Post by Coach on Jan 22, 2013 0:29:37 GMT -5
So I was given special permission by Lex and Brett to post this both here and on the boards. If I post it just on the boards it'll get buried by a plethora of other adverts and I'd like for people to see it because this is a very big game to prepare for. I don't host these very often and this may well be the last one I do.
Presenting:
A fair few of you have probably heard of this (and played in it) but this is my flagship game series. It's not a typical ORG in that it borrows more RPG type elements but its true game predecessor is Mafia.
It was born as the online game version of the movie Cube. For those who haven't seen it, it involves a group of strangers trapped in a huge maze full of traps who need to find the exit with no information. Labyrinth is like that but has evolved more of a mythology and plot over the years I've been running it.
The game takes place over a series of phases, each of which is 24 hours in real time. During this phase, they will be given a description of the room they're in along with a list of possible exits. They then have until the end of the phase to decide which exit they're going to take. Failure to exit the room results in a modkill after two days, so people have to keep moving.
They can also interact with one another and the room. Some rooms contain items they can pick up and take with a specific purpose, or objects they can interact with. A large number of the players will also have roles, similar to Mafia. These roles have some kind of effect but some roles also have their own unique win condition. Whilst 80% of the players may very well need to escape the maze alive in order to win, a small number have more sinister win conditions, such as killing all the other players.
One of the game's unique and more interesting aspects is that it is purely isolated. External communication is forbidden (and in this one all players are forced alias). Players can only ever see what goes on inside their room during a phase. So often there will be multiple groups of players each doing their own thing at the same time. It gets very interesting when a group splits in two, for instance, and later on in the game the first group finds the remains of a player from the other group. Or worse still, find one solitary member who is wandering around alone, with no explanation for what happened to them.
It's a psychological battle of wits. Almost everything in the maze is designed to push paranoia and tension to the limits. Players will be given secret tasks and objectives, which further strains things when you consider that nobody can be trusted to begin with. The maze is also full of deadly traps which may eviscerate somebody merely for choosing the wrong exit, and a recurring motif is that the maze contains a deadly beast of burden who hounds the players phase by phase.
There are no mafia style role reveals on death and no player lists or memory walls to tell you who is still alive and dead. The isolation element is key throughout. In spite of all this, because the maze is full of deadly traps and other such things, working together is essential.
The application form for the game is here:
www.ndimforums.com/lab3/thread.asp?threadid=18&pp=15#new
We're accepting applications up to the beginning of March. The game will start on March 25th (potentially subject to change slightly).
It's worth noting that this is a huge game and may take two or three months to play out in full, but some phases require very little input on the part of the players. Past games have required people to leave a list of who they are going to follow from room to room, in case they aren't on to make their exit. For Lab 3 we're dropping this, and provided one person in the room makes a move, all the others will automatically follow. As a result, it doesn't require consistently high levels of commitment. Not to mention, 90% of you won't last that long
If you don't want to apply but are curious to see the game, I'll be having a spectator's lounge for people who want to see all the action. Seeing all the concurrent threads is incredibly entertaining, so it's an experience worth considering if you can't commit to play.
Presenting:
A fair few of you have probably heard of this (and played in it) but this is my flagship game series. It's not a typical ORG in that it borrows more RPG type elements but its true game predecessor is Mafia.
It was born as the online game version of the movie Cube. For those who haven't seen it, it involves a group of strangers trapped in a huge maze full of traps who need to find the exit with no information. Labyrinth is like that but has evolved more of a mythology and plot over the years I've been running it.
The game takes place over a series of phases, each of which is 24 hours in real time. During this phase, they will be given a description of the room they're in along with a list of possible exits. They then have until the end of the phase to decide which exit they're going to take. Failure to exit the room results in a modkill after two days, so people have to keep moving.
They can also interact with one another and the room. Some rooms contain items they can pick up and take with a specific purpose, or objects they can interact with. A large number of the players will also have roles, similar to Mafia. These roles have some kind of effect but some roles also have their own unique win condition. Whilst 80% of the players may very well need to escape the maze alive in order to win, a small number have more sinister win conditions, such as killing all the other players.
One of the game's unique and more interesting aspects is that it is purely isolated. External communication is forbidden (and in this one all players are forced alias). Players can only ever see what goes on inside their room during a phase. So often there will be multiple groups of players each doing their own thing at the same time. It gets very interesting when a group splits in two, for instance, and later on in the game the first group finds the remains of a player from the other group. Or worse still, find one solitary member who is wandering around alone, with no explanation for what happened to them.
It's a psychological battle of wits. Almost everything in the maze is designed to push paranoia and tension to the limits. Players will be given secret tasks and objectives, which further strains things when you consider that nobody can be trusted to begin with. The maze is also full of deadly traps which may eviscerate somebody merely for choosing the wrong exit, and a recurring motif is that the maze contains a deadly beast of burden who hounds the players phase by phase.
There are no mafia style role reveals on death and no player lists or memory walls to tell you who is still alive and dead. The isolation element is key throughout. In spite of all this, because the maze is full of deadly traps and other such things, working together is essential.
The application form for the game is here:
www.ndimforums.com/lab3/thread.asp?threadid=18&pp=15#new
We're accepting applications up to the beginning of March. The game will start on March 25th (potentially subject to change slightly).
It's worth noting that this is a huge game and may take two or three months to play out in full, but some phases require very little input on the part of the players. Past games have required people to leave a list of who they are going to follow from room to room, in case they aren't on to make their exit. For Lab 3 we're dropping this, and provided one person in the room makes a move, all the others will automatically follow. As a result, it doesn't require consistently high levels of commitment. Not to mention, 90% of you won't last that long
If you don't want to apply but are curious to see the game, I'll be having a spectator's lounge for people who want to see all the action. Seeing all the concurrent threads is incredibly entertaining, so it's an experience worth considering if you can't commit to play.