Next competition

**Donald Jonker** · November 6, 2008, 13:05

Originally posted by Nick

The competition has declined somewhat in popularity from when it started; if anyone has any ideas of changes that could be made, or comments on the general idea, or anything else relevant to say, this might be a good place to do it (as opposed to, say, telling a random stranger on the bus).

I think one way to cause a major spike in popularity would be to have the competition hosted here at oook. I realize I'm nominating pav for a lot of extra work, but I just want to throw it out there.

Having a special ladder organized around the parameters of the competition (ie. first by max depth, second by min turncount) would give people a constant index to see what they're up against, and spur them to compete. If there were a big message on the front page of the site reminding folks about the competition I think you'd reach a lot more people that either missed the announcement on rgra or simply forgot about it.

Lastly, I think it would be worthwhile to make slightly more advanced characters as the starting point (I believe this suggestion was made on rgra). I believe that having an excuse to savescum from an advanced stage in the game would entice people to play a variant that isn't their particular cup of tea. Of course, not many people who get so far will want to offer their savefile to the masses, but it would be nice.

**pav** · November 6, 2008, 15:36

I like the competition-centric mini ladder idea!

**Mangojuice** · November 6, 2008, 19:07

Originally posted by pav

I like the competition-centric mini ladder idea!

It might also be worth its own separate forum?

I wouldn't mind seeing a character that starts beyond the first few levels, but higher than that seems like a waste to me. The low levels can in some ways be the most interesting, though it's a phase that goes by quickly.

**Aristobulus** · November 6, 2008, 19:28

I think a competition would be great fun, so long as you have a way of checking up on the other entrants. That way I feel kinda plugged in- instead of just playing a normal game by myself. Maybe have all the entrants post an update of their progress every day or so.

I've never been in a competition, so I don't know if those are reasonable ideas or not- but it sounds like fun!

**Djabanete** · November 6, 2008, 19:45

Originally posted by Donald Jonker

Lastly, I think it would be worthwhile to make slightly more advanced characters as the starting point (I believe this suggestion was made on rgra). I believe that having an excuse to savescum from an advanced stage in the game would entice people to play a variant that isn't their particular cup of tea. Of course, not many people who get so far will want to offer their savefile to the masses, but it would be nice.

I'll submit a Human Warrior at depth 45 or so this evening.

**pav** · November 7, 2008, 00:50

Ok there's now a new forum section for competitions.

Nick, get in touch with me over email and we'll set up something for the competitions here outside the forums.

**Nick** · November 7, 2008, 02:02

Originally posted by pav

Ok there's now a new forum section for competitions.

Nick, get in touch with me over email and we'll set up something for the competitions here outside the forums.

Cool. I'll email you later today (my time). Meanwhile I'll go over and light a fire under the people on rgra

**buzzkill** · November 7, 2008, 04:35

Originally posted by Donald Jonker

I think one way to cause a major spike in popularity would be to have the competition hosted here at oook. I realize I'm nominating pav for a lot of extra work, but I just want to throw it out there.

This is a great idea. Though I was a aware of, and bookmarked, the competition page, I rarely visited it (and never entered a competition).

I'm also fully on board with frequent, mini-ladder updates. This will make it feel much more like a competition, rather than a blind auction.

Another idea might be to to have 3 or 4 competitions running simultaneously, but staggered. Maybe start a competition in a different variant every week or so, just in case the current competition isn't ones cup of tea. That way one wouldn't have to wait weeks/months for a new competition to begin.

**Djabanete** · November 7, 2008, 08:51

Originally posted by Djabanete

I'll submit a Human Warrior at depth 45 or so this evening.

Or maybe I'll just die instead.

Edit: Nick, I want to submit an Entro guy --- would you prefer a starting-level character, or as Donald suggested, someone a bit deeper?

**Nick** · November 7, 2008, 12:57

Originally posted by Djabanete

would you prefer a starting-level character, or as Donald suggested, someone a bit deeper?

A little deeper but not too advanced? It might also be nice to have a little blurb about the variant on the competition page, so people who haven't played Entro (or whatever) before will have some idea of what to expect.

**awldune** · November 7, 2008, 17:58

I have always been interested to try a competition, but am discouraged by all the unfamiliar variants.

What if each month there were a V competition and also another one with a variant that changes every time?

**awldune** · November 7, 2008, 18:00

Out of curiosity, how are the savefiles created?

It would be handy if we knew a way to hack the savefile to turn off the "cheater" bit so that Wizard mode could be used.

**Aristobulus** · November 7, 2008, 19:18

Ahhhg, you make it sound so easy. "I'll submit a depth 45 char tonight"

I can hardly make it past 300' without getting canned by orcs.

**Donald Jonker** · November 7, 2008, 20:38

Nick, I've emailed you a save file for an Oangband-110u High-Elf Assassin. He's at clev 15, 1500' with no resists. Comments are welcome (from everybody).