Bolsters™ The Roulette, v2 ★ THE CONCLUSION ★

[Bolsters]

Again some are close, although right now there's not a lot of opportunity to be wrong - for example diamond has to be 12, 13, or 14.

Some corrections:
I previously said that pearl was worth less than pink
I also previously said that pink was worth more than bronze

[Crow]

well I didn't see any of those oops 

Diamond - 14
Gold - 11
Silver - 9
Pink - 6
Pearl - 4
Bronze - 3
Bonus Stars - 3 to 5

[Bolsters]

If you add up all of the stars that have been awarded, gold stars make up 15% of the total.

All of the bonus stars (the seven gemstones and pearl) make up 28% of the total.

[Evermind]

These are rough numbers, right? Because if eight gold stars cost 88 and it's exact 15% of the whole amount, we get 586,(6) points total.

[Bolsters]

These are rough numbers, right? Because if eight gold stars cost 88 and it's exact 15% of the whole amount, we get 586,(6) points total.

Yes, I'm rounding off. So the actual percentage is a little above or below 15%.

[Crow]

7*11 = 77
77/.15 = 513.333 (approx 513)
If we account for slight error, this can round down to 512. This is important and I'm pretty sure this is case. This makes it 15.04%.

512 * .28 = 143.36, we can round this down to 143.

Then:
Ruby/Sapphire/Aquamarine = 4
Emerald/Amethyst/Garnet/Peridot = 5
Pearl = 5

(4*4*3) + (5*3*4) + (5*7) = 48 + 60 + 35 = 143

pretty sure of this tbh.
unless you're also factoring in round 8 
the total # of points might be slightly too high, can't really tell, but it doesn't matter for the purposes of this calculation anyways

[Evermind]

Do we count round 8 or not?

[Bolsters]

Yes, I'm including round 8 in these figures.

Trying to account for the rounding probably won't work. The gold star percentage could be anything from 14.5% to 15.4% and that's not even accounting for additional digits beyond the decimal point.

Also I'm pretty sure I know how many pink stars will be awarded in round 8 but that is subject to change, so if I add or remove pink stars before the results are posted, that will also skew these numbers further.

[Crow]

11*8 = 88, 88/.15 = 587 approx.

587*.28 = 164 approx.

Ruby/Sapphire/Amethyst: 5 stars, least value - 4 pts
Aquamarine/Emerald: 4 stars, middle value - 5 pts
Garnet/Peridot: 3 stars, highest value - 6 pts
Pearl: 7 stars - 4 pts

(4*5*3) + (5*4*2) + (6*3*2) + (4*7) = 60 + 40 + 36 + 28 = 164 pts

so?

[Bolsters]

No.

[Crow]

thanks for nothing, bolsterino 

7 and 3 for the last two respectively also works out to 163, which is basically the same thing, i guess

[Evermind]

I arrived to the same conclusion and it didn't work out when you added all stars up. Working on it.

[Bolsters]

Consider that both of the numbers you are using were rounded - the 28% is off aswell.

[Crow]

i mean, there's really a wide variety of possibilities with how big the spread is 
anywhere from 568 to 606 total points which means anywhere from 156 to 173 points from bonus points so

w h a t e v e r 

[Bolsters]

[Crow]

why aren't all of those colored after the bonus stars tho

[Evermind]

How did you get 568 and 156? I've got 572 and 158 and my bonus stars add up to 157.

So if all three categories of bonus stars have different values:

Diamond - 12 or 13 (I think 13 is more likely)
Gold - 11
Silver - 8 (could be 9)
Pink - 4 (could be 5 but unlikely)
Pearl - 3
Bonus stars - 6/5/4

[Bolsters]

why aren't all of those colored after the bonus stars tho

Good idea but I can't be bothered to make it again.

[Crow]

How did you get 568 and 156? I've got 572 and 158 and my bonus stars add up to 157.

88/.154999999 = 567.7, round up to 568. The second is derived from the first so it's no wonder yours is larger 

[Evermind]

But Dave said it's up to 15,4%, not to 15,49%.

[Crow]

But Dave said it's up to 15,4%, not to 15,49%.

yeah, because he's bad at math, and 15.49 rounds down to 15, not up to 16

[Bolsters]

But Dave said it's up to 15,4%, not to 15,49%.

I said it was up to 15.4% not taking into consideration additional digits after the decimal point.

[Evermind]

Well, alright then, this way it actually works because 157 fits in 156-172 gap.

[Bolsters]

You guys are close with all of this and some things have been correct, but the margin of error is throwing you off just a little bit.

[Evermind]

Anyway, my prediction - I get no stars besides amethyst / coal ones, Brent gets diamond and wins. Chad gets gold, steals my pearl and keeps his pearl in pre-80s and gets second place.

[Bolsters]

You have that little confidence in what you sent?

[Evermind]

I have little confidence that you'll like it, actually. It's a great song, but knowing how you haven't been impressed with 60s-70s era, counting in the rough production and the fact the song is 12 minutes long with vocals entering somewhere after eighth minute... Yeah, I don't think you'll like it at all.

But I love this song, and I'm glad I had a chance to share it, so I have no regrets.

[bl5150]

That's the thing with a Bolsters roulette - nobody's confident

[Crow]

You have that little confidence in what you sent?

i sent el manana and got cut because of it, which means your tastes are wacky and nobody should have confidence ever

[Evermind]

I was pretty confident with After Forever and Scorpions - both got me a diamond, but then again, I was pretty confident with Blackmore's Night too and that got me 8th place in the round.

[bl5150]

I was pretty confident woth After Forever and Scorpions - both got me a diamond, but then again, I was pretty confident with Blackmore's Night too and that got me 8th place in the round.

I was pretty confident about After Forever too   

[Bolsters]

You have that little confidence in what you sent?

i sent el manana and got cut because of it, which means your tastes are wacky and nobody should have confidence ever

I didn't mind that song though despite cutting you there.

[Crow]

i mean, it wasn't in the top 3 of the round though 

[Evermind]

So by my count if me and Brent both get the same ranking-star and we both retain our pearl stars, he will be ahead of me because his bonus stars are worth more. I knew I should've picked peridot star in Round 2.

Obviously it won't matter because I'm pretty sure my song will be somewhere at the bottom of the rankings.

[Bolsters]

Round Eight Results

bl5150 - Long Distance Calling - Plans

• Well this band's name is a bit silly and this song title in combination doesn't help, but I can't argue with this music. When you said this had "Bolsters written all over it" expectations were high, and at first I didn't really think so - this started the round down in range of the silver star - but in the end I decided this was my favourite song of the round, so I guess you were right. Anyway, this song has two different but great halves. This first half is just dripping with atmosphere with its subtly electronic drumming, dreamy guitar melodies and soft vocals. But then the distorted electric and the strings start up and the song really takes off, especially when the lead guitar comes in...I'm guessing this is where your comment about my name being all over this comes in, because I'm loving this. It's just the right amount of heaviness and attitude but still very melodicaly driven.

jingle.boy - Lord - New Horizons

• When you said this was the second best song you've ever received in a roulette, I wasn't sure what to expect. On one hand we are compatible in a lot of ways, but then I go and rank dubstep and synthpop above your rock and metal entries and you seem to forget we're musically compatible at all. So I'm fairly confident that this isn't the second best song I've ever received in a roulette, but it's the second best of this round and an all-round great power ballad. It's also my favourite ballad of this roulette, so you get Ruslan'sa brand new pearl star. Onto the song...this chorus is fantastic, and I like that all three iterations of it are different; the first is dominated by a nice guitar lead harmony, the second by an odd almost staccato-feel drum beat, and then the epic third which busts out the thick power chords for the climax of the song. The soloing in the middle section is a highlight aswell, very melodic but with just the right amount of ripping in places. Production is impeccable aswell.

Train of Naught - Xerath - I Hold Dominion

• You've struggled for the majority of this roulette unfortunately, but I can at least say you've sent at least three great songs; Not Too Late (which still sits atop the aquamarine ranking), Waves, and now this song. You mentioned a concern that this might be to heavy, but I'm not sure why you thought that, sounds pretty good to me. It's worth noting that I can tell these are sampled orchestral instruments, but they're decent samples at least, and good enough. So this song has a nice intro but things definitely get more interesting once the thick guitar chords come in and the orchestral instrumentation carries the melodies. The song enters into a nice groove though, even a bit djenty in places. Vocals are fairly screamy for the mostpart in this song, but in this context I don't mind them, the style when the vocals kick in and leading up to "I Hold Dominion" is actually interesting. This is good stuff, heavy and groovy, I like it.

senecadawg2 - Yes - And You And I

• You are another player who has struggled a bit in this roulette, but you sure know how to make a comeback because your last few submissions have all been rather solid. This one is too, and it was rather surprising for me that I liked it this much. As I mentioned when giving tips for the bonus categories I have a bit of a hard time with 70's prog; in general I seem to prefer the bands that combine progressive styles with something more conventional, such as Rush or Kansas. I've tried to get into bands like King Crimson and of course Yes, but I've always failed to be interested. I guess the songs I heard were a bit too mundane and/or self-indulgent, and therefore I found them uninteresting. I said I'd heard most of this album to you, but I'm not sure anymore if I have heard this song or not - I notice that the first track of the album is 18 minutes long, so I am thinking I might not have made it through that song before, and thus never made it far enough to hear this one. This song has four parts so I'm going to split the writeup similarly.
• Cord of Life: The 12-string acoustic and Jon's vocals give me some serious Led Zeppelin vibes here, which isn't a bad thing. The combination of the 12-string and the moog synth is very good, I guess this was the inspiration for Solitary Shell? I love Solitary Shell so no complaints. Nice funky section near the end, I like the use of wah. Outro is probably my favourite part of this section, nice effects on the vocals.
• Eclipse: This time I'm reminded of Transatlantic, at least in the beginning which again is not a bad thing. It's cool to hear one of the original pieces that inspired these modern bands that I enjoy. The mellotron in the first half of this part is great.
• The Preacher, The Teacher: This is my favourite of the four sections. I like that it reprises Cord of Life a bit before it goes into this really funky, bluesy section - the guitar work here is fantastic, and I'm digging this fat, metallic bass sound. There's some cool synth leads here aswell, very unusual but in a good way.
• Apocalypse: Short but sweet, it reprises the chorus (if you could call it that) from Cord of Life which is a very suitable ending to the song.
• Conclusion: Like I said, I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I think this might finally be my gateway into appreciating Yes. I also liked this more than enough that you have stolen one of Chad's pearl stars from him.

Evermind - Deep Purple - April

• Well you're not skating to the top of the amethyst ranking and you have to settle for a pink star again, but despite your reservations, I didn't mind most of this track. It has three unique sections so I'm going to split my writeup even though they don't have names (from what I can tell).
  
• Part One (0:00 - 4:21): This was my favourite of the three parts to this song. My first impression was that it sounds like what a prog rock band would make if asked to write the soundtrack to a western movie. Seriously, some of this stuff sounds like it's ripped straight out of an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, especially when the backing vocalists appear. While it is somewhat humorous, this isn't a bad thing at all because I used to watch westerns a lot when I was younger, I like Ennio Morricone, and this is a rather unique and creative piece of music, I'm liking it a lot at this point.
• Part Two (4:21 - 8:39): This one leaves behind the rock instrumentation of the first part and is completely orchestral. I like orchestral music, so I don't mind at all, infact I really like this. It's very strong melodically which I like and it's not dynamically very full - it's pretty laid back and it works. I like the staccato violin riffs.
• Part Three (8:39 - 12:10): This is a lot more typical of what I'd expect from Deep Purple. I like this section aswell, but it's my least favourite of the three. Jon Lord's organs are my favourite thing here, especially when the song chills a bit and is driven by a very active bassline (I guess this could be called a verse). The song gets a bit noisy for the outro and then fades, I wouldn't have minded something a bit more epic to close a 12 minute piece especially one with this much variety in it.
• Conclusion: Like I said, I liked this one quite a bit, but unfortunately I liked several songs this round more so you have to settle for yet another pink. But you are one of only two people who got a star every single round, so props for consistency.

Elite - Theodore Bastard - Umbraya Erze

• You were another player who struggled at first but found their footing later on - glad you did, because you came second last time and your missteps in the early rounds were disappointing. Anyway, despite only getting a pink star this is another strong entry I think, it was just pushed down by some even stronger ones. I love the atmosphere of this track, it's somewhat folky and has some subtle celtic touches here and there at times, but tonally it is rather dark. Vocally this is very strong, I like the male choir backing aswell as the lead vocalists.

splent - Worlds - Little Lens

• I suppose it was a bit of a risk you sending something from your Dad's band, since I tend to shit all over things when I don't like them and that very well could have happened here. Luckily for both of us I can't shit all over this song, because I like it. It's got a very 80's rock sound to it, as you mentioned it's reminiscent of 80's Rush in a lot of ways - driven primarily by synths, active basslines, and a somewhat Geddy-inspired vocal performance. The chorus is naturally the star but I like the little deviation after the first chorus, a nice little instrumental section before the second verse. Good stuff.

Shadow Ninja 2.0 - Architects - Naysayer

• This one was a bit of a risk, I tend to have a hard time with metalcore stuff. This song definitely started out that way; I really do not like this intro at all, it pretty much epitomises what I don't like about the core styles - very thrashy, screamy guttural vocals, melody practically non-existent. But then it starts to groove a lot more for the chorus, and I didn't mind this chorus at all. Of corse the verses kind of go backward a bit, there is some riffage but nothing special and the vocals are being screamed out a bit hard for my liking. But then there's another section before the last chorus that isn't bad aswell. I guess this song just has too many downs to go with the ups that I can't really rank it any higher than this, and I think I'll pass on awarding a pink star, but there were definitely a few moments that I liked in here and you aren't getting a coal star so it's not a complete failure.

Tomislav95 - Lera Lynn - The Only Thing Worth Fighting For

• This was okay, but I think it was just a bit too stripped back for my tastes - not enough meat on the bones, as it were. Lera Lynn's vocal performance is a standout though, she's definitely putting in her all for the performance. The guitar sound is nice if a bit generic, and the playing is pretty ordinary strumming stuff. Not bad but not good enough I'm afraid, and fortunately it's short and sweet at only 3:16.

Tyrias - Estas Tonne - The Song of The Golden Dragon

• I'd have preferred not to award this a coal star, but here we are. Similar to songs I received this round and in some previous rounds, there's just not a whole lot going on in this song, which is a solo acoustic guitar piece. The song is not uninteresting at all which is a plus, there's some tasty guitar work in places here. I think the only reason this ranks at the bottom is that at 5:45 it really overstays its welcome, I don't feel there's enough variety here to warrant the song being that length and therefore it felt like it was being dragged out quite a bit for my tastes.

Scoreboard


Bonus Star Rankings

Now that the final round is over, all that is left is to reveal the values of each star and announce the winner! ...Which I will do in a subsequent post.