I'm a fan of making 5ish contests, starting with mafia in January, and then making a new contest as soon as the first is finished.
Secondly, it might be wise for clan mafia to make sure every clan participates by prodding them more.
I only have the vaguest idea what I'd like to try for next year's game, as well as greatly desiring at least 1 more dedicated non-clan involved reviewer (arim didn't have much free time this go, so I mainly went it alone ). Also my partner will murder me in my sleep if I devote much more time to mafia in the near future
As far as being more aggressive with the prods, I did send some when basically the whole townie-town vanished for 4 days, but I hate dipping my hand in it - it is partially the responsibility of the players to notice somebody isn't around, + not posting is a great way for a townie to lose the game, so it comes with its own penalty. . . especially when the scum were plenty active!
If we're taking suggestions for contests for next year, I'm a huge fan of the 3CB format and would love to see that return.
Is there any reason we can't start Mafia in one of the early months (like February or March) and just let that run all year (in case it needs to) and have the other contests going around it? Or would that cause rian's head to explode?
Asking out a girl is like trying to cast a first turn Necropotence. Sometimes the other player will have the Force of Will to say no. You shouldn't let that stop you from trying it.
If we're taking suggestions for contests for next year, I'm a huge fan of the 3CB format and would love to see that return.
I'm behind this, I think 3CB is rad + interesting, if perhaps a lot of work for whomever runs it. . .
Is there any reason we can't start Mafia in one of the early months (like February or March) and just let that run all year (in case it needs to) and have the other contests going around it? Or would that cause rian's head to explode?
I can probably get it organized by mid-year, say April at the absolute earliest. I really do need to tap into the Mafia Council community though, I have a quirky idea I want to test (2-headed giant seemed to work ok, so I am confident to continue using the Clan Contests to tread weird ground :D). . . so ultimately, I've set a lot of groundwork for myself before I even get down to hashing out another setup.
I also want to see what kind of feedback I get regarding this year's setup - I know the Daykill mechanic in particular was swingy, + while I tried to balance that out (cop head-start, ability tied to the life of 1 particular mafioso + they must skip a nightkill to use it), I really need some feedback about how to round out the fact that even 1 decent player on the scum team can easily mop up a town full of greenhorns, without leaving interesting role interactions in the dust.
ninja eds -
Heeeey, what would you all think of the first contest being a banner-making contest? I have been thinking of approaching the Clanners who are banner-choppers anyhow, as I would really like to have a cool banner representing the active clans to top the Council Thread. It relies heavily on a clan having at least one competent 'shopper, but the rewards is more than just points towards Clan of the Year, so maybe that is more draw?
Just an idea, + if the answer is no, please let your clan banner-heads know that I am looking for a banner regardless
I don't mind chop-contests, but I am surprised to hear you suggest one, R~. Seems like every time I come up with a contest that involves shoppery you shoot it down as impractical for that reason.
And I think the setup for the game was fine. There was some sick bad luck on the town's part, not that it was entirely luck but perhaps anti-serendipity is better put. That and perhaps such an unexpected set of setup variations doesn't work as well with a game that will invariably have more newer players. It's a variation for people unfamiliar with the original and overall leads to much more guessing. So I would say that the setup was balanced and interesting but too complicated.
I'd prefer to start the Mafia around March, or even June/July. I doubt the game will go six months let alone 8 or 9. I also like 3CB but we really, really, need experienced (multiple) people to run it. There's no reason for a clan rep to be involved in that in any special way IMO.
Really? I always advocate the group-photo contest, have I really shot down 'chop contests in the past? Something there seems off. . .
There shouldn't be any trouble getting our mafia on mid-year; I have had great responses from the Mafia Council with regards to volunteers to help me hash out the setup
Is there a points system for balancing setups? Because the more I think about it, it does seem that scum were a bit better off in the setup. I think the flexigoon ability can be interpreted as a straight-up advantage whereas the jailer thing seems like a nerfing of the doc. I'm not sure how much to count hobo and thief though I can see them as there to close that gap for the town. Perhaps it's balanced enough as is.
Still, I'm curious, what is the setup in a mini typically? A lot more vanillas, three scum a doc and a cop?
(Note: I do like the fact that we play variations on mafia, as it would be very easy for inexperienced players to end up doing the same setup over and over each year in a very basic way. So I don't want to come across as complaining about the complexity of setup. But I think we should focus on setups that are new-player friendly.)
Here are the final standings for the 2009 Clan of the Year Race;
Pack (31)
Called (20.5)
499 (16)
Dragons (19) / Izzet (19)
Alliance of Rogue Deckers (13) / Clan Mono-:symu: (13)
Greek Alliance (11) / Family (11)
Æsir (10.5)
House Dimir (9.5)
Clan Mono-:symb: (9)
Planar Chaos (8)
Soundtrack (4.5)
MTGSalivation (2)
NYC Dark Knights (1)
Congratulations to the Pack, who tore ahead of the rest of us to take the prize! Trophies are on their way
Big thanks to the ARD, Izzet, + Clan Mono-:symu: for running contests this year, you guys took a lot of the burden + it made a big difference to my mental health I think that it was a successful all around, + we'll keep the bonus-point-for-running-a-contest initiative on offer through 2010.
I'm sure the Pack could run a contest this year, it would be fun. Maybe if we can design some flavour-centric contest (card creation, possibly?) that would be the way to go.
EDIT: Wow, looking at those standings, I'm surprised we were so far in front... We really bombed out in the MWS tournament, didn't we?
Well, the Pack + the Called were neck + neck, so the Mafia contest really set us apart. [499] had us all by the short + curlies after the first 3 contests, unfortunately they didn't mobilize for the Scavenger hunt, + then ceased to exist. Izzet could have broken out if both our clans had bombed the last contest + they'd pulled out the win + MVP. Pretty good Race last year!
eds -
just so this doesn't get lost in the shuffle;
Heeeey, what would you all think of the first contest being a banner-making contest? I have been thinking of approaching the Clanners who are banner-choppers anyhow, as I would really like to have a cool banner representing the active clans to top the Council Thread. It relies heavily on a clan having at least one competent 'shopper, but the rewards is more than just points towards Clan of the Year, so maybe that is more draw?
Just an idea, + if the answer is no, please let your clan banner-heads know that I am looking for a banner regardless
Far as I can tell, ARD doesn't have any "banner heads..." much less anyone with access to Photoshop. If we just need a banner, do you mind if we get one from one of the avatar/sig shops?
Asking out a girl is like trying to cast a first turn Necropotence. Sometimes the other player will have the Force of Will to say no. You shouldn't let that stop you from trying it.
Far as I can tell, ARD doesn't have any "banner heads..." much less anyone with access to Photoshop. If we just need a banner, do you mind if we get one from one of the avatar/sig shops?
Yeah, I'll have to agree with that. [CMB] doesn't have anyone like that, at least to my knowledge. Except for me, and my skills stop at slapping text on stuff.
I like the idea, but perhaps if many clans don't have access to someone skilled at photoshop it could lead to the forced recruitment of ring-ins just for the banner contest. It doesn't seem right to me if that happens, and it doesn't seem fair otherwise.
I don't have any solid ideas right now, but there might be another way (other than just having people design submissions) to run a contest that results in a banner being made for the clan council. I'll give it some thought...
Far as I can tell, ARD doesn't have any "banner heads..." much less anyone with access to Photoshop. If we just need a banner, do you mind if we get one from one of the avatar/sig shops?
Yeah, I'll have to agree with that. [CMB] doesn't have anyone like that, at least to my knowledge. Except for me, and my skills stop at slapping text on stuff.
Don't forget that there's a free version of Photoshop that's perfectly legal and has (afaik) all of the most important features: Gimp
That and there's always "being very clever with MS Paint." The programs (Gimp/PS) are not all that hard to use to do simple stuff like dropping in images and feathering your cuts. There are lots of tutorials and you could probably figure out the basics in under an hour, enough to do a contest, even if it doesn't look amazing. It's interesting because there always seems to be an issue with Photoshop/Gimp even though not every clan has a goot poetry writer or someone good at MWS. In short, I would say a good idea trumps photoshopping skills, even in a banner contest and if you are decent with software (you operate word processing without a manual/instructions) you can pull off a banner for your clan.
Don't forget that there's a free version of Photoshop that's perfectly legal and has (afaik) all of the most important features: Gimp
I got Gimp and I got Photoshop....I'm just relatively horrible at both:p
Besides, I found out I got a clan member or two who do this stuff. I probably shoulda asked the about it:facepalm:
For the Clan Contests, I'd definitely like the to do scavenger hunt again. As for other contests, I'll run it by my clan for ideas, but I'd probably be up to hosting one like we did this past year.
I do wish Gimp used the exact same shortcuts as Photoshop because now I feel I really should find my copy of PS instead of looking for Gimp.
As far as what to do next:
So we have a banner contest, Mafia, the deck making challenge, and... am I forgetting anything? I would rather wait to do mafia, say, third. And the deck making contest sounds the most laid back for me (since I will prolly be doing the shoopery for the banner) so I'd rather do that. But I'd be willing to do the banner first also since it fits with R~'s notion of having banners for the active clans for this new year.
I would be more interested in doing a banner for my clan to represent it in the Clan Council. I think a banner that had the names/logos/representations of each active clan would look cluttered and ungainly by definition.
EDIT: maybe if that's what you want, you could simply commission it from a sig shop instead of having people work on a lot of banners that won't be used/have their clan represented in a way they had no control over in the final form.
GIMP is actually really easy to use. I did some okay stuff with it before I figured out more than blending images. I still use GIMP for all my stuff. Very easy once you go through a couple of tutorials. You can also use a single image, like I did for my banner. Just one image, duplicated the layer, Gaussian Blur, set the top to overlay (thank you, .toRRent! He told me how to do that one.), added some glowing text and a border, et voilá!
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I would be more interested in doing a banner for my clan to represent it in the Clan Council. I think a banner that had the names/logos/representations of each active clan would look cluttered and ungainly by definition.
EDIT: maybe if that's what you want, you could simply commission it from a sig shop instead of having people work on a lot of banners that won't be used/have their clan represented in a way they had no control over in the final form.
I want a banner for the Council, as I'm sure I said in my original post. It needn't have a clutter of text, or logos, or any of that (+ any entry that did would surely lose), but simply be in some way a representation of the clans that meet here.
Of course I would just take this to the sig shops, but again, as I said in my original post, I want to give clan shoppers a chance to take it on, OR, IF THERE WAS INTEREST, to turn it into a contest.
wamyc, this year, let's make a concerted effort to carefully parse where the other person is coming from. I don't want to have this head-against-wall interaction with you every time there is something happening in here.
Krackshot, which clan are you representing here? Council is reps only, + I don't find you on the list.
rianalnn, thank you for your thanks, it was a great deal of fun running the scavenger hunt contest and I am happy to help.
A clan banner creation contest sounds very rewarding to every participating clan if they are to create banners for themselves.
If the proposed clan banner creation contest is to be for the creation of a banner for the clan council then this is less rewarding for the clans themselves but likely easier to judge and may serve to strengthen the clan community in an abstract fashion, unless the winning banner selection were to have a predominating presence of a particular clan's influence in its display. Perhaps one rule for the contest could be to "only directly reference your own clan as the creator of this banner by including the text '(This) banner created by Clan ____' at the bottom of the banner", or something along those lines.
How would you go about judging the submissions? If originality is a factor, it may very well become a contest of artistic talent and that might be treading dangerous waters because we are a forum community that centers around games you can improve at through knowledge rather than feats you can improve at through motor control.
I liked the idea of a clan photo collage contest when I heard about it last. I assume that it would involve a similar requirement for photoshop-like skills?
Well, well, well….it seems very little has changed since my last post in the council thread. Wamyc is still running around not listening to anyone else but the drone of his own voice, and completely blowing off well thought out ideas from other people.
I believe that sometimes it isn’t all about a single clan and improving the appeal seen by others….that’s to be done within your clan thread. Sometimes it’s about coming together to beautify a community. This is being proposed by rianalnn with a Clan Council Banner Contest. This contest would be a way to visually incorporate all of the clans within the community into one singular vision.
At Yukora…I have to agree that changing the guard is a great idea….I just think that the same people will end up back on the council because most people will lose interest in the job. I lost the time with my job changing.
I have always liked the idea of a clan collage. That is a great way to show your clan’s spirit without any real skills, usually the funniest or most original wins. I do believe that there should be bonus points to each clan that gets a real picture of every member into the photo. Seeing as how I know no clan has ever succeeded in that task.
Happy New Year! Congrats to the [Pack] for pulling it out!
jj
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"Talkin outta turn....That's a paddlin'. Starin' at my sandals....That's a paddlin'. Paddlin' the school canoe....You better believe that's a paddlin'!" --Jasper
I want a banner for the Council, as I'm sure I said in my original post. It needn't have a clutter of text, or logos, or any of that (+ any entry that did would surely lose), but simply be in some way a representation of the clans that meet here.
Of course I would just take this to the sig shops, but again, as I said in my original post, I want to give clan shoppers a chance to take it on, OR, IF THERE WAS INTEREST, to turn it into a contest.
wamyc, this year, let's make a concerted effort to carefully parse where the other person is coming from. I don't want to have this head-against-wall interaction with you every time there is something happening in here.
Krackshot, which clan are you representing here? Council is reps only, + I don't find you on the list.
I'm in Dimir. Not rep, but I wanted to get some input in. Sorry if that's not allowed.
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I only have the vaguest idea what I'd like to try for next year's game, as well as greatly desiring at least 1 more dedicated non-clan involved reviewer (arim didn't have much free time this go, so I mainly went it alone ). Also my partner will murder me in my sleep if I devote much more time to mafia in the near future
As far as being more aggressive with the prods, I did send some when basically the whole townie-town vanished for 4 days, but I hate dipping my hand in it - it is partially the responsibility of the players to notice somebody isn't around, + not posting is a great way for a townie to lose the game, so it comes with its own penalty. . . especially when the scum were plenty active!
Is there any reason we can't start Mafia in one of the early months (like February or March) and just let that run all year (in case it needs to) and have the other contests going around it? Or would that cause rian's head to explode?
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I can probably get it organized by mid-year, say April at the absolute earliest. I really do need to tap into the Mafia Council community though, I have a quirky idea I want to test (2-headed giant seemed to work ok, so I am confident to continue using the Clan Contests to tread weird ground :D). . . so ultimately, I've set a lot of groundwork for myself before I even get down to hashing out another setup.
I also want to see what kind of feedback I get regarding this year's setup - I know the Daykill mechanic in particular was swingy, + while I tried to balance that out (cop head-start, ability tied to the life of 1 particular mafioso + they must skip a nightkill to use it), I really need some feedback about how to round out the fact that even 1 decent player on the scum team can easily mop up a town full of greenhorns, without leaving interesting role interactions in the dust.
ninja eds -
Heeeey, what would you all think of the first contest being a banner-making contest? I have been thinking of approaching the Clanners who are banner-choppers anyhow, as I would really like to have a cool banner representing the active clans to top the Council Thread. It relies heavily on a clan having at least one competent 'shopper, but the rewards is more than just points towards Clan of the Year, so maybe that is more draw?
Just an idea, + if the answer is no, please let your clan banner-heads know that I am looking for a banner regardless
And I think the setup for the game was fine. There was some sick bad luck on the town's part, not that it was entirely luck but perhaps anti-serendipity is better put. That and perhaps such an unexpected set of setup variations doesn't work as well with a game that will invariably have more newer players. It's a variation for people unfamiliar with the original and overall leads to much more guessing. So I would say that the setup was balanced and interesting but too complicated.
I'd prefer to start the Mafia around March, or even June/July. I doubt the game will go six months let alone 8 or 9. I also like 3CB but we really, really, need experienced (multiple) people to run it. There's no reason for a clan rep to be involved in that in any special way IMO.
There shouldn't be any trouble getting our mafia on mid-year; I have had great responses from the Mafia Council with regards to volunteers to help me hash out the setup
Still, I'm curious, what is the setup in a mini typically? A lot more vanillas, three scum a doc and a cop?
(Note: I do like the fact that we play variations on mafia, as it would be very easy for inexperienced players to end up doing the same setup over and over each year in a very basic way. So I don't want to come across as complaining about the complexity of setup. But I think we should focus on setups that are new-player friendly.)
Congratulations to the Pack, who tore ahead of the rest of us to take the prize! Trophies are on their way
Big thanks to the ARD, Izzet, + Clan Mono-:symu: for running contests this year, you guys took a lot of the burden + it made a big difference to my mental health I think that it was a successful all around, + we'll keep the bonus-point-for-running-a-contest initiative on offer through 2010.
I'm sure the Pack could run a contest this year, it would be fun. Maybe if we can design some flavour-centric contest (card creation, possibly?) that would be the way to go.
EDIT: Wow, looking at those standings, I'm surprised we were so far in front... We really bombed out in the MWS tournament, didn't we?
eds -
just so this doesn't get lost in the shuffle;
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Yeah, I'll have to agree with that. [CMB] doesn't have anyone like that, at least to my knowledge. Except for me, and my skills stop at slapping text on stuff.
I don't have any solid ideas right now, but there might be another way (other than just having people design submissions) to run a contest that results in a banner being made for the clan council. I'll give it some thought...
Don't forget that there's a free version of Photoshop that's perfectly legal and has (afaik) all of the most important features: Gimp
That and there's always "being very clever with MS Paint." The programs (Gimp/PS) are not all that hard to use to do simple stuff like dropping in images and feathering your cuts. There are lots of tutorials and you could probably figure out the basics in under an hour, enough to do a contest, even if it doesn't look amazing. It's interesting because there always seems to be an issue with Photoshop/Gimp even though not every clan has a goot poetry writer or someone good at MWS. In short, I would say a good idea trumps photoshopping skills, even in a banner contest and if you are decent with software (you operate word processing without a manual/instructions) you can pull off a banner for your clan.
I got Gimp and I got Photoshop....I'm just relatively horrible at both:p
Besides, I found out I got a clan member or two who do this stuff. I probably shoulda asked the about it:facepalm:
For the Clan Contests, I'd definitely like the to do scavenger hunt again. As for other contests, I'll run it by my clan for ideas, but I'd probably be up to hosting one like we did this past year.
As far as what to do next:
So we have a banner contest, Mafia, the deck making challenge, and... am I forgetting anything? I would rather wait to do mafia, say, third. And the deck making contest sounds the most laid back for me (since I will prolly be doing the shoopery for the banner) so I'd rather do that. But I'd be willing to do the banner first also since it fits with R~'s notion of having banners for the active clans for this new year.
EDIT: maybe if that's what you want, you could simply commission it from a sig shop instead of having people work on a lot of banners that won't be used/have their clan represented in a way they had no control over in the final form.
We've decided to refresh the council every year, to keep things more organized for the archives.
Modern:
GRB Jund BRG
RBU Grixis Delver UBR
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes W
GRB Punishing Jund BRG
GUR Canadian Threshold RUG
Commander:
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer GUR
Of course I would just take this to the sig shops, but again, as I said in my original post, I want to give clan shoppers a chance to take it on, OR, IF THERE WAS INTEREST, to turn it into a contest.
wamyc, this year, let's make a concerted effort to carefully parse where the other person is coming from. I don't want to have this head-against-wall interaction with you every time there is something happening in here.
Krackshot, which clan are you representing here? Council is reps only, + I don't find you on the list.
rianalnn, thank you for your thanks, it was a great deal of fun running the scavenger hunt contest and I am happy to help.
A clan banner creation contest sounds very rewarding to every participating clan if they are to create banners for themselves.
If the proposed clan banner creation contest is to be for the creation of a banner for the clan council then this is less rewarding for the clans themselves but likely easier to judge and may serve to strengthen the clan community in an abstract fashion, unless the winning banner selection were to have a predominating presence of a particular clan's influence in its display. Perhaps one rule for the contest could be to "only directly reference your own clan as the creator of this banner by including the text '(This) banner created by Clan ____' at the bottom of the banner", or something along those lines.
How would you go about judging the submissions? If originality is a factor, it may very well become a contest of artistic talent and that might be treading dangerous waters because we are a forum community that centers around games you can improve at through knowledge rather than feats you can improve at through motor control.
I liked the idea of a clan photo collage contest when I heard about it last. I assume that it would involve a similar requirement for photoshop-like skills?
I believe that sometimes it isn’t all about a single clan and improving the appeal seen by others….that’s to be done within your clan thread. Sometimes it’s about coming together to beautify a community. This is being proposed by rianalnn with a Clan Council Banner Contest. This contest would be a way to visually incorporate all of the clans within the community into one singular vision.
At Yukora…I have to agree that changing the guard is a great idea….I just think that the same people will end up back on the council because most people will lose interest in the job. I lost the time with my job changing.
I have always liked the idea of a clan collage. That is a great way to show your clan’s spirit without any real skills, usually the funniest or most original wins. I do believe that there should be bonus points to each clan that gets a real picture of every member into the photo. Seeing as how I know no clan has ever succeeded in that task.
Happy New Year! Congrats to the [Pack] for pulling it out!
jj
I'm in Dimir. Not rep, but I wanted to get some input in. Sorry if that's not allowed.
Modern:
GRB Jund BRG
RBU Grixis Delver UBR
Legacy:
W Death & Taxes W
GRB Punishing Jund BRG
GUR Canadian Threshold RUG
Commander:
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer GUR