Norm de Plume

Norm de Plume

This movie saw the acting debut of a singer/actor who has sold more than 100 million records as a musician.

Rockmjd23

That's Diabolique. Dunno who the singer is though.

Wildcard.

Norm de Plume

Good job. I was just getting started, though. The singer is Johnny Hallyday. Don't ask me who he is.

Luther Heggs

OK. A movie based on a book:

obscurelabel

Three Days of the Condor?

Luther Heggs

Nope. It may have been a bit misleading for me to say "based on a book." Possibly better to say "a literary adaptation."





BTW, to encourage new participants to the thread - maybe insuring it won't go dead for so long again - I was thinking we could remove the limits on either the number of yes or no questions or the number of guesses. Just one question or guess per post and that way no one would worry about burning off all their chances. We need to encourage as many users as possible to join in.

riotinmyskull

volver?

MrSmearkase

Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (2010)?

Luther Heggs

Yes, MrSmearkase.



A). Swinging Lamp In Nursery Snake Attack
B). Barista Immune To Magic Missiles

MrSmearkase

I can't post anything from work, but I'll get some shots up later today.

Norm de Plume

If I understand your suggestion correctly (it's a bit confusing), you want to eliminate the rules that state one can ask only 1 question per movie and make only a total of 2 title guesses. You want to allow unlimited guesses and unlimited questions, but limit them to 1 question per post and 1 title guess per post. I don't know if opening it up that wide is such a good idea. As it stands right now, I rarely see anyone asking a question, and few people make use of the first title guess (why so few people use these two mechanisms is a mystery to me. It's only a game; play with a little abandon, even if you end up wasting both guesses and the allotted question.). Removing the limits would make the game more of a free-for-all. Folks would be asking and guessing willy-nilly. Do we want that?
I support getting more people involved in this thread so it doesn't die off, but I'm not sure that's the solution. I think the only problem with the thread is that most people just don't have the time or inclination to VLC a movie and save screenshots (it can be time-consuming to skim through a movie and choose good shots). Perhaps we should eliminate the use of wildcards or limit the number of wildcards a correct guesser can hand out. Thus, someone who never posts movies is forbidden from participating in the guessing. Being the guesser is evidently more attractive to participants than being the screenshotter. I can empathize, as I find it so too, but I feel duty-bound to post a movie at a ratio of close to 1:2 versus correct guesses.

Personally, I find the rules perfectly modulated and well-thought-out as it is. I would leave them.

How about some opinions from others, especially regulars?

obscurelabel

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I believe that the only way to open the game up for new or weaker players is to handicap the stronger players. Here is how I would do it --

Determining the handicap:

Each player who guessed correctly in the previous thread would have a handicap determined in some way by the number of those correct guesses. A possible example: three correct guesses, a three handicap. Another possible example: one to three correct guesses, a two handicap; four to six correct guesses, a four handicap, etc. The handicaps would be listed in a separate post at the beginning of the thread and would be referred to and linked to in each handicapped movie post.

Using the handicap:

A player with no handicap may guess at will. A player with a handicap must wait until the number of screenshots posted is equal to or greater than their handicap before they guess. If one has a four handicap, one must wait until after the fourth screenshot is posted before guessing. (Alternatively, the limit could be based on posts instead of screenshots, so as not to deter those who might want to post more than one screenshot per post). The poster of the screenshots would be responsible for posting the relevant sequence of the shot or post, as well as identifying the post as handicapped, using some standardized language.

Which new movies can be handicapped:

No more than every xth new movie may be handicapped, where x is some number that works well. I would say no more than every third one, meaning that there have to be at least two consecutive "open" movies before one may post a handicapped movie.

Here's a rough example:

This is a HANDICAPPED screenshot post. If you guessed correctly in the last thread, you have a handicap (click here to check), which means you must wait for that many screenshots/posts before you can guess. If you don't have a handicap, you may guess at any time. Screenshot/Post #1 [img]JavierBardeminNoCountryForOldMen-1.jpg[/img]

This might not work at all, as it's much more complex than the regular rules, but I'm tempted to try it in the next thread (coming soon).

Norm de Plume

^^That sounds OK, but only with the stipulation you suggested that the handicap is engaged occasionally (I would get behind doing it every 4th or 5th movie). That way you wouldn't alienate regular players too much.
The problem, as you realize, is that it's quite a convoluted new rule, and someone would have to monitor what's going on to ensure it is being adhered to. I also don't really see how it would attract casual players, who don't know much about the rules anyway and wouldn't understand their advantage.

Rockmjd23

I didn't even know there were rules.

I'm not good at posting screencaps. I usually pull them from the net in the rare case that I don't use a wildcard.

Trevor

I think the handicap system, while nice in theory, is too complicated. Maybe something simple like: If you've won in the last 5 plays, wait at least 10 screenshots before guessing, even if you know it immediately.

Or don't add any rules but just ask the obscene-memory regular winners to slow down a bit and let us normals play more.

Rockmjd23

I think we're also running out of movies to post.

Norm de Plume

Nowhere near, my good man. Nowhere near.

JumpCutz

Damn with the sharpshooters we have here, how many times are 10 screenshots posted? Most of the films are guessed on average with about 5 or 6 screenshots I would guess (sometimes it only takes a couple).

MrSmearkase

1)

MrSmearkase

2)

Luther Heggs

No, I used the word "or." Either make the number of guesses or the number of questions unlimited. I thought it would encourage participation from lurkers, of which I hope there are at least a few. Didn't mean to confuse you.
Sure, why not? Maybe somewhere between "a little abandon" and "willy-nilly?" I'd be willing to see people guessing willy-nilly if the alternative for this thread was for it to be dead for months.
Is intentionally reducing the pool of contributors really the answer? The number of regular contributors is already dwindling. I'll bet you can guess not only which poster is most likely to guess a given genre of movie correctly, but also the likely genres of movie that poster will present in turn. I think we need new blood, and I don't mean just more dudes like me that were up to now wasting time getting ignored over at Mobius.
They are, you're certainly right about that. But this forum - to put it kindly - isn't overrun with perfectly modulated well-thought-outness. Without some change, the thread will just drop off again, smothered by box office and superhero/sequel/remake threads. (And yes, the next movie I get to post will be a superhero sequel remake.)

MrSmearkase

3)

Dimension X

It's pretty obvious that these threads drop off the front page after someone calls a wildcard. Yeah, it can be a pain to grab the screenshots, but it's not that difficult. If you call a wildcard and no one picks it up before the thread drops off the front page, post something already. If they just want to get it over with quick, the pics don't have to be impossibly obscure.
Pay to play. I'm okay with this.
Are they really "contributors" if all they're doing is naming the movie and not posting pics?

Norm de Plume

Yes, sorry, somehow I glossed over the "or" in the sentence. How about raising the number of allowable guesses to 3 and the questions to 2? Again, it might make it too easy.
I don't want it to die either, but there has to be a happy medium between making it so easy that Joe Casual pops in and gets it right away, and keeping it interesting and challenging enough for us half-dozen-or-so hardcore players.
Not really. I haven't noticed any real biases on anyone's part. In my case, I don't think I have a record of correct guesses and screenshot posts necessarily skewed towards a certain genre, but I'm much more likely to be tripped up by popular, recent Hollywood fare.
Why waste your time at Mobius? I left that joke of a forum more than 10 years ago and haven't returned once. Good membership, heavy-handed moderation.
Like I said, I think the main reason it keeps dying out is that most people, myself included, prefer to guess than post screenshots. That's my theory.

I agree, and I confess to being one of the worst offenders when it comes to giving out wildcards. I pledge to do better in the future.