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scrxisi wrote:I've already chosen my stations. They're belters

Aldwych and Devons Road?

Going Underground wrote:surely particpants will nominate stations where they have a good route planned from

You should be craftier than that: pick stations which you think you have a good route planned from that will also be difficult for anyone else to plan a good route from

I wonder if it might be better to allow the same station to go into the hat multiple times if it is selected by more than one team, but as the organiser has already spoken on this subject, I won't seek a change.

Root wrote:

Going Underground wrote:surely particpants will nominate stations where they have a good route planned from

You should be craftier than that: pick stations which you think you have a good route planned from that will also be difficult for anyone else to plan a good route from

Agreed.............

Aldgate East is what I want to come out of the hat. I've got a belter.

Root wrote:I wonder if it might be better to allow the same station to go into the hat multiple times if it is selected by more than one team, but as the organiser has already spoken on this subject, I won't seek a change.

Good - that you are not seeking a change! However, I'll tell you how our thinking went. We are NOT looking for a majority vote or something like that - we definitely want it quite random. However, leaving stations out that noone finds particularly interesting is our only purpose with this rule. My guess is that with 20 teams, we'll collectively nominate around 25-30 different stations...

Also, I'd like to urge you not to go into actual nominations for the day here on the forum. However, discussing general principles and joking about certain stations (or was Aldgate East serious, Starkey7 ) is quite permissible...

You haven't a lot of scope for joking - I would have suggested Chesham if you hadn't explicitly mentioned Zone 1 in the rule

I don't think Aldgate East is necessarily a joke from Starkey. It would be crafty.

I hope, Hakan, that after the event has completely finished, you will publish some nomination statistics, showing which stations were most nominated and which didn't go into the hat at all, although not saying who nominated them.

Root wrote:I hope, Hakan, that after the event has completely finished, you will publish some nomination statistics, showing which stations were most nominated and which didn't go into the hat at all, although not saying who nominated them.

The nominated stations will be public immediately (time permitting) so that all teams can see their nominations made it into the hat. I don't think there need be any secrecy about this at all, so at the venue you can find out all about it!

I like the idea of nominating utterly evil stations. This serves as a multi-tiered plan:
a) I'll have prepared my route in advance
b) It's unlikely other people will have, thus them only having an hour of prep time
c) All the newies who will be joining us this year will be so utterly demoralised at having to plot such a dastardly route that they won't show up next year, thus solving the potential over crowding problem.

That said, I can see my team shepherding a group of newbies round for the first part of it, giving out the standard tips and hints much like Hakan did with us last year. One tip I'll recommend to anyone normal is don't try and keep up with Starkey - doing the paddington run last year, halfway along platform 8 I could've quite happily given up and sat and watched the trains!

There was a point to this post. It seems to have run away from me.

I shall pick Aldgate, then I will just stand still and wait for the world (and the circle line) to revolve around me before doing the rest of the challenge.

jamesthegill wrote:I like the idea of nominating utterly evil stations. This serves as a multi-tiered plan:
a) I'll have prepared my route in advance
b) It's unlikely other people will have, thus them only having an hour of prep time
c) All the newies who will be joining us this year will be so utterly demoralised at having to plot such a dastardly route that they won't show up next year, thus solving the potential over crowding problem.

I'd say there no "utterly evil" stations. Even though there is an increased chance of a slightly harder station, I think there is a great benefit in them. What often makes them hard is that there are several (or at least two) reasonable directions to start off in which gives a more interesting competition with more to discuss at the venue!

There is at least one station which may need a staggered start though, as we can only really (well, unless you go into zone 2) proceed one way...

jamesthegill wrote:There is at least one station which may need a staggered start though, as we can only really (well, unless you go into zone 2) proceed one way...

Actually, should that station come up, it should be great to have a real mass start, because I can imagine several different first interchanges after that...

I'm looking for a team to join. I've never done a challenge before, but wish to participate in this one.

From my faraway vantage point it looks like there will be several new challengers at this year's Z1C. I reckon you'll find someone to join up with, no trouble.

I'm hoping to recruit a +1 to come with me on the day.

Hopefully you'll all be nice to him ...