Blitz Queue Trial (Closed)

[fferyllt]

I'm accepting pre-ins for a 14 player themed Blitz game. Announcement here.

[fferyllt]

Looking pretty good right now, guys, with 4 games in the queue, but it would be great to get a few more. Right now there are 2 Opens and two themes.

Considering running a large theme in that environment, which could be disastrous, but would allow me to run a larger game with fewer killing roles and still have it not take half the year.

/pre-in

I'll most likely run another game after my first one completes. There should be time, unless a zillion mods are in the wings.

[fferyllt]

I was thinking it might be good for mods when their games fill to send a PM to the next mod in line to let them know they're up.

[fferyllt]

I was thinking Broadway, too. Though Times Square maybe fits the hustle and bustle feel of short games.

[fferyllt]

Wall Street?

[fferyllt]

I know this is trial period and all, but I think it would help move sign-ups along if there could be 2 sign-ups in progress at a time. Some game formats take longer to fill than others.

I'd be happy to informally help with keeping track, and I imagine other mods would help as well.

[fferyllt]

Do you feel like you're getting enough mod /ins?

I inned only once because I'd like to see everyone who wants to mod a blitz game during the trial have the opportunity.

[fferyllt]

The biggest problem with running <72 hour games is the activity requirements. If you set a 24 prod timer in your setup, that only guarantees one post each day phase (one after the first 24 hours, then let time expire). I imagine you'd have to go higher on activity requirements (18 hours? 2 posts guaranteed; 12 hours? 3 posts guaranteed). How many players will be able to meet 12 or 18 hour prod timers with regularity?

At that point, it's better to just run a marathon. Which btw is an interesting possible use of this queue.

@Admin/list mod team: Is it allowable to run a game with extremely short phases (<1 hour) in this queue?

I went with an 18 hour prod timer in my (72 hour day) game, and gave the prodded player 6 hours to post. Feedback in that game indicated 24 hours would be preferable to the prodded players, but I think 24 hours plus the waiting period before replacing would drag too much on the game pace. With a 48 hour game day, 24 hour prod timer would be worse on the pace.

[fferyllt]

I'm a fan of the idea of 18 hours prod timers, personally, but player response to that idea has been poor when I've brought it up. To me, it makes perfect sense. Post when you wake up and before you go to sleep.

Apparently, a good amount of players can't regularly fit that into their schedule (or don't wish to) based on the response I got to the idea.

@Xtoxm: I generally consider it undesirable for players to have to request prods. Moderation should take place in the background and players should be able to focus on playing, not checking the activity overview for which people need prods.

Then the commitment of a blitz game may be a bit much, I guess.

[fferyllt]

Different strokes etc

Obviously.

There's a whole site full of games with longer deadlines for people who can't or don't like to post more frequently than at least once every 18 hours.

Or, maybe 96 hour days makes more sense for blitz queue at MS. 24 hour prod timer and 6 hours to replace wouldn't mess that schedule up too badly.

[fferyllt]

That said, I needed 2 replacements out of 14 players in Blitz 2, and only one of them was an activity-based replacement. The level of commitment and posting was mostly quite good. I've seen worse on sites that always run blitz-length-ish games.

[fferyllt]

What are the next steps and what do you think the timings will be?