The ORG Wish List.

[yves]

Sticking with the subject of "wish-lists", and considering that I'm about to host my first mole game - what do you think are the essential components of an ORG?

[tyogical]

Ty

[{Matt}]

To be honest, the cast is the most important and what should be featured and manipulated. Most hosts want the concept of the game or the twists to be the "big thing" about the game, and very few can get away with it. I think the biggest hurdle to jump or mistake to avoid is allowing twists to be the stars of a game rather than the cast. This tends to be the biggest problem, as the cast is twisted to death and it's more about them being affected by the twists rather than their social interaction. How the cast is forced to interact with each other is what everyone wants to see, not the twists. I'm sure there are other things, but it's the main thing. Especially for a mole game, you will need a strong cast to keep things interesting.

[yves]

True. But then again, how many twists can you have in a Mole game? (Actually, don't answer that... two moles, four moles, disguised "popularity contest" with no mole at all, one mole unexpectedly replaced by another mole, every single person is a mole except for one single player... I've seen it all!)

[Josh]

yves said:

True. But then again, how many twists can you have in a Mole game? (Actually, don't answer that... two moles, four moles, disguised "popularity contest" with no mole at all, one mole unexpectedly replaced by another mole, every single person is a mole except for one single player... I've seen it all!)

Go with standard Mole.

1 Mole, 9 players.

It may not be a twist....but it's the best way to play the Mole, and it was after all, the original plan for the game. There are MANY other ways to have a twist in Mole games...

But yeah.. listen to Matt.

[Ryan]

There was a mole game where everybody was the mole but 1 player. #magsleep#

[survivorandy]

who would lose that then? the player would automatically get all of them right, unless they said they were the mole
and the moles would get it right, whoever answered last would lose

[Josh]

I would agree that the idea of all but 1 player being a Mole is probably a very dumb twist idea.... no offense if that host is reading this now...

But that's totally ruined the name of the game. The name is "The Mole." not "The Player."

"Ten players. Playing for up to 1 million dollars. But among them is a sabetour.... a traitor.... a mole. The winner? The one who answers the question- Who is the Mole?"

- Anderson Cooper, Mole 1

Above is the description of the game. The thought of 9 moles just totally destroys the entire concept.

[yves]

GBM will have nine constestants, one mole. Don't want to give too much away, at least not yet, but I'll say that.

Going back to the whole "twist" thing, I think the freedom you get with ORGs is both their strength and curse. Hosts can do pretty much anything they want, and sometimes this works really well. Other times the ideas sound cool but never stand a chance of really working out. To quote Jeff Goldblum: "They're so excited that they discovered that they could do it, they don't stop to think whether or not they should". Or something along those lines.

Anyhow, the original question was what elements do you think are essential to an ORG? Any more suggestions on that one?

[Jeff]

I like having at least one big twist in my Survivor games, but I have seen games where twists have gone overboard.

I've played a game of Survivor before where we had a tribe swap after every Tribal Council. You can't introduce the same twist ten times in a game and call it a twist anymore. Also, I felt it completely took away from the game. There was really not much to strategize about in a tribe because next round, you aren't guaranteed to be with any of the same people (I went through four different tribes before I finally landed on a tribe again with someone I had been on a tribe with before). There was no strategy in that game. It was more about luck than strategy. I placed 6th out of 20 in it, so I faired well in the chaos, but I just felt it took away from the game and I know that host has better capabilities than that, just needs to tone down the twists.

I really liked my twist for Greece, but am not sure if I'd use it again because it sounded better in theory. I started off with six tribes of three and when a tribe went to TC, they would vote out a member of their tribe. After the TC, the losing tribe then gets seperated and absorbed into the winning tribes. I loved it on paper, but after watching it play out, I wasn't as enthused about it, anymore.

Anyways, I think that the cast is very important. Martinique (my first time hosting) had a great cast. It was a very exciting season. I can remember off-hand that there were definitely at least six tie votes throughout the course of the game (there might have been a seventh, but I don't remember off-hand). Two of those ties even ended in a 'purple rock drawing'.

There has also been one game that I was hosting that I just wanted to quit because of the cast (I didn't quit, but really wanted to). The majority of the players didn't care and just didn't even try. Every week, someone new would go inactive and get voted out. I wound up having a 5-member jury so that at least my jury would be active (and then one didn't show up to vote, anyways). I always follow through on my games, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappoited with the lack of effort.

So, I'd have to agree that a good cast is essential to a good game.

[yves]

Well, Jeff, I'm no survivor expert, but I'd agree that a tribe swap every single episode sounds pretty exhausting!

Oh, and sorry Ty - didn't acknowledge you - you make a good case there. The most essential part of an ORG is Ty, eh? I'll bear it in mind...

[tyogical]

[devon W T F min.e hupms]

I disagree with Ty.

The most essential part of an ORG is a staple black person, which Ty occassionally fills. Otherwise, Warren can take his place.

[tina]

I think a good ORG game starts before advertizing begins. As for me, I make sure all of my challenges are set and ready to go...tree mail is written, directions are laid out. All I have to do is copy and paste everything into the proper forum when it is needed. Pre-planning and having all your ducks in a row before you even start to advertize is the #1 most important thing to me. When you see me advertize a new game, know that everything has been set up and is ready to go from beginning to end.

Second..the casting. Hosts know that no matter how great the applications are, you're going to have a few people that forget they're in a game. Pisses me off to no end, but what can you do? I really like to cast a mixture of well known and new players. I know some people are leery of casting people that have never played before, but I find their game play more interesting to watch evolve.

Third..I prefer to play a fast paced game (thus mine are pretty much balls to the wall). I find that if there's a lot of down time in a game where nothing happens, my momentum slows and I lose interest. Most people probably like a slower game, but I'm into keeping my brain constantly working.

Forth...the episodes. Actually, this is the first time I've written episodes for any of my games and I've gotten a lot of great feedback. I think episodes are definately a plus when hosting a game. Everyone wants to relive what they said and did and learn what everyone really thought about them. Again...I like to have all my ducks in a row, so I start working on the episodes early and by the time the game is at final 2, they're set and ready to be copied and pasted onto the website.

You'll find I'm very anal about having everything prepared beforehand. It makes for a more enjoyable game both for the players and me.

[tyogical]

Don't forget you had the Ty factor Tina...DUH.

No but all jokes aside, Tina has got to be the best host I've ever had. You can tell she had everything pre-planned...

There weren't any shady twists, or fucked up scenarios going on because she had everything planned already.

And the episodes are hilarious..but I can't wait for the finale. OMG OMG OMG.