Gameroom policy discussion thread

[GeneralHankerchief]

I've had an idea to introduce an element of currency/a points system to the Gameroom - probably inspired by Pirate Ship, except this one would be more overarching. Basically, if you opt in, you would receive a certain amount of points as a baseline. You'd also receive some for every game you participated in, a further amount based off your success in those games, and could use them to wager and/or make deals with other people for things such as queue spots. Basically, it would be El Barto's paradise. They wouldn't be redeemable for anything, but I figured it would be something fun to keep track of.

Would there be any interest in this?

[Zack]

What's the conversion to Schrute bucks?

[El Barto]

El Barto

GeneralHankerchief

[Visor]

Why are thanks not allowed?

[Askthepizzaguy]

General response to the thanks rule issue:

Thanks have been abused in the past on other games I've played in where dead players indicate who they think people should listen to.

It's also against the rules on several sites or disabled to prevent that sort of stuff. Thanks weren't always enabled on the .org, and given that some players like to test the limits of the rules, and it's not illegal unless the game host says it's illegal, I needed to say it is.

I don't believe this group abuses the thanks button, but if we do a 10 year anniversary game we might have more guests than we currently have from other sites, and I'm nipping it in the bud now and getting used to that rule as a more standard one, like don't screenshot, etc.

Other game hosts should feel free to allow thanks, I just won't in games I host. There's nothing I can realistically do if dead people break the rule during the game itself because they're dead, but I am trying to prevent the action in the first place.

[Askthepizzaguy]

The LoZ game on TWC, there was repeated and sustained cheating by a dead townie in the tags, for example. Same difference, using board functions to break the no communication after dead rule. And you can thank posts there and leave comments (rep system)

It's banned on a lot of boards and in El Barto's game I think it was all innocent stuff, but at the same time, I see the issue with thanking posts in a mafia game because I've experienced similar things before, and it's banned on other sites for a reason, and people from other sites push all the boundaries, like if cyphers are allowed, they'll post cyphers and talk to each other in encrypted communications that they worked out prior to the game and it's all legal because it's not illegal. Just as an example.

Happened during the champs series on 2+2 with people who were not natives to that board, since it was legal, it was allowed in the game and disallowed in future games.

Basically the rule exists because people find new and innovative ways to break the spirit of the game, but not the rules which were laid out.

And good for them, they're being creative. But I don't want that tactic used.

[GeneralHankerchief]

I mentioned this in the other thread, but I personally have no issue with the thanks system so I'm not going to put a blanket ban on it. If individual hosts want to put the rule in their games for the reasons that Pizza mentioned (or any others) then I'll be happy to enforce them on a game-by-game basis, but at this time I trust our userbase enough where I don't feel I need to go beyond that.

Should the situation arise where I need to do something more drastic in the future, we have the technical ability to disable the thanking system in an entire subforum, but not individual threads, so it's an all-or-nothing sort of deal unfortunately.

[Zack]

I still don't see why living people can't thank posts. Or why people can't talk during night. Or why dead players can't talk. Or why people can't be expected to not cheat. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of clamping down so harshly on anti-cheating measures, as that removes features I enjoy, but I can see why you'd do it.

[Beskar]

Now this is brought up, I did remember thanking a post as a dead townie, because even if the poster had the wrong conclusions, I wanted to encourage their type of contributions as it was a very interesting post. Though, in hindsight now, it could have looked as if I was supported that conclusion or have been some kind of code.

But yes, Mafia-spirit is competition. I remember back in the olden days, used to have a bunch of friends I spoke to a lot, and we were constantly trying to screw eachother over, which was frustrating at times, but amusing too. So even though me and Pizza were close, we never trusted eachother at all when it came to a mafia game.

[GeneralHankerchief]

I still don't see why living people can't thank posts. Or why people can't talk during night. Or why dead players can't talk. Or why people can't be expected to not cheat. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of clamping down so harshly on anti-cheating measures, as that removes features I enjoy, but I can see why you'd do it.

Speaking as an individual Gameroomer, I agree with you and will not implement those rules in games I personally run. But speaking as a mod, I do want to create an atmosphere that's accommodating to hosts. If it's a reasonable enough request, which all of these are, and it comes from a good intention, then obviously I'm not going to deny that request as doing so sets a very bad precedent.

[Winston Hughes]

Or why dead players can't talk.

If you don't have reveals, then dead talking is fine. But host-confirmed town voices are an abomination.

[seireikhaan]

The LoZ game on TWC, there was repeated and sustained cheating by a dead townie in the tags, for example. Same difference, using board functions to break the no communication after dead rule. And you can thank posts there and leave comments (rep system)

It's banned on a lot of boards and in El Barto's game I think it was all innocent stuff, but at the same time, I see the issue with thanking posts in a mafia game because I've experienced similar things before, and it's banned on other sites for a reason, and people from other sites push all the boundaries, like if cyphers are allowed, they'll post cyphers and talk to each other in encrypted communications that they worked out prior to the game and it's all legal because it's not illegal. Just as an example.

Happened during the champs series on 2+2 with people who were not natives to that board, since it was legal, it was allowed in the game and disallowed in future games.

Basically the rule exists because people find new and innovative ways to break the spirit of the game, but not the rules which were laid out.

And good for them, they're being creative. But I don't want that tactic used.

Fair enough. For me, I learned a very harsh lesson from two of my early games about people violating the spirit of the rules, and that's probably why I made it a bolded point of emphases in my opening posts to follow the spirit of the rules that I lay out. It's worked pretty well for me since then. But, then again, there's only so much to be done once the damage is inflicted.