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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 8:25:09 GMT
Morning all! Shall we see what the Top Forty looks like? *cues up Yellow Pearl* *gives away age*
40th: TOWER OF DESTRUCTION by KEITH MARTIN. 62.86% A book that is quite liked by some, but not that impressive to others, it got a large cluster of votes around the 7-8 mark, and another cluster around 4-5. And a 10 and a 1 to make it look interesting, which I'm not convinced it is.
39th: TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS by IAN LIVINGSTONE. 64.00% The median average mark, because this is the book in the middle. Most of its scores were in the middle, too, but it has a hardcore of supporters which netted it four 9s.
38th: ISLAND OF THE LIZARD KING by IAN LIVINGSTONE. 64.29% Tied with Bloodbones for a short while. Like Trial, it had a high of 9 and a low of 3, but don't let that fool you - all bar three people rated it either 6 or 7. Distinctly average.
37th: BLOODBONES by JONATHAN GREEN. 65.00% My favourite Jonathan Green FF, I'm guessing this one suffers from a similar difficulty level to his first three. Whilst it's hard, there's nothing egregiously unfair about it, though (I think), which might explain why it's higher than his Puffin titles. My 9 was the highest it got, but no-one strongly dislikes Bloodbones - it had a low score of 4 (and apart from Warlock, it's the lowest placed book not to score anything below that).
35th: SCORPION SWAMP by STEVE JACKSON (US). 65.33% 35th: TEMPLE OF TERROR by IAN LIVINGSTONE. 65.33% Temple scored mostly between 6-8, with a couple of stray low votes. Swamp wasn't too dissimilar, but had a couple more low scores to balance its high of 9. We're in the middle of a run of books that no-one hates.
34th: NIGHT DRAGON by KEITH MARTIN. 65.71% Again, no low votes here, with everything spread evenly between 4 and 9.
33rd: MASTER OF CHAOS by KEITH MARTIN. 66.15% Two of us dislike this one, with my score of 2 being the least generous. However, the low scores are atypical - it mostly scored 7s and 8s. I'm guessing that's for Jesper?
32nd: MASKS OF MAYHEM by ROBIN WATERFIELD. 67.14% Two people gave this a perfect 10; two others were less generous and awarded it less than half marks. Most rated it 6.
31st: THE CRIMSON TIDE by PAUL MASON. 67.86% What does this book have in common with Chasms Of Malice? It's the second of three books to bag both a 10 and a 0. In fact, it bagged two 10s, and my vote was one of them - this one is in my all time top three, mostly for the trick with the codewords and the disdain for a high Skill score (sadly not shared by the editor), but the writing and world-building also helped, as did that paragraph 400. I am happy to say there was only one hater - no-one else gave it less than 4, though the vast majority of voters rated it between 6 and 8, so perhaps it's not quite as divisive as it looks. I'm surprised it's below both Black Vein Prophecy and Magehunter, though - but not very far below one of them...
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vagsancho
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 8:35:43 GMT
Crypt received two or three 10's?
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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 8:57:33 GMT
30th: MAGEHUNTER by PAUL MASON. 68.33% Mostly 5s, 7s, and 8s, with a 4 and a 9 to make it look more Marmitey than it actually is.
29th: REBEL PLANET by ROBIN WATERFIELD. 68.46% The highest rated sci-fi FF, one stray 2 looks out of place among consistent scores between 6 and 9.
28th: THE RIDDLING REAVER by PAUL MASON and STEVEN WILLIAMS. 71.11% Mostly high votes, with one reader giving it a 10. Again, a stray 2 damages the average, particularly with so few people scoring this one.
27th: SORCERY!: THE SEVEN SERPENTS by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 71.43% I expected more from the excellent Sorcery! series, but there were two participants who are clearly underwhelmed by these four books. Most scores were above a 7; four people rated it as high as 9.
26th: APPOINTMENT WITH F.E.A.R. by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 71.54% This one was always going to be unpredictable. I absolutely adore it - I think it's damn near perfect, so the tallying started from a maximum of 10. And then the first PM I received for Round Two gave it a 0 (and a note that they'd like to give it a lot less!). And the second one awarded it another 10, and I'm thinking this is the very definition of controversial. As it happened, there were no more extreme scores after that, with most voters giving it a 7 or an 8. I don't know if it's the superheroes genre that puts off the haters - surely it can't be the intricate and near-flawless gameplay? This is the highest rated of the three books which received both maximum and minimum scores.
25th: SORCERY!: THE SHAMUTANTI HILLS by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 72.50% The third consecutive Steve Jackson book (fourth if you count 'Steve Jackson presents', which I'm fairly sure at least one forum member doesn't), the voting for this book was similar to that of The Seven Serpents.
24th: DEMONS OF THE DEEP by STEVE JACKSON (US). 72.67% A different author at last - I was getting tired of typing the same name there... oh, wait. Demons started off surprisingly strongly, but tailed off as more votes came in. Demons netted one 9 and one 5, and every other score was inbetween. I'm glad this one did well - I feel it's often overlooked.
Every book from here on scored at least one 10/10... with one surprising exception.
23rd: PHANTOMS OF FEAR by ROBIN WATERFIELD. 72.73% A very close fought battle with Demons, this book was also helped by having no scores below half marks. One perfect 10; most votes were between 6 and 8.
22nd: BENEATH NIGHTMARE CASTLE by PETER DARVILL-EVANS. 73.57% The second highest book from Round Two, and another consistent performer. Again, just one 10, but nothing below a 5.
21st: BLACK VEIN PROPHECY by PAUL MASON and STEVEN WILLIAMS. 73.85% Of course, the further up the list we go, the fewer low scores rear their ugly heads, but Black Vein Prophecy is certainly a divisive title, with a low score of 2 and most votes between 5 and 7. So how did it rate so high? A large group of fanatics, that's how. No fewer than four people gave this the full 10/10.
The Top Twenty will be revealed this evening.
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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 9:00:43 GMT
Crypt received two or three 10's? Two people awarded it a perfect 10.
I said I wouldn't reveal anyone's scores, but I don't think anyone's in any doubt that you were one of them. The other will have to out themselves, though.
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Post by vastariner on Nov 19, 2020 9:20:08 GMT
So what have we in common with those at the bottom?
For the newer ones, the writing is aimed at a lower age group than the Puffin era, which must count against. For the Puffin ones, they're mostly those with very linear gameplay, lazy game mechanics, and insane difficulty. The main exception being Skylord which is a mad trip.
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Post by vastariner on Nov 19, 2020 9:21:18 GMT
I suspect that Revenge would have scored higher if it didn't contain so many errors, I would have given it at least one more if the gold piece issue was sorted. Certainly I would have rated it higher had it not been so broken. Smacked of publishing the wrong version.
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kieran
Baron
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Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Nov 19, 2020 10:58:18 GMT
These are the books (so far) where I seem to be something of an outlier:
- Sky Lord: I gave it a 5 which isn't very good but seems to be high for this book. Gameplay-wise it's way too hard with tough space battles and arbitrary instant deaths and the writing is inconsistent, but I just enjoy its wackiness. i find myself returning to it quite often.
- Eye of the Dragon: I gave it a 6. It makes no sense whatsoever and has some nasty battles (though I think that's due to Attack Strength vs Skill confusion - not that that should be an excuse!) but it's actually quite a well-designed dungeon with a few viable paths, some of which interlock in quite subtle ways.
- Deathmoor: I've always said this is one of the most underrated books in the series - that said I only gave it a 7! Arion has some fun encounters and some clever design features. The moor itself is one of the most "open" areas to explore in FF. You can pretty much go off in any direction, albeit not all paths are viable. The mini dungeon at the end is fun too. If it weren't for the awful climax and a bit of sloppiness, I probably would have scored it higher. After writing this, I feel it probably should have got an 8.
- Daggers of Darkness: I gave it a 9. For my money, this is the most fun book in the series. Lots of paths to explore, lots of colourful encounters, mini games to play, powers to experiment with. A few unfair instant deaths, a couple of bugs and Luke Sharp's at times breakneck writing let it down slightly, but I still like it a lot.
- Return to Firetop Mountain: This got an 8 from me. Technically it's not the best designed book - all the good stuff is on the true path and some fights are overly tough. But the window dressing here is just so good. Martin McKenna at his best andgolden teeth that summon elementals are quite a cool quest object. There's even some good humour in there.
- Stealer of Souls: Not really an outlier here but it looks like I gave it its highest score with 8. Solid dungeon adventure with an interesting enough finale to stop it coming across as generic.
- Trial of Champions: I was part of the hardcore group dishing out 9s for this one. It's basically Deathtrap Dungeon only with more of a personal investment. Although it's more unfairly designed and the rivals aren't as interesting, hence no 10.
- Night Dragon: A 4 from me. It's well-written and does manage an epic feel, but it's overlong, over-complex and just plain dull in spots.
- Mask of Mayhem: Another 4. Quite atmospheric in places but also has its dull moments. It's also very unfair. While it has a good story, not enough is made of it, with important plot elements passed over abruptly. And the Horn of Hever is pretty pointless considering how much focus it gets. Not really sure why this is considered so much better than Deathmoor which is similar, but better in nearly all respects IMO.
- Appointment with FEAR: I was the other person who gate it a 10. It's so cleverly and intricately designed and I love all the pop-culture and comic book references. Plus with 4 superpowers, it's one of the most replayable books too.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 11:52:47 GMT
Are you planning on doing a comparison with the rankings in the 2010 Fantazine poll, Wilf? I've started on one, but don't want to post any details if that would steal your thunder.
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vagsancho
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 12:44:20 GMT
Chasms, for its dark nature, is clearly better than the slightly childish Daggers.
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vagsancho
Knight
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Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 12:47:12 GMT
I hate Jang Mistral, I hate Jerry Grass, I hate that stupid Utophski, I hate that whole Fu..ing book.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 13:13:25 GMT
Without giving anything major away, I'm 99.9% certain that I know which book has improved most in the rankings between the 2010 Fantazine poll and this one, and it hasn't yet appeared on Wilf's list.
That 0.1% uncertainty is because there are two others which could equal or beat its jump - if it comes no higher than 19th - in the unlikely event that either of them turns out to be in first place.
On a personal level, 14 of my top 19 have yet to be mentioned (and another 5 of the as yet undisclosed top 20 are included in the massive tie for 20th place in my rankings).
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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 13:28:49 GMT
Are you planning on doing a comparison with the rankings in the 2010 Fantazine poll, Wilf? I've started on one, but don't want to post any details if that would steal your thunder. Please go right ahead. I can't remember the results of that poll, and I'd be interested to see how this exercise compares. Once I've revealed the winning book, my thunder is spent.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Nov 19, 2020 13:58:41 GMT
Without giving anything major away, I'm 99.9% certain that I know which book has improved most in the rankings between the 2010 Fantazine poll and this one, and it hasn't yet appeared on Wilf's list. That 0.1% uncertainty is because there are two others which could equal or beat its jump - if it comes no higher than 19th - in the unlikely event that either of them turns out to be in first place. On a personal level, 14 of my top 19 have yet to be mentioned (and another 5 of the as yet undisclosed top 20 are included in the massive tie for 20th place in my rankings). You clearly have good insight and a detailed memory of the books.
I think you have suggested something interesting namely you need to know all the books to do a genuine comparison.
I only know about 25% of the books so I was reluctant to award a 0 or 10. I My highest allocation was a 9 to Sorcery and the main Jonathan Greene books which have caused me such vexation.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Nov 19, 2020 14:00:33 GMT
Are you planning on doing a comparison with the rankings in the 2010 Fantazine poll, Wilf? I've started on one, but don't want to post any details if that would steal your thunder. Please go right ahead. I can't remember the results of that poll, and I'd be interested to see how this exercise compares. Once I've revealed the winning book, my thunder is spent. This has been a wonderful project.
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Post by The Count on Nov 19, 2020 14:30:42 GMT
Keep would have scored higher if it wasn't possible to just stroll up to said Keep and directly to the titular Liche Lord, something I never realised until recently as otherwise it is quite a good book. On the opposite end of the scale, the Green books are verging on broken and aren't challenging in an enjoyable way.
Tower lost points for the puzzles, Deathmoor I think I rated too harshly but the additional point I'd give it now would have to be removed for the rubbish plumbers joke anyway.
Otherwise, a lot of my favourites appearing in the last few batches: Demons, Scorpion Swamp, Phantoms, Black Vein Prophecy, Tide.
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sylas
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"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
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Post by sylas on Nov 19, 2020 15:25:55 GMT
Black Vein Prophecy getting 21st place is an excellent result. Good to know the Order of the Black Vein made a difference.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 15:27:16 GMT
Okay. For the purposes of the comparison, I'm disregarding the books that weren't in the previous poll. That cuts down on peculiarities like Sky Lord's having simultaneously gone up and down (it's fallen from 70th to 75th, but is now third from last rather than right at the bottom).
So far only two books are in the same relative position as last time. Sky Lord remains the lowest-ranked book pre-Blood of the Zombies, and Star Strider still comes 65th out of the 70 books in both polls.
The smallest changes of position that are actual changes go to Chasms of Malice (drops 1 place) and Appointment with F.E.A.R. (goes up 1).
At the other end of the scale, 9 of the books outside the top twenty have moved over 20 places. They are (in reverse order of distance moved): 9) Phantoms of Fear - up 22 from 45th to 23rd 6) Midnight Rogue - down 25 from 19th to relative 44th 6) Scorpion Swamp - up 25 from 59th to relative 34th 6) Demons of the Deep - up 25 from 49th to 24th There seems to be something about books ranked something-ninth in the old poll that makes them very volatile: the only one not to make a massive shift was Starship Traveller (moved 2 from 69th to relative 67th). There was a tie in eighth place in the Fantazine poll, and neither of those books can have dropped more than 12 places or gone up more than 7 this time round. 5) Masks of Mayhem - up 26 from 57th to relative 31st. 3) Armies of Death - down 27 from 39th to relative 66th. The curse of the -ninth strikes again. 3) The Keep of the Lich-Lord - down 27 from 22nd to relative 49th. Wilf may still consider it overrated, but it's taken quite a plunge. Though not as much as... 2) Revenge of the Vampire - dropping 29 from 26th to relative 55th. And even that's not as big a nosedive as... 1) Legend of Zagor - a well-deserved (IMO) plummet of 33 places from 29th to relative 62nd. The biggest leap has yet to be revealed There's one book that has definitely gone up at least 31 places, and two others which might have done likewise (but probably haven't gone quite so far - still, they were in the high thirties and are now in the top twenty, so they haven't done badly for themselves).
So far, Temple of Terror is the only book to tie in both polls. It came joint 45th (along with Phantoms of Fear, Battleblade Warrior and Curse of the Mummy) first time round, and has moved up to share relative 34th place with Scorpion Swamp.
Observations on specific authors to follow...
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vagsancho
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 16:14:49 GMT
I will defend what I have defended before: House of Hell deserves the first place. The real only one FF horror book. The atmosphere is unique. The difference between House of Hell and Creature of Havoc is Brutal. Creature of Havoc is like Crimson Tide - a very good idea, poorly executed. HOUSE OF HELL - is a fantastic idea, amazingly executed.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Nov 19, 2020 16:27:23 GMT
Black Vein Prophecy getting 21st place is an excellent result. Good to know the Order of the Black Vein made a difference. I can understand BVP rating a 9 because of writing, story, structure, etc. But four perfect 10s? Surely the gaming aspect of the book isn't perfect? I yield my time to the members of the Order of the Black Vein to explain.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 16:39:26 GMT
Authors take two (blasted crashes).
Taking them as ranked by Wilf on the previous page, from worst to best...
Martin Allen actually sees a little improvement. Sky Lord may still be the unloved four-armed child of the Puffin range, but both Clash of the Princes books did better in this poll, The Warrior's Way rising five places, outpaced by The Warlock's Way moving up six.
By contrast, Luke Sharp's standing has not improved. Star Strider may have held its ground, but all his other books wound up lower this time round. In fact, the sharpest decline was shown by his highest-rated title, Daggers of Darkness dropping eleven places.
The rise of the Princes also benefited Andrew Chapman, who did nothing but improve, most significantly with a ten-place leap for The Rings of Kether.
Most of the ballast churned out by Ian Livingstone in recent years is irrelevant for the purposes of this comparison, but the fact that 75% of his lowest-rated books weren't around for the first poll isn't going to help him much. Apart from the nosedive taken by Armies of Death, this time round saw a significant decline for Return to Firetop Mountain (down eleven places) and Trial of Champions (a drop of eighteen). While the fall of Eye of the Dragon was of a lesser magnitude (just five places), that's only because it didn't have far to go anyway - it was already close to the bottom, and now it's even closer. Despite vagsancho's cheerleading, Crypt of the Sorcerer fell six places, and Island of the Lizard King and Caverns of the Snow Witch both slumped slightly. It wasn't all bad news for Ian, though. The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, The Forest of Doom and Freeway Fighter all went up a little and, as previously noted, Temple of Terror managed an eleven-place leap, overtaking two of its former tie-partners. It remains to be seen how two of his books did, but as both were in the top twenty last time round, any change is going to be comparatively minor.
Keith Martin's Marmite may have changed its consistency somewhat, with the aforementioned decline of Legend of Zagor and Revenge of the Vampire (and Night Dragon fared little better, losing fifteen places), but the fan palate seems to have become more receptive to the flavour of Stealer of Souls and Tower of Destruction (which gained ten and eleven places respectively), and the four-point drop suffered by Island of the Undead is counterbalanced by a similar rise for Master of Chaos.
Rather than risk losing this analysis a second time, I'll post now, and follow up with the next lot of authors.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 17:00:15 GMT
Authors take two part two.
Robin Waterfield is another author who's done nothing but benefit from the new poll. In addition to the previously mentioned big jumps for Masks of Mayhem and Phantoms of Fear, Rebel Planet shot up twelve places, and even Deathmoor managed to improve its standing by four.
Similarly, two of US Steve Jackson's books were among the highest leapers, while Robot Commando (incidentally the lowest ranking of the books in my personal top twenty) moved up a creditable fourteen places.
There are two Jonathan Greens (though not in the same way that there are two Steve Jacksons). Early Jon has seen quite a downturn, his player-killers all sliding down the table, with a nine-place drop for Curse of the Mummy, Bloodbones losing an unlucky thirteen places, and near tag-team Spellbreaker and Knights of Doom each ending up fifteen places lower than before. Playable Jon has obviously seen some improvement, but until the top twenty are revealed it's not clear how much better Stormslayer and Night of the Necromancer have done, nor whether of not Howl of the Werewolf remains Alpha FF book.
Talking of Steve Jacksons, the UK variant hasn't seen much improvement, if any, this time round. Okay, so he has five books in the top twenty, but four of them were in the top ten last time, so some of them could still wind up lower than they were. Of the books already ranked in this poll, while The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Starship Traveller and Appointment with F.E.A.R. all saw minor improvements, the odd-numbered Sorcery! books have both taken falls in excess of 10 places.
The fall of The Keep of the Lich-Lord may leave Jamie Thomson worse off overall this time round, but as both books co-written with Mark Smith have moved up into the top twenty, it's not likely to be a catastrophic decline. And now that Jamie has a best-selling series of children's novels (of which my nephew is a big fan) under his belt, I doubt that he'd lose much sleep over this poll regardless.
Ruminations on the top four multi-book authors to follow, though as they all have at least a toe-hold in the top twenty, I'll wait for more results before commenting.
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vagsancho
Knight
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 17:30:04 GMT
Somebody here have said that the notion of quest is pretty good in Crypt of the Sorcerer. Well, I would say that is the best of all books, being that factor the best point of Ian Livingstone.
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vagsancho
Knight
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Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 17:32:05 GMT
The most awfull score of all FF books is certainly that horrible: Hero Points - of appointment with fear, just one more factor for being the worst FF book to me.
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Post by a moderator on Nov 19, 2020 17:34:30 GMT
For me, the harshness of the rules and the flimsiness of most of the characterisation drags Crypt down. It doesn't even make my top 60.
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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 17:47:17 GMT
I quite like Crypt. It needs some Skill or Attack Strength boosts to make the final confrontation winnable, and the thing with the Bonekeeper is unforgivable, but I reckon it's a thumping good story. Probably Ian's last one, though.
Shall we have a look at the Top 20?
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Post by petch on Nov 19, 2020 17:53:39 GMT
I'm going to reserve further comment until the full list has been published, but I will admit to being the voter whose outlying low scores dragged Crystal of Storms and Return to Firetop Mountain down the rankings. Sorry, Rhianna and Ian.
I think I scored Sorcery! more harshly than most as well. Taken as a whole the saga would certainly be a 9 or 10, but considering the entries individually for me causes them to lose a lot of their epic quality and completeness...in hindsight I think this reasoning caused me to be a little too mean though!
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Post by tyrion on Nov 19, 2020 18:09:23 GMT
Black Vein Prophecy getting 21st place is an excellent result. Good to know the Order of the Black Vein made a difference. I can understand BVP rating a 9 because of writing, story, structure, etc. But four perfect 10s? Surely the gaming aspect of the book isn't perfect? I yield my time to the members of the Order of the Black Vein to explain. I gave it 9 precisely because of this. If you don't pass a certain luck test, you've only got a 50/50 chance of winning later.
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vagsancho
Knight
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 19, 2020 18:12:58 GMT
I quite like Crypt. It needs some Skill or Attack Strength boosts to make the final confrontation winnable, and the thing with the Bonekeeper is unforgivable, but I reckon it's a thumping good story. Probably Ian's last one, though. Unforgivable, only if you are a good person!
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Post by daredevil123 on Nov 19, 2020 18:17:52 GMT
Shall we have a look at the Top 20? Yes please!
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Post by Wilf on Nov 19, 2020 18:19:09 GMT
20th: STORMSLAYER by JONATHAN GREEN. 74.29% One 10/10, an even spread of 6s through 9s... one person gave it 4/10, but otherwise it's a solid, well-liked book.
19th: SPECTRAL STALKERS by PETER DARVILL-EVANS. 76.15% Again, not a classic, but a solid set of votes. One 10, nothing below a 5, mostly 7s and 8s.
18th: SWORD OF THE SAMURAI by MARK SMITH and JAMIE THOMSON. 76.88% I don't dislike Sword, but I do think it's the weakest book since Scorpion Swamp. I appear to be in the minority again, though - my 5 was the lowest score it got. Again, mostly 7s and 8s were awarded, but two people thought highly enough of it to give it the full 10. Smith and Thomson are certainly the dream team in Round Two - their other book is the only one from that Round still remaining.
17th: THE CITADEL OF CHAOS by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 77.33% The book that drew child-Wilf into FF all those years ago. I borrowed it from a schoolfriend one day, and was immediately hooked... got killed by the Devlin the first time out, y'know. Ahem! Sorry - feeling nostalgic. Even without the rose-tinted glasses, though, I still think this deserves a 10/10, and was a bit surprised that only two other folks agreed with me. I thought this would be top ten material easily. Still, 17th ain't too bad, and once again, no-one dislikes this one. An even spread of scores from 5 upwards.
16th: PORTAL OF EVIL by PETER DARVILL-EVANS. 78.18% A stray 4 couldn't hurt this book, which got mostly 7s or higher, and three perfect 10s.
15th: SORCERY!: THE CROWN OF KINGS by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 78.57% Tied with Khare for a few days, Crown only got one perfect 10, but nearly everybody else gave it an 8 or 9. Only one person scored it lower than 7, and considerably so - the 1/10 it received is probably the biggest example of an outlier score since Chasms got a 10. Same voter, too.
14th: SORCERY!: KHARE - CITYPORT OF TRAPS by STEVE JACKSON (UK). 79.33% Three 10/10 scores for this book balanced out a couple of low scores - it also got a 4 and a 3, but otherwise consistently received 7s or above. At one point it looked like Khare would sneak into the Top Ten...
13th: CITY OF THIEVES by IAN LIVINGSTONE. 79.38% This is the highest rated book - by some distance - that didn't get any perfect 10s. Everybody likes this one, though - very consistent voting with everybody rating it between 7 and 9, apart from one lone 6.
12th: DEAD OF NIGHT by STEPHEN HAND and JIM BAMBRA. 80.00% Hung around 10th place right up until the final days of the final round, when it got tied with Night Of The Necromancer for a bit, and both were overtaken by the dizzying ascent of Howl Of The Werewolf. One 4/10 blots an impressive copybook - two perfect 10s, and no other scores below 7.
11th: NIGHT OF THE NECROMANCER by JONATHAN GREEN. 80.62% A couple of low votes (a 2 and a 5) couldn't stop this post-Puffin gem rising to the top, as four voters gave it full marks. Denied a top ten place by a whisker (and briefly overtook the book that's in tenth at one stage), all the other votes for this title were 7 or higher.
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