Learn How to Play in 9 Minutes
Current Tournament Standings

GM: John Pack
Assistant GM: Arthur Field

Start Date: December 1st, 2008
Tournament Period: December 1st, 2008 - July 13th, 2009
Next Start Date: October 1st, 2009 (and every October 1st thereafter)

Those interested in joining the tournament should send an email to john@gameaholics.com as soon as possible. Deadline for entries for the first round is November 30th, 2008.  Late entrants will be accommodated.  If four or more sign up, they can begin a game in the current round; otherwise, players will be added for the next round.

All players will compete in five preliminary, somewhat simultaneous rounds. New rounds kick off every two weeks even though preceding games will not yet have finished.  In fact, the last of the first round games will just be wrapping up as the last of the five preliminary rounds gets under way!

All entrants must be members of the BPA in the year that the tournament is started. If you are not currently a member, you can become an associate member for $10 which entitles you to play in all of the BPA email tournaments. Information on joining the BPA and ongoing PBeM tournaments can be found at the Boardgame Player's Association.  The good news is that if you played in this tournament last January, you're already a member and can join this tournament without paying again!  And, if you didn't play in the last tournament, by joining in December your membership will be good all through 2009 (which will let you join the next Adel Verpflichtet PBEM tournament too).

All games will be played using the free Hoity Toity game facilities on SpielByWeb.  All players must join that site and provide the GM with their login name.  There is no cost to join SpielByWeb.  As soon as possible, players should join SpielByWeb.  Although the interface is simple, some players may wish to play in a practice game there to familiarize themselves with the rules and the mechanics of the game and the website.  SpielByWeb is unforgiving -- you can't take back a decision once it's been selected.  Errors cannot be retracted.  Players are warned to carefully take their turn and to realize the "back" button does not undo a move.  On the other hand, players will find that the interface is very simple and makes the game easy to play remotely.

Each game will have a designated captain who will be responsible for creating the game using the name, password, and comment provided by the GM. The other players will join that passworded-game on SpielByWeb.com (by clicking on "games list" then "passworded-games" and then the join option available adjacent to their assigned game). Note: Passwords are caSe-seNsitivE.  The captain will be responsible for reporting the final score and tie-breakers (spaces from the finish line, set size, # of cards, and oldest card) to the GM.  If you are willing to be a captain, please notify me when you sign up.  Colors will be assigned randomly by SpielByWeb.

Preliminary Rounds: 5
Participants: No Limit (a minimum of 25 is required)
Rounds Begin: Every Two Weeks (Dec. 1, Dec. 15, Dec. 29, Jan. 12, Jan. 26)

Round announcements will be sent by 9 pm MST on the round start dates.  Game captains are requested to have their games set up by 9 am MST on the following.  Players must join their games by two days after the start date.

Round Length: 9 weeks for the first three rounds; 8 weeks for all rounds thereafter.*
Players: 4-5 per game
Participation: Each player is expected to move at least once per day (except when SpielByWeb has been notified of a player's absence/vacation).
Absence/Vacation: To notify SpielByWeb that you'll be unavailable, click on "Going Away?" after logging in.  Then select the calendar date when you'll return.  While you're unavailable, SpielByWeb will put a suitcase next to your ID that will show other plays when you'll return whenever they mouse-over the suitcase icon.  When you return, click on "Back?" and then click on "[Mark Yourself Here]".
Drop Outs: Players may drop out at the completion of their current games and may ask the GM not to assign them to additional games.  Players should plan to finish each game that they start.
AREA: All games will be AREA-rated (as are all the games played at the World Boardgaming Championships).
Scoring: We use the same scoring as the World Boardgaming Championships:

*Slow players will be penalized one point per week if a game runs over the 8-week time limit.  A "slow player" is defined as one generating more than one complaint within a game or more than three complaints within the tournament.  I request players not notify me unless the game has been waiting on a single player, who is not on vacation, for more than 48 hours.  Most games should finish in 6 weeks.  I request that game captains stay on top of this for their games -- nothing ruins a game more than indefinite waiting.

Players will be assigned to their first games randomly though family members and friends may request to be placed in different games.  Such requests will be honored as much as possible (though it may not be possible in later rounds).

No 3- or 6-player games will be used.  As few games as possible will use 4 players.  The GM will attempt to ensure that each player plays in a minimum number of four-player games.

Advancement: The ten entrants with the top total scores after the five preliminary rounds.
Tie-Breakers: If the top ten entrants cannot be determined solely based on total points (as is likely), the tie-breakers will be used in the following order:

1. Total spaces a player has advanced beyond the "finish line."  (The is the line that triggers the final exhibit.  Only spaces beyond the line are counted even though spaces short of the line will also be reported.)
2. Total size of all final sets.  The size of each player's final set in each game (not including cards which cannot be exhibited).
3. Total number of cards held at the end of all games.
4. Oldest card held in any final set, Second oldest card held in any final set, etc.
5. Current AREA rating
6. Die Roll

All points and tie-breakers will be reported on this website as games end.  I doubt we'll ever need anything beyond the second tie-breaker.

Semi-Final Begins: March 23rd, 2009
Semi-Final Format: All semi-finalists will play two simultaneous games (so that each may play 6-7 of the other 9 semi-finalists).  Family members will be placed in separate games if possible.  All winners advance to the final.  The highest second-place finishers (by spaces, size of final set, and age of the oldest card in final set) advance to fill the remaining seats (with the intent that the final will have five players).  No third-place finisher will advance (even if it means the final proceeds with only four players).
Final Begins: May 18th, 2009
Final Format: The final will be a one-game, winner-take-all affair designed to conclude by July 13th.
Trophy: The champion will receive the Boardgame Players' Association "PBeM Adel Verplichtet" Championship Plaque at the 2009 World Boardgaming Championships (or by mail if unable to attend). The BPA will award points toward its Annual Caesar Award (Competitor of the Year) for the top six places.  2nd through 5th places will be determined by finish in the final.  6th place will be awarded to the top finisher in the semi-final games who didn't advance to the final.

I hope you all enjoy your games and have fun in the tournament!  Please contact John Pack with any comments or questions regarding the format, game engine, rules, or play as the games progress.

Check back here for updates as the tournament progresses!

SpielByWeb Hoity Toity Engine Notes

Players of any version of Adel Verpflichtet, By Hook or by Crook, and Hoity Toity should easily adapt to the SpielByWeb engine.  However, there are a few details worth noting before beginning that I'll summarize here.

Sequence of Player Actions

1. All Players choose a Location (Castle or Auctionhouse)
2. All Players choose an Action (Exhibit, Thief, Detective, or Check)
3. The Highest Bidder at the Auctionhouse, if any, selects an Item
4. Exhibitors at the Castle, if any, select items for their exhibit
5. In order, Thieves at the Castle, if any, select items from each exhibit, if any.

All other "actions" are handled automatically by the game engine since they involve no player choices.  As a result, players will want to either check in more often than required or to read their email notification carefully to see what happened since their last move.  Note: It's possible that some or all of Steps 3-5 will not be required on any given turn -- in which case, players proceed directly to the next step (or next turn)!

Initial Checks and Thieves

The colors are a bit different than in Adel Verpflichtet and By Hook or by Crook.  Here's the opening card inventory for each Hoity Toity color and how that compares to the original games:

The thieves of each original color are one line below that color in this table. 

Other Differences

• The two Auctionhouse decks are not split when one runs out on SpielByWeb; thereafter, there is only one option at the Auctionhouse.
• Purple is not used when there are only five players.  Interestingly, Black is not used when there are only four players!

Note: Successful detectives advance based on current place (not position) just as they do in the original rules and at the World Boardgaming Championships. See this SpielByWeb forum for details.

Now you're ready to play!  Get ready for some seriously fun competition!

© Hoity Toity is copyrighted by Uberplay.  Adel Verpflichtet  and By Hook or By Crook are trademarks of the Avalon Hill Game Company.