ZooChat Cup S2 Match #7: Dallas vs San Diego Zoo Safari Park (6)

[pachyderm pro]

Typical Americans... can't even host a good ol' zoo tournament without it turning into a full-blown political crisis

Tell me about it ...

 

[pachyderm pro]

Yes please

Oh, and this. What I do is I list the seven categories in random order, then hit the randomizer button five times. Whatever category is number one is the one I select for the match.

 

[pachyderm pro]

It's not just this round, though. There's an observable pattern found throughout most of this game.



Yes I would highly suggest keeping things impartial in your openings (what you say in your personal post is up to you) and if you don't know much about one zoo, don't leave it out while provided tons of info. for the other. As a participant of this game you should be researching both zoos in order to make a fair vote anyway...



I was told that you were a fan of Minnesota, if you're not then you can discount that point. Of course one zoo getting a category that gives it a sweeping victory does not mean the game is rigged, my points were to be taken as a whole, not individually. Maybe I'm wrong and you're not fixing the match categories. If that's the case then I genuinely feel bad and sincerely apologize, but all I'm saying is I've noticed a pattern here, and others have, too. And we've not come to this conclusion together, we all did individually. I had no ideas anyone else other than myself and one other member had these suspicions until yesterday. Several people have now individually noticed the same pattern and come up with more or less the same suspicions about the honesty of this game, one must admit that does account for something. I mean, I wasn't even the only one predicting certain match-ups would turn out the way they have. The odds of a single category repeating before all the others go once is not impossibly small, but it's not large either. But now it's happened twice, once with your home zoo in the category it had the best chance with and once with a well-known favorite that would've almost undoubtedly lost to Dallas in any other category. Again, maybe I'm wrong, but the game thus far does seem very fishy to me and various others. Either way, if this game is genuine (and I very much hope it is) then your openings are probably the biggest problem after the insane coincidences. They 100% lead people's votes in one direction or the other, and perhaps this is what gives a larger impression of rigging. Every match thus far has started with the zoo you introduced better winning, it was only after a very large amount of arguing and persuading by myself and @jayjds2 that things turned around for zoos like Fort Worth and Miami.



If that's the case then I was mistaken. I do, too, agree it's better to let all categories be active at once. I did not participate in the European cup so I do not know how things occurred there, however I still think you're missing my point. A zoo CGSwans might be likely to support over another getting a category which caters to its greatest strengths happening here and there would not be cause of alarm. If it had happened time and time again in a short timespan, then there would be an issue. From the European members I've talked to, this never really occurred meanwhile it's happened the majority of the time within the first handful of matches within the very first round of the game. That is why I felt strongly enough to state it publicly, and assumedly why others felt strongly enough to support me.

Again, if I'm wrong I'll admit I'm wrong, and I'll openly apologize to anyone who I offended. I just noticed something, found out others I trust noticed the same thing, and felt strongly enough to bring it to light. I hope everyone can understand that.

~Thylo

Thank you for the well worded response. I'll keep the opening statements as impartial as possible for here on out. I also appreciate the apology, and I myself am sorry if I made anyone question my integrity in this competition. Hopefully now he can move on from this, and continue to have good discussion, strong debate and close matches through the rest of this game.

 

[Philipine eagle]

I'm staying out of the political discussion but this thread is far less interesting without species lists such as provided in the European Zoochat cup matches. But with the absence of an American Zootierliste, this is fully understandable. However, if you haven't visit the involving zoos, it's impossible to reflect most reactions.

 

[ThylacineAlive]

I'm staying out of the political discussion but this thread is far less interesting without species lists such as provided in the European Zoochat cup matches. But with the absence of an American Zootierliste, this is fully understandable. However, if you haven't visit the involving zoos, it's impossible to reflect most reactions.

I visited both zoos in January and have a knowledge of some of what is kept behind the scenes so can provide species lists for both if people want, though it'll have to be later today or tomorrow as I must be off to work shortly.

~Thylo

 

[Great Argus]

While I have been to both, Dallas Zoo was long before Giants of the Savanna even opened... Looking it up, have to say I'm pretty impressed with their habitats, especially with the inclusion of elephants. I would say they rival the Safari Park's in quality.

However, I think my vote may fall to the Safari Park on basis of species... when I visited in January, without paying anything extra than the ticket, I saw 32 species of ungulate. (I counted that number 5 times to make sure.) And I know a large number of species are kept in areas I didn't see. Dallas is a great zoo, but it can't match that... So, vote goes to San Diego Zoo Safari Park, though I will say I would be very interested to visit Dallas again.