121

General Sonic / Re: Sonic Shuffle Re-Trademarked!

« on: December 16, 2008, 04:16:12 pm »

Knowing a bit about trademark law, I'd say this is very probably just protectionist rather than indicative that they're doing anything new.

</partypooper>

122

Gaming and Grazing / Re: Prinny: Can I Really be the Hero?

« on: December 13, 2008, 02:59:17 pm »

Unfortunately, I never played Sparkster.

You sir are an epic failure.  Get RKA and Sparkster ROMs and play them.  NOW.  Sparkster is a game crying out for a remake, too, although it'd be a bitch to pull off well in 3D.

Also, I need Prinny in my life but I don't have a PSP.  Given I'd quite like to play Ac!d, I can feel monies being dragged from me in the not to distant future :(

123

Wikkity! / Re: EPIC MAFIA EPIC WIN/FAIL THREAD!

« on: December 09, 2008, 05:18:16 pm »

xxfoxyshazamxx: kk
xxfoxyshazamxx: HI EMF!
PPAChao: Fool here.
douglas: can we lynch joshu for being a furry
emfirk: hi foxy!
PPAChao: Yak and doc claim to me so we can joint tomorrow
Joshuagain: what.
xxfoxyshazamxx: why would you claim foll?
xxfoxyshazamxx: fool*'
douglas whispers to PPAChao: yak here
Joshuagain: why not ppa?!
emfirk: we won't kill him today anyway
Alice: Mafia, kill him for laughs.
PPAChao: Hey!
emfirk: lol
PPAChao: douglas whispers to PPAChao: yak here
PPAChao: Awesome.
PPAChao: My plan worked.
PPAChao: I'm actually the shrink.
Joshuagain: fool there?!
Joshuagain: ppa what.
PPAChao: WHAHAHA RAN RIGHT INTO MY TRAP
PPAChao: I'm so fuckign awesome.
xxfoxyshazamxx: what a noobasaurus
douglas: oh pissflaps
xxfoxyshazamxx: lololol
Alice: Wow...
Alice: I bet he's lyncher.
Joshuagain: we have a fool you know. :(
emfirk: bet you're right
PPAChao: The fool wouldn't claim to me though.
xxfoxyshazamxx: wait
PPAChao: Why would he?
Alice: I say we don't vote douglas and pretend Day 1 never existed.
xxfoxyshazamxx: douglas whispers to someone: yak here
Joshuagain: ppa so he gets lynched.
Alice: PPA for lyncher.
xxfoxyshazamxx: i got the leak
Joshuagain: it seems to be working.
Alice: Oh?
PPAChao: But he couldn't know for sure what I was up to
PPAChao: I might have been yak
xxfoxyshazamxx: true that
xxfoxyshazamxx: yo
PPAChao: trying to do things myself.
Alice: Damn this WIFOM.
xxfoxyshazamxx: its true
PPAChao: There's a higher chance he's just a naive yakuza.
Joshuagain: yeaah, then you would yak him and it would be a glorious day for all! I dno.
PPAChao: Kill him, so.
xxfoxyshazamxx: WOOT!
xxfoxyshazamxx: my karma;s up
douglas: I has no karmas :(
Alice: I really don't approve of D1 lynching, but if we have 2 people claiming the roleclaim...
PPAChao: I have -3
Joshuagain: what
PPAChao: Yeaa
Alice: D1 lynching with day start*
xxfoxyshazamxx: yeah d1 lynching is weak
Joshuagain: someone dropped my karma by 2, lol.
Joshuagain: does it go down if you haven't played for awhile?
xxfoxyshazamxx: but when we have something so obvious as this
douglas: yeah don't d1 lynch
PPAChao: I haven't had any shrink cc yet
Alice: Nope, Josh.
Joshuagain: oh.
PPAChao: thus I must be the real one.
PPAChao: Now lynch doug and the village wins.
Joshuagain: i've only played, like, once or twice since it was karma 6.
Joshuagain: oh well! Karma r dum ok.
xxfoxyshazamxx: i habent played with most of you
Alice: Sigh. Someone karma me, I feel my self esteem draining.
xxfoxyshazamxx: and by most i mean three
PPAChao: EVERYONE
PPAChao: DOC
PPAChao: GRANNY
PPAChao: VOTE DOUGLAS
Joshuagain: asdf.
PPAChao: DON'T BE SO FUCKING DENSE
Alice: Sigh.
Alice: Last chance for shrink CC.
Alice: Anyone.
Joshuagain: actually ok
Joshuagain: voting douglas
Joshuagain: vote douglas for lols.
Alice: You only want to kill him because he called you a furry.
xxfoxyshazamxx: what?
xxfoxyshazamxx: PPA?
PPAChao: Alice, ote douglas.
Joshuagain: ppa wouldn't benefit from the fool winning d1
PPAChao: vote
Joshuagain: so might as well go for it.
douglas: He is a furry
xxfoxyshazamxx: you took away the vote?
PPAChao: I'm waiting for everyone else
PPAChao: so they can't hammer nl
xxfoxyshazamxx: we wouldve tiede
Alice: Whatever.
xxfoxyshazamxx: in case you havent noticed


douglas, the fool, has died a bloody death.


Fool wins!
Lyncher wins!
douglas gained 40 points!
This game was ranked.
xxfoxyshazamxx: yes!
Alice: Figured.
PPAChao: ...
douglas: I am so frigging awesome
PPAChao: ...
xxfoxyshazamxx: EPIC!
PPAChao: Well... that was stupid.
Joshuagain: ppa, what the fuck.
xxfoxyshazamxx: <3 you
PPAChao: but a nice try at least.
xxfoxyshazamxx: douglas
douglas: <3 you too
Joshuagain: oh well
emfirk: so PPA and foxy are the same person?
PPAChao: What?
PPAChao: No.

124

Wikkity! / Re: EPIC MAFIA EPIC WIN/FAIL THREAD!

« on: December 08, 2008, 06:59:16 pm »

jsacton: UG
Jupiler: sexy
SarahJMac: oh day start.
Jazza: omg day start
Jazza: omg must lynch
playerone: sexyyy
playerone: o crap
Alondite: so we have to start with a lynch :\
playerone: all males here?
jsacton: I HAVE BEEN BLUE 8 GAMES IN A ROW
Jupiler: LYNCH ME
jsacton: ARG
playerone: sarah is female right?
Jupiler: lololllol
Paraxade: i predict a fool/lyncher d1 day >_>
Paraxade: er, d1 win
account4: lol
account4: yeah
jsacton: ive won as lyncher
playerone: any "blue" want to volunteer to be lynched?
jsacton: it rocked
jsacton: 110 points
RingRush: lets lynch player1 for having more karma than the rest of us combined
account4: I'm bloo
RingRush: >_> <_<
playerone: lol
douglas: let's lynch stefan because he's stefan
Jupiler: sure
playerone: I say we lynch RR or doug for being a lyncher
Alondite: I second that >_>
Paraxade: let's all just pick someone at random
Paraxade: and see what happens
Jazza: total karma for everyone = 7
stefan: um
stefan: yeah
Jazza: p1's = 65
RingRush: the rest of us have 7 karma combined
stefan: let's not lynch me
Alondite: except doug is probably lyncher
stefan: douglas is lyncher
stefan: with me as target
Alondite: >:(
playerone: serious?
stefan: obv
douglas: um wut
playerone: lol
douglas: I'm not lyncher
stefan: lynching douglas is a rational choice here
Jupiler: care is missing
playerone: u negative karms out there!!
stefan: he's likely lyncher
stefan: AND
douglas: kill stefan
stefan: if we fail
random: Me lurky lurky
stefan: no biggie
jsacton: Lynch someone idont care who
RingRush: douglas could be fool
jsacton: as long as it isn't me
playerone: lol
Jupiler: im voting with p1 cause hes awesome
stefan: so could anyone, rr
SarahJMac: lol. this isn't working.
Jazza: i can't reach ringrush
playerone: 4 votes 4 different ppl!
RingRush: since hes being such an obvious lyncher
jsacton: I am just rling............ on a random person
SarahJMac: I won as lyncher in a game like this.
stefan: also paraxade
playerone: I'm just rling a person who wants to rl
stefan: will i be able to submit
douglas: actually I only wanted to kill stefan for lulz
stefan: to sonic unleashed
stefan: with the first demo level? >_>
playerone: whoever dies.. poor u
jsacton: I just randomly clicked


douglas, the fool, has died a bloody death.


Fool wins!
douglas gained 80 points!
This game was ranked.
RingRush: 't know yetstefan we don
playerone: LOL!!!!!
SarahJMac: lol
Jupiler: lol
douglas: AHAHAHAHAHAHA
SarahJMac: that's great!
stefan: omg
RingRush: ...
douglas: EPIC WIN
RingRush: did I not say that
Jupiler: GG
playerone: poor RRR
playerone: u almost lynched the driver too
playerone: and I almost did the stalker
Alondite: dammit
playerone: lmao
douglas: this is topic'd RR
Alondite: FU doug
Alondite: :(
Paraxade: i called that :(
playerone: such an uber-fail game

125

Wikkity! / Re: Random Poll

« on: December 04, 2008, 07:54:37 am »

Doooouuug, were you having fun with people's posts agaaain >__>

If I'd actually edited his post, it would say « Last Edit: Date/Time by Douglas » at the bottom.

126

General Sonic / Re: Sonic 06 DLC

« on: December 04, 2008, 06:20:43 am »

Umm... LBP is as gimicky as Wii, imnsho...

The fact that something is gimmicky doesn't mean it's not fun.  I also think you're using "gimmicky" as a substitute for "different" - but hey, I'm sure you enjoy a million different mediocre FPS games, right?  Currently, my Wii and LBP puts a bigger smile on my face than any other games - if I'm in the mood for depth and gritty realism and whatnot there are billions of options for that too, and you don't have to be exclusively one or the other.

And who plays MGS?  I was pretty sure the horrible press it's gotten over the years would be enough to keep people from buying it...

Then again, people did elect Bush twice...

"Horrible press"?  I must be reading something different to you.  Maybe it doesn't get the gushing praise and 11/10s that a GTA4 or whatever gets (which I'm convinced has as much to do with the PR train as anything), but it's done fine.  In any case I'm a long-time fan of the series which influences my purchasing decision - which I think members of a Sonic gaming community might understand - and I'm capable of making a decision for myself rather than allowing reviews or fanboyitis to dictate it for me.  MGS as a series is flawed (what isn't?), but I love it all the same.

Also should Godwin's Law be extended to include having elected Bush?

127

General Sonic / Re: Sonic 06 DLC

« on: December 02, 2008, 07:01:39 pm »

Why would anyone buy a PS3 anyway, unless they wanted a bluray player?

MGS4.  LBP.  Disgaea 3.  Nuff said.

128

Wikkity! / Re: Random Poll

« on: December 02, 2008, 02:59:09 pm »

Thank you all for your comments. This poll will run until it has to be necromancied. Which is not a word. i really like penis and i love the felling on a nice hard cock in my ass

Dude, you misspelled "feeling".

129

Competition Central / Re: Any one have 1 of new sonic for all systems?

« on: December 01, 2008, 08:43:45 am »

Nobody seems to be able to agree on which version is better. It's annoying.

That's because it's like deciding whether Syphilis or Gonorrhea is the better STI.

130

News and Updates / Re: Penultimate Unleashed news topic

« on: November 27, 2008, 01:16:47 pm »

Advance 2 has time over, Unleashed does not. It's perfectly consistent, scalping is always banned when it can be avoided and can lead to infinite score (it doesn't with time over).

Ah, ok.  In that case a ban seems the sensible option.  Also I need to get a copy some time, it being early on gives me a chance to be high up in a 3D game (which of course is one of the signs of the impending Apocalypse :D)

131

News and Updates / Re: Penultimate Unleashed news topic

« on: November 27, 2008, 03:50:43 am »

Since in pretty much all cases with this glitch you have to intentionally backtrack a bit and go off the ramp again, this could be easily dealt with with a rule.

Score Divisions
You may not gain points from the same trick ramp more than once.

Worded that way mostly so if you do end up backtracking for whatever reason, you can still go on with the run in cases where taking said ramp is the only way to proceed.

That is inconsistent with rulings for other games (I'm thinking advance 2 specifically).  I am not pro inconsistency :(

132

Competition Central / Re: DarkerSuperSonic just PWNED the entire world at Death Egg (S2)

« on: November 21, 2008, 02:59:34 pm »

Well, Tails is legal now, so any times that needed Tails can now be improved to that level under TSC rules.

Can he be manipulated with a second controller as well or just computer-manipulated?

Just computer manipulated.  No silly Ice Cap or Chemical Plant shenanigans :)

Also Aita I was in that situation too; I ended up redoing everything, pretty much.  This was back when I was #2 and suffered delusions of actually being able to take S2; not sure I'd bother now, to be honest.

133

Competition Central / Re: A Confession.

« on: November 20, 2008, 07:43:52 am »

(You'll have to get used to Zack referring to himself in the third person).

We're both at school and that's when we visit TSC the most, because of my dial-up and his lack of motivation to compete. Please understand that he joined of his own free will.

. . . are you suggesting you usually coerce people into joining?

Also hi Zack.  I spent an entire month only referring to myself in the third person.  It's hard.  The amusing bit is I still occasionally slip back into the habit :)

134

Competition Central / Re: Our competition goals.

« on: November 09, 2008, 11:15:44 am »

Re-take the Sonic 1 championship.
Break into the top ten of the Sitewide Rankings.

I expect to actually achieve neither >_>

135

Hiya Folks / Re: I has a forums account

« on: November 07, 2008, 08:16:32 am »

More Etna is always welcome here :)  Hi!

136

Wikkity! / I have uncovered new pictures of genus!

« on: November 07, 2008, 08:15:32 am »

I want to know how he types with his wheels.*



*for the thickies, this isn't our genus, it's the Hyundai Genus and I'm dicking around >_>

137

General Sonic / Re: Hardest Sonic Final Boss.

« on: November 05, 2008, 06:40:43 am »

The final boss of Sonic 2 is brutal, but it's nothing compared to the horror of the preceeding Wing Fortress boss. That one was... @%!%!!!!!! Unpredictably moving platforms, SPIKES UNDERNEATH, tiny time window... goddammit!
Though I have beaten Sonic 2 non-savestated, a no-death run is a something completely different. :P

Psht, all the pros are Super Sonic for that bit.  A favourite challenge of mine was to still be Super at the fade-to-black (started because blasting through everything as Super annoyed my brother, who usually played Tails).  Also, am I the only one who found the S2 final boss really easy?  It's difficult to do fast, sure, but if you pick your hit when he lands then retreat as far as possible it's not hard at all.

138

Wikkity! / Re: Guess my I.Q.!

« on: November 03, 2008, 07:09:57 pm »

I'm bored, and that's when my greatest (and dumbest) ideas come forth from the inner machinations of my mind.

This time, I'm very curious as to how much of an idiot you guys take me for. I know my IQ, and at the end of (Edit: eight) days, I'll tell it to you. But until then, let the approximations and off-topic ridicule begin!

(I'm 14 years old, in case you find that fact relevant)

Lack of appropriate option makes Doug cry :(

I'd say you're reasonably bright ... at least, you speak awefully well on a forum for a 14-year-old.

I bet he can even spell "awfully" properly.  Guy's a genius.

139

Wikkity! / Re: How did you find TSC?

« on: November 03, 2008, 11:33:11 am »

I don't remember how I found TSC, but I remember why I was drawn in - crappy uni networks stopped me playing online games, and I was desperate for a competitive outlet.  Oh, and I happened to be playing adv2 at the time.  Snatched a couple of records, got utterly hooked, and the rest is history :)

In fairness that's not the whole story, as I wasn't really part of the community until I overtook RPG for 2nd in adv2 and posted because I'd read he was quitting because of me (if only it had lasted, bloody score scalping spamming git >_>), and in all honesty haven't been around in irc and whatnot as much as many (although stupid bloody mafia is changing that <_<).

140

Hiya Folks / Re: Sup! :D

« on: October 31, 2008, 12:09:43 pm »

It's actually a huge relief to have a new member who uses propper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

141

Hiya Folks / Re: Hi TSC :(

« on: October 29, 2008, 07:24:59 pm »

All the sad faces make me sad :(

Welcome wersterlobe :(

142

Competition Central / Re: Quesiton for Sonic 1 RAers.

« on: October 26, 2008, 11:30:15 am »

MIKE!
I know that's thread necromancy, but whatever.
I'm calling you out for not warning me that Star Light 2, as opposed to 1 and 3 and Scrap Brain, was so EASY as compared to Green Hill 1!!!

Psychologically damaged! :D
(The other Star Lights/Scrap Brains ARE hard though. Have tried them but no real dice...)

It's not necromancy if you've something to say :p

And yeah, SL2 is pretty easy.  SB1 is a bitch, and I haven't yet worked SB3 out, gah . . .

143

Wikkity! / Re: Official Utterly Long and Boring Chatroom Log Segments

« on: October 25, 2008, 11:08:30 am »

ITT SonicAD breaks time itself.

[16:53:30] <The_T> why did he change his nick if...
[16:54:21] * SonicAD (SonicAD177@SCnet-6D1AB101.dhcp.aldl.mi.charter.com) Quit (Connection reset by peer)
[16:53:48] <PPA> I don't know

And what followed . . .

<The_T> ...yes?
<The_T> what?
<PPA> 54 WHAT
<PPA> Look at the timestamps
<The_T> ...
<Douglas_> timer fail
<The_T> your computer is broken
<The_T> better take it in to be fixed
<The_T> at the nearest gas station
<Douglas_> clean out the illegal stuff first
<PPA> That'd be quite a lot.
<The_T> Douglas, then he wouldn't have a computer left
<Douglas_> I meant the "20 years in prison" illegal stuff, not a hooky copy of windows
<The_T> ...
<The_T> Douglas, you clearly don't know PPA
<Douglas_> you mean he stole the whole machine?
* PPA hides his jailbait
<Douglas_> in a cellar
<The_T> rofl
<Douglas_> zomg PPA is fritzl
<Douglas_> The BBC had a headline when he said he was "born to rape"
<PPA> x)
<The_T> what's a fritzle?
<Douglas_> I thought "why's RPG in the news?"

144

Competition Central / Re: My first record -- YAYZ!

« on: October 24, 2008, 08:15:26 pm »

Simply awesome glitching.  Shame SkyLights is a bitch and has it beaten already, but that was some good stuff anyway.

145

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 06:34:46 pm »

Oh noes a double post

So I thought I'd take a minute to round up a little.  I said when we started this it was a touch ambitious and so it proved; I think we had a good go at being entertaining and informative though (mind you, if Gerbil wasn't getting drunk and violating the server we would have posted this all on the big day).

I'd like to thank a few folks: obviously there's genus, who has been amazing to write with as I hope comes across; mike for his History of TSC topic and various other helpings; RPG for also furnishing me with infos of the less accurate variety; epicmafia.com for being the real reason we ran behind welcome relief when needed; Thorn for not killing me when I buggered up the Sonic DIY entry and deprived him of his rightful glory; Zeupar for forum-stalking me and probably finding out everything I was writing about in the process; all the various peoples who keep shit (mostly) running (Gerbil, SM et al); Rolken for starting the whole shebang; and everyone else for being cool and giving me material.

Finally, happy birthday TSC and here's to five more years!

Doug out~

146

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 06:25:42 pm »

1. Top Ten Historic Moments
So here it is, the #1 Top Ten. As it's the 5th anniversary of the site, it's only right that we end this epic journey with a look back at the events that have forged the history of the site.

10.The Changing Of The Guard
On March 30th 2008, mike89 was finally knocked off the top spot of the Sitewide Rankings.  As we know, Mike has been around and been rated as pretty much our best player since forever, whereas DsS was just over a year old as a TSCer (interestingly he joined within 7 days of the Sitewides actually going live - GS, fiddle the numbers so it looks prophetic kplz) and as such wouldn't have been around for most of the rest of the entries in this list.  This isn't an excuse to be an old fart complaining about how things were better in the old days, though; we have our Jebus figures who inspire us to excel, and our successors who knock us off our lofty perches, and that's as it should be.
Times change, and TSC only goes from strength to strength.  Long may the pwnage continue.

9. TSC3
On June 11th 2004, TSC3 was launched.  It featured themes (Stardust Present still pwns you ok, Chaos Angel is for noobs), support for historical ranks (aka the time machine), proper URLs of the format we know today (eg http://www.soniccenter.org/members/douglas/sonic_advance_2) and most importantly database changes that really paved the way for what TSC was to become in the future.  Spectacular it may not have been, but TSC3 really marked TSC's transition from a forum-topic-replacement to a genuine hub of competitive play.

8. TSC4
Amongst our community, we've had a tradition of alternative gaming challenges since before the site even began - fastest deaths, levels completed without getting any rings, that kind of thing - and accompanying them there's always been topics dedicated to destroying other games the way we destroy those featuring our favourite blue spikeball.  The obvious thought, then, is why not spread the TSC love to these games too?
Originally announced in May 2006, TSC4 was intended to allow fans of any and all game series to run their own version of TSC, to spread the competitive love outside the Sonic community.  TSC4 took a while to make it into reality because Rolken was totally inconsiderate and did pointless things like get married, but we now do indeed have 3 subsites - for Sonic fangames, Mario, and Mega Man.
While the subsites have seen some action, what I think they've struggled to replicate is the awesome TSC community we have.

7. Video Submissions
As we all know now, videos are an absolute mainstay of the site.  They are a means of showing how much you pwn (and of course proving you're not a BSer), of spreading your strats to all the other players, and (especially since YouTube became so popular) a means of promoting TSC itself - in fact there are a good few players we have now who've been brought here by our video awesomeness.  However, it wasn't always so - videos were first permitted in August 2004, and you had to be authorised to upload so that TSC didn't get filled with teh pr0nz (despite PPA's best efforts)
There are currently OVER 9000 over 900 videos uploaded to TSC - the 1000th vid will receive a Special Prize from me*!

*Special Prize may not be special or even, strictly speaking, a prize

6. The Emerald Challenges
The forums have always had their share of alternative challenges for people to compete in; topics for challenges such as completing levels without rings or getting the fastest death possible are a tradition amongst our community that stretches back to before the site even existed.  The Emerald Challenges, originally an SCD project, came to us through their master and overlord SpinDashMaster in October 2006.  The basic premise is that you complete a task in the original GeneDrive like completing levels without spindash or remaining underwater for obscene amounts of time.  They ramp up in difficulty all the way up to the Master Emerald challenges, which I don't think we've had anyone complete all of, though Thorn is damn close (*prepares to be shouted down by someone 1337*).  The Emerald Challenges brought a bunch of new people to TSC, provided a welcome and fun distraction from the daily grind of Epic TAing(tm) and were a great way for those new to the competitive gaming scene to get started.  The levels of activity we had, particularly in the early days, are still a fond memory of mine (and I'm sure many other share this sentiment).
Latterly, there spawned the frankly epic fanfic-disguised-as-challenge Cough Drop Challenges courtesy of SM, and the frankly less than epic fanfic-disguised-as-challenge Mural Challenges courtesy of RPG; there have also been some attempts to get ones going for other series, although that's never seemed to have had a huge amount of traction.
Things are pretty quiet on the EC front these days; to the best of my knowledge they're no longer being judged and the last activity in the sub-forum is over a month old.  However, they're a good deal of fun if you haven't done them yet, and they mark a great time of new and varied competition at TSC, and for that we honour them here.

5. The Sonic Olympics
The Sonic Olympics was a competition organized by the Sonic Cage Dome, featuring netplay and TA competitions.  Also participating were TSS, SoaH and TSF, but the main competition was between SCD and TSC.  The early events passed with SCD securing a slight advantage (see http://www.soniccenter.org/forum/index.php?topic=1001.0 for a fuller account) - SCD were showing their ability in the netplay stakes, but TSC had to be favourites as the remaining events were predominantly TA based.  Even early in the tournament there was bickering between the two sides over rulings, but I don't think anyone quite expected the silliness that was to follow.
It was one event that ensured the Olympics would remain forever notorious in TSC's history.  As we know, mike89 is a kick-ass player of all games, and at the time particularly good at the GeneDrive ones, and he was to represent us in the Sonic 2 marathon - fastest time through the game, start to finish, wins.  This was an event made for Mike, and he didn't disappoint, setting a time of 23:14 (real-world time of 28:20) which any S2 players will recognise as something quite special.  In fact even the SCD judge (whose idea was it to have one of the teams as sole judge, I mean that was never going to end well) recognised how good it was, but found some "issues" - namely that Mike supposedly had used autofire (which SM debunked by using his 1337 h4X0r skillz on the file to show the uneven distribution of button presses), and that the recording he submitted had too large a file size (Mike had started from a savestate rather than true power on - legally, at the time - which adds the state to the file).  Having been roundly chastised for this, the tack swapped to Mike having used slowdown - not emulator slowdown, though, a third-party app that slowed it down for the recording then allowing it to be played back normally - apparently SM could make this because he knew what hex was and the judge didn't (how this is possible but computers wouldn't be able to autofire exactly every 1/30th of a second we never did ascertain).  After many, many hours of patient discussion, though, sanity broke through - the decision was finally reversed and TSC were declared the winners - Rolken even got a t-shirt out of it.  He gets all the cool shit because he's awesome and stuff.
For a short while thereafter there was a degree of loldrama in the relations between SCD and TSC that I don't care to retread; suffice to say that's all ancient history now, common sense prevails and its live and let live.  Milky bars for everyone!

4. Introduction Of Sitewide Rankings
For many years there was much debate about how we could determine who the best at TSC was.  We had Top Tens, we had chatroom bantering and we had outright bragging (anyone else remember the series of "I'm calling you out" topics?  Whatever happened to them?).  On March 10th 2007, they were finally introduced, proclaiming that the best of the best were mike89, RPG and sonicam in that order (of course, the fact Mike had a hand in the formula has nothing to do with it, honest!).
The Sitewides reward excellence across many games, encouraging people to compete in charts they wouldn't otherwise, and showing who the best of the best really are.  Some might say they determine your worth as a human being, but as RPG is still quite far up that's idea is clearly rubbish and should be discouraged.

3. Scores/Rings Added To Rankings
For the first two years of TSC's life, the focus was on speed, speed and more speed - however, there were long and varied discussions about how to incorporate rings and scores into the main competition (and if they even should be).  It was in fact genus of Top Ten Top Tens fame (lol selfplug) who first suggested scores being weighted way back in July 2004.  Suggestions ranged from creating separate championships for Times and Scores, Times and Scores/Rings, Times and Scores/Rings and Overall True Champion - we could go on, but you get the gist of it.  Most of the resistance was against Rings, the thought being that they were too easy (see Top Ten #7), although there were the speed-is-everything purists too.  The eventual consensus was of course the model we know now - leaderships per division and an overall championship consisting of them all.  At the time, not many were playing Scores or Rings, and players were given time to beef up their stats in preparation for the switch, but the changeover at the tail-end of 2005 still resulted in a bunch of switcharounds, amongst them RPG grabbing the SA2(B) title for the first time.
Even now it's a contentious issue, with recent discussions on reducing the weight of Rings and Scores or even removing them from championships altogether - what can't be denied, though, is that there are players who love them, they've added variety and drama to the charts, and the impact of their inclusion is one of the biggest things to happen to TSC.

2. The Great Downtime
April 1st, 2005.  TSC is going from strength to strength, boasting 23 games and some excellent competition, when suddenly it vanishes without a trace.  At the time, Rolken was AWOL, so nobody knew what was happening, and when (or if) TSC would return.  In June, Rolken reappeared to promise TSC's return, and on July 5th the site was indeed back - unfortunately, the last stats backup was from December.
So what's the big deal here?  A fledgling site had a couple of months downtime; it happens, it's annoying but not world-ending.  Well, in this case, it stirred up all sorts of competitive drama.  Many had been competing hard during TSC's absence, chief amongst them mike89 who was able to take a massive 10 simultaneous championships when the site returned (although he claims only 7 of them count, the others being just that he was first to re-enter stats for them) but also RPG, OSG and others.  The few days following the site's reappearance were a veritable orgy of submissions and competition, although oddly nobody will now talk about what happened to restore normality.  One conspiracy theory states Rolken had a select few troublemakers killed to restore order (although why he'd leave RPG is anyone's guess).
The Great Downtime now has passed into TSC folklore as both the site's Second Coming and a terrible reminder of what it's like to be deprived of the site for any length of time.  We can only hope there will never be a repeat - so Gerbil, don't go near the server when you've been drinking kplz.

1. Genesis (see what I did there?)
In the beginning, there was the Site, and the Site was GameFAQs - specifically, the message boards for SA2(B).  There could be found topics full of TA goodness, and amongst the posters were names like RPGnutter, NintenDan, Cybrax, SS101, SadisticMystic and mike89.  Given the popularity of the game for competitive play and the fact that every other post on that board was character analysis of Shadow, it was clear that somewhere saner was needed for competitors to gather and strut their stuff.  The first incarnation of this was SA Elite, where competitors all had their own page to put their stats for whichever categories they liked.  One person, though, thought it was a bit silly to have stats all over the place like this, and created somewhere where everyone's stats could be collected in one place.  His name was Rolken, and I think you all know what's coming next.
On October 23rd 2003, the ParaSonic Competition Center was born (and of course it wouldn't be me if I didn't point out the amount of Fail in that name >_>).  Initially, submissions are manual, anyone can submit a time for anyone else, and only 4 games were available - the two Adventures and the first two advances.  To kick start the rankings Rolken primed them with stats from SA Elite, which went live on the 26th.  Not everything made the jump (there were topics for things like lowest scores); a key one that did was SA2(B) Boss rankings, for the Boss TA topic at GFAQs was very popular when it was inexplicably wiped, the consequence of which was members jumping over to us full-time, including the infamous RPG.  In November, the submissions system became automatic (although there was still no login so you could still change others' stats); it was in December, though, that the site as we know it came to be.  Along with a name change to The Sonic Center and a move to www.soniccenter.org came the addition of the classic GeneDrive games (Sonic CD included).
The rest, as they say, is history.

147

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 03:10:05 pm »

2. Top Ten Jacks Of All Trades
In the last Top Ten, we described how hard it is to achieve greatness in one game. It is therefore astonishing that we have players who bring the pwnage across the many games and varied disciplines we compete in here at TSC.  We're looking for strong performances in the original 2D games, in 16-bit land, in 3D, in the new-style 2D games and in what we shall generously call "misc" which is basically everything else.  Though they might not be the absolute best at every game they play, the sheer breadth of their awesome deserves the recognition they get here.
Note: it is not a requirement of this chart to be called Jack, but it can't hurt your chances :)

10. nobody?
Whu?  What the hell is going on here?  No #10?
Well, yes.  As explained in the last chart, it's hard enough being great at one game at TSC, never mind across sufficient categories to be considered for this one.  High rankers we might have for this one are players like Shadow Jacky, who may be supreme in the 3D stakes but his 10th in S1 is purely about rings (3D Blast doesn't count for GeneDrive in my warped little world) and he has no presence in new-skool 2D; maggot, if he played more than 4 games and any of them were at all recent; sonicam, who again rocks in 3D but has no GeneDrive or GBA/DS pwnage to speak of; me if only I could play 3D AT ALL; Judgement (who totally would have got this if he'd placed any higher in SA:DX, by the way) - the list goes on and on, but nobody's really brought the win in three out of the four main categories (and I'm not weighting misc highly enough to make up for that - sorry SJ!).
Okay, so this comes across as a bit of a cop-out - which it is, I guess - but also a message to all of us.  That sage oracle of Pure Pwnage, teh_Masterer, tells us "to truly pwn, one must pwn in all games".  This is a call to arms for all of us - let's take the fight to these 9 noobs!

9. bertin
Okay, hands up who saw this one coming?  I know I've associated bertin with . . . well, the past stupidness we don't need to go over, and recently the comedy being-a-bear shenanigans, but blow me if he isn't a damn good player too.  bertin's been with us just over 2 years, joining in October 2006, and unlike a lot of players on these two charts, he didn't exactly set the rankings alight as soon as he got here - in fact, it wasn't until nearly a year later that he really made any impact at all.  The first game he was to make an impression on was to be Sonic R, jumping straight into 3rd spot; this was quickly followed up by decent showings in Sonic CD and STT as well as a bunch of other submissions across many charts.  Fast forward to the new year and he's up to 2nd spot in STT (he may have been champ at some point but Time Machine's playing up for me; doubtless bertin or SkyLights can enlighten us all with the knowledge).  He also briefly held the Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity title by dint of being the only competitor >_>.  Moving into the summer, we start to see where bertin earned his spot here; the STT title was definitely clinched then and held for a respectable time (he now holds 2nd once more), and he had earned a spot in the Heroes top ten with some pretty impressive stats; also of note moving towards now are his continued strength in CD, earning him a few marks in the GeneDrive portion of this selection, 10th in SA:DX to accompany Heroes in the 3D bracket, and very strong places in S2GG and Chaos to go with STT.
What bertin doesn't have, though, is any real presence in new-skool 2D; however the rest of his profile shows he's got plenty talent across a variety of games.  Congratulations dude - oh, and since you're no longer TSC's Most Underestimated Member, you need a new forum subtitle.  My vote goes to "The Little Bear That Could".

8. Thorn
Thorn - originally gamersince93, until RPG and Aitamen convinced him that was too much of a mouthful - joined us in November 2005 (yeah, I thought he'd been around forever too!).  Besides various hacking exploits and working at TUSC, he's found the time to be a pretty awesome competitor.
It took Thorn just a couple of weeks to grab top spot in the game he's most well known in, Knuckles Chaotix.  He followed that up with a foray into the top 5 of Sonic CD, Sonic Jam, and STT, setting what would become a recurring theme in Thorn's time here - strong performances across a number of games at a time.
It would take far too long to list all the games that Thorn was competing in over the next few months (all the while continuing to head the Chaotix charts, and not just because nobody cares ok).  By the time his 1-year anniversary rolled around, he was competitive in 26 games and top ten in 20 of them, although to the best of my knowledge he hadn't taken any further championships.  One was to follow in March of 2007 though, as Thorn claimed the 3D Blast crown (and his vids are worth checking out).  There was more back-and-forth over that one that Thorn was used to (read: any at all), but he was the top dog throughout 2007.  At the start of 2008, Thorn then claimed another title, although somewhat less impressively this time as there were only 2 other Rivals 2 players at the time >_>.  This was probably when Thorn was at his peak at TSC; soon thereafter he lost both Rivals 2 and 3D Blast; he did hold Jam for a bit though, bringing his championship count up to 4 (edit: 5, apparently he had SPA at one point).
Thorn falls down due to a lack of 8-bit skills and an average showing in the 3D games, but just looking at the sheer number of games he's got orange ranks in - particularly in the games we're unfairly lumping together in "misc" - and you'll understand why he deserves his place.  I hope he won't mind me saying he's not been seen as the kind of epic champion we're accustomed to singing the praises of here, but he very much embodies the spirit of all-around pwnage of this chart.

7. sonichero
sonichero has been around since forever (also known as February 2004), although has been pretty much inactive of late.  As of this writing he holds no championships; however, he's got strong performances in many charts, so let's take a look at what qualifies him for 7th spot.  First off, on the GeneDrive-era 2Ders: he holds a very respectable 4th place in Sonic 3, but it's Sonic CD where he shines - although he's never really challenged maggot's iron grip on the championship he's pretty well represented across all categories and currently holds 2nd.  Likewise with Knuckles Chaotix, I don't think he's ever taken Thorn's title, but another 2nd place is still decent even if it's a game nobody cares about >_>.  Moving on to the 8-bit games, we see top ten places in all of them, although again no championships and nothing that really jumps out as spectacular - just consistently good performance across the field.  Again, in the Advances we see top ten places for all, with 3rd in Advance 1 being the highlight here.  In the 'misc' categories we also see good performances; back in the early days of TSC, sonichero was champion of both Battle and Sonic R, still holding 5th in the former.
It's really the 3D titles in which sonichero falls down; although once upon a time he was a highly ranked SA:DX player those days are sadly long since passed; 12th isn't bad, but it isn't really enough to pimp you as a 3D player; further, the lack of championship reigns does have to be taken into account.  Still, sonichero clearly demonstrates a ton of skill across the board (and it's worth remembering that many of his stats date back many years and still hold up well today).  sonichero holds 6th spot on the sitewide rankings, and 7th on our list of awesome.  Congrats dude :)

6. DarkspinesSonic
March 17th, 2007.  A day that will live in the memories of TSCers for a long time, for it was then that DsS (then known as Da1AndOnlySonic) joined the site.  He immediately made a mark, needing only 3 days to take his first championship in Sonic 06.  He did realise that Sonic 06 is crap and nobody cares, though, and moved in on the Sonic Battle championship, first taking it on April 27th.  They he realised that nobody cares about Battle, and seized both the Riders championship (14th May) and Fighters (23rd May).  That's 4 championships in just over 3 months.
Fortunately for the rest of us, DsS's rate of progress then slowed - it took him until late on in the year to realise that he still wasn't champion in anything anyone cared about!  The next to fall were Drift (12th December) and Drift 2 (20th December), and then just to make this unfunny joke stretch even further he took 3D Blast (30th January).  At this time, there was a concerted effort to fight back - Thorn issued a rallying call to all TSCers when DsS passed RPG for fourth in the Sitewides back in December (http://www.soniccenter.org/forum/index.php?topic=2852.0) and the site experienced huge activity, but it was no use - DsS continued his domination of irrelevant charts.
It was clear, however, that he was finally turning his attention to bigger things, however; he had a bunch of impressive Heroes stats and was rapidly closing in on the upper echelons of the SA:DX charts.  It was in the latter that he finally cemented his place as a true TSC great on February 19th, placing himself above Jawzun, F-Man, yoshifan and other such luminaries in one of TSC's most prized championships (and holding his personal best of 7 simultaneous titles).
Almost exactly a year after he joined, on March 30th 2008, DsS achieved what had once been thought impossible but with his rise had become almost inevitable - he surpassed mike89 in the sitewide rankings, claiming his place as TSC's #1 (and fortunately Rolken didn't follow through on his threat to take down TSC if it happened).  At the time, he was only champion of the Drifts, Riders and Fighters, but as we've seen he'd shown he was massively competitive across a large number of games.  These days, he has Heroes and Chaos (zero pointed!) in his grubby little paws too, and a commanding lead in the sitewides.
The thing that stops DsS being further up is that despite the fact he's held a whopping 10 different championships, he's not got the GeneDrive (3D Blast doesn't count ok) or Advance/Rush brackets covered - yet.  However, with a current tally of 5 championships held and an overall sitewide rank of #1, it wouldn't really be possible to have this list without him.  Also, now I've said all this, ten quid says by next time round he's got championships in both >_>

5. eredani
eredani joined us in November 2005, and is an arse because he took away my rightful #1 spot in the Periodic Top Ten chart the next year.  Also he played some games and stuff.
eredani quickly gained a reputation as a destroyer of records with a huge breadth of skill.  Historically, he's been fantastic at three games in particular: Sonic Heroes, where he battled over the championship with Shadow Jacky; S&K in which he locked horns with mike89; and Chaos, which he originally pinched from mike but later came under attack from many people seeking a cheap championship.  The remarkable thing about this, though, isn't the three championships and defences thereof, it's that they were all happening at the same time - few players can hold off assaults from players of that caliber in a single game, never mind three completely different styles of competition.
These days he's also strong in S1/2/3 (particularly 3), Shadow and STT, but it's the fending off some of our best in three games at once that firmly cements his place on this list.  Had he a presence in the new-skool 2D titles and maybe a bit more of a showing in the 3D titles, he's be a serious contender for #1 on this list.  I should also take this opportunity to remind him that he claimed he would be #1 sitewide by the end of 2008 - quite where that's going to come from, we don't know, but hey - if anyone can peg DsS back a bit, it's eredani.

4. SkyLights
Wait what?  SkyLights in this category?  Surely all he does is Rush and Rush Adventure?
Well no, actually.  It was Rush that drew him in to the site when he joined in December 2005, and by his own admission his various tussles therein (against Ben, Crowbar and latterly his loss of the title to SDM) have shaped him into the gamer he is today.  However, while he's long been acknowledged as the best DS gamer TSC has to offer (sorry SDM!), he's also excellent across the other categories for this section.  He's shown 8-bit talent by taking the STT championship; he snatched the S&K championship from mike89 and has a decent showing in S1, so he has the GeneDrive base covered; and he's also been champ of SSR.  In fact, he held all 5 of the championships he's had at once, making him the most prolific champion at the time.
SkyLights' weakness in this Top Ten is 3D - despite 11th in SA:DX and 3rd in SSR (with a former championship), he's never shown himself to be truly amongst the greatest to grace this category.  However, that doesn't take anything away from his other achievements, his 7th place in the sitewide ranksings, and a thoroughly deserved place on this list.

3. yoshifan
Yoshifan has respectable stats in Sonic 1, Shadow and Advance 3 as well has his infamous SA2(B) dominance, and in the last Top Tens mike described him as the definitive all-rounder, so it's only fair he end up in here.  When he started at TSC way back in 2003, Yoshifan was known as a 2D specialist, and in the early days he and SM held a monopoly on 2D vids, and in fact many of his GeneDrive stats hold up well even today (he'd be much more competitive if he filled out the brackets, particularly the points whore ones we've already discussed).  He's also not bad at Advance 3, holding 8th spot.  However, it was after a brief hiatus that he returned at the tail end of 2005 to take on what was to become his calling: the 3D titles.  Initially smashing records right and left in Heroes, he went on to take the Shadow championship in short order, before turning his eye on SA2(B).  Despite it being our most competitive game, Yoshifan has at the time of writing amassed an almost-500 point lead - a deficit so brutal it's quite possible it won't ever be overturned.  To hold that level of dominance over the most prized championship is nothing short of sensational.
Yoshifan could easily have been top of the One Trick Pones chart for the utter domination of TSC's Crown Jewel, but he clearly shows his abilities across a range of games.  Fear him.  Or play something other than SA2(B).  Either works.

2. RPGnutter
RPG has been around since before forever, being one of the original GameFAQs competitors prior to TSC's inception.  He was the creator of the SA2(B) Boss Times topic, where his epic site-spanning rivalry with Mike first began, and was brought to the site shortly after it started by SS101 (hear that guys - he's to blame!).  It took him a while to get going, but in early 2004 he was establishing himself as a serious contender in SA2(B) and Adv2.  It was around this time that the myth of TSC's Unluckiest Member began, for he held a bunch of championships but none for more than 2 days - this was at least in part due to him being an early submitter in new charts, and otherwise because he sucks and is lazy amirite *bricked*
During the downtime, RPG's rivalries with Mike and SS101 kept competition going, and it was these guys that attacked the charts hardest when TSC returned.  RPG and SS101 both went at it tooth-and-nail in SA2(B) (followed shortly thereafter by the pwnage streak of Rayku), leaving Mike in the dust (which is an achievement by itself).  With Cybrax no longer active, Rayku topped the boards from SS101 then RPG - a period of fierce competition ensued, but it took the introduction of scores and rings to championship rankings to give him the title for the first time.  What followed was an intense period of championship swapping action between the two of them, with RPG eventually eking out enough of a lead to hold the championship for a decent time.
Then there's Advance 2.  Unlike with Adventure 2, RPG actually became champion in short order, deposing Zealous with a strong showing in both Times and Bosses.  He wasn't allowed to rest on his laurels, though, as NintenDan was hot on his heels, first in Times then later in Bosses.  Taco's taking the championship sparked a 6-month continual fight over the title described best in a previous Top Ten; suffice to say I (Douglas) turned up and thought I'd put him out of action, especially with rings/scores being added.  How wrong I was - SpinballWizard discovered a technique that allowed for huge scores to be obtained through button mashing, but it was RPG who successfully put it into practice, surpassing myself and Judgement to become champion once more.  Judgy's awesome and my succumbing to score scalping has left him behind in 3rd these days, but he's been a huge trailblazer in this game, especially with Bosses (what is it with you and bosses btw?).
If I'm honest, I don't really know the details of his other escapades, but in his time here, RPG has racked up 8 championships, and is currently strong in Sonic 1, SA2(B), S1GG, SPA and Adv2, which covers all the bases set out for this category - a truly impressive feat (although it might be more so if his only current title was something other than SPA, I mean srsly).  RPG is the All-Rounder, but the greatest is . . .

1. mike89
Until DsS replaced him at the head of the sitewides, mike had long been held up as the very best TSC has to offer.  Joining up way back in 2004, mike started out competing in Advance and Adventure 2 before spreading out to Sonic 1 through S&K, in which he left a trail of broken and bloodied competitors in his wake, holding S2, S3 and S&K for considerable lengths of time (indeed, he held S3 for around 3 years).  When he turned his attention to the Game Gear games, he butchered them all, holding all championships except STT, and when he turned to Adv3 he displaced the legend of the Advance series that is NintenDan.
Following the Great Downtime, Mike spammed all the charts to take cheap championships was a stalwart of the site, spurring competitions across many games.  At one point he held 10 championships at once, although he prefers to count it as 7 as that was the state 'when the dust had settled' - either way, it's a terrific achievement.  Another consequence of the downtime was that Mike was close enough for a tilt at the Adventure 2 title - at least until RPG and SS101 got off their backsides a couple of days later and put him in his place.  Still, few have ever been so close to the Crown Jewel.
Upon the introduction of sitewide rankings, it was pretty obvious they would show Mike as TSC's greatest (and not only because he had a hand in their creation, either!)  These days he has to settle for second, and even more shockingly for old hands like me he doesn't hold a single championship at the time of writing.  That said, a quick look at mike's profile shows how good he still is across so many different disciplines.  Top 5 in S1 through S&K cement his old-school 2D credentials (arguably where he excels most); 3rd in Heroes and a top ten place in TSC's most competitive game Adventure 2 show he can bring it in 3D; top 5 in all 8-bit games and 2nd in SPA show he's at home on the underpowered machinery; 2nd in adv3 and 4th in Rush show he's more than competent at the new-skool 2D too.  Let's bear in mind that he's been quiet on the competition front for a while and his stats still hold up amongst the best - if he ever gets it into his head to take up serious TSC competing again, everyone's in trouble.  Outside the charts he's done epic SDA runs as well as the now infamous Sonic Olympics S2 marathon run.  There is nobody who performs to such a high standard across so many different types of game as Mike.
In the last Top Ten, mike didn't rate himself at #1, but we're not him so we don't have to be modest (yeah yeah, different criteria, bloody pedants).  Anyway, congratulations Mike!

148

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 09:37:00 am »

Well then the crowd shall get more.

 3. Top Ten One Trick Ponies
Being the best is tough, especially here at TSC.  It takes dedication, planning and practice, all of which are that much easier if it's your favourite game.  It also takes a healthy dose of skill, which is rare enough just for one game. Put these two together in one package, and you've got something special.  In this Top Ten, we celebrate those players who, while they may be none too shabby in many games, demonstrate an absurd level of excellence in their own specialty.

10. greycatmon
greycatmon the Riders player comes to us from the hive of scum and villany that is CyberScore.  His/her/its competing there dates back to November 07, which explains why he was able to attain near-instant domination in the Riders charts upon arriving on June 5th (it took only 4 days, in fact), and it was in that same month that he/she/it left us once more, never to be heard from again.  Also his Dark Desert 3-Lap Time Attack comment - I used Amy! disturbs me greatly.  Also also the fact he's registered as a Windows 98 user disturbs me greatly.  Also also also he/she/it needs to post here immediately and make my life easier damnit!

9. Paraxade
Paraxade has been with us since November 2007, is the champion of . . . Sonic 06.  Oh dear.  On the plus side, he's stemmed the DsS onslaught, which can only be a good thing (sorry DsS!).  Honestly I don't know so much about 06 (my copy is still loading <_<), but what we can say about Paraxade is that he has an outstanding level of knowledge about the game, as evidenced by his thoroughness all the stats, his level of detailed explanation of why certain . . . people couldn't have got the stats they claimed, and his involvement with the rules committee.
In topping DsS, Paraxade has demonstrated that he's got the skills - hopefully it's only a matter of time before they're applied more widely and I can unceremoniously kick him out of this list.

8. blazest
blazest might seem like a relative newcomer, having a registration date of October 07, is actually formerly known as blaze_japanese and is, as the former nick suggests, a Japanese player.  Typically, Japanese players have had their own TA and other gaming communities separate from the western worlds, although periodically there is cross-'boundary' movement (and last I checked, TSC holds up pretty well against gamers elsewhere - go team!).  I believe it was SM who first brought blazest here to compete in April 06, although he'd been playing long before then.  In his previous incarnation, he didn't submit; as blazest, however, he's laid waste to the SA2(B) charts, and now holds 2nd (yoshifan be warned!).
It's worth noting that blazest is the only non-champion in this chart; partly of course down to his competing in the Crown Jewel but also because of the large impact he's had in a short space of time; further, given he's going to be aware of all our strats now, there's the potential for an assault on the title itself, which would be great to see.
私の友人おめでとう！あなたの将来の努力で頑張って！
Finally, there has to be a shout-out to Psyknux, who was booted out of this chart at literally the last minute due to blazest's antics.  It's a testament to the strength in depth that TSC currently enjoys that this chart was so, so hard to make choices for and excludes great players like Psyknux and others who I'll come to later.

7. Zeupar
Hola Zeupar! ¿Cómo estás? Zeupar is our token Spanish type - hailing as he does from Madrid - and therefore knows how to use (and abuse) more types of punctuation than we have letters in the alphabet >_>.  He's been with us almost 2 years now, and his focus has been wresting the Sonic Advance championship from the grips of Nintendan.  Interestingly he's only 4th in Times (and hasn't submitted any special stage stats) - it's Rings and Scores where Zeupar earns his keep and in fact the championship.
Zeupar has shown signs of diversification, though - into the totally different world of . . . Advance 2 >_>  He has some pretty good times and (particularly) boss stats, so if he ever turned his attention to rings and scores there he could mount a half-decent challenge.  Fortunately he's far too busy exploring every nook and cranny of the site so's to annoy Gerbil with more bugs, and forum stalking people (seriously, he's been following me when I've been researching this stuff, he probably knew everything we were including before we started!).

6. SpinDashMaster
SDM came to us via SCD, and is the brains behind the Emerald Challenges amongst other things - but hey, this is about competition, and though SDM undoubtedly has plenty skills in the GeneDrive games (check the giz topic and of course the emerald challenges as examples of his knowledge and skill) he hasn't showed them in the charts thus far - the one he has shown his ability in is Rush.
SkyLights had held his position atop the Rush charts for many moons - it was his game.  SDM started his assault on the Rush charts not long after he joined, and had a strong start, reaching 2nd pretty quickly.  However he was forced to play second fiddle to SkyLights for many months, until in March this year he overturned the incumbent legend, and since then he's reigned atop the chart.
SDM has the love and knowledge of the Sonic series, and in Rush we can see he has the skill and dedication too - if he keeps it up, I forsee more championships in his future.

5. Quartz
Quartz and I (Douglas) go back a long way.  After championships were changed to include RA/SA stats, I held a commanding lead in the adv2 championship, having been the only person to bother with rings and scores way back when.  NintenDan and RPG were both inactive and it looked like there was nobody to take the fight to me.  Nobody, that is, until Quartz came on the scene.  Arriving in March 2006, it wasn't long after that he was challenging for the title, and of course he eventually wrested it from my grasp, reminding me a lot of RPG in his bringing a consistently high standard across all the different stats.  What followed was an intense period of back-and-forth competition between us in a serious throwback to the NintenDan vs RPG days; often, our title reigns were being measured in hours.  Even now with his being inactive and not indulging in score spamming (the latter probably costing him over 200 points), he holds a strong 4th place.
While I can attest to Quartz's abilities in adv2, I think we can all appreciate just how good he is at adv3.  If you don't - zero point Times leadership.  Deposing mike89 from any championship is a noteworthy achievement; doing so with this kind of pwnage is something special.  Sadly he didn't achieve it back when rings and scores didn't count for championships, and so hasn't held the Holy Grail of a 0p championship, but I for one wouldn't bet against him still being able to achieve that.  He's that good.
Quartz has some decent stats in other games (3rd in Riders is a good showing), but we all know where he truly excels.  Quartz's one trick may be all three of the Advance series, but hey - we make the charts, we can damn well choose whoever we like.

4. OmegaDJ
OmegaDJ has been with us since August 2007, and it was a short time indeed until he showed his credentials in Shadow - in 2 months he broke into the top ten, then a month later he was top 5, ending the year in 3rd with nearly all red time stats as well as the odd record - and this is up against some of our best 3D players like yoshifan and ShadowJacky.  His assault on the title continued unabated, and it was January 26th that marked his ascent to the very top.  Since then he's gone on to utterly dominate the competition, with a 0-point Rings leadership, and a smorgasbord of red spattered with a good chunk of records too, and one yellow stat - come on dude, sort that Egg Breaker Neutral.  Seriously.
OmegaDJ has made a start at Heroes and SA:DX as well, but it's in the gun-toting emohog's title game that he brings the win.

3. K-Dero
K-Dero is an extremely unhelpful player to write about, given that he/she/it has never posted on the forums <_<  What we can say is that after joining in April 2007, he/she/it has whittled his/her/its Sonic 3 stats down, until by the end of the year he was a serious contender (and had in the process taken my only times record off me, the git).  It took him until June to finally take the championship; however given that it was mike89 that he/she/it was deposing, we can forgive the timeliness and merely recognise the achievement.
Seriously though, you and greycatmon need to get with the boards.  It's where all the cool kids hang out (and RPG too, but it's OK, he's harmless really).

2. stanski
Stanski was brought to TSC from SDA by our very own mike89 to hone his skills for a Sonic 2 run - little did he know the wrath he was unleashing upon the S2 charts!  It took him but a few months to completely annihilate all competition, taking the championship and phenomenally whittling his points to zero.  Oh, and he got a 20:02 speedun for SDA to boot.  These days he has that down to 18:45, a quite staggering total, and though he doesn't hold complete domination over the chart his 350+ point lead lets everyone know who the daddy is.
Stanski is clearly an epically good gamer; he has SDA speedruns for Dark Castle and Toy Story and decent stats for S1 and S2GG, but at TSC it's Sonic 2 where he is untouchable.  I shudder to think what will happen if he turns his attention to other 2D games - we just won't stand a chance, guys.

1. Jawzun
Jawzun first graced the scene in October 2006, and was always an SA:DX player, but we didn't really appreciate just how good a one he is.  He was the discoverer of a technique he calls the "Fake Homming Attack" - we never did work out how one does a homm, but no matter, because applying it and his prodigious talent brought him TA record after TA record, with the eventual result being the championship as well as the kudos for wiping out Cybrax's last untied record (City Escape 3).
Perhaps the most amazing thing about Jawzun, though, are the forum topics about him.  Anyone else coming in and dominating such a popular chart would spend their life dodging noobs' accusations of cheating; Jawzun has 3 topics encouraging him to go for various achievements in the game.  Jawzun is proof that anyone can come into an established and competitive game, break new ground and dominate the competition while remaining well liked by all.
Bastard.



Again, I just want to emphasise how tough this chart was to put together for the deluge of excellent players; there are a ton of excellent players who didn't make it through being great but not champion (Psyknux and F-man spring to mind) or for the 'crime' of being good at other games (people like RingRush and . . . err . . . me >_>).  Maybe we should have a Top Ten People Who Weren't In This One Or #2!

149

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 06:16:25 am »

placeholder for #4 >_>

Also #3 is One Trick Ponies and #2 is Jacks of All Trades - I'll give you guys a little speculating time then stick em up.

150

Competition Central / Re: The Official Top Tens Topic

« on: October 24, 2008, 06:15:30 am »

 5. Top Ten Fads
In biochemistry, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) is a redox cofactor involved in several important reactions in metabolism. stupid Wikipedia >_>
We at TSC have short attention spans and like magpies tend to jump at new, shiny things. This means we're receptive to all kinds of trends, with a new obsession every week!  Here, we chronicle the best (or at least most entertaining) of these for your delectation.
It should be noted that any resurrection of the mentioned fads as a result of this topic carries the same sentence as thread necromancy: a silver bullet to the heart heavy ridicule for all eternity.  This means you, RPG.

10. Magic The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering is the original modern trading card game.  I can't pretend to know too much about it, being far too cool and fashionable for it's nerdy ways, but SBW and RPG are now attempting to get a box league going for this, but have as yet run into a resounding "meh", for as we all know trying to organise TSCers is like trying to herd ill-tempered mutated cats with frickin' lazer beams attached to their heads!
Also SBW rocks your face with these two totally awesome TSC-flavoured cards:



9. Sonic DIY
Back in the days before TUSC got going, we got hold of Sonic DIY, a Sonic engine and level editor that sparked a spate of creativity, culminating in the level building competition that can be found here.  There we learned many things: Thorn rocks at more than just TAing, RPG has a climbing fetish, and eggFL fails at life.  But seriously , go to the topic, download the levels, and play them - without egg's failures, they're pretty pwn.  What RPG?  Hey, no need for threats, just ask for whatever you want nicely.  Unless it's raep, in which case asking nicely kinda defies the point.
Oh right, he wants y'all to go submit at TUSC.

8. Horrible Misfortune Game

The Horrible Misfortune Game stems from a time when committing graphic, wanton homicides with each other on the forum was very much the 'in' thing.  This particular incarnation was the brainchild of magnum12, a variation of Hangman wherein the person who solves the puzzle may gorge themselves with a cathartic (bloody) release on the last person to take a guess. It's a brilliant manifestation of our most rewarding impulse: to push a corkscrew into chum's eye, fish for the hyaloidic canal, gently twist the wrist, withdraw our corkscrews, and enjoy the tranquil 'floosh' of the eye as it's pushed out of the socket (I must remark that this is, pleasantly, not much unlike the sound of a hardboiled egg forced through a narrow glass jar) while a calming geyser of red and yellow, complimented nicely by friend's rhythmic spasms, brings the matter to a comforting, soulful warmth.
Unfortunately, we live in more "civilized" times. Due an unfortunate stigmatization yoked by dogmatic indolence, I've had to rent a storage locker there hasn't been a murder at TSC in weeks.

7. Uno
Uno is the gambling man's crack cocaine, and it rightfully occupied our attention for a few days. Some years ago, we found an Uno bot, bought some Cubans, and risked our futures on a pair of wdf's. A small group of dedicated players popularized the phenomenon, and soon a *slightly larger* group of dedicated players gambled away their time and dignity on the fraternity of disillusioned Sonic players, while we had to explain how you it was tilde-p-space-first letter of color-number with tilde-p-space-w for wilds (using tilde-color-first letter of color), tilde-p-space-wdf for wild draw fours (and you draw 6 cards if a player challenges you and you could have played another card instead), tilde-p-space-first letter of color-s for skips (incidentally, this was the first call of bs outside of its normal context), tilde-p-space-first letter of color-r for reverse, tilde-draw for draws, you have to type tilde-uno (card) when you're playing a card that will give you uno, or else you automatically draw four cards so everyone is free to laugh at you, and if you want to see card counts you just type tilde-players. Spinny, genus, Rolken, genus, Cherry, Mike, Sprint, genus, Mike, and more names were the original players, though owing a recent pseudo-revival more people than I care to list joined the fun. There were some classic games, and some unique strategies-while most players played to lose their cards in a game where you want to lose all your cards, genus and Sprint employed the brilliant strategy of getting as many cards as they could. If you're ever up for some laughs...you can find the game logs yourself here. I'm not digging for those.

6. Online Risk
Started by Upth, who had an account on warfish, online risk is...like Risk, but online. A game in which players wage endless world war in order to bring about World Peace by establishing the Utopian Republic Of Rolkenland...but online! There were some heated games on yon Warfish, but the fad more or less fizzled out until The_T (not to be confused with Mr T, who would rather pity than be the fool) introduced us to LandGrab, where there was a second reckoning. I personally enjoy the revival, since it's given me a chance to herald my glory throughout foreign lands and trick Sondow into losing every game.
Also this video must be watched by all Risk players - it ruined the game for me, so it must for the rest of you >:D

5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
This game was basically why everyone bought Nintendo Wiis, it was massively hyped. Even before release, TSC's near-constant speculation was a sort of fad. You can find some of the documented discussion here, but even those 127 replies through 3 months don't do justice to our specied interest in the topic. Around the time of Japan's release, someone talked to Rolken and told him to cap spoiler discussion; all Brawl antics were to be confined to #smashspoilers (which, evidently, is still a moderately populated channel), with any exceptions punishable by instant banhammer. Sondow and RPG defied fearless leader, so they were socked two.
Following its stateside release, there was -intense- online action with a fair share of ridiculous matches. For weeks, there was almost nonstop Brawling. We had some rather ridiculous matches: superjump only games, falcon punch showdowns, hammer competitions, and so on. Saving a replay of anything under 3 minutes, regardless of its quality, then sending it to everyone, was mandatory; otherwise TSC would, as a collective, have too much Wii memory. Since he was the coolest in the game, King DDD was unanimously elected the TSC character, and the earth shook with his battles. It was also decided that Bowser would become the joke character, and that anyone who played as him must Bowsercide every stock to prevent other players from having fun.
Soon, it was established that genus and ShadowJacky could clean everybody's clocks as the worst characters in the game while wearing blindfolds, fighting piranhas, and playing with snow mittens. Of course, as dictated by TSC custom most people moved on to another worthy activity, so their supremacy would go forever unchecked. For TSC, Brawl is effectively dead; while I attempted to restore the game with an awesome tournament, the lack of interest is a sufficiently compelling reason to not bother.


4. Pogeymans Forum Names
A while ago, it was . . . err . . . fashionable to change your TSC forum name to that of a pogeyman - for reasons I've never been able to understand. Particularly popular were boring flying pogeymans (RPG was Starly, Quartz was Taillow, ...).  You'd have thought they could have chosen legendaries as a symbol of their aspirations and personal uniqueness...but no, I guess not. They're bog standard, common, and about to get their arses handed to them by my Tyranitar.

WWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Actually it was an epic swarm of Magnezones that ended the fad, try convincing the thing that lives in your basement otherwise.


3. Bertin the Bear

Oh, YES.


2. Mafia
The current, and best, chat fad is Mafia. The basic premise of the game is that the players are all villagers in an uncomfortably small village that has a number of mafioso. To further their criminal enterprises, these mafioso will kill a villager each night...for some reason.  In response, the villagers turn into an angry mob, and lynch whichever poor bugger the majority suspect is a Mafia member (making people offers that they "can't refuse" in a thick Italian accent and thinly veiled threats about "going against the family" are dead giveaways).  The village wins if all Mafia are lynched, and the Mafia win if they equal or outnumber the villagers at any point.  It's a game of deceit, mistrust ,and mob mentality, so it's only natural that TSCers have gravitated towards it. You can play a game and kill your least favorite members here.
Though interestingly, TSC was first introduced mafia over two years ago. This was a particularly interesting game, with the setup of one cop, six villagers, and two mafia. At Stefan's behest, we strung Douglas up on the lonely sycamore atop the austere hill of destiny; when I, as the cop, realized something wasn't quite right with Stefan, there were hour long conversations alleging mafiadom. ShadowJacky claimed that he was the cop, which he wasn't, and tight before the town lynched Stefan, the mafia fiend, he congratulated me on a job well done as his partner. After investigating ShadowJacky and concluding that was just a matter of SJ not really knowing what he was doing, genus valiantly led a charge against the *other* mafia fiend, Aitamen, on no real information. The topic itself reflected some of the chaos; there were secret messages everywhere, generally masked with the color tags (such as "I really vote for Stefan" above "I vote for Douglas"). It was a success, which is why it died out for so long. Stefan found a flash mafia program, and the rest is money.
With a game of Mafia, you can learn many things about people that you would otherwise never notice.  Firstly,  TSCers are all murderous bastards who can never be trusted. Some are so bloodthirsty that they can't even go a night without killing! Secondly, games with a disguiser in have shown that Stefan knows everything about everyone, and we should all make sure we lock our doors and close our curtains at night.  Thirdly, Douglas always wins still suffers from the delusion that he's actually good at stuff.  Finally, genus always knows what's going on and will lie to you just to play headgames for his own amusement is an honest and decent chap who can definitely be trusted and isn't toying with you at all.

<flyby> i am a mafiafag loud and proud

1. Phoenix Wright
The Phoenix Wright games involve the player becoming a lawyer to prosecute bad guys and defend innocents in an (albeit logically insane) court of law.  The Phoenix Wright fad involved TSCers becoming lawyers to use excessive number of pictures to back up the same old arguments we've always had on our (albeit logically insane) forums.  From PPA's furriness to RPG's inability to do work, PW became the accepted means of establishing truth and justice throughout TSC.  To give you an idea of just how far this stretched, there was in fact an occasion where Doug admitted he'd been out-argued - a truly momentous happening the like of which we're unlikely to ever see again.
Unfortunately, it transpired that the Court Of TSC was noting more than a sham when it emerged that the most prolific lawyers were in fact in control of the judge.  Groudon attempted to restore some order to the proceedings by assuming the mantle of an objective judge, but was eventually driven insane by the manic babbling of the TSC hoards, and was last seen attempting to hold the entire site in contempt of court (which really doesn't seem that unreasonable, if we're honest).  Doug then took it upon himself to end the fad by means of bash.org, although unfortunately it's shown signs of reappearing in recent times.  Srsly guys, for general sanity we must disbar RPG and PPA now!