JetLag UK and Ireland - helpdesk-chat

well, I should perhaps talk battle challenges at some point...

Sounds like an idea

19:35

Have we got a set of challenges to go?

That's the one thing I've been holding back on, though I have a few ideas

19:42

I want to do something on blue plaques... find blue plaque with owner having longest Wikipedia article? (is there a way to measure this)

19:42

Photograph the most animals

19:43

Find the oldest car (non vanity numberplates only)

19:44

Find a taxi with the closest number to * (random selection); black taxis have five digit registration numbers on the back

19:45

I think it's best we avoid subjective ones; we don't have Sam's Twitter reach

19:47

On the day, I propose we run a random number generator among ourselves and announce the battle challenge to the teams

theorangeone

I want to do something on blue plaques... find blue plaque with owner having longest Wikipedia article? (is there a way to measure this)

If you look on edit history you can see how many bytes the article is

19:59

Eg.

19:59

sweet, that works

20:00

basically find the most written about person on blue plaques you can

Yeah

20:00

You could also have "most blue plaques" in five minutes

20:01

OH hang on a sec

20:01

This wasn't used in the main series

20:01

But

20:01

Could you have a "first to do/find x" battle challenge

20:01

Like, first to find a non-Liz II postbox wins

theorangeone

That's the one thing I've been holding back on, though I have a few ideas

Find an embassy, country furthest from Trafalgar Square wins (edited)

MajorScafellPike

Could you have a "first to do/find x" battle challenge

Runs too much of a risk of a draw at zero

Well

20:03

The way round that

I'm trying to think of things that are ubiquitous

Is to make it something pretty easy to find

20:03

Like

20:03

A red phone box

20:04

An odd-numbered bus

20:04

A post-box that isn't from Liz 2

20:04

An embassy

20:04

A pub

If it's too easy, it's a race to pull the trigger

20:05

Get high - get your entire team as high above ground as you can

20:05

highest team wins

20:06

sadly hard to judge I suspect

Central London is pretty flat, isn't it

20:06

It's a river floodplain

I'm thinking department stores, station balconies...

And since you aren't going to be on top of Mount Pleasant

Ground level, not sea level

theorangeone

I'm thinking department stores, station balconies...

Problem with that is we're gonna have to work this out by estimating building height and ground height

20:08

Which might compromise the game elsewhere, circumstances depending

I think we're gonna have to each unofficially adopt a team

I can take Team 2?

20:10

Why tho, they'll just ping all of us anyway

20:10

Surely first responder/second opinion would be preferable

20:10

Particularly since we have different areas of expertise when it comes to this game

Because that way it's clear in cases of battle challenges etc., and each team will only be doing one thing at once

20:11

but maybe first responder better

20:11

we can do this ad hoc tbh

Mmhm

20:12

Be warned, I will most likely ask for a second opinion anyway xD

I suspect a lot of this will just be a case of relatively simple verification

Yes

20:13

But a second opinion is still better than a wrong one

True

Also, can we set #helpdesk-announcements to be helpdesk only can send messages?

....I thought I did

Okay

20:24

Just wanted to check

Just checked, and I did

20:29

Also, all players have the @Players role - so when pinging in the announcements channel, ping that (edited)

Thanks vm, that's helpful

My plan is each team needs to send a group selfie outside the entrance to the tube station they're attempting to claim to the verification chat That informs us that they're working on claiming a station; we can then be ready to verify what they come to us with For simplicity, I am leaving burden of proof to the teams themselves instead of demanding something specific; between us I am happy to take some verifications on trust (e.g. if they send us a photo of someone holding an apple core outside the Apple Store, I'll take it as proof they cleared the Oxford Circus challenge; other things like the plague doctor challenge I'd be happy to take an action shot as proof)

1

22:11

That being said, I will be intending to make them think they have to be careful and thorough in proving things to us - let them think they have to do a lot

Battle Challenge list (all of these should be five minutes unless otherwise specified): 1) Find the most famous blue plaque (longest Wikipedia article) 2) Photograph the most buses 3) Get your entire team as high as you can above ground level 4) Photograph the most non-human, non-microscopic animals 5) Find the oldest car 6) Find the closest taxi number to a given 7) Find the highest scoring street sign in Scrabble (only the street name counts, no postcode or borough) 8) First to find an embassy (untimed) 9) First to spend less than 50p on a thing (untimed) 10) First team to touch grass (untimed)

22:24

Thoughts?

22:24

How much lead time should we give teams

22:25

Three minutes from when the team being challenged confirms acknowledgement of the battle challenge?

theorangeone

Battle Challenge list (all of these should be five minutes unless otherwise specified): 1) Find the most famous blue plaque (longest Wikipedia article) 2) Photograph the most buses 3) Get your entire team as high as you can above ground level 4) Photograph the most non-human, non-microscopic animals 5) Find the oldest car 6) Find the closest taxi number to a given 7) Find the highest scoring street sign in Scrabble (only the street name counts, no postcode or borough) 8) First to find an embassy (untimed) 9) First to spend less than 50p on a thing (untimed) 10) First team to touch grass (untimed)

Those are all good

22:49

Guessing that working out how high above ground level something is "how many stories up are they"

Yep, we'll get photographic evidence and then vote on it

Sorry, vote

22:49

Thought you didn't want subjective challenges

Helpdesk votes, if it's unclear what the answer is, I think - if one team has climbed a tree and the other team is on the top deck of a bus for example

Well we have an objective height for the top of a bus, no

22:51

?

That we do

22:52

I would say a building storey is definitively higher than a bus

22:52

A tree we would have to make judgement on tbh

A building story is usually 14 feet

but it's a lot more objective than "what's the better artwork" tbh

A bus is under 16' 6"

Also I just like the idea of a team running round trying to find a way to climb

MajorScafellPike

A bus is under 16' 6"

Yes but the top deck will be about half that

22:54

Which is well below

~~Can imagine them standing on the seats~~

22:55

Well, probably not standing

MajorScafellPike

~~Can imagine them standing on the seats~~

Even then that's about 10 feet

Hmmm

22:55

Still

Still short of a building

22:56

But, granted, higher than I think they could get the entire team up a tree

22:57

Touch grass would be hilarious as a challenge but absolutely not one when we know a team is next to a park for example

2

If someone makes it to the top of the Shard I will be very impressed

True, but department stores could be incredibly powerful

Indeed

22:59

Would a "foreign license plate" Battle work (edited)

22:59

Like the one in S4 E2

That could be really tough

22:59

You don't see that many I think

Or, similarly, with embassies

Embassies I have as "first one to find one wins"

Yes

23:00

Why not also have "furthest wins"

23:00

Why not both

Possible but I think this would be timed and the idea is to keep timed battle challenges to five minutes long where possible - don't want to tie down the teams for too long

23:01

Or nobody will initiate them

Ah, true

23:01

Is ten gonna be enough btw

Ten minutes long for a battle?

No

23:02

No

23:02

Ten battle challenges

23:02

Do we need more of the damn things xD

We can make more but I think we can randomly generate and repeat if we have to

Noted

I would also like to dump this in #helpdesk-announcements now so people can read it: To clarify some basic elements of gameplay: To claim a station you must: 1) Take a group selfie outside the station entrance/exit, with both the station name and all team members clearly visible, and send it to the helpdesk verification channel. This informs us that you are attempting to claim one particular station. 2) Complete the challenge associated with the station. All team members must within reason complete the challenge, either individually (things like walking or riding a train) or as a collaborative effort (if it involves creating art or photographing something for example). 3) The burden of proof for completing a challenge is on your team; you will need to give us enough evidence to convince us. Failure to do so will leave the station unclaimed for the time being. To initiate a battle challenge: 1) Take a group selfie outside the station entrance/exit, with both the station name and all team members clearly visible, and send it to the helpdesk verification channel. This informs us that you are attempting to battle for that station. 2) We will contact the other team. Once we have both of you informed of a battle challenge you will be given a time for the challenge to start, which includes a few minutes to get to a more favourable position. 3) Battle challenges have been designed to be objective - i.e. there should be a clear winner - but in case of dispute, the helpdesk's decision is final.

Go for it

Oh I'm very much enjoying watching team 2 strategise

About the Fenchurch street thing

10:46

Claiming tube stations only?

Yep

Team 2 are definitely taking this seriously

12:47

I like this

here's a nice cursed map

13:25

not finished, admittedly, I realised just now I need to break the Bank/Monument connection

13:28

I think this summarises the board

13:30

have I missed anything?

Looks good to me

Proposal: we allow teams to read the list of challenges 1 minute before the game starts just so they can start getting their heads around what we're asking

Hmmmm

13:43

Surely it's more fun if we just give the challenges at the start

13:43

Like, at the start

1030 not 1029?

10:30

fair

Start, open the challenges

this was more like, reading time

I mean, they can do that when the clock is running

13:44

More panic means more bad decisions for us to laugh at

13:45

Oh, and to clarify

13:45

A station that has been contested, can't be contested again

yep

13:45

same as S4

13:46

if you've battled for it then it's locked in

13:46

there's also some interesting bits of strategy that team 2 haven't come up with yet

13:46

e.g. if you claim Temple and Blackfriars, both of those are locked as yours

13:46

because to battle for Temple you need to already have Blackfriars, and to battle for Blackfriars you already need to have Temple

Surely a few places on the District can do this

there's quite a few spots

Covent Garden must be easy to save as well

also Angel/Old Street isn't bad

MajorScafellPike

Covent Garden must be easy to save as well

not as safe as you'd imagine

Because it's easy walking distance over to both Leicester Square and Covent

13:47

So you can speedrun the three of them

yeah, but you can battle for Leicester Square quite easily

13:48

ditto Holborn

13:48

depending on claims

13:48

I really hope we can keep it to three teams

Oh, btw, by "opening the envelope" you're gonna pin a Google doc or sommat in announcements, right

Four teams risks the teams pairing off into groups of two which proceed to battle things out Three teams means it's a lot more difficult

Also team 2 probably need the clarification on the "adjacent" rule

MajorScafellPike

Oh, btw, by "opening the envelope" you're gonna pin a Google doc or sommat in announcements, right

I suggest you post the list in announcements, but I will also hand out physical envelopes at the start

13:51

I'm doing a bag spot check for apples too

2

Oh, you're gonna be on the ground?

13:55

OK

Yep, on the ground at the start, then I'll retreat to a cafe

2

13:56

might go Vapiano later

13:57

Green Park will be fun if they go for it (ice cream taste test)

13:58

ditto Warren Street (indoctrinate us into a cult)

Oh, excellent

14:01

Do you have a Google doc of the challenges I can pin in here

I'll set that up; will be rewording them slightly to be on the safe side

14:02

make sure I've got the loopholes locked

2

Looking at T2

14:55

I have a feeling they're going to not use any of their plans

14:55

No plan survives contact with the enemy, after all

I'm surprised T2 haven't noticed Great Portland Street on the map

14:56

obviously looking at a tube map and not a geographical one

Is there a geographic variant of the game board diagram, actually?

Possibly could put one together - but I think it could be more confusing given the primary reason to look at the map is to see which stations are adjacent in terms of gameplay

If a team does not surface in time for a challenge, what happens?

16:54

Automatic forfeit?

basically, my plan is to liaise with the team being challenged; wait until we get a response from them

In which case, what should the challengers do?

then depending on where they say they are, give an amount of time between three and five minutes to get to the surface

Waiting around can't help them

MajorScafellPike

In which case, what should the challengers do?

welcome to get to a better spot

While knowing the battle challenge or not

16:58

That's a stupid question, actualy

not knowing

16:58

but they'll be outside a tube station entrance when declaring the battle (edited)

So can they really move to a better spot

MajorScafellPike

So can they really move to a better spot

they can move somewhere with more things

16:59

take a punt

Since they won't know what the battles are in advance

I need to rewatch S4

And they won't know which battles we have to choose from either

MajorScafellPike

And they won't know which battles we have to choose from either

I'm tempted to give them this information prior to the start

Hmmmmm

what do you think? I think they're diverse enough that you wouldn't want to take too much of a risk

Either a) allow the Challengers to go elsewhere (eg moving toward their next target)

17:01

Or b) give the challenged a hard time limit to respond

I think we need to do a)

(We should probably re-label this as Defence and Offence, btw)

basically what we're simulating here is the phone call between the two teams; but we do need to take control here so that the third team knows that the other two are in a battle

Challenger and Challenged are a bit too close

MajorScafellPike

(We should probably re-label this as Defence and Offence, btw)

agreed

theorangeone

basically what we're simulating here is the phone call between the two teams; but we do need to take control here so that the third team knows that the other two are in a battle

Should the Neutral know that there's a battle declared

17:02

Or just that a battle has been won

17:02

I.e. only let them know when a station has changed hands

MajorScafellPike

Should the Neutral know that there's a battle declared

I'm putting all battle announcements into #helpdesk-announcements

OK, so battle declarations go in there as well

both the official declaration and the win

17:03

Text along the lines of:

OK

17:03

Don't ping Team 1 btw, Formula will complain

17:03

I was gonna be like

17:04

BATTLE DECLARED @Team 2 has challenged @Team 3 to a battle for Green Park

17:04

(Shows photo)

yep, that's good - just add something on the end like "Battle commences at 12:36"

Wait hang on, should we also put the battle challenges in there

17:05

Or is that announced to each team in their own chats

MajorScafellPike

Or is that announced to each team in their own chats

this

Right

keep #helpdesk-announcements free of clutter as much as possible

That requires being simultaneous though

we have three to five minutes to prepare messages to be sent

theorangeone

keep #helpdesk-announcements free of clutter as much as possible

For when stations change hands and battle declarations only

17:06

Got it

MajorScafellPike

For when stations change hands and battle declarations only

Counting successful defences as "changing hands", btw

17:06

I realise that technically isn't the case but whatever

MajorScafellPike

Counting successful defences as "changing hands", btw

Yep - especially as it locks the station

17:06

that's important information

I mean

17:07

It's locked whoever wins it

17:07

But yes

True, but Neutral team needs to know it can't be challenged anymore

17:07

this, I think, is where Team 2 might slip up

Considering neither of their opponents have even got a strategy yet

17:08

(A strategy which we know to take with a pinch of salt, of course)

MajorScafellPike

Considering neither of their opponents have even got a strategy yet

I don't think that'll help them that much; no plan survives and all that (edited)

Yeah IK but we don't know if Team 1 and 3 are also likely to stumble there

I think they're less likely to because having a strategy kind of sets your mind a little

theorangeone

I think they're less likely to because having a strategy kind of sets your mind a little

I think Team 2 know that their plan is very much dependent on presently-unknown factors

17:10

(Mostly because...we told them)

I think Green Park will be quite contested (ice cream taste test) (edited)

17:11

I can see Team 2 getting themselves Okaihau Expressed

Again, challenges on a Google doc so I can remind myself of them all

theorangeone

I can see Team 2 getting themselves Okaihau Expressed

Which was the Okaihau one

I've just been writing out official document

MajorScafellPike

Which was the Okaihau one

memorise the V for Vendetta speech "Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

Oh, is that for Westminster

Temple - it's down the street from Aldwych disused which was a film set for the film

2

(I was after the station not the speech btw

)

17:13

Ah yeah

17:13

Good point

17:13

My memory is ridiculously hazy, ngl

I'll be popping them on the drive shortly

K neat

well it's good I checked that I had all the stations because I'd only done 65 not 67

18:14

was missing Gloucester Road and Goodge Street

18:16

Gloucester Road - asking team members to visit the old West London Air Terminal (it's now a Sainsbury's) and record some airport announcements

Goodge- something to do with the Three Stooges?

Goodge Street - make a board game outside the Monopoly Lifesized, stage an argument and then flip over the board

Nice

18:17

That works

don't know how I missed those off but I'm just putting them in now

18:17

I do now have 67 stations which is the correct number

I mean

18:18

Goodge Street is very forgettable and Gloucester Road is barely on the board at all

true

18:19

though I legitimately love Gloucester Road tube, I think it's my favourite tube station

It's very nice

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1d181KIvhIw4T1K5TeVTJL8MgXIbgxG_S?usp=sharing

1

MajorScafellPike pinned a message to this channel. 22/01/2024 18:26

those good?

18:36

The summary is just for us to refer to quickly

Haven't had a chance for a detailed look through yet

The rest I will print off for everyone

Will do in a few mins

Nice

14:11

Took me more than a few mins

14:11

But yeah, that's all fine and dandy

So we're saying that Battle timers only begin when the defenders accept the challenge?

22:04

In which case

22:07

Surely an offensive team, if given three minutes worth of waiting, should be allowed to begin moving elsewhere to claim another unaffected station?

22:07

(We should ban them from going underground though)

MajorScafellPike

Surely an offensive team, if given three minutes worth of waiting, should be allowed to begin moving elsewhere to claim another unaffected station?

true

22:07

they can move anywhere they want anyway

Yes

22:07

But as in

22:07

If they declared a battle for Leicester Square

MajorScafellPike

(We should ban them from going underground though)

I mean, they're welcome to go underground, but that just means they'll probably miss the battle challenge

And Covent Garden was unclaimed

22:08

They could at least begin the challenge for Covent Garden had they waited three minutes for a response to the battle

22:08

And only when the battle begins do they have to stop what they're doing

22:08

And do the battle

true

22:13

I have vague plans of hand drawing a Jet Lag trophy on a piece of paper to save you all the job

1

Noice

22:13

Yeah, I do think clarifying the Rules of Engagement would be of use

22:14

Particularly if one party is AWOL, so to speak

22:14

I can write up a draft if it helps?

(I... also have vague plans to get Silly Prizes, but am in two minds about that; I do it for my own events but they predate/are separate from Jet Lag anyway and the JLTG style is edited prizes)

theorangeone

(I... also have vague plans to get Silly Prizes, but am in two minds about that; I do it for my own events but they predate/are separate from Jet Lag anyway and the JLTG style is edited prizes)

What about edited silly prizes

22:15

Or, even

22:15

Give the winners an edited prize

22:16

And then give out the silly prize for "novelty categories"

need a bunch of silly prizes if I'm doing prizes as I'd need to give to the whole team

Like, funniest challenge attempt

did I send you the duck

Ultimate Warrior for most battles won

22:17

Cowardly Lions for the most battles lost (edited)

I used this as a prize one and a half years ago

theorangeone

I used this as a prize one and a half years ago

NOICE

tbh, Covent Garden's challenge is a genuine "buy yourself a prize" challenge

22:20

if you've never been to Stanford's it's map heaven

Could offer a toilet shaped novelty prize for "most Bakerloo line stations claimed"

22:20

I think I've been past it

"The Elizabeth Crime"

1

22:23

and the Mayowor of Gweater Manchester, Anime Burnham (edited)

1

theorangeone

"The Elizabeth Crime"

Handed out to the team with the most Liz Line stations

oh no this was a prize for the "Crossrail-Based Taskmaster Challenge"

Oh, yeah, nice

(the joke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications-based_train_control)

22:30

I handed out Thames water as the booby prize

22:30

freshly sourced too (you have no idea the amount of disinfecting I did afterwards)

1

22:33

how are you planning on doing the map?

22:33

I got to the "try and graphic design a tube map of Zone 1 with boxes to mark possession in" point of the process and then gave up

Since I lack your graphic design talents

22:34

I was just planning to use a highlighter in Paint

fair - do the teams have different enough colours though?

22:39

(also, what are you planning to do with the Paddingtons?)

theorangeone

fair - do the teams have different enough colours though?

See the role colours? Retain the general theme

22:50

I.e. Blue, green and purple

will they be different enough to be obvious?

Should be, yes

okay

I'll do some experimenting with ir

idk why I'm worrying so much, it's two and a half weeks away

Change accordingly

theorangeone

idk why I'm worrying so much, it's two and a half weeks away

Eh, tbf, I would be by this point

I think it's mostly because it's my first time making actual Jet Lag

Fair

22:53

Yeah, when we did the July fangame we were stressed at this point

22:54

For different reasons, mind you

I've done the team stuff w/ online coordination before, and the large scale challenge event stuff before, but it's different when people are expecting JLTG

Well

22:54

I'd say this format is closer to it than SHaL was

22:54

And the players happily accepted that

22:55

And it's far more prepared

I tried to capture the vibe + panic + paranoia with this one, I hope the immersion holds

22:56

at least #team-heck are signed up for that

theorangeone

I tried to capture the vibe + panic + paranoia with this one, I hope the immersion holds

Should definitely be the most intensive game we've done on this server

22:56

Considering I did a whole 200m of running in the entire July game

22:56

And that was just so we could board the DLR we wanted

I mean, people don't have to run, but then one person starts running and then everyone else starts running

22:57

did I send the videos from the last challenge I did back in September

Probably

I'm trying to think if there's anything I've missed; I know I have to do printing, envelopes and potentially prize sourcing but I'm rather hoping that's it

Sounds...fine to me?

also lol I only have a black and white printer so the edited tube maps will be in grayscale

1

MajorScafellPike

Sounds...fine to me?

I kinda wish JLTG had to run under the same constraints as we would

theorangeone

I kinda wish JLTG had to run under the same constraints as we would

"designing for other people"

severe budget constraints, people who have other jobs, having to make a game that works for a large crowd and not three/four people, having to have all the equipment and items and paraphernalia there on site and not just being able to edit it all in in post...

23:02

(this is brought to you from: coordinating 24 people on 4 Eurostar bookings and trying to put them all up in hotels in Paris at prices they can reasonably afford)

Ooof

23:03

Sounds fun

Context: if you work for TfL (and that's actual TfL not London Underground or suchlike), one of the perks you get is being able to buy concessionary Eurostar fares at substantially cheaper prices (one way it's £29 to Paris or Brussels, £35 to Amsterdam); you can also bring up to five other people with you on the booking

23:09

my group has four TfL employees in it, so we figured that was enough to "carry" 20 people plus the four over to Paris for the weekend; then using some of the budget hotels/hostels and getting people to room together to push the cost down for a two night stay we figured we could probably run a proper challenge out there

23:10

It turns out the logistics of this are actually incredibly difficult; I did a recce trip a few weekends ago with a couple other organisers just to check a few things on the Paris Metro and god it's going to be complete chaos

Paris is definitely going to be like Z1 on steroids

23:11

Because it's so dense

The corridors are "like the Stanley Parable"

you know what I haven't seen yet

11:05

attempts at sabotage

Well, with only one active team

true

And a fortnight to go

11:05

This doesn't yet surprise me, ngl

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1jtjj6cVsbZw05-tm8x7ivrXrjEriyiYu&usp=drive_copy

Battle for Zone 1 Stations - Rules.docx

13:35

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jtjj6cVsbZw05-tm8x7ivrXrjEriyiYu/view

Battle for Zone 1 Stations - Rules.docx

13:36

Apologies for this, just testing the file link to make sure they can't get access to the folder

oh wait the formatting seems slightly fucked

Want to fix it, and then put it in it's own folder

13:36

Perhaps

13:36

Guaranteed security

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o62SmNI8SKyZuwaRcY1OfnXVzWdv2xIA?usp=drive_link

Google Drive: Sign-in

Access Google Drive with a Google account (for personal use) or Google Workspace account (for business use).

13:47

does that work?

Is one of my accounts enabled?

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ak73ebAEHWYpmpFbWQdJZ9gufW_y_p_W/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106533775211595029493&rtpof=true&sd=true

Battle for Zone 1 Stations - Rules.docx

13:48

try that

Wicked

13:48

Happy if I drop that in the announcements chat?

theorangeone

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o62SmNI8SKyZuwaRcY1OfnXVzWdv2xIA?usp=drive_link

apols, this should be better https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o62SmNI8SKyZuwaRcY1OfnXVzWdv2xIA?usp=sharing

MajorScafellPike

Happy if I drop that in the announcements chat?

go right ahead

whoops

Oh dear

14:41

What's happened

sorry, I posted a screenshot from Google Maps, but didn't realise it had someone's location sharing on it

Ah

14:42

Thought you'd leaked the challenges or something

nah, all fine, and it was only in here

14:44

should I dump this geographical map in #game-general?

14:45

keeps teams on an even keel and saves them some work

I mean, you could

14:46

But alternatively it's more fun if you let them find that on their own

true

14:47

it's just mildly painful watching team 2 not realise that Great Portland Street is also very close to Oxford Circus

Is it tho

14:47

I mean, it's straight up the road

14:48

But it's surely easier to go via Regents Park or something first, no?

15 minutes walk

14:48

if they're running off on foot it's less (edited)

14:49

(it's also easier to get at than Regent's Park on foot due to the street layout)

They do have the Bakerloo to go to RP tho

yes but they're now scared of the deep level tubes

Surely at the start of the game

14:53

It doesn't make all that much difference

true

14:53

it depends what people do

It's not likely they're gonna get challenged in the first five minutes

true

14:54

the only thing I know for sure is that I'll be confiscating apples at the start

oh wait do we need VCs

Surely we can make do without, no?

I'd kind of written a few challenges where they would get on a call with us; I don't know if the existing VCs are okay for that

Just given myself another idea for a silly award

Ooops

11:52

Might have backed myself into a scheduling conflict

11:53

I agreed to do this first

11:53

So I'm sticking with this

are you missing something important?

Nah

21:56

I was gonna go on a walk with friends in the Peaks but I don't need to be there

21:56

They'll be fine without me

Ahh, fair enough

22:45

I'm now clear of my previous challenge so this is now getting my absolute attention

Excellent

22:45

Good thing too, I can't do the 17th period so it'd better go ahead as planned on the 10th!

22:46

T

22:46

Because the thing I have then is important

No strikes now though!

Helps

22:52

Awesome

for reference, there are:

3 stations with a single neighbour, thus uncontestable (Battersea Power Station, Paddington H&C, Vauxhall)
36 stations with two neighbours
12 stations with three neighbours
10 stations with four neighbours
3 stations with five neighbours (Baker Street, Bank, Kings Cross St Pancras)
3 stations with six neighbours (Green Park, Oxford Circus, Waterloo)

13:04

as far as I can see, teams have not broken this down yet

I mean, no plan survives contact with the challenges

MajorScafellPike pinned a message to this channel. 31/01/2024 13:06

Surely a good plan would be to go to, like, Battersea

13:07

Claim it

13:07

Then work your way back along the branch

13:07

Because for example if you claim Battersea, Nine Elms becomes uncontestable as well

13:08

You just form this chain of stations that nobody can touch

13:09

Of the three, Battersea seems the strongest opener to me

Vauxhall isn't a bad opener given how fast the Victoria line is (Google review MI6 Headquarters) (edited)

Paddington H&C on the other hand is going to be a fun one (throw object over a canal)

theorangeone

Vauxhall isn't a bad opener given how fast the Victoria line is (Google review MI6 Headquarters) (edited)

Yeah, but once you get back to Victoria it'll be a challenge to block off all forms of entry

13:43

Kennington, on the other hand, is fairly easy to defend

13:43

Which means you can pretty much chalk up everything south of the river in a breeze

13:44

With only Waterloo being a pain to defend

13:44

This only works tho if no other team goes for it

yep

13:45

it's fascinating that team 2 are still eyeing up the south side of the Circle

Oh, did we say teams were allowed to leave Z1 in transit or not

MajorScafellPike

Oh, did we say teams were allowed to leave Z1 in transit or not

I never actually banned it

Ie could you speedrun Pimlico/Vauxhall, continue to Stockwell, then hoover up the Northern Line

I absolutely think it should be left as possible

13:45

Vauxhall - Nine Elms is way faster though

That too

especially as you need to surface

That just makes it more OP

13:47

Particularly since Pimlico, Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea are all really fast challenges

13:47

Suddenly, you're 4-0 up and there is nothing your opponents can do about it

13:48

Not that they'd know the challenges there are easy, yet, but still

@theorangeone what was the name of the kebab shop everyone's starting at?

13:57

Doesn't seem to be on the rules doc

MajorScafellPike

@theorangeone what was the name of the kebab shop everyone's starting at?

Karamay Uyghur Cuisine - but I generally just think of the start as Oxford Circus; I only picked there because it avoids us getting in the way of the crowds in the area (that street is always, always dead)

OK

14:06

Just done some working out

14:06

Should take about 40 min to get all four of Pimlico/Vauxhall/Nine Elms/BPS

14:09

The other idea I had was getting all the "intermediate stops" along the Western Central/Picc

14:09

I.e. going for Hyde Park Corner/Knightsbridge early

14:10

They mutually defend each other and could be handy for removing a Green Park later

Green Park will be incredibly difficult to block challenge of (edited)

No, exactly

14:12

Hence

14:12

Skip it

14:12

Get Knightsbridge/HPC

14:13

They defend each other

hmm, let me look at the challenges on these strategies

And then later in the game, it's a heck of a lot easier to nick Green Park

14:13

I do think the PVNEBPS speedrun is by far the best

14:14

(Pimlico, Vauxhall, Nine Elms, Battersea Power Station)

14:15

At least, to start with

we can still tweak the challenges last minute

Nah, I like this

14:17

Would be hilarious if none of the teams realised this

14:17

And then we can laugh at them in the pub afterwards

Southern run: Pimlico: guess the city population (doable; should we make this harder actually? One guess each only?) Vauxhall: Google review MI6 Headquarters (easy) Nine Elms: salute the embassy (easy, should we add something else as well? maybe while waving a US flag?) Battersea: hopscotch (annoying but funny) Kennington: Kennington Loop (could get time consuming esp. with requirement to upload evidence which will probably have to be video) Elephant: Michael Faraday + shopping centre (could do with a better idea than this tbh; any ideas to rewrite?) Lambeth North: zombie challenge (good fun) Borough: look at Kent (relatively simple)

Pimlico needs a cooldown timer per player

MajorScafellPike

Pimlico needs a cooldown timer per player

I think one guess each and if nobody guesses the station can't be claimed for 30 minutes was what I was thinking of changing to

I think Kennington isn't that bad

14:19

Since it's 8tph round the loop, no?

MajorScafellPike

Since it's 8tph round the loop, no?

you can get stuck in there for 10mins sometimes

Ah (edited)

14:19

Hmm

it's v luck based

14:21

Western run: Queensway: break a Royal Park byelaw (dead easy, I believe littering + riding a bike are both against the rules, though I'd enjoy some creativity there) Lancaster Gate: relay race round the roundabout (this could be... interesting) Marble Arch: Speakers Corner advertise JLTG (should be fairly easy) Knightsbridge: reach the top of Harrods plus get a perfume sample (I... should actually check this is doable but any perfume shop should allow samples surely?) Hyde Park Corner: find five memorials (not too bad)

14:22

anyway - should we add a requirement in Nine Elms for everyone to have something vaguely American?

E&C - the only alternative I could think of was "get a drink in the E&C pub"

14:22

Or..."pretend to have a baby on the Bakerloo line platforms"

14:22

Since it's 100 years since the first tube baby was born there

I thought about the E&C pub but also what are our alcohol rules

14:24

I think a double challenge with an elephant and a castle was my other idea, but I need to think how to make that awkward but doable

MajorScafellPike

Or..."pretend to have a baby on the Bakerloo line platforms"

I do think this is unhinged and hilarious

crown an elephant?

First tube baby, E&C, 13 May 1924

14:25

On the Bakerloo line platforms

I... think there should be a requirement for them to produce something that's some sort of baby

a melon

14:26

Something heavy

14:26

xD

which you must then carry for the remainder of the game!!

14:26

now that's how to slow down the Southern run

So

14:27

Cabbage?

14:27

Melon?

14:27

Watermelon...

14:27

Best thing about this

14:28

Is that if they do speedrun the south, they won't see that coming until it's too late xD

14:28

Because E&C would probably be like Station #6

14:28

Assuming that Kennington gets ticked off after BPS

a large tropical fruit

14:30

because that's what elephants eat yeah?

I mean, sure

watermelon I'm tempted to say

I want to be more specific than "large"

14:30

I'd specify a watermelon

let's make it a watermelon then

14:32

either that or a mango

Bit of a change of scale, there!

True, but whole mangoes might be harder to find

Than a whole watermelon?

Thing is - failing to claim E&C leaves everything vulnerable apart from Nine Elms and Battersea down that stretch

Mmhm

14:33

People need that to hold Kennington

yes, but also Waterloo and Bank are easy steals

14:34

which means that with E&C lost, it becomes easier to get hold of everything between them

Yeah, I'd go for Kennington, then E&C after BPS

14:35

Then sweep up Borough, London Bridge, Southwark and Lambeth North either way round (Borough first or Lambeth first)

14:36

Leave Waterloo

should we make it that theft of the watermelon is theft of the station

14:36

for extra drama

What

14:36

You want teams to hunt their rivals down and nick their melon

MajorScafellPike

You want teams to hunt their rivals down and nick their melon

that sounds horny

The way I'd do it

MajorScafellPike

You want teams to hunt their rivals down and nick their melon

but also, does that not sound genuinely hilarious

If you lose the melon

14:37

Station is open to battle - between the other two teams only

14:37

If an opposition teams steals the melon, they steal the station

MajorScafellPike

If an opposition teams steals the melon, they steal the station

do you think that'd be fun

I agree it'll either be hilarious to see in the rules

14:38

Or hilarious to see unfold

I was originally just going to say you lose the station and cannot reclaim it; that allows another team to take the station if they also give birth to a melon

I do think we have both

14:39

a) steal the station by stealing the melon

14:39

b) station is open to claim again if you lose the melon

b) station is open to claim again by a team that isn't you

14:40

because you are a bad parent

14:40

"Elephant & Castle - pretend to give birth to a “baby” on the Bakerloo line platforms. Procure a watermelon, dress it up as a baby, and pretend one of your teammates has given birth to it. You must carry this watermelon with you for the rest of the game or you lose the station. If another team kidnaps your melon, they steal the station. You must inform the helpdesk if you lose the melon." (edited)

See, I do like the idea of a team rushing back to E&C to do it again

Added the last sentence

14:41

So we can alert the other teams of melon loss

Nice

14:42

~~should there be a melon tracker~~

I think we just need to do spot checks

14:43

not too frequently

14:43

but enough

"Hey @Team 4 , do you still have the melon??"

14:43

Melonia!

Added a requirement for all team members to hold/wear something American for the duration of the anthem

14:46

this should be very easy tbh

Define American in this context

14:46

Made in America?

14:46

US design?

14:46

US stereotype?

I used the term "visibly American"

14:46

not exact, I know

Right

but I wanted it to include US flags, anything visibly from McDs, a stetson, all the classic stuff

14:47

amending to stereotypically American

14:47

actually

Oh I forgot McDonalds

a can of Coke would do it too

14:48

it's easy enough to get the stuff but it requires a second step

Right

14:49

That works

also means people will need to use their brain a little

14:50

Pimlico as it stands: "Pimlico - Visit the ONS (Office of National Statistics). While there, contact the helpdesk. You will be provided with a randomly selected UK city and must guess the population as of the 2011 census. All team members get one guess per city; only one team member needs to be successful. To succeed you must get within 10% of the city's population either side. If your team fails to complete this challenge, you may not attempt this for another 30 minutes."

Nice

South side of the Circle strategy: Temple: V for Vendetta speech (hard) Blackfriars: getting into the station without crossing a road (surprisingly hard) Mansion House: selfie outside the Samuel Pepys pub (pretty simple) Cannon Street: cannonball task (hard) Monument: climb the Monument (time consuming) Tower Hill: cross Tower Bridge (relatively simple) I'm satisfied this will eat a bunch of time if they try it

15:22

Immediately challenge Oxford Circus strategy: Oxford Circus: apple outside the Apple Store (time consuming) Bond Street: reenact a James Bond scene (should be relatively short but requires brainstorming) Green Park: ice cream taste test (could take 10 minutes) Piccadilly Circus: throw stone on Glasshouse Street (easy) Tottenham Court Road: Neverwhere challenge (easy) Warren Street: indoctrinate us into a cult (how hard should we make this?) Regent's Park: leave an offering of antiseptic to Lord Lister (surely someone on the team will likely be carrying hand gel, in which case easy)

With Warren Street, that can be as hard as teams want to make it

That's hard because we can be very resistant to being converted

15:32

I have a lot of questions

Mmhm

15:42

Likewise

15:42

But I don't think we should tell them that

Oh we shouldn't

15:49

This is between us

They'll probably think it's easy

Agreed

Don't worry about the challenge leak, they don't have to break a stupid law iirc

15:50

oh I'm not worried

15:53

it's just the Royal Parks byelaws I think

Which aren't under the Met Pol Act of 1839 (edited)

yeah, said byelaws are very strict so quite easy to break https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/1639/regulation/3/made

The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997

These Regulations apply to and regulate the conduct of persons using all the parks, gardens and other land under the control or management of the Secretary of State for National Heritage which are specified in Schedule 1.

So they still don't know any of the actual challenges

15:54

I am tempted to drop some "challenges" that are actually just from Scavenger Hunt

How

14:15

I thought Team 1 were onto the Pimlico speedrun idea

14:15

But no

this is gonna be interesting

14:38

I should probably print off the challenge lists soon

14:39

two copies per team do we think?

14:39

or three

Whatever works

14:45

Looking at the "go East" strat

14:45

They're all doable, except for Bank

Bank's gonna be fun

If they had any sense, when they see the list they'll get off at St Pauls and go the other way rather than starting at Bank

should I explicitly count out the Wallbrook W&C exit?

14:46

I can't remember if the Bank challenge contains a precedent for when the entrance is closed

theorangeone

should I explicitly count out the Wallbrook W&C exit?

Is it...not an entrance/exit to Bank...?

theorangeone

I can't remember if the Bank challenge contains a precedent for when the entrance is closed

I think it did

14:47

Hold on

14:47

If an exit is closed, photograph it

14:47

(And presumably do that for all the open ones as well)

yep

hmm, I should clarify there are twelve

14:59

nine signed from the Central line concourse, of which one is closed but I still want a photo (edited)

14:59

one lift

14:59

one Walbrook

14:59

and one on Cannon Street

15:00

(I believe the advertised number of 16 does not include the closed Cornhill exit, but does include 5 exits at Monument)

Yeah, might be worth specifying

15:01

Tell ya what, let's run down the list and see what clarifications we need

good shout

15:01

especially before printing

Before you print it, yeah

15:02

Aldgate I'm fine with

15:02

Aldgate East - only clarification I'd make is to the definition of "great" and "un-American"

15:02

And possibly a minimum time required forging

Editing on the move

What, you are now or...?

sorry, not sure why I said on the move, I'm at home atm

15:03

anyway

15:03

minimum time suggestions?

Like "spend at least five minutes forging"

15:03

Or something

15:04

Either that or we just turn down anything that looks vaguely terrible

15:08

Angel - fine

I'll say five minutes

Baker Street - challenge itself is fine, want a penalty if they do have an E?

I'm going to leave greatness and un-Americanness up to the beholder

1

15:09

but it's very modern and edgy

15:10

and you'd definitely find something there with an anticapitalist vibe for example

theorangeone

I'm going to leave greatness and un-Americanness up to the beholder

I was gonna say "it's just a photo of Mao Zedong" but they literally used a portrait of Mao Zedong as the example of Great American Art

amended Aldgate East

15:12

honestly a lot of these are "look at the cool stuff there is here" kind of clues

Loving the parentheses

theorangeone

honestly a lot of these are "look at the cool stuff there is here" kind of clues

I mean, that was the entire basis behind Scavenger Hunt, so...if it ain't broke, don't fix it

15:13

Bank - specify how many exits we want (and probably say we need proof from all twelve)

MajorScafellPike

Baker Street - challenge itself is fine, want a penalty if they do have an E?

five minute freeze

theorangeone

five minute freeze

Per E or just per failed attempt?

15:14

How evil do we want to be

I kind of want to say per E

15:14

hmm... or we could mandate they do something which takes that amount of time

~~Run to the station and back~~ (edited)

oh this could be cruel, though

15:15

you know why

15:15

I think a lot of people would end up doing Baker Street off the back of the Marylebone challenge

15:15

and you don't shake the Marylebone curse until you claim the next station

15:16

How about

15:16

We cut it down

15:16

So it's a two minute freeze per E

15:16

But

15:16

Should we tell them that

15:16

Or should we just say an "unspecified penalty"

15:17

~~go to the nearest park and score from the spot to continue~~

run to Regents Park (the park) and back per E

2

15:17

or maybe just if you slip up once you have to start again from scratch

15:18

I think this could take a good while to record

theorangeone

or maybe just if you slip up once you have to start again from scratch

Might be a pain enforcing that one

15:18

Regents Park isn't too far away

no, it's not, but it's probably about five minutes round trip

15:18

given they're starting by the wonder tunnel

Sure

15:19

That's basically a glorified lap around the block isn't it, actually

yep

Also I will note, Google calls it the Wonderpass

I've amended that

Noted

15:20

Bank, specify the entrances we want

15:20

And stipulate we need evidence from all 12

15:21

(Want to specify which 12 as well...!)

amended on Bank

Barbican looks fine to me

15:22

Happy to leave that open to interpretation

BPSSSS I don't think I can do any better tbh

That's about as specific as we need

I just want to see hopscotch on the pavement

1

15:23

I don't really care about the rest

Do we give a monkey's about if they say the words wrong?

MajorScafellPike

Do we give a monkey's about if they say the words wrong?

undecided

15:23

I don't think they will tbh

Nah

15:24

If we need to enforce it just make sure every team member does at least one correct pass

yep agreed

I.e. can't move on till everyone has done a correct run

15:24

Not, if someone screws up, back to square 1 for everyone

15:24

That's a bit too much imo

MajorScafellPike

I.e. can't move on till everyone has done a correct run

Agreed

15:25

Bayswater there's sweet fuck all near the station hence this challenge; shall we ask someone to try and sing the music though (edited)

~~Highway to the Danger Zone~~

15:26

Hold on

15:26

I have found a thing that's in the vicinity that might be interesting

15:27

Right, there's a statue of an Albanian feudal lord round the corner

okay

15:27

let me look up some information

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gjergj+Kastrioti-SKANDERBEG/@51.5132189,-0.1885608,347m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x48761acec2a6348f:0x4fed9e4b0db8096c!2sThe+Wonderpass!8m2!3d51.5225331!4d-0.1573283!16s%2Fg%2F11bzyplj5v!3m5!1s0x487605eb3594a613:0x4369987afdbad438!8m2!3d51.5139466!4d-0.1869757!16s%2Fg%2F11ff1t9my5!5m2!1e4!1e2?entry=ttu

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

15:28

This statue

15:28

Of this guy

15:28

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skanderbeg

Skanderbeg

Gjergj Kastrioti (c. 1405 – 17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia. A member of the noble Kastrioti family, he was sent as a hostage to the Ottoman court. He ...

"Fight the Ottoman Empire" (not sure what the challenge should be)

Wait

15:33

Is there like a Turkish restaurant near there

15:33

No, never mind

15:33

Another idea that's slightly further away

oh, could you acquire something Turkish and destroy it in front of the statue

Is the fake houses on Leinster Gardens

MajorScafellPike

Is the fake houses on Leinster Gardens

I did think about that

15:35

but I think they are annoyingly far on foot even if close as the crow flies

theorangeone

oh, could you acquire something Turkish and destroy it in front of the statue

I do like this actually, what is Turkish

theorangeone

oh, could you acquire something Turkish and destroy it in front of the statue

I was more thinking along the lines of honouring Albania

15:35

But sure

15:36

backgammon donner kebab (edited)

MajorScafellPike

I was more thinking along the lines of honouring Albania

oh do we get them to sing along to an Albanian Eurovision entry actually

1

MajorScafellPike

backgammon donner kebab (edited)

Carpets

15:37

Destroy a carpet for the glory of Albania

15:38

Or

15:38

Devour a turkey sandwich

how easy is it to buy turkish delight actually

You can get that in TESCO, right?

15:39

Good thing about those is that they keep

I've left the definition broad

15:41

but hopefully people are thinking "Destroy One Ring"

15:42

much as I would like people to attempt something from Eurovision, we already have The Clash and how much do we want people's singing abilities on show (edited)

I do think Turkish delight is the best way of doing this

15:42

But yeah, not specifying it helps

I've rewritten, lmk if that helps

Looks fine to me

onwards

15:43

Blackfriars is gonna be a right pain and I'm looking forward to it

It is definitely possible, right

yep

15:43

you go down the stairs onto the Thames Path north side

Bond Street is fine

15:44

Borough is fine

15:45

Cannon Street is fine and I am looking forward to teams accidentally using their E&C watermelon as a cannonball

oh absolutely

Chancery Lane is fine

15:46

I think Charing Cross is OK...?

Blackfriars - basically the route (use OpenStreetMap to check) is:

down to the Thames Path, north side
down to alongside White Lion Hill where the toilets are, then head north through Seven Ages of Man
out the other side onto the footbridge over Puddle Dock
probably enter Blackfriars through the back entrance too

(edited)

MajorScafellPike

I think Charing Cross is OK...?

I had hoped for better tbh, it'll be a right pain to measure

Well

15:48

Could salute Lord Nelson for the duration of Hearts of Oak

true, we could reuse that

15:48

I do like the measuring but also that distance might be too far

Maybe chuck Jellicoe, Cunningham and Beatty in for a laugh

15:49

And Napier

15:50

Salute every admiral in Trafalgar Square for one rendition of Hearts of Oak each

15:51

Update - not Napier

15:51

Napier was an admiral, just not that Napier

15:52

So that's four Admirals - Horatio Nelson, John Jellicoe, David Beatty and Andrew Cunningham (edited)

where are they?

Nelson is where Nelson is

15:55

The other three are busts on the wall in front of the National Gallery

15:55

North side of Trafalgar Square

ahh, fair

15:57

wait what's on the fourth plinth

No idea

15:57

I just like the idea of giving the three mini admirals some respect for once

15:58

Because Cunningham and Jellicoe deserve it

15:58

Beatty....up for debate

15:58

But he was brave at least

15:58

If you didn't know, Jellicoe and Beatty were #1 and #2 in command at Jutland in 1916

15:59

Jellicoe did some amazing positioning work and got the strategic victory he wanted, Beatty was a hot head and got into a fight with the Germans that resulted in three battleships exploding (not technically his fault, that was a design issue, but still) (edited)

15:59

And Cunningham was the RN's best admiral during WW2

amended

16:04

onwards?

Onwards

16:04

Covent Garden is fine

16:04

Earl's Court is fine

16:05

Both Edgware Roads are fine

16:05

("The miserable hole where Circle line trains go to die" - love it

) (edited)

16:06

We should probably specify "lose or destroy the melon" for E&C

I like Covent Garden, that shop's a vibe

MajorScafellPike

We should probably specify "lose or destroy the melon" for E&C

done

Define "needle Cleopatra's Needle" in this context

I could possibly do with a better backup challenge

Well

16:11

I will say

16:11

That nearby is the memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps

16:12

In fact there are quite a few good things near Embankment that could make for funny challenges

16:13

Also, explain Lower Robert Street to me

Lower Robert Street is probably most taxi drivers' favourite cut throughs

16:14

basically it's a tunnel under the Savoy

16:15

I'm fairly sure it'll be open though

16:16

I'm just putting it in there because I've had things suddenly close on me before

Fine

16:16

Yeah, if you want "have a date with a camel"

16:16

Only problem with that is that eating dates might not be the best idea during a race for...practical reasons

MajorScafellPike

Only problem with that is that eating dates might not be the best idea during a race for...practical reasons

ah

16:18

anyway, amended to date with a camel

16:18

I don't think we'll need it though

Alternately there's "have a wet Yorkie at the York Watergate"

16:18

OR

16:18

Have a Yorkshire scandal at the York Watergate

oh wait

Yorkshire and politics all in one

Fake 10 Downing Street is near there isn't it

(Typed "fake 10 downing street" into google maps and it showed me the real one

) (edited)

16:21

Do like that Yorkshire Scandal idea

16:21

Because a) wordplay

16:21

b) hilarious

16:21

c) YORKSHIRE

16:22

d) YORKSHIRE

MajorScafellPike

Do like that Yorkshire Scandal idea

you do realise they're just going to insult Yorkshire

e) YORKSHIRE

16:22

No no no

16:22

You have a scandal, but it's all in stereotypical Yorkshire accents (or an attempt at such)

16:23

And as the representative Yorkshireman on the committee

done

16:24

onwards?

Onwards

16:25

Euston is fine and hilarious

lol if all the trains are on time

Euston Square is fine

theorangeone

lol if all the trains are on time

Impossible, it's Euston

Avanti do sometimes manage it if the weather's good

Oh, should we have a cutoff for "how delayed is delayed"

if the board says it's delayed

16:26

tbh

16:26

it's the new style boards

Which is how late..?

unsure

So hang on

16:28

You point at the departure board thingy and say the line

it's a fast one

16:28

if there's a train on the boards that's late

16:29

but it might take until later in the day for that to happen

16:29

not so likely on a Saturday at 11-12ish

We'll see

16:30

Euston Square is fine

looking forward to E Sq

Farringdon is fine

(they're across the road from each other there)

Gloucester Road is fine

16:30

Goodge Street looks logical

Goodge Street might see some dumpster diving

16:31

Green Park should be fun

Yup

Great Portland Street - thoughts?

Seems fine to me

HSK is pure ego stroking

16:33

pure and unadulterated

16:33

Holborn hopefully easy

Yup, both fine

16:35

HPC is fine

16:36

Kennington, not seeing any additional stipulations, it's just potentially a pain

16:36

KXStP looks fine

16:37

Knightsbridge looks fine

16:37

Lambeth North sounds hilarious

Hyde Park Corner, I'm expecting five of these (though could be surprised with something else):

Machine Gun Corps
Royal Artillery
RAF Bomber Command
Australia
New Zealand
Cavalry

1

Lancaster Gate is fine

Knightsbridge I hope they do perfume samples

16:38

surely they must

Approve of Leicester Square

MajorScafellPike

Approve of Leicester Square

thought you might, it's an infamous London nightlife story in recent years

As a former Leicester resident as well

16:38

Loving that's the drunk challenge

Liverpool Street I'm not sure what people will go for but I don't doubt they'll find something

16:39

it's the City

Liverpool Street is fine (sure you don't want a game of football Anfield style xD)

not sure where you'd play it tbh

True

London Bridge could be chaotic and I do like the tunnel in question

That's good

16:41

Mansion House is fine

16:41

Marble Arch is fine

16:42

By "electric buses" do we mean all-electric or anything with an electric transmission

Mansion House is a great place for a pub

I.e. all of them

MajorScafellPike

By "electric buses" do we mean all-electric or anything with an electric transmission

I meant the former but I'm not going to complain if people assume the latter

Unless diesel electric is a thing only used on trains

16:42

Which it might be, actually

it does ban the tube though

That's the main thing

which is the main point tbh

Monument is fine

Monument won't be free but I don't think it's that expensive for one person, it's just that it could be a slow slow climb which is the point :p

Moorgate already has the main proviso there

Nine Elms leaves a lot for people to choose from

Nine Elms we fixed before

16:45

NHG is fine

16:45

Old Street - is there a plane there or does it need building?

No plane there

16:45

I'm expecting paper planes

16:46

and possibly some tiptoes

Neat

16:47

OC and both Paddingtons are fine

16:47

If teams have any sense they'll make a paper aeroplane for the canal thing

16:47

Or just lob a tennis ball

16:47

But the plane should be slow enough to be easy to catch

I think they'll have the sense to not throw across items they personally want to hang onto

2

16:48

It's further than they might think though

Hence the plane

16:48

Piccalilli Circus sounds fine

Piccadilly Circus could see the watermelon used again...

16:49

Pimlico is one guess each, I can randomly generate a city

All fine down to Regents Park

Queensway should be fine, there's a shit ton of possible laws to break

16:50

Russell Square is definitely doable, there's an underground car park entrance

16:50

but not well signed

OK, but it is doable

yep

16:51

Sloane Square should be fast

16:51

South Ken could be a bit of time finding the exhibit but the costumes themselves should be very quick to put on

16:51

they're all like big coats

And the rest are all fine

Southwark I'm expecting a photo from either the top deck of a bus or a passing train

16:52

thanks for checking

Pleasure

16:52

Saves us doing it on the fly on Saturday

Amended the summary as well as we completely changed Bayswater and Charing Cross

16:55

you can tell I did these alphabetically because they got better as it went on

Yeah, defo

16:55

Not a diss on your earlier work, of course

oh no it's fine if it is

16:55

I'm one person

16:55

bound to slip up

16:56

three complicated walking challenges is a lot but I like the vibe of them

See, I want them to respond immediately to battle challenges

15:37

but also need them to know we won't start them until both teams are made aware

15:37

but if they know this they might strategise over it

Location sharing - can we ask for someone from each team? I'm happy to take that on

I have a Team Captain role handy if you want to use that

ahh crap it's Chinese New Year, should we issue a warning to everyone

13:33

maybe we should have themed one of the challenges

I mean, we could have done, but it's fine

13:35

Feel free to warn them, since you know the main danger areas

13:35

Since we're doing it in the daytime tho we should be OK

I mean CNY isn't really a big night thing

13:44

more concerned about daytime parades

13:44

but I think it's just Leicester Square/Piccadilly Circus that could be a worry

MajorScafellPike

I have a Team Captain role handy if you want to use that

Thoughts?

19:15

@theorangeone

19:15

Designated Team Captain responsible for updating us on the team's whereabouts

Yeah, I think that's best

Awesome

19:18

Designate it now or later?

There's no expectation on them to lead the team?

19:18

Just be the Point Of Contact

Yup

19:19

Main point of contact, anyway

19:20

Should we say that the captain has to declare a battle/claim a station or...?

19:20

Oh, and also, they should be allowed to nominate a new captain if batteries run low, etc

I'd say they're more just someone we basically expect to be always checking their phone for updates

Yes

19:47

OK

19:48

Should we tell them this now?

yes let's

Not gonna lie, I prefer how Team 3 are going around this captaincy thing than Team 1

fair

Like I feel like Formula is very much treating this as a "team leader" role

21:13

Despite us not mentioning anything along those lines at all

yeah

This isn't an indictment against the guy

21:15

But it's a bit much imo

that's specifically why I called it a point of contact not a team captain

Exactly

21:16

We never said the word captain once

21:17

Tbh I might end up just pinging the teams

21:17

As a collective

It's only really for location sharing

If you liase with the POCs and I do the scoreboard

21:18

Hopefully that'll be an efficient enough system to go

21:18

Fruit can fill in when one of us (most likely me) needs to get some lunch

1

true! does that put you in charge of announcements?

21:19

also - will you be in a Spoons all day

I can do that, sure

theorangeone

also - will you be in a Spoons all day

Probably not, that was a joke

21:20

Rather use WiFi and my laptop

Fair

Can't get uni WiFi in Spoons, after all

Understandable

Team 1 are gonna hit Cannon Street very early

22:32

this looks great fun

How'd you figure?

If they're really doing their St Paul's - Mansion House - Cannon Street - Monument - Bank strategy...

22:39

That's self sacrifice memorial, Samuel Pepys pub, then cannonball

22:40

Or in reverse, 12 station exits, climbing the entire tower, then cannonball

I can see cannonball taking a while, tbf

22:40

Can't remember how big the cannonball had to be

22:40

If there was a size stipulation

Didn't specify

22:41

to be honest it's a steep hill (I wouldn't want to run or cycle it) but longer than you might think

But you can use a football or a tennis ball

22:41

Or something maybe more aerodynamic like a rugby ball (if you can throw it properly)

True, but the smaller the ball, the harder it is to aim

But the easier it'll be to get down the goddamn hill

True but it's also a hill

22:42

it's steep enough that things will roll down it

22:43

if necessary

Oh we did allow bounces didn't we

yep

So yeah, a football would be great

But we didn't allow the person at the bottom moving

Just bouncy enough to not roll down automatically (edited)

22:43

Not too bouncy as to fly over their head

Oh and stuff bounces very badly on hills

22:44

Especially since it's a road not a smooth slope

~~if someone gets an edam and wangs it down the hill they deserve a "spirit of gloucestershire" prize~~

(to clarify, there's never been a car on it as far as I can remember)

MajorScafellPike

~~if someone gets an edam and wangs it down the hill they deserve a "spirit of gloucestershire" prize~~

hell yes

Spirit of Gloucester

thing is if they skip Cannon Street, unless they do Blackfriars or Tower Hill as well, that leaves both Mansion House and Monument free to attack

So they gonna have to do it

1

And if they do Tower Hill they have to do at least one of the Aldgates

This is the great thing about the Circle line

22:46

You need a cohesive chain, otherwise it won't work

And if they waste too much time on Cannon Street, someone could come and steal St Pauls

22:47

Though tbf a three course meal of fast food takes time

22:47

Even at City fast food branches on a weekend

22:48

I want to see a team do South Ken tbh

22:48

The costumes in the V&A theatre department are excellent

I mean, I want to see a team do all of them

Scavenger hunt but it's just the 67 challenges on the list?

Well, that wasn't quite what I meant

22:53

Most of them are bloody hilarious

no wait they'd do worse in a scavenger hunt setup than in battle

22:53

I reckon there's a small chance every challenge will be done

22:53

They have seven hours

22:54

if they worked collaboratively they could do it

22:54

but they won't

How many battle challenges do we have, of interest

theorangeone

Battle Challenge list (all of these should be five minutes unless otherwise specified): 1) Find the most famous blue plaque (longest Wikipedia article) 2) Photograph the most buses 3) Get your entire team as high as you can above ground level 4) Photograph the most non-human, non-microscopic animals 5) Find the oldest car 6) Find the closest taxi number to a given 7) Find the highest scoring street sign in Scrabble (only the street name counts, no postcode or borough) 8) First to find an embassy (untimed) 9) First to spend less than 50p on a thing (untimed) 10) First team to touch grass (untimed)

Just these ten at present

22:55

pin? And I can change at short notice tbh

MajorScafellPike pinned a message to this channel. 08/02/2024 22:55

I need to look at taxis tomorrow or Saturday morning

22:56

I forgot

22:57

Enough taxis to get a decent range as to where the registration numbers are

22:58

(London black cabs are on registered permits between 10000 and 99999, each permit lasts a year after which you get a new permit with a new number)

22:59

so e.g. we could currently have permits between 45000 and 55000 on taxis on the road

Mmhm

the taxi permits also have the expiry date visible so you can see approximately how far through the year they are

Right

so if I can see like ten taxis I should be able to get a rough estimate as to what numbers they can find

1

23:00

it's basically a numberplates challenge but with black cabs

Sounds good

23:00

What about the numbers you find on the front of 95/96 stock tube trains

23:01

Oh, highest numbered bus

MajorScafellPike

What about the numbers you find on the front of 95/96 stock tube trains

Train running number or train unit number? Because both are trackable on intertube

theorangeone

Train running number or train unit number? Because both are trackable on intertube

Ah

MajorScafellPike

Oh, highest numbered bus

that basically goes to whichever team is nearest the Bakerloo line

23:03

because the 453 passes most stops on that

23:04

Oh god wait the 702 does that count

23:04

Or coach numbers

23:05

Either way, I reckon we would basically be electing a winning team I think

I think those 10 are fine tbf

23:06

Cycle through them

basically we find a random number generator between 1 and 10, then go with that

MajorScafellPike

Cycle through them

Oh actually we could do this

23:06

but some we would have to skip

Yeah

23:06

Want to be the judge of that?

Sure - it's stuff like no touching grass challenge if one team is literally in a park

23:07

that's textbook unfair

Agreed

23:08

Yeah, if you handle the battles themselves, I'll just announce them

Sure

23:09

No announcing until you have definitely gotten hold of the second team

Naturally

then give them like three minutes, unless the second team is literally on a tube, then five minutes

23:10

That should give them enough time to run to the surface

23:10

unless they're already there of course

If we know they're heading across town, do we wait for them to arrive?

As in who

23:11

Defenders or attackers

Defenders

23:11

If they're on a tube and it'll likely be more than 5 mins before they hear of it

I think we ping them and start counting from the moment we get a response from them

23:12

At that point they should really just bail wherever they are

Brim is definitely a no-show

Ahh

23:48

Well, at least team 2's top secret plans haven't been leaked

Win from me there

23:49

I think

23:50

Sorted out his roles

23:51

So we should be good now

We can ask if anyone else wants to show last minute?

I mean, we tried getting extra players the last three weeks

23:53

None came

23:53

I can try tho

23:57

OK, I've pinged the meet up crew in the main server

23:57

Not expecting greatness but there we go

shit, I forgot to print off copies of the map

07:00

was going to put one in each envelope

07:00

problem is I only have a black and white printer at present so it will look shit if I do

07:03

1) @MajorScafellPike will you be updating and reposting a live map of claims? (IIRC you mentioned something like what Will asked in #general ) 2) should I print off black and white maps or ask people to bring their own?

theorangeone

1) @MajorScafellPike will you be updating and reposting a live map of claims? (IIRC you mentioned something like what Will asked in #general ) 2) should I print off black and white maps or ask people to bring their own?

Yes Depends on your printing budget

I don't know that my printing budget extends to buying colour ink

07:39

but I can print a black and white copy of the tube map if you think it would be helpful

Maybe have one black and white copy per team

1

That's fine I will do

googling medieval cures for the plague

10:48

I'm mostly expecting "pray" or "run away", but would quite like to see "drink spiced vinegar" or "apply onion"

2

@theorangeone remind me when the game starts

1030 start, 1015 meet

Everyone make it?

Yep

Just gonna go fetch a cuppa and then I'll be ready to go

Aight, ready!

I'm set up shop outside the Apple Store

10:32

In case anyone comes for this

They off?

Yep

What was the reaction to the challenges lol

They literally all ran for it

Huh

10:34

If anyone was going for OC we'd hear by now, no?

Team 1 I think have gone to get an apple

Before saying "we're going for this"?

I suspect so, though I think there's nothing stopping them

Well

10:35

We'll see

10:35

The other two just booking it, I take it?

10:36

OK, clarification

#1 have gone on the tube going by shares (edited)

Announcements needed when station claimed, when battles are declared and when battles are won

10:36

I don't need to publicly announce a team has "started" to claim a station, right?

No, you don't

Awesome

Adds to the urgency

Ooh, that's a surprise

10:39

TCR started before OC

That's a claim on TCR

10:44

Confirmed Team 3 have eaten enough of the apple for me to count it

Claim on OC?

Yep

10:45

I'm letting them take a live claim for this

10:45

Since I was witness

10:46

Team 3 are off to Bond Street

10:46

I am off to Pret again

10:50

Team 3 collapsed laughing at E&C

1

Bond Street verified?

I think so

Excellent

I think that counts

10:51

It looks like Stratford Place

10:52

Team 1 are in Postman's Park

Right

10:53

Expect them to open their scoring soon then?

Should do

So we have one team at St Pauls

10:54

One team at Piccalilli Circus

10:55

Are we assuming T3 are off on a westward romp down the Central line?

Team 2 seem to be on a bus to Picc Circus

10:55

Or on foot

MajorScafellPike

Are we assuming T3 are off on a westward romp down the Central line?

Underground I think

Yes, but to like, Marble Arch

10:56

1 and 2 both OK, right?

Yep

This map is more of a pain than I thought

10:59

It's so pixellated I can't use the fill tool as I'd like

(edited)

#3 have gone to Barbican-ish!!?

Huh?

11:01

For why??

Not sure

11:01

But we may have a battle incoming

Farringdon

#2 are after OC I think (edited)

Team 3 are at Farringdon

Ahh good

11:02

They will need to battle soon

Oh here we go

11:02

You deal with T2

11:02

They're asking about claiming during battle timers

11:02

Also, just realised how they got to Farringdon

Blue plaque challenge for the battle

They were at Bond Street

11:02

They got the Liz

1

11:04

When do you want the battle announcement in the main announcements channel

Main announcements when Team 3 respond

11:04

Battle to start 11:08

11:04

At that time announce it

Inc challenge?

I will post in team chats

OK

@fruitbowl you around?

Yup

Want to manage the battles?

Sure

@MajorScafellPike what's the method for checking size of article

Go into view history, we want the size of the article in bytes

11:10

The number in brackets in the most recent edit

11:10

So in this case, it's 17,061

11:11

Oooh boy, Cannon Street time

I'm excited

Hector Hugh Monro is 35,843

11:13

Also, shouldn't the other team submit one now?

11:13

it's 11:13

11:15

Confirm, steal for T2

Yup

Taxis - currently between 35000 and 49000

11:18

Let's say closest to 42000 when we get to that

Sure

11:19

Can you verify T1's Cannon

Yeah I think for the effort they put into it I'll give it to them

11:21

Mostly for the death scene

11:21

Ooh, medieval plagues

And Bank

They've got some work for Bank

Could be a race for Moorgate, this

Oh I reckon

11:22

Unless Team 1 go for Monument

Or, a battle for Liverpool Street

Man H and Cannon S are defacto locked

Yup

11:23

As will Farringdon and Barbican when that goes down

11:25

Remarkably even match this

11:25

When T3 claim Barbican, as I assume they will

11:26

It's a three way tie

That's because there's only been one battle

11:26

T2 are offline on maps

T2 might be able to pull ahead now with Edgware roads

Depends how well they sing

11:31

Which song do you think they're going for

Ooo

hmm, I think that's Bank

11:33

It's taken them 10 minutes

Not bad

11:34

So, the big question is

11:34

Moorgate, Liverpool Street, or Monument?

I'm hoping for Monument so much

If they go for Liverpool Street they can challenge for Moorgate when T3 gets it

Yes but Monument would be fun

Yes

11:35

But a battle for Moorgate would also be fun

11:36

Loving that T3 now have to walk back to Barbican now

Yeah they kinda fucked that

YES MONUMENT

Should have probably gone to Liverpool Street on XR and worked backwards

Yup

Oh here we go

11:43

Edgware Road, Bakerloo Line

Monument seems to be fun

11:44

Moorgate - are Team 3 lost

11:44

that's so stereotypical

11:45

Nah they're out

11:47

That's Monument I think

I'll save a map update until Moorgate is done

Yep

Edit - and Edgware Road, the other one

Team 1 still at Monument huh (edited)

I can see a double battle incoming (edited)

11:59

T3 attacking Bank

11:59

Then T1 going for Aldgate/Aldgate East and counterattacking Liverpool Street

Half decent chance T1 run for Old Street

I mean, they're on the circle line

12:00

Makes sense to challenge for Liv Street via Aldgate

True but Bank is right there

Since they only need Aldgate if they keep Bank

T3 frantically Googling "Metro Bank controversies"

1

12:03

Huh, T1 at Blackfriars

Huh

12:03

Not quite where I thought they were going

12:04

Seems they're staying on the defensive

I think Team 2 have a chance

12:09

Unless T1 claim Chancery Lane they're vulnerable at St Paul's too

12:13

I will check T1

Please do

Upload seems fucked...

What do we think on Blackfriars?

12:20

Give them it for dedication to the cause?

I like it

12:20

Happy to let them have it

Yeah, I'd say Askwho is the person who seems to have suffered the hardest

Yeh it seems fine

@theorangeone seems Team 1 have skipped Temple

I bet they have

12:23

They're gonna have to try hard to pin down Embankment though

12:23

By my reckoning they need all three other neighbours

12:24

Which tbf are all easier than Temple

12:25

Photograph most buses for this one

I think we may have a winner

12:30

Why is it always the attacker that wins smh

I wouldn't count Team 1 out yet, let's see if they get to Strand and Trafalgar Square fast enough

Oh, the google drive video T1 sent finally worked

12:31

Caught me massively off guard

Unless there's a protest!!! Oh god yes screwed by CNY

Oh blimey

I thought so

12:32

That's 12

They even got a classic Routemaster in there

12:32

OK this is a good battle challenge

Team 1 defended it

Shall we call time

12:32

What was the score

I need to count but Team 1 have it

12:34

That's at least 17 for team 1

12:34

Who managed to get to Trafalgar Square

"at least"??

Idk if Formula's photos count

They came in after time

12:34

No

Oh wait

12:35

Team 3 got it just

12:35

then

12:35

With a flurry at the end

12:35

Must have gotten to Bishopsgate

12:36

That's 18 for T1

12:36

final count

12:37

But 19 for T3

Oooh

12:37

T3 wins?

Yep

12:37

Only just

12:37

Bank area vs Trafalgar Square area

12:37

So incredibly close

Are T2 allowed to know the challenge specifically or just what I say in the announcements

12:39

Never mind

They can know afterwards

OK

This game is a thing of beauty

This is going really well

12:41

And Team 2 might have actually ended the curse!

I wonder if I have given them too long, but if no more moves are possible at any point, I will call time early

Was gonna say, there are 67 on the board

12:43

We've had 20 so far

Yes, but the long ones and battles

Including most of the closely packed ones

There's been some easy picking offs

12:46

Aldgate will be dead simple

12:46

Aldgate East I am looking forward to though

12:46

Oh wait T3 may not have art supplies

Oh I see what Team 1 are doing

Challenge on Picc Circus?

They're going to challenge for Piccalilli Circus aren't they

And maybe TCR too

12:57

I think give them CHX

12:57

They've spent forever there

12:57

and the barriers are blocking I can see

Fine

12:57

Damn

12:57

Didn't expect that

I didn't think tbh

12:59

That challenge was mostly a waste time one

12:59

And they do know where the admirals are

12:59

Get your team high above ground level is the next battle, and I think an excellent place for it

13:00

Decent chance of T2 climbing trees

13:00

T1 I suspect may end up on a bus unless they can get into the National Gallery

13:00

in which case they will take it

13:05

I'm gonna make a run for Farringdon soon

Where are T3 btw?

13:06

Never mind

Yeah

Was literally about to say "they won't be going for Tower Hill or Aldgate East if they're taking this long"

And almost certainly going for Tower Hill soon I think

I think E&C has scared everyone into not going south of the river

lol

13:09

They will have to eventually

13:09

I think Team 2 off to NHG

13:09

Team 3 are in the gallery

Complete opposite ends of the ma

13:10

Oh, forgot Leicester Square was "get drunk"

theorangeone

I think Team 2 off to NHG

Apparently not...?

That's definitely NHG

Yeah, alright

13:14

Well done

But battle will commence soon I think

When T1 have finished their Greggs

1324 end of battle I am being generous it's bloody hard

OK

I think Team 1 may have this

13:20

If they get into a department store

Was gonna say, T2 are in the middle of suburbia, basically

13:21

This will tie for the lead if T1 wins, actually

There's a chance, there's a cinema, and T1 needs a win

Would not be surprised btw if T3 go south of the river after Tower Hill

Huh, I didn't realise

What happens if they're both on the same floor

13:22

i.e. both on the second floor (edited)

See if anyone gets on a table

13:22

Or run a second battle

Never mind

13:23

6th floor beats 2nd floor

Yeah that was conclusive

Just noticed actually

13:24

We haven't had a successful defence yet

13:24

Call time

That's a win for team 1

MajorScafellPike

We haven't had a successful defence yet

Yeah but that's sheer luck

Just thought of an ace challenge for Covent Garden

13:28

Something related to a fifteen-storey building...

Tell fifteen stories

Right

13:32

Do we think T1 are going for Holborn

Possibly

13:32

They're on the tube

Holborn and challenge for TCR seems logical to me

Conceivably Regents Park and GPS too

13:36

I'm vibing with T2

13:36

they've got an energy

Yeah, if T3 has any sense they'd go to London Bridge after this

theorangeone

I'm vibing with T2

Likewise

Yeah I think so too

The only time I did this as a player, I was captain of Team 2

13:36

So I like them as well

T3 come up towards Waterloo and attack Embankment

The other reason is that T2 has historically had terrible luck in our formats

13:37

Dead last both times

13:37

So the end of the T2 curse would be nice to see

To be honest all three teams seem very fun

Agreed

13:38

That T1 middle finger was absolutely hilarious

I've been walking to Farringdon

I think I have an idea with the whole "bribe with Spoons idea"

13:39

If I go to my local Spoons after the game ends

I think that's a successful crossing of the bridge

13:39

BAKER STREET??

13:40

T1

Huh

13:40

Why they going there?

13:40

It's not as if they can battle for Bond Street that easily

Yeah T2 have an unassailable streak

13:41

Baker Street is slow

Yeah, that seems very odd

13:42

I'd have gone to Holborn myself

13:42

T3 have two options now I think

13:42

London Bridge or Chancery Lane

yeah, get Chancery Lane and Covent Garden then head for KX

13:43

I think they'll go for London Bridge

I agree

13:43

London Bridge is useful if they want to carve out a nice big chunk of the map for themselves

13:43

I.e. South of the River

13:44

Since their options out East have run dry

13:44

Also is it odd to you that T2 haven't claimed HSK yet

13:45

Never mind

13:46

But yeah, if I was T3 I'd hit London Bridge and then go South

13:47

Borough - E&C - and then hit the Battersea Branch

13:51

Thought it was the run round the block lol

T3 definitely going for LBG

13:56

T1 I would be surprised if not ECT

13:56

T2 sorry

13:57

Though possibly Gloucester Road

Oh, btw

13:57

When T1 have served their penalty

13:57

Which was two minutes ago

13:57

Do we give them Baker Street?

Yep

13:58

I mean they would literally repeat the thing without the last word

13:58

It's not worth making them do it

13:58

If there were loads of Es I would

14:02

Team 2 are running away with it

Team 3 need to get a move on

T2 at Gloucester Rd

T1 do realise Oxford Circus is locked, right (edited)

I think they're going along to GPS and Warren Street and Euston Square

Only what they're doing makes sense - if OC wasn't locked

14:07

Oh, true

Regents Park is easy

Also true

I know at least one of them will have handgel

14:10

Where the hell are they going

14:10

Are they going to Tesco??

14:10

(they're on the GPS junction)

Welp, maybe they lost the handgel?

I think T2 are outside or in the Sainsbury's

14:11

I love that piece of local history tbqh

14:12

It's the number one thing I'd want to see one of the London YouTubers cover

Have T3 finished their lunch break yet

Unsure, they're in M&S near LBG

14:12

But could be a tracker error

Does said M&S happen to be on Tooley Street

Yep, they need to get to the tube though

14:13

which tbf is not far

14:14

T1 are en route to the memorial

14:14

T2 are likely recording rn

To be honest, if I were T3 I'd have got lunch at the Pret/Starbucks

14:15

There we go

That's Gloucester Road for me

14:16

I know that Sainsbury's well, I used to go there quite a bit when at uni

14:18

It's a straight race for a while I think

The important question is

14:18

Whether T2 go up the Picc to Green Park

14:18

Or down the District to Westminster

I think there's a chance they go down the District to Victoria and swing south

Oh, btw, next station will be past the half-way mark

14:20

Regents Park was #33 of 67

GPS will take them a while

14:24

I reckon London Bridge will be done soon

14:24

do you think Southwark or Borough

I think Borough

fair

I think they'll just go straight to Battersea and knock all of those out

Yeah that's not bad

Even if it means giving birth to a melon on the platforms of E&C

I can believe Will would crank the Kennington Loop

Then either try and outflank T2 at Victoria

I am SO looking forward to South Ken

Or try and outflank T1 at Embankment via Waterloo/Westminster

I'm also looking forward to the cult

But yeah, I think T3 will go on a rampage on the Northern Line for a bit (edited)

Will you be indoctrinated or shall I

Why not both

(I am annoyingly in a pub but I will try and join)

Shall I count London Bridge now

14:28

(And GPS)

GPS yes, that's nice LBG I want to see a freeze frame but will count it when we do

I'll announce them concurrently

That was a fantastic cult

That was spectacularly good

14:44

Considering they can't have had much time to work that out

14:46

Right

Team 3 are at Embankment???

15:33

They are going for Temple I think

15:33

Oh dear god

For why?

15:33

When Westminster is right there

Team 1 must be after Holborn

Logical

There is a chance Team 3 might be going for Westminster

I mean

15:35

Yes

15:35

But also, if they were going for Westminster

15:35

Why go via Embankment

Nope they seem to have jumped back to Waterloo

15:35

Maybe it was faster to walk from the Southbank Centre to Embankment

Actually, probably true

Team 2 are almost certainly going for Pimlico or Vauxhall but possibly Green Park

Straight over the Golden Jubilee Bridges, no?

Team 3 have jumped to Westminster

15:36

I don't know what's going on with their tracker

No, I think they walked across the Golden Jubilee Bridges and got the Circle Lie

Holborn will be fast, Westminster should hopefully also not take too long

15:38

T2 St James's Park

15:38

actually

Oooooh

15:39

This could be interesting

15:39

If T3 are in Westminster

15:39

Which they are

Oh very much so

15:39

T2 going for all the singing challenges

If you were T3 in this situation

Broadway on Broadway

Challenge for Embankment after Westminster

MajorScafellPike

Challenge for Embankment after Westminster

Yes

Or move South to defend Waterloo, etc

15:40

Stop T2 from moving South and outflanking from Kennington, etc

Oh wait

15:41

T2 don't know T3 are at Westminster

15:42

Oh no

What do you mean "oh no"

15:43

This is where the fun begins xD

15:44

Thing is, T3 are in a bit of a precarious position here

15:44

Because if they beat T2 to Westminster

15:44

T2 just has to go to Green Park, do that, and come back again

T3 will bear T2 there easy

Right

15:46

T1

15:46

Covent Garden, Chancery Lane or Russell Square? (edited)

I think Russell Square

15:47

Though I want Covent Garden

15:47

T3 are at the statue

The quandry for T3 here

15:47

If they go to fight for Embankment

T2 are at the tube station

T2 has enough time to get Green Park and then fight them for Westminster

We don't tell them T3 are there (edited)

Not until it's claimed, obvs

15:50

Ooooh hang on

15:50

This might be interesting

15:50

If T2 do as I suspect they will

15:50

And go to claim Green Park

15:50

T3 can follow them and immediatly fight for it

Why...how

15:51

I know they wanted the statues in the river but I didn't think they meant it literally

T3 tracker is not good

We might be seeing a good few fights going down

15:52

Embankment - T3 attacking T1

That's beautiful

Westminster - T2 attacking T3

15:52

And Green Park - T3 attacking T2

15:52

All in a few minutes

We're in the endgame now

15:53

Seven hours was bang on I think

End is when, half five?

Yep

Called it

15:54

Green Park it is

15:56

Are T3 going to fight for Green Park first or Embankment first?

15:57

Actually, results depending, we could see a battle at Victoria soon as well

15:57

The way I'm working this out is

15:57

T3 attacks T1 at Embankment

15:58

T2 attacks T3 at Westminster and fails

15:58

T3 goes to Green Park, attacks it and wins

15:58

T3 goes to Pimlico, then attacks Victoria

15:58

It's unlikely as it requires T3 to be mildly lucky

15:59

But it would be some serious warfare (edited)

T3 are heading west past St James's Park??

Maybe they're abandoning the centre

16:01

And going Pimlico Vauxhall

16:02

Mind you, this is the tracker that said they were in the river

16:04

Does mean the entire Jubilee line is now claimed

16:05

@theorangeone what's the next battle challenge?

I have find the oldest car

Oh

16:06

This could be interesting

Do you want to do that or skip to the taxis one

Is it "oldest by model" or "oldest by registration"

Registration I was going for

Fine

16:07

How visible are the taxi numbers

Back of the taxi

16:07

Pretty clear

Shall we do that

Yes let's

16:07

Closest to 42000 wins

16:09

T3 now AT Victoria

Hmm

16:09

Maybe they weren't expecting T2 to go to Green Park

T2 at Pimlico

But they are now, because they did

16:10

WHY IS T2 AT PIMLICO

Let's go with Newport (South Wales)

WESTMINSTER WAS RIGHT THERE

Population 145700

16:10

What margin did we give?

Uhhh

16:11

10% is 14k

16:11

5% is 7k

I don't have the challenges in front of me

Within 10%

Okay

16:12

It also says "visit the ONS"

So 131150 to 160270

Yup

16:13

From the ONS

16:13

Not the NSA

MajorScafellPike

It also says "visit the ONS"

I messed up, I thought that building was the ONS

16:13

Google misled me

Guildford has 77k people, btw

16:15

For reference

Leave this alone for an hour and it goes absolutely nuts

Oh it's great

17:13

We're on vc

Oo

They haven't even made it to E&C yet xD

E&C is gonna be funnn

17:13

I really hope they make it

https://intertube.eta.st/train/d1Fzp71fQQCfJUz5smbcGQ

#005 to Kennington · Northern line

Northern line train #005 to Kennington (Charing Cross branch), at Waterloo platform 2 since 1724¼; first seen at 1043¾.

17:26

https://intertube.eta.st/train/2aDwvZJ2QA-I60b727S63Q

#111 to Out Of Service · Northern line

Northern line train #111 to Out Of Service, at Kennington platform 2 since 1723½; first seen at 0511¾.

Gonna leave this here in case they confirm on my way to Spoons

They confirmed

17:46

Do you have a final post ready to go?

It wasn't ready to go but it wasn't that difficult to make