Penalty Votes for Idling

[Judge Sam]

Players that agree to give Spies their all but do not follow through and don't actively play the game are a detriment to the game and to all players involved. Therefore, I have these official penalties to remove inactives from the game actively, rather than have them stick around to the end and ruin the game. Oftentimes these inactives stick around for a long time because nobody wants to vote them out because they may not pose a threat.


If you are going on a small vacation or will be busy for a few days, simply post in your confessional to inform me of when you will be gone and then you won't get any of these penalties. If you like, you can vote ahead of time. You won't be penalized for this legitimate absence. All you need to do is tell me that you will be unavailable for upcoming days, and you will not receive any of these penalties. It is only unexplained disappearances that receive self-votes.


Since you can vote ahead of time and change your vote whenever you like, there isn't an issue for people who are committed to the game and trying their best.


Starting with Spies 3, penalties have been raised.


If you fail to cast a vote before the deadline (you have 2 days to cast a vote):

1st time: You will cast three self-votes against yourself.

2nd time: You will cast eight self-votes against yourself.

At this point, if you still remain in the game, I will examine your participation in the game and ask you for an explanation for your inactivity. If I do not think you can be a responsible, active member of the game, I will pull you out of the game.

3rd time: Instantly removed from the game at Exile.


Participation on AIM is also very important. You must sign on your AIM name whenever possible.


If you fail to post at least two conversations you have with another player in a given Episode (each Episode lasts three or four days and includes an Imprisonment and an Exiling):


1st time: You will cast two self-votes against yourself.

2nd time: You will cast four self-votes against yourself.

3rd time: Instantly removed from the game.



If you give the game a good-faith effort to stay active, you won't get any of these penalties. This is just to formally remove those who are inactive or people not interested in playing.

[Judge Sam]

Remember that the maximum number of episodes is usually 10, so if you miss two of those... that's 20% of the entire game. And that's only if the game lasts that long AND you yourself make it that long. For most people missing two episodes is around 33% of their entire game.



The Final Nine Exile is the last time any vote penalties are taken into account. If you have made it to the Final Seven Exile, then it is assumed that you are an active part of the game. In the interests of maintaining a fair and interesting endgame, all penalties are cancelled. This may be bumped up to the Final Nine... I'm not sure yet, but I will definitely inform you weeks before if it is.


Although Spies 2 was by far the most active Spies I've hosted, there were some bad apples. Two players were eliminated with the help of penalty votes, though both of them also had normal votes (and both were suspected of being a Spy by a good number of people). We also had one Imprisonment in which an inactive was forcibly removed by due to them disappearing and not responding for over a week. For Spies 3 I'm looking to do something in addition to having inactives be eliminated by forced Imprisonments or by penalty votes at Exiles. I added this in italics in the above post:

At this point, if you still remain in the game, I will examine your participation in the game and ask you for an explanation for your inactivity. If I do not think you can be a responsible, active member of the game, I will pull you out of the game.

If you have not voted in two exiles and still remain in the game, then I will examine your case and make a decision on whether to pull you without waiting for an Imprisonment or Exile. Pulling a player from the game mangles up the planned order and schedule of things and also creates some other problems. However I've come up with solutions to these new problems so I think overall it's a better way to do it.


Now if everyone just followed along with the game we wouldn't have all these crazy rules. :-) Unfortunately inactives are a part of things and must be removed for the health of the game. I'm just trying to be fair and systematic about how they are removed and setting out all guidelines before the game even begins.