E M A I L T A G ----------------- The concept of Email Tag is copyrighted (c) 1991 Larry "Wingnut" Wendlandt Minneapolis! 8-June-91 Rumors are flying in the message bases. Sam thinks maybe bill is "it"! Bill thinks Irving is "it"! Bill was so afraid that Irving was going to send him a "you're it", that he sent Irving a "not it"! (which protects Bill from a "you're it" from irving!) Irving wasn't even "it"!!! Hank posted a rumor that he was "it". but he was just taking the heat off of Jim, who IS it!!! Jim had been "it" for two weeks, but nobody knew! This is a brand new concept in on-line games, invented by... who else? Maybe it will work, maybe not, but lets all give it half a chance! Rules follow... There are really 3 ways to participate in the game... 1. IF YOU ARE "IT" - To become "it", you must be notified by someone via e-mail that says "you're it!" This e-mail will come from the person who is currently "it". But now, you are "it". If you want minimum of play-time in the game, then just send e-mail immediately to anyone... saying... "you're it!" Then, they will be "it". or... You can build up an army of rumorists! Gossip, is the best part of this entire game! Why, you ask? Stay with me here... because you can keep from becoming "it" by sending a "not it" email to the person who is it. If, a person who is "it", receives a "not it" from someone... "it" cannot tag that person! (tag = make someone "it") so... The objective of the folks who are not "it", is to find out who is "it", and send them a "not it", before they get tagged by "it". now... The fun of being it... is in recruiting people to start rumors in the message areas. Naturally, when the person who is "it", asks someone who isn't "it" to start some rumor posts, that person will know that the request is coming from the person who is currently "it". So, the person who is asked to start rumors might want to send a "not it" to "it" as soon as possible, to protect themselves from becoming "it" (being tagged). This may be viewed as an act of distrust by "it", and now... this possible disloyal person knows who is "it"! At this point, the rumorist could go tell everyone in the message bases who "it" is, and everyone could send a "not it" to "it", and soon, "it" would run out of people to tag! This will rarely happen though. If a hired rumorist turns traitor, then in most cases, the "it" will still manage to have plenty of people to tag. 2. BEING A RUMORIST - I suspect that if you've read this far, you kind of understand the role of being hired on by "it" to be a rumorist. A rumorist can be faithful, or disloyal, or anywhere in-between. One way to initially show "it" that you will be loyal, is to not send him/her a "not it" right after you are contacted to be a rumorist. Its LIKE... "you be a good rumorist, and I promise not to tag you" deal. A good rumorist will take the advice and suggestions for rumors from "it"... or...not! CAREFUL, rumorists... if you are running under a "deal", and you start "bucking" the advice of "it"... "it" might just tag you! Often, a good "it" will hire MANY loyal rumorists all under "the deal" contract. (Remember - you be a good rumorist and I won't tag you). (without a "not it" from the rumorist). The "it" will want it this way, because of the possibility of a rumorist regime collapse! (rrc) An rrc happens when one rumorist in a group of rumorists who are all under "the deal"... turns into a traitor, and tells all sorts of detectives who "it" is! If... the "it" gets a hint that one of his hired rumorists is about to "go bad", he can tag that rumorist before the rumorist manages to get a "not it" off to him/her. Of course, when the other rumorists in the regime hear that one of their companions is going bad, they will all send "not it's" to "it", to protect themselves from the detectives. 3. BEING A DETECTIVE - Detectives are anyone who is not a rumorist or "it". Unfortunately, you cannot tell if someone is a rumorist or a detective, because rumorists don't have to post rumors, and can even post like a detective! A detective, on the other hand, can act like a detective, or can hire a rumorist! These "freelance" rumorists are a hinderence to "real" detectives, because they can start rumors, and since they aren't even hired by "it", they have no idea who "it" is, so most of their rumors are hogwash! But remember, gossip is the name of the game here, so a loyal "hired" rumorist may try to hire a freelance rumorist to do rumors for them. Now, lets say that the freelance rumorist is told to start a rumor that John is "it". Or lets say he was just told that John was "it". The loyal rumorist may go back and talk to "it" to see if the freelance rumorist is loyal to the loyal rumorist or not. But this talk will indicate to "it" that the loyal rumorist is trying to hire a freelance rumorist, which might be either good or bad, depending on whether the loyal rumorist was helping "it" to expand his regime, or whether the loyal rumorist was about to turn traitor, and was looking for a scapegoat (someone to blame an rrc on). Getting back to detectives... a loyal detective will help the police to interrogate possible rumorists. if a detective arrests a possible rumorist, and the rumorist is either a detective or a freelance rumorist, then nothing happens to the rumorist, and the person who was falsely arrested can publicly humiliate the detective who accused them. If... a rumorist is arrested, and he/she is under hire by it, then the rumorist goes to prison! A rumorist can do nothing in prison. They cannot start rumors and they cannot interrogate anyone. The only way to get out of prison is with a change of "it". See, as soon as the "it" is able to tag someone else, the ex-"it" must make a public post that he/she was "it", and is no longer "it", so all rumorists are now freed from prison. Still with me?? Good, because I think I'm almost done! A detective's job, is to cause a rrc (rumorist regime collapse) or, to arrest "it"... or both. But, there are some extra rules for becoming a detective. First, there are two types of detectives! First, there is a loyal detective, who is working for the police. In there first interrogation in the current "round", they must proclaim themselves publicly that they are a loyal (police) detective. These are the only type of detectives that are allowed to arrest someone. The other type of detective is a freelance detective. Freelance detectives cannot arrest anyone, and therefore, have no chance at fame and fortune. A freelance detective could turn disloyal and become a rumorist. a loyal detective cannot. Some freelancers can obtain fame and fortune by helping a police detective to arrest a rumorist, or "it"! Conversely, if a police detective accidentally arrests a freelance rumorist on the word of a freelance detective, then the police detective is going to be publicly humiliated, and then that detective is going to publicly humiliate the freelance detective. Any humiliation to any player, will tend to cast doubts on any loyal act that the player attempts, in this round AND in future rounds. For example, lets say Darryl (a freelance detective) told Steve (a police detective), that he had uncovered information that Jim was a hired rumorist (Regime Rumorist). So, Steve makes the arrest, only to find out that Jim was a freelance rumorist, not a hired rumorist. Now, Jim will publicly humiliate Steve for the false arrest, and then Steve, for spite reasons, is going to publicly humiliate (called blacklisting) Darryl! If by chance Darryl was acting on the advice of someone else, then Darryl may want to blacklist someone else. Scarey, eh? Now, you are starting to understand the theory of the game. The police chief will oversee all game operations and questions. You can participate as little or as much as you like, in the current search for "it", and their rumorist(s). Remember, to arrest someone, you must be a proclaimed police detective, and then you must remain a loyal police detective until the next "round" (when a new "it" is "it"). The next few text files will explain specific rules for being a rumorist, a detective, and "it"! IF YOU ARE "IT"... The first question you must ask yourself is... "Do I want to build up a regime of rumorists (RR), or do I want to TAG someone else as quick as possible. If you want to tag someone quickly and be "done with it", then simply pick ANYONE out of the membership list that has not sent you a "not it", and send them email that reads... You're IT! Remember this... if you decide to be "it" for a day or so, you MAY BE DISCOVERED, and you will receive MANY "not it"s in your mailbox! If you receive a "not it" from someone... while you ARE it... then you cannot TAG that person! AND... if a police detective finds out that YOU are "it", you MAY get ARRESTED! BEING ARRESTED AS "IT", IS THE MOST HUMILIATING THING THAT CAN HAPPEN IN THIS GAME!!! If THIS happens, you will fall upon WAVES of public humiliation, and MAY even be imprisoned for the next round of email tag! Understand that there is a reasonable amount of honesty involved in being "it". If you ARE it, and someone arrests you, then you MUST go under arrest! If... you decide to quickly tag someone, than you MUST post a public note saying that you WERE "it", but now someone else is "it". DO NOT PUT THE NEW "IT" IN THIS POST. The new "it" must be kept secret to the public! After posting this post, you are NOW a FREELANCE DETECTIVE! Naturally, you cannot immediately proclaim to be a police detective, because then you could just go arrest the person who you just got done tagging! Remember, that if you get caught telling someone (other than thru rumors) WHO the new IT is, and you were the "it" who tagged them, then you are destined for public humiliation (PH)! Keep in mind how important a reputation is, in this game! Running with it! "Running with it", is the phrase used to describe an "it" who wants to have some REAL fun being it! Here, IT can hire on RUMORISTS to send detectives on a "GOOSE CHASE"! Sending detectives on a goose chase is one of the most satisfying rewards of being "it". If a goose chase is properly executed, MANY police and freelance detectives may find PH! (public humiliation), which is VERY satisfying to IT!!! HOW do you cause a GOOSE CHASE? Well, its not easy. An IT must send private e-mail to a freelance rumorist. How do you know who a freelance rumorist is? There is really no way to tell the difference between a freelance rumorist and a freelance detective, since neither are REQUIRED to proclaim themselves as such. Only a POLICE DETECTIVE must proclaim to be such. And NEVER EVER EVER send email to a police detective asking them to be a rumorist in your regime. They will immediately arrest you for being "it"!!! So, to start a GOOSE CHASE, you must hire-on rumorists to help you keep the "heat" off your tail! If you contact a rumorist who says he'll work for you in your regime, WATCH OUT FOR "NOT IT"s COMING IMMEDIATELY from THAT person. This MAY tell you that the new rumorist is not trustworthy, and may leak information to a police detective, or anyone else for that matter! You can hire-on a rumorist under a contract called "the deal". The DEAL is simply an arrangement between you and the new rumorist that says... "Be in my regime, and I promise not to tag you!" It will always be referred to as... "The Deal". It actually is a method for "it" to tag a rumorist-turned-traitor before he leaks out information. MORE ABOUT "IT" "IT" cannot post at all during the time "it" is "it". YES, THAT'S WHAT I SAID. "IT" cannot post at all!!! Not as a detective, not as a rumorist, not at all. BUT... IT can hire rumorists to post for you! RIGHT? So, if you are "IT", and you have something to say about the game, then you MUST have at least 1 loyal rumorist. Understand that a freelance rumorist becomes "loyal" when he agrees to post a rumor for "it". "IT"s must remember that a "not it" coming from a hired rumorist MAY be an indication of a rumorist-gone-bad, and MAY even lead to a RRC! If a rumorist is loyal, he/she will post the rumor in accordance to the wishes of "it". If the rumor is successful, the detectives may start on a goose chase. Both the loyal rumorist AND "it" will enjoy the satisfaction of sending them there! A super "it" will be able to set up vast RR's (rumorist regimes) sending detectives on goose chases lasting several months! This can ONLY happen if "it" has set up a regime of VERY loyal rumorists! Because, one rumorist can bring down the regime, and a detective could arrest MANY members of the regime, ending possibly, with the arrest of "IT"! (the ultimate in humiliation!) QUICK RULES! "IT" cannot post! It can only send email to try to recruit freelance rumorists into the regime. "IT" can become "not it" quickly by tagging someone else, as long as that someone has NOT sent a "not it" to "it". Detectives & rumorists can be tagged as easily as anyone else! "IT" can "run with it" by NOT tagging someone immediately upon being tagged, and attempting to build a regime of rumorists (RR). If "IT" is arrested, than "IT" must immediately inform the Chief of Police via email, and if its not a false arrest, than "IT" must suffer the consequences! THE REGIME RUMORIST! A Regime Rumorist is the nightmare of EVERY detective!!! This person works DIRECTLY under the reign of "IT"! Most, if not ALL RR's work under a contract called "the deal". It is a simple agreement between "it" and a RR. It says... "If you stay a loyal RR, then I won't tag you!" Simple, eh? One of the requirements of "the deal", is that when the FR or FD is approached by "it" to become a RR, he MUST NOT SEND A "NOT IT" to "it"! Actually, sending a NOT IT is the correct thing to do if approached by "it", but NOT if you wanted to join the RR. A RR that has a "not it" on his record, is a RR to be very wary of, because there would be no recourse if that RR turned traitor. (The "not it" would prevent "it" from tagging the traitor RR). Members in good standings of the RR often get together with "it" to formulate vast, exotic goose chases to send the detectives on. If the rumors work correctly, many detectives will suffer public humiliation (PH) from arresting the wrong people! The self-satisfaction a RR gets from watching detectives on a goose chase is what feeds the RR's ego! The RR LIVES for rumors and goose chases, and RR's are the BEST humiliators if a detective should make a false arrest! RR's tend to be very loyal to "it", and usually carry out the rumor requests of "it" to the letter. RR's are an elite force of professional rumorists, and can actually force POLICE DETECTIVES to lose their jobs, and a VERY POWERFUL RR could actually take down the Chief of Police! RR's can become disloyal to "it". If a RRC (rumorist regime collapse) does NOT occur, then most likely the rest of the RR (if there were more than just one) would blacklist the traitor. This would make his credibility shatter and even if he DOES go to the police, no one would believe him/her. SOMETIMES, a RR turning disloyal can cause a RRC (see above). This is a terrible thing. One RR goes nuts, and runs to a FD or a PD, and just gives the entire RR roster to the police, INCLUDING the identity of "it". The PD will arrest the RR folks one at a time, at a very quick rate of speed! RR's will be bailing out of the regime as fast as they can... by sending "not it"s to "it". "IT" will be in a panic, because his regime is collapsing! "IT" will TRY to find ANY loyal RR person left, and have them TRY a rumor to get the PD off the trail! It is a mess!!! CONVERSELY... A RR turned traitor can be simulated by the regime! In other words, it could be a trap! A detective could be QUICKLY drummed off the police roster by taking the advice of a RR agent, and making NUMEROUS false arrests! This is the WORST thing that can happen to a PD, and it is the most powerful con that the RR can produce. A false RRC has been known to take a Chief of Police from his position, thus allowing a RR to possibly be elected as the new Chief! And think of this... "IT" could actually become CHIEF OF POLICE!!! The chances of this happening are slim to nil, but theoretically it COULD happen! THE FREELANCE RUMORIST! Make sure you read the file about being a freelance detective! Why? Because the role of the freelance rumorist is VERY MUCH like that of the FD. A freelance rumorist (FR) is a rumorist who is trying to stay independent! But... FR's are THE primary target by "it" for serving in the regime! FR's are often the FIRST people to find out who IT actually is, because "it" has already tried to recruit them into the RR. (rumorist regime) Thus, a FR is "hot property" during the early parts of a round. FR's can send out a few freelance rumors BEFORE joining the regime. One, or MANY of you FR's will probably join the RR! You will be asked by "it" to join up! "It" will contact you QUICKEST if you PROCLAIM yourself to be a FR in a public post. See, "IT" has no idea which of you are FR's or FD's unless you tell "it" that you ARE one. "IT" DOES know who the PD's are, because of the public police roster... and "it" know who the RR's are because "it" would have recruited them. Again, "it" has no idea who is a FD or who is a FR, unless the freelance has chosen to proclaim himself as such. BEING A POLICE DETECTIVE Being a police detective can be one of the most rewarding positions available. Police detectives (pd) who are involved with, or are responsible for the arrest of an "it"... are held in the HIGHEST ESTEEM... even a PD who manages to arrest a regime rumorist, is often thought-of as a premiere detective! A pd must proclaim him/her self as being a pd in the beginning of each new "it" round. All you must do is make a public post that tells everyone that you are a Police Detective, and thus, you will be put on the POLICE ROSTER. The POLICE ROSTER is simply a list of all proclaimed Police Detectives, and this list is available to ALL USERS/PLAYERS. THE SEARCH FOR IT! You, as a PD, have the power to ARREST people! To arrest someone, you simply send THAT person email the states... "You're under arrest!" Same call, you must inform the Chief of Police that you have placed so and so under arrest. The Chief will take it from there, and let you know how well you did on the arrest. There are TWO types of people you WANT to arrest, and TWO types that you DON'T WANT to arrest. A PD wants to arrest a REGIME RUMORIST, or... "IT"! Those are the only two types of people that can bring you fame and fortune! A PD NEVER wants to accidentally arrest a FREELANCE RUMORIST, or a FREELANCE DETECTIVE. Arresting either of these will cause public humiliation (PH) to fall upon the detective, and he MAY be kicked off the POLICE ROSTER for the rest of the round. INTERROGATIONS! Interrogating is one of the ONLY ways a detective (freelance OR police) can gather information that may lead them to an arrest! Most of your interrogations will be targeted at RUMORISTS. Remember though, that ANYONE EXCEPT "IT" AND A FELLOW PD can start rumors! So, in ANY interrogation, you MAY be talking to a REGIME RUMORIST, A FREELANCE RUMORIST, or a FREELANCE DETECTIVE. You can ONLY find out who's whoûß by asking questions, and remember that the answers you get MAY BE LIES! I KNOW, I KNOW, that makes it kind of hard to make a "sure thing" arrest. But YOU wanted to be a PD, not me! Remember, that fame and fortune comes to a great detective! POLICE DETECTIVE RULES! A proclaimed PD is required to STAY a PD until the end of the current "round". A PD cannot interrogate a fellow PD. All other users/players are fair game for an interrogation. A PD CAN hire a freelance detective to do some interrogations for them. Remember that freelance detectives are not always "loyal" to the Police department, and therefore may be unreliable for information. Remember that you NEVER know who you are talking to or interrogating! A regime rumorist may approach you and say that he/she is a freelance detective or freelance rumorist! Bad infor- mation may send a detective on a goose chase. A PD cannot start a rumor! However, a PD CAN hire ANY person EXCEPT "IT" AND A REGIME RUMORIST! "IT" cannot post at all, and a REGIME RUMORIST would become a traitor if he/she started working for a PD. The person hired by the PD may start rumors FOR the PD. A PD may interrogate anyone EXCEPT another PD. Interrogation is simply asking questions to that person via A POST!! NO QUESTIONS CAN BE ASKED BY A PD THROUGH EMAIL!!! ALWAYS, A POST!!! ------------------------------------------------------------- As far as I know, this game is NOT in use ANYWHERE in the world, and has not yet ever been played. I need YOUR comments!!! If you are somewhat inter- ested in using or playing the game, please read ALL of this file before emailing me. (wingnut@winternet.com) Much of this games depends on having reasonably steady callers (bbs), devoted posters and emailers, and brains. The game is suppose to have a bit of Scrupples feel to it, and if played correctly, with the Chief of Police sort of running the game, orÿpossibly a MAYOR or City Council... it COULD be a BLAST to play! Think about it!!! :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: Email @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@ :: wingnut@winternet.com :: :: for me? @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ :: http://www.winternet.com/~wingnut :: :: So ONLY I @@@@@ @@ @@@@@ :: pgpfp: 7b 93 d0 66 3d fb 1f 7d :: :: see... you @@ @@ @@@ @@ :: (1024) ba 33 93 86 09 82 36 61 :: :: can use ==> @@ @@@@@ @@ :: "Shields up, plastics down" :: :: fore it's thanks to Phil FREE! :: Bottom line: Cut the bullshit!! :: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::