Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Readers vs Writers Board Game Smackdown, Part II

Sack up, folks, for it's time for an old-fashioned brawl. Readers vs Writers. Mano-a-mano. After school. By the bike rack.

In 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe.

If you thought the Connect Four polling mechanism was clumsy and frustrating, wait til you get a load of this. Here are the rules:

  • For those unfamiliar with the game, the object is to line up four of your markers in a line, using any or all of the three dimensions.
  • The SoSG Writers, with the black pieces, have made the first move, as indicated in the game board below.
  • The SoSG Readers, with the red pieces, must now make their move by way of the triple-poll. The Readers must choose the Level (I, II, III, IV), row (A, B, C, or D), and column (1, 2, 3, 4) in which to place their piece. The level, row, and column with the most votes* in its respective poll determines where the piece goes.
  • Feel free to attempt to sway your fellow Readers' vote via bribes, intimidation, or discussions of "strategy" via the comments section.
  • Now, I know what you're thinking: "Hey, this ain't a fair fight - enforcing a cohesive voting strategy that coordinates the three dimensions is impossible. The Readers are at a disadvantage!"
  • That's true. But the SoSG Writers have their own handicap: On any given turn, they will be limited to only half the field: either Levels I/II, or Levels III/IV, on an alternating basis. For example, because the Writers placed their first piece on Level II, their 2nd piece must be on either Level III or IV. Their 3rd piece must then be on Level I or II, and so on.
  • Each day (excluding weekends and possibly other random days), we will update the game board with both the Readers' last move (i.e., results of the previous polls) and the Writers' move in response.
  • I have no idea how this will pan out.

Your move, suckers.

(click image to enlarge)
Round 1: Level?
I
II
III
IV
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com
Round 1: Row?
A
B
C
D
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com
Round 1: Column?
1
2
3
4
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com
*If the selected spot is not available, the level with the 2nd highest votes is substituted. If it's still not available, then the level with the 3rd highest, then 4th highest. If all the levels are traversed and still no spot is available, then the rows are traversed in a similar manner, then columns.

11 comments:

QuadSevens said...

Whoa! Strategy discussions for this game are going to be on a whole different level than the Connect 4 game.

Steve K said...

I don't even know where to begin with strategy!

rbnlaw said...

The readers' game piece was placed, and I barely even voted.

rbnlaw said...

Check that; we're red. And I'm really tired right now.

karina said...

Sons, you're going down!

Josh S. said...

Wow. I didn't check the poll results before voting, and it turned out I was on the same wavelength as the majority.

Jimbo said...

Same here, Josh. Same here.

We all sink together. Or we all hit an iceberg and sink together.

Eric Karros said...

III-B-2...really? Hey, if that's where you all want to move, it's your decision.

P.S. Mind games are permitted.

Neeebs (The Original) said...

Didn't we KICK YOUR Garvey Ass last season, or what?

Orel said...

I learned from Assassins' Circle that when Karina says you're going down...you're going down.

Josh S. said...

Will "EARTHQUAKE" be available in the poll, should we get into trouble?