Ok guys and girls (still skeptical about pluralising that),
The game is on for tomorrow at 7PM. Here's a run down of how the game works, and what kind of strategies you might employ:
Upon "registering as present" which you can do any time tomorrow from 6:30 PM (GMT, so 7:30 in UK as we're in BST), I will prepare you a set of fragments. For those of you not familiar with GOG's gifting codes, they come in the form ABCD-DEFG-HIJK-LMNO. A fragment is one quarter of this code, such as DEFG. These fragments will definitely not be enough on their own to form a full code, this is essentially your starting "hand". At 7PM GMT The game will begin, and I will announce all those who have registered and are active in the game. Other people may show up a bit later, and if there are still places left, I'll post on the forum that new people are now active.
So that means that there will hopefully be 8 games, divided into 32 fragments, and split between 16 people. In theory, that's all I would need to do to have the giveaway going. You would all know who you needed to talk to, and would need to get the other fragments. You would then need to decide which fragments you will offer them, and which fragments you would ask them for. Thus you would all start trading your fragments in a race to get a complete set. Upon obtaining a complete set, there is no need to speak to me, just head right on over to the redeem gift and enter your complete code.
Some points / questions that should be coming up:
Q. How will you know if the person who you have traded with has given you a valid fragment?
A. You don't. At least not when you obtain it. Once you have acquired a fragment, you can PM me and submit it for "validation". This will involve telling me the game you believe it is, and the part number you believe it is. So a fragment would look something like Game X, part 4: DFGH. I would reply "Valid" or "Not valid". That is all I will say, keep in mind that the person may have made a legitimate mistake (many have been made in previous games). I will not try to guess at this or remedy it, I will only say if it's valid or not.
One thing to keep in mind, is that this is a game of speed, and so spending a long time validating codes could cost you, sometimes you might do better going on trust. In order to increase this, and to try to stop it just becoming a simple trade, validate, trade game. I'm only going to reply to any particular users validation requests once every 5 minutes. You can queue a load up, but you'll only get answers in 5 minute intervals (at best). I'm hoping this should force a bit more free trading and trust.
NOTE: There are special rules for Moebius that I'll state at the end.
Q. So why would I ever tell anyone a real code, when they've just given me the information I needed?
A. Reputation (not the GOG kind). This game is all about getting the codes first, and if no-one will trade with you because you've screwed them out of codes, you'll quickly find that you can't complete anything because the holders of the final part just don't trust you. Of course, if you never lie, and always play it straight, at some point someone will burn you, and you'll be a code down. So it's all about knowing when to burn the bridge. When you decide it's the last trade you're going to make with a person, perhaps it's time to turn nasty.
Q. So how will I know that a game is still up for grabs.
A. Well, bit of a change here. I keep an eye on the gifts list throughout the game, and when I notice a game has been redeemed, I announce it in the thread. However in order for those codes to not completely burn you out, I won't be announcing it until at least 20 minutes after the game has been redeemed. What's more, for that period, I will still assert that (valid) codes are valid, just not informing you that there's no point to having them. However, when I announce that the game is redeemed, I will also announce WHO REDEEMED IT! At that point if you carried on trading your codes, expect a major reputation hit as everyone realises you've screwed them. I think that this will be a bit like the "Do or Die" card from "Escape from Colditz".
So those are the basic mechanics of the game. You get fragments of codes, contact others with fragments (as I said, you don't have to use PM, but it's a good initial contact point), and trade to build up a valid full code, then redeem it before anyone else.
Q. So what's different with Moebius?
A. Moebius is the most expensive game we've had in this, so I'm going to play with it a bit. Firstly moebius will be divided into 8 fragments, not 4. If you get a moebius fragment, it will be half of a normal fragment. So if the code was DEFG-1234-abcd-4312, fragment part 1 would be DE, part 2 would be FG.
When it comes to validating moebius fragments, I will only validate them in pairs, so to know if a fragment is valid, you need to give me parts 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, or 7&8 before I will tell you if it's valid. This may lead you to attempt to get "community validation" instead, of trading with a few people for the same part to ensure you get he same answer.
Q. I've got a fragment to the game I want, why on earth would I let anyone else know about it?
A. There is more than one copy of every fragment in play. I know which ones are being traded, because I know which ones are being validated. Someone else also has a copy of that fragment. It may be worth trading it and racing, than sitting on it and finding out everyone got it from the other person and doesn't need to trade for yours. If no-one is trading a particular fragment, I will just bleed it into the game by PM'ing it to a random person. This is to keep the game fluid, as otherwise it just becomes a stalemate. So trade!
Ok, I'm going to take a breather, then post a bit more on the game rules, then a bit of strategy advice.
Post edited April 24, 2014 by wpegg