Topic: Safe Words 16 - Next-Gen Edition

[M.K.Ultra]

Dude, me and my bro-pack play every Gears game day one.
Give me a six pack of gamer fuel and a copy of Gears Tactics!

[Order.RSS]

What is Gears of War known for? Bombs and explosions, of course!

Disappointed to miss out on the finals by just a hair, but satisfied to run away with the bronze on his first attempt, Mr. Bungle chugs another Mountain Dew to wash down his third bag of Doritos (Cool Ranch, obvs).
He wipes the chips dust off on his controller, where it congeals into the existing layers of Cheetos grime, slowly becoming a future archeological dig site...

Thanks for playing, you got so close!

Safe Words 16 will resume once MASB picks the next Bomb Word, you won't want to miss the explosive finale!

[Khushrenada]

Wow! Thanks to MASB, TOPHATANT123 has got the best chance yet of being the first back to back Safe Words winner and be the first player to win 3 games. But, MASB is totally picking every one off right now. Can he complete the trifecta and eliminate TOPHATANT123?

[Order.RSS]

The real lesson here is to have an all-caps username if you wanna go far.

Signed,
DISCORD DOT RSS

[Khushrenada]

Also, it is official. I've finalized the points for Seasons 1 and 2 of Safe Words. I've put them in Safe Words 15 in a post I edited so as not to bump the thread. Here's the info for those interested. You can click the quotation link to get to Safe Words 15 and see it in bigger text if the quote bubble is too small.

In order to not bump this thread and mess with the current game, I'm just going to put these totals here. After much debating as to what is fair, I've decided to go with 70 points for hosting. I was leaning towards 76 as though hosting would be the same as making the Final Four but decided to cut it back slightly to more 5th place finishing. It's still a high point total but I wanted to still have making the Final Four worth it just a bit more. So, if you want a quick 70 point boost to your totals then just host a game!

Giving the hosts points, though, actually changed things for Season 1 and put someone else on top. No, it wasn't me. 

Season 1 Final All-Time Safe Words Leaderboard

1. Mop it up - 760 points (8 games played, 2 games hosted)
2. Stratos - 729 points (10 games played)
3. ShyGuy - 709 points (10 games played)
4. Soren - 673 points (10 games played)
5. Insanolord - 649 points (10 games played)
6. Khushrenada - 646 points (4 games played, 6 games hosted)
7. nickmitch - 635 points (9 games played)
8. Lucario - 539 points (7 games played)
9. Silenced - 506 points (6 games played, 1 game hosted)
10. Triforce Hermit - 500 points (6 games played, 1 game hosted)
11. UncleBob - 478 points (6 games played)
12. oohhboy - 372 points (6 games played)
13. lolmonade - 360 points (6 games played)
14. Nuclearspeed - 342 points (5 games played)
15. TOPHATANT123 - 293 points (4 games played)
16. ObbyDent - 180 points (3 games played)
17. Evan_B - 118 points (2 games played)
18. Spak-Spang - 116 points (2 games played)
19. Ceric - 100 points (1 game played)
20. (tie) Phil - 93 points (1 game played)
20. (tie) Pokepal148 - 93 points (1 game played)
22. (tie) BlackNMild2k1 - 76 points (1 game played)
22. (tie) Zap - 76 points (1 game played)
24. TofuFury - 58 points (1 game played)
25. ejamer - 47 points (1 game played)
26. Hypotheliciously - 41 points (1 game played)

Mop it up moves from 6th to first because of getting points for the two games she hosted. Sorry, Stratos. When looking at the point averages, Stratos was at 72.something over 10 games but Mop it up was at 77.something over 8 games. So, she was doing better than Stratos in averaging points per game. Thus, her getting further rewarded with getting points for hosting a game seemed fair rather than her being denied. It made me wonder if I was giving too many points for hosting but trying other point totals to lower things and create some perfect formula proved elusive. Even if I went with 60 points for a host, making it like finishing better than 9 but worse than 8 still would have Mop it up finish ahead of Stratos. With some games only having 8 players, it felt weird to give the host less points than anyone playing and immediately losing while they had to still do all the work of running the game. It goes back to Mop it up having a better average so let's put the points at 70. As well, Mop it up is only 1 of 2 people to host 2 games of Safe Words. Who might the other person be...? 


Season 2 Final All-Time Safe Words Leaderboard

1. ShyGuy - 431 points (5 games played)
2. Insanolord - 399 points (5 games played)
3. nickmitch - 390 points (5 games played)
4. Khushrenada - 373 points (1 game played, 4 games hosted)
5. Mop it up - 362 points (5 games played)
6. Stratos - 357 points (5 games played)
7. Steefosaurus - 323 points (4 games played)
8. Lucario - 269 points (3 games played, 1 game hosted)
9. TOPHATANT123 - 249 points (3 games played)
10. BeautifulShy - 142 points (2 games played)
11. oohhboy - 130 points (2 games played)
12. Soren - 129 points (2 games played)
13. Fatty The Hutt - 93 points (1 game played)
14. TofuFury - 81 points (1 game played)
15. Silenced - 66 points (1 game played)
16. lolmonade - 58 points (1 game played)
17. Evan_B - 47 points (1 game played)

This tally comes from adding the points earned in Safe Words 15 to the points accumulated from players in Games 11 - 14 as well as adding in points for hosting.

Another reason why I'm happy enough with the 70 point total for hosting is for how Season 2 ended. This was a big test case in determining how weighted hosting should be since I hosted 4 out of the 5 games played. The one game I did play I ended up in 2nd. So, if I gave the host the same points as the 4th place finisher then I'd have "made the Final Four" or better as it were through the whole season. But I also knew that ShyGuy had a heck of a run during these 5 games as well and was very dominant. Would giving the host points take the Season 2 crown from ShyGuy? The answer is no. Even I had stuck with 76 points for hosting then my final position would have been 3rd place. Lowering the points for hosting to 70 just knocked me down to 4th. Because ShyGuy still placed better and had a sick 431 points acquired out of a possible 500, his average per game was still greater than my average for hosting. Trying to determine how many points a host should get based on this season, 70 points could seem low and maybe a host should get more if they'd still end up behind other players despite Final Four points. But based on a point differential between me and ShyGuy of 60 points at the time Season 2 ended, he'd have to tank two games for me to likely surpass him if I hosted those games depending on the amount of players and what the low finishing points might be. He could possibly regain the lead on the next game after if he placed high enough keeping things competitive. Thus, length of a season is another factor leading to how Mop it up's hosting points enabled her to keep up her average and surpass Stratos while ShyGuy could overcome mine by getting high finishes in a short sample size.

With that, I officially make 70 points the hosting bonus and conclude Game 15 and finally wrap up Season 1 and 2 of Safe Words. Onwards to Season 3.

[Khushrenada]

Steefosaurus wanted to know some of this info and I figured you might be wondering about it too.

I had mentioned before that the length of a Season for Safe Words should be determined ahead of time so as to not suddenly be determined later on and seem as though one player may be getting favored treatment to win when another player was close in the accumulated points leaderboard. Therefore, I'll make the official announcement now that Season 3 of Safe Words will consist of 3 games. I'm basing this on the premise that I may have to yet host two more games to see us get to the end of a season. Unless some other people feel they'd be able to host a game within a year and a half, I'm going to keep the amount of games low so as not to have a bunch of games that need hosting later on.

[Order.RSS]

Thanks for all the work Khush, and right on time too, as our Final Bomb Word has been set!

A single choice separates TOPHATANT123 from a third win, which would make it two in a row for them! But challenger MASB is on a killing streak, with two eliminations in a row. Will he make it a hat trick? It's the ultimate showdown between the sure bet and the underdog... Who will emerge victorious?!

TOPHATANT123, it's your move! Think carefully and please pick between:
- Dirt 5
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure

[BeautifulShy]

Going for MASB.  Gotta get a new champ in there.

[M.K.Ultra]

What is Gears of War known for? Bombs and explosions, of course!

Disappointed to miss out on the finals by just a hair, but satisfied to run away with the bronze on his first attempt, Mr. Bungle chugs another Mountain Dew to wash down his third bag of Doritos (Cool Ranch, obvs).
He wipes the chips dust off on his controller, where it congeals into the existing layers of Cheetos grime, slowly becoming a future archeological dig site...

Dude, Gears Tactics isn't even a FPS and there is no multiplayer! The bro-pak is most disappointed 

[BeautifulShy]

Ya know something anti-climatic would be if TOPHATANT123 doesn't pick a word.

[Order.RSS]

It would, but Tophat has a good 36 hours and change left to make a selection or request a time extension, so I'm sure that'll be plenty.

Nothing wrong with making MASB (and the audience!) nervously sweat a little before choosing.

[BeautifulShy]

It would, but Tophat has a good 36 hours and change left to make a selection or request a time extension, so I'm sure that'll be plenty.

Nothing wrong with making MASB (and the audience!) nervously sweat a little before choosing.

You can request a time extension?   How long of a time extension?

[TOPHATANT123]

Khushrenada I salute your dedication to statistics and the Safe Words scoring system.

I must also take this opportunity at the end of the game, to commend one of the Wii U's best games, Super Mario 3D World. This game inspired many spin offs such as Captain Toad Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Wii U, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker for Nintendo 3DS, Captain Toad Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Switch, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure for PlayStation 5.

[Order.RSS]

The key difference between Super Mario 3D World for Nintendo Wii U, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Wii U, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo Switch, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury for Nintendo Switch (patent pending), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker for Nintendo 3DS Family of Systems, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure for Sony PlayStation 5 (pending trademark dispute in the Republic of India) and Sony PlayStation 5: Digital Edition (pending trademark dispute in the Republic of India) is that Sackboy: A Big Adventure is releasing in the Knack 2013 slot... Meaning the game will indeed be the booooomb, but also that it's, well, the bomb.

MASB steals the crown and wins the Safe Words 16 Champion title!
Congratulations!

Dirt 5 would've been the Safe Word this round, proving once again how console wars are pointless since people only care about third party releases anyway. Maybe Sackboy should've settled for another racing game? I hear Sumo Digital are good at those.



This concludes Safe Words 16, the first of three games in Season 3! Since we're a trilogy this season, part 2 will be the dark and gritty sequel, so stay tuned.
THANKS FOR PLAYING EVERYONE!

Short recap:
A total of 23 Safe Words were chosen over 11 Rounds of playing. This seems comparatively low, mostly because 4 rounds were instantly ended by the first choice being the Bomb. One player was eliminated due to inactivity (just barely too, sorry Lolmonade), and one player stepped on their own Bomb (Insanolord).

The most often picked Safe choices were Bugsnax and Dirt 5, each sheltering 4 players, with the latter obviously being the safest out of all. By contrast, the least Safe choices were Spider-Man, Yakuza, Demon's Souls and The Medium all of which only helped a single player to safety. (This is discounting Godfall, which was the first Bomb and thus was never safe.)

Bomb-setting was very lopsided this time around, with MASB setting no less than FIVE Bomb Words on their path to victory. NWR_Insanolord and Mr. Bungle set two Bombs each. TOPHATANT123 and a contentious Pokepal148 Bomb round out the standings.
This effectively means more than half of all players never got to set a Bomb, and within that lower 50% bracket, 5 players never got to make more than 2 moves. It's kind of part & parcel for the game to lose people early, but it does make me wonder if a game where the outgoing player decides the Bomb would be fun. It would eliminate attempts to fake out fellow players, but it's worth considering.

Current Season 3 rankings:
12th. Mop It Up - 47 points (1 game played)
11th. Luigi Dude - 50 points (1 game played)
10th. Lolmonade - 54 points (1 game played)
09th. Nickmitch - 58 points (1 game played)
08th. Khushrenada - 62 points (1 game played)
07th. NWR_Insanolord - 66 points (1 game played)
Host. Discord.RSS - 70 points (0 games played, 1 hosted)
06th. Stratos - 71 points (1 game played)
05th. Pokepal148 - 76 points (1 game played)
04th. BeautifulShy - 81 points (1 game played)
03rd. Mr. Bungle - 87 points (1 game played)
02nd. TOPHATANT123 - 93 points (1 game played)
01st. MASB - 100 points (1 game played)

[Order.RSS]

You can request a time extension?   How long of a time extension?

I didn't really set an exact time for it, but it's there in the rules (see bolding below).
My thinking was mostly just if I send a 24 hours remaining reminder and people need more time to deal with personal stuff or whatever, but didn't want to quit the game, it's an option.
Nobody requested an extension, and in some sense it's probably a pointless addition since sending a PM to ask for more time is probably more time consuming than just quickly making a random choice to move the game along.
But eh, these forum games are mostly fun for the social aspect imo, not so much the competitive element. So I try to keep people on board, rather than losing players to inactivity. Seeing Lolmonade post within like an hour of their elimination was a bummer imo, that's the kind of stuff I was hoping to avoid.

Time limit: I’ll give players a generous 48 hours to decide which word to pick. Time limits are counted as of the timestamp on my last post.

Reminders: Players are encouraged to keep an eye on the thread to see when they’re up to choose. I will try to send reminders (per Forum PM) if 24 hours have elapsed without a choice occurring. If you prefer to be notified on Discord instead, let me know. If you need a time extension, let me know.

[Stratos]

Congrats! Quite a fun series of events.

Bummer I lost my S1 crown, but not much of one since it balances out for those hosting. Feels like 70 was a good choice Khush.

Would still like to see lifetime score rankings included as well.

[M.K.Ultra]

This was my first Safe Words game and a lot of fun. Thanks to Discord.RSS for the invite. I really enjoyed your writing and hosting. Thanks to everyone else for the good times, what a great community!

[TOPHATANT123]

Congratulations MASB!

It was a fun ride

[Khushrenada]

Wow! What a performance! We've never had a Final Four player in control of the bomb word snipe off their competition one by one like that. Amazing! Much applause and congrats to MASB for his victory. It is exactly what I wanted to do but for some reason I wasn't allowed to select a bomb word for any of these final rounds.

[MASB]

Whew! They say first-timers can do well and never do so well again, so I'm definitely going to enjoy this victory!

Thanks to Steefosaurus (don't know if Discord is a temporary name or not) for all his work during this game. Half the fun was reading his descriptions of the safe/bomb selections.

Since there was a conspiracy to keep Khush from selecting bomb words, perhaps the Safe Words gods sprinkled their fairy dust on me instead.

So much suspense. So much time trying to decide on the right bomb words. Almost as involving as a Mafia game for me!

Thanks to Khushrenada for his entertaining posts.

And thanks to BeautifulShy for rooting for me!

And to everyone else for making the game exciting. WIsh I had known about/joined these games earlier, but I'll be a participant from now on.

[Khushrenada]

So I try to keep people on board, rather than losing players to inactivity. Seeing Lolmonade post within like an hour of their elimination was a bummer imo, that's the kind of stuff I was hoping to avoid.

Yes, for the most part, I hate eliminating a player from inactivity. I'd much rather have the players decide their fate. However, when a player constantly takes a couple days to make their selections then I sometimes start hoping they'll just get eliminated from inactivity so we can keep things moving at a more steady pace.

However, congratulations and job well done Steefosaurus Discord.RSS. You've finally earned the love of the people with your hosting job, Discord.RSS!! Looks like you've found your true home and calling on the forums further proving the forums are better than Discord. You did an excellent job and are definitely among the 4.5 best hosts this game has ever had.

[Khushrenada]

Since there was a conspiracy to keep Khush from selecting bomb words

There definitely is. Just look at the start of Safe Words 5 where I was again denied a bomb word because I understood the proper selection order unlike Pokepal148 this game.....

Thanks to Khushrenada for his entertaining posts.

I know from hosting that there can be a lot of dead time waiting in these games unlike Mafia where there can be a lot of private conversations and trying to examine behaviors even though not much is actually being posted. Thus, I wanted to interject and find things to riff around on while I could this game to help keep things lively. Adds some flavor to the game like role-playing can do in Mafia. Did it less once eliminated so as not to take away too much spotlight from the survivors.

[MASB]

From Khush:

Don't let Insanolord survive Safe Words from your inactivity :scream:

To think none of this would have happened if I had been less on the ball!

[Khushrenada]

Don't reveal secrets like that! Insanolord is already paranoid enough! Have we already forgotten the time he tried to install a security door for the Funhouse?

[Order.RSS]

Bummer I lost my S1 crown, but not much of one since it balances out for those hosting. Feels like 70 was a good choice Khush.

Would still like to see lifetime score rankings included as well.

I definitely agree with Khush how using seasons is more inviting to new players, simply because the scoring system heavily biases towards any sort of participation at all. Might be daunting to participate. But to answer the question, you're veeery close to Mop's crown if we add everything up: 

All-Time Rankings
01. Mop it up - 1169 points (14 games played, 2 games hosted)
02. Stratos - 1157 points (16 games played)
03. ShyGuy - 1140 points (15 games played)
04. NWR_Insanolord - 1114 points (16 games played)
05. nickmitch - 1083 points (15 games played)
06. Khushrenada - 1081 points (6 games played, 10 games hosted)
07. Lucario - 808 points (10 games played, 1 game hosted)
08. Soren - 802 points (12 games played)
09. TOPHATANT123 - 635 points (8 games played)
10. Silenced - 572 points (7 games played, 1 game hosted)
11. oohhboy - 502 points (8 games played)
12. Triforce Hermit - 500 points (6 games played, 1 game hosted)
13. UncleBob - 478 points (6 games played)
14. lolmonade - 472 points (8 games played)
15. Steefosaurus - 393 points (4 games played, 1 game hosted)
16. Nuclearspeed - 342 points (5 games played)
17. BeautifulShy - 223 points (3 games played)
18. ObbyDent - 180 points (3 games played)
19. Pokepal148 - 169 points (2 games played)
20. Evan_B - 165 points (3 games played)
21. TofuFury - 139 points (2 games played)
22. Spak-Spang - 116 points (2 games played)
23. (tie) Ceric - 100 points (1 game played)
23. (tie) MASB – 100 points (1 game played) [NEW ENTRY!]
25. (tie) Fatty The Hutt - 93 points (1 game played)
25. (tie) Phil - 93 points (1 game played)
27. Mr. Bungle – 87 points (1 game played) [NEW ENTRY!]
28. (tie) BlackNMild2k1 - 76 points (1 game played)
28. (tie) Zap - 76 points (1 game played)
30. Luigi Dude – 50 points (1 played) [NEW ENTRY!]
31. ejamer - 47 points (1 game played)
32. Hypotheliciously - 41 points (1 game played)

If you want to compare how things have moved around, here's the all-time totals after Safe Words 14, before hosts were awarded points (note the leap Khush and Mop made).