Hangman Discussion Thread

[joncha]

Rah has decided that Hangman must be moved to the OT or have the old threads deleted. I think we should discuss which option we prefer.

Originally posted by rah
And that's why I didn't stop it back then. The game was organized well (stats and all) and people where having fun.

It doesn't seem that way anymore.
My only concern is that some of the OTers will disrupt the game. But that looks like it's already happening.

So I will agree not to delete any of the old thread, but the next thread will be started in the OT. If a new one is started here, I will rethink my position on deleting old threads.

Also, we should use this as an opportunity to deal with all the crap that has poisoned the game, so that we don't bring all the accusations and counter-accusations with us into Hangman 30.

Also also, we can take the time to go over the rules to see if we need to make any changes.

Current Rules

• 1. A maximum of 9 incorrect guesses.
• 2. Updates will occur in sets of 2, except for the final 2 guesses, which will be updated individually. An update must also occur after each word guess. Updates must be posted within 24 hours once the appropriate number of guesses have been made.
• 3. Any letters guessed after the conditions for an update set out in rule 2 have been met, but before the actual update, will be ignored, and will not carry over to the next set of guesses.
• 4. You can only pick one letter for every two consecutive sets of guesses.
• 5. Guesses cannot be changed after being posted.
• 6. You can guess the word at any time, subject to the qualification in rule 7, but guessing incorrectly eliminates you from play.
• 7. If you make a letter guess you may not make a word guess before an update has occured. The converse also applies as a consequence of rule 2.
• 8. Incorrect word guesses also count as losing a life.
• 9. Words must be 5 or more letters. If the word is exactly 5 letters and the last letter is S, the first four letters must not make a standard english word.
• 10. Words must be standard english, and cannot be proper nouns, slang, informal or abbreviations. Dictionary.com will be used for verification in the case of a disputed word. If a word is set that is in violation of this rule no point can be awarded and the floor is open for a new player to set a word.
• 11. Word or letter guesses that are not possible correct answers, including guesses that would violate Rule 10, and guesses that include already-eliminated letters, shall not count against the wrong guesses for the players, but in the case of word guesses, shall eliminate the guesser from play for the remainder of that word.

There is no rush in starting the next game thread, so let's hammer everything out before we do.

[Rasputin]

perhaps removal of the scoring system will return fun to the GAME....

[Jaguar]

Removal of word-setter points would definitely be welcome. Then the word-setters would have more incentive to make fun words and no incentive to change words.

[joncha]

Complete removal of the scoring system will just make it spam. Removal of points for the setter is unfair to people who make an effort at setting difficult words.

[Nikolai]

I hope you're right regarding rah's meaning of what he said...

My earlier post on this sums my opinion up quite good I think:

No, there is no gain in deleting the old threads, but any new thread on hangman, playing thread or discussion thread, must be posted in the OT. If a mod has decided something, it's so, whether we like it or not! We can argue, but not here in the OG forum.

[Ljube]

Rah is not Dracon. He is a very nice guy if you get to know him. He is reasonable too. But moving the game to off topic might be the best solution. No reason to change rules though.

[joncha]

I think you're wrong, Nikolai (rah's post is quoted in the OP). If not, this thread was made in good faith, and rah can always just lock or delete it.

It makes very little sense to continue the game in a new setting if we are still stuck on the same problems. This thread is specifically for addressing those problems. While we're at it, we may as well see if the rules need any tightening up or adjusting.

[Rasputin]

How does removal of thescoring system make it SPAM.

I beleive it is the scroing system that has led to this debacle as without it no one would be chaisng spikes score nor making allegations of cheating.

just play for fun like the majority do here and not worry who set the word nor who gets the final guess correct. too much luck involved for a scoring system

[Paddy]

keep the scores, keep the rules... and prepare for a lot of new players when we arrive in the OT...

[snoopy369]

I don't like moving it to the OT. I'd much rather see old threads deleted.

1) I don't think any of us should care enough about our post counts from this to care about losing old posts.

1a) If any of us do, then perhaps that's part of the problem.

2) OT will ruin the game, as far as I'm concerned. Part of the point of Hangman is to bring people to OG (that's why any of these FGs are allowed at all). OT doesn't need people brought to it, and will bring a lot more arguing and attitudes than we have here - moving to OT won't help at all in those regards, it'll make it worse.

2a) OT would ruin the game for new players - because once the regular OT people went through their hangman fetish period, practically no new people would see hangman. It would fall off the main page too quickly, and would be lost in the sea of threads; in OG it's pretty easy for any of the FG interested people to find, and in the logical place for such things.

3) Why keep the old threads? I personally don't see a pressing reason to delete OR save them. Yes, history is great, yada yada ... we can always archive them ourselves if we want to keep the info from them. If rah thinks there's a good reason to delete the old ones, then so be it.

---

4) I think that one thing, if not THE one thing, we need to consider is the *how* of Hangman. A lot of the problems we're having is due to when updates are performed - and in a sense how they're performed. Is it possible we could consider various different formats - try them out for a short period of time. We've had some interesting ideas in the recent past, from having a single GM for a set period of time, to having a second GM to make updates go faster, to having short point contests or other variations.
Let's try a few of those, just to see what works out. Perhaps if we keep the point contests to lowish score totals, then rah can keep threads around until the most recent score contest is completed (to allow for doublechecks of points).

Definitely no OT for me, though. The current arguments that are going on right now are nothing compared to what would happen in the OT, if hangman survived at all.

[Paddy]

There is a strong core of players here, so it should survive. The OT is just another forum afterall, all be it one the does run a tad wild from time to time Bring on the new blood...

as to the post count, what does that mean?

[Jaguar]

But a Prince such as yourself must surely be eager to hit the 1000 mark.

[Paddy]

ahhh indeed... one day I will rise to the occasion (bait) old chap, one day indeed

[duke o' york]

I honestly don't think Hangman would survive the transition to OT. Spike is already attracting a few light-hearted comments by not posting updates as regularly as other players would like, and if you're only going to have 2 guesses a day, and all of OT as potential players, then don't expect to get manay guesses in ever.
My proposal is that the old threads are left here, a polite line is drawn underneath the game when the current thread finishes, and the Hangman renaissance happens at Eventis instead. (Which is down at the moment btw joncha )

[joncha]

Eventis? What's an Eventis?