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"The Win Formula" -- Lights, Camera, Action!
- Thread starter DougJustDoug
- Start date
- Status
I feel kinda bad that that Lemmiwinks guy responded so calmly. It'd be more fun if people flipped out.
OK, I have implemented the "harmless" Anti-Hax Clause on the CAP server. It's late here, and I'm going to bed. I'll announce it in the Stark thread in the morning, since the CAP server is usually unmoderated in the middle of the night US time, and I really don't want many users on without mods. If word gets out over the next several hours, that's fine. But, I don't want to advertise it until morning US time.
Regarding "Suspicious Outsiders"
I've gotten a couple PM's from some users who are suspicious about an "early April Fools joke". I think they were tipped off by someone, but I can't say for sure. They were probing very hard, so perhaps they were just fishing for information. I'm not making vehement defenses or anything -- I just tell them "Leave me alone. I'm busy." Over the next day, there will likely be a lot more of this.
If any outsiders mention this as a possible April Fools joke anywhere on the forums, even in jest -- I think mods should edit the post or delete it. We need to keep this under wraps as much as possible. As long as no one blurts it out in Shoddy mainchat -- we should be OK.
Remember - Even if some observant members of the community sense that it is a joke -- there are LOTS of other gullible Smogoners. Unless some jerk makes a huge concerted effort to blow the cover on this -- MANY people are going to be caught by surprise. So, don't panic at the first sign of someone figuring out the prank. Just try to contain the situation and don't further heighten the suspicion by overreacting.
Hopefully, anyone smart enough to see through this, is also smart enough to enjoy a good prank. I suspect most people will sit tight, and watch the show.
Regarding "Suspicious Outsiders"
I've gotten a couple PM's from some users who are suspicious about an "early April Fools joke". I think they were tipped off by someone, but I can't say for sure. They were probing very hard, so perhaps they were just fishing for information. I'm not making vehement defenses or anything -- I just tell them "Leave me alone. I'm busy." Over the next day, there will likely be a lot more of this.
If any outsiders mention this as a possible April Fools joke anywhere on the forums, even in jest -- I think mods should edit the post or delete it. We need to keep this under wraps as much as possible. As long as no one blurts it out in Shoddy mainchat -- we should be OK.
Remember - Even if some observant members of the community sense that it is a joke -- there are LOTS of other gullible Smogoners. Unless some jerk makes a huge concerted effort to blow the cover on this -- MANY people are going to be caught by surprise. So, don't panic at the first sign of someone figuring out the prank. Just try to contain the situation and don't further heighten the suspicion by overreacting.
Hopefully, anyone smart enough to see through this, is also smart enough to enjoy a good prank. I suspect most people will sit tight, and watch the show.
<EeveeTrainer> http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1841911&postcount=20
<EeveeTrainer> delete this now
<incogneato> I can't
<incogneato> I'm not a mod anymore
<EeveeTrainer> wtf
<incogneato> dammit
<incogneato> I'll post it in IS
<incogneato> thanks for the heads up
GOGOGOGOGOGOGO
<EeveeTrainer> delete this now
<incogneato> I can't
<incogneato> I'm not a mod anymore
<EeveeTrainer> wtf
<incogneato> dammit
<incogneato> I'll post it in IS
<incogneato> thanks for the heads up
GOGOGOGOGOGOGO
In case you didn't notice, we are now in the endgame of our April Fools prank.
The Anti-Hax Clause has been implemented on the Smogon server. It is implemented with a "countdown timer". The timer counts the hours between now and 12 noon EST on April 1st. For example, as I type this, there are about 17 hours between now and noon April 1st. That means that the clause will give every close battle a 1 in 17 chance of going to a coin-flip to determine the winner. One hour from now, the chance will go to 1 in 16. An hour later it will be 1 in 15. You see the trend? So, as of noon tomorrow, every close battle will be decideded by a 50/50 coin toss, just like we planned.The timer allows this clause to overturn very few battles at first, and progressively overturn more and more battles. Until noon on April 1st, when it will be a total mess!
Current reactions are priceless. I won't bother to post them here. But I highly suggest you come on IRC, where all the badgeholders are sitting back and commenting on the show. This is really hilarious!
I made this post in the Stark discussion thread. That reasoning should be the justification for deleting posts from wiseguys speculating that this is a joke. Hopefully we will keep the lid on this long enough to enjoy a lot more user hilarity.
Tomorrow, we will huddle up on IRC and decide when to pull the big reveal. I am told that the White Knight has his post almost finished now, and will post it tomorrow whenever we give him the word.
Let's hope we can finish this off with a bang!
The Anti-Hax Clause has been implemented on the Smogon server. It is implemented with a "countdown timer". The timer counts the hours between now and 12 noon EST on April 1st. For example, as I type this, there are about 17 hours between now and noon April 1st. That means that the clause will give every close battle a 1 in 17 chance of going to a coin-flip to determine the winner. One hour from now, the chance will go to 1 in 16. An hour later it will be 1 in 15. You see the trend? So, as of noon tomorrow, every close battle will be decideded by a 50/50 coin toss, just like we planned.The timer allows this clause to overturn very few battles at first, and progressively overturn more and more battles. Until noon on April 1st, when it will be a total mess!
Current reactions are priceless. I won't bother to post them here. But I highly suggest you come on IRC, where all the badgeholders are sitting back and commenting on the show. This is really hilarious!
I made this post in the Stark discussion thread. That reasoning should be the justification for deleting posts from wiseguys speculating that this is a joke. Hopefully we will keep the lid on this long enough to enjoy a lot more user hilarity.
Tomorrow, we will huddle up on IRC and decide when to pull the big reveal. I am told that the White Knight has his post almost finished now, and will post it tomorrow whenever we give him the word.
Let's hope we can finish this off with a bang!
Well matty... See the thing is, I can't hold it in any longer.
There is no reveal. Don't you get it? This was an elaborate prank done to fool all the inside scoopers on Smogon.
This wasn't a joke, the Anti-Hax formula DOES exist and won't be going away anytime soon. Telling you it was a prank to make you not believe it while actually developing and implementing it was the whole idea all along!
There is no reveal. Don't you get it? This was an elaborate prank done to fool all the inside scoopers on Smogon.
This wasn't a joke, the Anti-Hax formula DOES exist and won't be going away anytime soon. Telling you it was a prank to make you not believe it while actually developing and implementing it was the whole idea all along!
Cut!
That's a wrap.
That's a wrap.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this. It turned out better than I ever imagined -- and I imagined it was going to be good!
Based on feedback in the Curtain Call in Stark, the community doesn't feel any heartburn from being "tricked" -- in fact, quite the opposite. Everyone seems to really appreciate all the work we put in to dupe them completely! I think that's a testimony to the Smogon community, and the general sense of humor around here. Smogon loves a good joke.
The news about this prank has spread all over the internet, not just to other pokemon communities. I received PM's from people who want to know how we could orchestrate a joke like this, involving so many people over such a long period of time. Most people are very impressed, others are jealous. Either way, I think we came out looking pretty good.
There in the middle of the joke, I was a bit worried that Smogon's reputation would be harmed in this thing, since so many other communities were bad-mouthing us for making this "stupid anti-hax formula". However, it's ironic that the good news about the prank after the big reveal, spread much further in a single day, than the bad news spread over the entire month beforehand!
Here are my closing thoughts/reflections on this whole thing:
Thanks again to everyone who participated. Not just the cast -- but also everyone who helped in IRC chats, on Shoddy, and those that gave advice/encouragement here. Everyone should take some credit for pulling this off successfully.
Based on feedback in the Curtain Call in Stark, the community doesn't feel any heartburn from being "tricked" -- in fact, quite the opposite. Everyone seems to really appreciate all the work we put in to dupe them completely! I think that's a testimony to the Smogon community, and the general sense of humor around here. Smogon loves a good joke.
The news about this prank has spread all over the internet, not just to other pokemon communities. I received PM's from people who want to know how we could orchestrate a joke like this, involving so many people over such a long period of time. Most people are very impressed, others are jealous. Either way, I think we came out looking pretty good.
There in the middle of the joke, I was a bit worried that Smogon's reputation would be harmed in this thing, since so many other communities were bad-mouthing us for making this "stupid anti-hax formula". However, it's ironic that the good news about the prank after the big reveal, spread much further in a single day, than the bad news spread over the entire month beforehand!
Here are my closing thoughts/reflections on this whole thing:
Badgeholders are pretty damn trustworthy. Considering how many people knew about this from #insidescoop, it's amazing how well we kept the lid on it.
The collective creativity in this community is fantastic. All the little touches and nuances the cast members brought to their posts -- that was fun to watch. I really enjoyed seeing how cast members fleshed out the general concepts in the script and cues. The arguments and logic that people devised to make this believable -- was nothing short of brilliant!
Thanks DM for your "pot committed" post here. I was ready to pull the plug on this thing, because it just didn't look like it was going to work. Several people spoke to me and asked me to keep going, but that phrase crystallized it for me. Since I play a lot of poker, it really hit home with me. Looking back, I'm so glad we saw this through to completion.
It was a lot of fun doing a project that involved such a huge cross-section of IS. I didn't realize it when I wrote the script, but this thing involved many different kinds of Smogoners, old and new. Seeing everyone join in and work together was pretty great.
I have no idea what we'll do next year, but I am not going to plan it. This prank has filled my lifetime quota for "complicated internet prank planning". Since this was such a big deal, I think we need a much simpler joke next year, anyway. It should be fun watching the community trying to second-guess everything we do next year, starting in early March.
The collective creativity in this community is fantastic. All the little touches and nuances the cast members brought to their posts -- that was fun to watch. I really enjoyed seeing how cast members fleshed out the general concepts in the script and cues. The arguments and logic that people devised to make this believable -- was nothing short of brilliant!
Thanks DM for your "pot committed" post here. I was ready to pull the plug on this thing, because it just didn't look like it was going to work. Several people spoke to me and asked me to keep going, but that phrase crystallized it for me. Since I play a lot of poker, it really hit home with me. Looking back, I'm so glad we saw this through to completion.
It was a lot of fun doing a project that involved such a huge cross-section of IS. I didn't realize it when I wrote the script, but this thing involved many different kinds of Smogoners, old and new. Seeing everyone join in and work together was pretty great.
I have no idea what we'll do next year, but I am not going to plan it. This prank has filled my lifetime quota for "complicated internet prank planning". Since this was such a big deal, I think we need a much simpler joke next year, anyway. It should be fun watching the community trying to second-guess everything we do next year, starting in early March.
Thanks again to everyone who participated. Not just the cast -- but also everyone who helped in IRC chats, on Shoddy, and those that gave advice/encouragement here. Everyone should take some credit for pulling this off successfully.
I think I already posted once about that post but fuck it was so great!
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