ABSOLUTLELY SPECTACULAR NEWS REGARDING THE NEW FANTASY GAME!!

MrHam wrote:Even though they are only after the data we still don't know how things will go down. There is no timetable for the experiment nor is there a guarantee that once the experiment is over they will hand us the codes (I doubt it).

Me and Patrick will be setting up a meeting with them....

Just to set everyone's mind at ease, when donnie sent me the e-mail I posted above, I responded with an e-mail that included the following question:

You said that your version of the game was “part of an Experimental Economics research that the Experimental Lab of the University of arma has designed.” Question… how solid and permanent is this arrangement? Is this something that may be in place for years, or it is conceivable that the plug could be pulled tomorrow, necessitating a mad scramble to set it up from scratch somewhere else? (After the terrifyingly abrupt way FM folded its tents, I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m asking this question, a question that I’m sure will be on the minds of every other person in the Fantaverse.)

Here was the response:

...I'll explain better about the academic experiment. The MMGWAR comes first than the research, in the sense that the MMGWAR was created by the will of our group of enthusiasts, with the only purpose to play. By chance, I am an experimental economist and I have seen a possible experimental application in the game. So, the game has also become the basis for an economic experiment at my University. However is not the Lab who created it, but the MMG guys and therefore, even when the research project will end, the game will remain active. In other words, you do not worry this time: even if the Italian University system will collapse, even if a civil war will keep away all funds to Research, we may assure you that the game will continue to exist (at least until one of us will be alive, and we are strongly convinced to live for a very long time yet).

So I hope this will convince everyone that the game is protected from erratic and variable shenanigans, such as economic fluctuations, locusts or Lindsay Lohan. Just the fact that our Italian friends are building for us the best mousetrap that we can envision should be enough. If the one consignment WE must make is that we keep the data in their house, well, I say that's a negligible price to pay. We will have links to their site on ours, and they will have ours on theirs. (Damn, that's a buttload of pronouns...)

silversurfer19 wrote:

W wrote:That is Absolutely Spectacular!

I'm assuming what NSpan said will be done, or will be agreeable considering they're only after the data. I can now run my H.O.R.S.E. championship league that I wanted to start up right before FM went down, so that may be what makes me the happiest. We can play all sorts of Hobo, odd/even, bankrupts, etc. leagues now!

Ahhh... my beloved Bankrupts. The only leagues I have ever had success in.... I wish them a speedy return.

i'm also very excited for the bankrupts league, i always thought aroode was one clever guy for coming up with that one

undeadmonkey wrote:

silversurfer19 wrote:

W wrote:That is Absolutely Spectacular!

I'm assuming what NSpan said will be done, or will be agreeable considering they're only after the data. I can now run my H.O.R.S.E. championship league that I wanted to start up right before FM went down, so that may be what makes me the happiest. We can play all sorts of Hobo, odd/even, bankrupts, etc. leagues now!

Ahhh... my beloved Bankrupts. The only leagues I have ever had success in.... I wish them a speedy return.

i'm also very excited for the bankrupts league, i always thought aroode was one clever guy for coming up with that one

Oh stop you're making me blush, *lol*

Maybe this site will be the tonic to get me interested in playing the game again. I've been slowly drifting away from our community for months. Maybe this will reinvigorate me and others like me.

I think the old system will bring back a lot of people. The email system was neccessary, but I can see why people would not be interested in that. I know, personally, now I just usually forget about my slates right after I send them to Shryke. It's a lot easier to be competitive when we can drop and add at the push of a button.

I think it is very good news. As N-Span said we can simply have a link from our website to their site for the game and it would not make you leave our site. Win Win since the italian guys do the code and the work to make the game easier to play and we handle the forums, the reviews and the fantastic conversations.

We do need to start getting people here through viral advertising somehow. FB, myspace, mention the site all over to get our google rating up.

Technically when someone plays the game on their server they would be leaving our site. Thats the whole idea the game is remaining on their server. It's complicated but will be discussed in a meeting with them hopefully.

Very good news! Let the Party startin' ! Count me IN!

Shrykespeare wrote:

I got this e-mail from donnie earlier today.

etc. etc...

Hi guys,
your enthusiasm makes us very happy. Now, your points:

We have made our promise and we’ll keep this promise (not all Italians are Silvio Berlusconi, thanks to God…): one of you may manage your “section” through a specific administration panel. You can have your prices, for example, and create your leagues. Italian players never asked anything of these features, they are just "Ultimate maniacs". So, our tech-guys will do all that just for you: I think that you should take into consideration whether to urge to the Pope for their sanctification (they are Devis and Giacomo, but you may call them Bebo and Jack).

silversurfer19 wrote:I had thought at first that we would have our own all encompassing site and that the Italians had kindly given us the code to create our own game, but I see that would not be for their benefit. I'm happy with how the game will work, though, hopefully we can have our own website up soon and we can get this thing all brought together nicely.

geezer9687 wrote:
Surfer, I'm pretty sure they are very interested in keeping the game at their site. We will have complete control how the game is played, just the location will not be here or at Shryke's site. I have to say that is pretty damn good considering what we have now, and our overall lack of computer programming skills. I think we are running the show in every way other than the URL.

Yes geezer, that's the point.
The game (and thus the hosting site) will have a name chosen by the MMG team. In addition to players of the MMG forum, we'll virtually open to all the Italian players who wish to participate and we must be recognizable. The game will be linked and promoted also by an Italian institution of Cinema, so it must be a "showcase" rigorous, showing as references the MMG (Morelli's Movie Guide, and "Morelli" is Filippo), and the Labexp. We must plan a "mogul" for the Italian context, with only Italian releases (Italian and international releases IN Italy) and we are interested in some cross-country analysis (about dynamics of the game, of course). Thus, the greater the number of accesses at the game, the greater the success of the experiment.
Keep the site at "our home" is really important and necessary to realize our project efficiently (is not for "the codes are ours and we don’t want share them ").
Moreover, I would remark you that Bebo, Jack, Filippo, Mario and I, have resurrected the game in our spare time (a lot of our free time, often at night) and now it is right that we receive reward through our project realized. The lack of full control over the game could affect the data and the experiment itself and, then, our reward: this is something absolutely unacceptable to me. I'm sure you will agree with me.

W wrote:That is Absolutely Spectacular!

I'm assuming what NSpan said will be done, or will be agreeable considering they're only after the data. I can now run my H.O.R.S.E. championship league that I wanted to start up right before FM went down, so that may be what makes me the happiest. We can play all sorts of Hobo, odd/even, bankrupts, etc. leagues now!

MrHam wrote:Even though they are only after the data we still don't know how things will go down. There is no timetable for the experiment nor is there a guarantee that once the experiment is over they will hand us the codes (I doubt it).

Me and Patrick will be setting up a meeting with them....

About the question "the game may survive after the experiment?" I have already reassured Shryke. I just wish some of you know the Italian language, in order to appreciate the passion (or madness) we have for this game: there is a topic on MMG forum, completely dedicated to this game since the days of the old FM. This topic has passed the 10000 posts and the 100000 visits and represents the "history of the game". It’s practically epic. Yes, epic is the right word.

Maybe I do not quite understand what you mean, but, to me, our solution seems very simple:
- A website: our website
- A global name of the project: MMGWAR (or similar)
- The Italian section of the game: MMGWAR (on our homepage)
- The American section of the game: Filmproject (?) (Also this name on our homepage)

You keep your name on your new website and from this link you go to our site (directly on your section). I do not think that's a drama.

Shrykespeare wrote:But at some point, we are going to have to advertise. Like, a lot. On IMDb, Facebook, wherever we can. We've come too far and worked too hard. We can't build a palace only big enough for us, we have to share it with the world! (If only to show off just how fuckin' brilliant we all are...)

Promotion and advertising: we think it's an important thing and we really appreciate if many people from the old FM will sign up and play again. But we would ask you to wait a bit before to promote the project on large-scale (facebook, imdb and other things): when we'll be ready on advances and when the majority of the changes are completed, we'll feel more confident. Then will be the time to let the world know the our game; now is the time to work.

silversurfer19 wrote:
Ahhh... my beloved Bankrupts. The only leagues I have ever had success in.... I wish them a speedy return.

What are Bankrupts? This is the right time to ask features and additions (if possible). Something like the formula "...If anyone here knows, ... speak now or forever hold your peace”.

Shrykespeare by email wrote: Question:

Would it be possible to give people the OPTION of not having their slates made known to the rest of the league? MrHam's main point of contention on FM was that anyone could see his slates. Would it be possible to have a person's picks hidden until their movies are released?

Yes, we can. But, certainly, if you want this feature, it would be better applied to the whole league and not to individual rosters. Take a poll, then we'll see what we can do.

MrHam wrote:

W wrote:And you need travel expenses from all of us?

Yes. You want Patrick and myself sitting in first class right? We don't want to misrepresent the fantaverse.

I think this could be convenient for you: Let me make it clear from now on that, if we were to come to you, at a minimum, Filippo said he wants the brass band and the red carpet at the airport. MrHam, Shryke, you are welcome. Rome is beautiful in these days.

At your disposal for further information.

donnie wrote:

What are Bankrupts? This is the right time to ask features and additions (if possible). Something like the formula "...If anyone here knows, ... speak now or forever hold your peace”.

Donnie,

Bankrupts is an inversion of the Ultimate Game. The goal is to put together the worst possible perfoming slate that you can come up with: the lowest total box office, PTA, Top 5 and imdb scores. The stipulations are that you must maintain a full slate (8 films) and you must spend at least $95 of the $100 budget. This generally forces you to choose at least one potential blockbuster and keeps things interesting. In the past we simply took the price list for Ultimate and set up our league to play for a three month season at a time (I didn't want to burn out the gimmick). It occurs to me though that if your interests are Theoretical or Experimental Economics and -- I'll take a leap here -- Game Theory, Bankrupts may be an interesting tie-in to your current studies.

I was always the best at bankrupts. 3 wins in a row I had in that one. (yes i'm bragging.)

Speaking about promotion...

BarcaRulz wrote:I was always the best at bankrupts. 3 wins in a row I had in that one. (yes i'm bragging.)

I had three wins in a row too. It's the only thing I can brag about....

A_Roode wrote:

donnie wrote:

What are Bankrupts? This is the right time to ask features and additions (if possible). Something like the formula "...If anyone here knows, ... speak now or forever hold your peace”.

Donnie,

Bankrupts is an inversion of the Ultimate Game. The goal is to put together the worst possible perfoming slate that you can come up with: the lowest total box office, PTA, Top 5 and imdb scores. The stipulations are that you must maintain a full slate (8 films) and you must spend at least $95 of the $100 budget. This generally forces you to choose at least one potential blockbuster and keeps things interesting. In the past we simply took the price list for Ultimate and set up our league to play for a three month season at a time (I didn't want to burn out the gimmick). It occurs to me though that if your interests are Theoretical or Experimental Economics and -- I'll take a leap here -- Game Theory, Bankrupts may be an interesting tie-in to your current studies.

But it's fantastic! I want play a Bankrupt league.

I plan on doing a bankrupts ultimate and box office in January (or whenever its computerized) as part of my H.O.R.S.E. league (a bunch of different styles of play). You can join one or both of the games if you'd like and not have to sign up for the entire league.

This is the tentative schedule (a box office and an ultimate for each month):
JAN-MAR Bankrupts
FEB-APR Hobo ($50 tospend instead of $100)
MAR-MAY Shorthanded (6 films max in ultimate, 5 films max in box office)
APR-JUN Odd/Even (pick odds/evens and every film on the slate must be an odd or even number)
MAY-JUL Normal ULT and BO

If you want to try out any of those, you can as well.