Hi everyone,

As you may know for the past four years I've been doing a knockout game on this forum to decide what the forum's favourite character is. If you want to take part it's very simple to play - go here - Thread 174823

But there is a certain staleness in the game to be frank. Initially we chose 9 characters from 15 FF games (FF1 to FF14, and FF Tactics too), totalling 135 characters. This was to keep the characters chosen from each game to be balanced, and to give all games and all chararcters a fair chance of winning the game.

But... let's be honest. Certain games are more popular than others. While I approve of fairness I also want to make this game better if I can. So, what I've decided, is to cut the 15 characters who have accumulated the least amount of points over the past four games.

And to replace them, is one different character from each of the games we're using. Sure, this will mean certain games in the series will have more representives but I also think it's for the better of the game going forward.

So, what are the fifteen characters being removed from next year's game? Here they are, and the total points they accumulated over the past four years (not much):

Sarah (I) - 2 points
Minwu (II) - 4 points
Alus (III) - 5 points
Cloud of Darkness (III) - 5 points
Doga (III) - 5 points
Bartz (V) - 4 points
Tenzen (XI) - 5 points
Barthandelus (XIII) - 6 points
Cid (XIII) - 3 points
Snow (XIII) - 5 points
Emerick (XIV) - 5 points
Gaius (XIV) - 4 points
Travanchet (XIV) - 5 points
Zulvaan (XIV) - 6 points (Enkidoh informed me that Zulvaan and Gaius are the same character anyway, so it's a duplicate)
Meliadoul (Tactics) - 4 points

So FF14 has the most casualties, with four players leaving the competition. But of course, one different character will be brought in to replace one. So in the end, there will be 6 characters from FF14 in next years game.

There's a few characters here that I'm quite gutted to say goodbye to. Bartz, the main character from FF5, just wasn't popular enough in this competition. He's quite a good character actually, a little bland, but nothing wrong with him. And Barthandelus in my opinion is one of the best FF villains ever created. I love him, but not everyone agrees, and having only got 6 points in four years it's not good enough. I could go on but you get the picture.

So, what this thread is going to establish is who will replace these 15 characters. What I'll do is suggest three characters from each of the 15 games to replace them, and your job is to either:

a) Choose your favourite of those three
b) Choose a different representative from the games, or
c) Debate with other forum members about what to do going forward - if you agree or disagree with the characters, or my decision with what I'm doing with the game.

Next year FF15 will be coming out (all being well!). So next year the game will change again anyway, but we'll address that when it happens.

So, here's my suggestions about replacements, either choose your favourite or suggest an alternative! :)

FF1
Kraken
King of Cornelia
Prince of Elfheim

FF2
Leila
Scott
Hilda

FF3
Cid
Gutsco
Hein

FF4
Yang
Edge
FuSoYa

FF5
Boko
Mid
Syldra
Ghido (as suggested by feralanima)

FF6
Sabin
Cyan
Gau

FF7
Red XIII
Reno
Yuffie

FF8
Ultimecia
Cid
Ellone

FF9
Baku
Eiko
Amarant
Stiltzkin (as suggested by Szczepan)

FF10
Cid
Yunalesca
Brother

FF11
Eald'narche
Lilisette
Naja Salaheem

FF12
Ba'Gamnan
Vossler
Montblanc

FF13
Jihl
Nora
Yaag Rosch
Dajh (as suggested by Sheechiibii)

FF14
Hydaelyn
Lahabrea
Cid nan Garlond

FF Tactics
Alma
Wiegraf
Zalbag

Well I'll start, here's the characters I choose to replace the fifteen characters being removed from the game going forward:

FF1 - Kraken
FF2 - Scott
FF3 - Cid
FF4 - Yang
FF5 - Boko
FF6 - Sabin
FF7 - Reno
FF8 - Cid
FF9 - Baku
FF10 - Brother
FF11 - Lilisette
FF12 - Ba'Gamnan
FF13 - Jihl
FF14 - Hydaelyn
FF Tactics - Wiegraf

FF2 - Leila ( I haven't actually played this game and have no idea who she is, but she has my name so I wanted to vote for her for no other reason than that :P )
FF7 - Reno
FF8 - Ultimecia
FF9 - Amarant
FF10 - Brother
FF12 - Montblanc (I don't know if Gabranth is already in the game, if not I'd vote for him)
FF13 - Jihl ( like Gabranth, I'd vote for Dajh if he's not in the game already)

Annnd shamefully those are all the games I've played so I can't really vote on any others (other than 2 for having a name share). I think this is a really good idea though, because sometimes early in the competition it's really obvious which characters will win because like you said, many games and characters are just far more popular than others.

FF2 - Leila ( I haven't actually played this game and have no idea who she is, but she has my name so I wanted to vote for her for no other reason than that :P )
FF7 - Reno
FF8 - Ultimecia
FF9 - Amarant
FF10 - Brother
FF12 - Montblanc (I don't know if Gabranth is already in the game, if not I'd vote for him)
FF13 - Jihl ( like Gabranth, I'd vote for Dajh if he's not in the game already)

Annnd shamefully those are all the games I've played so I can't really vote on any others (other than 2 for having a name share). I think this is a really good idea though, because sometimes early in the competition it's really obvious which characters will win because like you said, many games and characters are just far more popular than others.

Any feedback is great, so thank you very much, I'll include Dajh into the list (Gabranth is already in the game) :)

FFI
Kraken

FFII
Leila

FFIII
Cid

FFIV
Fu So Ya

FFV
Boko

FFVI
Sabin

FFVII
Red XIII (Nanaki)

FFVIII
Ellone

FFIX
Amarant

FFX
Cid

FFXI
Naja Salaheem

FFXII
Montblanc

FFXIII
Yaag Rosch

FFXIV
Lahabrea

FF Tactics
Alma

One thing which really aggravates me about this, is that there is next to zero (or at least a incredibly low percentage rate) of any character from XI and XIV ever getting into the top five, because hardly anyone has played them for whatever reasons (most I�ve seen, is : I�m not paying to play a game I�ve paid full price for). I could continue, but I won�t as it�ll turn into a derogative and abusive rant.

One thing which really aggravates me about this, is that there is next to zero (or at least a incredibly low percentage rate) of any character from XI and XIV ever getting into the top five, because hardly anyone has played them for whatever reasons (most I’ve seen, is : I’m not paying to play a game I’ve paid full price for). I could continue, but I won’t as it’ll turn into a derogative and abusive rant.

Thanks for your feedback, and I do agree, I do wish that we could somehow keep the balance right but I also want to move the game forward. One thing is for sure is that I'll not be ever discrediting FF11 and FF14 characters completely at any point in the future, I'll probably set a cap if it ever came down to it :)

FF1
Kraken


FF2
Leila

FF3
Cid

FF4
Edge

FF5
Boko

FF6
Sabin

FF7
Nanaki (hardest choice of all)

FF8
Fujin

FF9
Stiltzkin

FF10
Yunalesca

FF11
Lilisette (haven't played but I like her design - elf redhead :3)

FF12
Montblanc

FF13
Jihl

FF14
Lahabrea

FF Tactics
Delita

Thanks Szczepan, much appreciated, added Stiltzkin to the list as well :)

FFI - Kraken
FFII - Hilda
FFIII - Cid
FFIV - Yang
FFV - Ghido - I don't recall him being in the knockout. If Ghido already is in, then Boko.
FFVI - Cyan
FFVII - Red XIII
FFVIII - Ellone
FFIX - Stiltzkin
FFX - Yunalesca
FFXI - Lilisette
FFXII - Montblanc
FFXIII - Jihl
FFXIV - Cid nan Garlond
FF Tactics - Alma

Thanks everyone. Anyone else want to contribute? When this year's game ends I'll announce the 15 new characters to replace the old 15 for next year's game! :)

FF1
Prince of Elfheim

FF2
Hilda

FF3
Cid

FF4
Yang

FF5
Ghido

FF6
Cyan

FF7
Red XIII

FF8
Cid

FF9
Stiltzkin

FF10
Yunalesca

FF11
Naja Salaheem

FF12
Montblanc

FF13
Jihl

FF14
Lahabrea

FF Tactics
Zalbag

Thanks arthurgolden :)

Okay, after the final I'll be revealing the thirteen new characters to join next year's game! Will announce on the other thread and on here. If you want to have a say on the future of this game please reply! :)

I propose that in next year's tournament... the top two characters from each game (as well as the overall winner) be omitted from the challenge. They've had their time in the sun, allow the others a chance to get out.

I propose that in next year's tournament... the top two characters from each game (as well as the overall winner) be omitted from the challenge. They've had their time in the sun, allow the others a chance to get out.

It's an interesting idea, but personally I like the idea of keeping our favourite in the game, hence the removing of the "less popular" characters in favour of fresh new ones.

What's anyone elses take on Darth Revan's idea? :)

Yeah, although it annoys me how Vivi is probably going to win again (even though I voted for him). I think it's better to have the favourites in the race, because I think many people would lose interest if there were very few of their favourite characters in the competition.

I think with Vivi inevitably winning for the third year running it does open up a case for removing or seperating the popular characters in the future, but I just feel with the addition of 15 new characters next year it makes the whole game a heck of a lot more interesting.

Put it this way, with some people getting "fed up" of Vivi winning another year I just can't see him winning for a fourth year in a row next year :)

Well, that's your choice then... Just seems to me, that there are a lot of other characters in these games which aren't getting their due though. Against the 'popular crowd', they are effectively shown the door. At least by taking the winners out, rotate in newer ones, would make things more interesting.

But w/e...

I understand your frustration but I do also feel that we're forgetting what this is about - it's about seeing who is the most "popular" or the forum's "favourite" character each year is. It's alaways going to be certain characters because they are universally popular on here. That's why I liked seeing Gilgamesh get to the final this year, and Lulu getting to the semis. I randomly do these battles and favour no one, so that's the "twist" element on the game each year, giving some underdogs an opportunity if they get an easier route through.

FTR... none of my favorites make it far, due to the forum's overall distaste (I could comment further, but I won't) of the MMO FF's. In any event, I think I'll take a bow out of next year's... tired of seeing others being overshadowed by the so called 'favorites'.

I understand where you're coming from as well Darth Revan, but like Johnny said, this is a competition to see who is the 'favourite Final Fantasy Character' if we take the favourites out of it, then it's no longer the same competition. We could run two competitions or something, a second 'underdog' type competition of sorts for the characters who never really have much of a chance?

If we did that second competition... again, only the underdog favorites would be nominated, and we'd end up winding up in the same situation we are here. Eliminating the winner from the following year's competition would allow the others their chance. As it stands, there is none for the others.

But then it wouldn't be the favourite character knock-out game, since the favourites wouldn't be there. Although...I guess we could take out just the one winner from the following year, that would be fair enough and then put them back in the year after and take away the new winner. But to take out the top two from each game would be too much I think. We need favourites to be in the competition for it to be fair.

If we did that second competition... again, only the underdog favorites would be nominated, and we'd end up winding up in the same situation we are here. Eliminating the winner from the following year's competition would allow the others their chance. As it stands, there is none for the others.

I'll tell you what, we'll do a poll to decide if start the forum wants a "winner leaves the competition for a year" addition to next year's game.

I'll do it tomorrow when I reveal the new 15 characters to join the game next year :)