posted
Mike, this sounds crazy! I have no idea what it all means, but it sounds like a lot of fun. Now, what does the richest person get to buy with his/her LH$? Posts: 811 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
That's a bummer about Beth. That would have been classic. Does she have a better idea? Maybe you should say if she doesn't think of something better then she doesn't have a choice. Bwaa-ha-ha. Be evil Mike--come on.
Otherwise...Hmmm...I really don't have a clue. My brain hasn't turned on yet today. I'll have to mull it over. I'm sure someone else will have an opinion. Where is everyone?
posted
Well, what happened was, when we broke into groups (instead of doing the flashes in one giant pile), Mike said the group winners would shake their pecs and do Maori warcries to determine the winner. I'm kind of competitive so you *bet* I started practicing. Then he ended up just having a vote-off, so I felt really mislead and swore never to do it again.
posted
But Beth, this is a good cause. What about HSO, will he do it?
Ya, know whoever it is it's got to be poster size. They'll be the pin-up for LH. He-he-he. So, I'm afraid one of the moderators will have to volenteer.
posted
I was going to suggest that perhaps what y'all really need is a poster-sized version of Mary in the catsuit with the HUB. But now I'm thinking we need to do a flash calendar - surely we can come up with 12 uh striking photographs.
Posts: 1750 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
Believe it or not it is semi-legit. Mike is trying to work our flash challenge stories and participation into a form of online poker. But writing is still very much involved.
Kathleen, Invisible poker is a lost art that Mike is tring to revive in the writing sence. Like, writing is a gamble--we'll bet our money on our writing. Or something like that anyway...I'll shut up now.
posted
Flash challenge poker was invented (as far as I know) at Scrawl, where they play a simpler version for real money. I chose to try to implement it, in order to give a further incentive to write to the two groups of people who currently get the least reward for their efforts: the moderators and the majority of the writers.
Certainly, if a person is committed to improving their writing, then the weekly rush of the challenge and the comments and critiques that are received should be enough to keep them at it. But there is a bit of a depressing effect also, when you flash week after week and never receive enough votes to win a category.
Our moderators spend up to 12 hours or so of their time on a weekend, making things work. They do this week after week and, because they're moderators, they do not get to flash as often, or their flashes are disqualified from the votes (the infamous DQ). This also wears on a person.
Thus the poker. Firstly, in line with my most basic philosophy for the site, you must write to be eligible to play poker. The hands you are dealt depend upon how well you do in the votes, and how short you story. So, you must still write, you must still write well, and you must aim for brevity.
However, there is more opportunity for cameraderie and wins, if you are a good bluffer. That is where the real essence of poker comes into play.
So, it comes down to this:
Poker is being tested at Liberty Hall in order to increase the potential for fun, for the writers who might not otherwise be having much fun. The method still requires good, concise writing. Play is open to all who will write, even those who are not motivated by the challenges, or are intimidated by them.
Poker at Liberty Hall is intended to:
-promote writing -include everyone who will write -increase the fun and cameraderie for those who need it
That's how poker ties into writing. It addresses the whole person, as a person with feelings and the occasional depression.
It isn't for everyone, true. It may be a bust, also true. But I am going to make the effort anyway in the event that it does work.
That's how I started the challenges in the first place, with no guarantee that it was more than another of Mike's foibles and an expression of his weird and at times foolish personality.
I can live with being thought foolish or bizarre. I cannot live without trying.
And now I will step down from my soapbox with apologies to Kathleen for not being 'writerly' enough in this thread.
mike
[This message has been edited by mikemunsil (edited July 24, 2005).]
posted
Mike, this sounds writerly enough to me. I'm all for enjoying writing and for making it as communal an experience as it can be (especially since writing is basically a lonely art). I'm also in favor of things that can exercise the mind, and I understand poker can do that.
Thank you for explaining how you are tying poker to writing. Your explanation works for me.
So if you need me to, I will quote Picard and say, "Make it so."
posted
Oh you guys are sooo in trouble for the next game of poker. I watched a very interesting documentary on card counting just a week or 2 ago. Aint no way you is gonna beat my system! Now where's me cowboy boots and hat got to?
Posts: 329 | Registered: Mar 2005
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