The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Tol-in-Guarhoth CIX

Kuruharan · 06-14-2015, 08:48 PM

Firstly, thank you to everyone who played! I hope you had a good time, I know I did, even if it was a bit exhausting even for me. I can't imagine how exhausting it must have been to play it! Poor Boro in particular sometimes showed some serious signs of strain during the game.

I suppose having to wipe out almost all the wolves out of self-interested desperation takes its toll. In a way, I suppose the Party's rather lengthy inability to make any headway on this themselves worked out for them in the end.

I apologize again to the Europeans for causing all the sleepless nights, 10 PM Eastern was the earliest I could set the deadline and (mostly) guarantee that I would be available at said deadline. I hope everyone is able to get some extra rest the next few days.

While everyone did well, I want to mention a couple of people who really went above and beyond the call of duty and did some pretty gutsy/amazing things during the game:

Gold Stars

Nerwen: I have to start with her because she shamelessly exploited the mysterious nature of the rules for her own benefit at just the right time to save the Party, which made it all the more awesome. Good job! One of the things I was hoping would happen was somebody telling the rest of the players they had X, Y, or Z secret power and exploiting their fiction for their own ends. For the Party to win, outside-the-box thinking like this was nearly essential, and Nerwen did it. /salute o7 o7 o7

Boromir88: He had a near unerring instinct for killing wolves, which sadly for him, ended up for the benefit of the Party.

Formendacil: I've told Form this already in private but I want to say this publicly, my hat is distinctly off to him for just playing his guts out during the game even though it didn't end up working out for his team in the end. I was literally sitting with my mouth hanging open reading his play on DAY 1 I was so agog at what he was doing...and it worked at least for awhile! It was a deeply impressive performance, sir!

Firefoot: My old packmate! She had so many things figured out on DAYs 2 & 3 it literally spooked me a bit. She knocked it out of the park on multiple occasions but especially this post, made even better by her saying that her intuition for wolves is notoriously bad in a post where every person she listed was a wolf. Then there was this post where she accurately stated which pack made which kills. This post was the one that..."spooked" is the only word I can use to describe it. /salute o7 o7 o7

Shasta: Except for one NIGHT where we miscommunicated the deadline (which, by the way, was not anybody's fault), he played a stellar game, saving the Seer when she most needed saving in order to turn the tide that was running strongly against the Party and generally being on top of what needed doing in the game. I can fully believe he is psychic.

Loslote: That's the spirit! Really, what more needs to be said?

The Fang Pack: Even though it came apart for you in the end, my hat is off to you guys for pushing the Party to the very brink of defeat on NIGHT 4 and making it look so effortless. I even wrote up a set of ending narrations during that NIGHT, I was so convinced that you would be finishing up business over the next DAY/NIGHT cycle. You made it look *so* effortless, in fact, that you caused me no small amount of angst because I was afraid the whole game set up was hopelessly unbalanced. It took some very gutsy play by Nerwen and some downright monster guesses by Boro to turn the tide you guys started.

Role Selection
Wolves - All the wolves were picked by Excel with one exception. Firefoot was originally in the Fang Pack, but since she was my old packmate from ten years ago and mormegil was the Seer who nearly sunk us in that game...the idea of swapping morm for Firefoot was so amusing that I found the idea irresistable.

Seer - Nerwen was picked by Excel

Ranger - Shasta was picked by Excel and I was like, "Well, that must have been meant to be."

Hunter - Aganzir was picked by Excel

Lovers - I was a little hesitant due to the time difference when Nilp and Sally came out of the draw...but as I told them, the idea of Nilp nilping himself and it serving a purpose for the Party was too amusing to pass up. I did consider swapping Nerwen for Sally but I decided against it because a) that might have ended up being a bit too obvious, b) I thought Sally would do a good job and I didn't want to mess with the "randomness" of the selection, and c) the idea of Nilp and Sally together amused me.

Chrysolphylax - Excel initially picked Inzil for this part, which I thought would have been really awesome. Alas, he had to withdraw at the last moment which actually left me in something of a bind. A number of the Ordos that were left had requested to be Ordos and I was concerned about the small drawing pool. Still, I decided to give it a run and see who came out, I could always redo everyone. Excel drew Boro's name and I went That'll do!

Explaining Myself

The Lover rules did end up being a bit of a mess and I'm sorry about that. My thinking at the time (and I'm not convinced even now that it was entirely misguided) was that the important thing was to get the Dead Lover as much information as possible from the Dead Thread. As it ended up turning out, it made it quite chancy for the dead Lover to get back to the Living thread and a pretty long lag time that almost did render the utility of the role moot. I gave serious consideration to amending the rule mid-game, and in fact had decided to do so, but when I came back to the computer I saw that the discussion of a Lover sacrifice had begun and I felt I could not make the rule change under those circumstances because I was afraid that would be suggesting tactics and be giving away too much.

If somebody attempts this format again that would be an area I would suggest closely examining.

And lastly, a big thanks again to Mac and Rikae both for the original idea and for the advice in setting this game up!!!!!

No, this commentary doesn't contain all the info I'm sure you want to know...but I'm a bit tired and would like to do some other things this evening, so you will just have to wait.

I also think I've given you enough to chew on for awhile.

06-14-2015, 08:48 PM	#1654
Kuruharan Regal Dwarven Shade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: A Remote Dwarven Hold Posts: 3,685	Post Game Commentary # 1 Firstly, thank you to everyone who played! I hope you had a good time, I know I did, even if it was a bit exhausting even for me. I can't imagine how exhausting it must have been to play it! Poor Boro in particular sometimes showed some serious signs of strain during the game. I suppose having to wipe out almost all the wolves out of self-interested desperation takes its toll. In a way, I suppose the Party's rather lengthy inability to make any headway on this themselves worked out for them in the end. I apologize again to the Europeans for causing all the sleepless nights, 10 PM Eastern was the earliest I could set the deadline and (mostly) guarantee that I would be available at said deadline. I hope everyone is able to get some extra rest the next few days. While everyone did well, I want to mention a couple of people who really went above and beyond the call of duty and did some pretty gutsy/amazing things during the game: Gold Stars Nerwen: I have to start with her because she shamelessly exploited the mysterious nature of the rules for her own benefit at just the right time to save the Party, which made it all the more awesome. Good job! One of the things I was hoping would happen was somebody telling the rest of the players they had X, Y, or Z secret power and exploiting their fiction for their own ends. For the Party to win, outside-the-box thinking like this was nearly essential, and Nerwen did it. /salute o7 o7 o7 Boromir88: He had a near unerring instinct for killing wolves, which sadly for him, ended up for the benefit of the Party. Formendacil: I've told Form this already in private but I want to say this publicly, my hat is distinctly off to him for just playing his guts out during the game even though it didn't end up working out for his team in the end. I was literally sitting with my mouth hanging open reading his play on DAY 1 I was so agog at what he was doing...and it worked at least for awhile! It was a deeply impressive performance, sir! Firefoot: My old packmate! She had so many things figured out on DAYs 2 & 3 it literally spooked me a bit. She knocked it out of the park on multiple occasions but especially this post, made even better by her saying that her intuition for wolves is notoriously bad in a post where every person she listed was a wolf. Then there was this post where she accurately stated which pack made which kills. This post was the one that..."spooked" is the only word I can use to describe it. /salute o7 o7 o7 Shasta: Except for one NIGHT where we miscommunicated the deadline (which, by the way, was not anybody's fault), he played a stellar game, saving the Seer when she most needed saving in order to turn the tide that was running strongly against the Party and generally being on top of what needed doing in the game. I can fully believe he is psychic. Loslote: That's the spirit! Really, what more needs to be said? The Fang Pack: Even though it came apart for you in the end, my hat is off to you guys for pushing the Party to the very brink of defeat on NIGHT 4 and making it look so effortless. I even wrote up a set of ending narrations during that NIGHT, I was so convinced that you would be finishing up business over the next DAY/NIGHT cycle. You made it look so effortless, in fact, that you caused me no small amount of angst because I was afraid the whole game set up was hopelessly unbalanced. It took some very gutsy play by Nerwen and some downright monster guesses by Boro to turn the tide you guys started. Role Selection Wolves - All the wolves were picked by Excel with one exception. Firefoot was originally in the Fang Pack, but since she was my old packmate from ten years ago and mormegil was the Seer who nearly sunk us in that game...the idea of swapping morm for Firefoot was so amusing that I found the idea irresistable. Seer - Nerwen was picked by Excel Ranger - Shasta was picked by Excel and I was like, "Well, that must have been meant to be." Hunter - Aganzir was picked by Excel Lovers - I was a little hesitant due to the time difference when Nilp and Sally came out of the draw...but as I told them, the idea of Nilp nilping himself and it serving a purpose for the Party was too amusing to pass up. I did consider swapping Nerwen for Sally but I decided against it because a) that might have ended up being a bit too obvious, b) I thought Sally would do a good job and I didn't want to mess with the "randomness" of the selection, and c) the idea of Nilp and Sally together amused me. Chrysolphylax - Excel initially picked Inzil for this part, which I thought would have been really awesome. Alas, he had to withdraw at the last moment which actually left me in something of a bind. A number of the Ordos that were left had requested to be Ordos and I was concerned about the small drawing pool. Still, I decided to give it a run and see who came out, I could always redo everyone. Excel drew Boro's name and I went That'll do! Explaining Myself The Lover rules did end up being a bit of a mess and I'm sorry about that. My thinking at the time (and I'm not convinced even now that it was entirely misguided) was that the important thing was to get the Dead Lover as much information as possible from the Dead Thread. As it ended up turning out, it made it quite chancy for the dead Lover to get back to the Living thread and a pretty long lag time that almost did render the utility of the role moot. I gave serious consideration to amending the rule mid-game, and in fact had decided to do so, but when I came back to the computer I saw that the discussion of a Lover sacrifice had begun and I felt I could not make the rule change under those circumstances because I was afraid that would be suggesting tactics and be giving away too much. If somebody attempts this format again that would be an area I would suggest closely examining. And lastly, a big thanks again to Mac and Rikae both for the original idea and for the advice in setting this game up!!!!! No, this commentary doesn't contain all the info I'm sure you want to know...but I'm a bit tired and would like to do some other things this evening, so you will just have to wait. I also think I've given you enough to chew on for awhile. __________________ ...finding a path that cannot be found, walking a road that cannot be seen, climbing a ladder that was never placed, or reading a paragraph that has no...