(O)PTIMIZE Reloaded: StrangerCoug's game!

[Nobody Special]

/in as contender (again)

[yabbaguy]

Firing stagehands...

Dealing with outcries of employee abuse...

Averting lawsuits...

Finished. Commencing game...

---

$500,000 is on the line.



But this isn't just luck.

This... is Optimize!

*Intro Theme, camera spins around with a quick glance at 20 virtual sets of spheres. It zooms in one set which spontaneously opens to show the innards of the spheres. A golden sphere flies in, spins around while it's opening, and shows a red $0 sign inside. It shuts, spins and opens again, and this time shows an ultraviolet $500,000 (where 0,01 euro and 1 000 000 euros are shown). The sphere closes and opens again, now showing all sorts of game components flying around on screen, with amounts of money on different colored backgrounds flying into the monitor and all the spheres are flying about. An ultraviolet sphere then flies in where it should be in the logo as its button turns red and the other letters fly in as the theme concludes.*

*main theme, out I come from under the rising monitor, through the walkway, and onto the stage*

Helloooooooooooooooo everybody!

*audience applauds, players are seen clapping as I come on out, I walk out into the center of the Arena and the applause subsides*

Well, we've had quite the long, arduous journey trying to get these programs to you. Thank goodness there are no network contracts here in cyberspace or we'd be woefully shy of our quota. But today, we naively try to fight that as we bring you another brave contender, fighting it out just as naively in the faint hopes that they might strike it rich against our colorful beauties!

Last game, Nobody Special would've been red in the face had he not been so pale instead. After multiple miraculous streaks of luck and multiple fainting scares, it was the golden spheres that caused the greatest collapse of them all. First ultraviolet, then blue both were stripped out of the game, and finally, Nobody Special was unable to find $40K, and ultimately ended up with $200.

Not much room to go anywhere but up. Well.....there's room to go down anyway. But I have a sense this contender would rather go left, because rising up the lift now is one of our biggest proponents of the Southpaw Special sphere picking strategy...

StrangerCoug

!

*everyone cheers, the lift platform ascends and brings StrangerCoug up with it, who looks around nervously and takes in the scenery. Spotlights swirl around, as do chase lights as the lift platform completes its ascent all the way to the top, bringing all the lighting back to normal*

...

Hope you liked the scintillating alliteration at the end there.

Ever since we last saw you on this stage, it feels as though you've put a gazillion more fun Mish Mash threads since. I'd sign up for Chicago Bridge, but I'm afraid I'd make an arse of myself in front of my partner...kinda did a few weeks ago at a regional tournament.

How do you think you're going to get on with the spheres this time around?

[StrangerCoug]

OK-ish, I think.

[yabbaguy]

...ok!

Let's get cracking...bring on the spheres!

*100 colorful spheres rise out to greet the 20 players in the gallery*

There are your four different flavors of color spheres: red, green, blue, and ultraviolet.

Backstage, you picked a three, (sadly ._.), as your initial target.



Each player has five spheres with the numbers 0-4 inside, in some random order.

*virtual set of color spheres seen closing*

Each turn, you pick a player, and they'll open one of their spheres.

If his or her color sphere's number is higher than your target, you win money on that sector. Win 5 times on red, and red's worth $50,000. Win 5 times on ultraviolet...and you'll bank $500,000 on that sector!

*audience cheers*

I say "could be", because you only get to keep one color's cash. And that's determined by picking one of those 20 golden spheres over there at the Finale of your game...

(8)

(6)

(4)

(2)

...containing colors inside, in that distribution you see there. Beware...many golden spheres will drop as the game goes on, which will shift the odds. Keep an eye on them!

Only one thing left to say...good luck, StrangerCoug!

*audience cheers, camera spins around dramatically to show StrangerCoug's face contemplating his myriad of options, Mega Monitor loads in the information*

doctorwho
NoWhammies11
Cheery Dog
KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench
Mist7676
animorpherv1

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

Ooh, we got an upgrade to our colors on the set (black forum). When did that happen? Me likey, although that's quite a pale shade of blue- and holy jumpin', Coug got an aqua nametag? What have I been missing all this time?

Okay, enough of my mumbling. Go on, find a 4!

[StrangerCoug]

Let's go, doctorwho, let's go! *clap, clap, clap*
Let's go, doctorwho, let's go! *clap, clap, clap*

[yabbaguy]

*everyone joins into Coug's cheer, including a stadium organist*

doctorwho

Well, we're giving our newbies a more majestic welcome every game!

Here we go, doctorwho. Pick two of those shiny red spheres in front of you and see if we can't get find that 4, and get some money on red in spite of this obnoxiously high target!

[doctorwho]

Let's go for the edges. 1, then 5 if we need it.

[jmj3000]

/in

[yabbaguy]

doctorwho

*doctorwho bends back the lid, revealing the inside*

doctorwho

*audience awws, set turns gray*

Oops, that's the only target the Whovian loses to!

You can't pick anyone twice, so with only four red players left, that means the $50K on red is unreachable.

doctorwho

Now, for the other fun part.

*spotlights illuminate golden spheres*

(8)

(6)

(4)

(2)

Every turn, we have to open two spheres. doctorwho's color sphere was one, but for the other, now we open a golden sphere and remove it from the game.

Remember, you only win the money from the sector whose color is either picked by you at the end, or is the last color standing in the Golden Gallery.

Let's see which golden sphere is eliminated first.

*unlocks the latch*

*lifts the lid*

*audience gasps*

Well that worsens your chance of winning blue.....though it does increase your chance of winning ultraviolet's cash!

NoWhammies11
Cheery Dog
KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench
Mist7676
animorpherv1

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

Your next target is the same as the last number we revealed, which was....a 3.

We hope you can find a 4 or 0, because a target of 3 can't hurt those!

[StrangerCoug]

Let's chuck another at red and go for

Cheery Dog

.

[Cheery Dog]

Right and them more right!

4 then 5.

[yabbaguy]

Cheery Dog

Last time Cheery Dog was in red, he hit a 4, which helped swyellowtail scoop his $20,000 payday. Let's see how he does here!

Cheery Dog

*Coug twitches at this right-sided selection as Cheery Dog upturns the lid*

Cheery Dog

*more awws, everything loses color*

Two misses on red to start it out.

Cheery Dog

Southpaw bricks out, but I think Coug was more interested in his next target is my guess.

*spotlights shine on golden spheres, I walk behind them*

(8)

(6)

(3)

(2)

Blue took the first hit, which will be next? We're hoping red will be it...

*click*

*flip*

*everyone cheers*

Great! Doesn't matter how bad red goes if the golden spheres keep dropping reds!

NoWhammies11
KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench
Mist7676
animorpherv1

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

Target of 1. We'll get some money showing on the Mega Monitor one day!

[StrangerCoug]

ani

[yabbaguy]

animorpherv1

Our first visit to blue. ani, can you start your sector off right?

[yabbaguy]

Autoselecting...

Original Roll String: 5d5

5 5-Sided Dice: (4, 2, 5, 4, 4) = 19

[yabbaguy]

Mid-right and mid-left spheres selected.

animorpherv1

*lid rises up*

animorpherv1

*everyone groans, set turns colorless*

This isn't "Concentration"; we're trying to AVOID finding matches here!

*audience laughs*

animorpherv1

If only StrangerCoug had been picking from these spheres!

*golden spheres light up*

(7)

(6)

(3)

(2)

Of course, with blue having taken a hit, it's that much less likely that our recent disappointment in the blue sector will affect your final payout!

We've seen a red and a blue, what's next?

*unlocks golden sphere #3*

*flips the lid*

*audience cheers*

Two reds in a row!

NoWhammies11
KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench
Mist7676

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

By coincidence, you've lost 2 red players and 2 red golden spheres, and you've lost 1 blue player and 1 blue golden sphere.

Come on StrangerCoug

*jumps around as if getting limbered up*

, we believe! You can do it! Go get yourself some moneyyyyyyyyy!

[StrangerCoug]

Mist7676

please.

[yabbaguy]

Mist7676

Mist's picks in the other games, from first to most recent: 0, 1, 1, 1, 3, 2, 3, 4.

Hopefully this is the peak of her sphere-picking performance and not a cyclical trend, because we need some moolah badly!

[Mist7676]

Let's go Southpaw, just for you Coug <3

[yabbaguy]

Let's see if this blue rack also has the 4/0 in that spot!

Mist7676

*Mist lifts up the lid*

Mist7676

*audience cheers, set flashes blue*

Excellent start! Mist seems to have honed her former psychic energy once again! Just took her some time.

...

Coug, you remember the rule we open two spheres in every round, but when someone opens a 4, that'd be a pretty raw deal if that was your next target, right?

Hence, instead of opening a golden sphere, we're just going to ask Mist to open another blue sphere. You can't win or lose money; this is just to determine the next target. That's why we want it to be a 0, as low as possible!

Mist7676

Do we have two perfect Southpaws side by side?

*Mist whisks up the lid*

Mist7676

*audience awws, some mock boos*

Some unappreciative lot you are! She got StrangerCoug some guaranteed money and you boo.

*laughter from all*

Mist7676

That's the rack doctorwho wanted with his end-to-end pick.

NoWhammies11
KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

But of course, that $600 is only yours if you pick a blue golden sphere at the end of your game. And there are only 3 left.

Meanwhile, for the third...blinking time, it's a target of 3.

Choose wisely!

[StrangerCoug]

NoWhammies11

, get me a four. And not four whammies, please. I'd like to stick around here for a bit.

[yabbaguy]

NoWhammies11

Clearly the 3s meant for red again in this game.

NoWhammies, aptly with the red spheres, can you overcome that pesky high bar? You've never picked lower than a 2 after all.

[NoWhammies11]

Come on 4!!

Second from right, then second from left INB.

[yabbaguy]

NoWhammies11

*NoWhammies11 unveils the contents*

NoWhammies11

*audience cheers, everything turns red*

Magnificent! What a time for that!

*more cheering*

Well that makes TWO 4s in a row, and now another chance to peg down our target for free. HOPEFULLY, NoWhammies11 is able to do just that and find a 0.

Choose again...

*NoWhammies11 unlocks the latch*

NoWhammies11

*and lifts the hatch*

NoWhammies11

*oohs, polite applause*

Well... these spheres can't be arsed to produce a 0 for you StrangerCoug just yet, but at least it's not another 3. Otherwise, you might've had to ponder making your FOURTH visit to red already!

NoWhammies11

KingdomAces
Tragedy

Lord Mhork
DiplomatDC
puzzledan
D3f3nd3r
IceGuy

Kcdaspot
JerryArr
Drench

JDGA
orcinus_theoriginal
xtopherusD
bird1111
JasonWazza

Mixed results in those two sectors to start them off. You've yet to

earn

a win; those 4s were always cashing (heh, Bridge terms again).

Let's see how you do as you designate the first player to face this target of 2!

[StrangerCoug]

puzzledan, you're up!