December 11 2002 RussCon Report

i voted

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Meta Game Results
Evening's Soundtrack
Ratings | FAQ
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25 of us played 18 games. 25 approaches the record attendance of 27.
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News

Solaris was a cool movie. Just don't expect laser guns and explosions and other Star Wars style sf. Which reminds me that in last week's Report, I forgot to show the picture I got of Emperor Palpatine, I mean Daniel, playing Bluff.

only now, in the end, do you truly understand the power of the dice

I also forgot to show last week's picture of the amazing and wondrous Carcassonne Hunters & Gatherers game where all 4 players ended up with both their huts on the largest body of water we've ever seen. You can see JP's second red hut in the upper right soon before it managed to weasel in, to his great relief:

water, water, everywhere

There seems to be some interest in RussCon gaming on Wednesday December 25, so I think that I shall indeed boogie back from Houston on Christmas for RussCon As Usual.

Game Results

PuertoRico3JeffF 2 Fina 0 Zack -2
Volldampf4Marty 3 RussW 1 JonathanC -1 BobR -3
Tichu2( Dan Ben ) 1 ( Whendy MarkH ) -1
Cathedral2RussD 1 MarkY -1
CarcassonneHunters4JP 3 Steve 1 Whindy -1 Clayton -3
PuertoRico3JeffF 2 Zack 0 Meng -2
Vampire4MarkH 3 JP 1 Steve -2 Clayton -2
Transamerica4Clayton 3 Steve 1 JP -1 MarkH -3
PuertoRico3JeffF 2 Meng 0 Zack -2
Tichu2( William Brady ) 1 ( Marty Whindy ) -1
Exxtra3Ben 2 PJ 0 MarkY -2
StephensonsRocket4JimG 3 RussW 1 JonathanC -1 RussD -3
SamuraiSwords3BradS 2 Daniel 0 Fred -2
WhatsThatOnMyHead4Ben 3 MarkY 1 PJ -1 Dan -3
Tichu2( JeffF Zack ) 1 ( Meng Fred ) -1
CarcassonneHunters3RussD 2 William -1 BradS -1
ZirkusFlohcati3Meng 2 Zack -1 MarkY -1
PuertoRico5JP 4 JonathanC 2 RussW 0 JimG -2 Steve -4

Volldampf (a variation of the Lancashire Rails system with snazzier components) is frustrating because it's just not quite as fun as I want it to be. I like the idea of it. But a game only last 4 rounds and we feel like it's over just as you're getting a satisfying rail network built up. Also I'm not sure I like the wacky special effect cards.

After Volldampf it seemed only right to continue the train game theme and play Stephensons Rocket, which is of course the greatest of all Knizia train games. I would have liked to continue the theme with Transamerica, but instead I got sucked into Puerto Rico, where at least I didn't totally suck, and I did enjoy the power of a Small Market, Large Market, and Office.

Daniel was happy to play Samurai Swords, which he frequently brings but can't convince people to play; this time people felt sorry for him since the next day was his birthday, so they played. Happy Birthday, dude!

Meta Game

JP was again the Meta Devil. Here is the Meta Game JP mailed out:

Dec 11 MetaGame: Meta-popularity (Part One)

Vote on your favorite metagame.
All metagames to date are eligible.

This will be a two step process. First, we'll have a nomination period. Then, we'll vote for the favorite metagame among those nominated.

I'll accept nominations via email.

Rules for nominations:
1) Anyone who's ever attended a RussCon may nominate metagames.
2) Use any criteria you like for nominations.
3) Each person may nominate as many metagames as they like.
4) Order your nominations from your favorite to least favorite.
5) For each metagame, include as many of the following as you can: date (this is the one I'd like most)
title
designer
concise description (if you don't give the date)

I'll try to fill in any info you leave out. If I can't figure out which metagame you're talking about, I'll ask you to clarify. If I still can't figure it out, I may throw out the nomination.

It's probably better to send submissions directly to me, and I'll compile them and then send them to the list.

I'll create a finalized list of nominations which we will vote on at RussCon. If there aren't enough nominations, I'll pad it out. If there are too many nominations to be manageable, I'll narrow it down to a reasonable subset by some arcane method I'm not going to bother describing here. This is why I want people to order their nominations. We'll vote on this finalized list at RussCon.

I'll send out the final rules for how the voting will work once I've received some feedback. I may allow absentee ballots (via email) for the actual voting, and I may allow nominations at RussCon. I may have several categories such as silliest metagame, most fun, most motivating (it made people go to the most effort to participate), most original, etc... The designer of the winning metagame will probably be the winner of this metagame, but I may go for something weird like the winner of the winning metagame ('cuz that'd be meta), or the first person to nominate the winning metagame.

If you're feeling particularly masochistic, you can go through the archives to pick your favorites. The first metagame is here: http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/0927.html

|\/|374-popularity (Part 2 of 3) nominations

26 nominations from 4 nominators.

Each entry has the following format:

Name
Link to description in RussCon Report.
N: Nominator(s)
D: Designer(s)
W: Winner(s)
Description/Comments (Mostly by me, but a few by Whendy.)

I'll still accept nominations, but they must be in this format.

I'll send out the full rules soon. Here are the nominations in chronological order:

The Very First Meta Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/0927.html#meta
N: RussW
D: RussW, JP
W: RussW
Submit qualities of games to a hat, then draw random ones and try to play games with those qualities.

New Games Played
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/1004.html#meta
N: Marty
D: RussW
W: Dan

Eating Weird Foods
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/1108.html#meta
N: Marty, RussW, JP
D: RussW
W: JP

Bowling
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/1129.html#meta
N: Whendy
D: RussW
W: Marty
No, really. People actually went bowling.

String of letters
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2000/1227.html#meta
N: Marty
D: Alfred
W: RussW

The Hat Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0110.html#meta
N: RussW
D: RussW
W: RussD
Wear Hats. Vote on your favorite.

The William Chow Memorial Weird Food Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0117.html#meta
N: Whendy, RussW, JP
D: RussD
W: Matt
Whendy: "I liked RussD having weird food night, in honor of William. Alas, William returned and started bringing his own weird foods again."

The Spy Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0221.html#meta
N: Whendy
D: Daniel
W: Jeffles
Whendy: "I liked the spy game Daniel did.
You had a secret word that you had to trick other people into saying."

Guess What's in William's Package (not the original title)
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0502.html#meta
N: JP
D: RussW
W: Whendy
It turns out William's package contained fruity candy. (Get your mind out of the gutter...)

Nickname RussW
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0509.html#meta
N: JP
D: Whendy
W: Remi

Guess when Brady Arrives
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0606.html#meta
N: JP
D: JP
W: Ben
This was a spur of the moment thing since Brady hadn't made a Meta Game and wasn't there.

Sartorial Verbosity
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0808.html#meta
N: JP
D: RussW
W: JP
For each word that is on your shirt that you can find on one or more other shirts, you earn a point.

Grrl Power
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0912.html#meta
N: Whendy, RussW, JP
D: Whendy
W: Dan
Whendy: "extra points for playing games with a grrls or guys dressed like grrls. Even though it happened 9/12/01 (the day after the tragedy), lots of guys dressed up."

Connoisseur
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/0919.html#meta
N: Whendy, RussW, JP
D: Dan
W: Fina
Whendy: "baby food smelling contest"

Werewolf
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2001/1003.html#meta
N: JP
D: JeffF
W: Dan
As described here: http://www.eblong.com/zarf/werewolf.html

White Elephant
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0102.html#meta
N: Marty, William, RussW
D: RussW
W: Matt

THE CD THEME METAGAME
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0109.html#meta
N: JP
D: Matt
W: Sea Biscuit
People continually change cds and cd themes.

Mutant Assassins
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0227.html#meta
N: JP
D: JP
W: Jeffles
You get a card with your target on it.
You can assasinate them under certain conditions. It had some problems, but I enjoyed writing and playing it.

Rate My Poop
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0403.html#meta
Ok, so this wasn't really a Meta Game, so it's not eligable, but it had to be mentioned.

Dress & Talk Like a Pirate
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0605.html#meta
N: Whendy, JP
D: Dan
W: Whendy

RussCon Feud Meta Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0904.html#meta
N: Whendy
D: RussW
W: Zack
Whendy: "I liked RussW's Family Feud contest It even had a question about favorite meta games in it--so this meta game here is not the freshest thing on the vine."

Pillage Like a Pirate
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0918.html#meta
N: Whendy
D: Sea Biscuit
W: William

Who Am I?
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0925.html#meta
N: JP
D: William
W: RussD (and Ben and JP)
A famous person's name is stuck to your back. Play 20 questions to figure out who you are. Multiple prizes to choose from, including the devilhood.

Why We Love/Hate the Meta Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/1002.html#meta
N: Whendy, JP
D: RussD
W: JP
Whendy: "Dan Becker wrote: I hate the meta game because it has made me its bitch. [JP] wrote: I love the meta game because everybody else hates it."

Deprivation Game
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/1113.html#meta
N: Whendy
D: William
W: RussW

Thanksgiving Dinner
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/1204.html#meta
N: William
D: JP
W: JP

Meta-popularity
2002/12/11
N: JP
D: JP
W: ???

MetaPop (Part 3 of 4) the rules

Meta-popularity

Nomination rules:
I will accept email nominations 'til 5pm.
I will accept nominations at RussCon 'til 8pm.
All such nominations must be formatted the same as the list I sent out.

Voting rules:
The voting booths will open at RussCon at 8pm.
You may vote for any meta game on the list of nominees, but no write-ins.
Voting will be Australian style with no more than 5 choices per person.
Write your name on your ballot.
I will accept absentee ballots via email starting now, and ending no earlier than Thur evening, but possibly as late as Saturday.
I will provide at least one printout of the nominations, and index cards for ballots.

The winner:
The designer of the winning meta game is the winner.

If multiple meta games tie for meta popularity, and they have different designers, then those designers tie. Ties are broken by who won the winning meta game(s), then by who nominated the winning meta game(s) in order of submission, then by my arbitrary fiat.

Note that this is one of those rare meta games where the winner might not come to RussCon anymore, or even read the list. If the winner cannot or does not wish to design next week's meta game, I will use the tie rules to determine who takes up the burden.

JP said no further votes came in by email after RussCon, and he reckoned the results thusly:

The following two tied in the first round with 3 votes each:
RussCon Feud
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0904.html#meta
and
Who Am I?
http://russcon.org/RussCon/2002/0925.html#meta

After eliminating the ones that only got one vote, "RussCon Fued" picked up a fourth vote, while "Who Am I?" picked up none, so "RussCon Fued" wins.

So I am the Meta Devil, and will design next week's Meta Game!

Reminder of the new incentive to compete in the Meta Game: The Meta Devil gets full table rights, just like a regular Devil from now on, so they could stake out the dining table or the kitchen table. Of course Vice-Devils continue to get secondary dibs on the tables if no higher-ranking Devil or Meta Devil takes a table.

Evening's Soundtrack

Michael Nyman, The Draughtsman's Contract
Michael Nyman, Drowning By Numbers
Michael Nyman, Gattaca
Michael Nyman, The Piano
Michael Nyman, Prospero's Books

Ratings

New Multiplicative Rank Ratings:    
 3.9890 54.0000 JeffF (4)
 3.1781 24.0000 Ben (3)
 2.9957 20.0000 JP (4)
 0.8109 2.2500 RussW (3)
 0.6931 2.0000 JimG (2)
 0.6931 2.0000 BradS (2)
 0.6931 2.0000 Brady (1)
 0.6931 2.0000 Marty (2)
 0.4055 1.5000 RussD (3)
 0.2877 1.3333 William (2)
 0.0000 1.0000 Daniel (1)
 0.0000 1.0000 Fina (1)
-0.1178 0.8889 JonathanC (3)
-0.4055 0.6667 PJ (2)
-0.6931 0.5000 Clayton (3)
-0.6931 0.5000 Dan (2)
-0.6931 0.5000 MarkH (3)
-0.6931 0.5000 Meng (4)
-0.6931 0.5000 Whendy (1)
-1.0986 0.3333 Whindy (2)
-1.3863 0.2500 BobR (1)
-1.4917 0.2250 Steve (4)
-1.7918 0.1667 Fred (2)
-1.7918 0.1667 MarkY (4)
-1.9095 0.1481 Zack (5)
New Multiplicative Win Ratings:
 3.9890 54.0000 JeffF won 4 of 4
 3.1781 24.0000 Ben won 3 of 3
 2.4204 11.2500 JP won 2 of 4
 1.5041 4.5000 RussD won 2 of 3
 1.1632 3.2000 JimG won 1 of 2
 0.8109 2.2500 Clayton won 1 of 3
 0.6931 2.0000 BradS won 1 of 2
 0.6931 2.0000 Brady won 1 of 1
 0.6931 2.0000 Marty won 1 of 2
 0.4055 1.5000 Dan won 1 of 2
 0.4055 1.5000 MarkH won 1 of 3
 0.2877 1.3333 William won 1 of 2
-0.2877 0.7500 BobR won 0 of 1
-0.4055 0.6667 Daniel won 0 of 1
-0.4055 0.6667 Fina won 0 of 1
-0.4055 0.6667 Meng won 1 of 4
-0.6931 0.5000 PJ won 0 of 2
-0.6931 0.5000 Whendy won 0 of 1
-0.7985 0.4500 RussW won 0 of 3
-0.7985 0.4500 JonathanC won 0 of 3
-0.9287 0.3951 Zack won 1 of 5
-0.9808 0.3750 Whindy won 0 of 2
-1.0862 0.3375 Steve won 0 of 4
-1.0986 0.3333 Fred won 0 of 2
-1.7918 0.1667 MarkY won 0 of 4

JeffF is the Devil; winning all 4 of his games demonstrates he is "a f*&^$%@ Russcon game God!" Ben is Vice-Devil. JP is Vice-Vice-Devil. Then RussD & JimG.

yo, i'm harder than a mithril coat
a hundred is the number of the orcs i smote
i battled helms deep and i took minas tirith
if you don't watch out, i'll make your ass dissappeareth. Valid HTML 4.01!

Russ