OOC Seminar: Quidditch
----------------------
When: January 31, 2005
Summary: Pixie presents the draft version of the new quidditch policies.
People ask questions and make some suggestions about additions and
changes.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Pixie says, "Okay! Welcome everyone to the quidditch seminar. We haven't had
one of these for quite a while, and we're actually going to be changing
several policies this year, so I thought it was about time."

Dougal says "We still get to threaten people with severe bodily harm, I hope."

Pixie laughs. "The playing of the game will stay the same."

Pixie says, "Basically, our goal is to make certain things about quidditch
more transparent to the players. So I've written up some (hopefully) clear
policies on how people are chosen for teams, and how the stats we use during
the games are going to be determined."

Dougal ahs, cool.

Pixie says, "This is in a newsfile that will be posted very soon. Tonight I'm
going to go over the contents of the news, and give you all a chance to
comment on it and ask questions and stuff before the final revision."

Diarmuid says "Nifty."

Pixie says, "So, to begin, let me quote in the first part of the file. Spam
incoming!"

Dougal puts on a helmet, dives behind the beanbag.

Valentine keeps an eye out for an 'If playername=Val, 2*chance of random
catastrophe' line

|| The following applies to school quidditch only. Professional quidditch is
|| not generally played on camera and joining those teams is a matter of
|| choosing a career.
||
|| First, some terminology:
|| * The Player - the person sitting at the keyboard. A Player may have more
|| than one Character eligible for a quidditch team.
|| * The Character - the OC or FC who is a witch or wizard, attends a
|| wizarding school, and wants to play quidditch.
||
|| When quidditch teams are formed, information about both Players and
|| Characters are taken into account.
||
|| Requirements for Players
|| 1. RP Ability that is up to snuff.
|| * You must be able to spell and write coherent poses to play quidditch.
|| * You must display an ability to RP with others without having your
|| character be the constant center of attention.
|| * You must display reasonable reading comprehension skills, because a
|| quidditch game is a fast paced situation where sequence of events
|| matters, and characters are reacting quickly to everyone else on the
|| pitch.
|| 2. Reliability
|| * Does the Player make an effort to show up for events at which his/her
|| Characters ought to be present?
|| * (Previous Quidditch Players ONLY) Has the Player shown up for games
|| at which his or her Character was a participant?
||
|| Failure to meet the above standards will result in the Player's characters
|| not being named to a team, for the good of the game and the other
|| characters who are playing.
||
|| The best way to demonstrate that a Player fills the above criteria is to
|| show up for events whenever possible, to RP in public as much as possible,
|| and to submit logs regularly to the log list.
||

Tabitha falls over.

Diarmuid says "oh yeah, are those random things still gonna happen this
season?"

Timmy kicks Tabby while she's down.

Tabitha bites Timmy's leg, refuses to let go.

Kerwin says "What if I'm not sitting at the keyboard?"

Valentine threatens to lock Timmy in a room with Sally unless he apologizes.

Pixie says "Definitely! Didn't you love them all? If people have ideas for new
ones, please send them to me. The old ones get a bit repetative."

Diarmuid says "They got a bit silly when they'd happen all the time, but it
was fun."

Paul mutters about those random things, but likes them much, too.

Tabitha sulks. "Random events /taunted/ me with the snitch."

Rene says "Random Event: You're struck by a sudden urge to fly by the faculty
stands and blow Umbridge a kiss."

Pixie says, "So are there any questions about this?"

Pixie eeeews.

Dougal concurs with that expression of disgust.

Valentine grins. "Well...maybe if you kiss the toad she'll turn into something
else. A cockroach, perhaps?"

Pixie | Player slams into the ground at 60mph instead, no longer having the
will to live.

Dougal laughs!

Tabitha snerks!

Dougal says "Save that one for Paul."

Paul says "Wouldn't that be random suicide plan, Rene?"

Dougal says "Trying to turn her into something more pleasant, Valentine? :P"

Paul whacks Dougal with the bat. "Nah. I'm strong enough to live through it
all." ;)

Valentine says "I -am- trying. I really am. But it's so -haaaard-"

Dougal whacks Paul with Valentine.

Pixie says, "Concerns? Anything you'd like to see also added as an OOC
requirement?"

Valentine is not a beater's tool. Pix: I can't think of anything else.

Tabitha says "Random event: Player catches a glimpse of Umbridge and has to
pause to toss their cookies. :) None here, Pixie."

Dougal says "Maybe a note on post-tryout complaints/hostility?"

Dougal says "OOCwise."

Pixie hmms. "Could you give an example of what you mean, Dougal?"

Dougal says "I've heard more than I can remember seeing of people who have
sometimes complained publically (on channels, generally, I believe) or
directly to the people who get spots on the teams about not getting on in
place of whoever did."

Dougal thinks a note to not be bad losers might just be a thought to add. I
don't know if it's really necessary or not, but it's just a suggestion. :P

Pixie says, "Ah. Yeah. I've got something more like that toward the end of the
entry (after we go through the IC requirements), but maybe a bit more could
go in there, too."

Dougal okays.

Pixie says, "Okay. If there's no further comments on that bit, I'll paste in
another chunk."

Tabitha braces herself.

| All Players who pass those standards and request a spot on a team will be
| considered. From this pool of Characters, teams are ICly formed by the
| Heads of House. The Headmaster/Headmistress has ultimate Veto power over
| whether or not a Character is ICly eligible to play at all. The Heads of
| House may or may not request input from their team captains.
|
| Requirements for Characters
|
| The Characters who are Heads of House make their decisions based on their
| interaction with the Characters who tried out for their House teams. Most
| of the time, their goal will be to make the best team possible, and so
| they will ICly choose those characters who appear to be the best quidditch
| players.
|
| Because each Head of House is a different character with a distinct
| personality, there is thus no single list of requirements that would
| guarantee a spot on the team. But there are some things a character can
| do to up his or her chances.
| * Don't annoy the Head of House. If they think a student is a
| troublemaker, they are unlikely to put them on the team.
| * Don't do something foolish at the tryouts. There are a lot of
| students in each house. If a student crashes into the ground at the
| quidditch trials, even though they are generally quite good at
| quidditch, the Head of House isn't necessarily going to know this.
| They have only the crash by which to evaluate.
| * Don't annoy the Headmaster/Headmistress. This person has authority
| over your House Head, and can force them to keep a student off the
| team.
| * Don't ask for a position for which your character is not ICly fit. For
| instance, as a rule, boys who have hit puberty are going to make much
| better beaters than younger boys or girls of any age. This is not a
| hard and fast rule, but if your description is that of a frail
| waif, do not be surprised when you are passed over for Beater.

Valentine rofls. Gryffindor's team is going to consist of Bronst, Iverson, and
Rene.

Pixie laughs. "Well... there are certain limits. Umbridge and Snape may prefer
to just cancel Gryffindor quidditch altogether, but the Powers that Be
wouldn't let them go that far. The HoH players do try to hunt for an IC
reason to let characters on the teams, too."

Sally says "They'll look good in pink, at least."

Tabitha says "Have I annoyed Umbridge? Aside from the whole cheating
scandal, which is /so/ not true. :)"

Dougal thought Umbridge and Snape /were/ the powers that be.

Timmy fehs quietly, "Cheaters!" ;)

Dougal says "That's true. They should change the Gryffindor colors to bright
pink and orange."

Conner sticks his tongue out at Tim. :P

Dougal says "Or a pastel purple."

Sally weeps.

Valentine hrrumphs. And yet we'd still look better than you ruddy slythies:P

Dougal says "With a floral design."

Conner comforts SAlly.

Dougal says "And bunny hats."

Dougal says "Pink bunny hats."

Conner says "The pain, oh the pain."

Sally just curls up in a corner and twitches.

Pixie says, "They are, except for the Governors, Dougal."

Tabitha patpats Sally.

Dougal says "...I'm guessing that means no pink Gryffindor?"

Pixie snickers. "Just don't give any of those ideas to Viviane, or she will
wear them on her own."

Dougal snerks.

Valentine coos. When the frenchies come back, we get to make fun of 'em:)

Rene says "That just might make the Beauxbatons uniform look good."

Conner is a Gryffindor boy, not a cross-dresser, Dougal. :)

Dougal says "We could just put the whole team in pink bloomers."

Dougal says "Oh, there's a difference?"

Conner scowls.

Dougal says "You set that one up on your own."

Conner walks back to his corner of the room and mutters, "Jehrk."

Paul says "And here I always thought they were the Grief-indoors..."

Dougal says "They're pretty much grief everywhere."

Valentine says "It's our holy mission, doncha know"

Dougal says "To be crossdressers?"

Pixie says, "..."

Valentine says "Crossdressers in Griefs. Anyhow, back to quidditch:)"

Pixie says, "If there's no comments on this bit, I'll move along to the next."

Conner gives Pixie the thumbs up.

Pixie says, "And the end of this section of the new newsfile:"

| Seniority counts for much in school quidditch: the players from last year
| have spent a year practicing with each other and playing against
| comparable rivals. Even if other students not on the team have been
| practicing, the previous year's players should have developed just as much
| over the course of the year, if not more. In general, the Head of House
| will be ICly inclined to keep veteran players around. However, this is
| not a guarantee.
|
| If, as an eligible Player, you find that your Character
| is not going to make the team for an IC reason, you are welcome and
| encouraged to have a different Character try out for a team. There are
| currently no limits as to how many Characters one can have ICly try out
| for quidditch.
|
| The OOC goal of everyone involved in the decision making process is
| twofold. (1) to make sure that as many Players who want to play Quidditch
| are given a spot on a team. (2) to make sure that the quidditch teams are
| peopled with responsible Players who will make the games fun for everyone
| to play and watch.

Valentine says "One question. Any idea on -when- the games will be hosted this
round?"

Valentine says "Or will the times be posted before try-outs?"

Pixie says, "Games are typically posted about 1 week in advance. They are
almost always at 8pm ET, but occasionally move up or down an hour. Day of
week varies."

Valentine nods and mms.

Pixie says, "For several IC years, they were on Sunday evenings at 7pm ET, but
that time seemed suddenly to be bad for people, so we moved out of that slot
and into the week."

Pixie says, "Once the teams are made, if people have times they would really
like to see games occur, go ahead and send them along. But because of east
coast bedtimes, 9:30pm ET is about the latest we can start on a weekday."

Valentine nods. Sounds good:)

Paul mutters about bedtimes. "Who needs them?" ;)

Dougal says "Growing boys."

Conner nods. That's code-talk for Slytherin boys.

Kerwin refrains from a comment.

Pixie says, "One thing I wanted to point out about the last bit is not really
a policy change, but a clarification of our original policy which had gotten
a bit muddled over the years. In the past, we had said that people on the
team the year before were guaranteed their slots back. This came with a lot
of caveats: if you didn't idle out, if you showed up for games, if you
didn't make it ICly impossible for your HoH to put you on the team. So as
you'll note above, we're no longer saying anything is guaranteed. You will
-most likely- be on the team again the next year, as long as you pass the
OOC hurdle and your HoH hasn't decided they hate you."

Paul tosses a herring at Kerwin.

Timmy eyeshifts, sinks into the shadows.

Valentine whistles innocently.

Dougal says "Boy, I'm glad nobody hates me, then."

Diarmuid says "I remember someone last year who got replaced and was miffed.
But I think they'd idled out or something."

Valentine says "Mareena?"

Diarmuid says "Yeah."

Valentine heard it was cause she'd icly yelled at Black or something. Meh.

Timmy watches the Hogwarts Rumor Mill in action.

Paul says "Moulin Rumouge"

Tengu says "Doesn't everyone yell at Black?"

Valentine says "Not the Emu, as far as I can tell"

Sally says "It squawks at him instead."

Dougal says "They do as emus do, true."

Pixie says, "Okay! That concludes the 'how to join the team' portion of the
newsfile. The next new part is about how we determine the stats that are
used in the games. In the past, we haven't told people what theirs were, but
the numbers will now be public, more or less. People will be able to easily
figure out what they are."

Paul ooohs.

Dougal says "Behind the scenes exposed, and such."

Pixie says, "Rather than quote the whole newsfile, which is a bit repetative,
I'm just going to do a a section of it and give you the info from the rest
in a summary."

Valentine says "Is the newsfile already posted?"

| Quidditch Games on Alere Flammas are RPed by the players under the
| guidance of a GM. During gameplay, the players submit proposed actions to
| the GM, who uses pre-determined stats and random rolls to decide if the
| action has succeeded or failed. The player then poses the result of the
| action and other players react to it.
|
| Except in the case of forfeit (no players from a team showing up to play),
| the outcome of games is not predetermined. A team may have a statistical
| advantage if they have more experienced students, but there is no
| guarantee that this advantage will cause a win. However, all is not
| completely random, as it is the players who decide what actions will be
| performed, and it is possible that the right combination of attempts will
| lead to a better outcome than a different sequence.
|
| The purpose of this article is to outline the rules by which the base
| statistics are currently determined, and the ways in which these can be
| increased by an interested player.
|
| On camera practices are neither required nor expected, though they are
| encouraged. It is assumed that each team is practicing regularly off
| camera.
|
| Please note that the information below does not take into account the
| complexities of gameplay, during which the base statistic may be affected
| by the interfering (or assisting) actions of other quidditch players.
|
| Keepers
| -------
| Keepers begin with a base threshold of 30 their first year
| of play in that position. This means that all else being equal, when the
| GM rolls out of 100, if the number is less than 30, they have succeeded.
| If the number is greater than 30, they have failed.
|
| For every year a Character remains in the Keeper position, they increase
| their base threshold by 5.
|
| For every log submitted by the Keeper's player and approved to go on
| the log site which shows them practicing the position, they can increase
| their base statistic by 1, up to a total of 3 per school year.
|

Paul jumps into his foxhole before ducking under this flow of info. ;)

Dougal says "...where he is promptly eaten by... rabid foxes."

Conner scoops out to take care of the baby.

Pixie says, "For Beaters, the numbers are 25/40 (<25 being success, <40 being
the annoying 'hits it at X but X can dodge'). Increase by 5 every year, can
increase by 3 via logs. If you're very built, you can argue your way into a
35/50 starting stat your first year."

Pixie says, "For Chasers, the number is 35, same deal with the increases and
logs."

Dougal says "You'd have to be, like... Crabbe/Goyle behemoth built, though,
aye?"

Pixie says "For Seekers, you start at 5, and increase by 3 each year. Same
deal with logs."

Pixie says, "Mmm. I never got the impression they were athletically built,
just wall-like. More like the Weasley twins. Stocky, with good upper body
strength."

Valentine says "Quick question. Say a character is created in the fourth year,
but was supposed to have been on the team for the previous three years. Or
was on the reserves for three years. How does that work?"

Timmy nods, would never argue that Crabbe and Goyle were well built for being
beaters. Just malicious enough. ;)

Kerwin says "What if you switch positions? If I was a Chaser for 5 years and
then change to Beater, do I get the same stats as a 2nd year Beater? Apart
from the build."

Tabitha says "I was just about to ask that. :)"

Pixie says, "If you're taking over an NPC who was on the team before, their
stats would reflect their previous play. Reservists... good question. I
didn't add anything in for their improvement, and probably should do so."

Pixie says, "That's what I was planning on, Kerwin. Unless you lot can argue
with me that somehow experience at a wholly different position should count
somehow."

Dougal thinks it might make sense that playing for a while would help build up
your musculature to the point where a Chaser could hop to Beater.

Valentine nods with Dougal. And a Chaser would definitely have an easier time
switching to seeker than, say...a keeper or a beater.

Dougal says "And being on a team a while, you do get at least moderately used
to what the other players do... you have to, to work in concert, I think."

Pixie says, "Well, if you've improved your build, you could argue for the 35
start. But I don't think you ought to get to claim 5 years of experience at
quidditch when you're playing a new position."

Pixie says, "Used to what they're doing, yes, but actually doing it yourself?
Your rhythms would be off. The Beater's job, what they're looking for and
doing is really not at all the same as a Chaser."

Paul says "It's only much better? ;)"

Kerwin says "I don't think you should have the same stats as a 5 years beater,
but I do think you should have better than a new player. You've played with
the team before, you've probably practiced at that position on occasion.
You've certainly watched other people at that position closely. Like if
you're a Chaser helping to train a Keeper, you're learning the Keeper
position by watching and adapting your shots."

Sally says "Maybe you could get half your previous experience added on, or
something, if you switched positions. They'd still have a better handle on
the game than someone who was completely new, even if they wouldn't be as
used to the position."

Valentine says "Nope. But two seeker skills (1) aggressive flying, and (2)
avoiding bludgers are very similar to those used by chasers. So there should
either be a bonus for chaser<---> seeker, or a penalty for beater<--->seeker"

Kerwin says "And you have experience in the fast-pace of the game. Dodging
bludgers is an important skill in every position."

Valentine says "Except being a beater. That's what the bat's for."

Dougal only meant that it would be easier for more experienced players to
switch, maybe.

Pixie says, "I'm not really convinced that all of the skills translate so
well. You might be more familiar with the team, but again, I think it would
confuse the -team- to have you in a different position, also. If they're
used to you being a Chaser, and they see you ahead of them, their deep
seated instincts are going to be 'pass to Kerwin!', and they'll have to
counter that impulse."

Valentine ponders. "Now, if we dressed our seekers in pastel pink, that should
do the trick." *ducks and flees*

Kerwin says "Pass at me and I'll hit it with my bat. :)"

Valentine woos. Coolness. Can a beater do that and score?

Paul says "That's an idea. Hit the Bludger at the flying Quaffle. ;)"

Valentine was just going to say hit the quaffle. You've got a 25-40 chance of
braining the keeper with it, and a 70 chance of making it through the hoops
(against a firstie). Funfun.

Valentine coughs. But I digress. Way digress.

Dougal thinks only Chasers can score.

Pixie says, "So, can I get a show of hands? Who here feels very strongly that
someone's accumulated experience points should transfer with them to a new
position?" Those people say 'Transfer'. And who here feels very strongly
that someone's experience should -not- transfer with them to a new position?
Those people say 'No'. And if you don't care, just meh or something."

Dougal believes a certain amount should. So... transno.

Paul says "Partly Transfer, I'd say."

Valentine says "Part transfer"

Diarmuid says "I agree with a partial transfer."

Hagrid thinks partial transfer too.

Diarmuid says "Maybe half the improvements they'd earned are retained and then
added to the starting stats for the new position."

Valentine says "Total transfer if reservist to position though."

Timmy says "I think it depends on the position. Keeper to Chaser would be
easier than Beater to Keeper methinks."

Pixie hmms, "I think half is too much to retain. I'm thinking a max of +5 year
improvements, and +3 log improvements. None at all if you transfer to
Seeker."

Dougal says "Maybe it should be figured individually for each character."

Pixie says, "Then you'd start out as if you'd one year of experience, so ahead
of newbies."

Diarmuid says "Even that's better than nothing. If we're saying that basic
game-playing skills do transfer, then all of that could be learned in one
year."

Sally says "Partly Transfer, aye. Semi-trans, that'd be?"

Dougal says "Not too many people seem to switch positions, I think..."

Valentine blinks. Might be better to look at that on this after we see what's
planned for the rest of the positions, Dougal

Valentine is incoherent. Look at that -after- we see, that's supposed to be.

Pixie says, "Now, Valentine made a valid point about reservists moving into
first string. I don't know as a reservist should increase at the same rate a
first string player does. Since they're not actually doing the work of
showing up for games, either ICly or OOCly."

Kerwin says "Partial Transfer, yea."

Sally noddles. "I'd think reservists should get a partial transfer too when
they move up, but not as much as someone who was on the team."

Diarmuid says "Maybe the reservists don't get the +5, but they can earn the +3
if they submit logs?"

Valentine says "But what if the reservist does oocly/icly show up and actually
plays...say...2/3 the games.?"

Pixie says, "Then they would be a first string player, not a reservist."

Valentine says "Fine, 1/3 games"

Pixie says, "If you're on the reserves, you don't ICly play in a game. If
you're playing, that means you were moved up to first string to replace
someone."

Tengu says "I think reserves get a partial thing too, not necessarily the same
partial."

Valentine ponders. So you don't get put in as a reservist if someone gets
knocked out or something?

Pixie says, "You can't make substitutions during a game. That's illegal in
quidditch."

Rene has another question, not directly related to the issue at hand.

Valentine ahs.

Pixie likes the idea of the reservists with the log bonuses. That works for
me, personally.

Pixie says, "Rene? What's your question?"

Rene says "Does Jr. Quidditch (or Beauxbatons) get you anything? And where do
brooms factor in?"

Pixie says, "Junior quidditch doesn't get you anything statwise, no. The level
of gameplay is completely different. What it gets you is a chance to try out
and be on the team as a first year, which is the only way you can hit max
stats by your 7th."

Rene says "That's true. I didn't think of that."

Pixie says, "You were on the Beauxbatons team last year and played in an on
camera game. That's being on a school team for a year."

Pixie says, "Brooms... are problematic. For the most part, we've been ignoring
them, because it gets us into arguments with players when we tell them 'You
can't control that Firebolt!' and they say 'OMGISOCAN!!!11!!'.

Valentine blinks. What was that?

Pixie says, "So... at this point, unless someone specifically tells us they're
on a very very crappy broom, we're not really taking that into account."

Valentine says "Never mind"

Dougal laughs over Pixie's OMGISOCAN.

Kerwin donates a bunch of crappy brooms to the girls.

Sally snickers. "Anyhoo, I was wondering something else about reservists."

Pixie says, "Shoot, Sally."

Sally says "What if a first-string player is ICly injured or otherwise can't
make one game, and it's known ahead of time? Could you sub a reservist in
then, just for that game?"

Paul says "Good question."

Timmy would think that's what the Reserves are for...

Valentine watches as all the Reservists start trying to get their hands on
Harding's pipes.

Sally eye-shifts, buys some knee pads.

Paul grins at Valentine. "And all that got Harding was a trip to the worst
place on Earth(Hamar)" ;)

Valentine snarks.

Pixie says, "ICly, yes, it is. OOCly it's a bit of a problem because in the
past, we've sometimes stuck players who really aren't quite up to being
first string into the reserves. Mostly because their RP is still subpar, but
they're obviously trying. Sticking them in a game can be a headache for
everyone. There's also the fact that Draco's whining notwithstanding, and
Cho's mysterious injuries that were never quite adequately explained --
wizards aren't usually injured for that long. The games are very far apart,
so even if you're injured in one game, you should be just fine by the next."

Pixie says, "But on the other hand, a lot of times we end up with really good
players on the reserves, especially for the more crowded teams, so if you
want to swap out like that, it should be okay."

Pixie isn't a big fan of the injury plot.

Valentine blinks. Injury plot?

Dougal says "Wham, I r hurt."

Pixie hehs. Pretty much.

Paul hurts... Nevermind, Dougal would just like it. ;)

Valentine blinkblinks.

Dougal beams.

Tengu laughs.

Pixie says, "Valentine, injuries, while they can be great RP, are often used
as copouts and excuses. You can't think of anything else to do? Ohno, my arm
is broken. Or, you missed the snitch? It must be because I... fell off my
broom and broke all of my ribs!"

Dougal says "Want attention? Alas, my spleen!"

Tengu says "Quidditch is a harsh sport, but it's mostly because wizards can
handle it."

Valentine ahs.

Venom mmms, "Spleen!"

Valentine ponders. So does that mean we can knock each other silly and not get
bloody noses?

Pixie says, "No, it means that if you break your arm, you don't get to hang
around the hospital wing for 3 days because of it. Healed in an hour, off
you go to class, young man." :)

Valentine says "Alas! I shall simply have to spend 3 days whining about it
then. That'll be just as good."

Diarmuid laughs at Dougal belatedly.

Sally knocks Valentine silly.

Paul says "Wouldn't that only be one little touch, Sally?"

Valentine is already -very- silly. Anyhow...where were we...just finished
seekers, right? :)

Valentine coughspluttertoestamps Paul.

Pixie says, "So anyway, to sum up, if a regular player has told you in advance
they can't make the game, it's fine if you want to come up with a reason why
they can't ICly make it. Just be creative about it."

Kerwin says "Cramps."

Pixie says, "Well, unless there were any other comments about the stats in
general, I think we're about ready to wrap up. To sum up the changes that
people suggested: Instead of taking none of their increases with them when
people change positions, they'll instead keep up to a year's worth. And
reservists, while they don't get the automatic year increases of +5, /can/
accumulate the log +3's every year and apply them once they become first
string."

Kerwin says "With the boys on our team, that would be a very reasonable
excuse. :)"

Timmy snerks.

Pixie says, "..."

Valentine says "What're the numbers for chasers?"

Pixie | Pixie says, "For Chasers, the number is 35, same deal with the
increases and logs."

Dougal says "Pixie says, "For Chasers, the number is 35, same deal with the
increases and logs."

Dougal uhs.

Pixie wins!

Dougal pays up.

Pixie woohoo, I'm rich!

Valentine says "Is that for shooting, passing, intercepting, all of the above?"

Paul takes pictures, sends them to the Ministry.

Timmy says "He paid you entirely in dandruff."

Dougal says "Yeah, yours."

Diarmuid says "I think those were the suggestions, yes, Pix. Thanks for
letting us have input into those decisions. :)"

Pixie says, "All of the above in the most basic sense. In actual play we take
into account the rolls of people who're passing the quaffle they're trying
to intercept and so on."

Valentine says "So how does that work against a keeper? There's a 35 or 40 or
whatever chance of getting the shot anywhere near the hoop...and if it
passes that test then the keeper's 30-60 chance kicks in?"

Valentine says "Or a 35 instant-chance of it going in, and if the instant
fails then the keeper rolls? Or..."

Diarmuid says "well, the keeper always rolls to block a shot."

Pixie says, "Basically... the shot itself isn't dependent on the roll. It goes
like this: C-F, K-F: no score / C-F, K-S: blocked / C-S, K-F: score / C-S,
K-S: whoever had lowest # wins."

Tengu says "Then you toss in block attempts by other Chasers, and if someone
hit the keeper with a bludger. :)"

Diarmuid says "so, no score would be something like the shot is bad?"

Pixie says "F for fail, S for success. And yeah, probably goes off somewhere,
either a bad shot, or the keeper dropped it after they blocked. It would be
a loose quaffle."

Diarmuid says "If the Keeper /is/ hit by a bludger, does that do anything
standard to their stats? Like.. change them by -5 for that round or
something? Or is it just sort of taken into account?"

Pixie says, "It'd depend a bit on how low everyone's roll was. -5 for
distraction in pain is about right, but if someone had a really low (ie,
very good) roll, the GM tries to reward that kind of good random chance by
making whatever they did especially powerful."

Diarmuid says "So in that case, it could obliterate whatever success the
bludgee might've had."

Diarmuid says "or beatee, I guess. :)"

Valentine says "...So if you had a pair of seventh year beaters up against a
first year seeker...you could technically give him(her) an expected 0 chance
of catching the snitch?"

Valentine ponders.

Pixie says, "The chance is not zero, if they hit her with a roll of 1 or 2
every time, but the odds are very very poor that that would happen. It would
assume that no one was guarding her, and that they hit her every single
round of the game."

Pixie says, "That's nearly impossible, since there are 2 other beaters to hog
the bludgers."

Valentine mms. One other thing. Would it be possible to also introduce a
snitch sighting sort of thing, so the seeker's get a chance to go
head-to-head over the course of a few poses?

Valentine says "seekers rather"

Diarmuid says "How do you mean? I thought they did that pretty frequently as
it is."

Pixie hrms. "You mean like the GM poses the snitch at a certain location, and
then the seekers... go after it? I guess I'm not totally clear on how you're
suggesting we work it."

Pixie says, "It sounds interesting. Anything we can do to make the game more
interesting for the seekers without making the game more difficult for the
GM."

Valentine says "For example...GM says 'so and so catches sight of the snitch'.
Numerically, you'd use the original for seekers (but increased). For
example, instead of a 5 chance of spotting they might have an 8 chance. Once
the first seeker goes after the snitch, the other seeker would either go
after them (roll or automatic, either way), and they'd both have a chance to
catch the snitch after, say...one or two rounds of posing, during which
there's a 5-10 chance of the snitch getting away (per round). Spotter would
have a catching advantage...either 60-40 or 65-35...something like that."

Valentine gahs. All my stupid %'s got cut out. That should be 'original %',
with % signs stuck in after every number

Valentine says "Basically, snitch gets spotted. Two rounds go by. If the
snitch hasn't gotten away you go with your 60-40, 65-35, or 70-30 roll to
end the game."

Pixie hmms.

Pixie says, "That's a good idea. I'll poke at it. It'd be an improvement over
constant 'catch snitch' GM's for the seekers."

Valentine thanks.

Pixie says, "So any other questions about the news and the stats? Other ideas?"

Valentine nods. How're playing areas taken into account?

Valentine says "For example...let's say I'm harassing the opponent keeper
who's about to pass in...but instead he boots it half-way down the field to
one of his own players. Is there anything in place to keep me from
requesting a 'steal quaffle from chaser', even though I'm so far away."

Valentine says "Or is that generally not taken into account, given the high
volume of info you guys have to deal with?"

Pixie says, "Well, there's nothing to keep you from requesting it. In general,
the GM does try to keep track of a person's position on the field, but we
also expect the players to try and be reasonable as well. If you're not near
the person, you'd probably gm 'catch up to Chaser and steal' rather than
just gm 'steal quaffle from Chaser'. And that would remind the GM that
you're some distance away, and people who are closer should have their
actions considered first."

Sally wonders how long it generally takes a Chaser to get within scoring
range. Pose-wise, I mean. Is that something Chasers should pose themselves,
or should they wait for the GM to say when they're close enough to shoot?

Valentine nods. Also, would it be possible to make the 'request' channel
viewable by the quidditch players as well?

Pixie says, "To Sally: It really depends. With a fast break, you can cover the
field in one pose and shoot. If you're caught in a pile of other people, it
may take 2 or 3 poses. Unless you're specifically told otherwise, that's
really sufficient. To Valentine: We will definitely not allow players from
one team to see the other team's GMs. Each captain currently sees all of the
GM's from their team, so they can see if someone is not submitting requests.
I'm not sure what you would gain from seeing them also -- can you explain
why you'd want to?"

Valentine says "Aye. Your behavior's going to depend on other people's. If you
see the entire opposing team going after your one chaser, chances are you'll
spread out. Or if one opponent is just hanging around near your hoop waiting
for someone to chuck the quaffle downfield, you should be able to notice
before the quaffle is actually chucked -at- him. Granted, this gives an
advantage to whoever gms first...but if you alternate gms from teams it
should balance out"

Valentine says "Likewise, if you see you're about to get mobbed by opposing
chasers, you're probably going to want to dodge or pass the quaffle or
something rather than hang on to it"

Diarmuid says "I think there's time to react ICly once you see it on the
Quidditch channel, though."

Diarmuid says "GM successes aren't communicated privately, remember. :)"

Valentine hasn't seen that. Generally it's announcements of the quaffle
getting stolen from you or whatever when you didn't even know you had three
chasers and two beaters on your tail. But then I've been in the keeper
position, so it might be better to ask a chaser/beater. Binks? Paul?

Sally hasn't seen the numbers of rolls or anything, but you're told if you
succeed/fail on the channel.

Pixie says, "Well, we can't force alternation of GM's. That would slow down
the game even more, as people tried to remember whose turn it was to submit
one. So keeping the other team's requests secret from the other side until
they're told they can do them is the best way to simulate actual gameplay
without bogging us down into ever more detailed action poses. Joe flies
three feet toward Jack. Jack reacts and shifts one meter to the left. We
have to let people gm complete actions and succeed and fail. If you
anticipate what the other team does, by preemptively blocking the right
person, then you can foil their plan."

Pixie says, "Some teams are better at this than others."

Valentine notes order would have to matter. You'd just go Gryff, slyth, gryff,
slyth, whatever. Which I assume wouldn't be too challenging.

Valentine says "-wouldn't-, that is."

Tabitha says "You'd be surprised. :)"

Kerwin says "I think most players would get confused by the number of gms.
Especially since a lot of them don't succeed."

Paul eyes Pixie. "Why the sudden change from Imperial to Metric?" ;)

Kerwin says "Like a loose quaffle, there's probably 6 gms trying to recover
it, but only one of them is going to succeed. Do you really want to see that
extra 6 lines of spam?"

Tabitha says "Particularly for Chasers, the game is extremely hectic. I, for
one, definitely don't want anymore spam on my screen! And I /really/ don't
want to have to remember to let the opposing team GM because it's their
turn. Bad enough remembering who I'm supposed to be responding to and how."

Valentine mms and okies.

Tabitha says "It gets worse when you're NPCing others. Then it becomes: Okay,
the GM said Tabby could fast break after she gets passed the quaffle. So I'm
watching for the pass. Then NPC #3 is allowed to hit a bludger at the Seeker
- but only after the Seeker poses a previous hit. So I'm watching that as
well."

Pixie tends to think 'feet' and then 'meter'. Not sure why. Don't use yards
very much.

Paul grins.

Valentine says "Good point, Tabs. So what happens if the opposing chasers gm
'catch up to and steal quaffle from 'x'', who just received the quaffle',
but 'x' gmed ' immediately pass quaffle' to someone else. Or even shoot as
the case may be. How would the rolls work for something like that?"

Pixie says, "If you've gm'ed for something too late, then you're too late, and
you fail. It's the flip side of not seeing the other team's GM's: -you- have
to guess in anticipation, but so do -they-. It equals out. They will make
the wrong move just as often as you do."

Pixie says, "If they don't, then perhaps your plays are just a little too
predictable. :)"

Valentine says "Sounds good. Danke:)"

Valentine whoas. GMs are executed in the order they're received?

Pixie says, "Yes, pretty much."

Valentine nods.

Pixie quotes from the mail sent to the players before the season:

Valentine says "No more questions from me, I promise:)"

Pixie | These items are all actions which are liable to extensive interference
from
Pixie | other players in the game. You must submit these actions to the GM and
wait
Pixie | for a response to them on the Quidditch channel telling you whether you
Pixie | succeeded or not. Other players may also be submitting other Direct or
Pixie | Indirect actions which will affect the outcome of your request.
Actions are
Pixie | evaluated on a first come, first serve basis -- if you submit your
attempt
Pixie | to recover the loose quaffle first, your attempt is run first and its
Pixie | failure or success is determined before (if necessary) moving on to
the next
Pixie | player.

Dougal blinks. GMS are executed? XD

Dougal cuts down his 's'.

Valentine should really save that thing to notepad.

Pixie hmms. "So, anyone else have any questions?"

Paul says "How will tomorrow's weather be? ;)"

Valentine says "Fair, but with a chance of showers by mid-afternoon."

Pixie would take rain. Might wash some of this snow away.

Diarmuid has no questions.

Tabitha says "None here, and I need to sleep. :) Thanks!"

Pixie says, "Then that's a wrap. Thanks everyone for coming. :)"

Pixie says, "Keep an eye out for the new newsfiles. I'll also be bbposting the
semi-annual '+mail if you want to play quidditch' notice in a moment."

Valentine thanks thee for hosting. And putting up with all the questions. And
stuff.