Top Tens: Combined or Split?

[Jarrett]

So my girlfriend and I have been just about ready to kill each other over this lately, so I thought I'd take our relationship problems to CoasterForce and see what you all think. That way everybody can help me tell her she's flat out **** WRONG!!!!!

The source of this heated debate between two spirited children has been the subject of my combined top ten verses her two wood-steel split ones. As in, I rank my coasters all in one list, regardless of what they are. If I count it as a cred, it goes in the same ranking system as other creds to duke it out. Inverted coasters, traditional coasters, wooden coasters, wing coasters, steel coasters, looping coasters, and speed coasters all end up in the same list. Currently my top ten is thirty percent wood and seventy percent steel. Meanwhile, "Queen of Skyrush" Emily has two top tens with two number ones, so Skyrush can lovingly coexist with El Toro in her number one spot. She keeps a count of wood, and a count of steel, and doesn't mix the two. They're two different types of machines in her mind that cannot be compared.

I'll defend my combined count on these grounds..
*My number one is my number one. Not my number one with an exception to anything, it's my number one. And if you look at my singular top ten, you can tell my favorite coaster is Skyrush. Meanwhile, you look at Emily's and can't tell if it's Skyrush or El Toro.
*Some people prefer wooden coasters. Some people prefer steel. For me it's all situational. But if you look at a combined top ten, you can gauge this at a glance. I can look at a top ten and notice two RMC topper tracks, two GCIs, three Gravity Groups, an Intamin prefab, Phoenix, and one steel and tell that the enthusiast who made it prefers wood. Or I can look at a top ten consisting of absolutely no wood whatsoever and gauge that wooden coasters aren't that enthusiast's thing. Or if Millennium Force is their number one, probably just another CP fanboy.
*It's less work to maintain my combined one and I can tell you what it is off the top of my head. No having to memorize and keep up to date with two combined ones like Emily does.

So please tell me Emily's wrong about this so I can send her to the dog house where she belongs. Please and thank you.

 

[QueenOfSkyrush]

Excuuuuse me, you can totally tell that my number one is Skyrush thank you very much.

 

[Ben]

Yeah, she's wrong.

I have steel and wood lists out of interest, but the combined one is the real, true one.

 

[QueenOfSkyrush]

It's not like I *really* pay attention to my Top 10s anyways. I really only talk about my Top 5 at most. I'm too busy with Skyrush.

But when coaster enthusiasts talk at events and stuff, everyone's all like, "What's your Top 10 wood AND steel?". Or "How does _____ compare to other wooden (or steel) coasters that you've ridden?". For example, "How does Skyrush compare to other steel coasters you've ridden?"...So having 2 separate lists just makes it easier to talk with people. And I don't have to sit and try to separate them in my head while trying to have a conversation. And in my defence, Jarrett, you're the first person I've met that has a combined Top 10.

 

[Snoo]

What Ben said.

 

[CanobieFan]

I guess I'll be a rebel as well... and say my top 10 steel and top 10 wood... are in fact, independent with both a #1 wood and #1 steel...... and Boulder Dash being my overall #1

Also, I really don't care much for steel?

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Split lists are a way for people to lazily list their favorite coasters without having to look at the differences between wood and steel.

Sorry Emily, you seem like a nice person, but you're wrong. Also, I've never met a person who asked for my top ten wood AND steel. I can't remember crap after #10 combined tbh.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

Combined!

I have enough trouble remembering my top ten, having two would not work for me!

In all seriousness, my top ten is my favourite ten coasters. I like having an overall list, rather than seperate lists.

 

[tomahawk]

Combined. Split is just dumb.

 

[Hyde]

Combined, with caveat.

The purpose of ranking roller coasters is to tell which are better than others. I am of the mind that you can only have one #1 roller coaster. However, tracking roller coaster rankings by wood and steel is equally fun, as you can also declare [XX] is my top favorite wooden/steel roller coaster. Also, for those who have participated in the Mitch Hawker Poll in the past, you are required to report your steel and wooden coaster rankings separately.

So in my rankings, I track both combined and wood/steel lists. But what do I default to at the end of the day? Combined.

 

[BigBad]

I combine them, though I haven't ridden many good wood coasters. I rode a lot when I was younger, but I'm not going to guess what I thought of a coaster I rode when I was 9.

I do what Hyde does, though, but to an even greater extent. I can rank in other categories. Banshee isn't my favorite or even favorite steel coaster, but it's my favorite inverted coaster. Raptor doesn't make my top 10, but it's my second-favorite invert. Batman, Talon, and the Dragons are the next four. I have a hazy memory of the Dragons from when I was a kid (long enough ago that they dueled), and I haven't ridden Talon since I got back into coasters these past three or four years, so I don't have a good feel for the order, but that's a top six of just inverts.

(I really like inverts. I think that it has to do with having my feet dangle. It feels more like flying that way, even over a floorless coaster, so I can gracefully dart around the sky while I flip and turn like I would if I could in fact fly. I'd put the above six over Volcano and Great Bear, but I liked both of those rides.)

 

[QueenOfSkyrush]

This is so weird! Honesty. I've never met anyone else until Jarrett who does combined. Idk what enthusiasts you guys are talking to but I've talked to plenty with separate lists at events and online.

When I joined the coaster community in 2012, everyone just taught me to make 2 lists. I started out on TPR (I left shortly after for a variety of reasons) and everyone I met there had 2, so I just followed along. When I joined ACE, everyone I kmow there has 2 too.

 

[Snoo]

First two mistakes, TPR and ACE.

 

[mouse]

Whichever makes you happiest

 

[Ian]

Combined.

I rank mine on the experience I had and how it made me feel, regardless of it's type.

 

[Jamesss]

In today's day and age, one must not discriminate against different types of roller coaster. Top 10 lists must be combined in the name of diversity.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Combined here too - just can't see the point of splitting them!

 

[jayjay]

I find the experience between an invert and a steel hyper-coaster is more distinct than a hyper-coaster and a woodie. You also start to get problems trying to figure out which list a hybrid goes in (especially now that RMC is near the top of most people's lists). So I combine mine.

 

[QueenOfSkyrush]

First two mistakes, TPR and ACE.

Ok I'm with you on TPR. But I love ACE.

 

[Hutch]

Combined.

I like the idea Jayjay mentioned. RMC is a great example of this. Although I haven't ridden an RMC woodie, I'd imagine that the steel hybrids ride similar to the woodies (the track seems to be the only big difference), so why should we rank them in different categories?

It's just silly really. If we're going to split up woodies and steel, we might as well split up the different steel types (inverts, megas, launched, etc), as those differ from one another as much as a woodie differs from a steel.