Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of Werewolves)

[Blind Guardian]

I don't like the idea of a post volume per Day because what if someone reveals and everyone but the Wolves have used up their posts? Maybe a post volume per hour would be better. That way you can prohibit the walls of texts while still allowing posts through the day.

I do have a question: does anyone know what makes the page flip? Is it the amount of posts on a page (ie every page has 20 posts) or the size of the physical pages (ie there can be 10 super long posts on one page and thirty tiny posts on another)? That would probably factor into deciding how many pages to allow in a Day (EVERYONE GET RID OF YOUR SIGNATURES!!!). If everyone is doing the minimum then there will be most posts on a page in one Day than if there are walls of text.

Problem: on my computer this post takes up half of the text box and on my phone it it's double the size of the text box.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

I don't like the idea of a post volume per Day because what if someone reveals and everyone but the Wolves have used up their posts? Maybe a post volume per hour would be better. That way you can prohibit the walls of texts while still allowing posts through the day.

I do have a question: does anyone know what makes the page flip? Is it the amount of posts on a page (ie every page has 20 posts) or the size of the physical pages (ie there can be 10 super long posts on one page and thirty tiny posts on another)? That would probably factor into deciding how many pages to allow in a Day (EVERYONE GET RID OF YOUR SIGNATURES!!!). If everyone is doing the minimum then there will be most posts on a page in one Day than if there are walls of text.

Problem: on my computer this post takes up half of the text box and on my phone it it's double the size of the text box.

The pages flips are consistent: every page is 40 posts long. That's always been true across 15 years of computers and cellphones for me. As far as the text box goes, I don't know.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

I don't like the idea of a post volume per Day because what if someone reveals and everyone but the Wolves have used up their posts? Maybe a post volume per hour would be better. That way you can prohibit the walls of texts while still allowing posts through the day.

Good point about unforeseen events and people being unable to react. As for posts per hour, I think enforcing that would be more of a hassle than it's all worth.


Since we're talking, BG, would you be interested in co-modding this with me? You said you'd like to mod, it could be a good way of getting your feet wet.

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

Problem: on my computer this post takes up half of the text box and on my phone it it's double the size of the text box.

Hmm, not good. I just played around with different resolutions on my laptop and the box scales accordingly (it also scales when you change the font size), so I guess it's a PC/phone problem.

Originally Posted by Formendacil

The pages flips are consistent: every page is 40 posts long. That's always been true across 15 years of computers and cellphones for me. As far as the text box goes, I don't know.

Thanks for the info!

[Kath]

In the game we just played, for my own personal interest, I tried to keep to G55's idea of no more than the box size for posts. I can't say it was a success.

However, I do think it would be a really interesting way to play. BG is right that the box sizes are really different on phone vs PC but perhaps a rule of something like if on PC then the box size and if on phone then two times the box size.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Good point about unforeseen events and people being unable to react. As for posts per hour, I think enforcing that would be more of a hassle than it's all worth.

Surely the reaction thing is part of the idea? "Ooh, I really want to reply to that accusation, but what if another one comes up that I need to respond to more...?" Plus of course, "You didn't think that was worth one of your posts, but you thought this was--?"
--This line is the bottom and width of my phone's text box--------

I think you'd need to say votes can be posted separately, to avoid 'oops I misccounted' issues. Possibly the vote post can ONLY contain a vote?

(I think the only objective standard for post lengths is character limits. EvenWordLimitsCanBeWorkedAround.)

hS

[Kath]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

(I think the only objective standard for post lengths is character limits. EvenWordLimitsCanBeWorkedAround.)hS

While I agree in principle, that would mean every post would have to written in another format (e.g. Word) first and then transferred to the Downs for posting. Especially for people playing on their phone that would be a major hassle.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

I think you'd need to say votes can be posted separately, to avoid 'oops I misccounted' issues. Possibly the vote post can ONLY contain a vote?

Cue 'X voted Y but didn't give a reason!'

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

(I think the only objective standard for post lengths is character limits. EvenWordLimitsCanBeWorkedAround.)

True, but this is not Twitter and nobody can be expected to count the characters on their every post.

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

True, but this is not Twitter and nobody can be expected to count the characters on their every post.

True! Which just means accepting that it won't be objective.

hS

[Blind Guardian]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Since we're talking, BG, would you be interested in co-modding this with me? You said you'd like to mod, it could be a good way of getting your feet wet

Yes on co mod!!!

Also would we count quoting people as part of our text box? or just link to the post al la

In Lotties post [url link]#22[/url link]...

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Blind Guardian

Problem: on my computer this post takes up half of the text box and on my phone it it's double the size of the text box.

Oh that's weird! Maybe I was lucky, because they look about the same on mine phone, and my comouter doesn't change the resolution with size. Perhaps like Kath said, it could be a soft rule rather than a hard rule, and double the box on phones?

Personally I don't think I'm a fan of capping the post count, because I would much rather read 2 pages of banter to a mere few Walls of Text. However, it does throw an interesting twist to the game with post rationing. But I think combining both the post count and the post length cut off would be too much for one game, no? Unless the post count cut off is reasonably high.

[Loslote]

I think we could have everyone figure out what the equivalent to one computer text box is on their phones in the Admin thread before the game starts. I would almost suggest having post volume limits per, say, six hours, otherwise we'll have everyone saving their posts for the end of the Day and no one talking until like two hours before the deadline. But I think I'd agree with G55 and say that capping the post length would be enough for one game. I'm biased, though, I'm one of the people who tends to post a lot.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Loslote

I'm biased, though, I'm one of the people who tends to post a lot.

Same here, I suppose. I revel is silly one liners, amd I kinda enjoy the nonesense banter from others too. I am happy to limit the content posts by size and number and frequency and whatever else, but too strict a rule makes you cut out the fun in case you need those posts for real stuff.

For quotes, I vote that they don't count in your post limit. Linking is an option but it's annoying to do on a computer and super annoying on a phone. Listing post number is also possible, but let's be honest, who is gonna go back and find the post every time to read it? Quoting is so much simpler. However, I agree that some experimentation should take place, quotes included.
---------------------------------
^ The one box boundary on my phone, including Lottie's quote. Happens to fit perfectly with what I was gonna say.

[Nogrod]

I'm quite against any strict restrictions - I'm not against some people going for a super experimental game if they want to - but in general it sounds like a very bad idea.

Like some people have already noticed: situations may change drastically (reveals, sudden bandwagons, someone finds a crucial point...) which requires possibility to react freely. Also the whole feel of the game has lot to do with spontainety, including little banter here and there.

Quoting is also quite crucial to the game-mechanics. If people are forced to quote less to save their post-lengths it will immediately favor the wolves (who are, according to Kuru's latest statistics in the Grimoire, clearly having the upper hand already of late). Add to that a post-count restriction, and the wolves can co-ordinate things nicely especially late in the Day.

Or think about the last minute frenzy when everyone is holding their precious one last post to the very end, looking to see if someone is trying to use the situation to their advantage...

Also, who wants to count the characters in one's posts? So a Word or LibreOffice is required to play so that you can check the number of characters you use?


That said, I do think the walls of text in the first game this summer were quite overwhelming and we all could think twice, when it is truly important to make such huge posts (or quote all the stuff people quote) and when not.

[Inziladun]

RL is not WW-friendly for me just now, but at any rate I don't think I'd be on for a game with strict posting restrictions.

One of the fun aspects of the game for me is the way everyone's free to construct posts however they like, to fit their particular motive. Also, having to pay close attention to the structure of the post itself will just give me something else to worry about, and I find that already sometimes the stress of the game can overwhelm the entertainment.

[Huinesoron]

I actually wonder if this idea would be more fun if it was super-strictly limited. "The size of the box" just feels like it's trying to keep post sizes down, and would therefore favour players like Shasta who tend to post short posts anyway. Something ultra-strict, like "ten words" (or "one word"...), would be part of the gameplay, not a separate restriction.

I've just thought of another possible way to limit post numbers, and keep people from just breaking their posts up: you can post as often as you like, but there have to be at least five (two, ten...) posts between yours. That way everyone can contribute, and fast-paced sections stay fast-paced, but nobody can spam the thread.

(I'd say vote-posts would even more have to be separate in that game, to keep someone locking themselves out of voting because the thread went quiet all of a sudden.)

hS

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

This is all fine and dandy - I suggest (even after we come up with some starting rule about it) we try a "dry run posting" first somehow. Simulated dialogue. I'm sure practical issues will manifest themselves. For instance: quoting. People do it in normal games all the time. How would that relate to the length-limit rule? Is it excluded? Or should it be a game "don't quote anything, just point" (that might have its own funny consequences, but not sure if it is desirable. I can already see Wolves spinning "oh as XY said... y'know... over there...").

But overall I really like the idea. The text post window-sized length, as a guideline but not 100% exact rule, sounds good enough to me, accompanied by some post limit because yes, often the problem isn't so much the length of posts, but the amount. The post limit could be quite generous, but just as a fence against people who would post billion posts per Day if left unchecked.

But like BG said, I am not sure what we would do if somebody brought up accusations against someone who used up all their posts... but perhaps the idea would be that you aren't expected to reach the quota, so most people would use up like 75% of their quota and keep the rest until DL in case something came up.