WG Discussion Thread- OLIVE WINS! Iceroll 2, tylerdurden 3

[acsc1312]

I will have a more detailed first post later, but all are welcome to sign up for the game. It will run just like Baumer's Summer Game, with minor changes. Let's see if Fake wants to be the first person to win both the Summer and Winter game. The game will run Oct 5- Jan 21.

Confirmed players:

ACSC
Cjohn
Goffe
Doctor Who
baumer
fakhir
cedar
ItsonlyEd
MGS
Tower
Tyler Durden
Spaghetti
iceroll
grim22
narniadis
JCS
spazz91
Dexter of Suburbia
JohnnY
The Dark Alfred
Olive
JackO
Sixteen16
Laguy03
Punishment
Ball Lightning
The Creator

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL ACSC’S WINTER GAME! This is the 2nd Winter Game, and FIRST here at the Box Office Forums:


THE GAME:


Hello, fellow posters. Welcome the second edition of the Winter Game. This is a four month game that begins Friday, October 5 and culminates on Monday, Jan 21. This means the last weekend of the game will be Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and the grosses will count up to and including Monday the 21st.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT GROSSES FOR ALL FILMS WILL ONLY COUNT UP UNTIL MONDAY, JANUARY 21st.

We will be predicting the top 12 films of the winter. These predictions are due by Wednesday, Oct 3 at 11:59 PM CENTRAL TIME. You will post your predictions in this thread. There are no pm's. Everyone predictions are here for everyone to see. Nothing to hide. What this means is that if you are influenced by others and you want to copy what they think, that is up to you. But this game is won or lost over many different elements. Every element is important. If you target one player and copy their top 12 and they have a few bad calls, you will do the same. My advice to everyone is to be yourself. You have a month to analyze this films coming out this winter. Use that month to read up on and study the films slated for release this summer. It's a lot of work, no doubt. But the fun of the game is your reward.


Each week, I will post "bonus questions" that are worth 12,000 points There will also be bonus points each week rewarded for several different accuracy measures. You will experience this as the game goes on. There are several weeks with bigger releases that more points will be available.

There will also be SOTM (SPUR OF THE MOMENT QUESTIONS) asked whenever I deem it necessary. These literally are spur of the moment questions. It can range from 5- 20 SOTM questions, but they will be worth no more than 8000 points each. Again, these are flexible with scoring and bonuses. The SOTM questions can change the balance of the game, but they are one of the better parts of the game, IMO.

A typical looking SOTM scoring scheme will look like this:

Tell me, will MovieX have a second Friday of more than 15 mill?

8000 if you get it right.
-5000 if you get it wrong.
2000 if you choose not to answer the question (abstain).


Here's how the game will work. AND PLEASE READ VERY VERY CAREFULLY. And if you have any questions, ask me because once the game starts, you must abide by STRICT deadlines. If you miss a deadline on any question, you absolutely, unequivocally will not qualify for that question. So if i ask that a SOTM question be answered by 4pm on Nov 6, and your answer is submitted or edited after that time, you will be disqualified from that question. IT WILL BE STRICT. I do not want to create issues with allowing some users to post late. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE PERIOD.

To qualify for the prizes, you have to be in this game from the beginning. You must have your predictions in before Wednesday, Oct 3 at 11:59 PM central time. That’s 12:59AM Eastern, 9:59 PM pacific. If you are in a different time zone, it is your responsibility to figure out the conversion.


This year, you have to predict the top 12 films of the winter. That means you have to tell me, in order, what the top 12 films, by gross, will be for the winter season.

For example, if you think Lincoln will finish 1st with 750 million dollars, you would put that 1st. If you think Anna Karenina finishes 2nd with 650 million, you put that and so on.

Here is an example of what your top 12 would have to look like:


1) Lincoln: 750 mill
2) Anna Karenina: 650 mill
3) Wreck-It Ralph: 420 mill
4) The Hobbit: 350 mill
5) Life of Pi: 275 mill
6) Les Miserables: 220 mill
7) This is 40: 185 mill
8) Zero Dark Thirty: 160 mill
9) The Master: 137
10) Jack Reacher: 125
11) Django Unchained: 125
12) Paranormal Activity 4: 115

This is just a sample of what you need to do. Tell me, in order with the gross, what films will finish top 12 for the summer.

POINT SYSTEM: The point system will be very similar to the summer games, but with a few changes.

For every film you call correctly in the top 12, in any order, you will get 15,000 points. For every film you call in the exact spot, you will get 25,000 points. So you must think this out thoroughly. You will also lose 10,000 points for every film in the top 12 that you call incorrectly. So, for example, if say Breaking Dawn Part 2 will be in the top 12 twelve, and it misses the top 12, you will lose 10000 points PLUS whatever you miss the gross by.

And one more caveat to this is the double whammy rule. If you call a film to hit the top 12 and it misses, you will lose points for missing the top 12 and you will lose points if the gross misses by more than the 40 million allotted to you. If however you call a film incorrectly in the top 12 but you are within the 40 million, YOU WILL NOT GET CREDIT FOR THOSE POINTS. This is a game of accuracy and as such your rewards are high as is your punishment.

Back to the scoring.

If you are able to call the top three positions right, in order, regardless of the gross, you will get a 75,000 point bonus.

If you are able to call the top four positions right, in order, regardless of the gross, you will get a 100,000 point bonus.

If you can call the top five positions right, in order, regardless of gross, you will get a 250,000 point bonus.

If you are a genius and can call all 12 right, in order, regardless of gross, you will get a 750,000 point bonus and basically win the game.

OTHER ADD ONS:

Call SPOTS 3-5 correct, regardless of order, and receive a 25,000 point bonus.

Call 9 of the top 12 correct, regardless of order, receive a 75,000 point bonus.

Call 10 of the top 12 correct, regardless of order, receive a 125,000 point bonus.

Call 11 of the top 12 correct, regardless of order, receive a 250,000 point bonus.

Call all 12 correct, regardless of order, and you get a 750,000 point bonus.

This does not eliminate the bonus points originally mentioned, it will just add to them. So for example, if you happen to call the top five positions correctly, you will get the 250K bonus for having the top 5 in any order, PLUS YOU WILL GET THE 25k BONUS FOR HAVING POSITIONS 3-5 IN ORDER.

So even if you are not doing so well with the bonus points, a huuuuuuge premium is put on calling the films in the right order, so do your research.

For the gross that you predict, for every film that you call within 20 mill, you will get 10,000 points. If you call it within 30 mill, you get 5000 bonus points. If you miss the films gross by 40 mill or more, you lose 5000 points. For every 20 mill you miss after the first 40 mill, you will lose 1000 points per 20 mill. Even if you miss the gross by 61 mill, that extra 1 mill will cause you to lose a full 1000 points. This gives you a window of 10 mill to be wrong without losing or winning any bonus points.

For even more of an accuracy bonus, if you can call any film within 5 million of the actual gross, you will receive a bonus of 20,000. If you can call the gross within 2 million, you get a bonus of 25,000.

Predicting the top 12 and their gross is very, very difficult, especially since you have to have this in before Oct 3. ONCE YOUR PREDICTIONS ARE IN, YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEM AFTER Oct 3.

International and WW will be different than the Summer Game.

Here is how it will work.

International #1:

Tell me what the WW top 5 of the winter will be. The point structure will be as follows:

Every film you call in the top 5 correct, you get 10,000 points. If you can call all 5 in order you will get a 75,000 point bonus.

Call the gross correct within 50 mill: 10,000 points
Call the gross within 50.1 mill to 75 mill 5000 pts
Call the gros within 75.1 to 100 mill 2500 pts.

Miss the WW gross by more than 100 mill and you lose 10,000 points.

If you call a film in the top 5 that doesn't appear in the top WW top 5, you will lose 10,000 points.


PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:


Tell me what films will finish with the 5 best opening weekends domestically. Opening weekends will include any films gross that starts at midnight on Thursday (so this can include a Thursday opening if applicable) and culminates with the Sunday gross. One caveat to this is that if a film changes it's release date, only the gross from Thursday to Sunday will count. So for example, if PA4 suddenly decides that it wants to open on a Wednesday, only the gross from Thursday to Sunday will count. There will be no exceptions to this.

Scoring for best opening weekends:

For every film you call correctly in the top five, regardless of order, you will receive 10,000 points. For every film you call in the exact spot it opens, you will get 15,000 points. If you are able to call 3 of the 5 correctly, you will receive a 30,000 point bonus. Call all five correctly, you get a 100,000 point bonus. For every film you call incorrectly in the top 5, you lose 7,000 points.

The summer game this year was a lot of fun. We had some out of nowhere changes (GI Joe 2 dropping out, etc etc.) You really never know what will happen. It’s a ton of fun though, and I hope we get a lot of participation, so we can make the winter game an annual thing!

This thread will be the thread where the summer game discussion will take place. Once the game starts, there will be a whole new forum opened where we will post our weekly answers and so on.

I will do the scoring myself (unless otherwise specified). Please be patient with scores, and PM ME if you have scoring issues in order to reduce clutter. I will be having help creating questions. Let me know if you ever have an idea for questions or SOTM.

PRIZES: TO BE DETERMINED. Itz only Ed has graciously offered to provide gifts for the top 3. I was thinking an option of blu ray prize packs (if you live in the US or other Amazon supported countries) or cash payout. More details will be provided as the game goes on.

You have 4 weeks to do your research, post your top 12 and preseason questions. Get ready for a lot of fun this winter!

HERE ARE YOUR FIRST PRE SEASON BONUS QUESTIONS THAT MUST BE ANSWERED BEFORE OCTOBER 3RD AT 11:59PM CENTRAL TIME

THESE WILL BE WORTH A TOTAL OF 10,000 POSSIBLE POINTS.
10,000 IF CORRECT
-5000 IF INCORRECT
3000 FOR TELLING ME THAT YOU ARE ABSTAINING

Tell me, of these six films, which one will be the lowest grossing of the Winter:
Seven Psycopaths
Sinister
Pitch Perfect
The Man with the Iron Fists
Playing Keeps
Chasing Mavericks

FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10,000 Tell me, within 5 million dollars, what its gross will be. Anyone who calls this within 5 million dollars (note you MUST CALL THE CORRECT FILM TO QUALIFY FOR THE 10,000 BONUS PTS) whether it is over or under the total, will get the 10,000 points.

Second Bonus Question:

Tell me which of these will be the highest grossing film of the Winter:
Taken 2
Argo
Paranormal Activity 4
Flight
This is 40
Life of Pi

For 10,000 POSSIBLE bonus points, tell me, within 5 million dollars, what its gross will be. Anyone who calls this within 5 million dollars (note you MUST CALL THE CORRECT FILM TO QUALIFY FOR THE 10,000 BONUS PTS) whether it is over or under the total, will get the 10,000 points.

Tell me, of these four films, which will be the highest grossing?
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph
Jack Reacher
Skyfall
Django Unchained
Les Miserables

For 15,000 bonus points, call the correct film within 5 mill.

PRESEASON QUESTIONS:

1. Will the Holiday OW record be broken? The current holder is New Moon with $142,839,137

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

2. Will the October OW record be broken? The current holder is Paranormal Activity 3 with $52,568,183. Only films released in Oct are valid.

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

3. Will the December OW record be broken by more than 40M? The current holder is I Am Legend with $77,211,321. Only films released in December are valid.

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

4. Will any movie come within 15M of the January biggest OW? The current January OW record is Cloverfield at $40,058,229. Only films released in Jan are valid.

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

5. Will any movie do more than 45M in Spain?

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

6. Will any movie do more than 110M in the UK?

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

7. Which combination of films will gross more DOM?
A. Paranormal Activity 4, Killing Them Softly, The Big Wedding
B. Taken 2, Frankenweenie, Here Comes the Boom
C. Argo, Cloud Atlas, Alex Cross

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 10,00 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

8. Will Breaking Dawn 2 and Hobbit make more DOM combined than the rest of the top 8 combined?

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

9. Which combination of movies will gross more OS:
Skyfall, Cloud Atlas, Pitch Perfect
Rise of the Guardians, Paranormal Activity 4, Argo, Red Dawn
Wreck-It Ralph, Taken 2, Jack Reacher

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 10,000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

10. Will Taken 2 gross more than Gone in 60 Seconds ($101,648,571)?

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points

11. Will The Hobbit gross more WW than the rest of the top 4 combined?
Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 10,000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points.

12. Will any movie listed as horror by boxofficemojo.com not named Paranormal Activity 4 open with more than 20M?

Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points

13. Will any movie listed as crime by boxofficemojo.com open with more than 29.5M?
Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points

14. Will any animated film make more than 250 million domestically?
Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 8000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points

15. Will the Hobbit beat DH2's OW ($169,189,427)?
Answer it correctly: 15,000 points
Answer it incorrectly: lose 10,000 points
Abstain (and you must state that you are not answering or you will lose 8000 points) 3000 points

IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL, PLEASE ASK THEM IN HERE.

Thanks.
I basically copied BSG's instructions, adjusting for the winter game changes.

Edited January 27, 2013 by acsc1312

[Gopher]

Just call it acsc1312's winter game

[acsc1312]

I didn't want to take away from the gloriousness of the title, plus I think it'll get more attention at first. I'll change it when it starts, though

[baumer]

I agree. Keep the name baumer in the title for now just to get people to notice it. Then we can change it to your name completely. I think we can even put it in the Summer Game Forum once we get going. I'll sticky this for now as well.

[acsc1312]

Thanks. I'm excited to run something this huge!

[CJohn]

I am In. Hopefully more people will join.

[Goffe]

I am in

[DoctorWho]

I want to play this!

[baumer]

I'm in obviously.

[Fakhir]

I am in.

[#ED]

Sign me up!

[Cedarpoint1111]

I'm in.

[Michael Gary Scott]

Im in

[Tower]

I'm in

[TylerDurden365]

I'm in for this.

[Ezen Baklattan]

I kind of fell out of the summer game, but I'll give this a chance.

[baumer]

I'm pretty sure MLK weekend is the 21st of January of 2013. That's when the game will end.http://www.when-is.com/martin-luther-king-2013.aspOnce more people know about the game, we'll change over the Summer Game thread and do everything there.

[iceroll]

I'm in!

[iceroll]

And thank you for making it until MLK Day, the last time we had it, it was only up to New Years and that really made things unnecessarily complicated.

[grim22]

Looks like fun. I'm in.