Q: What makes BR fun? (Battle Royale)

[Myrddraal]

Hello everyone. Zain and I hope to co-host the next Battle Royale soon. Whilst all kinds of feverish activity is going on in the background, we were curious to hear from past Battle Royale contestants about their experience of previous games.

Mainly we wondered:
Which part of the Battle Royale was the most fun?

But we'd also like to know:
Which stage of the game was the most fun?
Where there any past game mechanics which you found tedious or unnecessary?
Are there any suggestions you'd like to see in the next BR?

Thank you!
Zain & Myrddraal

[Double A]

It was all fun guys

And I think I liked the first map that didn't force everyone to the center.

[atheotes]

agree with that... it was all fun.

Forcing everyone to the centre gives the advantage to the players who start in the centre or closeby. If they have decent stealth they can lay low and spring traps. To me it seems it like there are more options/strategies when you can stay put in a single square
and during the last game, my choices for movement were pretty much limited to one grid

[Centurion1]

i like being able to design your atrategy and how everythng can be used if you have enough imagianation

[Beefy187]

I like the wide range of weapon you get to use, and how you can pretty much do anything in the game

[Death is yonder]

The fact where creativity dictates your fate.

i like being able to design your strategy and how everything can be used if you have enough imagination

[Stildawn]

I just want to reserve my place in the next one :)

[Centurion1]

yeah i pretty much butchered the spelling in my post

[Splitpersonality]

It's funny that you would post this.

After a sufficient number of people die in Dark Falls, both myself and chaotix will be planning and hosting a battle royale style game, and I am currently waiting for my christmas break to begin my own battle royale game, which will work almost exactly like the original ones, perhaps you'd allow me to go first and you could learn from some of my mistakes?

Then again we don't want everyone battel royaled out do we



but on to your questions in... question.

Which part of the Battle Royale was the most fun?

For me it's the freedom, the fact that you can do anything you would do in a real life situation, from the safety of your own home. You can act out countless hours of aggravation and whatnot with a simple game. The complexity of the orders also allows a very finite detail of control which is not usually available to the normal townie in a mafia game, there's a certain thing about having utter tactile control over your own fate, while also having absolutely no control over it, that is just awe inspiring.

Which stage of the game was the most fun?

When the rounds start to work smoothly, the inactive players are replaced, the people playing are doing it out of want, not being forced to play, and your items are ready so that you can do more than just scavenge. The thrill of chasing someone across the map and cutting them down as per your plan, or even lying in wait as someone walks into your trap. Again, its all about the control for me :P

Where there any past game mechanics which you found tedious or unnecessary?

I dislike how the map shrinks, I know the movie makes that happen, but there's really no need for it, since there are no real time limits or anything, it just irks me how you can start off on a huge island, full of possibilities, and then end up on a small 6 by 6 grid, with each person in a different square. Part of the fun is the hunt, the lack of knowledge of where people are, small maps just make it too easy for people to find each other, and along with that goes the fact that the map must be sized to the number of participants.

Are there any suggestions you'd like to see in the next BR?

Though I love mindless slaughter as much as the next orgah, I'd really like to see a story worked into the games, in a future game that I am working on, I will be borrowing story elements from Zain's recent mansion game, which I thought was excellent, it combined the informed minority, with the suspense of an subtle horror movie, and a very good story fabricated from his own mind. This I love, you're hosting! This is something hosts of BR games still need to borrow from what the mafia games have established, hosts having fun with topics they enjoy, you know you've read a coupe of boring writeups and lost interest in a game, it's bound to happen, not everyone enjoys the same styles of writing or genres of stories, but if the host is into it, it draws you in, notable people in this category, in my mind, are ATPG, Zain, Chaotix, and YLC, yes others do it but this is just off the top of my head. I urge hosts to have fun with it, tell a story, try and make your players feel for who they're playing as, it's beautiful when people get into character (except ATPG who just sleeps with everyone ) and play things out the way you want the story to, or even when they go to unforeseen places.


I don't know, maybe I"m crazy too, but that's how I feel, and of course I'm just romanticizing the last part there, it's pretty hard to keep all that up, interest, engagement, and mystery, for the whole time, but it'd be a nice thing to really see work

[WilliamWallace]

I dont mind tooting some else's horn, and when I say this I am talking about Zain. ATPG has it too, but Zain's Mansion idea was just bizarre and amazing! It's things like that, things that are out of the box, that capture my attention. I believe his Battle Royale was in good intention but all in all it wasn't up to par with the Mansion. Put a storyline to it, give it emotion.

Split has it down perfectly.

I would like a spot in the next BR.

[Beefy187]

Looks like Role playing is getting popular. I believe theres always a game on at any moment.

We might be needing a que for that at this rate

[Zain]

I think I should, like, email this to you, but I think the signups should be private and the players never know how many people there truly is.

Edit: Thank you Split and William

[Splitpersonality]

I think I should, like, email this to you, but I think the signups should be private and the players never know how many people there truly is.

That's a very interesting idea, it would certainly help add to the mystique of random people being thrown onto the island.

Even better if NO ONE at all knew who was in the game until they found them

[Double A]

Maybe there could be more than one island?

And to get to one from another you need to play an amusing minigame on your DS touchscreen.

And there could be rope bridges between them.

I think you guys should design a Hunger Games-esque battlefield, where you don't only have to worry about the other players, but the stadium as well.

[atheotes]

That's a very interesting idea, it would certainly help add to the mystique of random people being thrown onto the island.

Even better if NO ONE at all knew who was in the game until they found them

so we will have a game thread where only the host will post updates and information? hmmm...sounds interesting

[Myrddraal]

@Split, we've done a bit of work on preparation for this game, and we were hoping to start it with the new year. Are we going to have a clash?

[Splitpersonality]

@Split, we've done a bit of work on preparation for this game, and we were hoping to start it with the new year. Are we going to have a clash?

I'm actually totally ready, I've done all the work I can beforehand, and I'd like to avoid a clash as well.

I think maybe we need to get a queue going :/

[Zain]

A queue would be a discipline for us. Meaning we know it is best for us but we're spoiled and we don't wanna. Haha you know?

I'll leave it up to the mods.

[GeneralHankerchief]

If any of you guys want to make a non-Mafia game coordination/discussion thread, feel free to, but we're not going to enforce it or make it "official" like we do the Mafia Hosting Queue.

Basically, it will be the hosts talking among themselves to make everybody's lives easier, but in the end, only that.

[Splitpersonality]

A queue would be a discipline for us. Meaning we know it is best for us but we're spoiled and we don't wanna. Haha you know?

I'll leave it up to the mods.

Yeah I know, I'm dying to start up my game, but if you guys want to go ahead, I'll let you, out of seniority alone

[Centurion1]

Let me settle this dispute. i sign up for both. Why not i sign up for anything i see already.

look in the gameroom i love a good mafia game especially huge ones but i LIVE for the non mafia games orgahs come up with. For example some video games are being replaced by 30YW. I loved mansion and battle royale to, they were so awesome even if i died in battle royale pretty quick i even enjoyed reading the write ups.

[RoadKill]

I wouldn't know, I've hosted too many.
To be honest though the ones hosted by GenrealHankercheif were amazing. Well even though it is the only one I haven't hosted . Nothing beats hiding at the lighthouse for 10 turns with binoculars and watching people slaughter each other.

Seriously though you really shouldn't take out the forbidden zones. These things make people think and apply pressure on the many characters that like hiding in a tree the entire game, yes I'm look at you Shlin.

P.S I didn't poison the well. (for all of you that were in that game )

[Splitpersonality]

P.S I didn't poison the well. (for all of you that were in that game )

That's not what I heard

[CountArach]

I think that the fact that a good plan was better than an ultra-specific plan in the first one was great. One of the problems with the most recent one, I think, was that the people who did so well at the end were incredibly secific to the point where they essentially took to writing their opponent's moves and reactions. I didn't like that, because some of the moves were highly unrealistic.

[Myrddraal]

A good point CA, thank you!

[CountArach]

P.S I didn't poison the well. (for all of you that were in that game )

I know I certainly did in one game - with sleeping pills and laxatives. That write-up was... messy.

[Cultured Drizzt fan]

I think that the fact that a good plan was better than an ultra-specific plan in the first one was great. One of the problems with the most recent one, I think, was that the people who did so well at the end were incredibly secific to the point where they essentially took to writing their opponent's moves and reactions. I didn't like that, because some of the moves were highly unrealistic.

OI! I will have you know I wrote General strategies for my man, I never tried to write my opponents moves!


You probably did not mean me though. If so forget this.

[Myrddraal]

I know I certainly did in one game - with sleeping pills and laxatives. That write-up was... messy.

That was fun.

[RoadKill]

If Mydrall is hosting the next Battle Royale, it is bound to be great. I will tell you guys now, Mydrall's write-ups are mini novels packages up. During one of the summers, I literally stayed up all night writing them writeups to keep up with the same quality as Mydrall. In every game I have played no writeup has gotten even close to what he puts out. Anyone who has ever played one of his BR games know.

Kudos to you.

[Thermal]

If Mydrall is hosting the next Battle Royale, it is bound to be great. I will tell you guys now, Mydrall's write-ups are mini novels packages up. During one of the summers, I literally stayed up all night writing them writeups to keep up with the same quality as Mydrall. In every game I have played no writeup has gotten even close to what he puts out. Anyone who has ever played one of his BR games know.

Kudos to you.

I must also commend some of the great mafia/BR writers, not only does it make the game better, it also inspires other players, which increase future game quality.