2018 Death Pool: Discussion about Rules Changes

The Game Room
1

Having taken over mid-season for Idle Thoughts, and having since gotten the blessing from Baker, Death Mistress (Extraordinaire) to run the 2018 Death Pool from start-to-finish.

Previous history has involved a pre-pool discussion of rules changes, so here are a few I am considering:

[ol]
[li]All celebrities who are 100 or over count, but you get “0” Points for their death, contributing to the “Quantity not Quality” award.[/li][li]Determination of who is a celebrity will remain a subjective matter, but generally defined as “the person has some known presence in the form of a Wikipedia Page and/or notoriety in the news or such” and their fame or celebrity cannot be based solely on their having a terminal illness". Questions may be raised about the appropriateness of a pick at any point after a list is posted, even after 1/1/18. Alternates picks play an important role, as “questionable” picks may be disqualified post-posting.[/li][/ol]

And, here is one potentially “major” change, which I credit to Mahaloth, who posted in last year’s rule change discussion:

[ul]
[li]All Dopers may submit two separate lists: a “Normal” list, and a “Themed” list[/li][LIST=A]
[li]No celebrity can be in both of the lists submitted by a single player[/li][li]The Themed List must have a name different than the 'Doper’s SDMB profile name[/li][li]There will be a separate “award” for “Highest Ranked Themed List”, but In the unlikely event that a Themed List has the most total points, the 'Doper could win the “Quality Award” as well.[/li][/ul][/LIST]

That’s all I got for now. Interested in ANY suggestions to keep this deathly game alive.

phungi (aka: Death Shroom)

2

Here are the Proposed Rules for 2018:

The Rules:

  1. You pick 13 celebrities that you predict will die in the year 2018. If any of your celebrities dies, you score 100 points minus their age at death. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year…wins. It’s just that simple.
  2. All picks must be made by December 31st, 2017, at 11:59PM, MOUNTAIN TIME. This deadline is firm. If you are even ONE MINUTE late, at midnight of Jan 1st, you will be turned away, I’m sorry.
  3. Valid picks CANNOT be:
    a. already dead
    b. fictional
    c. non-human
    d. under age 18
    e. a registered member of the SDMB
    f. hostages held by terrorist organizations
    g. famous solely as a result of their illness or the events surrounding their death
    If you have any questions about who is or is not a celebrity, post to the Board or PM me.
  4. If we are uncertain about the celebrity’s age at death, we will go by the higher age (lower score).
  5. Prisoners held on death row count only if they die by means other than official execution.
  6. If you kill anyone on your list to try to get ahead or cheat, then you’re automatically disqualified.
  7. Editing your choices: You can change the people on your list as many times as you wish before the deadline above, just make sure that your FINAL list is known, otherwise I’m going to take the first 13 of yours I see listed.
  8. ADD UP TO THREE “ALTERNATES” if you want in case someone on your lists dies early, or if one of your picks is contested

Sharing news of celebrities in ill health and whatnot is up to individual posters.

If a player changes their username at some point, post this news on the thread, or PM me, so I know who you are.

A ScoreKeeper will be made available, in the form of an Excel Spreadsheet, which allows you to track the scoring at hime. However, you are advised to track your picks and score, just in case…

The awards:

The “Opening Kickoff” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the first listed celebrity to die in 2018.

The “Quantity Not Quality” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the greatest number of celebrities who died, regardless of their actual point value.

The “Inside Track With the Grim Reaper” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who had the most unique picks that died.

The “Robbing the Cradle” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the youngest celebrity to die in 2018, but see rule 3.d.

The “Final Hours” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the last listed celebrity to die in 2018.

The "Themed List Award: Awarded to the themed list with the highest points.
Example of a submitted list (there MUST be a “clean” list of just names and nothing else):

Oogie Boogie
Pat Edited
Lynn Notsame
Jerry Different
Unique Huelskamp
Mike Ellen
Ellen Kevin
Kevin Derek
Homer Smith
Bob Roberson
Jeff Somethingorother
Ron Changes
Ken Changing

Alternates:

Abe Vigota
Fidel Castro
Donald Trump

REMEMBER TO ADD UP TO THREE ALTERNATES.
Scoring

When a celebrity dies, you get 100 minus their age. If they are 100 or over, you get 0 points for their death.

3

I don’t like being able to question eligibility after 1/1/18.

4

Will there be a separate thread to post our list, or do it here?

5

It’s hard to have a meaningful discussion about a pick between 2359 on 12/31/17 and 0000 on 1/1/18. You shouldn’t get credit for a questionable pick just because you sneak it in at the last minute.

I don’t remember if it’s an addition but I do like the suggestion that if you have a question as to the eligibility of a pick PM the Death Shroom. It’s the honor system for the most part. You know if your pick is borderline.

6

In the past there have been a few rules discussion threads. They have always been separate. The death pool thread has always been opened in December 1st.

7

If you are willing to do the extra work I like the idea of allowing a themed list and a regular list. I’ve only made one themed list because even though it was fun to put together I knew it was never going to win. And switching to a themed list meant taking Arial Sharon off my list which caused his death.

8

I know nothing about sports, for example.
But I digress.
Does phungi make the decision, or may anyone declare a pick to be non-celibrity?

9

I prefer to allow the “Pool Community” to speak and determine, but these are usually obvious decisions… There is no money involved, only honor…

10

The logic in this is that many 'dopers wait until late on the 31st to post, myself included, generally to avoid being copied… This prevents a “rogue player” to post an un-challenged list of pseudo celebs

11

I’ll rely on Wikipedia articles and hope for the best. :slight_smile:

Jaquis Dancy is an example. 18 year old Louisiana Tech football player, no wikipedia article, diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma who it turns out dosen’t have it.

12

When the dust settles and the blood dries you get to declare a winner.

13

Thank you and yes, I would love it if the host/manager would run a themed contest separate from the main game. I submitted a themed list for the first time this year, but would have been great to submit both lists in separate contests.

14

I’ve made this suggestion before. I think it’s a good idea but it would put extra work on the person running the thread.

The first person to suggest a celebrity gets one extra bonus point if they die.

The reason I like this is because it encourages people to go out and find their own picks rather than jump on bandwagon picks. I’ve noticed that most years you’ll see several obscure celebrities get named and then, as people google the name, they’ll appear in a string of other entries.

We also get a flood of people waiting until December 31 to post their entries. This would encourage people to post earlier.

15

A themed list seems to be a complication. I would not submit such a list. On the other hand, if others want to it is not skin off my back.

16

I would prefer any themed list game to take place in a separate thread, so as not to further complicate the primary death pool.

17

I concur that we should return to this treatment of celebs of age 100+.

However, someone shouldn’t be regarded as a celeb if their only claim to fame is being on a list of supercentenarians.

18

I think we need a discussion about whether college and high school athletes are automatically celebs. (carnivorousplant’s example of Jaquis Dancy, a football player of no particular distinction on a college team of little note, other than to its fans, brings that to mind.)

My take is that there are thousands of college sports teams in any major sport, and way more high school teams than college teams. So unless a player is well known outside of a given school’s fandom, I wouldn’t call them a celeb.

19

Would that be satisfied by a Wikipedia article?

20
  1. Glad you’re doing this again, mighty phungi.
  2. I vote for themed lists in a separate thread. (If it seems like too much work maybe someone else would moderate that one? Baker?)
  3. The three changes in the OP look fine to me.
  4. I like the idea of an extra point for first pick.