Sunday, May 14, 2006

The Rules

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 six weeks; it begins June 4th, 2006.

*** Important: Players will remain annonymous through out the entire game. Please do not do anything on purpose to reveal your alias to anyone. 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 IMMEDIATE REMOVAL (see below).

* For the first three 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 3, groups 1 and 2 will be combined.

Note: All times are in Central time zone. Adjust appropriately!

Group 1 Schedule:

* I will post a prompt on the TKO (Total Knock Out) Day 1 Sunday between 4pm and 6pm (Central). Contestants must respond to the prompt before the deadline -- 11:59 pm (Central) Wednesday.

Contestants will then vote between 12am (Central) Thursday and 11:59pm (Central) Thursday for their least favorite bloggers.

Group 2 Schedule:

* I will post a prompt on the TKO (Total Knock Out) Day 2 Thursday between 12am and 3am (Central). Contestants must respond to the prompt before the deadline -- 4pm (Central) Sunday.

Contestants will then vote between 4pm (Central) Sunday and 3:59pm (Central) Monday for their least favorite bloggers.

When the groups combine ...

The remaining players will all combine into one at the end of week 3 when fourteen (14) players remain. Players will post and vote twice a week. The will be edited to be more explict with the schedule later in the game.

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 by email so I am able to verify which contestants have voted. I will send everyone an email indicating when the polls open so you can respond to that email to vote. Voting by audience will be done by an online poll that prevents duplicate voting.

* If you are a contestant and you do NOT vote, I will consider your vote against yourself and add one point. Therefore, it is to your advantage to vote on each voting day.

* During the first three weeks players will be removed as a result of ONE vote. During the last three weeks players will be removed as a result of TWO votes tallied together.

* At the end of the week, Sunday at 11:59 PM (or as soon as I recieve everyone's vote), 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 audience will be able to pick their favorite blogger which subtracts (1) from their score and their least favorite which adds (1) to their score. The blogger with the lowest score will be the winner.

** 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 votes from one-half of everyone 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 half of the 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.

One more exception! If you miss the Thursday deadline for the Sunday TKO but post late before the end of the week TKO deadline, then I will substract two points from your forced vote. 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 poiints from you vote).

About the Philosophy of Online Onslaught

* 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 removal IMMEDIATE NON-APPEALABLE 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.

* The schedule will look like this:
Sunday June 4th, 4pm-- TKO Day #1, Group 1
Wednesday June 7th, 11:59pm -- TKO Day #1, Group 1 DUE
Thursday June 8th, 12:00am-11:59pm -- Voting Group 1
Thursday June 8th -- TKO Day #1, Group 2
Sunday June 11th, 4pm-- TKO Day #1, Group 2 DUE
Monday June 12th, before 11:59pm -- Voting Group 2

Sunday June 11th, 4pm-- TKO Day #1, Group 1
Wednesday June 14th, 11:59pm -- TKO Day #1, Group 1 DUE
Thursday June 15th, 12:00am-11:59pm -- Voting Group 1
Thursday June 15th -- TKO Day #1, Group 2
Sunday June 18th, 4pm-- TKO Day #1, Group 2 DUE
Monday June 19th, before 11:59pm -- Voting Group 2

ETC.

Groups and Elimination Schedule
Players will compete only within their group until the merger which will happen at the end of the first week.

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), 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.

Group 1 (post begining Sundays, vote on Thursdays):

Alluring Apricot
Arty Avocado
Bizarre Banana
Brash Blackberry
Cheery Cantaloupe
Cool Coconut
Gutsy Guava
Happy Honeydew
Killer Kiwi
Lively Lime
Lucky Lemon
Mad Mandarine
Odd Orange
Pleasant Plum
Precious Pear
Strange Strawberry
Wacky Watermelon

Group 2 (post begining on Thursdays, vote on Sundays):

Alert Apple
Benign Boysenberry
Bright Blueberry
Classy Cherry
Crazy Clementine
Creative Crabapple
Cultured Cranberry
Gnarly Grape
Mighty Mango
Navie Noni
Newbie Nectarine
Perky Pineapple
Playful Peach
Pretty Papaya
Rare Raspberry
Tangy Tomato
Tart Tangerine

Elimination Schedule:

Week 1: Each group eliminates three players
Week 2: Each group eliminates three players
Week 3: Each group eliminates four players
Week 4: The merged group eliminates four players
Week 5: The merged group eliminates four players
Week 6: The end of the game; the remaining six players will be ranked by all other players

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