Character Popularity Poll

[Ruck]

@Ruck: Yeah, let me explain my thought process more. When I realized that people would enjoy having the characters with low points involved in some way, the first thing that occurred to me was to put them all in one big poll for a wildcard slot.

But then I thought "those at the top of the wildcard rankings should get some advantage, how can I do that?" And my first thought was to break the wildcards in two groups and make the top group smaller. Fewer competitors, (although tougher) less likely to get lost in the crowd.

So that gives me two wildcards, so my next thought was "a couple of the top seeds are getting the advantage of facing a wildcard, why don't I make that seeds 2 & 3, and give the top seed an even bigger boost: a bye!"

So with seed 1 getting a bye, that leaves 15 tournament slots to fill. With the bottom 2 going to wildcards, that leaves 13 slots to fill.

Your question makes me reconsider, though: why give the top 3 seeds something special, but nothing for the 4th seed? Maybe I should split the wildcard competitors into three blocks instead of two. And if I'm changing things, I have some new ideas on how to split the wildcard field into blocks that might be more fair (and interesting!) but this is already a big wall of text, so I'll go into that next time.

Oh, I see-- you're doing a bye and two wild cards. I thought you were doing three wild cards for some reason. Yeah, I'd suggest two byes / two wild cards or four wild cards. But I like bracket symmetry.

(EDITED to quote the post and avoid needless confusion on a new page.)

[Zaclock]

I agree with your last thoughts as I intended to suggest making three qualifying spots instead of two, with no bye. The 1st seed's advantage over 2nd and 3rd could be of "playing against" the "lower-profile" qualifier. (I like how you divided the qualifying competition based on number of votes.)

[Just Some Guy]

10 Redcloak
9 Belkar
8 Malack
7 O’Chul
6 MitD
5 Vaarsuvius
4 Roy
3 Xykon
2 The Oracle
1 Greyview

[alwaysbebatman]

Hmmmm. I definitely don't like the idea of 2 byes. It takes away the drama of who will take the top spot if second place gets the exact same reward.

I was thinking of expanding to three wildcards and mixing it up so that the competitors who almost made it get the easier path: the character who almost made it competing with the bottom third, the next two taking on the middle third, and the top third competing for the last slot.

However, it sounds like 4 wildcards is a lot more popular an option than 3 wildcards and a bye. But if we do 4, I'd definitely want the Block that takes in the #1 seed NOT to be mixed but to come straight out of the bottom quarter of the wildcard competitors, to reward the #1 seed for winning.

So it would look like this:

13 Block	14 Block
Malack : 69	Celia : 58
Tsukiko : 7	Miko Miyazaki : 55
Laurin Shattersmith : 7	IFCC : 14
Gary Gygax : 7	TVFKA Durkon Thundershield : 14
Enor : 6	Kazumi Kato : 13
Greysky Cleric of Loki : 6	Julio Scoundrél : 12
Dave Arneson : 6	Gannji : 11
Ian Starshine : 4	Greyview : 11
Bloodfeast the Extremeinator : 4	CPPD Chief : 9
Zz'dtri : 4	Nale : 8
Eric Greenhilt : 4	Exarch Gontor Hamerfell : 8
	Inkyrius : 8
15 Block	16 Block
Therkla : 41	Prime Minister Jirix : 3
Beatrix "Bandana" Secundus : 36	The Oracle of the Sunken Valley : 3
Blackwing : 36	Leeky Windstaff : 3
Lien : 35	Demon Roaches : 2
Thog : 34	Jiminy (of Polearm Emorium) : 2
Right Eye : 28	Oona : 2
Mr.Scruffy : 22	Wrecan : 2
Veldrina : 22	Zhou Bo : 2
Sabine : 19	Odin : 1
Lord Hinjo : 17	Soon Kim : 1
Ho Thanh : 17	Qarr : 1

So the winner of each block would be plugged into the tournament bracket in the position that the block is named for. The weak 16 block would take on the #1 seed, etc.

@2D8HP: Nod. Get treat.

[Bob_McSurly]

Maybe in the vote to pick the wild cards, each person could be allowed to pick up to four characters to vote for (to moderate the spoiler effect).

[alwaysbebatman]

Ooh, I like that idea. Maybe four ranked votes?

Here is the top 12 through just some guy's ballot:

Rank )	Name :	Points ,	Ballots ,	Average ,	10s
1 )	Vaarsuvius :	257 ,	36 ,	7.14 ,	9
2 )	Redcloak :	256 ,	36 ,	7.11 ,	4
3 )	O-Chul :	227 ,	33 ,	6.88 ,	6
4 )	The Monster :	186 ,	28 ,	6.64 ,	7
5 )	Roy Greenhilt :	184 ,	30 ,	6.13 ,	4
6 )	Belkar Bitterleaf :	169 ,	29 ,	5.83 ,	6
7 )	Haley Starshine :	132 ,	26 ,	5.08 ,	0
8 )	Elan :	131 ,	24 ,	5.46 ,	2
9 )	Durkon Thundershield :	120 ,	23 ,	5.22 ,	2
10 )	Xykon :	115 ,	21 ,	5.48 ,	1
11 )	General Tarquin :	104 ,	20 ,	5.20 ,	0
12 )	Malack :	77 ,	13 ,	5.92 ,	3

[Elanasaurus]

Mostly going with the herd here:

10. Elan (obviously)
9. O-Chul
8. GBiS
7. Roy
6. IFCC
5. Daigo
4. Right-eye (from what I've read in the wiki)
3. V
2. Durkon
1. Tarquin

[2D8HP]

@2D8HP: Nod. Get treat.

Yum!

Only certainty in life: When icy jaws of death come, you will not have had enough treats.

[alwaysbebatman]

Elanasaurus's ballot moves Elan from 8th to 7th, no other changes to the Top 12.

Here are the Wildcard Blocks updated:

13 Block	14 Block
Lord Shojo 74	Celia 58
Tsukiko 7	Miko Miyazaki 55
Laurin Shattersmith 7	Lord Hinjo 17
Gary Gygax 7	Ho Thanh 17
Enor 6	TVFKA Durkon Thundershield 14
Greysky Cleric of Loki 6	Kazumi Kato 13
Dave Arneson 6	Julio Scoundrél 12
The Oracle of the Sunken Valley 5	Greyview 12
Daigo 5	Gannji 11
Ian Starshine 4	CPPD Chief 9
Bloodfeast the Extremeinator 4	Nale 8
Zz'dtri 4	Exarch Gontor Hamerfell 8
Eric Greenhilt 4	Inkyrius 8
15 Block	16 Block
Therkla 41	Prime Minister Jirix 3
Beatrix "Bandana" Secundus 36	Leeky Windstaff 3
Blackwing 36	Demon Roaches 2
Lien 35	Jiminy (of Polearm Emorium) 2
Thog 34	Oona 2
Right Eye 32	Wrecan 2
Mr.Scruffy 22	Zhou Bo 2
Veldrina 22	Odin 1
IFCC 20	Soon Kim 1
Sabine 19	Qarr 1

[Present 2.0]

8. GBiS

Who is that?

[Chei]

Who is that?

Great Beast in Shadow. Monster in the Dark.

Oh, and I haven't even done the thing:

10. Redcloak
9. Roy
8. Haley
7. Durkon
6. Malack
5. Elan
4. Belkar
3. Xykon
2. O-chul
1. Shojo

[littlebum2002]

Elanasaurus's ballot moves Elan from 8th to 7th, no other changes to the Top 12.

Haley moves from 7th to 8th, that's a change

[Elkad]

10. Greyview
09. Blackwing
08. Belkar
07. Vaarsuvius
06. MiTD
05. Redcloak
04. Thor
03. Haley
02. Roaches
01. Banjo

[alwaysbebatman]

Redcloak takes the lead once again:

Rank )	Name :	Points ,	Ballots ,	Average ,	10s
1 )	Redcloak :	271 ,	38 ,	7.13 ,	5
2 )	Vaarsuvius :	267 ,	38 ,	7.03 ,	9
3 )	O-Chul :	238 ,	35 ,	6.80 ,	6
4 )	Roy Greenhilt :	200 ,	32 ,	6.25 ,	4
5 )	The Monster :	200 ,	30 ,	6.67 ,	7
6 )	Belkar Bitterleaf :	181 ,	31 ,	5.84 ,	6
7 )	Elan :	146 ,	26 ,	5.62 ,	3
8 )	Haley Starshine :	143 ,	28 ,	5.11 ,	0
9 )	Durkon Thundershield :	129 ,	25 ,	5.16 ,	2
10 )	Xykon :	118 ,	22 ,	5.36 ,	1
11 )	General Tarquin :	105 ,	21 ,	5.00 ,	0
12 )	Malack :	83 ,	14 ,	5.93 ,	3

Okay, I finally have smilies for the wildcards! Here you go:

13 Block	14 Block
Lord Shojo 75	Blackwing 45
Celia 58	Therkla 41
Miko Miyazaki 55	Beatrix "Bandana" Secundus 36
Enor 6	Lien 35
Greysky Cleric of Loki 6	Thog 34
Dave Arneson 6	Right Eye 32
The Oracle of the Sunken Valley 5	Nale 8
Daigo 5	Exarch Gontor Hamerfell 8
	Inkyrius 8
	Tsukiko 7
	Laurin Shattersmith 7
	Gary Gygax 7
15 Block	16 Block
Mr.Scruffy 22	Demon Roaches 4
Veldrina 22	Ian Starshine 4
Greyview 22	Bloodfeast the Extremeinator 4
IFCC 20	Zz'dtri 4
Sabine 19	Eric Greenhilt 4
Lord Hinjo 17	Thor 4
Ho Thanh 17	Prime Minister Jirix 3
TVFKA Durkon Thundershield 14	Leeky Windstaff 3
Kazumi Kato 13	Jiminy (of Polearm Emorium) 2
Julio Scoundrél 12	Oona 2
Gannji 11	Wrecan 2
CPPD Chief 9	Zhou Bo 2
	Odin 1
	Soon Kim 1
	Qarr 1
	Banjo 1

[alwaysbebatman]

Just a reminder: on Saturday afternoon seedings will be finalized. If anyone wants their vote here to count towards seeding there are just a couple more days to do so.

Saturday afternoon, when it's been a full week, I'll post a few matchups: most likely 2 midseed matchups and 2 wildcard blocks.

So now is the time to give me any ideas you may have about the best way to run the tournament (I love to hear people's ideas) or to get in a last-minute ballot.

Keep in mind OP Present 2.0 will continue to run this popularity poll after the week is up, the only difference is that ballots will no longer count towards tourney seeding.

[Present 2.0]

Will you do the Tournament in this Thread or in another Thread?

[alwaysbebatman]

I was going to do separate threads for each contest. Unless I'd be breaking spamming rules or norms? But, yeah, definitely a new thread or four.

[Bob_McSurly]

Have you decided on a voting system for the wild cards?
I still think it would be cool to use some system other than plurality/FPTP. Like approval voting, or Borda.
And I'd be happy to run the wild card elections if you want.

[Rogan]

10: O-Chul
09: Belkar Bitterleaf
08: Vaarsuvius
07: Blackwing
06: Haley Starshine
05: IFCC
04: Redcloak
03: Elan
02: Roy
01: Lord Shojo

[Ezekiel]

@
@Ezekiel: I assume "Exarch" refers to the Dwarven cleric Gontor Hamerfell, not to the vampire, correct? Since the new creature using Gontor's body isn't Exarch of anything anymore....

I meant the vampire actually, Greg/Durkula still refers to him as the Exarch in #1017

[alwaysbebatman]

@Bob McSurley: I definitely wouldn't want one vote per person in the wildcard blocks, that only makes sense in one on one balloting.

Picking four has been suggested, but honestly I think people will have a tough time picking four in some blocks. So I'm thinking of doing something a bit more flexible.

Each voter gets 4 points for each block, that they can divide up however they choose...

Let me know what you think?

Updated Top 12:

Can you believe a first place tie? I've reworked the wildcard blocks so that Block 15 and Block 16 are equally weak, reflecting the tie. We'll see if it stays that way...

Rank )	Name :	Points ,	Ballots ,	Average ,	10s
1 )	Redcloak :	275 ,	39 ,	7.05 ,	5
1 )	Vaarsuvius :	275 ,	39 ,	7.05 ,	9
3 )	O-Chul :	248 ,	36 ,	6.89 ,	7
4 )	Roy Greenhilt :	202 ,	33 ,	6.12 ,	4
5 )	The Monster :	200 ,	30 ,	6.67 ,	7
6 )	Belkar Bitterleaf :	190 ,	32 ,	5.94 ,	6
7 )	Haley Starshine :	149 ,	29 ,	5.14 ,	0
8 )	Elan :	149 ,	27 ,	5.52 ,	3
9 )	Durkon Thundershield :	129 ,	25 ,	5.16 ,	2
10 )	Xykon :	118 ,	22 ,	5.36 ,	1
11 )	General Tarquin :	105 ,	21 ,	5.00 ,	0
12 )	Malack :	83 ,	14 ,	5.93 ,	3

13 Block	14 Block
Lord Shojo 76	Blackwing 52
Celia 58	Therkla 41
Miko Miyazaki 55	Beatrix "Bandana" Secundus 36
Sabine 19	Lien 35
Lord Hinjo 17	Thog 34
Ho Thanh 17	Right Eye 32
TVFKA Durkon Thundershield 14	IFCC 25
Kazumi Kato 13	Mr.Scruffy 22
Julio Scoundrél 12	Veldrina 22
Gannji 11	Greyview 22
15 Block	16 Block
CPPD Chief 9	TVFKA Gontor Hammerfell 8
Nale 8	Inkyrius 8
Tsukiko 7	Laurin Shattersmith 7
Enor 6	Gary Gygax 7
Greysky Cleric of Loki 6	Dave Arneson 6
The Oracle of the Sunken Valley 5	Daigo 5
Demon Roaches 4	Zz'dtri 4
Ian Starshine 4	Eric Greenhilt 4
Bloodfeast the Extremeinator 4	Thor 4
Prime Minister Jirix 3	Leeky Windstaff 3
Jiminy (of Polearm Emorium) 2	Wrecan 2
Oona 2	Zhou Bo 2
Odin 1	Qarr 1
Soon Kim 1	Banjo 1

[Potatomade]

10. O-Chul
9. Vaarsuvius
8. Belkar
7. Elan
6. Tarquin
5. Celia
4. Roy
3. Xykon
2. Lien
1. Hinjo

[alwaysbebatman]

Well! That tie didn't last long!

Rank )	Name :	Points ,	Ballots ,	Average ,	10s
1 )	Vaarsuvius :	284 ,	40 ,	7.10 ,	9
2 )	Redcloak :	273 ,	38 ,	7.05 ,	5
3 )	O-Chul :	258 ,	37 ,	6.97 ,	8
4 )	Roy Greenhilt :	206 ,	34 ,	6.06 ,	4
5 )	The Monster :	200 ,	30 ,	6.67 ,	7
6 )	Belkar Bitterleaf :	198 ,	33 ,	6.00 ,	6
7 )	Elan :	156 ,	28 ,	5.57 ,	3
8 )	Haley Starshine :	149 ,	29 ,	5.14 ,	0
9 )	Durkon Thundershield :	129 ,	25 ,	5.16 ,	2
10 )	Xykon :	121 ,	23 ,	5.26 ,	1
11 )	General Tarquin :	111 ,	22 ,	5.05 ,	0
12 )	Malack :	83 ,	14 ,	5.93 ,	3

Also: I can no longer stand by while one of the best antagonists in the story continues to be overlooked. I'm officially changing my 2 pts from Redcloak to Ancient Black Dragon !!!

13 Block	14 Block
Lord Shojo 76	Therkla 41
Celia 63	Lien 37
Miko Miyazaki 55	Beatrix "Bandana" Secundus 36
Blackwing 52	Thog 34
Enor 6	Right Eye 32
Greysky Cleric of Loki 6	Nale 8
Dave Arneson 6	TVFKA Gontor Hammerfell 8
The Oracle of the Sunken Valley 5	Inkyrius 8
Daigo 5	Tsukiko 7
	Laurin Shattersmith 7
	Gary Gygax 7
15 Block	16 Block
IFCC 25	Demon Roaches 4
Mr.Scruffy 22	Ian Starshine 4
Veldrina 22	Bloodfeast the Extremeinator 4
Greyview 22	Zz'dtri 4
Sabine 19	Eric Greenhilt 4
Lord Hinjo 18	Thor 4
Ho Thanh 17	Prime Minister Jirix 3
TVFKA Durkon Thundershield 14	Leeky Windstaff 3
Kazumi Kato 13	Jiminy (of Polearm Emorium) 2
Julio Scoundrél 12	Oona 2
Gannji 11	Wrecan 2
CPPD Chief 9	Zhou Bo 2
	Ancient Black Dragon 2
	Odin 1
	Soon Kim 1
	Qarr 1
	Banjo 1

[Don Ohnic]

10: Redcloak
9: O'Chul
8: Elan
7: Nale
6: Blackwing
5: Haley
4: Durkon
3: Roy
2: Monster in the Darkness
1: Tsukiko

[knag]

10. Tarquin
9. the Flumphs
8. Squid Thingy
7. Banjo
6. Thog
5. Elan
4. Belkar
3. the Snail
2. MitD
1. O-Chul

[Present 2.0]

Do you mean the Snail or the Snarl?

Where is Zhou Bo in the last List, alwaysbebatman?

[Sylian]

Do you mean the Snail or the Snarl?

The Snail is a character from Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales, so probably that. It is more of a character than the Snarl, anyway.

[137beth]

10: V
9: Haley
8: Roy
7: Redcloak
6: Elan
5: Belkar
4:

Spoiler: Start of Darkness

Show

Right-Eye

3: Durkon
2: Xykon
1: O-Chul

[Present 2.0]

What do you think of Tactical Voting here?

I could change my Vote, so that two Characters, that I like more than the Characters in the Places above them switch the Place with them. But I think, that would be a little bit pathetic. Especially now, when it doesn't affect who comes into the Tournament. It could also start a chain reaction, where everyone does it and it becomes impossible to keep track.

[2D8HP]

What do you think of Tactical Voting here?.....

If it means that Greyview gets more votes, as is right, true, good, and beautiful, than I support that option wholeheartedly, otherwise?

Nah.