Even though I have NO chance of winning (stupid me had to miss the first match), I just wanted to note that in the 30-match oracle challenge, look how close the "leaderboard" is:

54) Javman162 1282.65 +47.69 -65.32 44.23 (29) Final Fantasy 55.55%
55) Ngamer64 1282.63 +48.45 -65.34 44.23 (29) Final Fantasy 54.79%

.02, now the actual leaderboard is close, but not THAT close. Also, to keep suspense running for me (all I got left), I've decided to be too lazy to look and see what Ngamer's prediction is.
---
Current contest score: 58 Next: Legend of Zelda vs. Final Fantasy

From: GameBopAdv | Posted: 7/31/2006 9:11:25 PM | Message Detail
NOOOOOO!!!!!I FORGOT TO VOTE!!!

Could I please put down Zelda with 51.78? please? it was seriously what I was going to do, I just forgot. Please, It would ruin me if it didnt get counted

Sorry, but there's just no way I can count a prediction made after the start of the match.

And Ness26 didn't even bother to show? Now that's disappointing. =(
---
Nominate Aeris for SC2k6

Ness26 predicted 51.22, but it's too close to Xuxon's prediction to actually give him the victory, no matter what the final result is. Had I picked 56.56 or higher for Zelda, I could've had a shot at winning too (though it looks like I wouldn't have won, it's closer than that now).
---
Sushi, Kamikaze, Fujiyama, Nippon-Ichi...
"i love you and aiya" - An IM from Richie259. Awww.

Match #30 Results
Super Mario Bros. 46.76%
Final Fantasy 53.24%

Super Mario Bros. did surprisingly well against Final Fantasy yesterday, keeping it close in the opening hours of the poll. FF was able to raise its percentage into the respectable range during the night, but still ended up looking disappointing. There were 112 Final Fantasy predictions and 1 lonely prediction for Super Mario Bros. The consensus was Final Fantasy with 59.36% and the average score was 43.72.

Best Five Picks:
1) Luis_Sera89 - Final Fantasy 53.21% (+49.97)
2) goku z - Final Fantasy 52.95% (+49.71)
3) BeTheMan - Final Fantasy 53.90% (+49.34)
4) King Morgoth - Final Fantasy 52.50% (+49.26)
5) Big Bob - Final Fantasy 52.00% (+48.76)

Today's top predictor is Luis_Sera89, who scored an impressive 49.97 points. This is his second top 5 of the contest. Goku z has the second best prediction of the day, his third top 5 of the contest. BeTheMan places third - this is his first top five this contest, but he's had 16 before in other contests. In fourth is some guy named King Morgoth! I'm not quite sure who he is, but the stats say he's had 26 lifetime top 5s. Finally, Big Bob takes fifth, for his second top 5.

Complete Match Ranking:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SpC2k6&type=match&match=30

Current Leaderboard:
1) Xuxon - 1347.97
2) Ness26 - 1346.56
3) GoldSlime35 - 1345.85
4) TheKnightOfNee - 1343.41
5) lol_internet - 1341.62

Going into the final day of the contest, summer 2005 champion Xuxon is in first and in prime position for a repeat. Ness26 remains in second place 1.41 points behind. GoldSlime35 is in third, followed by TheKnightOfNee. lol_internet moves up one spot into fifth, bumping Z1mZum from the top five.

Full Standings:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SpC2k6&type=total&match=30

Top Team Scores:
1) Team Jay Solano - 95.93 (Team Rocket Elite: +47.24 / transience: +48.69)
2) Team 4chan party van - 95.18 (goku z: +49.71 / RX7InfinitiIII: +45.47)
3) Team We Used To Be Good? - 94.50 (Kaxon: +45.24 / King Morgoth: +49.26)
4) Team Umbrella Corporation - 93.71 (FFDragon: +43.74 / Luis_Sera89: +49.97)
5) Team Obscuretemple - 92.81 (Seginustemple: +46.46 / ObscureMammoth: +46.35)

Today Team Jay Solano once again does something the real Jay Solano can only ream about - take first place. Team 4chan party van is on a hot streak, and places second today after finishing first yesterday. Team We Used To Be Good? has a brief return to glory in third place, thanks to King Morgoth's excellent prediction for the day. Team Umbrella Corporation (FFDragon and Luis_Sera) places fourth, followed by Team Obscuretemple in fifth.

Complete Team Match Ranking:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SpC2k6&type=teammatch&match=30

Team Leaderboard:
1) Team mvp's (ps2rulezzz / basmeyer42) - 2664.92
2) Team Jigglypuff (Alanna82 / kawaiifan) - 2659.33
3) Team No Probalo! (Lagoona / Xuxon) - 2656.72
4) Team Predestined Divination (creativename / Ngamer64) - 2655.48
5) Team Happy Happyists (Camden / meche313) - 2653.35

With one day to go, Team mvp's holds on to the lead they've held since day 16 (exactly half the contest). Team Jigglypuff drops back a few points, giving them a hard job if they want to catch the mvp's today. Team No Probalo! remains in third place, followed by Team Predestined Divination in fourth and Team Happy Happyists in fifth. There were no changes on the team leaderboard today.

Complete Team Standings:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SpC2k6&type=teamtotal&match=30
---
Nominate Aeris for SC2k6

I was just looking at my prediction on your site and you don't have me down for the final match. I made this prediction on page 2 so you can check if you think I'm lying:

The Real Truth
Posted 7/30/2006 12:02:26 AM
message detail Final Fantasy with 54.55

Or are you not adding final predictions yet?
---
Kingdom Hearts killed my bracket.

No predictions for the final have been entered yet. I'll have to do those by hand after work.
---
Nominate Aeris for SC2k6

According to my rough calculations, I keep my top 5 if Zelda gets 51.04% or less.

I get 7th if its any higher than 52.46%

Or possibly 8th if it gets really high.

I'm praying for a comeback, but it looks like 5th or 6th is pretty likely.

Alright that's cool.
---
Kingdom Hearts killed my bracket.

aw great, I think I'm finally going to win something. And top 10 spot seems almost secure too.

Well done Xuxon winning 2 contests in a row (unless FF comes back of course). First one to win 2 contests.
---
190/192 points in sc2004
Jman_gamerX8 is the man, he owned me in sc2005

Ow bit early, FF is coming back...
---
190/192 points in sc2004
Jman_gamerX8 is the man, he owned me in sc2005

My perfect bracket depends on Final Fantasy... That's not good. And Board 8 was the one that made me change FF to Zelda...
---
Weird Kirby Dude - spud2002 is alive! >_>
Every fanboy war degenerates to a flame war over whether each debater likes the Halo series or not. -Android21A

*pumps fist*

God damn, forgetting to predict Zelda/Metroid cost me big time.
---
it's CJayC. He's probably been meaning to make such a feature for 5 years but hasn't gotten around to it yet. - Ulti

Wow Zelda'spercentage has dwindled.... dammit.
---
You made the universe implode, what are we supposed to say? - Smurf
I apologize. It needed to happen sometime. - Josh Hartigan

*sigh*

Bye, top 10. =(


RX7

I hope some of the people ahead of me picked Final Fantasy....

---
Happily married to Wiggumfan267 on Valentines day, 2005. "Most unusual tastes ever" - The RPGDL

Did Ness just give up the title?
Never seen anything like that....

To be honest, I wasn't looking at other people's predictions. <_<; Whoops?
---
Best. Board/Card Game. Ever Contest:
http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=171196

Damn...raising by a point for yesterday's match seems to have cost me my top 5...damnit.

Come on....fall to 51...

I wake up to find this...

The Legend of Zelda 51.5%

This is your fault, Xuxon.
---
Huh? Finger!? What the hell? -Cloud
Don’t worry. Have a nectarine. -Christopher Walken

I just realized my prediction is LoZ with 51.50%
---
I'm charming, but I dip into the Prozac now and then.
Cepastat.

Looks like I'll get 5th or 6th...the pct is falling so that helps a ton.

Watch it finish at 51.05 and I miss 5th by 0.01

Damn, this is so close to my prediction. Final Fantasy needs to gain some 0.9%.
---
Toronto Blue Jays: 57-46
Last Game: 7/28 at Oakland Athletics, Win 4-3

<.<
---
“Impossible is a word people use to make themselves feel better when they quit.” - Vyse
Currently playing: Zelda: Alttp, Donkey Kong Country, Rogue Squadron II. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, Kirby SuperStar

Phew... predictions all entered now. Time taken: 57 minutes. I'd forgotten how long it took to do this by hand. I'll say one thing about doing it that way, though, you really notice who's predicting your contest a lot more when you have to type their names in to a spreadsheet.

Check your predictions on the site, there may be errors.

Final match prediction stats:
Number of predictions: 115
Number of brand new predictors in final match: 6 (last contest: 2)
Number of Final Fantasy predictions: 49
Number of Zelda predicitons: 66

SpC2k6 prediction stats (SC2k5, SpC2k5, SC2k4, SpC2k4, SC2k3):
Total predictions: 4490 (5656, 2082, 4063, 4246, 1499)
Most predictions in a match: 167 (106, 89, 90, 86, 59)
Least predictions in a match: 113 (57, 48, 46, 51, 30)
Number of people who predicted every match: 71 (40, 39, 31, 30, 18)
Average predictions per match: 144.84 (85.70, 67.16, 64.51, 67.40, 48.35)
Unique predictors: 180 (124, 98, 105, 116, 76)

As you can see, this has been our most successful Oracle Challenge by far. Thanks to everyone who helped make it that way! We thought turnout was good in SC2k5, but we were just getting warmed up. The least predicted match in this contest (Mario/FF) got more predictions than the most predicted match in all the rest of Oracle History. This contest had more predictions than two full length contests (SC2k4 and SpC2k4), and more than twice as many as either of the other 31 match contests. This gives us a high bar for next contest, but we'll be back (soon!) so I hope you all are too!

Also, if you have any comments on the way the contest was run or suggestions for next time, now is a good time to make them.
---
Nominate Aeris for SC2k6

And with that, let me be the first (I think?) to congratulate Xuxon on his second Oracle title. Holy crap, I've got some catching up to do!
---
Nominate Aeris for SC2k6

son of a. I always thought the Oracle required luck to win. I guess not.

'grats, Xuxon.
---
NOMINATE JAY SOLANO (Operation Shadow) for 2k6!
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=8&topic=29527124

I just realized I scored 49+ points 6 times in a 10 match span. Thats insane.

I assume you guys are going to come up with random leaderboards afterwards, right? Such as most top 5s, best from round 2 on, and if we kept 45-2x

I'm oh so close to a top 10 again!

although I did beat Kawaiifan for the first time ever. (she had a worse Zelda pick than I did, and I am already ahead of her). Looks like despite the fact I never got a top 5 prediction this contest I still finish second in the team tournament. ^_^

---
Happily married to Wiggumfan267 on Valentines day, 2005. "Most unusual tastes ever" - The RPGDL

Xuxon: Just... wow. Two wins, back-to-back, in the most popular Oracle Challenges ever is impressive in the extreme.

Also, if you have any comments on the way the contest was run or suggestions for next time, now is a good time to make them.

Excellent job as always! You guys put a lot of effort into this, and it really shows. I can't wait to challenge the emerging Xuxon one-man dynasty in a month.

One suggestion: I'm not sure how much call there would be for it, but have you considered making a separate Oracle Challenge discussion/social topic during the contest? There are often little conversations going on in these topics, but they tend to get swamped in the reams of predictions and the more players we get the more that will happen.
---
Champions of Time and Space: The Summer Contest 2003 Fanfiction Project
http://crolapras.tripod.com/ffproj.html

I let Xuxon win again, just like how I let him win last Contest.

Yeah, I went there!!

(Congrats though, and thanks to Kaxon and KM, and bring back the "45-2x penalty, I miss the harshness of it!)
---
Moltar Status: Currently the property of the true Master, Z1mZum
Final July '06 Contest Score: 62 (Boo)

I cant say how happy I am that Zelda has deviated from my guess of 51.78%, which is what always happens.

Next contest I'll use better sense at the beginning.
---
I need to get a PS3 on release date in order to sell it and make enough profit to be able to afford to have a PS3. ~ jr0102

I should have won...if only I noticed that one bad pick and changed it.....

Oh well.

Congrats Xuxon.

13 of the top 15 picked Zelda.

The top 10 is pretty much set at this point, except for 5th place. I get it if Zelda hits 51.04 or less, otherwise Z1mZum gets it.

I'm hoping.

Except for me dropping out, that is.

What are the rules for picking the wrong winner, again?


RX7

45-x

Also, I'll second the idea of having a social topic for the oracle contest.
---
“Impossible is a word people use to make themselves feel better when they quit.” - Vyse
Currently playing: Zelda: Alttp, Donkey Kong Country, Rogue Squadron II. Resident Evil: Code Veronica X, Kirby SuperStar

****. That means I get... what, 43-ish? -7. Damn it all.


RX7

By my comment, I meant the he top will be the same no matter what happens in the next 2 hours.

RX7, you will finish 16th.

And to think I was first at one point. ANGER.


RX7

Oh wow, me and creative are both looking fine for today. Here's hoping for a Top Three finish for Team PD!

And great job with the Oracle again this season! The idea of a separate Oracle discussion topic is a good one for us to look into this Summer. As you've seen, I like to include my rational with my picks each night, and would certainly love to discuss them in further detail in a topic, if someone cared to hear them. Or hear more about my crazy thoughts on Ganon and Crono (*winks at Kaxon*).

The Stats topic moves too fast and is filled with too much junk these days; Oracle discussion would be a fun alternative.

---
For Your Consideration: Joanna Dark
For My Consideration: How badly Z1mZum owned me in the BSE Guru Contest!

The only bad thing about an oracle discussion would be that people might accidently post picks there. It could get slightly confusing with multiple topics.

Thanks for all the praise guys. I'm just as surprised as anyone to have won again. I figured with such a predictable contest, a 45 point average wouldn't be good enough to win. I guess it wasn't quite as predictable as I thought. Roughly on par with summer 2004, although that had the -2x, so maybe even less.

To Camden, I say the risk was worth it. It's not like it made you lose a place, and it's a single point.

And to Kaxon and King Morgoth, thanks again for running this contest. It's so fun, and I love all the stats on the site.

Unfortunately, it looks like the next contest will be going entirely through the school year for me. I'll almost certainly still play the oracle challenge, but I'm wary of letting the contest suck me in like it always has. I really wish CJayC had started everything a couple months earlier.
---
Take off every sig.

Damn, that 30 minute crash really hurt.

Only 0.07 to go!

Another contest in the books. Kaxon and KM, a wonderful job, as always. Congrats to Xuxon: two in a row is quite a feat.

A social topic would be fun. I can picture it being like the Stats topic, but without the egos.

I'm really not sure where I stand on the 45-x/45-2x debate at this point, but I don't see an immediate need to switch things up.
---
ALL YOUR VOTES ARE BELONG TO Z1mZum FOR ROCKING THE GURU WORLD

I need .02 in the final half hour....come on...

To Camden, I say the risk was worth it. It's not like it made you lose a place, and it's a single point.

Just you wait champ... I'll get lucky on that Tron Bonne/Dixie Kong match and beat you next contest!

In all seriousness though, congrats on winning two times. In a row, wasn't it? Kaxon is going to have to invent some kind of leaderboard or stat next year where individual people just try and compete with you or something.
---
Huh? Finger!? What the hell? -Cloud
Don’t worry. Have a nectarine. -Christopher Walken

Mandatory Contest-Is-Coming-To-An-End Post(s)!

Lots of things to comment on:
I just realized I scored 49+ points 6 times in a 10 match span. Thats insane.
Try 7 in 8 days ;) *cough*
You do have, for the moment, the 3rd best 10-match run this season. That's huge.

I assume you guys are going to come up with random leaderboards afterwards, right? Such as most top 5s, best from round 2 on, and if we kept 45-2x
We'll look at what we can do, I'm kinda busy these days but Kaxon and I will find a way to pull out more stats than anyone wants to hear ;)

Excellent job as always! You guys put a lot of effort into this, and it really shows.
*bows down*
(Congrats though, and thanks to Kaxon and KM, and bring back the "45-2x penalty, I miss the harshness of it!)
*bows down*
And it pains me to say this, but I'm getting used to 50-x >_>
And great job with the Oracle again this season!
*bows down*
And to Kaxon and King Morgoth, thanks again for running this contest. It's so fun, and I love all the stats on the site.
*bows down* And yay for the website! >_>
Another contest in the books. Kaxon and KM, a wonderful job, as always.
*bows down*
Now my back hurts though...


One suggestion: I'm not sure how much call there would be for it, but have you considered making a separate Oracle Challenge discussion/social topic during the contest? There are often little conversations going on in these topics, but they tend to get swamped in the reams of predictions and the more players we get the more that will happen.
-
Also, I'll second the idea of having a social topic for the oracle contest.
The idea had been floating around a bit (Ngamer was the first to come up with it I think), I actually intend to look into it more seriously this time around (and discuss it throughly with Kaxon). We didn't think it was necessary before, but with the insane participation this year and how CS&D are usually talking more about next week than today, it might be time for something new!

The idea of a separate Oracle discussion topic is a good one for us to look into this Summer. As you've seen, I like to include my rational with my picks each night, and would certainly love to discuss them in further detail in a topic, if someone cared to hear them. Or hear more about my crazy thoughts on Ganon and Crono (*winks at Kaxon*).

The Stats topic moves too fast and is filled with too much junk these days; Oracle discussion would be a fun alternative.
See, N agrees!

A social topic would be fun. I can picture it being like the Stats topic, but without the egos.
Is it bad that I laughed my ass off? =P

Unfortunately, it looks like the next contest will be going entirely through the school year for me. I'll almost certainly still play the oracle challenge, but I'm wary of letting the contest suck me in like it always has. I really wish CJayC had started everything a couple months earlier.
A full summer semester is pretty evil so I understand what you mean ;)

And I still need another post? daaaaaaaamn
---
SpC2k4 Triple Crown WINNER (Oracle, Betting, Spread Betting)
SC2k4 - 12th place

Oh yeah, forgot to give thanks to Kaxon and King Morgoth for running such a great contest. Good job guys.

Wish I didn't sit out last year. I'd be much higher on the all-time list if I hadn't.

btw, I don't think the final update has been posted yet, the tallying script on the website has already run though.

*grumbles*
I'll fix it up once it's official and I'm done with my long-ass post ;)
---
SpC2k4 Triple Crown WINNER (Oracle, Betting, Spread Betting)
SC2k4 - 12th place

son of a. I always thought the Oracle required luck to win. I guess not.

I agree! Congrats, Xuxon. Damn impressive.

And an Oracle social topic would be cool!

And I can't believe I finished in the Top 40! My goal was Top 50.

Also: my mom had so much fun doing this that she's going to join in from the beginning next time, so EXPECT HER TO ROCK THE HIZZOUSE
---
This was Ed Bellis, servant to the mighty Guru Z1mZum. Congrats, buddy!

Even though its not final... seems I'm dropping at least 4 this round as well. Overall a good first experience I think - top 30 finish, with 3 days in position 9. A few over/undershots in the last four matches accounted for a 17 spot drop.

Congrats to Xuxon on the win, or Ness26 if Zelda keeps dropping enough for him to make up the difference.

Great job Kaxon, Morgoth, on running this thing so well yet again, it was fun to get in on it this time around, I'm impressed by the quality of it all.

(As an aside, curiosity makes me ask if its possible to see the tallying script for predictions on the board, and for gathering the results and all that stuff)
---
You made the universe implode, what are we supposed to say? - Smurf
I apologize. It needed to happen sometime. - Josh Hartigan