The Button, Season 5: Rome. The Full Recap 🏛️
39 hours. 127 citizens from 39 instances. One Emperor, one knife in the Forum, twenty-two stabbings, thirty-nine recall motions, two routs of Coolius Caesar, and a Senate that voted to rename Rome to New South Corvidton.
The gates opened on 25 September at 19:00 UTC and the last timer ran dry on 27 September at 10:01 UTC. Here is everything that happened in between. All times are UTC.
A massive thank you to @W3dd1e@lemmy.zip and @ComradePupIvy@lemmygrad.ml who helped test this season!
TL;DR
- 🦅 Crow won the season, holding the button for 32.4% of the game.
- 👑 @vicinus@piefed.zip seized the throne and reigned for 3 hours 14 minutes before [redacted] struck on the Ides.
- 🗡️ 22 stabbings, 17 successful recalls and 68 seat challenges. Rome’s Stability bottomed out at 42 and never fell.
- 🕶️ Coolius Caesar marched on Rome twice and was driven off both times by the gladiators.
- 🏇 @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net turned the Circus into a gold mine: +22,733 gold, including a single 10,000-gold ticket.
- ⚔️ Verus the Thracian (@bevsdad@lemmy.ca) became the only gladiator to reach grade 20.
- 🏗️ The Treasury poured 80,130 points into Public Works. Five projects were completed and the Aqueduct runs.
🦅 The Button
| Presses | 408 |
| Pressers | 103 |
| Median time left on the clock at a press | 10 minutes |
| Presses left unused at the end | 1,822 |
| First Citizen of Rome | @grantuseyes@lemmy.zip (19:00:05, first press of the season) |
| Last press | @demigodrick@lemmy.zip for House Purple, 09:46 on day three |
| Closest shave | @demigodrick@lemmy.zip, with 1.04 seconds left |
| Fastest reaction | @tarball@lemmy.zip, 86 ms after the previous press |
Who held the button
| House | Share of the game | Presses |
|---|---|---|
| 🦅 Crow | 32.4% | 117 |
| No house | 27.2% | 137 |
| 🍇 House Purple | 12.3% | 52 |
| 🏛️ green | 10.3% | 37 |
| 🐗 Pumba | 7.3% | 26 |
| ⚓ Galleon | 5.4% | 15 |
| 🔥 Nero’s Fire | 2.3% | 12 |
| 🦁 Leo | 1.7% | 6 |
| 🏹 Corvidton | 0.8% | 4 |
| 🛡️ Collective | 0.1% | 2 |
Top pressers: @vicinus@piefed.zip (47), @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (36), @macallan@lemmy.world and @sebas@lemmy.zip (16 each), @alfredolin@sopuli.xyz and @nailingjello@lemmy.zip (14 each).
Four presses landed with under ten seconds to spare: @demigodrick@lemmy.zip (1.0s), @gwaer@lemmy.world (2.0s), @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (5.0s) and @svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz (8.4s). The Senate later passed a decree that “pressing the button when there’s more than a minute left makes everyone sad and you should feel bad as a matter of law.”
The season ended when the clock was allowed to run out, with 1,822 unused presses sitting in people’s pockets. House Purple alone was holding 563 of them.
🏠 The Houses
Ten houses were founded; eight survived to the end.
| House | Founder | Members at the end |
|---|---|---|
| 🍇 House Purple | @sebas@lemmy.zip | 15 |
| 🦅 Crow | @vicinus@piefed.zip | 15 |
| 🏛️ green | @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de | 13 |
| 🔥 Nero’s Fire | @crozekiel@lemmy.zip | 12 |
| 🐗 Pumba | @nailingjello@lemmy.zip | 6 |
| ⚓ Galleon | @terrance@lemmy.world | 6 |
| 🦁 Leo | @svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz | 3 |
| 🛡️ Collective | @freeman@feddit.org | 1 |
| 🏹 Corvidton | @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml | dissolved after 16 hours |
| 🐺 Sempronii | @m_f@discuss.online | dissolved after 71 minutes |
Loyalty was not Rome’s strongest virtue: players joined a house 102 times and walked out 40 times. The season’s great wanderer was @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, who joined a house 14 times, which may explain a certain decree further down. @tikiporch@lemmy.world joined seven.
Corvidton lasted less than a day, but it never really died. It lived on in graffiti (“Corvidton is a lie”, “Beware Corvidton19 virus”, “New South Corvidton”) and in the Senate, which voted 100 to 42 to rename Rome to New South Corvidton.
🗡️ The Politics of Rome
Rome’s offices ran on claim-or-challenge: take an empty seat, or stake influence to challenge someone for theirs and let the city vote. Above that sat the Senate’s recall motions, the Consul’s veto and, for the bold, the Ides.
By the numbers
| Empty seats taken | 93 |
| Seat challenges | 68: 28 won by the challenger, 19 held by the incumbent, 20 called off |
| Recall motions filed | 39: 22 carried, 11 failed, 6 vetoed |
| Players actually recalled | 17 |
| Stabbings (the Ides) | 22, plus one Emperor |
| Vetoes | 8 |
| Sacrosanct shields raised | 44 (@bevsdad@lemmy.ca 10, @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml 8, @vicinus@piefed.zip and @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 6 each) |
Most successful challenger: @gwaer@lemmy.world (4 seats won from 5 challenges). Most challenged: @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, whose seat was contested 10 times.
How it unfolded
How it unfolded
🌙 Night one: the first knives
25 September, 19:00 to midnight
- 19:19 House Purple is founded, twenty minutes after the gates open. Eight more houses follow that night.
- 20:34 The first stabbing: @vicinus@piefed.zip is struck down barely ninety minutes into the season.
- 21:59 @crozekiel@lemmy.zip and @green_copper@kbin.earth fall to the knife within seconds of each other.
- 22:03 @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml has @gerudo@lemmy.zip recalled from the Senate (73 to 31).
- 22:10 @vicinus@piefed.zip, now a Praetor, pushes @green_copper@kbin.earth out (148 to 128).
- 22:11 A motion to recall @bevsdad@lemmy.ca is crushed, 146 to 19.
- 23:53 @vicinus@piefed.zip becomes Rome’s first Consul, and holds the seat for almost thirteen hours.
🌑 The small hours: @bevsdad@lemmy.ca’s purge
26 September, 01:40 to 06:30
As a Praetor, @bevsdad@lemmy.ca went after rivals one by one:
- 01:41 @crozekiel@lemmy.zip recalled (138 to 0).
- 04:23 @sebas@lemmy.zip recalled (116 to 11).
- 05:08 @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works recalled (175 to 101).
- 05:29 @sebas@lemmy.zip recalled again (240 to 202).
@tikiporch@lemmy.world and @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works hit back with recalls of their own against @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @vicinus@piefed.zip. Then the knives came out:
- 06:00 to 06:23 @sebas@lemmy.zip is stabbed twice in twenty minutes, with @nailingjello@lemmy.zip in between.
☀️ Morning: the Consul and the Citizen
26 September, 09:20 to 12:00
The season’s great feud.
- @tikiporch@lemmy.world files recall after recall, three of them aimed at Consul @vicinus@piefed.zip.
- @vicinus@piefed.zip vetoes five of them.
- @vicinus@piefed.zip files three recalls against @tikiporch@lemmy.world, and the Senate carries all three (173 to 51, 95 to 22, 57 to 6).
👑 Midday: the Emperor
26 September, 12:41 to 15:56
- 12:41 @vicinus@piefed.zip stops asking and seizes the throne (see below).
- For three hours Rome is an Empire. The Senate’s decrees run from “All Hail Emperor Vicinus!” to graffiti reading “We must stab the Emperor.”
🗡️ Afternoon: the Ides
26 September, 15:34 to 18:00
A claimant rose in the provinces at 15:36, and the city came apart: six stabbings in 26 minutes.
- 15:34 to 15:41 @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de and @gwaer@lemmy.world fall in seven minutes.
- 15:56 The Emperor is struck down.
- 15:59 to 16:00 @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @gwaer@lemmy.world (again) follow.
With the throne empty, the Consul’s seat changed hands four times in under two hours: @demigodrick@lemmy.zip, @m_f@discuss.online, @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz.
- @m_f@discuss.online uses their turn to recall @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz (250 to 158).
- @demigodrick@lemmy.zip vetoes two of @m_f@discuss.online’s motions, including a decree to rename Rome the “Republic of Crome.”
- 17:38 The Senate passes, 35 to 0, a pact to “fight off every rising Emperor and work together by rotating the Consul seat.”
🌆 Evening: the recall duel and the second spree
26 September, 18:27 to 19:30
- 18:27 to 19:26 @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @green_copper@kbin.earth file four failed recalls against each other (88 to 146, 35 to 130, 0 to 107, 50 to 89).
- 18:55 and 18:57 @vicinus@piefed.zip and @gerudo@lemmy.zip are stabbed, just as the gladiators drive Coolius off for the second time.
- 19:07 to 19:09 Four more in two minutes: @its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works, @green_copper@kbin.earth, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de and @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net.
- 19:09 Stability hits its season low of 42.
🐦⬛ The long night: the Corvidton purge
27 September, 01:45 to 04:35
@comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml, founder of the short-lived Corvidton, took the Senate by storm.
- 01:45 @bevsdad@lemmy.ca is recalled with the season’s biggest vote: 715 to 83.
- @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml becomes Consul, then files eight recalls in ninety minutes, against @vicinus@piefed.zip (38 to 0), @its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works, @freeman@feddit.org, @snailpope@lemmy.world, @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net, @svengarlic@lemmy.world and @macallan@lemmy.world. Every one carries except the motion against @nailingjello@lemmy.zip, thrown out 50 to 0.
- 02:32 to 03:09 @svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz, @nailingjello@lemmy.zip and @macallan@lemmy.world are stabbed.
- 03:02 The Senate un-bars @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (200 to 55)…
- 03:06 …then bars them again (60 to 0) “from membership in any of the grand houses, or holding any position above Praetor.”
🌅 Dawn to the end: @gwaer@lemmy.world’s Rome
27 September, 04:35 to 10:01
- @gwaer@lemmy.world holds the Consul’s seat three times, the last from 07:53 to the finish.
- 07:00 @gwaer@lemmy.world vetoes one final recall.
- 07:08 @bevsdad@lemmy.ca paints “TIKI 4 EMPEROR” on the aqueduct.
- 09:42 The Senate decrees that “Children must participate in the hunt.”
- 09:43 The season’s last blood is @gwaer@lemmy.world’s own, eighteen minutes before the timer runs out.
Every stabbing
| When | Struck down |
|---|---|
| 25th 20:34 | @vicinus@piefed.zip |
| 25th 21:59 | @crozekiel@lemmy.zip, @green_copper@kbin.earth |
| 26th 06:00 to 06:23 | @sebas@lemmy.zip, @nailingjello@lemmy.zip, @sebas@lemmy.zip |
| 26th 15:34 to 15:41 | @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de, @gwaer@lemmy.world |
| 26th 15:56 | @vicinus@piefed.zip, the Emperor |
| 26th 15:59 to 16:00 | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, @gwaer@lemmy.world |
| 26th 17:18 | @macallan@lemmy.world |
| 26th 18:55 to 19:09 | @vicinus@piefed.zip, @gerudo@lemmy.zip, @its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works, @green_copper@kbin.earth, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de, @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net |
| 27th 02:32 to 03:09 | @svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz, @nailingjello@lemmy.zip, @macallan@lemmy.world |
| 27th 09:43 | @gwaer@lemmy.world |
Stabbed most: @gwaer@lemmy.world, three times, and @vicinus@piefed.zip, three times counting the throne. @sebas@lemmy.zip, @green_copper@kbin.earth, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de, @nailingjello@lemmy.zip and @macallan@lemmy.world were each struck down twice.
The Consuls of Rome
14 terms, 10 players: @vicinus@piefed.zip, @demigodrick@lemmy.zip, @m_f@discuss.online, @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz, @gwaer@lemmy.world (three terms), @nailingjello@lemmy.zip, @svc@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz (twice), @tikiporch@lemmy.world (twice) and @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml.
Most offices held: @tikiporch@lemmy.world (11 terms), @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @gwaer@lemmy.world (10 each).
👑 The Throne and the Ides
@vicinus@piefed.zip was Rome’s first Consul and then went further. At 12:41 on 26 September they seized the throne and left House Crow to reign as Emperor.
The reign was busy:
- Proscribed House Nero’s Fire three times (each one cost Rome 10 Stability).
- Recalled @green_copper@kbin.earth out of the Senate.
- Paid three donatives to the citizens in the forum and topped up the Games purse twice.
- Gave out Bread and Circuses twice: a free press for everyone online (19, then 30).
- Spent 3,427 gold of the Treasury on the City Walls and paid for public works three times.
- Marched against a claimant in the provinces (+12 Stability).
At 15:56, with @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml shouting “I HAVE A KNIFE IN MY HAND RIGHT NOW” in chat, [redacted] struck. Beware the Ides! @vicinus@piefed.zip fell to Citizen after 3 hours and 14 minutes on the throne, the longest (and only) reign of the season.
@vicinus@piefed.zip: “I’ve been killed!” @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml: “WE ARE A REPUBLIC ONCE AGIAN!!!” @vicinus@piefed.zip: “The crows will rise again!”
The pact to rotate the Consul’s seat held: nobody took the throne again.
📜 The Senate
335 motions were filed and 280 passed.
| Kind | Passed | Failed | Vetoed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spend on the city (+5 Stability) | 59 | 7 | |
| Grain dole | 57 | 1 | |
| Subsidise a house | 42 | 11 | 1 |
| Fund a Public Works project | 37 | 3 | |
| Recall | 22 | 11 | 6 |
| Games purse | 21 | 1 | |
| Commend | 18 | 3 | |
| Decree | 13 | 4 | 1 |
| Sanction | 7 | 6 | |
| Hire the vigiles | 4 |
The decrees of Rome, as passed into law:
- “Corvidton joins the Crow.”
- “Every pet owner online now must give their pet one treat and announce their names in chat.”
- “Appoint Misty as Admiral of the New Corvidton fleet.” (16 to 1)
- “Rename Rome to New South Corvidton.” (100 to 42, at the third attempt after “Corvidton II” and “New Corvidton” both failed)
- “THE NEXT WINNER OF THE GAMES SHALL DECIDE WHAT FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM W3dd1e BUYS AT THE GROCERY STORE.” (20 to 0)
- “Bevsdad is hereby no longer barred from serving on the New South Corvidton Senate.” (200 to 55), then four minutes later “Bevsdad is barred from membership in any of the grand houses, or holding any position above Praetor.” (60 to 0)
- “Children must participate in the hunt.” (1 to 0)
Decrees that failed: “Shame Bevsdad for disregarding the danger of the beast!” and “Make Misty Empress 😸”.
🕶️ Coolius Caesar
Act 1, 13:08 on the 26th. Coolius marched on Rome with 100,000 health. The Senate voted to fight, 2 to 0. Fifteen gladiators threw 196 attacks at him and he fled in 27 minutes, shades askew. @vicinus@piefed.zip struck hardest, then @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz and @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works. 1,000 gold was shared out and Rome gained 20 Stability.
Act 2, 17:58 on the 26th. He came back on a white stallion, in shades, with 300,000 health and twice the Stability drain. The Senate voted to fight again, 7 to 0. Twenty-five gladiators landed 524 attacks in 53 minutes. @bevsdad@lemmy.ca struck hardest (29,401 damage), just ahead of @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip, @macallan@lemmy.world, @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz and @egerlach@hachyderm.io. 1,500 gold was shared and he fled once more.
He swore to return. He did not get the chance this season. 👀
🌾 Crises
Six crises reached the Senate, and Rome answered every one:
| Crisis | Rome’s answer | Stability |
|---|---|---|
| Goths at the Danube | Pay tribute | +6 |
| The grain fleet is lost | Buy grain at any price | +8 |
| Plague in the Subura | Send the physicians | +8 |
| Fire in the insulae | Pay the vigiles | +9 |
| A claimant in the provinces | March against him (by the Emperor’s decree) | +12 |
| Tax revolt in Iudaea | Remit the taxes | +6 |
Stability opened in the 60s, touched 100 on the first night, and bottomed out at 42 on the evening of the 26th during the second stabbing spree. It finished at 86. Rome never came close to a Sack.
⚔️ The Ludus
105 gladiators. 9,806 bouts. Two gone from the arena.
| Gladiator | Lanista | Style | Grade | XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verus the Thracian | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca | Shieldsman | 20 | 801,614 |
| Achillia the Silent | @macallan@lemmy.world | Shieldsman | 19 | 595,779 |
| Triumphus | @sebas@lemmy.zip | Curved Blade | 19 | 586,962 |
| Fortunata of Pergamum | @tikiporch@lemmy.world | Netfighter | 19 | 536,769 |
| Aquilina | @vicinus@piefed.zip | Curved Blade | 18 | 418,319 |
| Priscus Scarhand | @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip | Shieldsman | 18 | 354,969 |
| Rutuba | @nailingjello@lemmy.zip | Chaser | 17 | 319,770 |
- Most renowned: @sebas@lemmy.zip’s Triumphus (85,523 renown).
- Hardest worker: @macallan@lemmy.world, with 923 bouts and 853 flawless ones, a record.
- Fastest champion bout: @m_f@discuss.online, in 9.98 seconds.
- Trophy Book: @vicinus@piefed.zip claimed all 16 pages, every one a Masterwork.
- Armoury: @sebas@lemmy.zip found the most kit (40 pieces).
- Farewells: @nailingjello@lemmy.zip set Rutuba free after three Games titles. @m_f@discuss.online’s Priscus of Ravenna was killed by a leopard.
🏟️ The Games
14 tournaments were fought to a finish and 655 bets were placed (33,489 gold staked).
| # | Champion | Lanista | Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flamma | @crozekiel@lemmy.zip | 16 |
| 2 | Verus the Thracian | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca | 164 |
| 3 | Achillia the Silent | @macallan@lemmy.world | 964 |
| 4 | Aquilina | @vicinus@piefed.zip | 332 |
| 5 | Rutuba | @nailingjello@lemmy.zip | 344 |
| 6 | Aquilina | @vicinus@piefed.zip | 488 |
| 7 | Drusilla of Ravenna | @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works | 528 |
| 8 | Fortunata of Pergamum | @tikiporch@lemmy.world | 128 |
| 9 | Achillia the Silent | @macallan@lemmy.world | 328 |
| 10 | Rutuba | @nailingjello@lemmy.zip | 428 |
| 11 | Rutuba | @nailingjello@lemmy.zip | 228 |
| 12 | Victrix the Silent | @m_f@discuss.online | 328 |
| 13 | Aquilina the Silent | @elyk53@programming.dev | 412 |
| 14 | Achillia the Silent | @macallan@lemmy.world | 128 |
Three-time champions: @macallan@lemmy.world (Achillia the Silent) and @nailingjello@lemmy.zip (Rutuba). @vicinus@piefed.zip’s Aquilina won twice.
Best at the betting window: @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip (+294), @nailingjello@lemmy.zip (+264), @demigodrick@lemmy.zip (+258).
🏇 The Circus
27 race days, 81 heats, 76,791 gold wagered by 33 punters.
The big winner: @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net staked 56,145 gold over 32 tickets and walked away 22,733 gold up. That included a single 10,000-gold ticket on Vibius Rutilus that paid 16,250. It made them the richest citizen in Rome by a distance. @tikiporch@lemmy.world followed with +8,564. @sebas@lemmy.zip had the roughest time at the rail (−1,973).
Champion rider: Gaius Medullinus, with 9 wins and 84 points. Aulus Atratinus (77) and Tiberius Structus (75) were next.
Skulduggery: 47 schemes were attempted (doping, loose axles, rattles, bad oats and false starts). Nine were caught.
🦁 The Hunt
30 Hunts. The first 24 beasts all fell, most in under five minutes, each coming back half as strong again. Then at 27,340 health the beasts finally won: the last six Hunts all escaped.
| Hunter | Damage | Runs | Gold won |
|---|---|---|---|
| @sebas@lemmy.zip | 27,782 | 41 | 1,288 |
| @vicinus@piefed.zip | 20,807 | 33 | 1,434 |
| @bevsdad@lemmy.ca | 17,748 | 25 | 1,009 |
| @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip | 17,211 | 28 | 654 |
| @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz | 15,798 | 25 | 861 |
- Biggest single Hunt: @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, with 2,346 damage against the Iron Bear.
- Hunts led by house: House Purple 10, green 7, Crow 4.
- 20 Great Hunters earned the title.
🏗️ Public Works
The Senate and the Emperor spent the Treasury freely: 80,130 points of Public Works came straight from the city’s coffers.
| Project | Progress |
|---|---|
| The Basilica | ✅ complete |
| The Valetudinarium | ✅ complete |
| The Amphitheatre | ✅ complete |
| The City Walls | ✅ complete |
| The Aqueduct | ✅ complete |
| The Mint | stage 2 (35,632 of 50,000) |
Top private donors: @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip (3,494), @sebas@lemmy.zip (3,000), @macallan@lemmy.world (2,619), @nailingjello@lemmy.zip (1,906), @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (1,540).
🔍 The Verres Affair
Senator Gaius Verres was found dead in the baths on the first evening. @sebas@lemmy.zip read the omen and broke the news; @tarball@lemmy.zip was first to close the case, at 21:31 on opening night.
Twelve citizens solved it. Six gave the credit to Rome (+5 Stability each): @tarball@lemmy.zip, @sebas@lemmy.zip, @almost1337@lemmy.zip, @gwaer@lemmy.world, @egerlach@hachyderm.io and @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml. Six took the reward for their house (+300 influence): @m_f@discuss.online, @tikiporch@lemmy.world, @crozekiel@lemmy.zip, @dave@lemmy.nz, @hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works and @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip.
(No spoilers here. It may be back.)
🎲 Games in the Chat
Between the politics and the bloodshed, Rome found time to play. 48 challenges were settled in the chat across the season.
Rock, paper, scissors: 32 matches.
| Player | Wins | Played |
|---|---|---|
| @bevsdad@lemmy.ca | 7 | 10 |
| @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml | 7 | 17 |
| @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz | 5 | 6 |
| @its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works | 3 | 6 |
| @skankhunt42@lemmy.ca | 2 |
@comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml was the most eager challenger, with 17 matches, and the most beaten: @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz both beat them three times. Scissors won 15 times, paper 9 and rock only 8. Throw scissors.
Noughts and crosses: 9 games, 4 of them draws. Nobody won more than once. @bevsdad@lemmy.ca, @m_f@discuss.online and @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml played the most; @m_f@discuss.online’s games against @vicinus@piefed.zip and @bevsdad@lemmy.ca both ended level.
Four in a row: 7 games. @demigodrick@lemmy.zip and @bevsdad@lemmy.ca won two each; @sebas@lemmy.zip, @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de and @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip one each. @bevsdad@lemmy.ca played the most (4).
🎟️ The Lottery
40 hourly draws, 854 tickets, 55 players. @tikiporch@lemmy.world won seven draws. The biggest pot was 108 gold, to @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz.
💬 The Forum
- 3,992 chat messages from 53 people during the season.
- Most talkative: @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml (494), @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (399), @w3dd1e@lemmy.zip (361), @mschae@discuss.mschae23.de (331), @sneezycat@sopuli.xyz (301).
- Favourite reactions: 👍 252 · 😂 152 · ❤️ 145 · 🔥 115 · 🐦⬛ 114 · 🤡 107.
- Top recruiter: @squirrel@cake.kobel.fyi brought in 8 new players.
Selected graffiti from the aqueduct:
“Red is Rad Purple is Bad” · “EMBRACE TYRANNY” · “Balnor is your true king” · “We must stab the Emperor” · “Comradepupivy is mean!” · “Corvidton is a lie” · “Avdrdr culpa est” · “Pizza delivery” · “buy bitcoin” · “TIKI 4 EMPEROR”
And from the banners:
“Sebas… I am your daddy.” (followed, three times, by “I’m still your daddy”) “Rome has been renamed by decree of the Senate to New South Corvidton!!!” “Citizens of Rome! I ask of you: buy stability on the Market, so that Caesar and his salads don’t bring the city down.”
🏆 Honours of the Season
| Honour | |
|---|---|
| Winning house | 🦅 Crow |
| First (and only) Emperor | @vicinus@piefed.zip |
| The Ides | @demigodrick@lemmy.zip |
| First Consul | @vicinus@piefed.zip |
| The Great Recaller | @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml (the 715 to 83 vote, and eight recalls in ninety minutes) |
| Most vetoes | @vicinus@piefed.zip (5) |
| Most seats won by challenge | @gwaer@lemmy.world (4) |
| Most house moves | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca (14) |
| First Citizen | @grantuseyes@lemmy.zip |
| First to speak | @squirrel@cake.kobel.fyi |
| Broke the news of Verres | @sebas@lemmy.zip |
| Highest-grade gladiator | Verus the Thracian (@bevsdad@lemmy.ca) |
| Most renowned gladiator | Triumphus (@sebas@lemmy.zip) |
| Coolius, act 1, hardest hitter | @vicinus@piefed.zip |
| Coolius, act 2, hardest hitter | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca |
| Top hunter | @sebas@lemmy.zip |
| Richest citizen | @livligkinkajou@slrpnk.net (22,255 gold) |
| Most influence | @vicinus@piefed.zip (5,908) |
| Most offices held | @tikiporch@lemmy.world |
| Most flawless bouts | @macallan@lemmy.world |
| Rock, paper, scissors | @bevsdad@lemmy.ca and @comradepupivy@lemmygrad.ml (7 wins each) |
| Closest shave | @demigodrick@lemmy.zip (1.04 seconds) |
Thank you to everyone who played, plotted, stabbed and pressed. Rome, or New South Corvidton, will remember. 🏛️
I loved the idea to let people found their own houses this season, that was really fun and made for interesting politics!
I feel like the button itself didn’t have much of a purpose this season other than making sure the game ends eventually (I was actually surprised at how abruptly it ended. I even still had a tab open when it happened, it was just randomly dead when I looked at it), but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Thanks to everyone who participated, it was awesome as always!
And great for procastinationI would definitely say (and the testers who helped will attest to this) that I did struggle to tie it in the core button mechanic, but I felt I had enough “other stuff” for a fun game, so used the opportunity to test out new mechanics such as the player created factions.
Sadly you were all too good and stability never really fell far enough to affect the button, so lots of mechanics not seen!
Thank you for all the effort to host this event again :) I had much fun and the politics were exiting to watch and participate. Too bad I slept too long and couldn’t help the button surviving a bit longer :(
Feedback:
- the theme design was awesome
- founding own houses is a great idea
- IMO the button got pushed a bit too much into the background
- keep the challenges for everyone to fight of coming in the next season, they bring good variety
Looking forward to the next season and may the power of democracy be with you all :D
Who did the stabbings between 6-6:23?! Also, that “purge” was me fighting off an attempted coup while everyone was asleep! Cowards!
Couldn’t tell you, they’re actually anonymous unless someone admits to it!
It was Me! Caesar’s Salad! I told him to eat his vegetables and he ignored me! So I stabbed him!
It was a big mystery because I had just been removed as Praetor and both of them tried taking my seat before getting stabbed right away as if someone was guarding it from the usurpers. Great fun!
Some of us had to sleep after a long day in the government!
what a great time! sad it didn’t make it through the night (for me), i literally fell asleep at the button…
The circus was so fun, I don’t think I’ve ever been so entertained by races
and schemingYes! I was hoping you’d be on during the peaceful times because consul can make the races begin immediately instead of there being delays to rake the track. You’d have been able to bankroll the entire public works projects after a few turns.
What was your strategy for betting and what did you do with all that money?
I assume you became Smaug.
I chose the prettiest horse
I’m kidding, at first there were some races where there was only one or two high attribute racer, so I bet big on them, and the payout was huge as the odds were high
As things progressed, I could just manipulate the market with schemes and distort the market with bet placement. ie, there were 3 favourite racers with odds of 2/1. I’d poison the oats of one, bet 1000 on a 4th horse so the odds of the other racers would rise higher, and then I could bet on the remaining 2 favourites and still come out with net winnings after all bets
I don’t think there was a lot to do with money besides those big public works that I missed. I just got entertained by the coloured triangles lol
I figured out that if I bet on whichever horse had the most wins, they’d probably win again. I went 3 for 3 with no Intrigue.
I never bet as big as you! I was looking at the leader thinking you were on fire but I didn’t realize how much you had actually won.
Nice job!
I knew demigodrick murdered the benevolent god emperor to seize power and reign corrupt, with tyranny in their heart!
All hail Vicinus! Our only emperor.
Long live the Republic of New South Corvidton!
Good fun!
Very fun. Wish it lasted longer.
Can someone DM me and share how leaf 9 was supposed to be solved?
Sent. I couldn’t figure it out either, had to get help from tiki
@Demigodrick@lemmy.zip What’s the API endpoint/schema to decide whether to turn the perpetrator into the city or sell the secret to my house? I’m still solving the Verres Affair 😆
Edit: I figured it out:
POST api/rome/sibyl/choose
{"choice":"city|house"}
Ha, nice one! :D
Where did all of this happen!? I followed a link to the button, signed up, but didn’t press it. Now it’s over? Seems like I missed a whole lot.
Ooft, you did miss a lot! The trick was to press the button 😀
Next time!
I ended up having to work so I couldn’t engage further. :S but hey I got a mention haha.
Hopefully next time lands better for you! :D
Some feedback as a mobile player. Overall it was playable and positive, but sometimes it felt more limited. Leaf 9 for example I think would have been more attainable on a desktop.
Also, multiple times people mentioned how much influence or button presses that others had in their inventory but I couldn’t figure out how to see it on mobile.
Thank you, that’s really helpful to know. I (well, we - @W3dd1e@lemmy.zip ) are going to put more effort into mobile UI.
Not sure how to handle the puzzles though, people keep beating them super easy so as they get more obscure (i.e. this one had the site response headers in) they’ll be harder on mobile. Will have a think!
I appreciate the evaluation for next time. And remember that lots of people beating it doesn’t make it not fun. No need to be a esoteric or require developer experience (most of Lemmy I guess) to beat a small side quest in a button pressing game 😉.
You’ve done a great job with it and I’m happy to be a part of this instance.
We actually tested it before. Kind of.
This one was my fault. I was trying to test it by hand without knowing the answers and I didn’t get past step 8 until AFTER the game went live. If I had, I might have seen how hard 9 was for mobile players.
I do appreciate Demi’s creativeness on that one though. It was a really smart puzzle except for the mobile issues.
I played mobile, and to get past it, I used reqbin to inspect the headers.
Thanks for another fun season!
It did not go as I expected at all! For a solid 12 hours, I felt like everyone was working together and it brought a tear to my eye.
My gladiator never did find a hat that fit them, by which I mean I found a hat of all three types but none of them would equip.
Also, I probably didn’t have the only netfighter, but I certainly never saw another one in the games.
There originally wasn’t a hat for netfighters, but i did add one in (lion skull) but I dont think anyone found it
Oh, damn. A lion skull would have been very menacing in the games.
It would have been nice to see the armour you got in the games too!
Good times, nice to see my name come up in a few places.
I left Saturday morning after the drama, but returned that afternoon and had much more fun during the prosperous times.
While this post sounded really interesting, it would be nice to have an explanation linked of what the game actually is and how it works :)
It started as a simple game, where everyone was given a single chance to press the button.
Each button press adds 15 minutes to the clock.
Your team earns points when you press the button.
The goal is to get the most points without the button running out of time. So you have to coordinate with your team, but also with other teams to keep the game going.
Each season, Demi, has added new features to the game.
On May 4th it had a Star Wars theme with a hidden puzzle.
Once, it was a fishing theme where you could go fishing in addition to pressing the button.
This season was set in Ancient Rome. Players could join the Senate, become an emperor (this was a secret feature that only Vicnius did), fight your Gladiator in the area, or gamble in chariot races.
Each season is completely unique and no one knows how it will work until it starts
If everybody has a single button press, what’s the point in dragging it out? Won’t you get the same amount of points regardless how quickly your team uses up their quota?
Each press reset the button to 15 minutes. It was about timing the button press and blocking the other teams from being able to accrue points, but balancing that with keeping the season going. Only one team can earn points at a time.
In recent seasons, you can acquire multiple button presses.
Example: Blue team presses it at 15 min. The timer starts counting down.
If Red team pressed it at the 14 minute mark, it reset to 15. Blue team stops getting points, Red starts accruing points. Blue team got the points for the 1st minute but now they can’t accrue anymore unless another blue player presses it.
Oh I see! I that makes more sense now, thanks. Doesn’t that mean the optimal strategy would essentially be to click the button as soon as possible after another team has pressed it?
Not if you also want the game to go on as long as possible.
It’s hotly debated in the game chat amongst teams.
Some strategize to end the game as soon as possible, makes sense if you’re in the lead.
Some want to drag it out and make a come back so they click it as soon as possible if the lead team has the button but delay if other teams have the button.
There have been 4-8 teams. Each season is different and has different mechanics around the button. The button might give you coins or effect effect a unique stat called “stability”. (Stability functions vary season to season).
Oh having more than 2 teams changes the dynamics a lot I suppose. No point wasting clicks on a team that’s behind.
Thanks for the intro! Sounds pretty fun.
I hope you are able to join us next season!
I’ll be honest, I had no idea what I was doing in the first season and wasted my moves, but the later seasons have really been a blast. I made friends from all over Lemmy, even instances that I had previously blocked.
The best way to get it is to jump in and start pushing buttons to see what happens. :)
