Conditional Idol Plays

[VashtaNeurotic]

I have a number of disagreements, but some are more philosophical in nature rather than mattering for the question at hand.

Firstly I disagree that replicate the show is necessarily the goal with conditional item plays, but rather the fact that they occur in the show inspire the potential use in forum games. After all, there are plenty of things new to the show that tend not to happen by and large in our games. We still have variations in the FTC formats and relatively few games have used automatic firemaking at final 4. So it's clear that just because the show does something, we don't just do it in our games.

Secondarily, I disagree with the sentiment with "we can't emulate the process in the show to the full extent, so why do it at all", like we can't emulate the game as seen on the show, but we still try our best to keep the core elements and skills in the show, even if we have to repurpose them. But in any case, these points don't really matter in the scheme of if conditional item plays show be used.

I will say that anything that can only be used effectively by a majority is a bad item. However I disagree in fact that this is true of conditional item plays.

In cases where there is a clear power structure, and the bottom of that structure has an idol, and they choose to use it, and the majority have an idol as well, that idol can be saved if the bottom plays their item incorrectly. But I actually, think that is better. After all, in cases where the minority plays their item correctly, both items are out of the game, same as a theoretical other world without conditional plays. However, a world where the minority plays it incorrectly and that majority still has an item, means that item will still be around when the power structure changes. That also means that item has a higher chance of being used correctly, which I also think is a good thing, like what's the point of items if they aren't going to be used to do something?

I also think in a game with a lockstep power structure, the items won't end up mattering long term, they might save a player for a vote, but if there's no chance of the game changing, that just delays the inevitable.

However, in games where there isn't a clear power structure, or at least the exact status of the power structure is in flux, I think it's at the very least a huge quality of life improvement. It allows people to think more about what items might be played, and will reward players who have a good idea of what might be in play. To write an effective conditional, you have to already be thinking about what other people are doing. If someone writes something too vague to enforce, it just...won't be? And if it's vague and can be enforced, that vagueness would probably end up making them play an item when they shouldn't, not further secure an item. Once again, it means fewer items get played to no effect, which is a good thing unless you already don't want items in the game. Also, as a player, I love the idea of more options than just a blank, "play item or no", it allows nuance into an area where there wasn't, especially when the correct thing to do depends on so many moving parts.

Still at the end of the day, mods get to do what they want so long as it isn't too broken, and as players, we play within the rules that the mods determined.