Difference between revisions of "CtFwS Judge's Secrets"

Revision as of 14:38, 8 February 2009

You have found the repository of secret knowledge about how to run a game of Capture the Flag with Stuff. Actually, it's not secret, just obscure because only about a dozen or so people actually care about this. But those dozen should really know these things.

• Have a judge's meeting. This sounds obvious, but there have been semesters when it didn't happen. At the meeting, do things like get people's phone numbers, and go over tricky bits in the rules. Ideally, go over the entire rules, but really, nobody has that much patience. Maybe use this as a run-through for the rules presentation. Anyway, make sure the judges will actually know the rules before the game. That's usually a good thing, and doesn't always happen.
• Hand out wristbands at the door. Now that we don't have to worry about gender balance (goodbye, belt of chastity), we can hand them out randomly at the door. Try to hand out roughly equal numbers of each color, though it's probably a good idea to count before the first game anyway.
• Use a microphone. This will make anybody who has to talk much happier. (In theory anyway... as of 2/2009, I don't think we've ever managed to do this)
• Don't tell anybody, but it's okay if we lose a bit of stuff. Try to get it back, and get people to go fetch stuff if they know where it is. We have plenty of extra potions and wands, and can always make more. Moreover, typically stuff that is lost one game will be found the next game, since people will be looking around for flags and such. However, it's good to maintain the fiction that we actually care, since we don't want to lose too much, and people don't mind a break between games, anyway.