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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 9, 2011 11:40:42 GMT -5
The long road begins here.
One of these twelve members is destined to expose the Mole and win the game. Another of them, sadly, is destined to be the first player executed, removed from the game before they could ever muster a fighting chance.
Now it'll be a while before we know the identity of that first player. But the other one, I'm afraid, we'll meet in very short order indeed.
It's time to play.
* * *
Hello, players. Let’s begin your first challenge. This will be a very simple, undemanding exercise just to get everyone used to working together and to take an early measure of how well you can trust each other. But before we begin in earnest, I need two players who believe they know the group quite well. In order for you to be selected, you must volunteer and convince at least two other players to back you up, all by posting here in this topic. You’ll have just one day to sort this out. If by the end of that period, either or both of these two slots aren’t yet occupied, I’ll fill the remaining slot(s) randomly. Make it quick!
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Post by Ninety on Jul 9, 2011 14:37:19 GMT -5
I volunteer myself. Biscuit and El will back me up.
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Post by Hamuu on Jul 9, 2011 16:17:27 GMT -5
I would laugh if one of them didn't just to spite you
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Post by Iron Mouse on Jul 9, 2011 16:44:21 GMT -5
I dig the theme music.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 9, 2011 16:49:44 GMT -5
It's good listenin's.
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Post by Testbug on Jul 9, 2011 23:33:09 GMT -5
I back up Ninety!
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 10, 2011 9:21:58 GMT -5
Only one volunteer? Not a brave bunch of souls, are you? Someone else, step forward!
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Post by The Evil Biscuit on Jul 10, 2011 17:11:47 GMT -5
I back up Ninety.
I volunteer myself. Ninety will back me, as will Bulbs.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 10, 2011 19:51:56 GMT -5
Ninety gets one of the two positions. In the interest of time, I'm reducing the qualifications to just one assenting voice. Somebody either back up Biscuit or try to beat him to the punch.
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Post by Belle on Jul 10, 2011 20:05:18 GMT -5
I'll back Biscuit o:
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 10, 2011 20:12:01 GMT -5
Fine by me. The two of you who think they know the group quite well – let’s just call them the “smartasses” – are Ninety and Biscuit. While all of you will participate in the first challenge, their task will be slightly different.
I want to play a variation on The Prisoner’s Dilemma, a game you may remember from Mafia II. The ten non-smartasses among you have been randomly split into pairs, as follows:
Tangrow & Geo Sem & Iron Mouse Bulbs & Elliot Lugiasian & Belle Testbug & DL
For each pair, a pouch of EP sits before you. You have two days in which to PM me one of two actions. You may choose either to reach for your pouch or to remain still. The outcome of each pair will depend on the actions of both that pair’s constituents. If one player reaches for the pouch while the other remains still, 2 EP will be added to “the pot”, the prize money which will eventually be bestowed upon the game’s winner. If both players reach for their pouch, 1 EP will be added to the pot. And if both players remain still, 0 EP will be added to the pot.
Five pairs, a maximum of 2 EP per pair, so the maximum prize for this challenge is 10 EP, right? Not quite.
You see, the smartasses, Ninety and Biscuit, have a task of their own. They don’t get a pouch and won’t undertake the same choice as the rest of you. Instead, they must spend the two days consulting with each other and trying to predict which action each of the other ten players will take – either to reach for that pair’s pouch or to remain still. I will expect our Texan friends each to individually PM me with their ten-point list of how they think the other players will act. For each player whom the two smartasses both agree will choose one action, and who does indeed perform that action, the group earns an additional 1 EP. If the two smartasses are unable to reach a consensus about that player, or if that player performs the action they didn’t choose, the group will earn no extra money.
Altogether, that means you guys can earn up to 20 EP on this challenge – 10 EP if all five pairs earn their maximum amount, and a further 10 EP if the smartasses make all ten correct guesses.
Now, this challenge should be in the bag, right? How hard can it be to shoot some PMs around, coordinate this with the right people, and make sure everyone’s on the same page? I doubt this’ll be a tricky mission… but never forget that the Mole walks among you. It’d be child’s play for the Mole to lie about his/her intended action by PM, whether to his/her partner or to the smartasses, so as to get an early head start on sabotaging the game. Or, indeed, any player looking to take the lead in Mole-like behavior could throw the challenge as well. Or else maybe you guys will warm the cockles of my heart by putting together a perfect team effort. Cherish the moment if you do. There’s a long, dark game ahead.
So: the ten of you, start communicating with your partners about what you’re going to do. And send word to Ninety and Biscuit to help them make their predictions. Remember that no matter whether you’ve got a pouch or are acting as a smartass, your action will not take place here in public – you must PM me. (That’s no reason you can’t post here to discuss or ask questions, though.) Once again, you’ve got two days to complete this mission. Go!
(Rulings: If a player with a pouch fails to PM me within the next two days, their action will be to remain still, by default. If either of the smartasses fails to PM me their list of predictions, no bonus EP will be earned.)
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 15, 2011 22:53:33 GMT -5
I'll give you guys another day to send in your actions -- and Biscuit and Ninety, your predictions. The first challenge will end on Sunday.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 16, 2011 21:09:42 GMT -5
Remember that I need each player to PM me individually with their choice! You have until tomorrow evening.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 17, 2011 22:06:47 GMT -5
Well then, let’s start by looking at the predictions made by Biscuit and Ninety. I mentioned that no bonus would be awarded for a given player if the smartasses didn’t agree on that player’s action… but as it happens, our Texan buddies had no trouble coordinating. All their predictions line up properly, and run as follows:
- In the first pair, they predicted that both Geo and Tangrow would decline to reach for the pouch. - In the second pair, they predicted that Sem would reach for the pouch while Iron Mouse would stand by. - In the third pair, they predicted that both Bulbs and Elliot would decline to reach for the pouch. - In the fourth pair, they predicted that Lugiasian would reach for the pouch while Belle would stand by. - In the fifth pair, they predicted that both Testbug and DL would decline to reach for the pouch.
That’s a bit interesting, don’t you think? It stands to reason that five players should reach for the pouch to maximize the team’s takings, and yet Ninety and Biscuit have anticipated only two players’ reaching for it. They don’t seem to have a lot of faith in the rest of you, do they?
We’d better see what the actual results were:
- In the first pair, both Geo and Tangrow declined to reach for the pouch. (0 EP from the pouch, but 2 EP for correctly predicting both players’ actions) - In the second pair, Sem reached for the pouch while Iron Mouse stood by. (2 EP from the pouch, and 2 EP for correctly predicting both players’ actions) - In the third pair, Bulbs reached for the pouch while Elliot stood by. (2 EP from the pouch, and 1 EP for correctly predicting Elliot’s action) - In the fourth pair, both Lugiasian and Belle declined to reach for the pouch. (0 EP from the pouch, but 1 EP for correctly predicting Belle’s action) - In the fifth pair, DL reached for the pouch while Testbug stood by. (2 EP from the pouch, and 1 EP for correctly predicting Testbug’s action)
Altogether, that’s 6 EP from the players with pouches, along with 7 more from the smartasses’ predictions, making 13 EP. Not much more than half of what you could have earned in total from this first challenge! So what happened?
Does the blame lie with Ninety and Biscuit? It certainly seems a little strange that while they were spot-on in guessing how many players would end up reaching for the pouch, they were wrong about who both those players were. Theoretically, if all players were forthright and honest with the smartasses, their predictions should have made an easy 10 EP by themselves –so did Ninety and Biscuit intentionally mess the predictions up?
Or, just as likely, did the players with pouches lie to the smartasses, or mislead them with silence? Did Lugiasian actually tell the smartasses she intended to reach for her pouch, and then go back on her word? Meanwhile, did Bulbs and/or DL intentionally give the impression that they were planning not to reach for their pouches, and then change their minds?
These are the kind of questions you’ll want to start pondering!
But hey, no worries. There’ll be plenty more opportunity to earn EP for the pot. And honestly, I was prepared to be pretty bummed if you guys aced this challenge. “What is the point of this game, even,” I was prepared to ask myself. But you guys came through for me and gave us all plenty of food for thought.
THE TEAM POT: 13 EP THE MOLE’S POCKET: 7 EP
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 18, 2011 14:58:32 GMT -5
So on we go to your next challenge. Once again, we’re going to keep things very simple at this early stage. (But don’t worry – the third and final challenge of Episode 1 will be a little more involved.)
We’re just going to play a nice casual game of Twenty Questions.
You twelve obviously know how this game works, but in case the population of the Earth grows stupider and stupider over the next few generations and archivists combing through this forum need it explained to them, the game works as follows: I’m thinking of someone. You guys have twenty questions – altogether, not each – to guess who it is. Each question must be of the form “yes/no”. If I don’t know the answer to a question, or simply don’t think it has a definitive answer, I won’t count that question toward the maximum.
I’m setting a time limit of three days for you guys to work out the solution. If the subject has not been correctly guessed by then, you earn nothing. But if you can manage to narrow it down to the answer I have in mind, you win – what else? – 20 EP.
What I am conspicuously not imposing is any kind of regulation about who can post when. It’s entirely up to the group to establish this. Right now, one player, by themselves, could burn up all twenty questions, and deny anyone else the opportunity to ask. If you want to make arrangements to spread the task around, that’s on you guys.
All questions will be posted here in this topic, not sent by PM. You can also use this topic to discuss your plans. All set? Then away you go.
0 questions have been asked so far.
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Post by Testbug on Jul 18, 2011 17:08:49 GMT -5
Is this person famously known by people many people outside of the Exodus?
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 18, 2011 17:15:57 GMT -5
Is this person famously known by people many people outside of the Exodus? Yes.1 question has been asked so far.
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Post by The Evil Biscuit on Jul 18, 2011 17:47:05 GMT -5
Is this person a man?
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 18, 2011 18:26:16 GMT -5
Yes.2 questions have been asked so far.
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Post by Hamuu on Jul 19, 2011 15:49:02 GMT -5
Is this person an Actor.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 19, 2011 15:54:09 GMT -5
No.
3 questions have been asked so far.
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Post by Belle on Jul 19, 2011 16:22:21 GMT -5
Is this person a politician?
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 19, 2011 16:29:35 GMT -5
Is this person a politician? No.
4 questions have been asked so far.
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Post by The Evil Biscuit on Jul 19, 2011 18:36:57 GMT -5
Is this man a writer?
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Post by Ninety on Jul 19, 2011 18:46:07 GMT -5
Is this a fictional character?
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Post by Beelzebibble on Jul 19, 2011 21:56:36 GMT -5
No.Is this a fictional character? No.
6 questions have been asked so far.
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