anything short of a Noble Niner, or even someone like Squall or Yoshi that only has one non-Nine loss, which came against one of those four mentioned before? Yeah, I could see it. All of them have proven that they're not to be taken lightly, and only need the signature win to cement their top-tier status.

Unless, of course, you believe that "tires don exits", or if they do exist, that it's possible for a top-tier character to lose to a second-tier character. Which, as far as I can tell, you might believe, because when you say in one post that it's meaningless to expand it if someone outside the original Nine beats one of the Nine and then immediately turn around and flaunt those perfect records, you kind of make your position incredibly unclear. Never did I expect to end up so at odds with someone with a user name as, ahem, fine as yours. ;-|

Also, in regards to a different user's earlier claim that Tails wasn't always fodder: Face the facts. Repeated first-round exits are the mark of a fodder, and being matched up against solid midcarders in the first round is rarely something that they expose midcarders to. (Unless, of course, those midcarders are females from the Final Fantasy series. Seriously, they never seem to be able to catch a break.) Tails is, at best, hovering right around the now-outdated Vyse Fodder Line, but really...let's not kid ourselves. Tails's popularity pretty much crapped out when the Sonic games got voice acting.

I'm pretty sure the idea that those characters were special started before that, although the term Noble Nine may not have been coined until then. The Noble Nine actually were the top 9 in the 2002 stats, while they weren't in 2003, and Magus being projected to beat Sonic was made a very big deal out of.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

I also don't recall people hating on Bacondorf much for his performance in this match (though it's his SNES-sprite)

Oh, people complained about Bacondorf/Ansem. I remember people saying that was the reason CATS ended up #3 in that division.
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Also, since we're all doom-and-gloom about Sonic and the Noble Nine's being discussed, let me add to it a bit: Sonic is the only Noble Niner to lose to a non-Noble Niner in both the 2007 and 2008 contests (L-Block, Auron/Kirby) and to lose to two non-Noble Niners in the same contest (Auron/Kirby). Sonic was ALSO eliminated by a non-Noble Niner in the GameSpot contest (Bub & Bob).

Is this the year the Noble Nine officially breaks?
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Although given everything we've seen, Sonic may as well have been 9th in 2003...
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Now, as described in the article on the Noble Nine, if one of the current Nine loses, we cannot simply remove that one member, as each of the Nine has at least one win over one of the others and by turning any one of them into "outside competition", the whole thing falls apart. So subtraction is out of the question.

The problem is this was not true until Sonic > Crono in 2006. Prior to that, Sonic had never beaten a Noble Niner and so would not have caused it to implode that way. In fact, before that Snake or Megaman losing would also have failed to impact the Link, Cloud, Sephiroth, Mario, Crono, and Samus group.

Even before those matches in 2006, it was understood very well that the Noble Nine was broken if any one of its members lost, even if that member had never beaten another Noble Niner.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

Is this the year the Noble Nine officially breaks?

If Sonic somehow survives, the Noble Nine should send a big thank you note to Bacon for giving the weak link a pass without Squall, Vincent, Auron, Sora, or Tifa in his division.
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"The great GF...Bahamut."
"...GF? I...? Using my powers...It is you humans...I fear..."

Unless, of course, you believe that "tires don exits"

New favorite typo.
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T E A M C H O C O L A T E
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Man, I really really wish this had been a night time match. Cecil beating Knuckles would have been AMAZING.
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I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience

Yeah, I think we're going to greet the new decade with a Broken Nine. I WANT Sonic to pull it off against all odds and survive until Project Needlemouse gives him some strength back, but things are looking very grim for him.
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Placeholder anti-capslock sig.

If Sonic somehow survives, the Noble Nine should send a big thank you note to Bacon for giving the weak link a pass without Squall, Vincent, Auron, Sora, or Tifa in his division.

Yep. Mega Man and Crono caught big breaks in this regard, too, but Sonic especially got lucky.
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T E A M C H O C O L A T E
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If Sonic beats Ganondorf and Kirby in close matches, even if he wins, the Noble Nine will lose a lot of its prestige. Being a Noble Niner will no longer be sufficient to make you the favorite over any non-Noble Niner, which is how it has always been here, even when the stats suggested the Noble Niner would lose.

After 3 years without a 1v1 contest, the Noble Nine is a becoming a bit of an outdated concept.....unless Sonic goes and beats Ganondorf and Kirby easily, making it look like he can still beat Vincent, Squall, and company.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

From: red sox 777 | Posted: 1/20/2010 1:58:24 PM | #387
If Sonic beats Ganondorf and Kirby in close matches, even if he wins, the Noble Nine will lose a lot of its prestige. Being a Noble Niner will no longer be sufficient to make you the favorite over any non-Noble Niner, which is how it has always been here, even when the stats suggested the Noble Niner would lose.

After 3 years without a 1v1 contest, the Noble Nine is a becoming a bit of an outdated concept.....unless Sonic goes and beats Ganondorf and Kirby easily, making it look like he can still beat Vincent, Squall, and company.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry, I can buy a lot of weird things (Like Link dropping for the first time, Snake making it close with Seph without winning, Crono being back to 2k4 levels due to lower votals), but not that. Sonic's got no chance against Vincent, let alone Squall.
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From: Zylo the wolf | #374
The series was actually even more mainstream when Resident Evil Playstation Triology was new and fresh.

But Wesker's signature personality wasn't even established at that point. Wesker didn't really 'become' Wesker' until Resident Evil: Code Veronica.
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A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

Oh yeah, it definitely doesn't mean what it used to -- the only reason we care nowadays is that it still exists and it's an easy way to cover most of our strongest players.
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T E A M C H O C O L A T E
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Sonic, Mega Man, and Crono would lose to Sora and Squall. I'm sure of it. Vincent, Auron and Tifa aren't far off, either.
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The Gamer In Me
"paulg is a genius." - MajinZidane

Wow.

What a preposterously pathetic performance by Knuckles. It's like he saw how amazingly awful Sonic did and thought to himself "Hah! I can do worse!"
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Mustache...and Green...
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Where's all this Sora respect coming from? I like him and all but I haven't seen much to indicate he can take on the Crono/Sonic/MM.
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~AK~ // Merc

Sora showed he was just a step short of Squall on several occasions, and Squall=Vincent is a pretty popular conception.

If any of them drop enough they could be Sora bait
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A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

He probably can take on Sonic now. Not yet for Crono and Megaman I think, but after KHIII, he'll have a good chance.
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6 years later, Crono's quest to defeat Sephiroth -- Round 1: Missingno
'Till shade is gone, 'till water is gone, into the shadow with teeth bared....

And yeah, not to mention he's like the only reoccuring RPG character with an ongoing series and the chance to grow even more
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A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

KHIII, the game that is not even in development yet? >>
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~AK~ // Merc

I kept telling you guys but nobody listened!

Nintendo drop plus DAY MATCH = Sora > Mario
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For the record I have Wesker in my bracket not because I'm convinced he'll win, but of the fact that if he's going to win this will be the match he does it in.

Basically I'm going to keep quiet about it now and if Ken wins just let it blow over, but if Wesker does win I will happily throw it in some faces. Best of both worlds!
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And we know this isn't a general Square or even Old Square boost - hello Magus - so I'm saying it's a not-Amano-art boost (NAAB). Watch out, Arthas and Revan! NAAB is going to take you down!
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Mustache...and Green...
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