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Metacognition last won the day on January 25 2017

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About Metacognition

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    Holder of the Death Note Shard
  • Birthday 07/12/1981

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  1. There once was a beautiful women. Exquisite in every way. ...Well, except for when she was eating. Then it was all slurps and smacks and grunts. Every morning, she would go out onto the surrounding countryside to have breakfast alone. This way she had the entire meal to herself and no one would be around to see her eat. And what a meal it was! She would have a huge spread set out before her, with every delicacy that she could muster. There, beneath her favorite tree, she would gobble and crunch to her heart's content. Or so she thought. For you see, she had picked Anansi's tree to lay her feast and it wasn't long before her constant bleching and chewing awoke the spider. Anansi grumbled when he was first awakened. It was not many who would disturb his rest if they knew what was good for them. He initially left his home to give the rude visitor a piece of his mind. But upon seeing the beauty before him he stopped. No, not the woman, but the glorious amounts of delicious food that had suddenly appeared at his home. Obviously, this was a meal befitting a king and though it was being horded by some oblivious tart, it must have been meant for him. All he needed to do was figure out how to get her to leave him the feast without her spoiling it. So Anansi went to his brothers and sisters, telling them of the feast that awaited them and promised an equal share if they helped him. And so, over the next few weeks, they began developing in the woman a soul crushing fear of spiders. Whenever and wherever the woman went, she would find his brothers and sisters waiting. In the bath. In her shoes. In her hair when she went through her thousand strokes. The only place that she was safe from her torment was at Anansi's tree and her breakfast, for he had told his siblings that he had a broken leg and would not be able to join them in their plan. Though many died, Anansi urged them on, reminding them that their deaths just meant bigger portions for the rest of them. They continued on, until the woman was so deathly afraid that she would run screaming at the mere mention of a spider. And yet they still continued, on Anansi's request, until only Anansi remained of his kin. And so the day came. The woman, shivering and shaking, always looking over her shoulder, set up her breakfast once again at Anansi's tree. But this time, Anansi came down from his tree, his "broken" leg suddenly healed. He strolled up behind the woman, cleared his throat, and gave her his fanciest bow. "My dear, beautiful lady. Might I, perchance, join you as you partake of this scrumptious looking meal?" The woman, leapt to her feet, screeching like a banshee and fled without a second look. And as I'm sure you can assume, Anansi ate like a King that night; never needing to share the meal with anyone. *** This tale is as ancient as time itself. It was old well before the "civilized" people of the Dark Ages appropriated it (as they do all things) into a nursery rhyme and made the tramp the main character as Little Miss Muffet. Do you know what the lesson of this story is? To not be glutton? To ask before trespassing on another's property? No. The lesson is far more simple. Do NOT mess with The Spider. Should I be joining this game? Absolutely not. I really don't have the time to devote. I'm working 10 hour days and then I'll have classes starting soon at the end of August as well as working a full time job. Not to mention that I have a game that Drake and I have been working on for a while now that I've seriously been neglecting, much to my dismay. Can I really pass up this game after I started reading about the Gunnerkrigg Court ever since Aonar first pitched the idea? My answer remains the same. Besides, I've had this idea for a character for this game for weeks now and he won't let go until I actually get a chance to play him out. I typically go for a name that at least somewhat reflects my username to keep things simple, but I've got to break from that for this one. Anansi joins the ranks!
  2. This is getting into a conversation that would fit better in AoGC. At this point, it's less about the meta and more about how such a mechanic would work. And I'd hate to lose the discussion we were having, unless everyone feels like they've said their peace.
  3. If you read the Etiquette section of the General Rules, you'll see that we basically already have a "Don't be a jerk" clause. We already have a section on putting yourself in other people's shoes and on treating other players as individuals (which covers, in part, the fact that some people don't play as competitively as others). In fact, most of that section is a very good guide for how to approach these games and the other players in them. It basically covers your A through C questions, if you really consider what they mean in different aspects of the games, IMO. As far as D goes, I'm not sure I'd want to make those kind of categories in the first place. It makes it sound like we'd be dividing people into groups, where one style of play is more preferable than another and that just isn't the case. That's part of why there was a push (probably about a year ago now?) to stop referring to people that have played a lot as "Experienced" or "Veteran" players, because it gave the illusion that those players were a- bigger threats, b- should be paid attention to more, and c- should have more authority when it comes to their opinions. We have a very close tight-knit community here partially because we've shied away from dividing everyone up into classifications anymore. Especially when, IMO, I don't feel like it's necessary. I like the strategy side of the game. I enjoy, as Elenion said, the battle of wits and manipulation. And as a strategist, that means also finding ways to play around "imperfect" play. A good general will try to turn their weaknesses into strengths. If they have an army of 50% archers, they won't bemoan that they don't have more cavalry. They change their tactics to a more guerrilla style warfare and perform more hit and runs. In LG 34, when Sart was basically inactive other than being able to put in actions, we used that to our advantage and let him put in most of the kills rather than try to force him into a role he was unable or unwilling to play. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, on either side of the factions. I'm actually a pretty lousy Elim, IMO. I have some great and fun ideas, but I can never enact them when I'm an Elim. On the other hand, I almost have a 6th sense at times when it comes to ferreting out Elims when I'm village. Wilson practically mirrors me, as she has had her fair share of moments where she totally fell for Elim lies as a Village, but has proven to be quite difficult to pin down as an Elim. My point in all this is that we're all playing to each other's strengths and weakness in each game already. You let those that are more likely to be helpful later in the game slide a bit initially because they shine latter. You don't always try to kill off the players that instigate discussion because you need that initial spark to get things moving. There's no clear, defined line that delineates one type of play as sub-optimal in comparison to another and I think that if we were to try to actually define it, we would find a lot of biased towards how we, individually, play the game. Not to mention the unnecessary dividing of our community into groups and the turmoil something like that could cause. Because another part of the game that I truly love is the setting. If you've played on other forums or watched Aman's games over on MafiaUniverse, you'll notice that most of them don't ever even acknowledge that there is a setting to their games, let alone play with it. Part of what makes SE special is the fact that we all love a good story because we're readers. So taking part in Sanderson's worlds in a way that we never could before, or watching a dramatic moment unfold, or helping create one is thrilling and worthwhile in its own right. Without our stories to tell, I don't think SE would've continued on throughout the years as strongly as it has. And because I love that aspect of the games, I would say that the RPers and the fun-lovers are just as important to the success of a game as much as the strategists. They help keep us involved and coming back. They can provide much needed comedic relief (Matilda or HH's character and his rat from the last AG anyone?) in an otherwise serious game. Sure, they might play "sub-optimally" in the terms of a strategist, but they still play optimally to the game as a whole and to themselves, which all the more I would ask of anyone. Finally, I agree with Wilson. The reason we don't want to create a lot of rules and how people can play is because that severely limits the way everyone can play. It limits strategies that can be used and can make all the games basically feel the same. We want people to come up with creative ways to find Elims or manipulate the Village. We love when a particularly daring plan comes together. We allow everyone the freedom to play as they want specifically so that everyone can find their own inspiration and, in a way, cut out their own part of what makes these games so amazing. So the more ideas that allow our players to do that without us needing to limit everyone's play via rules is going to be the best option, IMO Well, that turned into an essay fairly quick! I do hope that this conversation continues. I think it's a great question and I'm glad that you brought it up here, Yitzi. I'm not trying to criticize your suggestions up there as much as using them as a backboard to state some of my own thoughts on the matter as well. This is the perfect place for such discussions and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's thoughts.
  4. Killing is a lot of what we do here. Everyone dies in the end. We don't take it personally. That said, I look forward to feeling your digital blood flow through my fingers! ...Unless you get to me first. In that case, well played.
  5. This is, as the name suggests, the best place to ask questions. So feel free to ask away. First off, I hope you enjoy the games as much as I do. We've been at it for years now and they've only gotten better over time, IMO. We do have a schedule for which games will be played and when. You'll find a link to the spreadsheet in the General Rules and Etiquette thread; which is definitely a must read. It not only gives you an idea of what we do here, but also does a good job of preparing you for what to expect. The schedule for when games start is pretty simple. We start a Quick Fix or a Mid-Range game once the previous one of that type is over. So, for example, Quick Fix Game 24 is going on right now. Once it finishes, we'll start a Mid-Range game and so on. With the Long Games, we try to overlap them a bit. After roughly 5-6 Cycles in a Long Game, the next one will typically start. So Long Game 35 is right now on its third cycle. Thus the next Long Game will begin in about a week or so from now. No threads should be created here other than those that are created by the GMs for their games. That's what these other threads are for; so that any other questions or thoughts can be shared. There's typically a lot going on behind the scenes to keep everyone entertained between games too. If you're interested, I'd PM @Haelbarde and ask him for the link to the Spectator Doc for Long Game 35. That would give you a chance to interact with some of us before the next game starts and also give you some additional insight into how everything works. So welcome to Sanderson Elimination! I look forward to killing you in the future. ...And ninja'd twice.
  6. I recognize and verify this. Congrats Flash as the 2nd Non-Sanderson game to be approved!
  7. mafia championship

    First off, Congrats! You did an amazing job of representing us so it's no surprise that you placed in the top three. Do let us know when/if you GM a game for them. I would like to, if not participate, watch how players from other forums react to our style. I think that a lot more of them will enjoy the additional storytelling elements that we tend to do more than they'd think they would and I'd love to see how they react. Sidenote: You should add CRs if/when you do, just to throw them for a loop.
  8. Aw man! You mean I was one Spike away from being able to go rogue? That would've been freaking amazing! And I totally would've played that up like Drake was thinking too. Such a missed opportunity!
  9. Oh we knew you didn't have any Pewter left; we just didn't care. We specifically didn't go after you. You just weren't that much of a threat. And I mentioned something about this in the Elim Doc, but you need to go back and reread the Etiquette Rules, Flash. You're being more than a little disrespectful and you've been doing it all game. If things continue as they have, you will get in trouble for it one of these days. So consider this a friendly reminder and please go back and reread the Etiquette Rules.
  10. You'll see about it in the Elim Doc once Seonid posts them, but there were about 2-3 different points where we almost had the game. The trick with Jon was just one of them. It was just bad luck that we went after the thief (Araris), since we were hoping to be able to work with the thief at that point. Honestly, the thing that saved you guys more so than anything else was the inactives coming back. If Drought, Manukos, and HH hadn't all come back, I'm pretty sure we still could've gotten a lynch on Araris at that point and that would've won us the game. Still, even though we lost, that was a really close game. And those kind of games are the best, IMO. So GG everyone!
  11. Well, seems like your minds are made up. And all off it whether or not Sart was likely to come back or not for the last vote. And all that idea from someone that has been guiding things for the last few cycles. And yet you continue to believe him.... I blocked Len last night, as I said I would. The fact that Manukos and I were both injured confirms that. So what I think happened is that Len declined to not put in a kill because he knew he'd be blocked. So Manukos and I waste our Hazekills on each other (he even suggested that Manukos use his Hazekill on me) and then he has free reign. When I die, if the game isn't over, lynch Len next. He's been guiding the last few lynches to the point that I just can't trust him. Good luck!
  12. I actually have been working for awhile on a Reckoner's game that makes Weaknesses a highlight, kind of what you're talking about @Drake Marshall. If you like, we could Co-GM it (since I have a basic foundation laid down, but there's still plenty of stuff that needs to be done). I was working on it with Gamma, but as you can tell, Gamma hasn't been around in awhile. If you're interested, I could send you a link to the Doc where I was working on it and we could build it together rather than us both running a similar game in the future.
  13. Oh, I will definitely be blocking Len tonight; no matter the outcome of this lynch. I've suspected that Len and Sart are probably our last elims and I could see Len throwing his inactive teammate under the bus so that he can survive. I think this is unlikely, but if he is, then we've basically lost. :/
  14. Arg! You would pull this now Len, when I just don't have time to adequately defend myself! Well played. I, perhaps too obviously, wound up blocking HH. I don't have time to go into detail, but we need to be careful here guys. The game is much closer than Len is letting on. If we mislynch here, and the Ventures kill one of us tonight, then it's 3-2 (there's got to be two left considering Manukos' and my Hazekills) and one of those 3 would be either HH or Sart. So unless they come back again, they'd be able to at least tie the lynch and then we're dead. Which is why I think Len is our Elim. A lot of what he's done this game has been subtle, but it tends to be just misleading enough. Like how he tried to subtley throw some suspicion on me with the theory that I put in a Hazekill for Jondesu to block. Or, the fact that the game is closer now than he's letting on. Or how Yitzi had to call him out about leaving himself off of the "experienced" list when he was throwing accusations at those of us still alive. And then there was our plan with Manukos and my Hazekills. It was a nice touch, but Len was the one to guide us to hitting both Sart and HH, the two people that we went after. And the final straw for me is the fact that he keeps talking about the Venture distribution as if they couldn't have a Rioter. You know what would make a pretty good counter to an Elim Rioter? If HH is a Smoker, then by having one dedicated Smoker and then one like myself, where I can gain Smoking as the game gets closer and smoking is more necessary, I think that actually balances it out fairly well. So I'm sorry I can't do more, but I'm telling you guys, we need to get this one right and Len is my best guess as to who is a Venture. I'll try to be on again after work, which will be a little before rollover, so I can try to answer any final questions then.
  15. I'm good with that Manukos and while I already have a target in mind, I won't say who it is. If we don't find them tonight, to be fair, I'll give my target early on and then your target will be the hidden one, okay?