UPDATE (2:46pm PT): New rule: no alliances/side-deals (i.e., agreeing with your stalker that he won't kill you if you protect him...or something thereof. I take nothing away from FB/rbnlaw for using that to their benefit last year...but not this year. We shall dub this the FBrbn (pronounced "Faberuben") rule.
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As many of you deduced, yesterday's "white space" post (select the whitespace to see the hidden image) marked the return of "The Assassins' Circle," one of SoSG's more popular competitions which turned normally gregarious, intelligent, fun-loving Dodger fans into cold-hearted killers gunning for one another.
Here are some of the comment highlights from last year:
- "I hope you feel better :(" - karina, moments after killing Wicks
- "The view from the bell tower is awesome" - rbnlaw
- "I could kill you but i wouldn't hurt you" - karina, taunting her prey Paul
- "Can I sprint from behind the UPS van to the industrial park while Quad is at lunch?" - Mr Customer
- "I know what a French solider feels like now." - Dusty Baker
- "My first kill made me nervous." - Dr. Geek.
- "Do it, FB. DO IT NOW!!!!" - EK, long since out of the game but urging another to kill just so he can watch.
In the end, it was Fred's Brim emerging from the bloodshed as the last man standing. How long will he last this year?
Here's this year's starting circle:
For the newcomers to the game, or for those that need a refresher, here are the rules.
I think we closed most of the major loopholes last year (Dr Geek, anyone?), and if it still seems a bit hazy to the newcomers, it will become self-explanatory after the first round or two. Any questions let us know. FYI this thread will also serve as the safe harbor conversation thread once the game begins.
The game starts tomorrow with the first Kill Thread to be posted tomorrow, 9am PT!
230 comments:
1 – 200 of 230 Newer› Newest»@DB - you gotta play. Even if you're totally smonked at work this week, it only takes a second per day. And remember: being eliminated the first day is no worse than not playing at all.
And here I was, thinking that the skull represented your thoughts on the 2010 Dodgers season.
Count me in!
Great I have the No. 1 killer stalking me from the get-go. Brings a whole new meaning to one and done.
Karina's my assassin? It's going to be very perilous in the early going.
Greg F: you have been added to the Assassins' Circle.
In, baby. In.
Last year I drew Dusty Baker as a target (before I withdrew). This year I drew Dusto Magnifico. Next year Dusty Baker's Toothpick?
Next year, Dusty Springfield.
The circle returns????? I'm In!!!!
I can't believe I get to start out with QuadSevens again.
Questo deve essere il destino!
If DB isn't in, who buys the first round at the Assassins' Circle Bar and Laundromat?
I'm a serial lurker, but this sounds like fun. I'm in EK.
rbn, wicks, and OTB, you guys are in. Three more open spots...
*sacrificial lamb post*
@EK from 7.06AM
In other words: "Front line infantry"
Does that mean you're in, DB?
Hundley grabs 3rd-to-last at-large spot.
I'll go ahead and assume "yes". One more at-large spot!
I hope Dr Geek comes out of the woodwork since he disqualified himself last year. It would make for a great redemption story.
Dr(.)Geek, you are my foe!
Didn't I have Wicks in the first round last year? It should come down to me and FB, just for old time's sake.
Great. Not only do I have to kill a Son, a Son has to kill me. I'm already at a disadvantage.
I have a big assignment in the first round. I might just go in survival mode.
Thanks for the nod EK but I can't this time around, too much work going on. I will be quietly observing the slaughter though
Do you remember we had a thread to discuss strategy and to plead graciously for our lives?
What thread are we going to use?
@Mr C be afraid, I'll be watching you!. I know I don't want to get killed before I kill someone.
@Mr LASF I thought that in the case Mr F decides to "not hurt a fly", I'm gonna be murdered by you or by one of the Sons. No win situation unless I kill Mr C.
@Betsy - even though I like you, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to KILL you.
@Neebs - will be covering my back the best I can. Somehow I think you would take perverse joy in my demise :D
@MB: I only take such perverse joy at those who mispell the name.
KIIILLL
Or who misspell "misspell."
Karina: yes, this thread will serve as the "side conversation" thread. There'll be link to it in each kill thread.
Mr F: please advise regarding how you prefer to die.
Dusty to the defense!
@Neeebs - I stand corrected. I will play hard to get and keep you from your perverse pleasures. As a novice, I might be an easy target.
Question for all participants: Should we allow alliances?
In other words, Player A makes an alliance with his stalker (Player B) in which A promises to provide cover for B (comment right after him) so long as B promises not to kill A?
This alliance helped take FB and rbn to the final 3 (and FB to victory).
I'm leaning towards prohibiting this, but shall open for discussion if anyone disagrees. I like the creativity and inventiveness, but feel it goes against the spirit of the game.
@EK
Seems like that would an unenforceable rule.
Besides, all it would take is one opportunistic assassin...
I just like to KIIIIIILLLL!!!!
And be killed.
Mr C - I think it would be reasonably enforceable through monitoring comments, though not completely if two participants communicated directly through email.
But I do think that simply stating it as a rule is enough to have most participants respect it, even if not totally enforceable.
While I admit alliances do seem a tad unfair, it would add a splash of strategy to the whole game, as opposed to "FB COMMEMT, I KILL NOW!!!!!"
*COMMENT
It does not matter to me cause I'm going rogue. Fair Warning
The thing is, once one Stalker/Target pair makes an alliance, others will feel compelled to do the same, and nobody will ever kill anybody and the game will never end.
In fact, if full and perfect alliance symmetry is achieved, the circle will go clockwise from the point of the initiator, every round, forever.
Yeah, EK, the last thing we would want is a contest that drags on forever. :P
@DB: I should have thrown a flare to signify the irony of "mispell." I had my money that Sax would have picked up on that, but he's too busy trying to figure out what secret message I sent to him and his.
@MB: Don't worry. I suck as I have no patience with this game.
Eric Karros,I don't think it's possible all pairs make alliances.
One reason is I find very unlikely all readers involved can communicate with each other outside SoSG.
Besides, there's something I learned in "Grosse Pointe Blank":even killers need outside resources.
Karina - yes, it's merely a theoretical, which I actually posited as an argument for disallowing alliances, thus relegating planning of such to outside channels, undermining their propagation via the logic you mention.
By the way, I'll make quick work of Mr F, after which I'm coming after you.
So nobody's taking the last at-large spot?
Damn! I wanted to hunt Loney Fan, not have him hunting me. This is going to be tricky.
I love how Karina gets an important life lesson from "Grosse Pointe Blank."
Watch out for her, new folks! She's a stone cold killah!
@Eric Karros just like that?so cold blooded?even if you know I love you deeply?
@Dusty Baker I've watched that film too many times.I'm also fond of films like "Snatch" and "Lock,Stock and two Smoking Barrels".
Make with that info whatever you want.However, I'm very afraid of Eric Karros, he's bullying me!
Karina, your normally effective sweet-talking won't work this time.
But in the first round, I will be your savior by taking out your stalker, Mr F. After that, all bets are off.
Glg - let DB serve as your role model and take the last spot in spite of your busy-ness at work.
mmm Faberuben. It's just like a regular ruben, but with garlic fries in it. I heard it's a new item on the menu at The Assassins' Circle bar.
Yeah come on, GLG, don't pussy out on us. Wouldn't be the same without you taking me out at some point.
@Eric Karros it's not sweet talking! I'm shocked how much you want to kill me.
I'm ready to play. Betsy beware!
@Meaniebreanie it didn't take long to put you in the mood!I'm afraid my killer instict is on vacation today.I'm very afraid
The anticipation is killing me!!!!
Karina - life is full of irony. Your killer instinct is on vacation which means you will probably be the last one standing. I'm ready to play and most likely will be the first one taken out.
Wake Up! Time to die.
Damn it! I was in a day-long meeting in Palm Springs all day yesterday! I want it!
Does a pouting assassin still sound threatening?
What do I have to do to get a fuckin beer around here?
Mr F: come out, come out wherever you are...
@Eric Karros I'm terrified by you...if you keep this terror campaign I'm gonna have a breakdown.
With your last comment, I feel you want to kill Mr F quick so you can take care of me ASAP.
You also said we can sweet-talk on Assassins'Circle thread today and yesterday "your normally effective sweet-talking won't work this time".I suspect you need some sweet talk but you're afraid to ask for it. Baby, after all this time, that's what you inspire to me!
XO
I figure I'll hang out here instead of clogging the kill thread.
I'm watching the EK > Mr. F > karina > Mr. C chain with great interest, but I don't expect any movement there until just before the 3pm deadline.
Heh. "Dead"line.
*lays out a piece of frosting-laden chocolate cake hoping to lure Mr F out from the woodwork*
^of course I do that in the kill thread, not here.
Karina: Mr F's existence is the only thing that is keeping you alive for the moment.
Mr LASF: Worry not, I'll show my face as soon as Mr F shows his...
Meanie - not sure if someone already answered your question in the kill thread, but after review it seems you did kill Betsy, as yours was the first comment from a 'living' commenter after hers.
*swipes cake*
*goes back into hiding*
*curses to self while watching Keven C demonstrate hole in strategy*
C'mon EK, just take your lumps and die.
For clarification since I saw the issue in the kill thread, you have to comment by 3pm. 3:00pm is OK. 3:01 is too late.
timecheck...
timecheck
hey MLASF, look over there!
d
@Josh, Well I hadn't thought of it that way but I suppose it's in the realm of possibility. I plan to go in for a quick kill so hopefully Orel is oblivious to anything around him. Then I can devise my own special torture for him :D
Mr.C - if you cover my back hopefully we can both make it to the point where you become my target. I will be happy to spank you if that's what you desire before I have to kill you. Maybe I should be the catwoman assassin as I like to taunt and play with my prey before the kill.
Psst. Meanie. You're in the other thread. :)
Josh, duly noted. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow.
Spanky - I'm gunning for you!
@ MB
So it begins. Better bring your A game cause your going to need it.
Same to you Orel. RUN....RUN
Breanie is done for the day now you are all mine Orel. Find a good hiding spot cause I got all day.
Zombie Josh, thanks for sparing my life one more day! Your bar tab is on me.
@MB
Zombie Josh can't influence anything according to the rules. People who are dead (e.g., the undead) or random commenters' comments are ignored. Hence, Neebs just took you out. Hope he spanked you first.
That's correct, DB. Zombies are merely floating souls spouting witty meaningless snark with no tangible form. They cannot block/disrupt gunshots, knife attacks, strangulations (gloved or ungloved), cyanide-laced drinks, speeding vehicles, or pillow smothering.
I'm shattered! Oh well live, learn and die. Spanked or not, it was a good death and I died with a smile on my face.
"floating souls spouting witty meaningless snark with no tangible form"
Just like in the regular GTs.
I got Orel but I didn't get spanked.
Why does life have to be so difficult
I meant to post in this thread, the two can be so confusing.
@Spank - sometimes the fantasy is much better than the reality.
I know Sax is waiting.
Damn, missed my chance. There's only survival now.
I was sure you were watching in hiding, Mr. C
I was, but I got distracted cooking bacon. It's a weakness, I know.
Any real assassin knows that bacon is the cornerstone of any good kill.
Plus, it's delicious.
Faberunben? Fahrfegnugen?
Fuckemallthen?
"I got distracted cooking bacon."
Mr C, not sure you want that getting onto your assassins' linkedin profile - your client base would surely dwindle.
I do love bacon though.
@EK
I think my clientele will understand that death can't come calling on an empty stomach.
I've had enough of this week and heading out to happy hour with friends. Beware to anyone who gets in my way as they are likely to get spanked. DB if you hop over to Texas you, Mrs. Dusty and MDIL are welcome to join. In the interim, I will hoist a glass of Champagne/St-Germain in honor of my fallen comrades. May the body count continue to rise.
100!
@Mr C did you know all the bad fat in bacon is clogging your arteries,guiding you to death?
Don't you rather allow me to kill you?.You can have bacon as last supper.
Death by bacon. . .mmmmmmmm.
Greg, you still had the chance to kill Sax but you blew it. As the initiator you are given a second kill comment, but I'm pretty sure you just used it up by posting about not killing Sax
Plus you saved your Assassin
Whoops!
So, Sax can now safely stalk MLASF. Also Hundley has no one to kill, so Wicks could have to wait all day.
I like how it is all quiet up in here as if no one is watching or think they are not being watched by not commenting anywheres
It's like the round has started over again, only nobody gets initiator's rights, one person has nobody to kill, and another can't be killed.
Who's going to make the deadliest move?
I'm glad I popped in over here - hadn't realized some of these permutations.
Sorry Greg, that's what you deserve for going photoless.
This year is way more fun, as we have the zombie comedy stylings of Josh S.
There's no incentive for anybody to post.
The only way this thing gets started before the deadline is if someone wants to get it out of the way, T Hundley doesn't realize Dusty is safe, or someone pulls a Mr. F.
"Pulling a Mr F" is certain to become a new catchphrase that sweeps the nation, or at least the SoSGsphere.
Man accidently gets involved in argument between a couple.
"Uh oh, looks like I pulled a Mr. F."
Then I show up and kill him.
Because that's how I roll.
How embarrassing. I bet "Pulling a Mr. F" will show up in dictionaries with a picture of my bear avatar thing next to it, a la http://bit.ly/bQo5Va
Pulling a Mr. F outdoes the Faberuben.
Things are quiet over yonder.
It's kinda funny how one little innocuous comment by Greg has derailed the entire system.
This is genius, whoever it is:
RT @DodgersGM
I don't have time to address phony @Ned_Colletti account. Too busy trying to remember who Lance Carter is. Pitcher or member of *NSync?
@Mr. F
Wear it proudly. You're a modern day Major Shrapnel.
Oh I'm not at all upset by this.
You must embrace your identity, Mr. F. Like how I embraced being the guy who punches walls while shouting "DAMMIT."
GO WICKS SET OFF THE CHAIN
Some shit's about to go down.
This thread is like being on the front row of a hockey game right behind the glass.
I'm willing to give up my life just to take part of a mass slaying.
Focus on Assassin's Circle for now, Spank.
Thanx Dusty. I confuse myself sometimes living the life of a modern day Jeckyl and Hyde
Sax could feasibly shut it all down again.
It all depends how badly he wants to kill MLASF.
Your regularly scheduled mass murder and carnage will not be seen today, so we may bring you a special presentation of "Dusty and Josh Yuk It Up."
^ isn't that every day?
^ The dusty and Josh yukking it up part, not the mass carnage. Although that did happen in yesterday's game.
Dammit Wicks, Hundley has stuck his neck out just waiting for your shot.
Of course, I can feel the dot of a laser sight on my back as I sit waiting in the clock tower.
Waiting.
Waiting.
This hired gun is perfectly happy to wait until 2:59. If that means two zombified goons get the run of the town, so be it. At least I'm entertained while I'm watch from somewhere that is almost certainly not the southwest corner of the abandoned Montgomery Ward parking structure
Uhhh...which way is that clock tower facing?
Sic transit Hundley.
Will mayhem now ensue?
@Josh,
The right way.
Heh, heh, heh.
I know the Spankster is watching.
Ok, cool. I just hope you don't have to pee or anything.
Where the hell is a living FB when I need him?
Wicks is in!
Yes, but Spanky lurks.
As do I.
So, we're essentially back to this again.
*cleans rifle scope*
At least that means I can get about an hour of work in today.
Great, now rbn is scared to come out. I have to wait until 3 again.
Start making preparations for the cleanup crew cause there is going to be a bloodbafh in little over an hour
@Spanky
If rbnlaw is the kwisatz haderach to your Feyd Rautha, that might be construed as and unfair advantage in the Assassin's Circle.
I'm picturing Spank now as Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket right before he took himself out in the bathroom.
Sorry everybody. I didn't realize that a bit of my geek was showing in the comment above.
@ Mr.C
I'm hoping the spice has an effect on Moadib and since the earth equal of the spice on Dune is spilled in the gulf, He's Fucked.
*daydreams about a bottle of Mescal large enough for Shai Hulud*
We ain't heard shit from Karina. But I know she's out there somewhere oiling her AK or sharpening her machete. Carnage awaits.
I have a feeling that laying low isn't going to mean shit for those of us further down the chain. It'll just be a game of chicken.
timecheck
Say something NEEEBS I know you are there. Do you have the sand to take it down to the wire?
Where is Paul, anyway?
Dusty,I'm afraid of machetes,so that's not a weapon I would use.
AK?lol those are my true initials though I pretend my middle name is my first name.
If you want to know my first name, I'd have to kill you, are you listening Mr C?
@Spank if you hurt Neeebs,you'll have to deal with me!
@Karina
*adjusts parabolic microphone*
Oh, I'm listening.
@ Alejandra?
Sorry kiddo but that is the way the hand was dealt. Survival
I better stop commenting cause I almost pulled a Mr.F
I know your last name(s) Karina...maybe I can triangulate and figure out your real first name.
Bells are getting ready to toll
Heads are in position to roll
Wipe dem tears from your eyes
cause we all going to die
Yoga relaxes the sole, energizes the body, and sharpens the killing instinct.
My money's on our old buddy Conflicting Edits killing all of you.
Take a look
To the sky
Just before you die
It's the last time you will
@Dusty you won't guess anything from that info!
@Spank you are cold as the North Pole
Synchro post
Eating lunch in front of the computer, I cross fingers my next meal won't be brains
"Disappears"
time stamp
That was almost haiku, Karina.
time stamp
Time check
On my command, unleash hell!
where are you,Mr C?
If you are going to kill me, Mr LASF, be gently
time check
patience is our virtue
time check
timecheck
For the record, patience is definitely not my virtue.
Isn't tomorrow just going to consist of everyone waiting until three then jumping in fairly randomly?
Who will be first to take the dive
Jump in there, Spank. It's the movie equivalent of the main bad ass turning to his buddies and saying "Cover me!" then exposing himself to gunfire while running to the next mark, laying down random fire the whole way. Do it!
This is like watching Arsenal play.
Countdown 45 minutes till blast-off
INITIATE, YOU PANSIES!
Heh. Nevermind.
Mouse malfunction countdown delay due to repairs
Spanky's drive-by made me miss wide right.
Looks like I get a free shot at DB.
*waits until 3pm*
I missed Mr C for seconds.My instinct told me to refresh, which I did.Probably I'd be sitting in the open defenseless.
Mr LASF said he wasn't going to be around but I know he was giving me a false security blanket
Watch it, DB. An angry shooter is a deadly shooter, nonetheless.
And the passing/ball control game is how football is to be played. Just not against 10 men from Merseyside.
@Rbn
Hey, at least my boys put the ball in the net.
Granted, one was in OUR net, but let's not get caught up in semantics.
Props to Mr. C for the attempted kill shot. I thought Karina had you on the run.
@Paul
Predictability is death 'round here.
Mr. C:
I am not anti-semantic.
With more time given to Van Persie and Cesc, I have a feeling the Gooners will be fine.
I'll admit I don't get rbnlaw's wait it out plan, but I am down to about half a skull at this point.
200
Ouch! Tennessee Titans released injured Stafon Johnson. Cruel.
^ I know MLASF wants to say something about this but can't because he's all I Am Legend right now.
Mr LASF you're safe now!
Thanks for the idea, Mr. C!
@Mr C are you so afraid of me?
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