Is it just me, or have the forum pages here at FT been a bit slow to load for the last few days? (All the other webpages out there in the world seem to be loading quickly as usual.)

I've noticed it a bit, but not since upgrading.

Upgrading what?

My memory...went from 1GB to 3.

Oh! Well, I have 4Gb, so it's not that. But it must have just been a lagging site for a couple of days, because it's zipping along now.

What I like about Chain Games is the challenge to come up with creative and witty posts. Sometimes when my mind's a blank, I just read some of the brilliant posts - soon inspiration comes to me

I love reading other people's posts. I love how witty and clever they can be, too.

I always feel that my posts are not near as good as other posts, but I know there are probably some people who feel the same way about my posts. :P

Does it really matter? It's merely a game and keeps your mind active, even if you have to google...

From Wikipedia:

I saw that myself...and my cousin has a "Stop SOPA" pic on his Facebook page.

Happy birthday to our 'Old Museum Relic', Starfish!!

Yes, yes indeed! Happy Birthday, Starfish !

Thanks, GG and Gats! Wanna piece of cake?

P.S. It's chocolate, of course!

I missed it...sorry Starfish!

That's OK, Dave ~ still appreciate the thought!

Yay. I recently got a message from Santana2002 (hiya, Toni !) that included some of her ideas for possible new chain games. Well, I l.o.v.e. getting news ideas from folks ... and these were interesting ones! I mulled them over a bit and then decided that I'd share them here, (hopefully) get some feedback from players as to how these might work, how we could tweak 'em (if need be) to MAKE 'em work, etc. Here's the ideas:
So, then, let's discuss. We definitely need a new rhyming game - so #4 is both timely and inclusive. I'm not sure how we'd make #3 work ... but I can see many possibilities having a game with +/- points being added and/or subtracted. I suppose the question is: how do we come up with a playable point system? #2 is just a good idea, all-around. A rainbow of opportunities on it -- maybe describe three things about the previous poster that may or may not be true (which they can debunk later on the incorrect ones)? Sorta like *Describe the Next Person* in reverse? #1 is another thought rather ripe in possibilities. How we'd make it work, no matter how we do it, would likely be a challenge --- but, as we've all noticed by now, games evolve and get more "user-friendly" as they grow. It's the cool thing about these ideas, I think ~ each is the foundation for what could become a pretty interesting (and interactive!) chain game!

I, for one, think we need a new cooking/restaurant chain again . We've had some in the past that went OK (but tended to run out of steam rather quickly). On one, a poster would make one of the the 4 meals in a day and offer each dish they might serve. Breakfast, next poster lunch, next poster dinner, next poster midnight snack, and so forth. The slight twist was that if you came in and it was your turn to prepare lunch? You had to eat the breakfast ahead of you and rate it, as per your particular taste in food. Interesting combinations and/or menus came up on that one. The other game was about a (imaginary) Diners Club card and you gave it to the next poster, telling them they had X amount of dollars to use on it at a specific restaurant, anywhere in the world. They would then tell you what they ate, and pass the card along. The only (slight) glitch there came in making sure you sent your person to a restaurant that had an online menu to browse. Another old game I liked was the Haiku one. But I'll not dare speak its name today. I thought it was great fun ... a significant number of others didn't so much (sigh). That's the thing, though. We all don't HAVE to like every game or PLAY every game. And we certainly could use some newer fresher games on the board. Share your thoughts, please. Either on these ideas above or with some of your own !

I loved the old Haiku game, and miss it a lot! (Many of my favourite games seem to struggle to stay active...) I'd contribute again if Haiku made a comeback


The "last post" one (number 1 on the list) could work if FT time was used, to eliminate time zone problems. (I keep my forums on FT time for Tipping Comp purposes - I have lots of other clocks with my local time on them.)

The reverse Describe the Next Person sounds like fun too, and I reckon I'd play it.

I suspect the +/- one would flummox me before long and I'd give up on it. Others might enjoy it though.

A rhyming game of some sort sounds like fun, too.

Regarding, the "reverse" Describe the Next Person, I saw a game in another forum once in which each post described the person above you, yourself, and the next person. It went something like this:

(pointing at the previous poster) ^^^ Sounds like he needs a vacation.

(pointing at your own avatar) <<< Needs to go to the store to buy more Kleenex.

(pointing at the next poster) (but I don't know how to do a down arrow) Will be going on vacation this summer.

The third part may be a little too close to Describe the Next Person, but the other facets are different than anything we've ever had.

I know SOTHC would be overjoyed if we got another rhyming game.

Some sort of cooking game sounds interesting ~ the ones you had before were before my time.

Yeah, a rhyming game is assuredly called for. I hated having to retire that last one, but I bumped it several times in a row and it was still stuck. Those rhyming ones need a little babying sometimes, I think - if the word to be rhymed with is simply too difficult or 'out there', nobody will likely wrack their brains to rhyme with it. I reckon now the plan is to come up with a playable and challenging (but not TOO much) game that everybody might enjoy? If Andy is reading this, and he probably is , I'm hoping he has some terrific ideas. And dare I even imagine that the haiku game is worth another shot. That'd be fine with me, o' course ... and on those one doesn't even have to rhyme, just count syllables!

Input on a restaurant and/or cooking game is welcomed, too. We can retread an old one, I suppose, or (better yet) come up with a different format for one.

Let's try to keep the discussion flowing here, OK? By the time we're done kicking it around, we'll doubtlessly have some sound framework for some new, and refreshing, chain games.

For a cooking game how about a play on the Food Channel show "Chopped". Three ingredients are listed and all you have to do is come up with the name of a dish that would incorporate those three ingredients (no need for recipes). You then post the name, copy the bottom two ingredients and add a third. The dishes name can be straight-forward or something clever involving wordplay of some sort.

Example:

Brussels Sprouts
Clotted Cream
Sardines

Belgian Creamed Pilchards

Clotted Cream
Sardines
Basmati Rice

Wow, that sounds very interesting! Great idea!

Oh, indeed! I like that food game idea, too! Seems playable just as maninmidohio explained it as well !

Of course, you all do realize that playing this game will make us all hungry?

OK, then. Just counted 'em and it seems that we have 45 active games (we're permitted to have 50). Unless I counted wrong, o' course, in which case I'll announce we have 45-ish active games ... and that "Which One Is True?" one is drifting off into the sunset pretty soon is my best guess, so that makes even more room. There's space for a handful of new stuff, and I'll get that *Chopped* idea posted today [let's hope I don't mangle the explanation - I'll likely just copy and paste it the way manninmidohio introduced it]. More new chains can be added, though ... let's keep some brilliant notions on the flow here, yes ? I'll probably start (yippee!) the *Haiku* one soon as well. Still needing to figure out a "rhymer", however (haiku doesn't rhyme, necessarily), so try thinking of more input on what'll work there. Here's hoping you all have a terrific weekend!

What about a limerick game?

Oh ... limericks could be great fun! How to turn them into a chain game might present a challenge, but seems doable. Well, and how to resist letting said limericks become obscene might become an issue, too . Any ideas how we could format it, one post leading to the next?

I was thinking maybe a poster could leave the first line, and the susequent poster has to complete a limerick that goes with that line.

...Or have each of five posters leave one line to complete a five-line limerick?

Just popping in to mention that (no) I haven't forgotten about the Haiku and Limerick games ... stay tuned to this space . Having a few *issues* over here with my arms being uncooperative lately, so haven't gotten 'er done yet ~ but these rickety glitches are usually temporary. I ought to be fully functional, or at least as functional as I ever get, in a day or so. Also, I'm kinda liking the "first poster gives the first line, the next poster gives the next four" idea in the Limerick one. Only because I'm thinking it might make for a more sensible coherent limerick that way? Different authors for each line could go all over the place and become nothing more than gobbledygook that rhymes. Or maybe not? Just thinking out loud. Chime in with thoughts, please ....

Hey, folks! Just wanted to pop in here --- initially to apologize, but now there's more to say than just that. For the past ten days ol' Gatsby has been deep in the bowels of computer Hell . Couldn't even sign on to Windows, which prevented me from getting any help from various technical support people ~ one can't click on that to try this when there ain't nothing to *click*. I had a "lovely" big black screen staring at me for days on end. After many days of it and countless hours in each trying everything imaginable to turn that dreaded black screen into something else? Today, in the throes of pure and unadulterated (but chronic) repetitive stubbornness the black screen changed and I was given entry back into Cyberland. What was it I did to "fix" it, you might ask? Simple UNtechie answer: Dunno. But whatever it was, it worked. So I asked no questions. Anyway, that was the 'apology' I'd planned to offer. Sorry to disappear like that, without warning or motive. But now there seems a tad more to say than simply that. I shot into the Chains immediately upon being able to this afternoon ... reasonably sure that all would be OK without my motley involvement required, and I was right. But it was even better than being "OK". Seemed like I wasn't even missed at all ! There may be some out there who might assume that would make me feel unimportant or unnecessary -- might make me feel a tad sad, or something? Let me say that I never need to feel, or even aspire to feel, 'important' or 'necessary'. And I was so-o-o- relieved, and grateful, that everything rolled better than smoothly in my short abscence. It doesn't need done, I know, but I'm going to thank you all for keeping things so nicely sorted down here during my hiatus anyway. You're a good group (which I knew already) and I am very lucky to be a part of you lot. This may be a "silly" post, probably is. No mater, though ... I wanted to express my gratitude regardless.

That's all I wanted to say, then. I'll shut up now ... and go catch up on ten (plus) cyber days lost. I tip my hat to you, one and all !