Assassins Ball at PAX Prime 2013! Meetup Schedule is up! [136]
MarsChelios
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
You walk into a massive space filled with people; bright lights and loud sounds grab your attention. Your eyes narrow as you scan the crowd searching for your prey. Suddenly a chilling sensation sweeps up your spine, you are being watched. You duck around a corner sneaking a quick glance over your shoulder and see... nothing. But you can’t shake the feeling that someone is hunting you.
Welcome to Assassins Ball, a social game played during PAX Prime 2013 in Seattle, WA, August 30 - September 2.
For this game I'll be running a Kickstarter campaign for initial funding. Following forum rules the link to the campaign will not be posted in this thread but can be found on the game websites main page (http://www.phenixone.com). Please do not post the link here and ask any question pertaining to the campaign through PM or through Kickstarter itself.
What is Assassins Ball?
In Assassins Ball you take on the role of an assassin allied to one of five powerful factions. Your mission is to find other specific assassins in the crowd and eliminate them. Each mission lists 1 specific target, 3 generic targets, and an optional faction to target. The more precisely you accomplish your mission the more prestige you gain. As you eliminate players you take their mission and start over looking for the new targets listed on it.
That's the gist. If you'd like to learn more about the game please click below to read the comprehensive rule guide!
Your Kit and How to Play
Players can be identified by the large 3” button they wear. The button should be worn on your left arm facing out or on the upper left side of your chest. Each button is printed with a brightly colored shape on it that acts as an identifier for a player, a sticker below the symbol shows the emblem of your faction (You'll pick this when you order or through a survey). An example of the player button is shown below.
The button has both a standard pin-back and a clothing magnet to ensure that it stays on (Note: The example above does not show the clothing magnet). The magnet is completely removable in the event that you are not able to wear strong magnets.
Stay on Target!
Your kit includes a mission that list a large symbol for a primary target, three smaller symbols for secondary targets, and one of five factions. An example of the mission card is shown below.
In addition to your mission, your kit also includes an assassination card and an intel card. Assassination cards are part of how kills are registered, you will receive one from every player you eliminate and will hand yours to the player who kills you.
Gathering Intel
Gathering Intel
Intel cards are a way to gain prestige even if you're eliminated! Each intel card gives a small amount of prestige to a player when registered. Use it, trade with another player, repeat.
Note that the look of these materials may change between now and printing.
Assassinating Players
When you find a player whose symbol matches your mission walk up, say “Hi”, and kill them. Just kidding, assassinating a player is primarily a verbal exchange. Players are encouraged to be creative but not to use prop weapons, do things that could be considered threatening, and above all don’t ruin someones fun.
Please note that assassinations are not physical! Please do not use weapons or props.
Each kill can be registered online; primary targets are worth 250 points and secondary targets are worth 100. Matching the faction is optional but acts as a multiplier to the kill doubling a primary kill to 500 points and a secondary kill to 200 points.
Factions
Factions are powerful organizations or groups who employ assassins to further their goals, each with a specific theme. The factions and their emblems are listed below, but to find out more go to the factions page on the games website.
Faction Leaders New!
Faction leaders are players dedicated to making sure assassins in their faction succeed. They do this by getting the word out and enrolling players to register, tweeting enemy faction player positions, handing out Second Lives to downed players and even recruiting new players to join their faction!
There will be Faction Leader kits available in the kickstarter campaign and on the website (I may limit these to X per faction but still deciding on how many right now). I'd also like to appoint one player for each each faction from this community. Community Faction Leaders will need to purchase their own kit but will receive a Faction Leader kit for free.
Community Faction Leaders
Meetup Schedule
This year I'm going to have a regular schedule of where I'll be each day for dealing with issues, ordering extra kits for friends, extra Second Lives, etc. I will also be attempting to tweet from the @PAXAssassins account whenever I'm stopping for a bit so if you're around stop by to say hi!
For all of these scheduled meetup times it would be extremely helpful for you to communicate in advance which meetup you plan on meeting me at, when you arrive and what to look for. I will have a fairly large sign out with an image similar to the the image at the top of this update.
I request that you plan ahead and be on time to avoid missing me as I will be keeping to this schedule pretty tightly.
Friday Meetups
The Crumpet Shop (Pike Place), 8:30AM - ~9:15AM
1503 1st Avenue Seattle, WA 98101
Stop in and grab a tasty crumpet before slaying your enemies.
WSCC Level One Lobby, ~9:30AM - 10:00AM
Entering from the corner of Pike St and 7th Avenue, this will be directly to your right.
Entering from Pike St take a right and go down the stairs, lobby is to your left at the foot of the stairs.
WSCC Level Two @ Juicy Cafe, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
From entrances head up escalators to Level 2 then go around the left side of the next set of escalators and forward to get to the Juicy Cafe. Meetup will be in the table area just outside of Juicy Cafe.
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday Meetups
WSCC Level Two @ Juicy Cafe, ~9:30AM - 10:00AM & 2:00PM - 2:30PM
From entrances head up escalators to Level 2 then go around the left side of the next set of escalators and forward to get to the Juicy Cafe. Meetup will be in the table area just outside of Juicy Cafe.
What's next?
Don't see something covered here or uncertain about something? Got a suggestion or constructive criticism? Think this is awesome? Let me know below! I'm very excited about this years game and I hope you are too!
If you're posting a question for me, please place @MarsChelios in your post so I can be alerted and respond promptly.
Help get the word out!
Assassins Ball grows primarily through word of mouth. With the all or nothing nature of Kickstarter I need your help more than ever to make sure Assassins Ball is at PAX Prime! Help me get the word out or let me know any suggestions you have on reaching people!
Here's some ways I'm connecting with people:
Welcome to Assassins Ball, a social game played during PAX Prime 2013 in Seattle, WA, August 30 - September 2.
For this game I'll be running a Kickstarter campaign for initial funding. Following forum rules the link to the campaign will not be posted in this thread but can be found on the game websites main page (http://www.phenixone.com). Please do not post the link here and ask any question pertaining to the campaign through PM or through Kickstarter itself.
The kickstarter is over, but you can order kits on the game wesbiste. To place an order for kits, go here: http://www.phenixone.com/assassins/ordering.For anyone wondering, this has been given specific clearance versus the kickstarter ban on the forums from the Administrator. However, any questions related to the kickstarter itself would be best left to PM or on the kickstarter page. Please do not use this thread to discuss the kickstarter (other than if you want to post that you're participating in Assassins). You will also notice that @MarsChelios has been careful to not link to it directly, this is by design.
What is Assassins Ball?
In Assassins Ball you take on the role of an assassin allied to one of five powerful factions. Your mission is to find other specific assassins in the crowd and eliminate them. Each mission lists 1 specific target, 3 generic targets, and an optional faction to target. The more precisely you accomplish your mission the more prestige you gain. As you eliminate players you take their mission and start over looking for the new targets listed on it.
That's the gist. If you'd like to learn more about the game please click below to read the comprehensive rule guide!
Your Kit and How to Play
Players can be identified by the large 3” button they wear. The button should be worn on your left arm facing out or on the upper left side of your chest. Each button is printed with a brightly colored shape on it that acts as an identifier for a player, a sticker below the symbol shows the emblem of your faction (You'll pick this when you order or through a survey). An example of the player button is shown below.
The button has both a standard pin-back and a clothing magnet to ensure that it stays on (Note: The example above does not show the clothing magnet). The magnet is completely removable in the event that you are not able to wear strong magnets.
Stay on Target!
Your kit includes a mission that list a large symbol for a primary target, three smaller symbols for secondary targets, and one of five factions. An example of the mission card is shown below.
In addition to your mission, your kit also includes an assassination card and an intel card. Assassination cards are part of how kills are registered, you will receive one from every player you eliminate and will hand yours to the player who kills you.
Gathering Intel
Gathering Intel
Intel cards are a way to gain prestige even if you're eliminated! Each intel card gives a small amount of prestige to a player when registered. Use it, trade with another player, repeat.
Note that the look of these materials may change between now and printing.
Assassinating Players
When you find a player whose symbol matches your mission walk up, say “Hi”, and kill them. Just kidding, assassinating a player is primarily a verbal exchange. Players are encouraged to be creative but not to use prop weapons, do things that could be considered threatening, and above all don’t ruin someones fun.
Please note that assassinations are not physical! Please do not use weapons or props.
Each kill can be registered online; primary targets are worth 250 points and secondary targets are worth 100. Matching the faction is optional but acts as a multiplier to the kill doubling a primary kill to 500 points and a secondary kill to 200 points.
Factions
Factions are powerful organizations or groups who employ assassins to further their goals, each with a specific theme. The factions and their emblems are listed below, but to find out more go to the factions page on the games website.
Faction Leaders New!
Faction leaders are players dedicated to making sure assassins in their faction succeed. They do this by getting the word out and enrolling players to register, tweeting enemy faction player positions, handing out Second Lives to downed players and even recruiting new players to join their faction!
There will be Faction Leader kits available in the kickstarter campaign and on the website (I may limit these to X per faction but still deciding on how many right now). I'd also like to appoint one player for each each faction from this community. Community Faction Leaders will need to purchase their own kit but will receive a Faction Leader kit for free.
Community Faction Leaders
- Kingsport Raiders - acydlord (@KngsportCorsair)
- Robot Ninjas - dyaballikl (@PAXRobotNinjas)
- Varsity Dead - Sumi (@VarsityDead)
- Cowboy 'Verse - kemikal (@CowboyVerse)
- Sparkly Ponies - edgeofblade (@PAXPonyAssassin)
Meetup Schedule
This year I'm going to have a regular schedule of where I'll be each day for dealing with issues, ordering extra kits for friends, extra Second Lives, etc. I will also be attempting to tweet from the @PAXAssassins account whenever I'm stopping for a bit so if you're around stop by to say hi!
For all of these scheduled meetup times it would be extremely helpful for you to communicate in advance which meetup you plan on meeting me at, when you arrive and what to look for. I will have a fairly large sign out with an image similar to the the image at the top of this update.
I request that you plan ahead and be on time to avoid missing me as I will be keeping to this schedule pretty tightly.
Friday Meetups
The Crumpet Shop (Pike Place), 8:30AM - ~9:15AM
1503 1st Avenue Seattle, WA 98101
Stop in and grab a tasty crumpet before slaying your enemies.
WSCC Level One Lobby, ~9:30AM - 10:00AM
Entering from the corner of Pike St and 7th Avenue, this will be directly to your right.
Entering from Pike St take a right and go down the stairs, lobby is to your left at the foot of the stairs.
WSCC Level Two @ Juicy Cafe, 2:00PM - 2:30PM
From entrances head up escalators to Level 2 then go around the left side of the next set of escalators and forward to get to the Juicy Cafe. Meetup will be in the table area just outside of Juicy Cafe.
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday Meetups
WSCC Level Two @ Juicy Cafe, ~9:30AM - 10:00AM & 2:00PM - 2:30PM
From entrances head up escalators to Level 2 then go around the left side of the next set of escalators and forward to get to the Juicy Cafe. Meetup will be in the table area just outside of Juicy Cafe.
What's next?
Don't see something covered here or uncertain about something? Got a suggestion or constructive criticism? Think this is awesome? Let me know below! I'm very excited about this years game and I hope you are too!
If you're posting a question for me, please place @MarsChelios in your post so I can be alerted and respond promptly.
Help get the word out!
Assassins Ball grows primarily through word of mouth. With the all or nothing nature of Kickstarter I need your help more than ever to make sure Assassins Ball is at PAX Prime! Help me get the word out or let me know any suggestions you have on reaching people!
Here's some ways I'm connecting with people:
MarsChelios on
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Edit: Nevermind...turns out I don't read well after waking up...
TWDT '13: Hufflepuff OotP
Yeah! Stampede! Give'em the clops!
...oh that would be a great Pony button: "Call of Pwny: Black Clops"
PAX Prime 2014 [ ? ]
Thanks everyone!
That's fine! In the past I'd request for people to be here a day or two but that was more so that they would be available to be assassinated by other players. With Second Lives in the mix I don't see a problem with people who play for a day if that's all they are going. I do request that if you do play you continue playing while you're at PAX though.
Will be posting some new info later today. Stay tuned!
Speaking of possibilities, for the upcoming Prime game I wanted to discuss some additions I've been thinking about. The first is creating a Civilian or Spy role for people to help assassins but where they can't be killed themselves. As I envision this role would help assassins in finding their targets and the Civilian/Spy would gain points for their level of success in that. I feel like this a good start but there should ways to improve this to make it even better, so let me know your thoughts.
Another possible addition would be to factions. @edgeofblade sent me some interesting ideas for adding a heirarchy to the faction structure:
While there's no promises that I can add all this in, I think the idea definitely has merit. Since we're still a few months out from PAX this is a great time to start talking about features like this!
The civilian thing sounds cool, but I do have one question. How would I get information to other players if I see one?
From past experience, what percentage of people are left standing by the end of PAX?
Are competing on a personal level and just able to ally with other people in your faction? Or is there a competition among factions as well? Can/will you be asked to assassinate someone in your own faction?
It's mostly a personal competition, but the faction vs faction element could make things more team-oriented.
In the past, factions have been just another element to be matched, like the color; optional, but lucrative for scoring. There really wasn't anything stopping you from assassinating within your own faction, if you have a mission that would allow that (and they can), and there really hasn't been much alliance forging in factions, except among people who bought kits together.
Just a friendly reminder from the powers that be. No one is allowed to use prop weapons when playing this game. Thanks guys!
Good questions! For international orders and in case shipping to Canada isn't feasible I'll get in touch with you to get you your kit before or at the start of PAX. Finding people at either convention has always been difficult but I've got some ideas about making it easier by using faction leaders or helpers for this in addition to myself. The faction leader or a helper could be designated to meetup with players to get them their kits. Doing this would grant a small amount of Prestige (points) for both players.
I've thought about applying for one of those positions and I'd be down with this idea. We could also act as a hubs to deal out extra lives to our team or recruit new players to the game on the fly.
___
By having faction bosses and a meeting, I'm hoping to add a sense of solidarity within factions and foster alliances without changing the basic structure of the game. (Mainly, I don't want to ask Mars to code more features after all his hard work already.)
Edit: To amend my previous thoughts, I think the meeting will not be necessary, since everyone is busy and we can communicate effectively with Twitter. Just having faction roles available to assist players should be enough to drive the gameplay.
Dispensing with the meeting, it would be preferable to have roles decided on before mailing the kits, so a note can be included letting the players know about their faction's roles and what Twitters to follow.
I don't envision bosses coordinating every little request for data, though some exchange is certainly possible. Data exchanges would still happen primarily between allied players. I expect mostly cheer-leading and trash-talking between bosses, as well as dolling out sanctions against rogue faction members.
What are Sanctions? When it comes to assassinating your own faction, a new type of gameplay opens up. If you decide to execute a mission against one of your own and word gets back to the faction boss, you can potentially bring down the entire faction on you. It's a bit akin to playing GTA and deciding to shoot a cop to have a fun chase. Want to ratchet up the paranoia? Shoot someone from your own faction and start running before everyone gets a Twitter notice asking for your head.
Edit: Occasionally, the boss could rally the faction to a particular objective if it makes tactical sense. I could envision one scenario where a rival faction member is loitering in a high traffic area, like by the escalators. If the boss gets notice, they could direct the faction to help flush out the camper.
So far, two actions a boss can take: rally and sanction.
TWDT '13: Hufflepuff OotP
I think I want to participate but I'm afraid to commit to something that might be way over my head
It's not that complex. The core game is just that you find someone who matches the shape on your mission, you tell them you are assassinating them, and you get their mission. If you get assassinated you're out unless you bought an extra life kit.
There is an optional website scoring system, but that's not necessary for the social aspect of the game. Neither is all this discussion about leaders and factions.
Get your kit --> look for symbol (pin your symbol on you) --> find target, assassinate --> take their mission and score card thing to register later --> rinse and repeat till you die.
Well then, I shall back that kickstarter project then, whenever it's up
Flip your badge upside down to denote your dead.
This also means my mission card will be in an easily access area in my bag.
Edit: also, out of curiosity, how easy was it to locate target in the past?
Every players mileage will vary as far as how many players they see, but I saw a lot more players at East this year as compared to East 2012, not counting players I interacted with. I feel like this was primarily due to the increase in players, over double from East 2012, and hope we can get a similar increase for Prime this year.
From what I heard a lot more people died early than usual and I'm going to be re-balancing the game to prevent such a massive kill-off. This means there will be more shapes added to the symbols to decrease the odds of finding a specific symbol quickly, so instead of a 1 in 6 chance it will now be a 1 in 8 chance of finding a target. This will hopefully drive players to look to their Faction Leaders as a source for info on targets.
Because this PAX is longer I'm considering allowing players to use more than one Second Life, up to one a day. Let me know what you think about that, I think having more people playing would be helpful but would like your input.
Is it going to be $3 a pop for a respawn?
Yeah, agreed. More than likely Second Lives will need to be purchased in advance or during specific times. Worked out the material cost and it will be $1 per Second Life and can be added to any order. Like before Premium Kits will have at least one Second Life included, still working on that.
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