Prepare To Be Boarded!

[Valamir]

Hey Ring...I agree, the idea is interesting enough to pursue.  I think what might make for a cool interpretation (although clearly not an RPG) is to take a page from the fantasy sports leagues.

Lurk on a discussion forum for awhile...do some scouting...than draft your "team" of regular posters, and then just observe the naturally occuring discussions.  Treat each "thread" as a battle and evaluate the winning "side" based on the scoring system above.  Then award points to the players on a composite basis...

Heh...kind of funny to think about it... "I'll trade you Mike Holmes for Le Jouer and Paul Czege...",  "I never should have drafted Supplanter in the first round...he stopped posting half way through the season..."  ;-)

[xiombarg]

Darn it, the Forge is acting funny. I thought I had a double-post and then the double-post disappeared.

Anyway, I originally posted a method to make the original game less trollish. I'm not saying the original game is or isn't trollish, just suggesting a way to make it less so.

1. The participants agree to debate a topic they actually disagree on.
2. Eliminate the "Authorities Agree" rule.
3. Instead of bowing out when dead, the killed participant utters a code phrase acknoledging death and the thread continues.

This way one can have a serious discussion AND play the game, and this way no one's time is wasted. In fact, putting a silly game atop a serious debate could be good for relieving stress. "That post makes me mad but at least I killed a member of his Crew."

[deidzoeb]

Possible compromise:  I suggest we limit further discussion on this thread to the mechanics of the game.  Send me an email at deidzoeb@yahoo.com if you'd like to debate whether the game is ethically flawed, and we can run that discussion like an unmoderated email list.  I promise not to say, "Oh please" any more, and we can try to have a civil, flame-less discussion off The Forge.

Mike, I don't want to respond in full here, but I just want to say that I honestly wrote the game thinking it would be fun, and I honestly posted it here to get feedback on it.  My intent was not to provoke emotions or waste anyone's time on The Forge.

[greyorm]

Piping in counter to Mike and Lon's position,

I've made cakes out of some really awful crap on the 'net, and vice versa as well, I'm sorry to say.  It isn't about whether you are consenting to "play the game," it's about what you do with what you've got.
So, you've been the victim of a fake debate thread...and?  What did you do with it?  Did you learn anything?  Did anyone else?  Can you continue the conversation started by the game players?  Sure, why not?  What's stopping you?

Seems to me those vehemently opposed to this are placing an unnecessary amount of burden upon the individuals who start the thread, assigning them "leadership" roles, and assuming their continuing debate or actual involvement/investment in the debate matters.
But...why should it?  If you are responding to it, the only person's involvement or investment you should care about or even pay attention to is your own.

Let's say the first post in this thread was a clever troll (hypothetical)...well, if it were revealed that the post were merely made to score points in a game and lure the unsuspecting (me) into responding to gain more points, would I be upset?

No.  Not a bit.
I chose to respond.
And I got something out of the idea.
It made me think about the topic.
Is that a waste of my time?  No, because I wanted to respond, I wanted to think about the idea, I wanted to.  I can't blame someone else for wasting my own time if it isn't "really" what I thought it was...what is an internet discussion "really" anyways?
Does it have meaning to you?  Yes?  Then even if it is a game, it isn't a waste of time.

What is there to be upset about?
Wasting one's time?  Whose time?  Your own?  Did you think about the subject?  Did you get something out of it?  Yes?  Then how is it a waste of time?

Hey, you don't have control over 95% of the things which affect your life; the only thing you really have control of is your own attitude and choices...not the results of those choice
Nor are you reasonably informed about the results of your choices in the vast majority of situations.  You can make good guesses, but everything, ultimately, is a gamble.

Actually, I find the idea of this game a fascinating study in social manipulation and human behavior.  And, like it or not, as humans we are all about social manipulation...at our job, with out spouse, with our neighbors, at the gas station...but that is neither here nor there for this forum.

As to "Is it an RPG?"
Hrm...good question...right now I would have to say "No."
What "role" (ie: fictional persona) are you playing in what setting?

One could make a case that you are playing a fictional debater in a fictional debate, but that's pretty thin, I think.
No, I don't think it is an RPG...that's IMO.
That said, what do other folks think about the status of it as an RPG, or could it be made into an RPG in some fashion?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

I should like to ask everyone concerned with this issue to take it to private email using the address deidzoeb provided. Please do not respond further to this thread.

Deid-man, I hear you, and there are no hard feelings. I think it's pretty clear to me that this topic needs discussion, but your suggestion seems like the best way to handle it. When and if the game gets knocked together, feel free to post it in the Resource Library.

Best,
Ron