GFF (Mega)Scrabble Game 6 Signups
 

This isn't your regular game of Scrabble. It's a lot more massive. If you participated in nuttyturnip's incarnations of MegaScrabble 1 through 5, you should be right at home. If not, here are the plain vanilla rules.

So, here's what the game is going to play like:

1. You'll still play on a 41x41 game board, by editing a worksheet on Google Spreadsheets. You will still have a set of 14 tiles and two moves per round.
2. Instead of a super-sized Scrabble board, I've knocked up a super-sized Literati board

   http://upload.jetsam.org/images//MegaLiterati-board.png

   (with apologies to Yahoo). Still, it's not too much of a departure, since gameplay mechanics and scoring will still be identical to that of Scrabble.
3. We will still have a pre-determined turn-based system. BUT, to make things interesting, the order will change every round. You will know in advance when your turn will come up.
4. The objective of the game is still to get the maximum number of points possible.

I can't just leave it at that, so I'm adding item use. Items are special "power-ups" (or power-downs against rivals, as the case may be) that you can purchase with your game points. So, you will have to strike a balance between indiscriminate use of items and the desire to win the game.

Items are purchased by posting on this thread, even when it is not your turn. Most items are used during your turn, but some can be used anytime you wish. Use of items should be posted - exceptions are noted.

Here is a list of buyable items, and their costs and effects:

1. Blank Wildcard Tile (15 points): This 0-point tile can substitute for any letter in the alphabet. It will not replace your current tiles, so if you have a full rack and buy this, you will have 15 tiles. For a small extra fee, you can change this tile to the point-yielding of your own choice. This fee is the letter's point value, divided by 2 and rounded up (so going from 1 to 5 points).
2. Score Multipliers: You can buy your own 2L, 3L, 2W and 3W multiplier, and use as many of them as you want on an empty slot during your turn. The act of placing a single letter AND a single score multiplier is considered one move. The costs of these multipliers are:
   2L - 12 points
   3L - 20 points
   2W - 30 points
   3W - 60 points
3. Tile Scrambler (30 points): Mess up a variable number of your rival's tiles. Roll a 2d3, and the same number of tiles belonging to your victim will be changed. You can use this at any time, but it should not be your target's turn.
4. Word Multiplier Nullifier (50 points): Any word played on this 0w tile will cause all word multiplier bonuses to be canceled. This can be played at any time, but will only apply to moves after it is placed.
5. Point Replicator (50 points): This item allows you to gain a variable percentage of a target's round points during their next turn. Use of this item is secret, so PM me. I will throw a 25d2 - the resulting number is the percentage of points you will get (ranging from 25% to 50%).
6. Point Siphon (variable): Works pretty much like the replicator, except it has a fixed percentage (35%) and your target will lose them to you. This item has a base cost of 75 points plus half of the points your victim loses, rounded up.

There is also a special 4W tile up for grabs, for anyone who makes a MegaBingo - that is, use up all 14 (plus purchased blanks) tiles in a single move. MegaBingos, incidentally, give you 100 bonus points instead of 50.

If you have any concerns or suggestions about the items, I would like to hear about them! Are they too cheap/expensive? Do you have a great idea for an item? Tell me all about it!

We will be accepting 8 participants in this iteration, with priority given to new players and those who were unable to participate in the previous game.

Sign up for our crazily complicated game by posting in this thread with your disposable Gmail address. And be sure to add a 1d100 die roll for me to determine initial turn order.

It is pretty close after the last game, but I'm almost done with school so it's not like I don't have the time. Gmail address is devinthudson@gmail.com

And a clarification about the MegaBingo, you have to have purchased a blank tile in order for it to count, right?

I intend to start the game about 2-3 weeks from now. Just to have some time lag.

As for the MegaBingo, no. I put in that bit about purchased blanks because that can tip your tiles over 14. So long as you use up your entire rack in a single move, you get the bonus.

But, I find it highly unlikely. How many 14-letter words are there, after all :p

List o' Signups

1. Yeldarb - 92
2. Sousuke - 91
3. Tritoch - 64
4. Rockgamer - 61
5. nuttyturnip - 34

I suspect this will be a bit too complicated (and soon after the last game), but I'll sign up. Seems like all these modifications benefit those few that spend hours planning their moves *cough*Zergrinch*cough* and let them pull out even further from the rest of us.

this is true. also, why would you give more points for a bingo? A cheap blank tile is often all it takes to finish off a rack, and anyone who didn't get a megabingo every turn would fall way behind really fast.

I'm not going to commit yet, even if i actually started playing real words i'm not sure how much time i'll have (definitely not 3 hours per turn)

Scrabble rules give out 50 bonus points for a bingo, Hawkeye.

As for MegaBingos, well. We have had 5 MegaScrabble games, and I'll be damned if anyone busted out a 14-letter whopper yet. I wanna see ultra-long words! :3:

Also, prospective committed players. May I request you to make a single 1d100 dice roll, to determine your turn order for the first round? This also helps in letter distribution, since I'm now going with a fixed Scrabble tile distribution, suitably blown up of course:

A:68, B:15, C:15, D:30, E:90, F:15, G:23, H:15, I:68, J:8, K:8, L:30, M:15, N:45, O:60, P:15, Q:8, R:45, S:30, T:45, U:30, V:15, W:15, X:8, Y:15, Z:8, Blank:15

Oh i didn't realize that you meant all 14 in one word. My mistake. Carry on, then.

Yeah, I missed the part about the single move as well. Even if there is some 14-letter word out there, I doubt anyone is gonna get the tiles necessary to play it.

Also, I went back and did my die roll, though I just noticed that you did one with my name on it.

I'll sign up despite the odds of me winning being slimmer than the slimmest of slim Slimites. PMing my Gmail since it's not a disposable one.

Unfortunately, I've got projected work travel coming up for a week on the 11th, plus two more in June, which I think would throw a big wrench into being able to play this. Sounds like an interesting variation though and look forward to seeing whether it works.

I suspect there will need to be some iterations on the points to make it work, as the costs seem a bit off on some. The Point Replicator and the Point Syphon are the two which I think may need the most work. 75 points + half the syphoned amount, works out to a horrible payoff of 2.5% to 12.5% for you, and a minor loss for them. Unless they're scoring in the multiple hundreds consistently, or you know they have a x9+ coming up, there's little point. Plus, with strategy, the x0 word multiplier, or Point Replicator, would usually be a better option. The Point Replicator itself also seems like a mediocre bet for most people. Averaging 30% returns, you'd need an almost guaranteed 200+ point play to make it worth it.

Hmm, you're right on the Siphon. I have revised it to take a fixed 35% from the victim. Everything else remains the same. I think you shouldn't calculate returns on something that also reduces someone else's score though. It can be bigger than you think, effectively doubling the effectiveness when you take the difference.

Your point about the return of the replicator is well taken. I have revised the cost to 50 points, and the potential return between 25% and 50%.

Since you are planning to initiate the game 2-3 weeks from now, I'll sign-up since AP tests are by then completed and done with. Not to mention the end of school will be close at hand. I'll give it a whirl.

Sign me up, definitely. I'm Yggdrasilly at Gmail.