Originally Posted by
RTM
RTM REPLY - actually that is not what I am saying at all.
"Looking at all the data (that you can)" is fine...there are tens of thousands of scores in the TG database many of which are from yesteryear.
What you are doing, in the case of this "challenge", is a little bit different. Based on no documentation whatsoever...documentation being empirical evidence...you launched a score challenge.
That's troubling enough, but if you continue down the path of analyzing old forum comments dating back 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, two years, etc, what is your real goal here ? Not purifying the database so much as ripping apart statements made during loosely or potentially unrelated forum discussions. And should you start using comments made from third party media sources...such as Facebook, for one...where does it end ? And what is the true driving purpose behind this ?
You're going beyond the scope of a basic score challenge now. This seems to be to be the beginnings of a witch hunt.
I'm all for validating some of the scores of old as there are more than a few zingers waiting to be questioned...here are three ranked from questionable to HIGHLY questionable...
-> "Cosmic Avenger" (Arcade) - 117K
-> "Jump Bug" (Arcade) - 850K
-> "Polaris" (Arcade) - 791K and perhaps the most bogus vintage TG arcade record of all time
With so many scores to look into, you are looking at a 6 month old forum post, THEN cross-checking the score of someone that gave a quote within that post, and THEN took the time to launch a challenge with no documentation whatsoever, just conjecture ?
That's not a matter of questioning whether some scores are beyond question or whether scores should be treated equally...you actively sought this one out...with all the other problems out there...merely because it happened to be mine. That's not looking out for the integrity of the database. That's a personal vendetta playing itself out.
I cannot launch score challenges else there are three I mentioned which are well worth investigating, especially the last one.
It's your challenge...I'm not voting against it merely because it is my own score just as I've never voted accept on any of my submissions and I won't change suite now. But of all the scores to pick from the tens of thousands out there...this is the one you chose. A score that has never come under the radar before, a score that is eminently do-able.
Someone, since deleted from TG, recently questioned my score on an Atari 2600 game before they were kicked off and the thread removed by an admin, on the grounds that I "could not possibly" have gotten good at the game in question. The game was "Venture" and my score is 38,900 which is WAAAY under the leader score. Again, a score "challenge" not based on whether the score was do-able at all, but based on speculation that someone could not have developed the skillset ?
THAT is the "climate" that I meant before based on the path that you are going down. "Challenges" based on conjecture, age-old thread comments, possibly third party site/forum comments or old interviews. No one from "old TG" will say anything at this point...why should they ? Why should Dwayne, for example, make any comment about "Blaster" if it would be picked apart to challenge a 30 year old record ? Why should a Jack Gale, for example, grant an interview to discuss his "Mad Crasher" score which is nearly four times the second highest mark if it will only result in questions about his own achievement ?
You do not want to go down this path.
Tell you what...bring an Atari 2600 to ACAM next November when should be able to return for my annual vacation, hook it up to the cabin TV, and watch me play live. I might need an hour's practice to remember what to do, but I am sure I can crank out a $2M score easily enough.
Or...or...continue down the path, and question, for example, my MARP score and MAME score of 20 million on "Chiller" where the INP does not play back BUT which was personally witnessed live in New Hampshire by Martin Bedard AND Kelly Flewin, mentioned on the MARP site. The MARP people did not question that, but maybe you can if you are in the mood, after all, no INP means score challenge !!