Elitist Answers All

The ClubHouse: The Game II - Discussions: Game II Discussions: Elitist Answers All
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Archive through February 15, 2001 25   02/22 04:54am

Guruchaz

Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 11:02 am Click here to edit this post

Just Kidding.

Elitist

Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 02:22 pm Click here to edit this post

Thanks OI - you set a high standard to emulate.

Elitist

Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 02:42 pm Click here to edit this post

I have gotten some feedback that I seemed to have disappeared or quit playing in the final stages of the game. Thought you might like to know why.

When I first heard that Digi was putting up a Game II, I was interested in playing, but knew the time committment needed was enormous. But talking to her, it seemed that I could probably keep pace by looking in freqently and posting - say 15 minutes here and there throughout the day. I knew I could get to the board through my client's firewall, so that wasn't a problem, and decided to give it a go.

In the game it seemed to be working well. I could spend a few minutes here and there throughout the day catching up on posts and responding, then at night after the kids were in bed I could spend some time doing the same.

Then the game evolved with the addition of the chat room, and even more with the one on ones. Both gamers and viewers seemed to prefer this to the board posts, and the board suffered because of it. I didn't really enjoy the chats so much, especially at first, because they were fairly frivolous, with too many people talking and too little of depth said. And my times to be in chat or one on ones was limited - either at night or during the day on Monday and Friday when I worked out of my own office (can't chat through the client's firewall".

Even this was OK in the early stages, because there were still enough "Day" people to hold a conversation on the board or in a day chat. But as the gamers were narrowed down, the "Night" people predominated. And when I chatted in the day, I was taking away from my billable time to my clients (just a side note - the amount of time I spent in the game not doing billable work would easily have bought me a CD burner, a printer, and Joe's coffee - go figure).

Probably the real killer though happened during the last Spam/Elitist chat. I got two phone calls during that chat - one from the big client boss pushing me on a project, the second from my client contact pushing me on the project. Some asked why I didn't say anything to Spam during her rant - the reason was I was receiving an earfull from my clients at the time.

Even then I still tried to hit the boards - but there was no one to converse with during the day, and I was spending a lot of time on the project. The board - where I had to do most of my communication - was essentially dead during the day. Posting was like talking to yourself, and was really discouraging.

I guess what I see happening really is that the game evolved as it went along, and I could not evolve with it. And as is so often the case in that type of situation, I became extinct.

Guruchaz

Thursday, February 15, 2001 - 03:52 pm Click here to edit this post

E, you didn't become extinct. I fully understand the situation now though. I remember making 2 or 3 posts during the day when I could and seeing you around but it was mainly "post and go" or trying to solve a puzzle. It's not anybody's fault. It was just the way of things. You can only do what you can do. I can see how you would be frustrated at the posts dying out during the day and therefore the conversations.

I guess I was one that always looked forward to the evening chats when everyone got home from work. It may have seemed frivolous to you, but it covered a lot of ground. There were slow times and there were times when the time flew in chat because of the conversations going on. It was just that a lot of people's timing was off through no fault of their own. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm just glad you're still around.

By the way, I would say somewhere between Stage 2 and Stage 3.

Norwican

Friday, February 16, 2001 - 07:22 am Click here to edit this post

I didn't feel you vanished Elit. I preferred board posts especially since I can never be in chat at night. I tried to make it to some day chats... but after a while they became extinct.

At the end when it was just you and Guru around in the day it must have been like talking to yourselves... but hey we were watching!

Glad you explained about the Spam/Elitist chat. I just figured you didn't want to say anything that might inflame the situation even more.
Would you care to share what you would have said?

Elitist

Friday, February 16, 2001 - 12:16 pm Click here to edit this post

I went back and read it, and I don't know now if I would have done anything different. I was definitely distracted at the time, but even if I wasn't, I knew she was raging against the machine so to speak, and there is really nothing you can do when someone gets to that point except listen and pick up the pieces later.

And though the things she said were hurtful, to me they aren't any worse than the things that have been said on the board about the people in the game. The only difference was that she knew she was going to have to face the music for her remarks when she got out, whereas the posters on the outside were cushioned by the players not being able to see their remarks till they got out.

Ocean_Islands

Friday, February 16, 2001 - 01:29 pm Click here to edit this post

Do you think that she faced the music?

Elitist

Friday, February 16, 2001 - 01:49 pm Click here to edit this post

I guess it depends on what you mean by facing the music?

If you mean did she come back and participate to the point that she gave and got criticism - it looks like she did from what I read. Whether it was nice and pretty or not, she did come back and and gave and took it in equal amounts. This is what I meant. I also meant she knew she was going to be banished and knew that when she was she was either going to have to disappear or come back and take the fall-out. I don't really know if she came back to the board immediately or not, or if she was here consistently - but she definitely came back.

Now if you mean did she come out and took criticism and had a change of heart and made amends, I would say no.

Norwican

Friday, February 16, 2001 - 02:57 pm Click here to edit this post

I appreciate you answering the question big guy (note the lower case b and g LOL )

Yes, there were some things said about the game players that must be unpleasant to read. I personally would hope that if any of the game players have a problem with anything I said... that they would communicate that to me.

You kind of make it sound like it's an "us" against "them" kind of thing. I hope that none of the players feel alienated from the people that were outside.

Ocean_Islands

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - 04:54 am Click here to edit this post

There's actually something I can't believe I haven't asked before.

I feel apologetic on bringing this up, but I'm actually just trying to understand where you are coming from, and I can't say I understand yet.

The question is, Why did you offer to give up the immunity? Didn't you want to play the game anymore? If not, why didn't you just quit the game? And why didn't you mention it to me?

Gail

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - 05:45 am Click here to edit this post

I think there was a rule that said you could not quit except for emergencies.

Elitist

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - 08:56 am Click here to edit this post

It is a pretty complicated issue, and I think I addressed most of it in the Red Room I had with the Gator.

Essentially it was this - I felt I had wronged you earlier in the game. I also saw that you were hurt and angry at the nominations, and were doing and saying things that I felt would hurt your image. I also felt you might escalate the things you were doing to a point that not only would it hurt your image, but also hurt your own self-esteem in the long run.

I had no desire for anyone to go on such a destructive path and would rather offer myself up for banishment than see it happen. I did not want to quit the game. I had sweated through two banishments already, and a third would have just been one more - whether I survived or not. If people saw my offer as a noble gesture, I would not have been banished. If they saw it as strategy - as I suspected they would, which has been confirmed - I would have been banished. But I would have known that I did it for the right reasons.

I really did not want my offer to be made public in the first place. I first e-mailed Digi, but she did not respond, so I contacted Nos. Nos said no, but I pleaded, she went to higher authority, and they said no. I kept pleading and then they told me to come to the one-on-one to plead my case. I did not want that published, but I also knew if there was any chance to change their mind I had to do it there.

Why did I not tell you or any of the other players? I just did not think it was appropriate to bring the offer into the game, especially after it was declined, and change the game dynamics. If I told you, would that have made things better or worse? At the time, I think they would have made them worse.

Does that shed any more light on it?

Ocean_Islands

Thursday, February 22, 2001 - 11:12 am Click here to edit this post

Thanks for the response -- it's very interesting.

Some others had made cracks about my 'ruining' some kind of reputation when I was questioning Gator's RR portrayals.

It's interesting because I have not been cultivating a reputation. I am simply being myself. But thanks for being concerned about my image.

Of course there's not much point in going on about 'what ifs' (as well as basically impossible to do so). I have no idea what I would have thought if this had come to my knowledge when I was in the game.

It seems hard to believe it would have gotten worse. Speculation is always interesting, but probably not really productive.

If they had accepted your offer, however, I probably would have taken you up on it. I'm not opposed to gifts. As a 'make-up' for 'earlier wrongs' or something I'm not sure that I would have felt that was appropriate.

I'll have to go and read your red rooms, which I have not done -- that may give me a better understanding.