Updated as we go. Post any questions in the below and I'll add the answers here.
Game PremiseThis comm wasn't created to be a full game. People can tag into a round and play to their hearts content and the disappear and come back to tag in a future round where they think the theme sounds interesting. The game is based on the Hunger Games books but won't delve into the actual politics/background of the story. There won't be a rebellion uprising etc. This is focused solely around characters being forced into the arena for the entertainment of the people.
Activity CheckThere is none. Tag into the roll call of the round that is currently open while the game is running. You can tag in until the Arena log is posted. Once that is up, please wait until the next round begins. A date will be announced when the current Arena log starts winding down.
You are welcome to tag in, post three tags and then kill off your character if that's what you want to do but what's the fun in that?
ApplicationsAgain, there is none. This isn't a community that I want to run with lots of little aspects. This is basically created so people can hop in, tag in and play. What you'll need to do is, when the roll call post goes up for a round, tag into that. I'll add you to the roster and off you go. All you need is a character, a fandom, a way for players to contact you and a character journal. You don't have to join the comm if you don't want to.
At this point play with as many characters as you want but if people really find this interesting, I may need to apply limits later. One can only hope people like this comm?
How long will a round go for?I'm going to leave this one up to the players. When a round feels like it's about to play out or people are starting to lose interest, players can either decide on a mutual winner and work towards that end or I will gather up all the final players and RNG a winner. Then we work towards that. When a round is nearing its end, I will start posting up the roll call and other details for the next round.
Each Arena round I'm aiming to have 5 twists which will be unveiled 1 week apart. If the game ends before week 5, I'll just reveal them all as a "this is what could have happened". If the game goes further than week 5 with a substantial amount of people still alive, there won't be more twists but I might start repeating them (if they were once off events).
Or leave it open to the players as to whether they would like to RNG towards a winner or have further twists.
Can I find out more about the theme?Nope. All you get are the key words linked on the rounds post until the theme is formally announced. You are welcome to wait until the explanation post is up before you tag in if you really want but isn't it fun to wait and see what unveils? Also, the arena changes during the course of the round if the characters are
not dying taking it too easy. During the course of the round, I'll edit the original post with more information about how the arena will change around the characters.
Example, areas may blow up, dangerous animals may be released etc.
Game MechanicsRoll Call First point is to tag into the roll call post with the information required. The roll call post will be open until 1 week before the Arena post goes up (this is when the NPC post will be put up and final slots filled)
Pre GamesThis is where initial CR will be made. Tributes will have a few weeks of training up their skills, meeting other tributes and going on press/media meets.
Tribute Announcement1 week prior to the Arena being opened up, an announcement will be made showing the rankings of the tributes according to their activity in the Pre Games. This won't have any effect on the game itself.
If there are any unfilled tribute slots, this is where players can add NPCs. Players don't need to play the NPCs but they can be moved around freely and picked up to be killed by anybody who wishes to draw first blood.(If all tribute slots are taken, there will be no NPCs)
ArenaThe first Arena post will run for 2 weeks to let the tributes get used to rushing around and getting used to the map and mechanics. To make things easy, IC = OOC for time.
Then there will be a twist post and 1 twist post every 2 weeks after that. Twists only run for a few days out of each two week period so it's easier to keep them in their own logs. Backtagging is allowed forever so there is no urgency to finish all of your threads in a week.
Deaths
Prior to the end of each week, leave a comment back in the Sponsorship post if your character is going to die. This can be done even if you haven't started the thread where they actually die yet. This is more to keep things more easily laid out and people know who is left to target.
When we are down to 3 - 5 players (depending on player activity) I will RNG a winner or the remaining players can get together and decide on a winner if they can be amicable about it. That will be the last week of the round.
I will then post up a victory post. The roll call for the next round will be made at the start of the final week to allow people to tag in early for the next round.
You are welcome to keep CR from round to round if you want or start with a blank slate. It's what you agree to do with the other players. The rules are really free here.
SponsorshipThere are two ways that sponsorship will work in the arena.
1) Every player gets 1 chance to send a gift item to a character still living in the game. The 1 gift restriction applies regardless of how many characters you have in the game so use this wisely. You cannot send the gift to your own character, this must be sent to somebody else.
How sponsorship worked in HG is explained here.In the Games Arena the gift comes to you in the form of a small floating chest that can only be opened by the person the gift is designated for. Once the gift is retrieved, the chest returns back to the Gamemaker headquarters ready for the next delivery. This means the gift must be small enough to fit into a shoebox.
OOC: this will work by a comment to the character during any thread. Sometimes the box may come to you at a good time, sometimes the box may interrupt something you're doing.
2) There will be media posts made via plurk and on the community. On these posts, link to threads that you've done with in game characters and talk about them. This will be much like if you were watching the game at home and then chatting in forums etc as to who's going to win or who you're concerned about.
When there is enough chatter or interest about a character (good or bad chatter), there will be an RNG and a sponsorship drop for them. To keep things fair, each character will only have 1 sponsorship drop per twist and only 1 during the first 2 week Arena post.
There won't be a hard and fast rule but generally when there's been about 3 - 5 comments or responses going back and forth about a character or a group of characters, they will win a drop. It won't be difficult and is more so that everyone is able to see what the other characters are doing and will have the chance to draw attention back to their own characters.
The sponsorship item will be decided by a dice roll and will get 1 out of the following:
1) Food and water
2) Small weapon
3) medical supplies
4) Jewellery or another fan provided prize. This may seem like a dud but tributes may get some interesting results with a bit of creativity.
5) Survival item - eg matches, rope, small flash light, duct tape
6) Something from home
For the first 2 weeks of arena, there will be an additional sponsorship price. That is explained in a
separate post here.To keep up to date with the game...Follow
gamesarena This is where I will be making up to date announcements as to who has died and special events etc.