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Services Director
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You may have played a real world version of this game before, perhaps in high school, or college, or around the cubicles, or perhaps even as a real assassin. If the latter, well, you'll definitely have an edge.
The idea is to become the Master Assassin, which will bring with it a cool personalized icon (and maybe something else, we don't know yet). Maybe, even, one of those nifty little red titles by the side of your name (if I can talk Lee into it) when you chat.
Here's the game:
If you want to play, you leave your name here. I'll be organizing the game, so after one week I'll compile a list of the names, and give everyone a "Target". You will attempt to "Assassinate" your Target, and if successful, they have to tell you who their target is. You then get their Target, and attempt to assassinate that target, eventually eliminating everyone and earning the title "Master Assassin". Of course, all the while you will have to avoid whoever it is who has you as a target.
Here's the rules:
Participation
1) If you sign up for the game, you must participate by posting at least once per day on the message boards, AND once in at least one unlocked, public chat room (a public chat room is a room "owned" by The Pork, not a room opened by a chatter) per day. These posts must be under the chat handle you signed up for the game with. If you cannot post at least once per day, you must make up for days you missed (including penalties), with a maximum of six days without posting allowed. The makeup rules are as follows:
Days Missed = 1, on the second day you must post 4 posts (2 for day 1, 2 for day 2)
Days Missed = 2, on the second day you must post 9 posts (3 for day 1, 3 for day 2, 3 for day 3)
Days Missed = 3, on the second day you must post 16 posts (4 for day 1, 4 for day 2, etc.)
Days Missed = 4, on the second day you must post 25 posts (5 for day 1, 5 for day 2, etc.)
Days Missed = 5, on the second day you must post 36 posts (6 for day 1, 6 for day 2, etc.)
Days Missed = 6, on the second day you must post 49 posts (7 for day 1, 7 for day 2, etc.)
If you haven't posted in 6 days, on the seventh day your target will be assigned to someone else (the person who had you as a target) and you will be declared "Dead". Remember, you must post the make-up posts in the chat rooms AND on the discussion boards.
Assassinating your target
2) The name of your target will be paged to you. To 'kill' them, you must make a post immediately after your target's post either in a chat room or on the discussion boards, with text to the effect of "You are assassinated, so-and-so". INCLUDE THE NAME OF YOUR TARGET IN THE KILL POST, so that they know they are dead. If you feel like copying and pasting some flavor text with a neat little kill scenario, feel free (I personally suggest the sniper smiley face). However, it MUST be immediately afterwards (either on the discussion board or in the chat room), so if you have clicked to ignore someone and can't see the ignored person's post between yours and that of your target, that's too bad: it doesn't count as a kill. So, you'll probably have to empty your ignore lists in order to play the game fully effectively.
3) When you make your kill post, you cannot use your regular chat handle (assassins work under cover!) You must have an "assassin handle" that you use to make your kill posts. If you post a kill as your regular chat handle, it does not count as a kill, AND you have probably just blown your cover! Your target will know you are after them, and will likely avoid you at all costs in the chat rooms, making your task more difficult. You may have as many assassin handles as you like, you are only limited by the amount of nicknames in your account.
4) You cannot kill the person who has you as a target, even if you know for sure they are after you. The best you can do is avoid them.
5) You should be prepared to provide proof of your kill to the person running the game (me) in case your target questions whether the kill was legitimate or not. Instructions for taking screen shots (a picture snap of your screen, so you can have an image as proof that the kill took place, so your target can't claim it didn't happen) are as follows:
a) Scroll down in your web browser so that you can clearly see your target's post, and your immediately following kill post.
b) On your keyboard, there should be a key that says either "Print Screen", "Prt Scr", or some similar variation thereof. Press that button.
c) What you have just done is almost identical to copying and pasting text from a word document, or right-clicking on an icon and selecting "copy".
d) Open a paint program (Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint [mspaint comes with all versions of windows, under the Accessories category of programs], etc)
e) Select "Paste" from the Edit menu, and your screen shot should be there.
f) Save the file onto your computer.
6) When you kill a target, a few things have to happen:
a) Tell the target who your target was. If you killed them under a nickname other than the one they signed up with (which is perfectly legitimate), you need to double check and make sure it's really your target.
b) Check if the target wants to contest the kill. If so, you better have taken a screen shot. If you cannot provide proof of the kill, it will not be counted and you'll have to try again (hopefully getting proof this time). ALL good assassins can provide proof of fulfilling their contract.
c) Your dead target must tell you who they had as a target, so that you can continue hunting. Your new target will be the target that your original target had.
End Game
7) The game ends when either there is only one assassin left, or a period of 30 days has elapsed. If 30 days go by and there is not a clear winner, I will tally up the number of kills each remaining assassin has and declare the winner based on most kills.
Get creative! Try to add your target to your buddy list (under the guise of friendship) in order to find out when they're online. Enlist the aid of a friend so that they will post immediately after your posts on the discussion boards, so you don't get caught posting and killed. However, beware, and realize that buddies and friends can be bought (for the price of a few chat slots, perhaps? or free months on memberships?) and you may be betrayed!! There are no steadfast alliances with assassins!
So feel free to make deals, to strike bargains, and pursue the title of Master Assassin!
FAQs
Q: Can I only have one Assassin nickname?
A: No. You may have as many as you like.
Q: Can I kill someone when they post as their assassin nickname, if I know what their assassin handle is?
A: Yes, you can kill someone at ANY time. However, make sure it's who you think it is. If you post "You are dead, assassinperson, aka JoeChatter" and they say "Uhm, I'm not JoeChatter" then you've just given away who your target is.
Q: I -swear- that assassinMike is actually JoeChatter who is my target, but he says he's not. Can you tell me?
A: I can only rule on kills. If you make a kill and it is under debate, take a screen shot and send it to me. I'll only tell you if in fact your kill was legitimate or not, and the reason (wrong target, there was a message in between your posts, etc).
Q: I was just assassinated, but there were posts between my post and the assassin's. The assassin says there weren't, though. What do we do?
A: Both of you should have a screen shot of the incident. If the assassin provides a screen shot that shows there is no post, and the target doesn't have a screen shot to contradict that statement, then the kill stands.
Q: Can only paying members play?
A: You don't have to be a paying member to play. Silver members can have more than one handle, which is really all you need (your regular chat handle, and an assassin handle). Personalized icons are just a bonus, and not necessary.
Q: Can I make my required participation posts under my assassin handle?
A: You make your kill posts under your "assassin handle" and your regular, required, once-per-day posts under your normal handle (to give assassins a fair chance to know where their target is)
Q: Can I kill someone by posting a kill on a discussion board topic that is really old?
A: No. Kills can only be made on posts that are dated after the start of the game (12:01AM CST Aug 15 2007).
Q: Can I create a second account to post immediately after my regular posts and stop assassins from killing me?
A: Clever, but no. It would still be you. Not only can you still be killed under other accounts, anyone suspected of trying to cheat in this manner will be declared "Dead" and their assassin will get credit for the kill, as well as your target.
Q: I was assassinated, but I had a private message sent to me that shows up between my post and the assassin post. Am I still dead?
A: Yes, you are still dead. Private Messages that are received by the ASSASSIN during a kill count as "posts between kill posts", which would make the kill post invalid. PMs received by the TARGET do not count.
Q: Are there any rooms off limits for the game?
A: There is ONE room: The Assassins' Den. Every other room and discussion board thread is a legitimate place for assassination.
Q: If a kill is contested, can the target hold off on releasing their target to the assassin while the kill is confirmed by the person running the game?
A: Yes. Updates will be a daily thing, so the most anyone will wait is 24 hours. With a run-time of 30 days that isn't too bad.
Q: If a kill post either in the chat rooms or the boards is made, and then deleted, but the assassin has a screen shot of it, does it still count?
A: Yes. The ultimate proof is the screen shot, but remember, the target will want to see the screen shot too to know if they've been killed, and they are probably far more likely to contest a kill if all they get to see is the screen shot. We will also spend quite a fair time poring over a screen shot if this is the kind of contestation it is, because we don't want people fabricating kills.
Q: Someone posted a fake kill to me, to try and get me to tell them my target! Is this ok?
A: A very clever idea, but by virtue of the game there's no way to really ensure a fair way for targets to make sure they're not being duped. Even if they request a screen shot of the original pager target, if they are not the original target it's not possible to know -who- they got the target from. So, while it's clever, no: fake kills in an attempt to get information are not kosher.
Q: Can I post my daily required post and then delete it? Either in the chat room or on the forums?
A: No. You MUST leave your posts up and cannot delete them.
Q: The thread I posted on was deleted! Do I have to re-post all the messages I made?
A: You must make your daily required posts on public threads and chat rooms that are controlled by The Pork, so make sure this doesn't happen.
Q: Someone who lives with someone else is legally using the same account. If the person who is not in the game posts under the account of the person who IS playing the game, can they still be assassinated?
A: Yes. The account is effectively "the person" and as such anyone who uses your account might be able to get you killed. Proceed with caution.
Q: Since you can go seven days without posting and being declared dead, does that mean 6 days from the end of the game everyone can stop posting on the boards?
A: No. On the last day of the game you MUST have posted an equivalent of the required number of posts, including make up posts. So if you go the last six days without posting, if you want to be considered for the final assassin tally, you better make up those last six days of no posts.
-CM
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Oh, I want to play, too! 
~Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake:
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me~
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Services Director
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-edit to answer some questions I've gotten about the game-
*You don't have to be a paying member to play. Silver members can have more than one handle, which is really all you need (your regular chat handle, and an assassin handle)
*You make your kill posts under your "assassin handle" and your regular, required, once-per-day posts under your normal handle (to give assassins a fair chance to know where their target is)
-CM
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Services Director
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-another edit-
*You can't use a second account to post immediately after your own post, or another handle, because it's still technically -you-.
*You also can't have icons up that show what your regular chat handle is, though you may use custom-made assassin icons if you want
*PMs that are received by the ASSASSIN during a kill count as "posts between kill posts", though PMs received by the TARGET do not.
*An assassinated target may challenge a kill if they think you had a PM, so make sure you take screen shots (instructions to follow) of your kills! All good assassins have proof of their kills
-CM
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*puts on my game face*
let's dooooo eeeeet.
count me in... heh.
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sega" - Brodie, Mallrats
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Services Director
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Well then, the target might have just ifgured out who their assassin is. That's not really something we can stop folks from doing, so it's part of the game.
-CM
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