Tumbleweed Scores

[GuyBarry]

If any of the long-standing players of this game can explain to me why there's any advantage to posting a deliberate spoiler, I'd really like to know. It resets the clock in exactly the same way as a valid claim, but you sacrifice the points. Or have I missed something?

[tubeguru]

The idea of spoilers is to prevent people claiming large numbers of bells. It is most effective if a long period of time has elapsed before you post it. This is especially true if the time is around six or seven in the morning, as this is when some people would wake up and check the forum.

[GuyBarry]

Yeah, but you can do that with a valid claim and get the points yourself. That's the bit I don't get.

[tubeguru]

People may wish to do it to simply be annoying.

[GuyBarry]

Fair enough I suppose...

Of the two spoilers you've posted so far, the first actually helped me (because it prevented DavidC from making a larger claim and potentially taking the lead). The second didn't make a great deal of difference.

I don't want to give away all my game tactics, but I can't imagine a scenario where I'd ever want to post a deliberate spoiler. Your call of course.

[GuyBarry]

This might be annoying for GuyBarry, for example.

Not really. I'm still in first place (which is unlikely to change soon) and you're still in fourth place. If you'd posted a valid claim instead of a spoiler, you'd now be in third place, and you'd have reset the clock in exactly the same way. At least that's how I see it.

[tubeguru]

Yeah, that was quite remiss of me, isn't it?

[GuyBarry]

Tubeguru, are you playing a different game from everyone else?

[tubeguru]

No, I'm playing Tumbleweed.

[GuyBarry]

Have you still not worked it out?

Well I know what I'm trying to do, which is to maintain my lead. I have one serious challenger (DavidC) and I'm using various tactics to try to hold him off.

I have no idea what you're doing at all. If your last five posts have been valid claims rather than spoilers, you would now be on 3845 (I think) instead of 600 and in third place, and it would have made no difference whatsoever to the state of play between the other players.

I'll carry on playing my game, and you can carry on playing yours.

[tubeguru]

I don't see why you think I'm playing a different game to you. Spoilers are in the rules, so I'm hardly doing anything radical.

[GuyBarry]

I know they're in the rules. I just don't see any advantage to posting a spoiler over a valid claim.

Imagine if it was a game of tennis. It'd be like giving each player the option, whenever they served an unplayable ball, of either claiming the point or not claiming the point.

I really don't care what you do, but if you have the opportunity of increasing your own score or not increasing your own score, when everything else stays the same, why would you choose not to?

[moley]

He's doing it because it annoys you.

Whats more annoying that realising the TubeGuru just got 10 bells? Realing that TubeGuru just played a spoiler which threw away 10 bells which either he or you could have claimed.

[GuyBarry]

He's doing it because it annoys you.

Whats more annoying that realising the TubeGuru just got 10 bells? Realing that TubeGuru just played a spoiler which threw away 10 bells which either he or you could have claimed.

It doesn't annoy me in the slightest. I'm in the lead. My only credible opponent is DavidC. Why would I care about someone who's over 14,000 points behind me? I keep an eye on the genuine competition.

[moley]

For reference, Tube Guru posted an invalid claim, nor a spoiler. Therefore I can go again.

Valid claim requires whole integer claim greater than zero.