User:Aichon/Sandbox/Demo2

The Game 1.0

It's been awhile since anything big happened in Malton. The population is shrinking. The mechanics changes have made it so sieges are virtually impossible. The game is still fun, but the fun is increasingly from interacting with others, more so than from playing the game itself.

Even so, as the population density has decreased, we have less and less chance for interaction, and thus less opportunities for something spontaneous to occur. It used to be that events had a life of their own, with players rallying around something that started unexpectedly. These days, that doesn't really happen any more.

But we can make it happen.

The Game

This is an event called The Game. It's for survivors to play and everyone else to win, since anyone who plays The Game is going to lose.

It has no relation to the other The Game, except for the fact that both of them involve all of the players losing.

It looks like a siege. It walks like a siege. It smells like a siege. And it is a siege.

It's invitation-only. At least at first. Then all bets are off.

It's guaranteed to have a swift end and to not overstay its welcome.

Its players are properly referred to as "Losers", on account of the fact that they will lose The Game.

The Rules

It wouldn't be a game if there weren't rules involved, and we made sure to have a few.

Basic Ground Rules

• Losers are not allowed to disclose the location of The Game to anyone else unless the jig is up.
• Losers must be good sports, putting up a good fight while playing fair, despite the fact that they will lose.
• Losers must not whinge, moan, or otherwise act like babies, even if someone seriously did something not cool.
• Losers are expected to be in it to the bitter end. Fleeing is not permitted.
• Losers are strongly encouraged to be active on IRC. Seriously. This was nearly a requirement.

Stages of Play

The Game has the potential to advance through three stages. They are:

1. A Humble Beginning
   • The game starts in this stage and progresses through the following steps:
     1. Find a Loser and have them reclaim a building. That building is where The Game will be held.
     2. On a Sunday, each Loser gets to invite one person to join them.
     3. On a Tuesday, each Loser gets to invite one person to join them.
     4. On a Friday, each Loser gets to invite one person to join them.
     5. Repeat the previous three steps until The Game is over or the jig is up.
2. The Jig is Up!
   • The game enters this stage when it's safe to say that the Losers have been discovered. We assume that's happened if one of the following conditions takes place:
     • More than five zombies get inside at the same time.
     • More than five Losers die within a 24 hour period.
     • The Game's location has been posted somewhere.
   • When the jig is up, Losers will be free to send as many invitations as they like, whenever they like, for the rest of The Game.
3. The Final Countdown
   • If, for some reason, The Game has not ended within 31 Martian days of when The Game began, a self destruct countdown lasting three terrestrial hours will be initiated. Losers are encouraged to use this time to say their goodbyes to the zombies standing outside and any PKers who may be in nearby buildings. At the conclusion of the countdown, Losers are expected to turn on one another with whatever weapons they have available until such a time that the building is emptied of life and is in ruins once again.

Game Ends

The game ends when all of the Losers die, thus losing The Game. For the purposes of The Game, if a Loser flees in cowardice without having died, they are considered to have lost The Game.

When and Where

this is an important section. don't forget to fill it in...unless it's being kept blank intentionally because the game has already started somewhere in secret but the jig isn't up yet...

FAQs

How do I get an invitation?

• Beg, plead, bribe, coerce, convince, or do whatever is necessary to get one from a current player on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Friday. Or, if the jig is up, just join up.

I'm not a survivor; can I play?

• If you were paying attention, you'd know that anyone who plays will lose. Since you're on the side that will win, that means you can't play The Game. Instead, you are welcome to join us as a winner! To do so, merely meet us at the site of The Game and either play Naked Twister or kill as many Losers as you can!! EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!

None of the rules makes ense.

• That's not a question.

Fine. Why don't the rules make sense? Why are they what they are?

• It was decided early on that this was a losing endeavor, so we may as well have some fun with it. Adding a bit of arbitrariness to the mix seemed like it was in order. Plus, how often do you get to say awesome things like "the jig is up" or "self destruct sequence initiated"? Yeah. Thought so.

Can I bring my 13 alts to The Game so that-

• No. Go away, you filthy zerger.

Who's in charge?

• You're clearly confused about how this works.

No, seriously, like, who leads it?

• You know that guy who leads games of Yahtzee and Candyland? Same guy. He's a bit off, if ya know what I mean.

The Game 2.0

Will be developed as comments come in

Discussion

Anyone is free to treat this section as a talk page for adding comments that are relevant to this idea. —Aichon— 17:52, 25 September 2012 (BST)

The Game 1.0

Okay, so, as it is right now, the idea has some major issues, namely that it is far too complex for it's own good. Let's ignore that issue for the moment and assume that we can simplify things later. Instead, I'd like to focus on the idea of what concepts/gimmicks might be useful in making siege events more interesting or fun. For instance, I shoehorned in time limits, invitations, and an explicit statement of an intent to lose, all three of which were purposefully done.

• The time limit is intended to ensure that people don't have to make open-ended commitments of their time, and will also ensure that the event ends with a big finish, regardless of which way things go. It also provides an implicit victory condition for the survivors, wherein if they can survive for that long, they've effectively "won" (even though they all died). I find that idea valuable, since it's pretty well-established that a zombie horde will always break through a defense with the current game mechanics if they're given enough time. A time limit helps to mitigate that advantage a bit, thus giving the survivors an achievable goal.
• The invitations serve a few purposes, but they're also the thing I'm least sure of. For one, they create a sense of belonging and exclusivity, which will hopefully promote both increased activity on the part of the participants, as well as the selection of more skilled/intelligent players making up the bulk of the survivor side at the start of the event, forming a solid core to work from. It's a very gimmicky idea, however, and it relies on there being enough interested people in the first place. I'd hope that a sense of exclusivity may create some interest in the event, but I wouldn't count on it. If anything, this idea may be more of a roadblock than a boost. The other benefit is that it will hopefully give the event enough time to get its feet under it before the hordes and PKers show up. Nothing would suck more than having the building ruined prematurely, so it's in everyone's best interest to give the group enough time to get started, and making it invitation-only at the start will hopefully keep things under wraps enough to allow that to happen.
• The statement of an intent to lose makes sure that no one is there under the false impression that the survivors are trying to hold out against all odds or are expecting something to come of this. More or less, it asks the participants to voluntarily choose to die, which will also hopefully encourage people to stick around to the very end, rather than fleeing early, which will make things more fun for our zombie friends. It's also my hope that the trenchcoater types will not voluntarily choose to die, whereas the more intelligent ones who have an appreciation for the back-and-forth of the game and the impermanence of death will join up simply for the journey and the experience, rather than to try and win at something.

The current invitation system is, frankly put, rather bad, so it really needs to be gutted, but I'm open to ideas regarding any of these or any additional concepts that you think might be interesting to consider, even if they don't fit with this current version of the page. Basically, I'm just doing thought experiments right now. We'll figure out what works well together later. —Aichon— 18:13, 25 September 2012 (BST)