'The GRCade Games Guru Competiton IX'

Parksey wrote:And obviously abolish all terrible flash games.

That. If you're going to have a round that tests actual gaming skill, it would be better if it used proper games. Didn't someone get Quake 3 working in a browser or something?

Just got caught up with everything.

A big well done to Dala. A very deserving winner and someone who's had this coming for a long time.

Team Devlin did me proud and I couldn't have hoped for a better bunch of guys to represent me so a big thanks to those guys.
Thanks once again to DML for running all of this and being so understanding when I had to pull out. He puts so much into these contests and deserves all the praise he can get.

Suffice to say I shall return to lift the crown once more. Dala's just keeping it warm for me.

Frank wrote:

Parksey wrote:And obviously abolish all terrible flash games.

That. If you're going to have a round that tests actual gaming skill, it would be better if it used proper games. Didn't someone get Quake 3 working in a browser or something?

I think flash games are suitably fit for the purpose of demonstrating gaming skill. For such a task, you need for the game to be easily and immediately accessible to everyone, and you can’t reasonably ask people to be downloading software as they might be on a family PC whose elders might not approve, or they might just be unwilling to download some random piece of kit. In addition, most flash games have the competition aspect down as they track your high scores and fast times.

For what it’s worth, I quite enjoyed the games this year. I like golf games anyway so Wonderputt was a cool take on that concept, and there are lots of very similar games to the unicorn one out there. The only one I wasn’t massively keen on was Solipskier, and that was because I sucked at it.

Whilst I remember here were my judges scores for the boardgame round -

Dark Ritual - 10
Dalagonash - 8
StayDead - 6
the-elbo - 5
Clarkman - 4
Tragic - 3
Frank - 2
Drumstick - 1
Delusibeta - 0

DML wrote:Delusibeta - 0

Seems the user voting was a bit academic, since the bottom three in DML's list turned out to be the people who got eliminated. Can we have the final scores for that round, too?

Also my two cents on some aspects of what has been said.

The teams were great. It fosters a care between contestants, and support when those contestants either go through or go out. Really improves the contest - I was unsure whether handing over the auditions to the team captains was a good idea - this turned out to be an utter success! At the start of the contest, I predicted Devlin's team would come last with Jay's team first - shows what I know!

This was a real strong year for rookies. Dark Ritual and Delusibeta are surely names to be feared in future, Frank showed excellent consistency to get through as well. Gives me lots of hope for the future, and the time when the final six or seven are all the same faces is probably the day I give up Games Guru. If I cannot keep it fresh, theres no point. It also shows how hard it is for those who have had super-consistent runs in the past to keep up that kind of form again - with Proto, Parksey and Wiper all struggling to recreate the magic. Clarkman really showed me his first showing wasn't a fluke and there is something there. Cora for me was the one guy who was rea unlucky to not go through from the teams, but I think even if Suzz had played ball - I think that still wouldn't have been enough. I would have preferred Dev's team not to win the 12th Man as well!

Last nights final had a classic GGGC moment with StayDead screwing Tragics chances. In all honesty - SD had more chance of going through by selecting the three finalists choice and hoping for a big enough score over £10,000 - but he threw it to make sure Trag didn't get there. It was a very interesting time for the twist to come out - into the hands of someone who didn't have a big chance of getting through. I also feel that although SD did get unlucky - there was a point where he had a bunch of money and I was thinking to myself 'he'll leave'. I was somewhat shocked that he stayed - and that is the decision I think that cost him as much as the bad luck - but then that was the game.

The board game task was in my eyes one of the best we have done. The contestants poured their hearts and souls into it, and although I take on board the concerns about how much of a 'gaming task' it was - I do not buy that it has no place in a GGGC. What belongs in a Games Guru tournament is flexible and up for debate, and my aim is to find passionate gamers. There is no doubt that that passion was unleashed - and it is as much a test of that as it was writing. We have done conferences, fan fiction and devices before - so I don't think it was as far removed from those as has been suggested. I gave people all the links they needed to fill in the gaps in knowledge, but these were largely ignored - and it was pretty noticable. Still overall - the task was a good one in my eyes.

Pointless was a mess up of epic degrees. The lie task was a million miles better - and did involve a fair amount of skill. It also brought something new and relevant to the tournament, and I'm always looking for a task that does this. It also revealed a lot more about the contestants, and we got to know each other better. I think it worked well.

Picture and music rounds are now a ballache because of Google. Not sure how we get round this in future.

Despite everyone saying the questions were easier this final - we had more wrong answers then ever before! Also - the first half of the final was very even with peoples guesses with no one running away with it. I think the questions were about the right level, you might know it, you might not kinda thing.

Delusibeta wrote:

DML wrote:Delusibeta - 0

Seems the user voting was a bit academic, since the bottom three in DML's list turned out to be the people who got eliminated. Can we have the final scores for that round, too?

They are at home - but Frank survived and the-elbo was eliminated instead. All the losers ended up with minus scores - with Drummy finishing ninth, yourself eighth and Zeni seventh. Frank I believe finished with 1pt, but this was still a good nine point gap ahead of Zeni.

2-3pts seperated Dark Ritual and Dala - with a roughly 13pt gap down to Staydead who edged third. SDs had the most votes out of everyone - seemed to be a 'love-hate' entry - but overall got more loves the hates.

Delusibeta wrote:the bottom three in DML's list turned out to be the people who got eliminated

I survived the board games...

DML wrote:Also my two cents on some aspects of what has been said.

The teams were great. It fosters a care between contestants, and support when those contestants either go through or go out. Really improves the contest - I was unsure whether handing over the auditions to the team captains was a good idea - this turned out to be an utter success! At the start of the contest, I predicted Devlin's team would come last with Jay's team first - shows what I know!

Devlin Supremacy!

I would have preferred Dev's team not to win the 12th Man as well!

Burn in hell Devlin hater! Dark Ritual.

Last nights final had a classic GGGC moment with StayDead screwing Tragics chances. In all honesty - SD had more chance of going through by selecting the three finalists choice and hoping for a big enough score over £10,000 - but he threw it to make sure Trag didn't get there.

I'll explain why I did that. I knew I had no chance in hell of getting a higher number as I knew the next box I'd get would most likely be one to strawberry float me over (and it did). So I went for the gamble in the hopes I could get at least some money.

there was a point where he had a bunch of money and I was thinking to myself 'he'll leave'. I was somewhat shocked that he stayed

I was going to leave, but 24,000 wasn't that much all considering and since I was getting the majority of the questions right the quickest, I thought I could maybe get some more money, but I got the worst luck when it came to box choices, then Dala stole my money anyway. I mean, I hit every single keycard other than my own, as well as the DML twist!

and that is the decision I think that cost him as much as the bad luck - but then that was the game.

It wasn't really that decision, it was Dala's box choice and then mine that cost me the game. I think Dark Ritual really got lucky that I never got anymore money boxes as I could have ousted him out of his top spot after he left so early.

The board game task was in my eyes one of the best we have done. The contestants poured their hearts and souls into it, and although I take on board the concerns about how much of a 'gaming task' it was - I do not buy that it has no place in a GGGC.

If it means anything (which it doesn't) I really enjoyed the board game task and quite simply I feel it was one of the best tasks I've ever had to do. It required knowledge and passion about the game you wanted to make and if you knew what you were doing, you got points. Look at who you gave the points too, Some of them I don't agree with, but the top three (not to toot my own horn) were clearly the ideas where the people had thought the most about how their game would work as a board game. Passion really shone through.

Anyway, it's your game so do whatever tasks you want!

Picture and music rounds are now a ballache because of Google. Not sure how we get round this in future.

Please don't do them again, they really are not enjoyable and especially your pictures round didn't really reward knowledge (in my opinion). Same goes for the Orchestrated music. Some of the pieces sounded completely different to the game and a few (if it wasn't for luck, I would never have guessed). Like that Sonic one for example.

Also - the first half of the final was very even with peoples guesses with no one running away with it.

IMO, I think the way you worked the first part of the final was pretty bad and required luck/connection more than anything. I know I got the majority of questions right first, but there must be a better way to do it like a chatbox or even mumble or something. In terms of running away with it, had I got lucky with the boxes I would have done since I got 7 questions right first

Oh, and the reason for strawberry floating over Tragic was I thought it'd make him even more depressed than he was. He was like a rabid dog last night and I wanted to make sure if I wasn't getting into the final with my last box, neither was he. If it was me and Ritual in the bottom two I probably would have picked the other box, but luckily it wasn't.

Frank wrote:

Delusibeta wrote:the bottom three in DML's list turned out to be the people who got eliminated

I survived the board games...

You have a point. Ahem.

Just read through last night properly. Tragic going insane was superb

DML wrote:The teams were great. It fosters a care between contestants, and support when those contestants either go through or go out. Really improves the contest - I was unsure whether handing over the auditions to the team captains was a good idea - this turned out to be an utter success! At the start of the contest, I predicted Devlin's team would come last with Jay's team first - shows what I know!

I would be extremely interested to know how the other two captains went about on deciding who made their team. I certainly had a strategy from the off, though I did feel rather bad about having to turn a couple of people down, and actually sent DML a PM saying words to the effect of "If you are looking for reserves or have any surprises up your sleeve with regards extra players please can you consider x as he was an unsuccessful applicant for Team Drumstick."

DML wrote:This was a real strong year for rookies. Dark Ritual and Delusibeta are surely names to be feared in future, Frank showed excellent consistency to get through as well. Gives me lots of hope for the future, and the time when the final six or seven are all the same faces is probably the day I give up Games Guru. If I cannot keep it fresh, theres no point. It also shows how hard it is for those who have had super-consistent runs in the past to keep up that kind of form again - with Proto, Parksey and Wiper all struggling to recreate the magic. Clarkman really showed me his first showing wasn't a fluke and there is something there. Cora for me was the one guy who was rea unlucky to not go through from the teams, but I think even if Suzz had played ball - I think that still wouldn't have been enough. I would have preferred Dev's team not to win the 12th Man as well!

I would definitely award my "Rookie of the Year" award to Dark Ritual - not only for his superb performance in the team stage but through the finals as well. I was very disappointed to not make a fifth successive final after the standard I set myself during the groups. Whilst I don't consider myself a particularly above average writer I think that it is probably my strongest quality in terms of this contest - every task I have won (5) has been writing based. Though after looking back on the board game task, I don't think I took the "indie" part of the description on board which proved to be fatal.

DML wrote:Picture and music rounds are now a ballache because of Google. Not sure how we get round this in future.

I would hope that given the level of effort that is put into contest from yourself and the contestants, people would be respectful enough to not use Google/YouTube or whatever if asked not to.

Overall, I would say this contest ranks up well against the contests I have seen/been part of (III – IX).

StayDead wrote:Oh, and the reason for strawberry floating over Tragic was I thought it'd make him even more depressed than he was. He was like a rabid dog last night and I wanted to make sure if I wasn't getting into the final with my last box, neither was he. If it was me and Ritual in the bottom two I probably would have picked the other box, but luckily it wasn't.

Respect.

Drumstick wrote:

Parksey wrote:This will probably be an unpopular shout, but I do think the Board Game task shouldn't really have a place in the competition.

I mean, I've played games since I was about four, but I've never touched one of those board games and don't have any interest in them. I would have been screwed if I'd have had to write about one. It's not really gaming either - it's an offshoot, like cosplay, anime and all that stuff. As it stood, it rewarded knowledge of board game mechanics and board game design, not gaming knowledge. The task itself was great; the subject matter, I feel, was too niche.

Also, I would have had The Bank Job task earlier, as I don't think such a huge element of chance should decide the winner (the "Dual" format with chips worked better, I feel). You could have answered loads of questions right, but it was all largely luck as to whether you left the vault.

It was a good task, though probably a better semi-final due to the chance elements.

And, of course, the Pointless one needs work before it reappears.

They are my only moans. Cheers to DML for running it once more. I especially like the team elements and always like to see that in the opening rounds.

More KOTH next time.

And Tragic needs shooting for his behaviour during the final, as he was acting like a petulant child.

The only thing I disagree with in this post is an immediate return of the team format. The reason it felt so refreshing this year because the last time it was integrated was in GGGC VI, some four years ago. Next year the contest should go back to its original format as by then it will have been two and a half to three years since the last time that was done. In addition, this year we saw certain individuals denied qualification due to how their team fared, i.e. Corazon is the obvious example. Whilst he didn't finish top of his group, he still outscored two or three other players who advanced, which I didn't like, but I accept as a consequence of the team based start.

StayDead wrote:Will I get remembered for being the most shafted player ever in GGGC? I had literally the worst luck in that entire thing.

As bad as your luck was, I don't think anyone will get as screwed as Jay did last year (and nor should they).

That was me and Banjo, yeah. I accept the consequences of not backing the winner(although I wouldn't have gone through on either of the other teams I could have joined due to the changing points mechanics and whatnot), but it stings like a bastard that the basic reason we couldn't challenge for third was two non-submittals from Suzz. Again, I totally accept that Suzz had a strawberry floating good reason for his non-sub in the first round but it does make me sad. I worked my balls off on my only day off that week getting the flash game scores that won me the second task.

I thought I was hedging my bets by not going in your team, figuring - correctly - you'd get enough quality players to put you through. I knew I would struggle with writing rounds and suchlike. The less I play games, the worse I do in this competition(unsurprisingly).

Also Staydead -

The forum game needs to take place on the forum is how I see it personally.

I agree with that. I do think that the Chatbox could be brought in somehow during quickfire rounds, but the essential point of a forum game is that it takes place, err, on the forum.

It was a great ride and I enjoyed my role (the role of posting CM Punk gifs and doing averagely) but DML did make a few mistakes and definitely didn't quite judge right what people want from GGGC.

People's problems with the tasks weren't the tasks themselves but their relevance. Nobody can deny the board game task was a great idea! It's all forgiveable though and I think most of it comes from DML not having done one of these for a while. Hopefully it wont be so long before the next competition.

I hope that doesn't come across as too harsh

If DML waits until next year he can do a GGGCX 10th anniversary special(first one was in 2003 IIRC) - he'll need to pull something special from his arse for that though.

Can never be bothered to take part in this, but the thread has been a fun read throughout - especially Tragic going mental last night I will say I've not been a fan of some of the tasks and elements of randomness/wacky rules being more important in deciding a "games guru" than actual gaming general knowledge.