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2012 FAQ Tournament - Day i - Preliminary Rounds
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Hello everyone and welcome to the 2012 FAQ Tournament! Website http://superluigi16.webs.com/2012-faq-tournament Head to the website for the most complete matchup information and the bracket. Hyperlinks are also present in the Guide Info. Purpose This contest is designed to both (a) determine the best FAQ of 2012 and (b) help us all become better writers. This approach allows everyone's FAQs to get better, and this will better the site as a whole. After all, we want the best content on the web, right? :D Rules Here are the most up-to-date rules: - Vote for the best FAQ. Evaluate both FAQs closely and make an educated decision as to which one deserves your vote to advance to the next round. - Do not vote for your own guides. You may, however, vote for guides competing against your guides, if you want. - Anyone may vote. You do not have to be a FAQ author to vote. The only reason why you may not vote is if you intend to vote for your own guide. Also, we highly encourage all of the people who frequent the board but don't necessarily post too often to vote. Everyone is welcome, so vote if you can! :) If you have any questions, please ask! Voting Voting is rather simple. Put the match number (the number in front of the two guides) first, then put the bracket ID for the guide you want to vote for and make it to the next round. Here's an example vote: 1) [100] Pikmin 3 FAQ/Walkthrough by super_luigi16 VS [101] Mario Kart Wii U FAQ/Walkthrough by super_luigi16 Votecard 1) [101] Please make your votes obvious as it makes my job much, much easier :) Today's Matchups A) [1a] Tales of Graces f (PS3) by Krystal109 VS [1b] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) by DBM11085 B) [2a] Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS) by super_luigi16 VS [2b] Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS) by KeyBlade999 C) [17a] SD Keiji: Blader (NES) by threetimes VS [17b] Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) by RedIsPoetic D) [18a] Lollipop Chainsaw (X360) by ExtremePhobia VS [18b] L.A. Noire (PS3) by Bkstunt_31 E) [33a] The Walking Dead: Episode 1 - A New Day (PC) by GameCoder VS [33b] Legend of Grimrock (PC) by noz3r0 F) [49a] LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (PS3) by CyricZ VS [49b] Ys Origin (PC) by Johnathan 'Zy' Sawyer This voting period ends Thursday, February 7th, 2013 at 9pm PST. Hyperlinks to Today's Entrants [1a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/604158-tales-of-graces-f/faqs/64130 [1b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/997842-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-3d/faqs/63756 [2a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/997779-kingdom-hearts-3d-dream-drop-distance/faqs/64763 [2b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/997828-paper-mario-sticker-star/faqs/65241 [17a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/570578-sd-keiji-blader/faqs/64115 [17b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/3ds/620831-super-mario-3d-land/faqs/63591 [18a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/637316-lollipop-chainsaw/faqs/64391 [18b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/929170-la-noire/faqs/65369 [33a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/622432-the-walking-dead-episode-1-a-new-day/faqs/64206 [33b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/641157-legend-of-grimrock/faqs/64126 [49a] http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/655774-lego-batman-2-dc-super-heroes/faqs/64563 [49b] http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/935850-ys-origin/faqs/64636 Check the website for the updated bracket! _______________________________________________________________________________ Let's get the voting started! --- Luigi > Mario Current Project: 2012 FAQ Tournament | Upcoming Project: Luigi's Mansion FAQ | |
Votecard A) [1a] [1a] has a lot of great formatting and skilled use of everything from tables to text boxes to horizontal lines. My only real qualm with this guide is that, by using all of this formatting, you tend to drown out and neutralize the effectiveness of said formatting. Everything gets very cluttered, especially in sections that are very short and hence have headers very close together. [1b] is a great guide, but I dislike the walls of text with little-to-no other break in the constant stream of text--no checklists, no separation for bosses, and so on. Even the headers are little... flat. B) Abstain. I feel like KH3D is one of my best guides, but KeyBlade has some scary-good formatting >__> <__< C) [17b] [17a]. Wow. I love the "=" signs interceded by the dots in the headers for each section. The Appendices are very nicely done. However, throughout the entire guide, I feel as though your sub-headers continually get drowned out in the text; even in the Appendices, the sub-headers are somewhat hard to find, if you're searching for something specific. [17b]... oh Red, I remember you slaving over that guide :3 After gaining some experience as a writer, I feel the controls would be better suited in a table. The headers also (still!) bug me in that there is very little space in them. However, you're guide is very powerful with great manipulation of boxes and headers for effect and the sheer completeness of the guide for a platformer is astounding. D) [18b] [18a] is certainly not how I would write a FFAQ. I feel like you could use more stand-out markup in your text (e.g., bolding instead of italicizing, more headers, etc.), but, when markup is used, it's for very important parts of the game. I still feel like markup is somewhat underused in the guide, though. [18b]--I love dem headers. They're so... artistic. However, the sub-headers could use some spacing to differentiate from all of the other boxed text below. Maybe using darker characters (#) and giving and enter on both sides? I'm not sure. The Appendices' formatting is awesome, though. E) [33b] [33a] is very, um, short. Not necessarily bad per se, but you don't even have a TOC. I also don't get the point of the "=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=" lines when you aptly switch between all of your other headers. Some spacing would also be nice to get some air between those larger blocks of text. [33b]. I'm not familiar with the game, but is having all of that information at the beginning useful to the reader? Otherwise, I love the way you present your guide from the headers to the tables to the maps. F) [49b] [49a] is somewhat header deficient. There just seems like an overall lack of structure which is something that somewhat bugs me as a reader. I feel like the "- [Place]" then indented walkthrough is a bit messy. [49b] almost goes to the opposite extreme with too much formatting, but I feel that it keeps it within bounds there. For instance, in the section headers, I feel the vertical bars are unnecessary. Oh, and I personally dislike the arrow-inside-the-arrow for the recommend thing at the top. However, the rest of the formatting is AMAZING. :) --- Luigi > Mario Current Project: 2012 FAQ Tournament | Upcoming Project: Luigi's Mansion FAQ | |
A) [1b] Close matchup. I like Zelda's one for its simple format, nice and clean. The other one is good also, and his style is close to mine but there is a bit of mess. B) [2a] This time was easier. Paper Mario is simple and clean, but the other is too much complete to lose against it. C) [17a] Keiji Blader is good enough to win: it gave the informations you need to go on, adding data on items and monsters too (but next time try to add some strategy too for them). Super Mario has a nice content but that "Star Coin Alert - format" breaks too much the text during the walkthrough. D) [18b] Lollipop Chainsaq is not complete: tons of text but too many "???" in the Zombie Album. The other one has good format and content, but just like the previous matchup, the "New location/clue/other - format" breaks too much the walkthrough. E) [33b] Legend of Grimrock is really in a different league: a lot of infos and maps (try make them "lighter" next time, there are too many squares and it's not to easy to find the "X"). F) [49b] Better style: you can understand quickly where you are and what you need, but I don't like the "whole block of text full of blank filler spaces". About Lego Batman, I think that notepad is not fitted "to stretch the lines of text", the effect you have is a bit weird. | |
Votecard A) [1a] B) [2a] C) [17a] D) [18b] E) [33b] F) [49b] A) [1a] has a lot of elements that I consider FAQ "turn-ons": Checklist-y, doesn't re-iterate what's happening on screen, and a very detailed table of contents. Maybe a little overkill on linking even common consumable items to their appropriate appendix, but hard to fault it for being "too" comprehensive, I suppose. [1b] has two stylistic turn-offs I'm not fond of: referring to another section for bosses, and conversational filler text. B) This was tough to decide. Both have formats that I love to see in FAQs (checklists again, very rich appendices). I'm usually not a fan of "enthusiastic" writing styles but I can't really fault it with this level of quality. Giving the slight edge to [2a] for the more in-depth appendix sections. C) Giving the edge to [17a], a format not unlike what I try to use (actually, I need to take some notes!) Nothing against [17b], though. D) Echoing what SL said; [18a] is not how I like to see formatted FAQs. For [18b] I'd like to see the ToC-noted sections made a bit larger/bolder; I found it hard to find them just casually browsing. E) Oh my, [33b] you attempt to woo me with maps and [KEYWORDS]. It's working. F) [49b] has more "segregated" formatting; easier to find sections (heck, they almost find you). | |
A) [1a] Looks very comprehensive. I generally dislike FFaqs but the linkage here is excellent. This one is tough. 1b is well done but it's just too darn hard to find a particular section in the walkthrough and jump to it. B) [2b] Ugh. This one was hard. At first I thought 2a had it in the bag. Once I saw the maps I was ready! But then I went to page 2 and saw a blank section at the top. And page 3. And page 4. Not really SL's fault but those massive blank sections are killing readability. I also felt that the long horizontal lists look weird and the pictures, while neat, don't really add much. C) [17a] As much as I like RiP I think Kenji Blader is a smoother guide. In 17b I felt the world headers were a bit too... hmm, what's the word... small, I guess. They need to be emphasized more. I also love the star coin alerts but feel those boxes should be stretched horizontally more. D) Abstain E) [33b] The amount of info included is staggering and the maps really help. 33a is done well, but 33b just trumps it for usefulness as a guide in general. To be fair, 33a is for a game that arguably doesn't even need a guide (coming from someone who also did a guide for that game...). F) [49b] The formatting wins this round. It's just so gosh darn pretty and useful. The walkthrough text itself looks more useful than the Lego guide as it points out items and notes. --- The Blitz Knight rides again! Facebook: http://Facebook.com/Bkstunt -=- Website: http://Bkstunt.com | |
F: 18b To go through all the match-ups above will take time so I haven’t done that. I did check out the match-up involving Lollipop Chainsaw because that game appeals to me somewhat. Went through the Lollipop Chainsaw guide, here are my comments: At the beginning in the top box it talks about the guide being 50 pages when in fact on GameFAQs it is just 2, so that should be changed or removed. (I assume the 50 was from Word or whatever was used to create the guide.) There are bits missing from the guide. It mentions this in the versions section which is good that he is not hiding it but would be better if he finished these bits off. A section called Score Card follows a section of a level (Prologue level). It may be better placed before the Prologue level, although it could be that the way the game plays out dictates that it shouldn’t go there. I like the way he has his email address at the end of the guide to avoid spam. For the general text I skipped over most of it, but if I had the game I may have gone over it to see if it made sense. For the LA Noire guide: It starts with Blitz Knight Stunt presents: This made me think of a rude word. Lots of ASCII art at the top before getting into the guide. If this were a book it would have a front cover but this is not a book. Good bit in the intro making him sound approachable if you have comments etc., although the note that immediately follows then puts you off asking questions because he says he hasn’t played the game in an age. Good that DLC is included in the guide. Good to have the lists at the end. For the general text I skipped over it again as I haven't played the game. Voted for LA Noire because the lists at the end were complete it seemed whereas in Lollipop Chainsaw there were gaps. If I get time I might look at other match-ups later. | |
Above message should be D: 18b, not F. | |
Yay, the competition has begun! :3 Not going to vote just yet; I'll take my time to look the FAQs over! :) There's one exception though, being my match-up against threetimes. C) [17a] I personally love threetime's work, so if I'm going to be beaten by anyone, I'm glad it's her. :) Honestly, the attention to detail is amazing. The formatting is nice and clean. I love the use of the periods in the main headers to capture your attention; they work very well. My only recommendations would be to possibly create fully enclosed boxes for battles, so that they become a little more prominent; and to move the Treasure/Enemies/Ally information down a little from the headers as they feel a little squashed against them. Nothing much else. Good job on a wonderful FAQ. Hopefully SL can forgive me for spacing my votes out a little. Right, dude? XD --- Major Upcoming FAQ Projects: NSMB2, FTL, FE: Awakening http://facebook.com/redispoetic | |
[1a] I vote for this guide because the formatted version here is very well done and there are no long walls of text. Devin's guide has plenty of excellent information but the formatted guide by Krystal is a little better in my eyes. [2a] I liked both of them a lot but it comes down to walls of text and while Keyblade separates his sections a little it still comes off as a wall of text to me. [17b] This is one of the best guides I've seen in a while. The formatting and detail are smooth and I actually read through a few levels because it just seemed so nice [18b] BK seems to have really perfected his style and it shows in this guide. No vote on 33a/b [49b] I liked John's guide a lot. Could do without the huge walkthrough header (it looked like filler to me) but at least you can't miss the next section. --- Currently Writing for: Ni no Kuni Prolific Contributor: www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32351.html | |
RedIsPoetic posted... Hopefully SL can forgive me for spacing my votes out a little. Right, dude? XD No. *instantly disqualified* xD --- Luigi > Mario Current Project: 2012 FAQ Tournament | Upcoming Project: Luigi's Mansion FAQ |
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