Here is how it works:
1. GENRE HOPPING: Just to make things interesting, each new post must switch to a different genre style (i.e., Sci-Fi, Horror, Gumshoe Mystery, Romance, Fantasy, Juvenile, Comedy, Anime/Cartoon, Superheroes, etc.). Imitations and parodies of well-known authors are also encouraged. You must announce that genre at the top of your post, before actually beginning.
2. CONTINUITY: A given post must end abruptly, in mid-story, with ellipses (...) and the next person to post MUST pick up immediately where the previous post left off, using their new genre style - after that, all bets are off. You can steer the story wherever you wish, being as conservative, or as crazy as you desire.
3. TURNS: Participants are not allowed to respond to their own posts - after you post, you must wait for at least 1 other person to post before posting again. If 72 hours have passed and no one else has posted – you may post again. To avoid crossing posts, we'll use a 'token key' system - if the thread appears open, and waiting for a response, post "OK, MY TURN" ... after that, you have up to TWO HOURS to make your post. If more than one hour goes by, it's thrown open to all comers who wish to declare it's THEIR turn. However, if nobody else has claimed the turn by the time your delayed post is ready, then go ahead and post it. Once you have grabbed your turn - for your post simply "edit" your turn lock. Dropped tokens will at some stage be edited out...
4. EFFORT: Don’t trivialize - put a little effort into making your post interesting & entertaining, otherwise there's no point in playing. Be as funny, or as serious as you like. The whole point is to have a little mutual fun bouncing around a constantly evolving plot - like a crowd with a beach ball.
5. LENGTH: There is no minimum or maximum length for any given post - provided you can write it in less than 2 hours.
6. RATING: The forum is essentially PG13 - we will exercise some latitude in this area - but if you wish to cross the line you do so at the risk of censorship!
Scoring Rules:
1] Post count [This is more for keeping an easy eye on active participants]
2] Originality [Has this material been used before on this thread]
3] Continuity [Did this post successfully close on the preceding post]
4] Guideline Breakers [As above - should be obvious]
5] Bonus Points [WOTD, answer to other game (MQG, 20QG, etc...) etc...]
Each post is eligible for 1 point in each category - The idea with category 4] of course is to keep your score low! The person with the most points during a given week can gain a Sherlock point.
The guidelines are just that: a list of recommendations that make the game fun and exciting. The scoring rules are for those who are overly competitive and want to keep score in every thing they do, you don’t want to know what else they keep score on. If you are not the competitive type just ignore your score, don’t sweet it. Any and all comments to posts should be put in the corresponding 2008 Volleyball Comment thread.
For historical archival purposes, here are links to all previous volleyball threads thus far, in reverse chronological order:
Volleyball 2007 (1 page
) Volleyball 2007 - Commentary (1 page)
Volleyball 2006 (1 page
) Volleyball 2006 - Commentary (4 pages)
Volleyball 2005(3 pages)
Volleyball 2005 – Commentary (17 pages)
Volleyball 2004 (5 pgs)
Volleyball 2004 - commentary (27 pgs)
Volleyball 2003 (5 pgs)
Volleyball 2003 - commentary(10 pgs)
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Righto, let's have a good level of participation this year! Things seem to have fallen along the wayside over the past two years or so (and not just in this thread). So let's bring it back! Yay!
Um, yeah just post away I guess. Anyone's welcome to start, but I will scratch something together in the next few days if no one is keen to start off.
[Edit: De'sticky'd in 2009. - Brad, 2009-Jan-31]
