Sounds like a fair arrangement to me. I was actually very close to conceding myself, this morning. Then I started thinking about ideas and realized that I could probably make something, however bad. Plus I remembered that kaufman and Gabe both made fun of me for complaining about rules before, so I figured I had to preserve my honor, or something like that.
As for rule generation, the only flaw I found with skagg's system was that some of his rules were too restrictive. My rules are likely to be guidelines rather than obstacles. I can't think of a way to make rule generation a group activity, at least not a way that wouldn't result in having too many rules per round. I think skagg's rule counts for each round (3, 4, and 5) were about on target. So unless someone can think of a better way, I think I'll stick with the current moderator-makes-the-rules system. At least until the final round -- maybe we can have every defeated contestant contribute one rule for that round, which would make six.
In the interest of making this a community activity, though, what do you folks think about having judges in addition to the six non-participating contestants for each round? Like, some people could just be judges, and get to vote on every comic, but not enter any. I assume there will be enough interest that more than eight people will want to participate, so this would give the rest something to do. And if we know exactly how many judges we have, then we'll know as soon as one contestant gets a majority of votes. But this could cause problems if people don't vote in a timely manner. Ideally, each round would take about 48 hours, from start to finish. Is it reasonable to expect people to check the site at least once every two days?
In the interest of fairness, I think people who didn't get to participate at all in the first Comic Cup should get first crack at a slot in this one, followed by people who were knocked out of the first one early. (LadyJ's spot is, of course, reserved. J, have fun at the con, and I'll make sure your round doesn't start until you get back.) So let's do this: if you're interested in being a participant, or a judge, or both, post here and say so. And if you have better ideas for how to run this show, post them too and we'll discuss them. I'm thinking we can get a system hammered out, and the first round started, within the next 48 hours.
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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!
