Long Game 33: Life

[Elbereth]

5 hours ago, Sart said:

If a complaint is retracted, do we still get the deduction off our tuition?

No. Definitely not. 

[Paranoid King]

4 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

No. Definitely not. 

PK PK PK PK P- what? Aww...

Seriously though, it would be no fun to trawl through pages of people doing nothing but placing then retracting their votes. Good call.

Darkness Ascendant. You don't seem to have been voted on. Try voting on some other people to get a tuition reduction.

[Burnt Spaghetti]

Dele walked briskly across the university grounds, nose burried in a notebook that she was scribbling furiously in, muttering relavations and annoyances to herself. She had classes to attend. She wasnt one to waste time when it came to her learning. She was however careful to avoid any muddy puddles. It would be horrific if any dirt got on her premium quality notebooks. She paused her stride as she exploded in a bout of coughs. This cursed illness she'd picked up was extremely inconvenient. Its hard to concentrate on learning when your lungs are forgetting how to breathe like a normal person. She let out an annoyed hmph. It would be gone soon. Likely sooner if she allowed herself to sleep at normal hours. But sleep was a mere waste of time.

---
Hey guys. As i said pregame, i dont know how active ill be, but atm i am sick so my activity for the time being wont be great at all. I'll try keep up with thread tho. Mention me and I'll do my best to get back to you when i can.
For the time being, time to start my percentage list heh. (I like to give every player a percentage that i feel matches what i feel about their allignment).

Ah voting. My least favorite thing to do. Yayy. I will note though (dunno if this has been mentioned yet). People, be very very careful about voting for the Edemas. If they get a consequence, it could mean a inebility to pay tuition and a completey wasted turn. I know from experience in the last game (i was edema in lg18) that its incredibly frustrating to be suddenly too poor for the tuition you very carefully budgetted for because someone poke voted and didnt retract. So if you need to vote for a edema, sure do what you want. Just be considerate that life as a edema is very hard. So if your voting just for voting, maybe vote for someone who can afford it. I guess like someone like me. Please dont, but. It would affect me less than say, Hael.

[Sart]

Titud grimaced. So his loophole wouldn't work. It was probably for the best. The Masters would have been swallowed by fake complaints that would later be retracted. All the important information would be drowned in a sea of noise. Still, he needed the reduction in his tuition. That much was obvious. So, he need to make some complaints. His first inclination was to vote for the Nobles. If they had so much money, surely they could afford a little fine from the university. He also remembered he had 2 complaints to work with. He would of course use both of them, if that got him any more deductions, but he doubted it. The Mage had also been on the Horns before this, so he was out. There was also Dele, who had just told him not to vote for her. That kind of move would definitely make enemies for him, which he didn't want. He had enough to worry about.

That left Steph. She seemed nice enough, so he was hesitant on voting for her. The chart she had made of people's wealth was very useful. But then, something seemed odd about it. It was a small thing really, but it was enough to make him suspicious. She had called Glavion (Haelbarde) Hael. This wasn't exactly a big deal. Most people knew that he often shortened his username to Hael. But how did Steph know that? Titud considered her history. She had only shown up a couple days ago. Would she really have associated with an Edema Ruh that quickly? It seemed unlikely. By doing some digging in his thoughts (and looking at her post history), Titud knew that she occasionally visited with the other students before coming here. However, Glavion was not present any of those times. She shouldn't have known his abbreviated nickname. Then why was it on her list? His conclusion was simple. She was a skin-dancer. Some of her associates had known the abbreviation and used it while conspiring. She had unintentionally picked up on it, or had copied the list from someone else. Thus, when she posted it, it had the abbreviation in it. This was tenuous logic at best, but Titud needed to pursue. If he managed to reprimand a Skindancer, perhaps his tuition would go down. He smiled to himself, and set his plan in motion.

@queensteph Why did you put Hael instead of Haelbarde?

[queensteph]

Ah, okay PK, thank you for clarifying for a dumb noble like me, I never payed too much attention to lessons

while my mind was adrift on all the fancy things to buy next time I went shopping.  

It's a solid idea though I don't really see how it helps (besides lowering tuition ,obviously).

(although I guess it's better than no votes / random person getting voted on a lot since we don't know anything yet this first round!)

So, the tuition lowering thing is the only reason we're doing this, right?  BrightnessRadiant, no offense fam.

 

@Sart I made my list off of the player list at the start of the cycle and his name is "Hael" Hydra there. 

[Alvron]

15 minutes ago, queensteph said:

@Sart I made my list off of the player list at the start of the cycle and his name is "Hael" Hydra there. 

Oh I can already tell, I'm going to like you.  Although I am appalled at myself for not seeing that pun.

Edited April 30, 2017 by Alvron

[Burnt Spaghetti]

1 hour ago, Paranoid King said:

PK PK PK PK P- what? Aww...

Seriously though, it would be no fun to trawl through pages of people doing nothing but placing then retracting their votes. Good call.

Darkness Ascendant. You don't seem to have been voted on. Try voting on some other people to get a tuition reduction.

Oh and ill just note pk, DA said earlier he wouldnt be able to be active. So he probably wont be able to respond potentially.

 

Oh. And um. I hadnt been reading peoples rp. Just did so. Urm. Sorry Hael  Everyone, Hael isnt just rping. He is doing all his discussion in rp. He has brought up many things and a number of us, including myself, have gone on to remention afterwards, not realising hes already said it xD which is fine, but im gathering im not the only one to have overlooked this so i just thought id say that heh. So just fyi, his rp is something that you should read for on topic discussion.

 

 

[Paranoid King]

Say, I have a question: Can tuition go into the negatives?

If so, would the Vintish nobleman get paid 33% more?

[little wilson]

6 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

As for advancing through the ranks, it's actually easier to become a master in a subject that's contended. If you're alone in investing in the subject, you invest 5 points, which are then taken away. Then 4 points, taken away. By the time you reach El'the, you only have 2 points to spend each turn, which you have to spend 8 times to reach master rank. (Total of 11 turns)

On the other hand, if you only advance every other turn, you would have 5 saved up after you advance. Then 8, then 9, and then it only takes 3 more turns to reach master. (Total of 9 turns)

If you advance every 3 turns, it takes longer just because it takes 9 turns to get to El'the. But by that time, you have 21 points saved, and become a master immediately.

So advancing every 2-3 turns is the best amount of competition. So see if you can PM 1-2 people to advance in linguistics with you, and you'll all advance faster. And then you can tell everyone else to stay away from linguistics.

This is correct, but I just want to point out that you don't need 5 EP in a field to elevate in it. You could put a single EP in a field and be elevated with that, particularly if you're the only one going for that field.

[DrakeMarshall]

Hmmm it is time I made a major post in this game, before the cycle ends.

 

About reporting people...

First, I think you guys are ignoring the danger that DP will cancel out some of our EP.

Second, I'm not seeing enough participation in "lets everyone vote on each other equally" for it to be a good idea. If enough people got on board this movement I'd be in favor, but I do not have very much faith in last minute activity to come through and bolster our voter turnout.

As it is, you are going to arbitrarily ruin some people's chances of getting master in competitive fields by poke voting some people's elevation points away and not others... And, if voter turnout doesn't pick up very quickly, you are certainly going to risk putting people on the horns for no reason.

Also I suppose I should mention that the usual reasons for D1 lynches certainly don't apply in this game. We have no real chance of actually removing an eliminator, and even a successful expulsion gives us no information.

I will not be casting a vote myself this turn, even though I could use the half talent reduction in tuition.

I'm not nearly as desperate as a ruh, and I can totally understand why you guys in particular would be very motivated to vote. But I am only one step above the ruh, and I assure you that I'm not dismissing the possibility of tuition reduction lightly.

And I understand why non-ruh would find it a good idea too. In theory, if we could get everyone to cast votes evenly on everyone else, it would be a net positive (or maybe not I suppose, since this is a competitive game and ultimately if everyone benefits equally it does nothing for your odds of winning). But I'm looking at the voting counts and I don't think this is attainable.

 

I will also say this... For all of you tempted to cast a vote, I really hope you've made sure to send out a PM this cycle before you turn to voting. Because that has an equal tuition reduction to voting and doesn't cost you anything. If any of you haven't sent PMs yet, I would seriously have to wonder...

 

Also, @Elbereth am I correct in assuming that the effects of these reductions aren't repeated for multiple votes/PMs? Voting twice still only gives you five jots reduction, right? And PMing thrice is still only five jots, not 1 talent five jots?

I would be very surprised to hear otherwise. Which means that even if everyone voted on everyone, we actually only each save 3 jots.

 

Also:

3 minutes ago, Paranoid King said:

Say, I have a question: Can tuition go into the negatives?

If so, would the Vintish nobleman get paid 33% more?

Obviously, I am not the authoritative answer. But I can offer some guesswork.
I would guess "yes" to the first question. This is because in The Name of the Wind, Kvothe received a negative tuition for his first term. I imagine it is theoretically possible for your tuition reductions to outweigh your base tuition, but I'd also guess it is astronomically difficult.
To the second question... I guess that depends if tuition reductions / inflations occur after or before the 33% increase.

Now, onwards to other discussion...
Nope, can't think of anything else to discuss yet. We really did discuss a fair amount before the game, didn't we?
 

2 minutes ago, little wilson said:

This is correct, but I just want to point out that you don't need 5 EP in a field to elevate in it. You could put a single EP in a field and be elevated with that, particularly if you're the only one going for that field.

In response to you're point... I've thought about this a good deal in trying to pick a strategy for EP.

You are quite right about only needing 1 point. In addition, if you invest in multiple fields, you can get high tier abilities in all of your fields by advancing only once in each of them. This makes splitting your points in multiple fields potentially rather powerful.

The hard part of point-splitting is finding what field you think nobody else is even trying for. And I suppose you also basically give up your chances of becoming a master if you do this, since you won't get the 5 point bonus from only advancing in one field.

It's should also go without saying that advancing in multiple arcane fields is very nearly suicide.

So... There are some substantial advantages and disadvantages of this approach. Of the two approaches of either investing all in one field or spreading one's points, I would be reluctant to declare one to be clearly superior.

 

Lets try for some RP then. I believe the name I had picked was... Greyson? I'm going to make a second post so that my discussion is visible now.

 

[queensteph]

After re-reading and analyzing the rules further I have a better understanding of the DP and EP system, 

so I don't really think the random complaint casting is worth it. I'd rather have 1DP then reducing my tuition by half a talent.

It might be worth it if you're a lower rank and everyone casted complaints, but seeing as no one is really jumping on to this plan

I'll be out since I don't really need the money (sorry ). BrightnessRadiant no offense lov u  

 

The vote tally, if I'm correct, is:

PK: Stick, DarknessAscendant

Sart: Queensteph

QueenSteph: BrightnessRadiant

 

So I feel at this point a no vote first cycle is the way to go. 

 

PS. My Community Reputation just went up to Noble today. Fitting seeing as how I'm a Vintish Noblewoman. 

[Burnt Spaghetti]

Only thing with a no vote cycle, someone could come in last minute and put a vote on someone. If only one person is voted on they would probably end up being expelled from memory. And that doesnt sound like a good thing to happen early on.

[Alvron]

Well, i need to do all I can to reduce my fees so, Magestar.  I don't really have anything big to add as I'm not taking this game seriously at all.  I do admit to being tempted to seeing if I can get myself both into and out of the Crockery.

[DeTess]

12 minutes ago, Burnt Spaghetti said:

Only thing with a no vote cycle, someone could come in last minute and put a vote on someone. If only one person is voted on they would probably end up being expelled from memory. And that doesnt sound like a good thing to happen early on.

Agreed. However, it would also give us a confirmed skindancer, so I very much doubt they'd try that, especially as the person they got expelled could potentially just saunter of to the assassins guild and send someone after his/her voter.

I am against voting D1, however, I'm going to vote anyway, namely on pk (@Paranoid King) He doesn't desperately need that tuition reduction, as he's an Yllish commoner, so I don't understand why he's started pushing for votes halfway through the first cycle. I'll remove that vote if he retracts his (or if enough people join the vote to move it into safe territory, though in that case there's no reason to move the vote).

@Sart, I know you're Edema Ruh, so you actually do need any reduction you can get. However, if no one else joins the vote whoever you vote on is going to get into a lot of trouble, with a decent risk of expulsion. Since you're hurting for money, maybe try going for talent pipes ASAP? I don't know what your musical talent is, but even if you fail it gives a 1 talent reduction in your tuition.

Edit: ninja'd by Alvron. Still, Alvron, I'd appreciate it if you could watch the thread, and if not enough votes get cast, retract your vote ebfore you get someone expelled for 5 jots.

Edited April 30, 2017 by randuir

[Elbereth]

1 hour ago, Drake Marshall said:

Also, @Elbereth am I correct in assuming that the effects of these reductions aren't repeated for multiple votes/PMs? Voting twice still only gives you five jots reduction, right? And PMing thrice is still only five jots, not 1 talent five jots?

Correct. 

2 hours ago, Paranoid King said:

Say, I have a question: Can tuition go into the negatives?

If so, would the Vintish nobleman get paid 33% more?

No.  Minimum tuition is 0. (Not sure if anyone actually got down to that last game, though. If anyone does, I will be very impressed.)

[Alvron]

Just now, Elbereth said:

No.  Minimum tuition is 0. (Not sure if anyone actually got down to that last game, though. If anyone does, I will be very impressed.)

Ooh, a challenge.  I might have to give it a shot.

[DeTess]

22 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

No.  Minimum tuition is 0. (Not sure if anyone actually got down to that last game, though. If anyone does, I will be very impressed.)

Let's see. if you post both cycles, send PM's both cycles and vote both cycles that's already a 2.5 talent reduction, If I'm not wrong. Spend half a  cycle in Imre and try for talent pipes, and that's down another talent. Impress a master in the other turn (I suppose that means 'get elevated', right?) and you're down another talent. If you then just post 11 pieces of decent RP, you're done. It would take some planning and preparation, but it can be pulled off.

Edited April 30, 2017 by randuir

[BrightnessRadiant]

2 hours ago, Drake Marshall said:

As it is, you are going to arbitrarily ruin some people's chances of getting master in competitive fields by poke voting some people's elevation points away and not others... And, if voter turnout doesn't pick up very quickly, you are certainly going to risk putting people on the horns for no reason.

Also I suppose I should mention that the usual reasons for D1 lynches certainly don't apply in this game. We have no real chance of actually removing an eliminator, and even a successful expulsion gives us no information.

Exactly...thank you for this great explanation.

I won't be voting this turn for these reasons:  It's not going to give us any information, and it will only hurt those who you vote for. You get an inflation of 1 jot on your tuition every time someone votes for you. And you are more likely to gather DP unnecessarily early in the game. If you get brought on the horns you will also get an inflation on your tuition(2 talents).

Why bother with getting other students in trouble when there are other ways to lower your tuition without hurting a fellow student? 

you can use PMs (not too many), RP to your hearts content, also travel to Imre and go for your talent pipes, post game related info in the thread, etc.

I just feel like using complaints on the first turn does more harm than good.

42 minutes ago, queensteph said:

It might be worth it if you're a lower rank and everyone casted complaints, but seeing as no one is really jumping on to this plan

I'll be out since I don't really need the money (sorry ). BrightnessRadiant no offense lov u  

Yeah I would vote too if everyone was going to, but I think it's better this way.

What if I was offended?  jk 

[DrakeMarshall]

45 minutes ago, Elbereth said:

No.  Minimum tuition is 0. (Not sure if anyone actually got down to that last game, though. If anyone does, I will be very impressed.)

You can't get a negative tuition? Awww it would have been fun if you could get negative, to plan for a cycle to outdo Kvothe...

 

Anyways! Speaking of tuition reductions, I've finished a little piece of RP.

Term was beginning.

 

Greyson waited impatiently with the other assembled students, waiting for the Chancellor to speak.

"What is the meaning of life?" she began. "It’s an age-old question, and one without any simple answer. But it’s the question I wish to pose, over the next few months. We are the University, the greatest center of learning in the modern world! Can we not solve this question, at long last? There is an answer. Perhaps many. Each of you, during the upcoming terms, will consider it, until you have found an answer to your satisfaction. Consider the great philosophers, the opinions of your grandmothers, the voice of a beggar across the street. Find your answer. What is the meaning of life?"
Wonderful. The opening speech is some philosophical nonsense. And here I thought the University was about learning magic.

"I ask this, because it has become relevant lately. You will need that answer, many of you. Death is coming."
Excuse me? Greyson looked up in disbelief at the last words.

"Master Drought died last night, to a Skindancer attack."
A master dead. Tehlu. A master dead... To a skindancer? Skindancers were supposed to be about as real as the Chandrian.
A wave of murmering swept across the students only to be silenced by a stern wave of the Chancellor's hand.

"No, they’re not fairy tales or children’s stories. Yes, they’re real, and yes, they’re here. Until they are exterminated, the coming months will be hard."
Greyson's mind tried to process it, completely in shock. He wasn't sure what to feel. His skepticism battled his paranoia battled his ambition. Could skindancers be real? Could they come after me? And might the University elevate more students, with a master dead?

"You cannot trust your friends, because anyone could be a Skindancer."
He looked around the assembled students. They didn't look like they were possessed by anything. But then, that's sort of the point, isn't it?
If the skindancers are even real... Tehlu knows there are plenty of unusual causes of death in the Arcanum. What makes her so certain these skindancer creatures are responsible?

"But we are the University, are we not? The center of learning in the modern world? Arm yourselves, my students. Advance in the ranks. Find the Skindancers among you and wipe them out, until we remain, purer for the battle we have won!"
Her voice seemed fake to Greyson. She had no right to sound so cheerful and confident when announcing that their University was being invaded by demons from folklore. No right at all.

She paused, then continued in a more somber tone. "And consider, as you do, the meaning of life, in the case that you are one felled by the fighting."
Kraem, she actually means it... Nothing was making any sense.

Greyson walked back to his room. He stopped by the place that for some reason was called the fishery, and asked to borrow an iron poker. After all, everyone knows demons don't like iron.
It's probably all a bunch of nonsense.
But still.
Best to be safe, right?

He arrived at his lodging in The Golden Pony. They offered a very comfortable room, but the price was ruinous. He would need to find somewhere cheaper, at least until he could rise in the ranks of the University...

The following morning he had his first classes. It would pay to get a good rest in preparation.

[Darkness Ascendant]

Quote

Banned Books: With a bit of searching, you’ve managed to find a few dangerous books deep in the Stacks. If you’ve studied in another field (with the exception of Naming), you may use these books to learn another of that field’s abilities, of your choice. If you have not studied in another field, you can choose which field you’d like to study and you will learn a random ability in that field.

For the second one does it cost EP as well to study @Elbereth? Or does it just cost the full term action thing.

 

[Magestar]

3 hours ago, Alvron said:

Well, i need to do all I can to reduce my fees so, Magestar.  I don't really have anything big to add as I'm not taking this game seriously at all.  

Seriously.

-sigh- 

Well, if you come up with a better reason to vote on me then 'To Reduce My Fee's', please let me know.  

I'm going to vote on Alvron, because he A; doesn't seem to be taking this game seriously at all.  B; because I'd like to spread out the votes and not get someone - especially me - expelled first turn.   Although I'd like to see some confirmation on the whole one vote lynch thing.  C;  I'd love the tuition reduction.  Every little bit counts, especially since my tuition has been inflated purely based on the reputation of my social class!  How ungracious! 

3 hours ago, Alvron said:

I do admit to being tempted to seeing if I can get myself both into and out of the Crockery.

I was also tempted by this, purely for the coolness factor of going insane...

And escaping!  Definitely one of the cooler things you can do.  But I'm not sure it's worth it.

I am in favor of voting equally on everyone, especially since I could totally see some unhappy player coming in and sniping someone out of spite.  Alvron....

It's almost never a good idea to give the Elim's an opening like that.  It's like giving them an extra kill - admittedly, it would be a pretty difficult thing to do while still seeming blameless, but considering how hard it is to kill people in this game I'm not sure that it's a likelihood we should even allow.  

Besides, if even one villager decides to go vigilante on someone, that could still lead to problems.

There are some good reasons around for not voting on anyone, and just having a no-vote, but I'm worried that some people wouldn't remove there votes in time. Alvron...

In the end, I'll probably follow the majority in this one;  I'm not going to leave my vote on Alv if no one else is voting, and I'm not going to lower the number of people with votes on them if everyone is getting voted on.

This post is sort of ramble-y, because I wrote it as I was reading through the thread, and my opinions may have changed while I was writing it...  Whatever.   I'll probably RP later.

[DeTess]

14 minutes ago, Magestar said:

I'm going to vote on Alvron, because he A; doesn't seem to be taking this game seriously at all.  B; because I'd like to spread out the votes and not get someone - especially me - expelled first turn.   Although I'd like to see some confirmation on the whole one vote lynch thing.  C;  I'd love the tuition reduction.  Every little bit counts, especially since my tuition has been inflated purely based on the reputation of my social class!  How ungracious! 

As I understand it after Wilson's clarification, the masters wile each distribute 5 DP among those that have votes on them. NPC masters will do this randomly, player masters can pick. So if only 1 person gets voted on, the masters will together unload 40 DP on that person, enough to expel them twice over. If there are two people being voted on the expected value is that both get 20DP (still enough for expulsion). The more people get votes, the more this gets diluted. but if only a couple of votes go out for tuition reduction or poking people, these few unlucky individuals are going to be in a lot of trouble. At the moment, 6 people have votes (Magestar, Alvron, PK, stick, DA and Queensteph) which means each will get about 6-7 DP, which lands each of them on the Horns, with the accompanying serious tuition increase.

In other words, if you are just voting randomly to decrease your tuition, but not everyone is doing the same, you're seriously hampering the power of some villagers(possibly an elim, but those chances with random votes are about 20% or less), as they lose either money, EP or both, and can get role-blocked due to lashings.

Edited April 30, 2017 by randuir

[Hemalurgic Headshot]

I'll be getting a tuition reduction out of Mage, because if he's already been to the Horns, why not again?

But seriously, don't take this seriously. This is C1, in which we have very little information, except what often misleading scraps we glean from the slightest fluctuation in grammar.

[Darkness Ascendant]

9 minutes ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

But seriously, don't take this seriously. This is C1, in which we have very little information, except what often misleading scraps we glean from the slightest fluctuation in grammar.

Me not know what this young man by the name of Hemalurgic Headshot shall be speaking of before. Forsooth thy shalt know my wrath, for the sundering of grammar and analysis is one only the one known as The Living Tribunal shalt know, and thee hath broken Immortal Law. Also, I really like pizza because it doesn't scream when I put it in the oven, soooo....breadsticks. And besides, yousa should easen up a little.

[DeTess]

19 minutes ago, Hemalurgic_Headshot said:

I'll be getting a tuition reduction out of Mage, because if he's already been to the Horns, why not again?

But seriously, don't take this seriously. This is C1, in which we have very little information, except what often misleading scraps we glean from the slightest fluctuation in grammar.

HH, you're a noble. You don't need those 5 jots from the tuition reduction. If you, for some reason, decide you do need it, might I suggest voting on someone else that hasn't got any votes instead (and preferable a noble), so that the chances of anyone being taken on the horns decreases?

As your current action will only serve to harm the village, at no great gain to yourself. Unless you're a skindancer, of course.

Edited April 30, 2017 by randuir