General: This is a creative writing Survivor-style blogging game. Contestants follow the schedule and post responses to the prompts I provide. The least favorite contestants will be removed at the end of each week until only one remains.
The Specifics:
* Game lasts eight weeks; it begins June 3rd, 2007.
About the Philosophy of Online Onslaught* Important: Players will remain anonymous through out the entire game. Please do not do anything on purpose to reveal your alias to anyone. You should also refrain from telling others that you are playing.
This is for your own good. I want players to feel comfortable sharing comments and constructive criticism and voting without being hampered by the identities of contestants. ATTEMPTS TO FORM ALLIANCES OR VINDICATIVELY TEAM UP IS CONSIDERED UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT AND WILL RESULT IN DISCIPLINARY ACTION. I will investigate any wrong-doing such as teaming up and then I have a right to take any disciplinary action I deem necessary. Voting as a block with someone else is considered teaming up.
* The exact voting totals will NEVER be announced because I don't want to discourage anyone. I will also never ever tell anyone who voted for who. So even if you think you've identified a given contestant, don't worry about voting for them if you feel they deserve it because no one will ever know.
* Being unsportsmanlike in the comments/posts to other players is reason for IMMEDIATE AND NON-APPEALABLE REMOVAL from the game. This game is about encouraging people to try creative new things and get feedback ... "Onslaught" is a joke for a title and not meant to entice a bloodsport.
Game SpecificsPOST WORD LIMIT IS 1500 unless otherwise specified in that prompt.
The following rules are subject to change based on the number of contestants. The rules will be considered final, however, the day the game begins, June 3rd.
* For the first four weeks teams will be divided into two "groups," Group 1 and Group 2. There are separate schedules for each group (see below). After players are removed at the end of week 4, groups 1 and 2 will be combined.
Note that I may not have groups if there are not as many players as there were last year but I expect a large response.Group 1 Schedule:
* I will post a prompt on the TKO (Total Knock Out) Day which is Sunday. Contestants must respond to the prompt before the deadline -- 11:59 pm (Pacific) Wednesday.
Contestants will then vote between 12am (Pacific) Thursday and 11:59pm (Pacific) Saturday for their least favorite bloggers.
Group 2 Schedule:
* I will post a prompt on the TKO (Total Knock Out) Day which is Thursday between 12am and 2am (Pacific). Contestants must respond to the prompt before the deadline -- 4pm (Pacific) Sunday.
Contestants will then vote between 4pm (Pacific) Sunday and 11:59pm (Pacific) Wednesday for their least favorite bloggers.When the groups combine ...
The remaining players will all combine into one at the end of week 4. Players will then post and vote twice a week. This will be edited to be more explict with the schedule later in the game.
** IMPORTANT REGARDING FAILURE TO RESPOND TO A TKO PROMPT
If a contestant fails to post for BOTH TKO prompts during a given week, she will automatically be removed from the game(That is misses two TKOs in a row).
However, if a contestant fails to post for one TKO prompt, she will not be removed automatically. Instead, s/he will recieve one vote from all the contestants during the next voting period. For example, if I am going to remove five contestants at the end of the week, during both voting periods that week, contestants will vote for their five least favorite bloggers. However, if two people did not vote during that TKO question, then contestants will only vote for three and those two people will automatically recieve the vote of each contestants. This does not mean you automatically lose, however, because there are two voting periods per week so a good job on the other TKO will compensate. But it could hurt so you should try very hard to make the deadlines. I will not make ANY exceptions for players to miss deadlines unless I make a game-wide rule amendment (such as for July 4th holidays or some other reason).
One more exception! If you miss the first deadline, but then post before the second deadline in response to that TKO, then I will substract two points from your forced vote total. I will also do this if you have a scheduled absence and warn me at least one TKO ahead of time (that is, I will subtract two points from you vote) even if you are unable to make up that post.
More on Voting:* The public and the contestants will be given the opportunity to vote for their LEAST FAVORITE bloggers on voting days. For each vote (both public and contestant), the blogger will earn one point. The public will get to vote for their single least favorite blogger while the contestants will vote for a larger amount based on the number that needs to be removed from the game.
I do not require the TKO's to be strictly followed. This is your game and your writing. However, if you want to judge based on that (or any other standard) that's fine.
Voting by contestants will be done via an online poll in which you must identify your real name and game nickname so I am able to verify which contestants have voted. Voting by audience will be done in the same online poll and I will prevent duplicate voting.
* IMPORTANT: If you are a contestant and you do NOT vote, I will consider ALL of your vote against yourself. Therefore, it is imperative that you vote on each voting day.
* During the first four weeks players will be removed as a result of ONE vote. During the last four weeks players will be removed as a result of TWO votes tallied together.
* At the end of the voting periods, (or as soon as I recieve all the contestants' votes), I will tally the points for each contestant. The least favorite (those with the most points) will be removed. The points reset at the end of every week (after people are removed) so that everyone is back to zero.
* The final week all previous contestants and current contestants will rank the remaining contestants from favorite (1) to least favorite (6). The blogger with the lowest score will be the winner.
The schedule will look like this:Sunday June 3rd -- TKO Day #1, Group 1
Wednesday June 6th, 11:59pm -- TKO Day #1, Group 1 DUE
Thursday June 7th, 12:00am until Saturday June 9th 11:59pm -- Voting Group 1
Thursday June 7th, 12:00am -- TKO Day #1, Group 2
Sunday June 10th, 4pm-- TKO Day #1, Group 2 DUE
Sunday June 10th, 4pm until Wednesday June 13th 11:59pm -- Voting Group 2
ETC.
The groupings and elimination schedules are subject to change if the following occurs. If during any of the first three weeks more players do not post before the deadline than are scheduled to be eliminated (such as four players failing to post week 1 when only three players are scheduled to be eliminated), all of the players who did not post will be removed automatically. I will then move players to a different group as needed to balance out the groups. For example, if five players in G1 do not post in week 1 and all the G2 players do, five players will be removed from G1 (automatically without a vote) and three from G2 (with a vote). I will then move a G2 player to G1 to even them out.
Final note about deadlines: It is possible that my schedule this summer is going to be rough since I am working at a firm. If this is the case, then I will post/send emails/open polls as soon as I can or ask Sean to do so for me. This is NOT an excuse for you to miss deadlines, however. I have found it is most fair to apply the rules evenly even if someone has a good excuse. So please, even if you are my best friend or a total strange, do not ask me to make exceptions to these rules.
