Death by compliments

September 21, 2006 4:29 PM

"You cannot, for instance, praise the shoes of just one player. You must praise the entire group's shoes."^[1] Assassin games have been featured before on MetaFilter, but here's one with a twist. To assassinate your target, you must compliment them with their specific compliment. But you don't know your target, or even who's part of the game, so innocent bystanders can get caught in the crossfire.
posted by fvw (26 comments total)

via
posted by fvw at 4:30 PM on September 21, 2006

So Imelda Marcos, she's a player?
posted by rob511 at 4:31 PM on September 21, 2006

dammit I just lost the game
posted by HyperBlue at 4:41 PM on September 21, 2006

but then so did you!
posted by HyperBlue at 4:41 PM on September 21, 2006

This is just a trick to get people to be nice to each other, isn't it?!? Killing them with kindness!

I love what all of you have done with your hair, btw.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 4:46 PM on September 21, 2006

You are too kind.
posted by brain_drain at 4:47 PM on September 21, 2006

And this is simply a marvelous post. ;-)
posted by salvia at 4:54 PM on September 21, 2006

Well dang, now if I ever get a compliment from a stranger I'll assume they actually want me to drop dead. Nice shoes, my ass.
posted by Quietgal at 5:11 PM on September 21, 2006

This would make an awesome action comedy with martial arts.
posted by Tuwa at 5:28 PM on September 21, 2006

You mean via? I vote double (though there was a post on the ITP kid's space invaders game just a few days before the one on the Eyebeam conference. So I guess not. Quick, be the [fourth] kid on your block to make an FPP about Come Out And Play! There's been no FPP on Sleuth or Live Action Risk, yet!).
posted by ChasFile at 5:38 PM on September 21, 2006

ChasFile, I think you're assuming that everyone reads every thread, not just the bits on the front page or in the feed reader, and that everyone rereads all of those threads in entirety before making a post. Do you play
Sleuth much? (via).
posted by Tuwa at 5:49 PM on September 21, 2006

Tuwa, the first link in the FPP in question goes to a page that contains information on the game in this thread. To adress your concerns directly:

I think you're assuming that everyone reads every thread

That is precisely the assumption behind the no-double-post policy. Otherwise I could go ahead and make an FPP on a post made yesterday, on the grounds that some people probably didn't see it.

and that everyone rereads all of those threads in entirety

Tuwa, the first link in the FPP in question goes to a page that contains information on the game in this thread (and Sleuth, for that matter), not just some comment way down inside. This is called the RFTA assumption: just because you personally couldn't be bothered to read what was actually linked to before you comment on it, that doesn't exempt you from the rules.

I stand by my double call, but honestly don't really care. This'll stay up, and that's fine. Just pointing it out.
posted by ChasFile at 6:01 PM on September 21, 2006

wow. I need an editor.
posted by ChasFile at 6:01 PM on September 21, 2006

Those unaware of what HyperBlue is refering to might find this disputed wiki article useful.
posted by econous at 6:07 PM on September 21, 2006

Just like we used to play in High School, only with Nerf (or equivalent) pistols. Get 10 to 15 kids signed up at 10 bucks a pop and that was some mad prize money to be had for teenager in the eighties.

It was also cool to see an armed chase break out in the halls/cafeteria/coutryard before/after/or between clases.
posted by sourwookie at 6:17 PM on September 21, 2006

Assassin games have been featured before on MetaFilter,

Where? I am intrigued.

Also, does anyone have links to/info on memes similar to the one HyperBlue and econous are referring to? What kind of "game" would you call that?
posted by poweredbybeard at 6:18 PM on September 21, 2006

They're Alternative Reality Games, poweredbybeard.
posted by cgc373 at 6:39 PM on September 21, 2006

So, in the "final climactic showdown", we have two gigantic mobs who each know the other's weakness. So what determine who wins? Speed? That seems kind of stupid. Or is it just luck... like one mob has to compliment the other's shoes while the contra-mob has to compose a sonnet for each member of the first mob? (which would presumably take far too much time).
posted by noble_rot at 6:44 PM on September 21, 2006

yeah, i'm with noble_rot. I don't see how this ends well. The final showdown is one of the best parts of the usual assassin games.
posted by mrgrimm at 7:30 PM on September 21, 2006

Ian Bogost seems like a nice guy, btw. It was likely posted yesterday, but Persuasive just put out a new Flash "newsgame": Airport Security (warning: interstitial ad).
posted by mrgrimm at 7:34 PM on September 21, 2006

No, ChasFile, not my point at all. I'm not arguing it's not a double post; I'm arguing that you're being presumptuous in adding the "via." Do you have any proof fvw read the thread, or were you just being a prick?
posted by Tuwa at 7:49 PM on September 21, 2006

The sisyphus cookie girl!
I ♥ her.
posted by juv3nal at 8:43 PM on September 21, 2006

Man! I lost The Game too!
posted by SampleSize at 7:57 AM on September 30, 2006

lost the game again checking old postsn dammit ...
posted by HyperBlue at 9:21 PM on October 4, 2006

I think it's amusing that the wikipedia article talking about The Game says "This article needs more references or sources" yet the game itself is an anti-memory game, which appears to want as few sources cited as possible.

I'm just amused by the irony. As for whether or not I'm a loser, it appears the only way to win this game is not to play.

I prefer Mornington Crescent.

How about The Prick Game. Anyone who calls anyone else a prick in this forum automatically becomes a prick. Think about calling someone a prick and you're a prick. You lose by thinking. How deliciously Orwellian.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:44 PM on October 4, 2006

Every time I am reminded that Jay Leno still has Johnny Carson's job, I lose, as does humanity.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:53 PM on October 4, 2006