The Final Fantasy Marathon Thread [locked]

2012-11-07 08:23:50 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Maybe the smaller venue of SGDQ helped the Yeti perform better than at AGDQ, where I understand it to be public enemy #1. Still, if JDRF happens to have any equipment that we could borrow, I wouldn't say "no" to it.

Could anyone explain what each of those pieces does, and rate their relative importance?

AlecK47

2012-11-07 10:44:45 pm

I think the main problem was not so much the mic, but the lack of volume normalization. If 15 people get loud, it's much worse than 5-10 people getting loud, and that can be hard on viewers' ears. That problem is not necessarily because of the mic (although I believe that some do have internal normalization, they're stupid expensive); it can be fixed with software or audio settings, but don't ask me how (the Shure might do it, too, but once again I'm not sure). I can also contribute a pair of good headphones, but that's about all I can contribute for the audio.

Also, holy crap. This charity = WIN Shocked

Itsu de Mo

2012-11-07 10:53:28 pm

Arrested for felony abuse of emotes

omg, Yay! =D

I don't have any family with T1D (that I'm aware of), but I do have/had quite a few with T2D. ^^;

FFgamer86

2012-11-07 10:58:32 pm

SDA Speedruns: 1

VERY Nice Poxnor. Also... what is T1D?

Itsu de Mo

2012-11-07 11:01:02 pm

Arrested for felony abuse of emotes

Type 1 Diabetes, aka Juvenile Diabetes. Usually requires insulin to maintain blood sugar.

Type 2 is also called Adult Diabetes. Blood sugar can easily be monitored and adjusted with diet. ^^

Poxnor

Edit history:

Poxnor: 2012-11-07 11:21:51 pm

2012-11-07 11:21:01 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Ack, I'm always yelling at students for not defining their acronyms Tongue

Thanks, Itsu. I've updated my previous post.

The names "juvenile diabetes" and "adult-onset diabetes" are misnomers. T1D is an autoimmune disease where insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed. It typically starts early in life (hence the former label of "juvenile"), but can also begin seemingly at random at a much later age. T2D, on the other hand, is where your body becomes resistant to its own insulin, and is often caused by obesity, poor diet, etc. (and hence why it used to be seen only in adults); however, there are also some genetic conditions that can predispose people to T2D, and it can also be triggered by other medical conditions, e.g., some cancers.

JDRF is a T1D charity. Even though the symptoms are virtually identical, the treatments are nothing alike, and a future cure for T1D would look nothing like the way in which T2D is managed or cured.

Itsu de Mo

2012-11-07 11:30:12 pm

Arrested for felony abuse of emotes

I was aware of the misnomers. It's just that's what people are used to hearing. ^^;

And, you're welcome. ^^

rinimt

Edit history:

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:57:17 am

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:55:48 am

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:51:45 am

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:51:21 am

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:50:07 am

rinimt: 2012-11-08 01:49:59 am

2012-11-08 01:48:50 am

Kupo!

Ok so I'm thinking of possibly doing Dissidia/Duodecim as well. It would be quick with the way I'm thinking, as it would simply be ONE of the stories (or the first chapter of Duodecim). They would be around 30 minutes - 1 hour, depending on the story done (though hopefully this can be dragged down some). The story done could be decided as a bid war. However, the story done would also potentially decide the runner (either myself or Leno), depending on how skilled we are at the one picked (for example, Onion Knight is my strong point but I'm horrible at Terra).

Though one thing to note is there's also about a 12-15 minute period before the story is selected that involves the tutorial/prologue (in Duodecim, this time is more around the lines of 8-9 minutes). So it'd be like 40 minutes - 75 minutes.

These are all initial estimates on time, so as I mentioned they should (hopefully) be dragged down some more.

Regardless of game picked, another donation incentive: File name - 12 letter limit.

Ok so I'm thinking of possibly doing Dissidia/Duodecim as well. It would be quick with the way I'm thinking, as it would simply be ONE of the stories (or the first chapter of Duodecim). They would be around 30 minutes - 1 hour, depending on the story done (though hopefully this can be dragged down some). The story done could be decided as a bid war. However, the story done would also potentially decide the runner (either myself or Leno), depending on how skilled we are at the one picked (for example, Onion Knight is my strong point but I'm horrible at Terra).

Though one thing to note is there's also about a 12-15 minute period before the story is selected that involves the tutorial/prologue (in Duodecim, this time is more around the lines of 8-9 minutes). So it'd be like 40 minutes - 75 minutes.

These are all initial estimates on time, so as I mentioned they should (hopefully) be dragged down some more.

Regardless of game picked, another donation incentive: File name - 12 letter limit.

Terribleno

2012-11-08 02:18:25 am

With every game with donation incentives, I'm very worried about one pretty big detail: some game is going to have to start this marathon. I fear that whatever starts may get the short end of the straw in terms of donation potential. Part of the reason I was initially suggesting an on-site MMX race is to give us some time to get some donations in for the first game. I can completely understand why that game shouldn't be in though, since this is a theme we're sticking with.

I imagine you'll have something in mind once the schedule is starting to come around, and perhaps I'm worried about nothing. Am I paranoid? Sad

Poxnor

2012-11-08 03:05:48 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

You bring up a good point about the leading game not having much time to bring in donations, especially for its early incentives. That's why I'm strongly considering FF4 as the lead game. With the Namingways, naming characters is a rolling incentive (you can keep renaming in each town); there are no bonus stages early in the game; it's a strong game to kick off the marathon with; etc.

MetaSigma

2012-11-08 05:14:31 am

Evermore Extrodinare ᕦ(° Д°)ᕤ

If nothing else would it not make sense to do what they do at other marathons? I remember I believe it was AGDQ2011 where there was some "pre-marathon" streaming of just practice and whatnot to sort of wet the palette of people and to let them know hey we're starting soon!! The other thing you could do is when the marathon starts up have an introductory period (No more than about 10 to 15 minutes) and introduce everyone running as well as potentially our cause, reasons for doing this, etc. It allows people the opportunity to vote for Cecil/Kain/Rose and gives them a cutoff time as well.

Poxnor

2012-11-08 11:31:08 am

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Yes, starting the stream a little early makes sense for so many reasons. If we had a way to stream 3DS, I'd even say stream a bit of Theatrhythym as an intro (sadly, not an option at this point). But we're not breaking the theme and streaming Mega Man to start.

Poxnor

2012-11-08 12:50:34 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

rin: I like a short Dissidia run (one character) inclusion, with a donation incentive for which character to play. It's a clever donation incentive, plus a nice game, for so little time.

FFgamer86

2012-11-08 03:35:50 pm

SDA Speedruns: 1

Meta, That idea sounds not too bad, but we also want to make sure we have the charity promoted during the biggest viewer counts. Im not sure how often/long we will have the guests from JDRF over to help with the cause, but from what Poxnor said it may be very flexible.

Poxnor

Edit history:

Poxnor: 2012-11-08 04:50:04 pm

2012-11-08 04:45:52 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Presumably aside from the insane (come over for five hours at 2 am!), they've said it's up to us. JDRF has said they're willing to personally do as much or as little promotion of themselves as we want.

Essentia

2012-11-08 05:33:24 pm

Everything's better with Magitek

Quote from Poxnor:

- They figure they can get us news coverage on all the major networks. They wanted to know if any attendees have Type I Diabetes (T1D), or have a family member that does, because the news anchors would probably want to interview that person;

Regarding this, I have an aunt who has T1D. I also have a few other relatives who are diabetic, but I believe they all have type 2.

MetaSigma

2012-11-08 05:56:03 pm

Evermore Extrodinare ᕦ(° Д°)ᕤ

Quote from Poxnor:

Yes, starting the stream a little early makes sense for so many reasons. If we had a way to stream 3DS, I'd even say stream a bit of Theatrhythym as an intro (sadly, not an option at this point). But we're not breaking the theme and streaming Mega Man to start.

I thought we were beyond the whole Mega Man thing XD.

Quote from FFgamer86:

Meta, That idea sounds not too bad, but we also want to make sure we have the charity promoted during the biggest viewer counts. Im not sure how often/long we will have the guests from JDRF over to help with the cause, but from what Poxnor said it may be very flexible.

The runners is all I'm really refering too, you're right about wanting to get the charity promoted during the biggest viewer counts.

Poxnor

2012-11-08 06:41:34 pm

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Meta: we are beyond the Mega Man thing. I just stated the obvious, instead of kicking Lenophis in the balls Tongue

Essentia: thank you for letting me know. I'll make a note of that. I'm sure any news organization will already want to speak to you -- something about a pregnant lady driving 1/4 of the way across the continent to take part in a charity event Smiley

FFgamer: we'll be plugging the charity every hour, even during low viewer counts Smiley

They're sending me PDFs of the fact sheets tomorrow, and I'm going to ask for a volunteer to condense them into some key "talking points" for us to use during the marathon.

I'll update the first post tomorrow with all the new things that have been said over the past few days.

Poxnor

2012-11-10 02:33:44 pm

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I've updated the first post to include rin and Leno doing something with Dissidia or Duodecim -- one story, and which story is a bidding war. I'm a little fuzzy on the details of who would play under what conditions, how variable the story lengths are, etc. So, once you're able to provide me more concrete details, I'd appreciate that. But, I like the idea of playing one story as a bidding war: it's short, clever, and different.

I also have PDFs of the fact sheets that JDRF gave me. They're great little summaries of what the charity is doing, what T1D is all about, etc. I'd like everyone to read through them ahead of the marathon. Also, they're a little verbose for our purposes during the marathon (they're all nice and professional in paragraph form Wink

), so if anyone would like to volunteer for the task of going through the fact sheets and condensing them into little point-form "talking points" that we could use during the marathon, that would be great. Make it no more than 2 pages of point-form "talkables," separated under headings like "About JDRF," "About T1D," "About Your Donation Dollars," etc. The goal is that each time we plug the charity, we can pick a few of those talkables at random and mention them, meaning that: (a) we're generally saying something new or interested about the charity, for the viewers who are sitting through a long game; but, (b) we're always saying something accurate about the charity Wink

I've updated the first post also to include: (a) a correction on what temperatures can be like in March in Edmonton, obtained from me looking at Environment Canada's historical weather data for March 15, to impress on certain runners who were trying to show their bravado that they really want to bring a jacket; (b) another "post"-marathon idea (though sadly it probably wouldn't work out); and (c) I'm starting a "Rules For Running / Commentating" section (my apologies if I'm coming off as a real hard-ass for all the rules I keep throwing out there, but there are unfortunately lots of things that have to be addressed in advance).

PS: Personal practice update -- FFL3 can seriously troll hard when it's in a bad mood. I've gotten a few sub-3:15s, but I haven't been able to replicate the sub-3:00 (through no fault of my own, as any execution errors were pretty minor). This variability is going to be a challenge in scheduling things; rin told me that CC can be just as insanely variable, and I've seen MQ be quite variable too. But, we'll make this work Cheesy

I've updated the first post to include rin and Leno doing something with Dissidia or Duodecim -- one story, and which story is a bidding war.  I'm a little fuzzy on the details of who would play under what conditions, how variable the story lengths are, etc.  So, once you're able to provide me more concrete details, I'd appreciate that.  But, I like the idea of playing one story as a bidding war: it's short, clever, and different.

I also have PDFs of the fact sheets that JDRF gave me.  They're great little summaries of what the charity is doing, what T1D is all about, etc.  I'd like everyone to read through them ahead of the marathon.  Also, they're a little verbose for our purposes [i]during[/i] the marathon (they're all nice and professional in paragraph form ;) ), so if anyone would like to volunteer for the task of going through the fact sheets and condensing them into little point-form "talking points" that we could use during the marathon, that would be great.  Make it no more than 2 pages of point-form "talkables," separated under headings like "About JDRF," "About T1D," "About Your Donation Dollars," etc.  The goal is that each time we plug the charity, we can pick a few of those talkables at random and mention them, meaning that: (a) we're generally saying something new or interested about the charity, for the viewers who are sitting through a long game; but, (b) we're always saying something accurate about the charity ;)

I've updated the first post also to include: (a) a correction on what temperatures can be like in March in Edmonton, obtained from me looking at Environment Canada's historical weather data for March 15, to impress on certain runners who were trying to show their bravado that they [i]really[/i] want to bring a jacket; (b) another "post"-marathon idea (though sadly it probably wouldn't work out); and (c) I'm starting a "Rules For Running / Commentating" section (my apologies if I'm coming off as a real hard-ass for all the rules I keep throwing out there, but there are unfortunately lots of things that have to be addressed in advance).

PS: Personal practice update -- FFL3 can seriously troll hard when it's in a bad mood.  I've gotten a few sub-3:15s, but I haven't been able to replicate the sub-3:00 (through no fault of my own, as any execution errors were pretty minor).  This variability is going to be a challenge in scheduling things; rin told me that CC can be just as insanely variable, and I've seen MQ be quite variable too.  But, we'll make this work :D

Attachments:

2012-11-10 03:00:30 pm

I'll give condensing things a go at some point over the next couple days.

And yes, I would bring a jacket regardless. Tongue

I know how unpredictable weather can be - I live in Michigan; believe me, I know - especially during early spring/late fall. Even though I don't really need a jacket as long it's above 55 Fahrenheit (just under 13 Celsius, if I remember the conversion right)...

I'm also making good progress again on learning XII. As it turns out, I was far more resistant to a safe strat than I should have been...

Poxnor

2012-11-10 03:10:39 pm

Moo! Flap! Hug!

Heh, the highest recorded temperature in history on March 15 is 13.7 (1981). So, you can be pretty sure it won't reach that threshold, Alec Wink

As an aside, the lowest recorded was -29.1, in 1997.

(Conversions: 13.7 C = 56.7 F, -29.1 C = -20.4 F)

AlecK47

2012-11-10 03:33:22 pm

Hm... I would have thought that a continental climate zone (aka inland) would have more variability.

rinimt

Edit history:

rinimt: 2012-11-10 06:50:40 pm

2012-11-10 06:41:45 pm

Kupo!

So there's a Crisis Core donation incentive that I forgot to put in my update post:

Saving the floor 49 employees (3 battles) and some civilians on Loveless Avenue (2 battles) when the Shinra building is attacked. Time taken is about 7-8 minutes and would cut-off when the Bahamut battle starts (the storyline one, not the rematch).

Another possibility is making it a bid war of saving vs not saving.

Terribleno

2012-11-10 07:09:37 pm

Suppose I should update, myself. Just bought a 3000-model PSP, so I can stream PSP games properly now (well, once the AV cables get here on Monday). I was getting tired of the framerate issues and half the library crashing if you try to stream anything with RemoteJoyLite.

On the flip side, two of my bosses at work are going to be scaling back their hours starting in January, so I may suddenly get flooded with the 40-hour week again. If that happens, all doubt about me going will be erased, since my money won't really decrease at all then. Cheesy

However, depending on how I get scheduled, I may not get time to stream as much. I'll still get practice in, though. Cheesy

Zoning

2012-11-10 07:17:42 pm

Hey, I can fill the missing FF13 bit. I run ~6:30 right now and I am working on bringing that down. Currently re-routing the game but hit a snag in that my computer crashed :/ Anyway, I can do 13 and 13-2, however I am not really a fan of running 13-2 just because it can be annoying as far as luck goes (took one hour for a drop one time) but maybe DRsynj has something up his sleeve with Chichu I could learn if people wanted it to be at the marathon. I usually run 13-2 in around 4 hours. Anyway the only thing I would need is to be done somewhat early so that I can drive back home for the start of classes on Monday. I REALLY cannot think of any donation incentives for either game but hey I'm available.