User:Agon/Oldset

Introduction
Brontes (or Barnie, or Ian) was many things to many people. To some, he was a demon... playfully wicked and always plotting one type of event or another. To others, he was a hard worker, always ready to help out, dig in, and do what needed to be done to make Jorvik a stronger, more attractive island. Still others will fancy him a fighter, not afraid to take unpopular decisions and stand by them even as the raging fire of parley descended upon him in the final days of his reign.

Personally, I thought he was about fun. If people had a good time, it didn't matter if he changed the game forever, or just made it more fun for an afternoon. He still went home happy. He bent over backwards to make sure the people around him felt like they were welcome, needed, and comfortable, he never lowered himself to petty namecalling or other sinister means to ends, despite ample opportunities to do so, and he never gave up that ultimate goal: Fun. That's how I'd like to remember him.

There is no doubt in my mind that those who have chosen to pursue plunking a memorial on the shores of Jorvik are doing the right thing by him; there's something to be said for a solemn memorial, definetly. But as I watched the planning of his memorial unfolding, I kept coming back to the central idea, what I always thought was the core of him. Fun. And I wondered if there wasn't something other than a fountain or a tree or a portrait that could be done for him. I can only hope that I've stumbled upon it.

I continue to be extremely grateful to Kmf for her ongoing support and blessing with this entire process. I wouldn't dream of doing this without her alongside, and she's been nothing short of wonderful throughout.

Vitals

 * The event will be held at 12:00 Noon (PST) on Saturday, September the 9th, 2006.
 * The event will be hosted by Agon and his assorted demons.
 * There is no entry fee.

The Prizes
Prizes are "pot-style". The first-place winner gets to pick their prize first, then the second-place winner, and so on down. Every prize may only be claimed once. Prize list is a work-in-progress, but here's what we've got so far!
 * Parrot, black-gray
 * A Hypnos doll
 * Variety of sloops: (All painted, but unstocked, and at a mystery location! You only get one of these, not the set.)
 * Black Powderfish
 * Gunning Starfish
 * Loud Bang
 * Powder Wad Regards
 * Sunken Gunner
 * Loaded Gunner
 * Outfit of your choosing... shoes, pants, top, hat. May not include gold or gold ore.
 * Sleeping piglet
 * Golden ticket
 * Golden ticket (Listed twice because there's two of 'em)
 * Maroon lily trinket
 * Red conch shell trinket
 * 1000 small, 750 medium or 500 large cannonballs
 * Complete brawling set (SF, Drinking & Rumble tables, Sword Rack, Mug Shelf, Bludgeon Trunk, and fancy chest to hold the filthy lucre.)

= The Event Itself =

Boarding
On the day of the event, everyone will be sent one final PM with the boat they're assigned to, and the assistant they'll be working with, for the first round.

Boarding for preregistrants will begin at 10:30 AM (PST), and will end at 11:30. Check in with your assigned boat and assistant. The assistant will probably let you wander around a bit after checking in, provided you're back by 11:40.

At 11:45, Agon will begin jobbing from the general public, until each of the 12 boats has 8 entrants aboard. At that point, the rules will be recapped and explained over /cr.

If you have any questions about the rules at any time, please ask them on /vessel chat, and your assistant will try and answer them.

The event will begin when the rule rundown is finished, likely sometime around 12:00 noon.

First Round
For the first round of play, all entrants will be aboard war brigs. The assistants will PVP one another, and the entrants may do "practice boards" in order to load all 16 cannons. Once all 16 are loaded, the assistant will fire them to "gunk" them up, and the first competitor can begin.

Competitors should say "Ready!" before they can begin gunning, and "Fire!" once they have left the puzzle after filling all 16 cannons. The assistant will fire the guns, and the next competitor can begin.

Please keep /vessel chat clear of conversation. If you'd like to talk to people, gather below deck or in the roundhouse, and use /speak instead.

Once all 8 competitors have gone, the assistant will disengage and port the ship, then determine the top 3 quickest gunners from their boat, who will move onto the second round.

Second Round
For the second round, we will be using war frigates. Do not board a second-round boat unless you are told to do so by an assistant.

Otherwise, the procedure is much the same as the first round, except that the two quickest times across all twelve boats will be moving onto the finals.

Final Round
For the final round, we will again be using war frigates. One finalist will be jobbed into another event crew, the other will remain with Death's Gate. They will both board war frigates, and the assistants will again PVP one another. However, this time, it shall be sinking.

The assistants will maneouver the boats into a position from which they can shoot at and hit one another. Once this position is achieved, the assistants will announce it over /vessel chat. On the first turn AFTER this announcement, players may begin gunning.

The assistants will fire every gun loaded, entering the token as soon as it's avaliable. Tokens will be used going down instead of across (For example, if you have four avaliable tokens, the assistant would load in four moves of one shot each, instead of two moves of two.)

The competitor aboard the vessel that doesn't sink will win. The c0deword, by the way, is Montgomeryshire.

Final Round Tiebreaker
In case of a tie, we'll whip out two more war frigates, and again have them PVP each other. However, this time, both competitors will begin gunning on the same call of "Ready"! (Delivered over /cr), and will call "Fire!", again, over /cr chat. Whoever Fire!s first, wins.

= How Can I Help? = You wanna help? Great! Almost anything and everything you might be interested in doing is fair game... donations, help with organization, discounted goods and services, or showing up on the day-of and helping to make the event a success are all gratefully accepted. Please PM Agon or find him in-game to discuss your assistance. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

= More Information = If you'd like more information, please either send my assistant (Melaina) a private message, post to the forum topic, or just track me down in-game and I'll be quite pleased to answer any questions you may have.

= Archived =

Preregistration
Preregistration for this event is strongly encouraged. In order to qualify for preregistration, you must meet two minimum requirements: (Both on Midnight)
 * You must have oceanwide gunnery of Renowned or higher
 * You must be ranked Officer or higher in a crew

The procedure is simple: Read this entire page, then send a private message to my lovely assistant Melaina, with your pirate's name and the codeword. The codeword has been carefully hidden in this page, so read it carefully!

Preregistrations are being confirmed in batches, approximately every other day. Your registration status will not be revealed to anyone but yourself and the event assistants.

How many spots are avaliable?
There are 96 total spots in the entire bakeoff. 56 of these are "first come first served" for preregistrants... the first 56 preregistrants will each recieve one of these spots.

The remaining 40 will go into a lottery. More information on that below.

Your preregistration confirmation notify you which group you're in, and you will be notified if your status changes.

Regardless of which group you are in, your gunning standing will only be checked once: as soon as possible after your registration PM is recieved. If your standing goes up after your registration is confirmed, we don't care. Only your standing at the time of registration will be counted. However, if your registration is rejected for the standing being too low, and you get it up to Renowned or higher, you may attempt to register again.

Registrants who have to cancel, then later rejoin the event are not entitled to retain the spot they originally had. If you cancel as a First-Come-First-Served and rejoin two weeks later when we're taking names for the lottery, you go into the lottery.

The Lottery
Preregistration will remain open up to 5 days before the start of the event. Everyone who preregisters after the 56 "first-come-first-served" berths have been claimed will have their name go into a lottery for the 40 remaining spots. On the 5th day before the event starts, preregistration will close and the lottery will be held. Those who "win" the lottery will be contacted immediately.

Entries in the lottery will be weighted according to puzzle standing. If your oceanwide standing in gunnery is Renowned, your name goes into the hat once. If your oceanwide standing is Grand-Master, twice. If Legendary, three times, and if Ultimate, four times. This is intended to ensure strong competition, while still affording lesser-skilled players the chance to participate.