Heh, okay, I'll keep in mind, Solaris.

Okay, Understanding the Time Compression Process continues to the next round. Thank you for breaking the tie.


Next up...


The "True Mission" of SeeD (In a sequence in the D-District Prison, one of the guards presses squall for information on SeeD, threatening torture if Squall doesn't cooperate. You can choose to either not say anything, or to have Squall lie. If you have Squall lie, he says that the true purpose of SeeD is to plant flowers throughout the world because seeing flowers saps people's will to fight. "Then, we invade.")

vs.

Search for the White SeeD Ship (Squall wants to locate Ellone, so Edea gives him a letter to present to the leader of the white SeeD ship. But in order to present that letter, you'll first have to find the white SeeD ship. It's not easy, as it's tucked in a small inlet on the Centra continent, and even if you've played the game many times, it can still take a while to locate.)

The choice is not as easy to make as it looks.

Ill say The "True Mission" of SeeD because it creates some suspense.

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD

4-0 is enough. Let's keep moving...

The "True Mission" of SeeD - 4
Search for the White SeeD Ship - <font color="red">0</font>



Next up...

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil (As the party proceeds with the beginnings of the sorceress assassination mission in Deling City, Irvine asks Squall if he ever questions what he's doing, wondering about the possibility of evil. Squall then says, to himself, that he doesn't think there is any such thing as pure evil, only two different sides with opposing viewpoints.)

vs.

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife (Master NORG, who just seems like some big jerk, provides Squall and his chosen party members with some truly surprising information-- that the Sorceress they've been fighting is the wife of the Headmaster, Cid Kramer. It's quite a startling revelation, not the least of which because it's accompanied by a couple of other bombshells and the party really doesn't have much time to process it before they're thrust into battle with NORG.)

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife
(don't remember the other moment)

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil
Made him more likable.

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife
(don't remember the other moment)

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil

the other part wasn't much of a bombshell for me anyway...

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil

Squall Says He Doesn't Believe in Evil - 5
Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife - 6


This battle seemed to be something of a split between those who liked the Squall moment and those who couldn't even remember it. In the end, the Squall moment just wasn't able to muster enough to come back and so the Cid's Wife Revelation advances to the next round. And we advance to this next battle...


Seifer Calls Zell a "Chicken Wuss" (While the party is in the car traveling to Balamb, Zell gets up and starts punching the air to relieve some stress. "Stop that... chicken wuss" orders Seifer. Zell seems really pissed off, but Seifer just laughs. Seifer decides that he likes this nickname that he made up and continues to use it on Zell throughout the game.)

vs.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar (Through flashbacks, the player gets to experience a good portion of Laguna Loire's life, but what happened to Laguna after all of that? Well, turns out that not only is Laguna alive, he's president of an entire nation, with Kiros and Ward as his most trusted aides! Once more, he was up with you in space and you didn't even know it!)

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar. Glad you included this, I didn't think you did as I must have missed it on the list.

Seifer calls Zell a Chicken-wuss. I don't know if you guys remembered but in the SeeD exam, even Squall calls him a chicken-wuss and I think Selphie remarks about how he even looks like a chicken.

I thought it was hilarious!

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
this was a way bigger bombshell than Edea being Cid's Wife. I mean you find out that the idiot you've been watching in your dreams is the president of the most technologically advanced city in the world!

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
The chicken-wuss thing was amusing, though...

Seifer Calls Zell a "Chicken Wuss"

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

Seifer Calls Zell a "Chicken Wuss" - 3
The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar - 6


Decent battle, but the discovery about Laguna's identity wins by three votes.

Next up...


Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion (Selphie and company are unable to prevent a missile launch. Not knowing that they've done enough to stop it from hitting Garden, they seemingly can only watch and then get blown up along with the Galbadia Missile Base...)

vs.

Activation of Lunatic Pandora (The Lunatic Pandora is activated at Tear's Point. Via the Crystal Pillar, vile monsters are sent raining down to the planet from the moon.)

Activation Of Lunatic Pandora.

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

I actually believed in that "beeing killed" the first time it happened

Activation of Lunatic Pandora.

Activation of Lunatic Pandora!

Activation Of Lunatic Pandora.

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion
The other one looked cooler, but this one was just better with regards to game play and story.

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion
More fun =]

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion - 7
Activation of Lunatic Pandora - 5


The emotional scene wins over the more flashy one, though it was a really good battle. We're clipping right along-- just three battles left in the current edition. Here's the next one...


Meeting Edea as Herself (Following the dramatic events at the end of Disc 2, the party pays a visit to Edea at the orphanage. There, they get to meet with her and talk with her as herself for the first time since when they knew her as "Matron" Edea in the orphanage, which most of them barely remember anyway.)

vs.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia (The party confronts Ultimecia. It's time for the big battle. For her part, Ultimecia dismisses them as a "plague of lokusts." She promises "death beyond death" and tries to set the terms for the battle by choosing three random party members to begin the battle.)

The Party Confronts Ultimecia

Just seemed more of a big deal to me compared to the other.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia
The other one wasn't that big of a deal; maybe if the memory loss thing had been fixed it would have been something memorable.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia
I'll choose almost anything over one of the cheesiest plot twists in my history of playing video games.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia

Can't believe I didn't find this rumble sooner~

I'm surprised with the one-sided-ness here, because Meeting Edea as Herself would be the easy choice for me. At least we finally know who the big baddie actually is.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia. Gosh, its just so exciting and dramatic for the game player...facing the major badass of the game.

Meeting Edea as Herself

Ultimecia wasn't nearly as scary or even powerful as i had imagined her to be. I mean she even had to use a cheap trick to begin the battle! that bitch. I GET TO CHOOSE MY CHARACTERS NOT THE ENEMY! WHAT THE HELL WAS THE MATTER WITH SQUARE WHEN THEY DECIDED TO DO THAT?!!!

Meeting Edea as Herself

The Party Confronts Ultimecia at last!

The Party Confronts Ultimecia
I'll choose almost anything over one of the cheesiest plot twists in my history of playing video games.

Ultimecia wasn't nearly as scary or even powerful as i had imagined her to be.

Neither was Adel considering she was beaten by a few teenagers. Then again, so was Ultimecia....

Great, I had a point about it but it has appeared to have jumped out the window.

Neither was Adel considering she was beaten by a few teenagers.

We're not talking about Adel here. And at least she looked scary. And she was a bit challenging i suppose.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia

How did we get to talking about Adel? Anyways...

Meeting Edea as Herself - 4
The Party Confronts Ultimecia - 8


Definitely rather one-sided at first. The other choice pulled back quite a bit, but not nearly enough to have a chance at victory. There are just two battles left in the round! Next up...

The Waltz for the Moon (Squall claims that he can't dance, but it seems that he just doesn't want to dance. Rinoa ends up getting him onto the dance floor and although he's a bit nervous at first, he ends up dancing magnificently as a beautiful waltz known as "Waltz for the Moon" plays. [One of the games many "Eyes on Me" instrumental variations.])

vs.

Explanation of Train Mission (Rinoa, Watts and Zone explain how to accomplish the train mission in detail, with occasional questions from your party. There are also some humorous moments-- "Oh, shut up! I made it look like that on purpose. It represents my hatred towards Deling." Once the explanation is done, you have the option to have any section of the explanation repeated, or all of it.)

The Waltz for the Moon. The other one was good but i thought it took too long.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon. The other one was good but i thought it took too long.

Considering I especially highlighted it in my nominations, Explanation of Train Mission easily. It looks like it's gonna lose though... :/

Waltz for the Moon
It was more pleasant to watch. I don't care for those Timbre retards.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon
Doesn't the waltz have the advantage of being FMV? As I remember it, only the actual train mission had an FMV part.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon
Squall can't dance lol

The Waltz for the Moon, I'm a weak-kneed sucker for stuff like that~

The Waltz for the Moon

Okay, let's end this battle...

The Waltz for the Moon - 11
Explanation of the Train Mission - 1


Wow. I didn't expect quite large a whomping when you consider that the explanation of the time compression actually won. But, there you have it. We move on to the final battle of the first round...

The Garden Takes Flight (The secret of Balamb Garden is discovered and the Garden takes flight, though it certainly isn't a smooth ride.)

vs.

Launched Into Space (Space travel? Sure. Esthar has been sending people into space for years, so they're fine with transporting your party into space. Squall and one other chosen party member undergo the "cold sleep" process and then are launched into space.)

The Garden Takes Flight

O wow, both very interesting ones.

Ill go for The Garden Takes Flight cuz its just a time when so much is happening and it gets all dramatic.

The Garden Takes Flight

Ill go for The Garden Takes Flight cuz its just a time when so much is happening and it gets all dramatic.

The Garden Takes Flight

Okay, that's enough for a blowout. We shall have a break until tomorrow evening and then the next round will begin.

So that's...

The Garden Takes Flight - 6
Launched Into Space - 0


That's the end of the first round! Let's move on to the second. Here's what we have left...


The Waltz for the Moon
The "True Mission" of SeeD
Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion
The Garden Takes Flight
Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife
The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
Understanding the Time Compression Process
The Party Confronts Ultimecia



First up...

The "True Mission" of SeeD (Warden: "What then? SeeD wants to bring love and peace to the world...? Ha haha hah! Don't make me laugh! You can't fool me!" Squall: "W-We...steal the will to fight...Then we in...invade..." Warden: "...What? Hey!!! Watch him!")

vs.

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife (NORG: "Bujurururu! Bujurururu! THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN!" Squall: "NO! It's not just yours." NORG: "Bujurururu! THEN-WHAT-IS-IT!? IS-IT-CID'S-AND-EDEA'S!? THAT-PATHETIC-MARRIED-COUPLE'S!?" Squall: "What...?" (The headmaster and Edea are married!? ...I don't get it.))

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD

Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife

(The prison scene was pretty funny, but this was much more interesting for plot--and character--development, I thought.)

The "True Mission" of SeeD

(Took ages trying decide, still unsure :|)

The "True Mission" of SeeD indeed.

The "True Mission" of SeeD

that thing with the flowers got me laughing pretty pretty hard the first time i played the game.

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD aye!

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD

that thing with the flowers got me laughing pretty pretty hard the first time i played the game.

I'll go with the Revelation that Edea is Cid's Wife.

The "True Mission" of SeeD

The "True Mission" of SeeD - 11
Revelation of Edea's Identity as Cid's Wife - 2


A somewhat surprisingly one-sided victory for the supposed "true mission" of SeeD. Let's move on to the next battle...

The Garden Takes Flight (Quistis: "Squall, do you have any idea what you're doing?" Squall: "I don't know! What else can I do!?" "!!!?" "!!!?" "!!!?" Squall: "Missiles incoming!!!" Rinoa: "NO!!!" Irvine: "No way!!!" Squall: "We're moving!?" Headmaster Cid: "I see...So this is the secret...")

vs.

Understanding the Time Compression Process (Squall: "Explain the mission to defeat Ultimecia." Laguna: "Ah, straight to the heart of the matter. Just like a workaholic SeeD." Doc Odine: "Iz it my turn?" Laguna: "Yeah. Make it short and easy to understand." Doc Odine: "I will talk however I vant!")

Understanding the Time Compression Process

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

Understanding the Time Compression Process

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

Let's get this ended...

The Garden Takes Flight - 7
Understanding the Time Compression Process - 2


The other "explanation" sequence falls by the wayside. The next battle...


The Waltz for the Moon (Rinoa: "You're the best looking guy here. Dance with me? Let me guess...You'll only dance with someone you like. Ok then... Look into my eyes... You're-going-to-like me...You're-going-to-like-me... Did it work?" Squall: "...I can't dance.")

vs.

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion (Quistis: "It came quite quietly. I thought the end would have been more dramatic..." Zell: "I've always thought about when this day would come. Living a life full of battles...I guess you could say I was prepared... But when I think this is really it... Damn, it pisses me off!" Selphie: (...What are you all saying? ...Squall chose us because he believed in us. I'm sure of it! We can do it. That's what he thought when he made this team. Isn't that right, Squall?))

Selphie and Co. "Killed" in Missile Base Explosion

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon.

The Waltz for the Moon.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon was more memorable imo.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon - 8
Selphie and Co. "Killed" in the Missle Base Explosion - 2


Interesting. I didn't think the Waltz for the Moon was that popular. It's looking solid going into the semi-finals. We still have one more battle before we get to those, though. Here it is...


The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar (Squall: (Ward) (Kiros) (And that's probably...) (What is up with this country?))

vs.

The Party Confronts Ultimecia (Sorceress Ultimecia: "Whom shall I exterminate first!? I'll start with you three!")

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

What a twist O_O

Laguna is Alive

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

What a blowout...

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

What a twist O_O

Ultimecia was rather dissapointing.

This is indeed a blowout...

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar - 10
The Party Confronts Ultimecia - <font color="red">0</font>


We shall now have a one day break and then the next round (the semi-finals) shall commence...

Ultimecia was rather dissapointing.

I thought so too. I didn't really think she was such a bad idea as a villian, I just thought the final encounter was a waste of space.

Let the semi-finals begin! The first of two battles...

The Waltz for the Moon (Quistis: "You really are an excellent student. Even that dance was perfect." Squall: "Thank you. ... Yes?" Quistis: "So you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't stand being around me?" Squall: "...Whatever. You're an instructor, and I'm your student. It's kind of awkward when you don't say anything.")

vs.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar (Laguna: "Hey there! Been waiting to meet you guys! You guys are the ones who were inside my head, right? Ellone told me. It was like there were some kind of waves running through my head. They gave us so much power during battle. We thought they were some kind of faeries flying over us. So I'm Laguna. President Laguna Loire of Esthar. Pleased to meet ya.")

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

i'm preferring this one although both scenes were quite memorable.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Waltz for the Moon

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

Not sure if anyone else wants to vote, but because of the recent forum outage I'm going to give this one some extra time, just as I did with the Gen FF Rumble.

The Waltz for the Moon

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

Okay, let's end this...

The Waltz for the Moon - 3
The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar - 5


Not a lot of votes, but the Laguna scenario takes it by a couple. And we go to the second semi-final battle...


The "True Mission" of SeeD (Squall: "...I...don't understand...the question..." Warden: "Don't mess with me! Edea says you know something! Now spit it out! Talk! What is SeeD all about!?" Squall: (SeeD...Aren't we...mercenaries...from Balamb Garden...Special forces...?))

vs.

The Garden Takes Flight (Member No.109: "What the hell is this? Nobody told us that this thing can fly.")

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

What an awesome surprise!!

The Garden Takes Flight

Even though the "True Mission" of SeeD was pretty funny.

Can you post a link to listen to them? I have no idea what they are. Many thanks.

Can you post a link to listen to them? I have no idea what they are. Many thanks.

Wow, did you sleep through the game while someone else played it? Both of those, well, at least the garden taking off, are major events!

Oh, I just realized you might be thinking those are song titles from the soundtrack? They aren't, they are events. :)

Sorry, it's been a couple years since I've played that game, and I just usually don't remember songs at all. I used to play an instrument and I really do appreciate the music of FF, but I just can't pick out songs from my memory.

They are NOT songs. They are EVENTS.

Yeah, they're events that happened in the game. Just to recap, "The True Mission of SeeD" is when Squall B.S.s a prison guard and tells him that it's SeeD's mission to spread flowers throughout the world because seeing flowers saps people's will to fight. "The Garden Takes Flight" is exactly what it says-- the moment when you discover the secret of Balamb Garden and it becomes mobile.

Oh shit haha, I thought it was the songs playing during the events.

I'll throw in a 'my bad' hahah.

And I'd have to go with The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

Okay, that's a blowout. Interesting, considering the level of support that "The True Mission of SeeD" received in previous battles, but there you have it. Coming this evening-- the final battle of this edition...

And now, the big final battle to determine the best moment from Final Fantasy VIII...


The Garden Takes Flight (Junior Classman: "It's so cool! Weeee! We're flying!" Running Girl: "Hey, have you been outside yet? It's amazing! Just go down the hall and check it out." SeeD Cadet: "It's incredible! Go check it out!")

vs.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar (Laguna: "You know what I've been doing all my life, right?" Squall: "You were a silly Galbadian soldier. I didn't like your attitude at all. But I understand the bond between the 3 of you. Then you changed, after you went to Winhill.")

The Garden Takes Flight

The Garden Takes Flight

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
The other one LOOKED better, but this one really gave the story it's full circle.

Edit: Is it okay to change a vote? I saw "Garden takes flight," but was thinking about that GARDEN-to-GARDEN mid-air battle instead. That was cooler, lol.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
The other one LOOKED better, but this one really gave the story it's full circle.

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar

The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar
The other one LOOKED better, but this one really gave the story it's full circle.

After a short reminiscence of those events I vote for The Garden Takes Flight, but I have to honestly admit, that I changed my mind few times before the final verdict.

The Garden Takes Flight

And the result on the final battle of this edition is...


The Garden Takes Flight - 4
The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar - 4


Ah man-- a tie? All right, I'm going to give a chance on this one for any one person to break the vote. Anyone that hasn't voted in this battle already will do. If nobody else votes by tomorrow night, then I'll go to the normal tie-breaker method, but I'd rather end this by getting another voter...

crap, I wish I still had a vote

Laguna. Yeah, that was cool, glad it won.

All right, that's it, then, the winner is...

<font color="red">The Party Discovers Laguna is Alive/President of Esthar</font>


So what's next? We've done Location Music Themes, Bosses, and now Greatest Moments -- anyone have any preferences on the next edition?

Main characters
Side/NP characters
GFs
Regular enemies
Magic
City/Town


...I don't recall if there was...

Main characters
Side/NP characters
GFs
Regular enemies
Magic
City/Town


...I don't recall if there was...

I'd certainly like to see GF's or Towns in a rumble.

(I bet Aura would win in a magic rumble lol)

I'd certainly like to see GF's or Towns in a rumble.

I'd like to see one of these two as well.

Not GF's again...

I say locations. Not just towns, all places.

EDIT: That or monsters. Those should be fun seeing as because of the whole leveling up thing this game doesn't have a "species" system, every monster is for itself.

I say locations. Not just towns, all places.

I second this.

I agree. Locations are going to be the most interesting of all mentioned.

Okay, we seem to be gravitating towards locations. I'm going to give this a little more than week and start things back up after the Christmas break. Until then, if anyone wants to post nominations, go ahead.

Obel Lake
Tomb of the Unknown King
Fire Cavern
Desert Prison
Shumi Village
Centra Ruins
Lunatic Pandora

Lunar Base
Deep Sea Research Center
Chocobo Forests
Great Salt Lake
Orphanage
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
White Seed Ship
Island Closest to Hell/Heaven
Cactuar Island
Tear's Point
Deling City & Sewers
Basement of Balamb Garden

Also Ultimecia's Castle.

Esthar

Would Ragnorok be a location? Because you can walk around in it. Or space! Because you float in it :D.

And it seems that some have listed towns as well. Should they all just be together?

Sure, Ragnarok can count as a location. Space-- if you want to. As for towns, in general yeah, they can be included, though if you can think of a specific area of a town that should be counted separately, then I'll include that as well. For example, I agree that Deling City Sewers merits a separate entry.

Winhill
D-District Prison
Fisherman's Horizon

Yeah I just listed 3 of the most worthless and boring locations in gaming history. But they at least have some cools cenes to them.

Winhill - Laguna and Raine.
Prison - Seifer torturing Squall
FH - The Galbadia Guard about to punch in the leader asshole's face. Sure it didn't happen but for the second it looked like it would, I was so happy.

I would count the infested Ragnarok as a location because it has the best theme in game history :)
Plus, it's more of an exploring place with a puzzle at that point, than an airship with different rooms.

And there is nothing worthless about the places you mentioned, Anti. The prison was actually oddly one of my favorite parts.

I'll add:

Galbadia Missile Base
Dollet
Galbadia Garden
Trabia Garden

Also can we have "trains" as a location? They were a lot of the time fun to explore and had interesting scenes.

Also excuse my advertising but to those who care I finally started the XII rumble!

Yes, Ragnarok and trains should be included.

The remaining locations:
Balamb Garden
Timber
Trabia Mountain Pass ( where Laguna was trying his luck as an actor:) )
Odine's Lab ( or maybe should we treat it as a part of Esthar? )
Lunar Gate
Esthar Sorceress Memorial


btw What should we do about Lunatic Pandora from past and present? They were significantly different.

And there is nothing worthless about the places you mentioned, Anti. The prison was actually oddly one of my favorite parts.

I dislike running around in circles. Which is basically all you do in Winhill (for the Laguna flashback) and you do this how many goddam times in the prison?

Wait, so you hate the locations but like the events that happen in them?

Pretty much.

btw What should we do about Lunatic Pandora from past and present? They were significantly different.

If it was up to me I'd say combine both Lunatic Pandora's into one item. So what if they were different, they're like two different stages of it.

Also Anti I was more referring to FH. That place in itself was awesome not just because of the events.

@Anti-Existance: How dare you diss FH! I'm sorry to hear that you don't like it. Die pleasethnxbye. *minces with chainsaw*

Deep Sea Research Center
Chocobo Forests
Great Salt Lake
Orphanage
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
White Seed Ship
Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven
Cactuar Island
Tear's Point
Deling City
Deling City Sewers
Basement of Balamb Garden
Obel Lake
Tomb of the Unknown King
Fire Cavern
Desert Prison
Shumi Village
Centra Ruins
Lunatic Pandora
Ultimecia's Castle
Esthar
Ragnarok
Winhill
D-District Prison
Fisherman's Horizon
Galbadia Missile Base
Dollet
Galbadia Garden
Trabia Garden
Trains
Balamb Garden
Timber
Trabia Mountain Pass
Odine's Lab
Lunar Gate/Base
Esthar Sorceress Memorial


So it looks like we have 36 locations (and yes, I'm counting the Islands Closest to Heaven/Hell as a single location.) What I want everyone to do is each post a list of eight locations they don't see themselves voting any further. From the total votes, I will choose the locations with the four highest vote totals to cut right away, whittling it down to 32. So remember, I need eight locations from each voter that you'd prefer to see out. Your vote will not be counted if you do not give me eight.

Chocobo Forests
Deling City Sewers
Trains
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
Esthar Sorceress Memorial
Centra Ruins
Lunar Gate/Base
Lunatic Pandora

Why are you making us vote for 8? I actually like some of these.

Tomb of the Unknown King
Chocobo Forests
Trains
Fire Cavern
Lunatic Pandora
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
Deling City Sewers
Esthar Sorceress Memorial

...
Why are you making us vote for 8? I actually like some of these.

Basement of Balamb Garden shouldn't be there since it's only one screen, and especially not if BG itself is there. Also, "Desert Prison" AND "D-District Prison"? Aren't they one in the same, unless there's a prison I'm forgetting about?

EDIT: Wait, the "basement" being NORG's lair, or the place where you find the thing that gets it moving? I assumed NORGs but if not then I guess it fits. Anyhow:

Basement of Balamb Garden
Escape Pod Crash Site
DESERT Prison (unless this is just a mistake and not some other place)
Trabia Mountain Pass
Cactuar Island
Winhill
Sorceress Memorial
Galbadia Missile Base

When i first nominated Basement of Balamb Garden I was thinking about locations between getting stuck in the elevator event and the FMV sequence with Balamb Garden avoiding missiles, but i guess Norg's hideout can be called Basement of BG too.

btw I didn't notice Desert Prison / D-District Prison thing before. Hmm.. If this was a mistake, then we will have only 7 locations to eliminate, I guess.

Darn it, I had a feeling I'd end up missing at least one thing. Yes, Desert Prison and D-District Prison are the same thing, so I only need to cut three. As for the basement of Balamb Garden-- let's call it the part where you find the control to launch the Garden-- there's a lot more there. If anyone needs to change their vote based on this, just edit your post. Oh, and I'm making you vote for eight, because although I was only eliminating four to start with (three now), so that I can get a wider sample size. Sorry if that wasn't clear, but I'm not actually eliminating eight right off the bat-- it's just that you're all voting for eight each and you still are and then the three with the most votes will be the ones that I eliminate (and if there ends up being any ties, I guess I'll flip a coin.)

Well, I'm going to end this tomorrow evening, so if anyone else wants a vote, they have until that time, and then we'll get things going properly...

Eight? Ugh.

Chocobo Forests
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven
Cactuar Island
Basement of Balamb Garden
Obel Lake
Trains
Odine's Lab

Chocobo Forests
Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site
White Seed Ship
Deling City Sewers
Basement of Balamb Garden
Obel Lake
D-District Prison

The Anti, I'm sorry, but I can't count yours. I specifically asked for eight and everyone else posted eight. Anyway, let's get this started. With five votes the Lunar Base Escape Pod Crash Site is the first choice to be eliminated immediately. It showed up on everyone's list. Esthar Sorceress Memorial is also out -- it showed up on four of the five lists. That leaves a three-way tie between Chocobo Forests, Deling City Sewers and Trains as the final choice to be eliminated right away. And after the random draw, it's the Deling City Sewers that are eliminated.


So that leaves the following for the rumble:


Balamb Garden
Fire Cavern
Trains
Timber
Obel Lake
Dollet
Galbadia Garden
Deling City
Deling City Sewers
Tomb of the Unknown King
D-District Prison
Galbadia Missile Base
Basement of Balamb Garden
Fisherman's Horizon
Winhill
Centra Ruins
Shumi Village
Trabia Garden
Edea's Orphanage
Trabia Mountain Pass
White SeeD Ship
Great Salt Lake
Odine's Lab
Esthar City
Tear's Point
Lunar Gate/Base
Lunatic Pandora
Ragnarok
Cactuar Island
Islands Closest to Hell/Heaven
Deep Sea Research Center
Ultimecia's Castle





And, as usual, that list is only for reference, but you can find the updated info in the first post of the thread. First battle of the first round:

Fisherman's Horizon (It's just a small connecting village in the sea, with an abandoned bridge leading to Esthar, but you end up spending a lot of time here. Balamb Garden crashes here after ending up in the water following its launch to escape the missiles. Fisherman's Horizon is a peaceful town, full of skilled technicians who defected from Esthar. They are all pacifists, so they're not pleased when the Galbadian army comes and Squall and the others take up arms, but it can't be helped. They fix up Balamb Garden so that you can fly it properly and they also help to put on a concert for Squall and Rinoa. This area also has a fairly involved sidequest involving the Master Fisherman, his protege, and the Shumi in Shumi Village.)

vs.

Edea's Orphanage (This location can be reached by Balamb Garden anytime after it becomes mobile, but if you do visit as soon as that happens, it simply won't let you in. You first actually see it in flashbacks, in which the party learns that all of them but Rinoa actually grew up there at that orphanage, which was founded by "Matron" Edea Kramer. Later you can actually visit it following the important events at the end of Disc 2. When you get Rinoa back from the Sorceress Memorial, she suggests returning here. She and Squall make "the promise" in the flower field.)

Edea's Orphanage

FH by far mann...

Edea's House marks the point when the story started to get cheesy. The only redeeming thing about that place is the music, which is better than FH's. But still, FH rocks.

Fisherman's Horizon
Nice peaceful place to visit, especially after you've done away with that beat-up machine that comes back for revenge, lol.

Fisherman's Horizon

Edea's Orphanage for it's atmosphere and aesthetic values

Fisherman's Horizon
Nice peaceful place to visit, especially after you've done away with that beat-up machine that comes back for revenge, lol.

FH by far
Edea's House marks the point when the story started to get cheesy. The only redeeming thing about that place is the music, which is better than FH's.

Okay, sorry for the delay, would have ended this last night, except that the forums were down. So it looks like we have...

Fisherman's Horizon - 5
Edea's Orphanage - 2


FH the preferred choice-- the Orphanage being hampered by the "cheesy plot twist." Next up...


Galbadia Garden (The party first visits here on Disc 1, following the rule that if they can't reach their home Garden, they're supposed to head for the nearest Garden instead. That turns out to be Galbadia Garden. It's here that they learn about Seifer's supposed execution. They also receive new orders here, to take on a new team member named Irvine Kinneas and head to Deling City to assassinate Sorceress Edea. Later, Galbadia Garden becomes mobile like Balamb Garden and this leads into the Garden vs. Garden conflict. The party boards the Garden where they face Seifer and eventually take on Sorceress Edea, who they now know to have been their "Matron.")

vs.

Ultimecia's Castle (This is it-- the home of the final boss. You have to split into two groups in order to navigate through. Along the way, the party can fight a number of bosses to regain their sealed powers, though technically you can travel straight to Ultimecia without unsealing a single power. In addition to all of this, the castle also houses the most powerful monster in the game, the Omega Weapon.)

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle

I remember reading somewhere that when you're level 100, then Omega Weapon is the strongest monster in all of the FF games. Which is totally true because he's freaking hard at that level...

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle

Ultimecia's Castle at first I wanted to break this combo by voting for GG, but on the second thought I completely understand why UC is winning.

Wow, no love whatsoever for Galbadia Garden. This is a total blowout, so let's go ahead and end this and just keep moving...


Galbadia Garden - <font color="red">0</font>
Ultimecia's Castle - 8


And here we go with the next battle...

Dollet (Dollet is the site of the big SeeD mission. When you first visit it, it is under siege by the Galbadian army. It turns out that they're after the abandoned communication tower. Later, you can revisit here, where there a couple of sidequests, including playing the old man in the hotel who carries the Siren card and will also let into a secret room if you beat him with some treasures. Also, this is where you must get the Card Queen to go to in order to lose the cards needed for her sidequest. The son of the artist that paints the cards is here as well and there's an amusing series of sequences involving him and a bone he keeps drawing in his father's paintings.)

vs.

Shumi Village (The Shumi Village is a completely optional location, but can provide some rewards if you choose to visit. One of the first things to note is that it has a pay for play Ultima draw point inside that regenerates quickly. You can take part in sidequests here that ultimately reveal a fair bit about the history of Laguna, the Village itself and also Fisherman's Horizon.)

Shumi Village

Shumi Village.

Ulti's Castle or Balamb Garden should / will win.

I love Galbadia Garden, it was just up against a titan.

And I'll say Dollet. Shumi Village I feel had some potential that it never got around to.

Shumi Village

Dollet just for the music. The Shumis are weird...:erm:

Shumi Village
I like both, not an easy decision.

Shumi Village
I like both, not an easy decision.

Dollet

Dollet. Shumi Village I feel had some potential that it never got around to.

I felt the same about that place too.

Dollet. A lotmore interesting the Shumi Village.

Dollet

Shumi Village - wasn't there a nice Ultima draw point there also?

Dollet

Dollet - 7
Shumi Village - 7


Well, what a surprise. Shumi Village gets off to a commanding lead, but then Dollet battles back fiercely to tie the score. Well, I'm going to go ahead and allow a day or so for someone to break the tie. If nobody else shows up who hasn't already voted, then I guess we'll go to a coin toss...

I hate coin tosses >_<. Because if the one I voted for loses, then I have to hate a coin...

Hey, Agent why don't you vote?

Shumi Village there ya go, no coin toss needed!

Smarty, I never vote in my own rumbles, that's always been the case.

Draven, thank you. So that's...

Dollet - 7
Shumi Village - 8


And we go on to the next battle...


Winhill (This location is first visited during the Laguna sequence at the start of Disc 2. It seems that after the beating that Laguna, Wird and Kiros took at the cliff, Laguna ended up here, where he was nursed back to health by Raine. In the sequence, Kiros pays a visit and joins Laguna on the "monster patrol" that he has set up. Raine runs a pub here and also looks after Ellone, her adopted child. At some point, Laguna and Raine get married and Raine gives birth to a child, Squall. As for Squall, he and his party can visit Winhill anytime after you gain the mobile Balamb Garden, though it's entirely optional. There's not much to do there, though there is a sidequest involving the supposedly haunted mansion.)

vs.

Cactuar Island (A great place to visit and get into battles with three or four cactuars, which provide 20 AP each when defeated. Also the place to find and find the Jumbo Cactuar. Defeat it to earn the Cactuar GF. You can locate this any time after you gain access to the mobile Balamb Garden, but you need to have the Ragnarok in order to actually pay a visit.)

Hm, Cactuar Island I say. Winhill = wasted potential... seriously, for such an important plot-related place, there sure as hell isn't too much to do there as Squall. One tiny little sidequest for nothing but a Holy Stone. Oh, and that Pinion. I had fun farming AP on Cactuar Island and made good use of the GF.

Cactuar Island

Cactuar Island

Cactuar Island

Cactuar Island

I absolutely love side quests that are actually entertaining and worthwhile. Also, I'm surprised that Dollet garnered so many votes. I suppose it was one of the better-looking areas...

... Winhill = wasted potential... seriously, for such an important plot-related place, there sure as hell isn't too much to do there as Squall. One tiny little sidequest for nothing but a Holy Stone. Oh, and that Pinion. I had fun farming AP on Cactuar Island and made good use of the GF.
Winhill is really nice, peaceful setting just the way I like, regardless.

Winhill

Cactuar Island

Cactuar Island

Cactuar Island

Aww, come on... It was just an patch of sand. Winhill was really, really nice.

Cactaur Island

Cactaur Island

Winhill - 3
Cactuar Island - 10


So Cactuar Island sails into the next round. Next up, we have:

Timber (Your party is sent here on a mission to assist the Forest Owls. Timber is under Galbadian rule, but there are any number of resistance groups, though the Forest Owls are the only ones that are really active. Timber has a TV station which is used to announce the sorceress. After the events that go down with this, the party is forced to leave Timber posthaste on the last train out. Sidequests involving Timber include a rescue on the train tracks and finding the Owl's Tear, not that it's anything much to write home about.)

vs.

Lunatic Pandora (Or "Pandora whatever," as Squall calls it. You first visit it in the Laguna sequence and the events there can influence what treasures you can get later in the game. Later, Zell, Edea and the rest except for Squall and his chosen party member visit Lunatic Pandora, but they are unceremoniously tossed out. Adel ends up being swallowed up by Lunatic Pandora and so the party boards it to go take care of Adel and initiate time compression. Here they face Fujin & Raijin, the Mobile Type 8 that tossed out Zell and the others earlier and Seifer. Seifer abducts Rinoa and junctions here to Adel, but they defeat Adel and with Ellone's help, the time compression process is initiated and the party travels into the future.)


BTW, unless there's any objection, since voting seems to have picked up, I'm going to change the blowout condition to 6-0. It's currently at 4-0, but that was instituted back when only about 6-8 people were voting in any given battle at most anyway.

Lunatic Pandora

I really don't know which to vote for. I actually liked both of those locations.

But I guess I'll go with Timber.

Lunatic Pandora

Lunatic Pandora

Lunatic Pandora

Timber

Lunatic Pandora was rather boring, and Martial Law tops most location themes anyway.