Phonebooks aren't obsolete when trying to find someone's phone number! They're only obsolete if you're trying to find some businesses phone number.

I have totted up everyone's scores. I have not heard back from other judges (tbf it was quite short notice ) but that probably wouldn't change anything because it didn't come down to bonus points at the bottom end.

In pole position, with an astounding 20 points and 5 bonus points, it's Major Helper! Congratulations!

In last position, it pains me to say that Popeychops, with 18 points (and 3 bonuses) you're fired.

Genuinely disappointed to see Popey knocked out; he played very well throughout all rounds so far and I thought he stood a damn good chance of winning overall! I guess the constraints of trying to find obscure items in university accommodation made this round particularly tricky for him. As you can see, it was a very close battle this round (CarolKarine and Guard of Osiris also got 20/20 but only three bonuses each and Mole, Watson, Vinyl and Ser Periagil all got 19).

Round Six
Persuasion


At the end of this round, one player will be eliminated as usual. Whether you survive or not, is entirely based on your skill in persuasion.

Each player still alive (CarolKarine, Major Helper, Watson, Jetkill Fastmurder, Vinyl, Mole, Ser Periagil and Guard of Osiris) will shortly be receiving an email à la Reservoir Dogs which allocates you a pseduonym. You will be one of the following: Mr White, Mr Orange, Mr Black, Mr Blonde, Mr Pink, Mr Brown, Mr Blue, Mr Green (sorry Vinyl; they're all male characters!)

The list will be randomised and I ask that you do not reveal to other players and judges which character you have received.

Your task is then to write a persuasive letter to save yourself from elimination. Send these letters to me (closet.hippy@gmail.com - the email you'll get your pseudonym from) and I shall publish them here. This way, nobody knows who has written each letter so there is no popularity contest (we already did that round); the decisions will be made entirely on the content of your letter. I will also be removing myself from the judging panel for this round in order to make it fair.

There will be a two-stage deadline; the first deadline is when I must have received your email and when this passes, I will open the voting phase; the entries will be published in the thread and the judges will be able to vote for who they thought was most persuasive.

Anything goes in the persuasion; flattery, blackmail and empty promises all are fine - think of it like an election campaign. However, if you reveal your pseudonym you will be disallowed entry; you will either lose your bye (if you have one remaining) or you will be eliminated.

If you wish to use fancy writing in the thread such as bold writing or colourful writing then please use the [ ] bits of code within the text; I will just be copy-pasting your emails in, so coloured text within the email won't work.

I know it's a long brief, but the simplest way to demonstrate is by example:

Mr Red's Manifesto

Dear Sirs,

My name is Mr Red, and I am writing to ask for your vote in the upcoming elimination battle in the marvellous forum game created by the magnificent¹ gent known as NowhereT.

I believe I deserve your vote because I, like you, am awesome - and today, in this world of beige mediocrity, we awesome few should stick together. Safety in numbers², as they say. To demonstrate my commitment to the cause of awesome, I will even go so far as to include a link so we can share awesome things. I will even go so far as to bold and colour that link scarlet³. I will even go so far as to start sentences the same way three times, like politicians do. However, one thing I will never do is promise you let you down⁴.

Etc...

Useful tools in this exercise
¹ Flattery
² Cliché
³ Empty promises
⁴ Humour

The deadline for sending in your email is midnight (forum time) 3rd December 2011

I will be using my bye this round. Far too risky for me to enter.

Fair enough, Major Helper! You've been sent an email anyway just in case you change your mind.

*Reads up a few of the Nigerian Prince emails in his spam*

[This message has been edited by Watson (edited 11-27-2011 @ 08:56 AM).]

Lolol

The subject of the email is "AoKH Survivor Round Six" if that helps. There may be typos in some of them because I did all eight in quick succession :/

I got conned firmly

Watters' post about Nigerian princes confused me about what you meant there GoO Glad you got the email.

Ditto.

Disappointed that you didn't consider my owl awesome enough to pass me through.
Hell, what is there that begins with Q in university accomodation that isn't a Q? Quest items on the flat nerd's WOW account?

q tips ? quesadilla ? queen of X? quarterback ?

Quote, question, quiz, query, queer... There are lots of creative things that people came up with I did accept the whisky as currency but the other entries were just too damned good Welcome to the judging panel though

Strictly speaking, everyone took photos of about 1x10^28 quarks so we all should have passed the q round.
Now if I'd thought of that at the time...

I did accept the whisky as currency

You, sir, have excellent taste.

[This message has been edited by Popeychops (edited 11-27-2011 @ 09:30 AM).]

Prove it

I dont see any quarks in yours

I will use my bye this time.

I have my mid sems going on, and can't devote much time for a week or so.

Otherwise I had such cool ideas to write and persuade, full with pop culture references.

Ahh shame I think this round would have suited you, Ser! Keep an eye on the thread in case the deadline gets extended

CarolKarine
Watson (one bye remaining)
Jetkill Fastmurder
Mole
Guard of Osiris

You knocked off Thy from the OP

I think I can pass this round pretty easily.

Oops yeah I meant to update it to Vinyl but evidently forgot (sorry thy)

Wait.. am I the only one with a bye now?

Yes, unless Major Helper or Ser Periagil change their minds.

I probably won't because I don't trust my skills of appearing nice enough to vote for against my fellow contenders The only one I could probably beat would be Jetkill unless he manages to surprise

Remember, this is all to be done anonymously... So while you may be able to guess who is who (eg. Mine would be full of semicolons), it's not the same as a popularity contest... It depends on your ability to write persuasively.

Gonna feel great if I knock out Watson this round

For the voting we should do it where you list in order of preference. Not just one single vote to avoid ties

[This message has been edited by Vinyl (edited 11-27-2011 @ 12:35 PM).]

That's not a bad idea, Vinyl! Perhaps judges give a top choice which gets 2 points and a second choice which gets 1.

Maybe a +1, -1 scheme would be better, that way it'd decide the eliminated player more easily (which is actually all that counts).