Anniversary Game 4/Anonymous Game 1: A Fresh Start

[Fuchsia Ostrich]

4 hours ago, Mauve Crocodile said:

Well... tying the vote when we weren't sure that I would be able to survive would not have been good. As I would have died, and we would have lost vote advantage. 

We tie the vote, an Elim dies instead, we kill you, then we end up with me being next up for the lynch.

Also, day 11, I think it was, I didn't have internet to try and swing the lynch :/

(If any of this makes sense) 

Day 12 Zebra didn't vote, so you guys could have ended it right then with Kangaroo's vote, although I guess you guys couldn't have known that he wouldn't arrive at the last second.

[Sage Kangaroo]

7 minutes ago, Fuchsia Ostrich said:

Day 12 Zebra didn't vote, so you guys could have ended it right then with Kangaroo's vote, although I guess you guys couldn't have known that he wouldn't arrive at the last second.

Yesterday?  I know, but I so wanted to use that writeup.  

[Quartz Zebra]

Gods, I missed the whole last cycle! I apologize profusely. You see, I just got Oathbringer and I dived right into it and it sort of consumed all conscious thought I had for a small time. I can only think about how thankful I am that I wasn't completely needed. 

[Orlok Tsubodai he/him]

AG4/AN1 - Aftermath: Ashes

 

The sun rose red the following morning, bloody pools of sunlight spilling through a cloud of ash. Houses gutted by fire creaked and groaned a lament to the dead of Rennan. The village, a lone dark stain on the hillside, was still, the mountain as if holding a wake to the dead. A torn flag fluttered defiantly on a broken flagpole before being torn away, snatched by an angry wind, and lost.

 

Embers died with the passing of the sun, and a new dawn broke over Rennan. Rain fell, and rivulets of water, dark with ash and blood, ran through the streets, the motion all that would separate the scene from a painting. Rennan remained a tomb and a monument to the dead, a macabre tableau of the last moments of life.

 

Storms came, with time, but Rennan’s buildings stood guard, unaware that their charges lay sundered, strewn through them as discarded ragdolls, torn and broken. Seasons passed, and the quiet watch continued, the sentinels of the dead unmoving. Crem fell, and gathered, testimony to the solitude of the guardsmen. Unknown, unloved, now unnamed, they stood. The tomb on the mountain was to be eternal. Storms came, and seasons passed. It was a quiet day, with no rain or wind disturbing the silence, when the first one broke. The stillness, unwary, complacent, was shattered without a chance to retreat. It collapsed with the building, splintering, tearing, and twisting.

 

Almost as if shocked, or broken in spirit, the rest fell over the coming months, beating a solemn rhythm to the passing of an age.

 

---

 

AG4/AN1 is over. Fuchsia Ostrich was killed, and Odium’s Sympathisers have won. I very much hope you all enjoyed playing. I certainly enjoyed watching the impact of anonymity, but would love to hear about how it was for players. I’ll give my full thoughts on the game after voting for awards has concluded, both to give me time to formulate them, and to allow me to speak without concern.

 

Voting: There are three Non-Sanderson game passes available to the winners of the vote. Both players and spectators are eligible to vote, and may list as many people as they’d like (but at least five) in order of preference for receiving an award. The STV voting method will be used to decide the three winners. Please use the PM you used to sign up for the game to vote. Voting will remain open for a week, or until every player has voted.

 

Anonymity: Please do not give any indication of which Anonymous Account you were using until the results of the activity voting have been announced. This rule will be waived for those players on the evil team, allowing them to speak about the game from their perspective, and because I’m not going to trawl through 157 pages of evil doc to remove their references to their identities.

 

Anonymous Accounts: Anonymous Account passwords have been changed, and you no longer have access to your accounts. Before the next Anonymous Game, all accounts will have had their PMs cleared, and so will not share personal information with future holders of the account.

 

---

 

I’d like to thank Stink for helping with the game, and his excellent writeups in the initial cycles.

Mint Heron deserves a great deal of credit for stepping in to help with writeups towards the end of the game. I wouldn’t have managed without them.

I'd like to thank Wilson for helping with the balance calls we had to make at points in the game, and for her excellent judgement.

Most of all, though, Elbereth deserves recognition for the massive investment she’s put into helping. Anonymous games take a great deal of effort to run, but her writeups and fantastic spreadsheet took a huge amount of stress out of GMing.

 

 

 

Doc Links

Servants of Odium

 

The Watchers and the Weary

 

Master Spreadsheet

 

Final Player List
1. Amethyst Scorpion - Villager-turned-Bondsmith
2. Azure Mouse - Sympathiser Worldhopper
3. Amber Vulture - Villager
4. Charcoal Hyena - Cannoc - Villager
5. Chartreuse Penguin - Villager
6. Coral Swan - Elyle - Village Lightweaver
7. Cream Tuatara - Villager
8. Emerald Falcon - Aldrick - Villager
9. Fuschia Ostrich - Villager
10. Indigo Weasel - Village Elsecaller
11. Ivory Dragonfly - Nolan - Village Bondsmith
12. Magenta Albatross - Sympathiser Windrunner
13. Mauve Crocodile - Sympathiser Bondsmith
14. Melon Dingo - Quentisan - Village Edgedancer
15. Mint Heron - Kharsis - Villager
16. Onyx Flamingo - Squawk - Village Lightweaver
17. Opal Lion - Villager
18. Oxblood Beagle - Jai - Village Willshaper
19. Pearl Chameleon - Village Elsecaller
20. Plum Rhinoceros - Villager
21. Quartz Zebra - Villager
22. Saffron Iguana - Emalia - Village Lightweaver
23. Sage Kangaroo - Sympathiser Elsecaller
24. Salmon Meerkat - Village Bondsmith
25. Sapphire Elephant - Sympathiser Skybreaker
26. Scarlet Octopus - Village Edgedancer 
27. Sunburst Toucan - Vanna - Village Windrunner
28. Taupe Gecko - Villager
29. Turquoise Gorilla - Village Dustbringer
30. Violet Axolotl - Villager

Voting will close in seven days time, at 10pm GMT on the 1st March.

[Haelbarde he/him]

Thanks heaps for running this game Orlok. Really appreciate it. And my apologies if my PMs or messages in the dead doc came off as demanding in any way. It was not the intent, and I'm sorry if I made anything harder for you than it already was.

Going to have to go through the thread to pick out who to vote for. I already know a few players that I'd vote for, but not 5. Here's the wiki page on Single Transferable Voting if anyone is interested. 

Heh. At the start of the game, I thought that I'd be really into guessing who was playing the game, but after an initial attempt at taking down some notes and having some guesses, it didn't end up being something of concern. I'll be interested to find out who was playing the game. It was nice to actually be able to change one's play style without garnering suspicion for it. I didn't necessarily make great use of it, but I could see it being quite useful to experiment with a new style, and then once the game ends and all is revealed, you can then tell everyone that this is your new playstyle that you'll be taking back to play other games with. 

Edit: And thanks everyone for the very tense game!

Edited February 22, 2018 by Haelbarde

[DeTess she/her]

I'd just like to say that the elim team did a fantastic job at remaining hidden. There where a couple that I had bad gut feelings about, but most of them just came out of nowhere for me. Seriously, a job very well done!

[Fifth Scholar he/him]

Agree with @randuir on this. Well played to each of the Elims, each one of which had me completely fooled. 

Thank you very much to both Orlok and STINK (and Wilson and Elbereth later on) for running this AG, especially to Orlok who did so while suffering from an illness. This was a great intro to SE for me, and I very much look forward to future games with all of you. 

[Droughtbringer]

I had an absolute blast playing this game, I wish I could have been a bit more active, but overall it was amazing.

Thank you Orlok, Wilson, STINK, El and Heron for helping with the behind the scenes stuff.

 

And voting.... gah. I have no idea who to vote for :/

[Arrae]

What criteria are we giving out the passes for? Last year it was for cosmetic roles, but this year it hasn't ben specified...

[Orlok Tsubodai he/him]

1 minute ago, Arraenae said:

What criteria are we giving out the passes for? Last year it was for cosmetic roles, but this year it hasn't ben specified...

The voting is based on activity this game.

[Haelbarde he/him]

3 minutes ago, Arraenae said:

What criteria are we giving out the passes for? Last year it was for cosmetic roles, but this year it hasn't ben specified...

From the signup post:

Quote

Unfortunately, 2017 also saw changes in our forum that have been less positive, with an increasing tendency towards inactivity. In the spirit of Cosmetic Roles last year, there will be a competition this game for three non-Sanderson game passes, allowing you to run a game not set in one of Sanderson’s works. This year, however, the competition will be based on activity, with a vote amongst players at the end of the game on which players have been the most active, and have done the most to encourage activity.

Last year, Meta mentioned we had a secret challenge for three more non-Sanderson game passes. That challenge was also based on activity. We will be awarding those after this game ends as well.

 

Edited February 22, 2018 by Haelbarde

[Elbereth she/her]

I will point out, because it wasn’t specified, that the writeups have been done by me/Mint/Stink except for this one, which Orlok did and deserves the credit for. 

This was a fantastic game to GM, and absolutely fascinating to watch the interplay of anonymous accounts with the standard ruleset. Also, it taught me a lot about spreadsheets, so that’s a plus.  

More thoughts may or may not come after the voting finishes, but for now I’ll just comment that this was a great game and I hugely enjoyed it. 

[Jondesu he/him]

This was an amazing game, thanks to the GMs for running it and for the awesome writeups! I didn’t think the Elims had me completely fooled, but I was definitely surprised when I saw it worked out in the dead doc.

[Megasif he/him]

Thank you everyone for playing. Many thanks to the GMs for their hard work. It was a great game and a great playerlist. A pleasure playing with you all. Next time we will win...flawlessly

[Straw he/him]

This was quite a fun game to play, and the dead doc for this game was actually active! I really like the idea of anonymous games, and I’ll be interested to see how other anonymous games go.

[Bugsy he/him]

Thank you, GMs, for hosting this game! I had a lot of fun playing it. Elim team, you did fantastically. Congratz on a well deserved win 

[Steeldancer he/him]

This was a hard game. Taught me a few lessons. Hael Hydra. 

[Stick. she/her]

Hael hydra

[MonsterMetroid]

Is there any reward for RP this game?

[Jondesu he/him]

On 2/23/2018 at 0:09 PM, MonsterMetroid said:

Is there any reward for RP this game?

The rewards for this game were based on participation and driving discussion.  I know I didn't win one (or at least I'm assuming), but I'm curious who will.

[Elbereth she/her]

Voting will end in less than two days. If you have not yet voted, please submit five choices ranked in order of preference before the countdown finishes.

[Orlok Tsubodai he/him]

AG4/AN1 - Finale: Legends

Once upon a time, there was a village. Not Rennan, no - this was a different place, a happy place. Children ran about the town square, giggling and playing a game of who-knows-what. 

At the fire at the centre of the square, an old storyteller told tales of heroes of other times to the children who could sit still long enough to listen. 

“In the time of the last Desolation,” she began, “there was a town. Its name is gone - long lost on the winds of time. It fell prey to the wrath of Odium, and tore itself apart before anyone even noticed it was gone. But, somehow, a few tales of its heroes survived. 

“Legends tell of a magical chicken - you remember, like we saw when the merchant came through last year? All bizarre and fuzzy? Well, this chicken could talk. Her name was Squawk, and she was one of the great helpers of the villagers. She organised them, banded them together to search for the murderers. 

“But they say a strange thing happened, then. A highstorm came, a few days after the first murder, and Squawk stayed in with the livestock, as she was accustomed to doing. But one of the traitors, the sympathisers to Odium, snuck into the barn as well, intending to kill her as she’d been such a help to the village. 

“The traitor raised his knife over her sleeping body, and thrust it through her heart.” The children gasped. 

“But as she died, Squawk transformed into a beautiful, darkhaired woman, and that is who the villagers found dead the next morning, to their confusion. Now, some say that Squawk was merely a Lightweaver in disguise, but personally I’m of the opinion that she was a Herald or a god come to save the town, and indeed some legends tell of a magical knife in that town, which could kill even Heralds and gods. But she did die, and the village mourned her.”

While a pair of children ran off pretending to have magical knives, the rest remained enraptured. The storyteller smiled. 

“Stories also tell of a scholar by the name of Nolan. While the town dissolved into chaos, he searched through ancient books in a desperate race to find something that would help. While the villagers killed each other in a search for the murderer, he studied and studied until finally... he found it.” 

The storyteller lowered her voice. “He found the Words.”

“Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination!” piped a child in a single excited breath. 

“Yes, dear,” chuckled the storyteller. “Just like that. And he said those words, and he became exactly what the town needed: a Bondsmith. The one who would unite them all.

“But the villagers were few, by then, and Odium’s will was too strong. Before he could finally unite the town and drive them off, the traitors brutally murdered Nolan in the night, and even his newfound powers were not enough to fend off all of them. And so the village fell further into darkness.” 

The children shivered. “Tell us a happier story? Please?” asked one child. 

The storyteller smiled sadly at them. “There are no happy stories from that time, child. But, one last story of a hero, at least:

“Once upon a time, in that long-ago village, was a man named Kharsis. He survived almost to the end with his family, never giving up hope. At the end, when all had nearly been lost, he brought hope - he organised the last few townspeople, fought against the tyranny. With his help, the villagers nearly won. 

“But they didn’t. Odium was just barely too strong, and the sympathisers set fire to Kharsis’ house one night. He died saving his niece from the fire.”

The storyteller looked around at the children. “We don’t tell these stories because they are happy ones. We tell these because they are important. We honour those fallen heroes who died in the struggle for civilisation. We remember them, in case times like those ever come again, and we pray desperately that they never will.” 

She smiled. “Go on, now, run off and do something happier than listening to an old woman tell tragedies. Your parents will want you home, soon, anyway.”

The children scattered, a few thanking her, until she was left staring into the fire alone. 

---

The winners of the three activity-based passes you have voted for are Ivory Dragonfly, Mint Heron, and Onyx Flamingo. 

Player List
1. Amethyst Scorpion - Jondesu
2. Azure Mouse - Haelbarde
3. Amber Vulture - Bugsy
4. Charcoal Hyena - Devotary of Spontaneity - Cannoc
5. Chartreuse Penguin - Herowannabe - Peng Uinneas
6. Coral Swan - Araris Valerian - Elyle
7. Cream Tuatara - Straw
8. Emerald Falcon - Dalinar Kholin / Aonar Faileas - Aldrick
9. Fuchsia Ostrich - Shqueeves/Elenion
10. Indigo Weasel - Arinian
11. Ivory Dragonfly - Fifth Scholar - Nolan
12. Magenta Albatross - Megasif
13. Mauve Crocodile - Droughtbringer
14. Melon Dingo - Ornstein
15. Mint Heron - Doc12/Arraenae - Kharsis
16. Onyx Flamingo - MonsterMetroid - Squawk
17. Opal Lion - Eternum
18. Oxblood Beagle - Steeldancer - Jai
19. Pearl Chameleon - Frozen Mint
20. Plum Rhinoceros - Coop772/BrightnessRadiant
21. Quartz Zebra - The Young Bard/Kyndedath
22. Saffron Iguana - Sart - Emalia
23. Sage Kangaroo - Magestar
24. Salmon Meerkat - Hemalurgist Headshot
25. Sapphire Elephant - Seonid
26. Scarlet Octopus - A Joe in the Bush
27. Sunburst Toucan - Randuir - Vanna
28. Taupe Gecko - Drake Marshall
29. Turquoise Gorilla - Asterion/TheMightyLopen
30. Violet Axolotl - Ripplegylf/Alvron

In addition to the activity passes from voting, we are able to announce the three most active players over the last year, as measured by posting each turn they were alive, in each game they played. These players will also each receive a pass to run a non-Sanderson game. In order of activity, the passes go to Randuir, Stick, and Lopen. Congratulations to all three of you. An honourable mention should be made of Jondesu, who played the most games last year.

Thank you all, once again, for playing. I look forward to another incredible year of Sanderson Elimination!

[Arrae]

Uh, I think something's wrong with the info listed for the Mint Heron account...

[DeTess she/her]

Yeah, I think Heron was Wyrmhero?

Anyway, I've got a pass for being very active over the last year? Well, I'd like to thank my family and friends, as well as Amanuensis for running the first game I took part in.

Also, congratulations and well done to everyone else who won passes. Activity is the life-blood of these games, so those who go above and beyond to keep that lifeblood flowing... I think I lost my metaphor somewhere. Anyway, very well done people!

[RippleGylf she/her]

This was a really cool game to watch from the spec doc. For those wondering, I was the ever-so-mysterious lime green.  I was super impressed with how close it was at the end, since it looked like it was going to be a complete sweep for a while.

...I feel really bad about how Day 2 went. I should have been a lot more calm and logical in how I responded. That, and I had a lot of other stuff stressing me out at the time. It definitely wasn't how I wanted to go out of the game, but I learned from the experience. Hopefully I can do better in upcoming games.