Board 8 > Kate Marsh (Life Is Strange) rally [marked spoilers for the first game]

(+) Yeah! (+)

About a month ago I did a countdown of my top 50 video game characters of all time. Despite having only recently played Life Is Strange, I unhesitantly put Kate Marsh at #1. It has been a long, long, long time since I have felt such a personal connection to a fictional character, especially a video game character.

Kate represents something very unique in the gaming world - I've never seen depression and suicide explored so well and realistically in a game character, and certainly not with such high stakes. The rooftop scene is one of the most intense scenes I've ever played through because I was so afraid of making a mistake and watching her jump. A quick search on Youtube shows that I'm not even close to being alone in that boat.

I've dealt with depression since my early teens, so like 15 years now, and it wasn't difficult for me at all to empathize with Kate. Many of the important decisions I made throughout the game were made with her best interest in mind, even if she wasn't directly involved.

Among Life Is Strange fans, Kate is one of the most popular characters. As far as this contest goes, dependent upon the number of entrants, Chloe and Max probably have a decent shot at getting in without an organized nomination push, and will probably avoid being miserable fodder. Kate's fans, including myself, will just be very, very happy to see her get in, even if it would take a Serious Sam/Mr. Driller situation for her to win a match, and we would need your help to get her in.

tl;dr (or spoiler-free) version - It would mean a lot to me as a gamer and as a person to see Kate Marsh in the bracket, and I'd be grateful to you for nominating her.
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Underleveled posted...

Chloe and Max probably have a decent shot at getting in without an organized nomination push, and will probably avoid being miserable fodder.

I really don't think this is true. I'm going to trade all my noms for Max despite preferring Chloe because I think she's the only one with even a slight chance at getting in, and she'll still get tripled by whoever her opponent is.

Still, I could be wrong. Good luck getting Kate in!
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Mobilezoid posted...

I'm going to trade all my noms for Max despite preferring Chloe because I think she's the only one with even a slight chance at getting in

Really? I was thinking Chloe would be the Auron to Max's Tidus. (obviously not on that par, but in terms of the lead not being the strongest)
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I feel like too many people hate Chloe. Max is probably the safer option to get a Life is Strange rep in.
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Well, whichever one you choose to push for, I'll trade with you once we know what the nomination format is going to be.
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Max vs Kate in R1

Make the choice agonizing
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Jakyl25 posted...

Max vs Kate in R1

Make the choice agonizing

If nothing else it means one of them wins a match.
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I'm totally down for Kate Marsh, but I feel like 3 Life is Strange reps is unlikely and Max and Chloe are likely to get in before her. Maybe even Marky Mark
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I'd prefer Chloe, personally.
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Not to hijack the Kate rally topic, but how much support is everyone planning to give towards nominating LiS characters, anyway? I just want to see one get in, I don't really care who (well, maybe not Warren), so I'd gladly throw all of my nominations towards whoever seems most supported.

Obviously we don't know how nominations will work or number of entrants or anything, I'm just hoping to get a feel for popularity.
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I feel like Max is the easy choice if you would want to pull as much resources as possible.
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Hmm.. I mean I made this topic thinking at least one of Chloe/Max would be a lock, but if people don't feel that way i may reconsider.

Of the two I'd prefer to try and get Chloe in.
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It's also important to note that it has become easier to rally characters in. I'm not just talking about expanded bracket size.

In 2010, I gathered a rally of nearly 90 to nominate Jigglypuff, and she made the play-ins, or didn't make the top 96 most-nominated characters.

In 2013, I got roughly 40 people to nominate Rinoa, and she landed the top 11 seed, or roughly the 91st most-nominated character. And when you consider some of Allen's funky picks for the 3s and 8s, she may have even been slightly higher.
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I was going to nominate Kate myself, so I'm glad I'm not the only one who was planning to do so.

might as well
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Okay, separate question: of the three characters in discussion, do any of them actually have a chance to look respectable in round 1?

Sam's the main character, but I always felt she was just super bland and never really does anything all that awesome on her own so much as is just the vehicle for the story. And yes, as the player does stuff, they do it through Max, but her dialogue just never strikes me as being all that strong a person. Whereas Chloe's actions are always strong and eventful, and this continues into Before the Storm even with Rachel upstaging her occasionally, so it's not just because Sam's the narrator.

Kate's the one I don't have a bead on, because on one hand, she's just a side character and I was honestly surprised to see her go #1 on Underleveled's character list. OTOH, she does go through a lot and even though I don't necessarily agree with it, I understand the argument. Granted, nobody will know who anybody in LIS is unless they've played the game, but I feel like that's going to be especially true for Kate. I'm certainly not trying to talk anybody out of nominating her, but it feels like if she gets in, we're angling for some turbo-fodder, and that "making the bracket" is as good as anyone can hope for with her.
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azuarc posted...

Okay, separate question: of the three characters in discussion, do any of them actually have a chance to look respectable in round 1?

No, you can't even keep Max' name straight for a whole paragraph even though you've played both games, how are people that haven't played LiS gonna care?
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Who?

azuarc posted...

Okay, separate question: of the three characters in discussion, do any of them actually have a chance to look respectable in round 1?

Probably not, they are definitely "happy to be in" characters.
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I'm down to nominate Chloe.
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MarquessLaus posted...

azuarc posted...

Okay, separate question: of the three characters in discussion, do any of them actually have a chance to look respectable in round 1?

No, you can't even keep Max' name straight for a whole paragraph even though you've played both games, how are people that haven't played LiS gonna care?

lmao, did I really write Sam? I can't even blame autocorrect for that.
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We should get Sam from Life is Strange into the contest:
https://life-is-strange.wikia.com/wiki/Samuel_Taylor
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

We should get Sam from Life is Strange into the contest:
https://life-is-strange.wikia.com/wiki/Samuel_Taylor

.....Let's not entertain that idea.
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Morning bump
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Warren imo
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Warren is the character battle contestant we need, but don't deserve.
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I was kidding
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Warren isn't THAT bad. He gets more shit than he deserves. But he's not going in the contest.

Bump.
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Today's bump is brought to you by smiling Kate.


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I'll throw my support for LiS characters. They're great, but I also don't think they'll do terribly well.
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That's...kinda creepy. Then again, a lot of the characters in LIS fall into the uncanny valley.
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I hope Sam gets in, she's the main character after all
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OrangeCrush980 posted...

I hope Sam gets in, she's the main character after all

Saddest thing is I almost said, "Yeah, go Max," thinking I was twisting it around on purpose, without even realizing that was what you did to me.
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I mean you know Kate would be grateful. She is grateful to people who do nice things for her.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Max vs Kate in R1

Make the choice agonizing

This is funny.

Not nominating, but am wishing you luck as I nominate Max and maybe Chloe.
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Thank you for the moral support! I hope all three get in. My priority would be Kate > Chloe > Max, which is backwards to their roles in the game.
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Save
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Today's bump is brought to you by Alice the Bunny.


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Kate Marsh? More like Kate DARSH.
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Big Bob posted...

Kate Marsh? More like Kate DARSH.

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Today's bump is brought to you by Kate herself. :)
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Today's bump is brought to you by wondering where's the darn... nominations
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Keep hope alive
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Today's bump is brought to you by hope.
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And by the bunny that is now being cared for by Sam...I mean, Max.
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