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Next Forum Tournament XII: Proposals


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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18458
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 11:12 am Reply with quote
For those who have not participated in our official forum tournaments before, these are bracketed single elimination tournaments which have traditionally set characters, groups, or series/movie elements within a certain criterion against each other head-to-head. Discussing the relative merits of participants within the given categories is at least half the fun, but there is a long tradition of serious evaluation of merits, too. The category used and the roster of participants are both chosen by general vote unless a clear consensus exists; this is the first stage.

PAST TOURNAMENTS
These categories have been used before, so neither they nor any idea very similar to them is eligible:

Most Improved Character (Januay-May 2013)
Best First Episode (March-July 2012)
Best Rivals (June-Nov. 2011)
Coolest Character (Dec. 2010 - May 2011)
Best Supporting Character (2010)
Best Team/Organization (2009-2010)
Best Hero/Heroine (2009)
Most Clever/Intelligent Character (2008-2009)
Best Duo (2008)
Most Evil Character (2007-2008)
Crazy Character (2006-2007)
Moe Character (2005-2006)

PROPOSALS
Keep in mind the following when making formal proposals for tournament topics:

1) The topic must be broad enough that representatives could be found in a wide range of genres.
2) The topic must be capable of generating a good degree of discussion.
3) Voters must be able to evaluate participants on more than just purely subjective merits like personal preference or likes/dislikes - in other words, a topic that would be a pure popularity contest isn't feasible.

That being said, I think we're pretty close to a consensus on Best World-Building being the next topic. It seems to have a lot of support, no one (to my recollection) has said that they wouldn't participate if this topic was used, and the only objection raised so far is concern about how the topic would be evaluated - a fair objection, but an easy one to remedy. While the topic would certainly favor sci fi, fantasy, and supernatural settings, it's hardly exclusive to those, would hit shoujo and shonen titles about equally, and could result in candidates being drawn from nearly any genre. I see endless possibilities for discussion here, too. We'd certainly have no shortage of feasible candidates, either, and while I can think of several strong contenders, I cannot see any clear favorite.

As for what kind of eligibility standards might be used, here are my current thoughts:
1) "World-building" is meant to be a generic rather than specific term. As such, it could refer to a city, a country, a continent, a world, a galaxy, or even a multidimensional setting or computer game. Hell, it could even refer to a single school or building if most of the story takes place in one locale. (I'm thinking of something like the Bath House of the Gods in Spirited Away or Seiyou Academy in Dusk maiden of Amnesia.)
2) The setting must have some characteristics that are distinctive to it. These can include, but are not limited to, the following: geographical, astronomical, or structural features; geopolitical distribution; style of magic, technology, and/or spiritualism; races present; cultural aspects; architectural aspects; sociological or psychological mindset; religion; historical underpinnings; and tone.
3) The setting must be well-developed within animated content. (We'd have to decide whether support clips from affiliated omake would be allowable on this, but I'd be in favor of that.)
4) In cases where a title has more than one distinct setting, one must be chosen. Two or more settings from the same title could be nominated separately if they're all sufficiently developed. (Sword Art Online immediately comes to mind here.)
5) In cases where an entire franchise uses the same setting, that setting is used for the whole franchise. In cases where different parts of a franchise use timelines distinctly different enough to create clashing intrinsic elements (for instance, Gundam or Tenchi Muyo! titles), each different timeline constitutes a separate nomination.

Evaluation criteria would include but not be limited to the following:
1) What the setting has (or doesn't have) that makes it distinct from other settings of its type.
2) How interesting the setting is.
3) How extensively the setting is developed.
4) How smoothly the development is presented. (Info-dumping would not automatically be considered a negative on this, as there are smooth and clumsy ways to handle it.)
5) How effectively the setting establishes and maintains a sense of internal logic.
6) Evaluating world-building based on the overall merits of the series or story being told would be strictly prohibited. For instance, the hate that some people hold for the way events play out in the Fairy Dance arc of SAO should not be held against the fact that Alfheim Online is a very cool and well-developed setting.

I also did have in here "how effectively the world-building supports the story," but I think having such a criterion partly contradicts #6. I'll put it back on the list if people disagree about the potential for conflict, though.

I'll give people three days or so to mull over and propose other ideas and contemplate whether or not there's any problems with the criteria I've set down here. On Sunday I'll put it to a vote if at least one or two other contending ideas arise that are feasible and have significant support. Right now, though, my whole-hearted support is behind going with Best World-Building.
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Beltane70



Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 3972
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 12:12 pm Reply with quote
I'll second Best World-Building. With so many different types of settings in anime, I agree that it would be quite the interesting tournament. I can already think of at least half a dozen titles that I'd nominate.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 4136
Location: Ottawa, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 2:49 pm Reply with quote
While we do actually have a number of good options that have been suggested, Best World-Building has always been the frontrunner for me in the debate. I'd love to see some of the others happen but this one needs to be first.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13240
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:08 pm Reply with quote
Key wrote:
I also did have in here "how effectively the world-building supports the story," but I think having such a criterion partly contradicts #6. I'll put it back on the list if people disagree about the potential for conflict, though.


It definitely should be put back. Even if others dislike the story in question it's important for the setting to play a role in it.

As I mentioned before you have to ask "If you put the story in a completely different setting would it still work?"

For example, if you took Touma out of Academy City and put him in some regular high school, there would be no story. The plot is tied into the unique situations presented by the nature of Academy City.

On the opposite end, let's take Toradora. What's important is that the characters go to high school, but which high school doesn't really matter. I don't recall their particular school directly tying into the plot in some way.

But yeah, I'm up for this topic if that's what we go with.
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2267
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:27 pm Reply with quote
I'm cool with Best World-Building out of everything that has been mentioned.
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Tris8



Joined: 30 Oct 2009
Posts: 2114
Location: Where the rain is.
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:07 pm Reply with quote
Best World-Building isn't my first choice, but I have no doubt it will be a good tournament and it has the most support, so I'll jump on this wagon.
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7358
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:27 pm Reply with quote
I'd be curious if we could ever revisit a topic, like "most moe" because that's only exploded since 2006. Now it seems like half of any given season is going to be populated by moe.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:21 pm Reply with quote
^
Key doesn't want to do Most Moe Redux. Like, ever. So I guess we'll do Best World-building since that seems to be the topic that people are keen on, and then afterwards I might just start Most Moe Redux without Key. There's nothing stopping regular users from making their own tournament, it's just really hard work is all.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13240
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:39 pm Reply with quote
What working definition did you use for moe in that tournament anyways?
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:46 pm Reply with quote
^
I wasn't even around when the first tournament was held.

But after some searching of the tournament thread I discovered they were using the definition found in this and this.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13240
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:51 pm Reply with quote
So basically not the right one.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:20 pm Reply with quote
^
Yeah, I put less stock in that chart than I do in the notion that the Illuminati assassinated Kennedy and hired Elvis to fake the Moon landings in order to mind-control people through the fluoride in their water.
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Vaisaga



Joined: 07 Oct 2011
Posts: 13240
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:45 pm Reply with quote
Eh, it's still got the general idea right that moe can be anything an individual wants it to be.

If you only want to apply it to girls who are cute, well... What's wrong with just saying they're cute?
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:49 pm Reply with quote
Actually, the chart is pretty insistent in trying to define what is and isn't Moe.

But I was not being serious with my earlier comment, so . . . *shrugs*
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mow123



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 339
PostPosted: Fri Jun 07, 2013 1:03 am Reply with quote
Best World Building could certainly work, and I would prefer it over Most Moe again. Other workable series tournaments including Most Realistic, Coolest Anime and Biggest Mindfu***/ Most Confusing .

For character based tournament, I've been want to do something light-hearted such as Biggest Idiot , Biggest Jerk or Least Successful . Besides the most evil and crazy tournaments we have mainly focused on good traits why not get these goofballs a chance. I have a feeling that any of these would have a not commonly seen or new characters.

My biggest concern about a Best World Building tournament is what what separate a worthy entry from a strong choice. I also believe the shows selected would be skewed towards fantasy and possibly science fiction. Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Twelve Kingdoms and Moribito all come to mind with this topic, which isn't bad, but I think this choice would bring most of the shows that typically dominate these tournaments. Lastly, do we really want a topic where Tweleve Kingdoms will likely be a seed just after we had a tournament where Youko won the whole thing and several other characters from the show did well? I think its a great topic, but we may want to wait one iteration or two.
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