Hangman Discussion Thread

[Paddy]

Duke - well said

[Ljube]

There's more chance of a pig flying than for me to set my foot on Eventis.

[Paddy]

so to the OT then

[rah]

I have no problem with a discussion thread about this here.
I will give the discussion the consideration it deserves. I'll review the whole thread before making a final decision.

[DrSpike]

My reading of the post quoted in the OP was that it was decided that the next thread would be started in OT. If the thread were started here in OG as a punishment all the old threads would be deleted.

By implication there is no choice between having it in OT with the history intact and having it here with the old threads deleted - if the old threads were deleted as a punishment the game would still be moved to OT ultimately anyway.

In any case the choice presented by the OP seems an odd one to me. There is no rationale for deleting the old threads that I can see, and none that anyone has posted. Even if there was a change of heart and the owners decided that such threads should be in OT in future, I very much doubt they would want to backdate that to the start of the game through the deletion of old threads. This would be very unfair to the players who have spent a lot of time playing and making the game suitable to a forum. And the group as a whole has achieved a lot in this regard - it is just recent behaviour that has jeopardised that and made the move to OT the best course of action for the game.

Some will ask but why move it? I genuinely don't think there is a future for Hangman in OG now, not a bright one at least. The line has been crossed and I don't see a way to reverse that. Many here have expressed similar opinions.

The real question I think we should discuss is following a move to OT are we going to keep the same structure of the game and scores, or are we going to draw a line as Duke said and essentially start afresh. I do think for instance that a part of making OT hangman a success might well be to revisit the 24 hour rule.

[joncha]

Well, it looked to me from that post and the one directly above yours that rah will look at it with an open mind. He mentioned earlier that deleting older threads was a genuine option to prevent the spammy incentive.

I happen to think the game can continue in the OG with the old threads intact. We just have to show that we are an organised game and that we won't keep descending into the same crap over and over.

That means we need to deal with it here and now. It means not throwing out baseless accusations then squealing like a stuck pig when someone accuses you right back. It means having a rule-set that will eliminate or greatly reduce the potential for cheating. It means following whatever rules we implement, not just to the letter but also in spirit.

Really, what we need to do to make the game work again is only difficult because it requires an attitude shift. Luckily, it is only required from a very small number of us. In fact, I'm certain that if even just Spike and I stepped away from the game for a thread or two, Hangman would hum along fine without any problems.

[rah]

It's not a punishment, it's a TEST.

Every time HANGMAN has come up in discussions with others on the management team, the most often comment I heard was, "if they weren't getting +1s, no one would be playing this game" followed by them showing that many had made THOUSANDS of post counts that were basically one letter. It has been suggested that the true test of the game would be if I deleted old thread when they were done, we would see if the game would stand on it's own.

In the past, I have defended the game, (obviously or you wouldn't be on the thread number that you currently on)
Having read through the last few, I've discovered that I can't defend it any longer. Many have abused the priviledge

I have always had final say in the matter. (of course any decision I make can be overridden by the owners but 99% of the time they support whatever decision I make)

When I play NASCAR, a game may take three months and each player will have 50-70 posts. We're obviously not playing it for the post count. The O threads that are also now starting to challange hangman for number of posts on any given day. But reading those threads, you know they're spending hour after hour playing and discussing what's happening. Mafia, I've never had a problem with, since a game would take a month (unless ras is the mod ) and 25 players would rack up 600 posts combined. This is now where near what the hangman players were racking up.

It doesn't help that when people complain about FGs in this forum always mention HANGMAN first. This is what the rest of the staff deals with and I have to defend.

So it's a test. For the game to remain here, postcounts will be forfited and we will see what the true commitment to the game is. Then my defense of the game will be simple. "THEY MUST enjoy playing because they're not getting anything out of it"

I know there are a lot of people that don't care about PCs. But there are many that still do. The responses that I've read so far indicate that there are some of each and to me, it's obvious that some are more concerned with their PCs, and not the game.

I can easily remove the motivation for some.

[joncha]

Thanks. That should help clarify and focus our discussion.

[Ljube]

I don't like deleting threads because then history would be lost. However, moving them to off topic would achieve the desired result (posts in these threads would not count) and history would be preserved. Also, there are many people who would likely take part in hangman if they only checked other games forum which they don't usually do. I see nothing wrong in expanding the player base.

Furthermore, due to the proposed move to off topic, I suggest a new rule be instituted. First, updates come in sets of 3 letter guesses and second, updates must be posted within 12 hours of each other regardless of the fact whether the conditions have been met or not.


A second option is to have rah delete all threads as they are done. In this case we would need to save the history to hard drives of some of the more dedicated players. I hope rah will allow some time for this operation to be completed.


Are we going to vote on this or leave the decision to rah?

[rah]

I am still open to alternative solutions as long as they follow the spirit of my concerns.

While the decision is mine, I feel that to make a good decision here, it would require that I listen to what people think is the best solution. Believe it or not, I have the Forums best interest at heart, and have fought for it many times in the past and try to make decisions with that in mind.

[civman2000]

This might be just anecdotal and rather irrelevant, but I would note that Hangman was what brought me to the Other Games forum. Unlike the other games, it requires no long-term commitment and very little time. For this reason I started playing Hangman when I would not have had the time for or familiarity with the other games yet.

[duke o' york]

If we want to vote, then let's do it in this thread, because starting another would really take the pi** (2 letters, 1 guess remaining ). I don't think rah will edit a poll in (or even if he can) so we'll just have to do it here and count it ourselves:

A) Hangman is moved to OT, and the past threads are left to rot as they drop toward the archives. (New rules may be required, but they can be proposed if this option is chosen)
B) Hangman remains in OG, but all of the previous threads disappear, along with quite a few posts in people's post counts.
C) Hangman remains here, but all future threads are deleted once they are done with, so effectively no +1s can be taken from the game. (if rah can be bothered)
D) Hangman departs 'poly with its head held high, and its fine history intact, and takes up residence elsewhere (I suggested Eventis, but you can propose your own if this option is chosen).
E) Hangman disappears for good, and we all devote our time to more worthwhile pursuits (and spamming the picture thread in A/C).

E)(i) Remember that ultimately it's rah's decision, so don't be too disappointed if he disagrees with the most popular vote.
E) (ii) Hangman goes bananas/to Monte Carlo/whatever.

Now to prevent spam here, only those players with one or more points in the Hangman game (and rah, should he choose to) can vote in this poll.
We've all proven ourselves to be experts at this, so post your single letters gentlemen!

Votes accepted from:

DrSpike
joncha
Ljube-ljcvetko
Paddy the Scot
duke o' york
snoopy369
vovan
Jonny
Theben
Sparrowhawk
civman2000
Zopperoni
Drogue
Jaguar
Caligastia
Kuciwalker
alva
Skanky Burns
Chaunk
Rasputin
Japher
Heresson
James the Scot
Nikolai
kermit_the_frog
FrustratedPoet
Jamski
Nuclear Master
Kalius
Spaced Cowboy
-Jrabbit
Tuberski
Spiffor
Nimitz
Krill
PLATO
rah
Ming
UR
MtG
Markos, and
Dan. (well if it is moved to OT, then they may well want their say too )

[Jaguar]

Rah, I'm not really sure anyone just plays Hangman for the post count.

[DrSpike]

I think moving the game to OT because the owners feel that is what they want to do is fine. If Rah thinks the nature of the game has changed and it should be moved, that is understandable. I don't think though that that implies that the ruling should be backdated almost 2 years (I think) by either deleting or moving the threads.

[joncha]

Deleting new threads after they have been closed will have the same effect, I think.