Vollyball 2003 - commentary

Post by **Darb** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 10:27 am

C'mon guys ... don't tell me you've run out of gas already

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:13 pm

Oh, I've plenty of gas...it's just coming out the wrong end.

hippie52 · Post by **hippie52** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:20 pm

Just dropped in to see what condition the condition was in. I've had two problems lately that precluded my participation.

First is this @%#* dial-up ISP service. I can't get a decent bps lately and may likely go to cable. New addition built behind us and the phone company is only concerned with telephone service unless, of course, you use their overpriced DSL.

The second is a family issue that may bring my wife's nephew to live with us. This, of course, is eating up a lot of time, energy and emotion that precludes writing.

SO, if I'm not around much for the next few weeks, it's not a lack of gas, just that I'm zipping around on other projects. Or -- it's a lack of gas in my ISP.

Bernie · Post by **Bernie** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:13 am

hey can i put a request in here?
(e.g Can you please write something about Arnold schwartzenegar dying a horrible and painfull death, while being tickled by me, {insert name here} then being revived by aliens who take him back to wherever he came from?)

(e.g. ii, Brad_H can you please include these words in your next volleyball post; melon, squashed, triskaidekaphobia, gollum etc, etc.)

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:11 pm

Sorry guys. I couldn't take it any longer. I was bored with that one.

Maybe we can move off in some new and interesting direction....

Post by **Darb** » Wed Mar 17, 2004 3:56 pm

I like that idea (of forcing the next poster to include a few interesting words, laid out up front) ... it makes it a little more challenging.

hippie52 · Post by **hippie52** » Sat Apr 03, 2004 8:53 pm

There it is folks. Terra virgina. Can't say as I'll be around a whole lot, but I can give it a start.

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:38 am

[MOD ALERT: Similar threads merged. -- Brad, 4-Jan-2005]

I really enjoyed reading the original one and wanted to ask if anyone felt like another game.

I don't know if the old thread petered out because it had been going for so long, or because there weren't enough participants, or if everyone just felt the horse had been beaten to death or what - but I think it's a fine game.

I thought perhaps imposing a word limit on each entry, say, 100 words or so - would help to keep things moving along briskly (and teach everyone brevity to boot).

Any opinions?

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 2:03 pm

I like the idea of Volleyball, Part Two. It would give us a chance to start afresh--without having to read through all those posts! However, I feel a mere one hundred words to be a bit skimpy...I don't know. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. It'd be nice to get Volleyball rolling again--and with more participants.

Post by **Darb** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 4:03 pm

I've been scare in the vollyball thingee because life has been very hectic for me since last October. Hopefully things will improve for me for a while in the short term. If so, I'll be able to participate more.

As for the 100 word limit ... that's a bit tight. I think we'd be better off just having a consecutive post limit ... except in the event of a set period of time lapsing without anyone else posting (2 days ?)

Ok, leaving ... I'm way overdue on departing for the weekend.

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 6:27 pm

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.). 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 an elipsis (...) 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. 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 ONE HOUR 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.
n.b. - 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: Dont 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 1 hour.

6. RATING: The forum is essentially PG13 - we will exercise some lattitude in this area - but if you wish to cross the line you do so at the risk of censorship!

Well, here are the old Volleyball rules. Anyone is welcome to suggest changes/additions--or we can just keep it as is...

Post by **KiltanneN** » Fri Apr 23, 2004 7:46 pm

OK - one thing I noticed on the previous vollyball - was that rule #1 was only given a cursory observance.

We could have done a great deal better - maybe we could keep it fun and alive by keeping a leaderboard going...

There are a few things that this could depend on - but should have a somewhat impartial judge - ie someone not participating who can keep the scoreboard up... [Volunteer anyone?] It should be possible to have someone who has previously participated drop out temporarily to be rotated in as a guest judge. This would give the main judge a bit of time off and a chance to occasionaly participate themself...

I would suggest that we maintain a commentary and the vollyball field itself - just like last time.

Scoring Rules: [My suggestions only - feel free to say bad idea, & or change the suggestions utterly or at the very least, add to them]

there shall be a multistage scoring system
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] Humour [Can this post be considered truly funny]
4] Continuity [Did this post successfully close on the preceding post]
5] Rule Breakers [should be obious...

]

Each post is eligable for 1 point in each category - The idea with category 5] of course is to keep your score low!

SO - what do y'all think?

kilt

Post by **Ghost** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 12:19 am

Kilt,

Iâ€™m a reader not a writer (sounds like MJ)

. I will not be participating. I finished reading the previous volleyball thread and I found it very entertaining.

I tend to like almost everything I read though and may score too leniently for some of you. If no one with more experience volunteers, Iâ€™ll be the judge and try my best to be fair.

felonius · Post by **felonius** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 2:22 am

The word limit was just a thought. I'm okay with it if entries are longer. In the original thread it just seemed as if the volleys were short and sweet and quick at the beginning, then gradually lengthened and lost a bit of momentum. Mais je n'ai pas du probleme.

Original rules are fine by me, and I agree with Kilt that rule no. 1 should be followed more closely.

Scoring isn't something I like to get too preoccupied with - to me a game like this is more about laughing and feeding off each other's ideas - but the system Kilt outlined seems appropriate.

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 9:00 am

So, should the scoreboard be in the commentary section?

And how do we decide which genre to hop to--or is that up to the poster?

Post by **KiltanneN** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 9:06 am

Aunflin wrote:So, should the scoreboard be in the commentary section?

And how do we decide which genre to hop to--or is that up to the poster?

Commentary section - yes I would think so

Genre - definately up to the poster...

kilt

Aunflin · Post by **Aunflin** » Sat Apr 24, 2004 9:18 am

I guess I'll lock the previous Volleyball/Commentary threads, so as to prevent confusion.

And then we can get started afresh.

The Internet Book Database of Fiction

Vollyball 2003 - commentary

How about a fresh Volleyball For Writers thread?