Well, crap. One of my Newbie Games just ended, and I was all set to post my Modding Spreadsheet, but the wiki doesn't allow .XLS files (probably because of the risks of macros/viruses). If I can find another place to host it, I will, otherwise I can send it individually by email.
StallingChamp wrote:Oh, ok. I was under the impression that strategical lurking had its purpose, but thanks for clearing that up before I mod a game.
Well, perhaps in theory. In practice, though, it's really the mod's job to keep the game going and force everyone to be active or get replaced, or else the game can just die, or at least slow down to the point of not being much fun anymore.
I want us to win just for Yos' inevitable rant alone. -CrashTextDummie
Mr. Flay wrote:Well, crap. One of my Newbie Games just ended, and I was all set to post my Modding Spreadsheet, but the wiki doesn't allow .XLS files (probably because of the risks of macros/viruses). If I can find another place to host it, I will, otherwise I can send it individually by email.
Get a Gmail account. They have a document and spreadsheet hosting service.
That'd also get rid of my problem where I've only got access to the spreadsheet from work; do they do any sort of rudimentary graphs, or can you export to Excel?
I've got a Google account, I could probably go answer this myself, but it's early...
Mr. Flay wrote:That'd also get rid of my problem where I've only got access to the spreadsheet from work; do they do any sort of rudimentary graphs, or can you export to Excel?
I've got a Google account, I could probably go answer this myself, but it's early...
No charts, but you can export to excel, HTML, txt, pdf and a few others.
Can I ask for a little advice? I'm modding a game, it's page 1, day 1, and the discussion has gone a little.. off.
This was the latest post:
KevinH wrote:
molestargazer wrote:When night falls, no-one is afraid. A gentle smoke continues to rise from the Blacksmiths as the armies clatter and curse their way to sleep, and the night guards sit on the wall, awaiting an attack they were sure wouldn't come.
How do the night guards feel about snakes?
Do I set a deadline, or just tell them to get on with it? Do I just leave it?
molestar is there some reason you don't want to set a deadline?
I would send prods at least to those people who you think might not be checking the site anymore.
If the day has been going a few weeks I believe some mods might deadline the game for as soon as one week after the announcement. Although I really wouldn't want to do that if I wasn't sure I had all my player spots filled.
About prods: I think that if a player receives multiple prods but still chooses to lurk they should tell the moderator. Otherwise, the mod is free to replace them.
"Logic is a systematic method to come to the wrong conclusion."
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[u]Testimonials about Mgm:[/u]
:shock: - Stoofer
You put me through hell Mgm, my nerves are crushed :/ - Patrick
my prod philosophy has always been: prod when requested, and if there's no response in 48 hours, replace. a response can be by pm (either "i'm deliberately not posting right now" or "i need more time to come up with something, give me a few days and i'll post") or in-thread. don't replace for poor response quality, just for a total lack of response.
take more than a month to create and balance a game?
i just created a game in 30 minutes, and i just sent it over to a second opinion to get it reviewed. i can guarantee that it's balanced.
i make up the names of the characters on the spot and don't save role PMs.
i've never created an excel spreadsheet in my life. i guess if i need to record something that somebody's already done, i write it down and throw it in a drawer.
when creating my games, i've never looked at a "best-case" or "worst-case" scenario.
you don't need to do many of these things to mod a game.
Quagmire wrote:take more than a month to create and balance a game?
i just created a game in 30 minutes, and i just sent it over to a second opinion to get it reviewed. i can guarantee that it's balanced.
i make up the names of the characters on the spot and don't save role PMs.
i've never created an excel spreadsheet in my life. i guess if i need to record something that somebody's already done, i write it down and throw it in a drawer.
when creating my games, i've never looked at a "best-case" or "worst-case" scenario.
you don't need to do many of these things to mod a game.
Rainbow Brite wrote:my prod philosophy has always been: prod when requested, and if there's no response in 48 hours, replace. a response can be by pm (either "i'm deliberately not posting right now" or "i need more time to come up with something, give me a few days and i'll post") or in-thread. don't replace for poor response quality, just for a total lack of response.
Exactly. If the player is around AT ALL and aware of the thread, it's not my job to make them post, it's the town's.
Would that we all could be as perfect as Quagmire. My setup time is more like a year....
well, okay. i'm not trying to prove that i'm "perfect" at all by saying this; i've had a flopper game or two in my lifetime.
however, i don't think that being so incredibly thorough is necessary and can really make the game worse. quite a bit of this setup time seems really useless and counterproductive.
no discredit to GL, obviously -- i was in sesame street mafia, and he did an EXCELLENT job. he knows what he's doing when he writes this up.
but there shouldn't be a guide telling you every single facet of how you *should* mod.
Oh, there's absolutely a point where you begin to overthink/overcomplicate things. One thing I'm not sure I saw mentioned in the guide is to get someone who has NEVER seen the setup (and hence doesn't just 'know' all the things about it that you do) to proofread it and see where there are assumptions, things you've forgotten to communicate, etc. Orbiting does a great job of this for me, and vice versa.
it also depends what type of game you're designing. a standard role game you can look at and say "yep, that's fine" almost instantly, but if you're designing a mafia mutation or a game with lots of intricate, unique, original roles with complex interactions, then that's slightly different. that takes perspective to balance, to consider degenerate redux possibilities, and also to consider what roles actually add to the game as opposed to weigh it down. the more ambitious a game, the more time it needs.
"normals" don't require as much consideration as "theme" games, to put it simply.
As for prodding, I've come to consider the movement of a PM from my Outbox to my Sentbox as a player picking it up. (I also always title my prods with "Prod" and the name of the game, so there isn't any weasel room there.) So if any player sees the prod and doesn't post in the thread or make a request to me, I don't see why I should help them out with a replacement. As far as I'm concerned, they're still under their original contract to the game, and choosing to lurk deliberately. The players are free to lynch that person for lurking at will. It might make me a bit of an ass, but perhaps if the logical consequences of the situation play out the player will learn not to lurk (or create a bad enough name for him/herself that mods will keep him/her on a shorter leash in games), rather than sending the message that serial lurking is ok and will result in the mod rescuing you.
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