Approved by DLE and the result of this thread:https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/a-circus-game-tv-show.3622292/
Communicative Volume – Game Format and Rules
Hello everyone and welcome to sign ups for Communicative Volume, a game that aims to test your social cooperation, conversation skills, and strategy of creating “links.”
Participants are required to film themselves when competing in challenges and to record various interpersonal events or strategy as well as individual comments about the game (confessionals). The filmed moments are sent to the host (myself). Not all participants will be from Circus Maximus. Discord will be used as the common meeting ground for all participants.
This game takes inspiration from other social gameshow competitions such as Survivor and The Genius Game. While such games stress the ability to form connections and plans in-person, many of the subtle social aspects of them are lost when transferred to a Circus online format. The Circus versions of Survivor and The Genius Game often have people who have “met” each other online prior to playing and the online component changes how challenges and social interactions can be handled. Rather than trying to fit a game to an online format, my intent here has been to design a new game that is specifically meant to be flexible to the online format.
TV Survivor and Genius Game are filmed live while the participants have clearly defined time periods to play. When playing online games, this is not the case as contestants have to juggle real life and the game. As such I very much wanted my game design to have wiggle room that could let participants schedule things and move at their own pace, within reason and respect to the game’s parameters.
Rather than deal with the tricky legalities of trying to make a real television broadcast, the content and episodes recorded from this game are more of an "art project." I'm well also some sort of weird artist who got sucked into social games and circus and stuff so it sort of fits my practice now.
TV Survivor and Genius Game are filmed live while the participants have clearly defined time periods to play. When playing online games, this is not the case as contestants have to juggle real life and the game. As such I very much wanted my game design to have wiggle room that could let participants schedule things and move at their own pace, within reason and respect to the game’s parameters.
Rather than deal with the tricky legalities of trying to make a real television broadcast, the content and episodes recorded from this game are more of an "art project." I'm well also some sort of weird artist who got sucked into social games and circus and stuff so it sort of fits my practice now.
Communicative Volume will run on a weekly schedule. During the first 6 days of a weekly cycle (Monday through Saturday) there will be a challenge for the participants to perform. On the last day of each cycle, Sunday, any voting stages will occur in which players have the opportunity to eliminate one of their fellow contestants.
To get an idea of what kind of social/communicative challenges might be in this game, take a look at Running Fence from CAP Survivor Season 2. Though this challenge won't be used verbatim here in Communicative Volume, it should give you a taste of what to expect. You can also try talking to the CAP survivors who participated in the above challenge.
The game will run in two major phases that will divide the game into halves and will conclude in a finale. The game rules for these different stages of the game will differ.
First Half --> “Split” ---> Second Half ---> Finale
Below is a chart summarizing the structure of the game, and below that is a hide tag containing more full details.
First Half:
At the start of the game, contestants will randomly be partnered with another contestant. This partnership prevents the two contestants from trying to vote each other out during the first half of the game. Contestants will fully know who their partner is, but will not be given information on who the other partners are at the start of the game. Partners are not required to work together within the game. It is just a pre-established voting pact in which they cannot vote one another out until the “split” occurs in the middle of the game. In the first half of the game, doing well in a challenge will earn a contestant both immunity from being voted out and the ability to cast a vote against someone who is not immune. If a contestant does not do well in a challenge, that contestant cannot cast a vote to send someone home and is subject to being voted out in turn.
Challenge performance is very important to this game and that is why 6 days out of the 7 day weekly cycle of the game time are devoted to challenges. Whereas in Survivor challenges are often based on an individual’s ability to endure a task, race against the competition, or solve a puzzle, in Communicative Volume the challenges are designed to be a place for social interaction, or places for social connections (and disconnections) to occur. The “social game” and the “challenge game” of Communicative Volume are often blurred together.
The challenge structure of this game is quite varied and sometimes participants might be able to choose to compete in one of multiple challenges listed for the current weekly cycle. Variations within a challenge might include a primarily online-based version in which connections occur between individuals not in the same physical space and a more in-real-life social version.
Like Survivor, players will be able to vote each other out of the game after a challenge. Unlike Survivor, in order to gain the ability to vote in the voting day at the end of a challenge cycle, a contestant must perform well in the challenge. This is not a game where everyone gets the ability to vote automatically and voting must be earned. The criteria for being able to vote might alternate between challenge cycles. During the first half of the game, receiving the ability to vote is also linked with that player earning immunity from being voted out, meaning only players who do not earn the ability to vote can be voted out. Sometimes voting powers are given to everyone who reaches a certain pre-determined benchmark in the challenge; this is called a “benchmark challenge.” It is therefore theoretically possible that no one is voted out of a benchmark challenge if everyone meets the benchmark, whereas if only one contestant fails to meet a benchmark then that contestant will be automatically eliminated from the game. Other times voting powers will be only given to the top “X” numbers of participants, where X might vary based on the number of people left in the game; this is called a “bell curve challenge.”
A player that earned the ability to vote may chooses to abstain from voting during a cycle of the first half of the competition if that player so chooses. In the event of a tie vote, the tie breaking mechanism will not be revealed until after the tie vote occurs. Players are not allowed to vote themselves out of the game, but may ask to leave the game prior to a vote if they feel like they cannot continue.
Sometime during the first half of the game, the remaining players may or may not have the chance to “vote in” either a new player or a previously eliminated player to join the game at its current point.
There will be a hidden advantage during the first stage of the game that will allow the outcome of ONE voting cycle to be changed. It is up to the player’s own initiative to discover what this advantage is exactly.
Second Half:
Somewhere in the middle of the game, the “split” occurs and partner bonds are no longer forced, allowing contestants who were partners in the first half of the game to vote each other out if they so wish to after this point.
Challenges in the second half of the game still might allow for the choice between multiple tasks, with some tasks being more online-focused with others being more focused on people within one’s physical space. However, sometimes additional restrictions might be put in place that limit who a player is allowed to interact with to complete the challenge.
After the split, there will be no more benchmark challenges and there will be only bell curve challenges in which a single or a few contestants will earn immunity. Even without immunity, all players have the ability to vote another non-immune player out of the game. During the second half of the game, players are not allowed to abstain from voting and must cast a vote to eliminate one of their fellow non-immune players from the game. Players are not allowed to vote themselves out of the game, but may ask to leave the game prior to a vote if they feel like they cannot continue.
There might be a hidden advantage during the first stage of the game that will allow the outcome of ONE voting cycle to be changed. It is up to the player’s own initiative to discover what this advantage is exactly, if it exists at all.
Finale:
When there are only three players left in the game, the finale will begin. The final three players will complete three final tasks as pairs; one task with players A and B, one task with players B and C, and one task with players A and C. These tasks might function similarly to challenges but the reward for doing well in the tasks will not be revealed until after they are completed. After the completion of these final tasks, the players will not be allowed to talk to each other again until the end of voting. Players will not know how final voting works until it is time for final voting, or until the host’s discretion if the host wishes to reveal this information earlier. Players cannot abstain from casting a vote.
At the start of the game, contestants will randomly be partnered with another contestant. This partnership prevents the two contestants from trying to vote each other out during the first half of the game. Contestants will fully know who their partner is, but will not be given information on who the other partners are at the start of the game. Partners are not required to work together within the game. It is just a pre-established voting pact in which they cannot vote one another out until the “split” occurs in the middle of the game. In the first half of the game, doing well in a challenge will earn a contestant both immunity from being voted out and the ability to cast a vote against someone who is not immune. If a contestant does not do well in a challenge, that contestant cannot cast a vote to send someone home and is subject to being voted out in turn.
Challenge performance is very important to this game and that is why 6 days out of the 7 day weekly cycle of the game time are devoted to challenges. Whereas in Survivor challenges are often based on an individual’s ability to endure a task, race against the competition, or solve a puzzle, in Communicative Volume the challenges are designed to be a place for social interaction, or places for social connections (and disconnections) to occur. The “social game” and the “challenge game” of Communicative Volume are often blurred together.
The challenge structure of this game is quite varied and sometimes participants might be able to choose to compete in one of multiple challenges listed for the current weekly cycle. Variations within a challenge might include a primarily online-based version in which connections occur between individuals not in the same physical space and a more in-real-life social version.
Like Survivor, players will be able to vote each other out of the game after a challenge. Unlike Survivor, in order to gain the ability to vote in the voting day at the end of a challenge cycle, a contestant must perform well in the challenge. This is not a game where everyone gets the ability to vote automatically and voting must be earned. The criteria for being able to vote might alternate between challenge cycles. During the first half of the game, receiving the ability to vote is also linked with that player earning immunity from being voted out, meaning only players who do not earn the ability to vote can be voted out. Sometimes voting powers are given to everyone who reaches a certain pre-determined benchmark in the challenge; this is called a “benchmark challenge.” It is therefore theoretically possible that no one is voted out of a benchmark challenge if everyone meets the benchmark, whereas if only one contestant fails to meet a benchmark then that contestant will be automatically eliminated from the game. Other times voting powers will be only given to the top “X” numbers of participants, where X might vary based on the number of people left in the game; this is called a “bell curve challenge.”
A player that earned the ability to vote may chooses to abstain from voting during a cycle of the first half of the competition if that player so chooses. In the event of a tie vote, the tie breaking mechanism will not be revealed until after the tie vote occurs. Players are not allowed to vote themselves out of the game, but may ask to leave the game prior to a vote if they feel like they cannot continue.
Sometime during the first half of the game, the remaining players may or may not have the chance to “vote in” either a new player or a previously eliminated player to join the game at its current point.
There will be a hidden advantage during the first stage of the game that will allow the outcome of ONE voting cycle to be changed. It is up to the player’s own initiative to discover what this advantage is exactly.
Second Half:
Somewhere in the middle of the game, the “split” occurs and partner bonds are no longer forced, allowing contestants who were partners in the first half of the game to vote each other out if they so wish to after this point.
Challenges in the second half of the game still might allow for the choice between multiple tasks, with some tasks being more online-focused with others being more focused on people within one’s physical space. However, sometimes additional restrictions might be put in place that limit who a player is allowed to interact with to complete the challenge.
After the split, there will be no more benchmark challenges and there will be only bell curve challenges in which a single or a few contestants will earn immunity. Even without immunity, all players have the ability to vote another non-immune player out of the game. During the second half of the game, players are not allowed to abstain from voting and must cast a vote to eliminate one of their fellow non-immune players from the game. Players are not allowed to vote themselves out of the game, but may ask to leave the game prior to a vote if they feel like they cannot continue.
There might be a hidden advantage during the first stage of the game that will allow the outcome of ONE voting cycle to be changed. It is up to the player’s own initiative to discover what this advantage is exactly, if it exists at all.
Finale:
When there are only three players left in the game, the finale will begin. The final three players will complete three final tasks as pairs; one task with players A and B, one task with players B and C, and one task with players A and C. These tasks might function similarly to challenges but the reward for doing well in the tasks will not be revealed until after they are completed. After the completion of these final tasks, the players will not be allowed to talk to each other again until the end of voting. Players will not know how final voting works until it is time for final voting, or until the host’s discretion if the host wishes to reveal this information earlier. Players cannot abstain from casting a vote.
The winner(s) of this competition will receive a minimum prize of $20, in US currency, to be distributed in a method agreed by the winner(s) and host. Other prizes might also exist, but will not be named at this time. At the end of the day, you shouldn’t sign up for the game just for a chance at winning a few bucks and it probably won’t be worth anywhere close to the effort put into winning the game. Any prizes should just be viewed as a small thank-you gift for your efforts.
Applications and the "first challenge":
In order to sign up for this game, please send in an application to me, the host, privately. You can also reply with an "in" or some variation if you want, but your application cannot be complete without following the below instructions and sending me your materials privately. The purposes of the application video are numerous, including judging your camera and/or audio quality, allowing a chance for feedback to better the quality of your recording material prior to the start of the competition, and for screening applicants.
-Application videos should be between 2 and 10 minutes long.
-As a general rule of thumb, I'd strongly prefer all video to be at least 720p resolution, and the higher you have access to, the better for you to record with. I might accept lower quality if the application is strong enough, however.
-Try to show your personality and creativity (and that you can somewhat competently record).
-Topics to discuss in your video include, but are by no means limited to the following: tell a story in which you were hurt by someone close to you; describe a time that your actions had unintended side effects; describe why you are interested in social games/gameshows, including mafia or survivor online games; compare and contrast your online and "in-real-life" relationships.
-Overall, I'm just looking for you to showcase an ability to clearly convey your thoughts/ideas/strategies and to narrate your emotions. If you can do these things, then you're off to a great start and if you're part of the way there then I'll give you some tips on how to improve your content to help make sure the game receives usable material.
-As a general rule of thumb, I'd strongly prefer all video to be at least 720p resolution, and the higher you have access to, the better for you to record with. I might accept lower quality if the application is strong enough, however.
-Try to show your personality and creativity (and that you can somewhat competently record).
-Topics to discuss in your video include, but are by no means limited to the following: tell a story in which you were hurt by someone close to you; describe a time that your actions had unintended side effects; describe why you are interested in social games/gameshows, including mafia or survivor online games; compare and contrast your online and "in-real-life" relationships.
-Overall, I'm just looking for you to showcase an ability to clearly convey your thoughts/ideas/strategies and to narrate your emotions. If you can do these things, then you're off to a great start and if you're part of the way there then I'll give you some tips on how to improve your content to help make sure the game receives usable material.
Additionally (and separately from the above video), in order to be considered for a contestant in this game, you must also print, sign, and scan in the Liability and Responsibility Contract. In a nutshell, the contract is mostly about 1) confirming that you as a contestant are allowing me to use the content that you provide me to craft episodes of the competition, 2) making sure that you know better to keep yourself safe and follow laws in your area, and 3) making sure you don't cheat within the game itself. However, sometimes details get messy and they can make people feel uncomfortable, and that's where this "first challenge" comes in. I want you, as an applicant, to look over the base contract and negotiate with me privately some of the details until you're okay with it. If we can reach a consensus on the contract, then we'll both sign it and you'll be eligible to compete in this game. If we can't reach a consensus... then well that's okay and maybe this game isn't for you. Many other competition gameshows, including Survivor, offer contract negotiations and I personally am interested in that back-and-forth exchange that happens with these compromises. And well, comprises and coming to a mutual understanding and respect are key elements of effective communication and so I think this exercise fits right at home within a communication-based competition.
So, do you think you have the volume to join?
Any questions, feel free to ask.
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