So, as suggested in this thread by at least four people who think it’s a good idea (I count myself as one of them), I figured I’d start/try out this as a tentative “testing” idea.
It’s a little late, but then again, I’m not sure there will be many entries or if this will be popular/take off.
But anyway, like the Death Pool, this one works in the same way. If a couple with at least one celebrity in it files for divorce in 2016, points will be scored.
Since this is a brand new idea, started on a whim, obviously there will be many, many changes in the future, rules added or taken away and definitely modified.
For now, though, it’ll be simple:
The Rules:
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You pick 13 marriages (that’s thirteen, not ten) whom you predict will file for OR announce a divorce within the calendar year 2016. To be eligible, only ONE of the people in the marriage must be a celebrity, not both.
If any of your marriages split, you score 1 point…However, I was tossing ideas for scoring around in my head and I’m open to suggestions on other ways to score. One that I was thinking of was "you earn the number of years they were together as points (rounded off to the nearest year), that way, predicting those “Oh, they’re going to get divorced, for sure” easy ones will garner you less points, whereas being able to predict couples who have been together for a long time will earn you more, since it appears you have ESP. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year wins…bragging rights and possibly a job for the tabloid of their choice. -
All picks must be time- and date-stamped by midnight ARIZONA time, Dec. 31st, 2015.
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Valid picks are not:
a. already divorced
b. in a relationship or domestic partnership only (they MUST be married)
c. a fictional character
d. non-human
e. a registered member of the SDMB, 'cause that would be weird
f. famous solely as a result of their marriage or associated actions/events.
We have few rules about what constitutes “celebrity,” because it makes our heads hurt to think about this. HOWEVER, if you DO have a question about whether or not someone’s choice qualifies, please, I’d prefer a PM about it to start off with, rather than thrashing it out in public and possibly causing resentment. Remember, people, it’s only a game!
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If there are disagreements over how long a marriage lasted, we will go by the shortest amount of time married (lower score).
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Any poster who contributes to the divorce of any celebrity mentioned in this thread is disqualified. It’s just a game, people. The only exceptions to this rule would be if you were married to a celebrity yourself and got divorced and predicted ahead of time that you would.
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Editing your choices: be careful! You can make changes to your list before the end of the year, but it has to be clear which names are your final choices. It might be advisable to submit one or more “alternates” with your list, in the event that one of your picks divorces during December 2015. If you have no alternates, and one of your picks has divorced the remaining twelve will be all you have. You may have no more than 13 picks. If you pick more than 13, or if any of your picks is otherwise invalid, I may ask for clarification. Otherwise, I will submit the first 13 names on your list. Do me a favor: check twice, post once.
I will mostly be using links and notices/updates about divorce via the comments in this thread, so if a couple is divorcing, PLEASE LINK TO THE STORY IN THIS THREAD. No story, no points.
If a poster playing the game gets banned during the year, this does not invalidate their entry, although they won’t be able to gloat in the thread if and/or when they do get points.
If a player changes their username at some point, post this news on the thread, or PM me, so I know who you are.
Some celebrities have common, identical or similar names. It is helpful to be specific.
Spelling counts! Please try to spell celebrities’ names correctly. Names that weren’t originally spelled in English can be tricky, I know, but if you aren’t sure of a name, try looking at what a major news outlet, like CNN or the BBC, uses.
Additional awards:
The “Opening Kickoff” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the first listed celebrity to get divorced in 2016.
The “Quantity Not Quality” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the greatest number of celebrities who got divorced.
The “Till Death Do Us Part?” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the couple who were together the longest prior to divorcing.
The “Final Hours” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the last listed celebrity to divorce in 2016.
Please present your list plain…however, I know that many of you like to include commentary within your lists, such as:
Beyonce and Jay-Z (Finally going to end it after all this time)
That’s fine and it’s entertaining. But if you do that, please include the list again in plain format for me to copy & paste.
And that’s mostly it.
Feel free to leave suggestions and stuff regarding rules and regulations for this new game (if it takes off) on how to make it better in the same post as your list.
