[avoran]

When we get to round 51 ... I want to do something about the occasional excessive pay-outs. But instead of pushing the number in N-10 up even further or further limiting the number of players, I'm thinking about capping each individual prize at (say) 200 WRZ and removing the limit on chain size.

On further reflection that won't do. With the new rule 2 (about names with the same starting letter not having to be in alphabetical order) it's far too easy to build long chains, as long as they don't get broken accidentally. So if we're going to keep that change the pay-out system will have to be altered radically.

I have some ideas, but none I really like.

1) Go to N-15 (you can see this in the left column of the table below). It looks reasonable at the higher end, especially if we make 250 a maximum score, but the awards are too low in the 10+ range.

2) Make the pay-out just a multiple of N (say, 4 x N) - so a 6-poster chain would award 24 WRZ, a 20 poster chain 80 WRZ and so on. This isn't very exciting to play, the awards are too high at the low end and lowish at the high end.

3) Option 3 is a bit complicated to explain, so if you like just look at the table.
from 1-5 the award is N, from 6-15 for each new player it goes up by rising increments 1-2-3..., from 16-26 it goes up by shrinking increments 10-9-8...

4) Similar to Option 3, but the formula alters at 10 and 20 instead of 6 and 16.

With option 3 the numbers are a bit too high in the mid-range (for N between 8 and 15, say) and with option 4 the numbers are too low at the upper end.



If I had to pick one of them, I would probably go with option 3. But I would really like to hear other ideas. Unless everyone wants to go back to the old rule 2.

[avoran]

Disregard the previous post

Well, almost. As I was paying out the awards for round 47 I realised what I don't like about the new rule 2: whenever the chain is stuck (at the end of the alphabet, for example) it allows a very large number of people with the same letter to pile in. Unfair advantage to the A's, for example, every backwards round.

So if you want to keep the new rules after round 50 you'd better come up with some good arguments.

[canmus]

Suggestions :

Keep the old rule... same letters also need to be in alphabetical order backwards..... Let us use our heads little bit. Our fault if we can't spell backwards

Or here's an idea. In the backwards rounds, have people post with their ending letter. So if the chain started with S in the Backwards round, canmus would be the first poster, followed by anyone whose username ends in the letter PQR? Or is that nuts?

[avoran]

We might try using the last letters of names once in a while for variety, but not regularly. And definitely not for all backwards rounds, since the whole point of the backwards rounds is to smooth out the advantages that some users get from the foward direction (different sets of users come 'before' and 'after' the tight spots).

[spinyechidna]

This is standard Big O stuff -- the rate between n^2 and n (which is the two you are considering) is either n log(n), or log (n!) -- what's more fun than complex math in contests?

But those guys are also not shaped quite right, so you'd have to do similar (n-5) or whatever. And this is maybe too complicated for a fun contest.

[avoran]

I looked at the formula for an S-curve but decided I didn't want to use complex math for this contest. It's confusing enough as it is.

Anyway, it looks like we'll be going back to the old rule 2 and N-5.

[spinyechidna]

New contest: find the best complex formula for prizes. Then you can have another new contest, for people to calculate the actual prize due.

@avoran: I think that recently you are the most active contest manager for one contest he/she managed in one day.
Every day, you could closed up to 6 rounds (or more?) of Chaing Gangs.. while the other managers usually just doing recap or round closed up to 3 times per day..

It's just a penny in my own thought...

[avoran]

Now I'm curious. Chain Gang started on June 12. That's 21 days ago. And we've had 50 rounds. So on average a little more than 2 rounds a day. Considering that some of them were very short, I don't think that's too much.

[OldK7]

Anyway, it looks like we'll be going back to the old rule 2 and N-5.

Please!

[kilava]

Does anyone know of a online editable grid where you can keep track of the moves in games such as Please reply - Race special?

There was so many moves before the game was closed that it was hard to keep track of what was happening.

[avoran]

any spreadsheet would do

I'm agree with kilava and mobilitic...

The Please reply - Race special traffic was so fast and so hectic.. Even Guy had made 10 posts rule in between your postings, it was almost impossible for us to manage that with the same time Guy forbid us to bump each others.. because we should always back and forth check our position, check other position, and count how many post already between our post, while Guy's position update itself was no real time !!

[carefr33]

Hm ... it is not clear to me, were exactly rules were broken in the "Please reply - Race special" (and I am sad that the game got cancelled).
If it was about people bumping into other players ... that was not forbidden (just a bad move) ... the rules-explanation said:

You can't move to a spot that is occupied by someone else. If you try to move to a spot that is occupied by someone else, you shall stay where you are and wait another ten posts before you can post again.

I understood this as: if you try to move to an occupied place, you remain were you are but still have to wait another 10 posts. - so in effect it would be like passing ... and people could try to do that as much as they want ... or am I mistaken there?

[mobilitic]

sorry guys, i think i broke the rule related to posting the previous post number, in my 1st 3 posts. i don't know why, but i didn't notice it in time and since there was a rule against editing the posts i couldn't go back and correct that. i hoped that it would be forgiven since after that i respected it every time, but...

so... my bad, i'll try and be more careful of the rules in other games i enter.