Second Chance Challenges discussion
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How It Works - Rules and Questions
Adele, could you repost in the sign-up thread? Thanks!
sorry Cherie, deleted my post on here to keep it tidy for you
So Cherie did you get enough people to sign up to start on Sept. 1?
Yes! More than enough actually but the more the merrier! The sign-ups are open until Sunday and then I'll start posting your freebie letters on Sunday afternoon/evening. Then on the 31st I'll draw the first letters and post them for you to choose what you want to "buy." Then the reading can begin on the 1st! Yay!
I'm really excited about this game and I hope everyone has fun!
Just went poking around the other threads about this game and it looks genius. Can't wait to start!
Ok, I see we all have our first tiles drawn. Are we not starting on the 31st? Can we start reading those tiles now? Or is it those tiles wee can start reading on the 31st, we just get time to plan?
Wow I got some great letters. I could make a word using all of them in 1 word. Is there a bonus for that like there is in scrabble?
One more question? How do we buy a blank tile? Does any book work to claim it? Or do we have to decide what letter we want it to be when we claim it?
Dawn - The tiles that were posted today are your 6 freebies - 5 letters plus one blank tile. You don't have to read anything for those. You can start planning what letters you hope to purchase but there's nothing to read yet. The first official draw of letters available for purchase will be on Friday, Aug. 31. Those you will need to read to claim.
Sheila - no bonus for long words in this game because, unlike in Scrabble, there is no limit to the length of word you can make. You can buy as many letters as you can read books for each week (depending on how many are drawn) so you are not limited to a 7 letter word. Even if you do use all your letters there is no bonus.
However, there will be a couple of surprise bonus weeks along the way.
Some people got some pretty decent letters. Others, not so much (sorry but blame random.org!).
Can't wait for this to start for real, may be trying to read lots of books to get extra letters, especially vowels.
I got almost all vowels, lol...I'm sure they'll come in handy later in the game, but aren't much help right now! Hahah!OK, to make sure I understand this right...because once again, I've managed to confuse myself...you will weekly draw letters, of which we can "buy" any that we'd like to use. In order to buy them, we have to tell you which book we'd like to read, but can read it later? And after we've read the books, we can use the letters to form words for points? But we don't have to read books for the free tiles, we can just use them in words once we're ready?
...you will weekly draw letters, of which we can "buy" any that we'd like to useYes, that is correct
In order to buy them, we have to tell you which book we'd like to read, but can read it later?
No - you only have one week to read the books for the letters you would like to claim. After that they are no longer available. So, if you can read 1 book in a week you can claim one letter. If you read 2 books, you can claim 2 letters (as long as the letters match the books)
Any letters that are not purchased will be put back into the pile for drawing in future weeks so they are not gone forever and you will have a chance to purchase them at a later date if the draw works out in your favor.
And after we've read the books, we can use the letters to form words for points?
That is correct
But we don't have to read books for the free tiles, we can just use them in words once we're ready?
That is correct. However, each player has only one free tile - the one that was given as a freebie at the start of the game. There are no blank tiles in the draw pile. Just like the other letter tiles, you can only use your free tile once so use it wisely.
I hope that all makes sense. Let me know it any of that is confusing.
It all seems much clearer now. Thanks.
OOOOOH, I get it, lol! I almost literally had a lightbulb moment...I was confused by the buying part, but I understand now. That makes more sense than the way I had it playing out in my head, haha...that seemed like a free-for-all.
Now I've got my fingers crossed for letters that will work for me... ;)
Does the game continue until we're out of tiles? Or is there a date that the game will end?
Bree with all those vowels - ALL the letters will works for you. And books that start with consonants are lot easier to find than those that start with vowels. You may have the advantage getting all those vowels for free!
Breann wrote: "Does the game continue until we're out of tiles? Or is there a date that the game will end?"I plan on continuing until there are no tiles left for a weekly draw. Since there are 14 players, if there are less than 14 tiles left the game will end and the remaining tiles will be discarded. I'll be keeping track so if I notice that we're getting close to that point I'll let you know hopefully a couple of weeks in advance so you can plan for your end game.
Another question, are we going by goodreads page numbers? I was thinking this would be a good challenge to read some of those amazon freebies but I looked at a couple of them and the page difrences are quite drastic from good reads to amazon, some up to 50 pages off. I just want to make sure they will count if I read them.
I went on a weekend vacation and missed this! Stupid me. :D I have some questions as well! Do we need to start a book only after the letters are drawn? If we've finished reading less than half of a (> 200 pages) book before the letters are drawn, could we use it to buy books? I couldn't find this in the rules, but I have selective blindness sometimes and could've missed it. :)
Do our freebie letters count for the official game? I'm greedy lol. Also, you've marked my freebie letters as available to purchase. Was there something I needed to do to purchase them?
The idea is to read the majority of a book during the week the letters are drawn. I'm ok with you having started it prior to the weekly draw but the majority of it should be read after the draw. Having said that, if you try to finish a book and don't get it done in time but then the same letter is drawn again the following week, I'm ok with you finishing the book and using it to purchase the letter. What I don't want is for people to pre-read a bunch of books and leave just the last page to read once the letters are called. We're working on the honor system here becuase I don't think I'll have time to check the start date for every book that everyone posts.
Yes, your freebie letters count in the official game. You can go ahead and make a word during the first couple days of the game using just those if you like. Or, you can hold onto them and use them with letters that you purchase.
Also, Chaitra, sorry about your letters! I accidentally posted them on the wrong line. I have corrected that. There's nothing you need to do to purchase them.
Dawn, I'm using the general SCC guidelines for page number. So, if it's an ebook use the page count of the most popular edition on GR.
Cherie, I noticed that my already purchased slot is empty this morning although the letters show up above in message 2 of the Readerboard page.
Rule Revision!After some thought I decided to modify the required page count for the books. Since you only have 1 week to purchase your letters I will allow one short story, novella or book with a page count of at least 50 pages per week. All other books must be at least 100 pages.
Short stories that are part of an anthology won't count because I cannot verify the page count.
You can read more than one short story or novella to purchase one letter as long as the total page count equals 100 pages or more and they all fit the letter you are purchasing.
If you are reading an ebook or audiobook please use the page count of the most popular edition on GR. (The most popular edition is the one that comes up first when you search for the book.)
Sorry Sheila! An oversight on my part. It's all fixed now.
Cherie wrote: "Rule Revision!After some thought I decided to modify the required page count for the books. Since you only have 1 week to purchase your letters I will allow one short story, novella or book with a page count of at least 50 pages per week. All other books must be at least 100 pages.
..."
I love this change! this game is really going to help clean out all my freebies that never fit into a challenge.
Yeah, I thought it might help the people who can't/don't want to read more than one book a week.
Cherie wrote: "Yes, your freebie letters count in the official game."Oh yaay! I have drawn a J lol. I do intend to read more than the required 100 pages of a book to purchase a letter. It's just that I'm an extremely scattered reader... I'm mostly reading 5 or more books at a time, and I will probably not complete some of them within a week. It's nice to know that I can actually use them. I'll post the number of pages I've read in case I use an already started book.
If you haven't done so already, please post in the Confirm Your Spot thread to confirm that you still want to play. I need to hear from everyone by Friday.
**sigh** any time now...I am in between books....sigh... I was hoping I could start one of those short ones before shelves get called on other team chaallenges tomorrow.
Will there be a post some where saying tiles are up or do we need to just check the reader board randomly?
The letters have been posted! Sorry for the delay. I think next week I'm just gonna change the draw time. I'll have to think about when is generally the quietest time in my house. It's been hard the last couple of days because my son started school and my youngest now doesn't know what to do with himself. Anyway, you have until the next draw to purchase any of the letters drawn today.
Cherie you mentioned you didn't want people to post words on the weekend. Can we purchase letters on the weekend or do you prefer to wait until Monday's to purchase letters?
A couple of questions:Do I have to start and finish my book within this week? Or just finish it within the week?
Also, do articles count/not count in the title? Would the book The Hell You Say count for the letter T or H?
Are we allowed to use A, An, or The in the titles?
Sheila wrote: "Cherie you mentioned you didn't want people to post words on the weekend. Can we purchase letters on the weekend or do you prefer to wait until Monday's to purchase letters?"You can go ahead an post words if you want to but I can't promise that I will be able to verify and give you your points until Monday. I may have time here or there to check but I might not.
Breann wrote: "A couple of questions:
Do I have to start and finish my book within this week? Or just finish it within the week?
Also, do articles count/not count in the title? Would the book The Hell You Say co..."
You have to have read at least half of the book after the letters are called for it to count and it has to be finished before the next round of letters are called next Friday.
A, An, The do not count so your example would be an "H"
Thanks, Cherie, for all you're doing. This looks like it's going to be fun.
Oh yaay! Shiny new letters! Typically I want all of them. :) Will go and find books for them!
Just my luck! 6 was rolled and all I got was 1 point letters :P Funny :)
Would Graphic Novels count as long as they are over 100 pages?
Good question, Jennifer! I would never have thought of that.
JenniferJ wrote: "Would Graphic Novels count as long as they are over 100 pages?"I hadn't thought of it either! I'm ok with using graphic novels but I guess my concern is that there's not as much actual reading that goes into a graphic novel. Maybe we can limit it to one graphic novel per week or something like that? Does that sound fair to everyone?
Cherie I wanted to buy a letter with a book I finished today but the thread for that appears to be locked as well as the make a word thread. When will those be open?
Cherie I was just wondering. After I made my word and got credit for it, do I still have access to those letters or should those letters be gone from my available/puchased letters list?
They should be gone. Sorry about that. I'll correct it now. I was bound to mess up on something today! lol
Second Chance Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
River of Smoke (other topics)A Great and Terrible Beauty (other topics)
Time Untime (other topics)
The Hell You Say (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Amitav Ghosh (other topics)G.A. McKevett (other topics)
This game is a combination of Scrabble and BuyWord. Here's how it works:
Object: To have the most points when the "tiles" (or letters) run out.
Rules:
Players will play individually.
Each player will receive 5 letters randomly including one "blank".
At the beginning of each week I will roll a 6 sided die. The number rolled will be the number of letters drawn for the week. For example, if I roll a 4, 4 letters will be drawn. The same die roll will apply to all players for the week.
Letters will be drawn separately for each player. The draw will be random and based on the die roll for the week.
Each player will have their own post in the Readerboard thread that will be updated weekly with your available letters. Only the moderator will be able to post in that thread.
You may choose to pass (not accept any new letters) for the week with no penalty. Or, you may choose to "buy" any or all of the letters drawn for you.
To buy a letter, you must read a book who's title or author first or last name matches the letter.
For example: Based on the roll and random draw you are offered A, E, K, L, T. You want to buy the A and the T. In order to claim them you must read a book for A and a book for T. If you want all of the letters you must read a book for each of them.
To purchase a letter post in Reporting - Buy Your Letters! thread.
Letters for each drawing are only available to buy for 1 week following their drawing.
Once you've bought them they are yours to keep until you use them in a word.
As your books are read the letters become available immediately and you may add those letters to your pile.
Using your pile, create words with scores as high as possible. Once you have made a word those letters will no longer be available to you.
Once you have made a word, post in the Reporting - Make a Word! thread. The moderator will review the word and award your points. You may report as many words as you like each week as long as you have the letters. You may also decide to hold onto your letters and not report any words in a given week. You decide your strategy.
You can report words in multiple posts throughout the week, or post them all at once.
Choose your words wisely because once you report a word you cannot take it back!
Letter drawings will take place between Friday at 6 pm and Saturday at 9 am (Eastern time) and will be posted to your individual Readerboard posts immediately.
Words may be reported Monday-Friday. No reporting on the weekends please! This will give me time to double check and tally.
Letter values are listed below.
Play will continue until all of the tiles have been drawn. If it happens that there are not enough tiles to distribute evenly at the end, the remaining tiles will be discarded.
Letter Values
0 points: Blank Tiles
1 point: E, A, I, O, N, R, T, L, S, U
2 points: D, G
3 points: B, C, M, P
4 points: F, H, V, W, Y
5 points: K
8 points: J, X
10 points: Q, Z
Letter Distribution
Based on a traditional 4 player game:
E ×12, A ×9, I ×9, O ×8, N ×6, R ×6, T ×6, L ×4, S ×4, U ×4, D ×4, G ×3, B ×2, C ×2, M ×2, P ×2, F ×2, H ×2, V ×2, W ×2, Y ×2, K ×1, J ×1, X ×1, Q ×1, Z ×1
- A traditional Scrabble game has 98 letter tiles (excluding blanks) for 4 players. For each additional 4 players I will double the letter count (keeping the letter distribution intact) For example, there are 3 G's in a traditional 4 player game. If we reach 8 players there will be 6 G's and 9 G's if we reach 12 players, etc.
Books and Page Counts
After some thought I decided to modify the required page count for the books. Since you only have 1 week to purchase your letters I will allow one short story, novella or book with a page count of at least 50 pages per week. All other books must be at least 100 pages.
Short stories that are part of an anthology won't count because I cannot verify the page count.
You can read more than one short story or novella to purchase one letter as long as the total page count equals 100 pages or more and they all fit the letter you are purchasing.
If you are reading an ebook or audiobook please use the page count of the most popular edition on GR. (The most popular edition is the one that comes up first when you search for the book.)
Notes:
- You do not have to read anything for your initial 5 letters. Those are freebies.
- You can read any genre
- Any version is fine (ebook, audiobook, etc)
- Just like in Scrabble, blank tiles can be used in place of any letter.
- There is no limit to the number of letters you may have in your "pile" at any given time. You are only limited by how many tiles are offered to you each week and how many books you want to read in a week.
- I will keep track of which letters have been used on an excel spreadsheet that I have.
- All drawings and letters will be chosen using Random.org
- There will be a Readerboard thread where each participant will be listed with letters currently available for them to buy, their current point total, and words submitted and accepted.
- Remember, letters are only available for 1 week! If you rely on the library, you may want to look ahead for letters that you know you're going to want to use.
- I will be using the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary to verify the validity of words if necessary.
So, what will you do? Read a few high point letters and be try to strategically create high point words? Or, read as many letters as you can and create as many words as you can? You decide!
If anything is unclear or you have any questions, this is the place to post them.
-The first tiles will be drawn on August 31.