AOF Instructions for Collaborative Players
To All Participants in Collaborative Matches:
First of all, thank you for taking part!
The collaborative matches are a rare opportunity for real team play, and should hopefully give the community an opportunity to watch a top class game with lots to talk about.
This sort of team environment can be really enjoyable, but there's also the potential for it to descend into an argument. We really don't want that. The idea is to enjoy the beauty of Arimaa together and try to understand its depth that little bit better. Win or lose, we can all walk away with that. So hopefully the suggestions below will help us to have a great match.
Getting Ready If you can, please get a headset instead of using your PC speakers. This will make a great difference to sound quality and make it easier for you to have a conversation with your teammates. Also, please download the Teamspeak client if you haven't already and make sure you're reasonably familiar with the features. If you have any questions just reply to this message.
Start First, you will need to come into Teamspeak around ten minutes before your match is due to start. There will be a special room called "Backstage" where you will find the organisers. We will help you if you have any problems. When it's time you'll enter your team room, for which you will be emailed a password.
As the Captain You will be the one to actually make the moves. In extreme cases you will just have to make the best move you can see, however you should try to reach a consensus with your teammates as to which is the best move. Be like a calm and respectful judge. Listen to what your teammates have to say, and try to negotiate a way forward together. Don't be afraid to back down from your initial suggestion. It is a strong leader who can abandon his own idea to go with someone elses when he can see it is truly better. If your teammates start to get a little excitable, you need to be the voice of reason helping things along. Help everybody to remember (and remember yourself) that it really is only a game, and it doesn't matter who wins or loses.
As a Teammate As you can see from reading the Captain's instructions, you need to be an extra set of eyes, ears and wits to help your captain and your team to find the best moves. Don't be scared of being wrong. Don't be afraid to speak your mind, but always be respectful of other players whatever their level. And when other players challenge your ideas, don't take it personally and don't feel as if you've failed as a teammate. Your ideas, even if they are wrong, may lead to other ideas which eventually win the game. Don't be disappointed if your move isn't selected. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, so it could well be that your suggestion would have been better, and you were right all along. But there's no need to make a big thing of it; just try to help your team to make the best of the situation.
In Emergencies Come back into the Backstage room in Teamspeak and explain the situation to the organizers. If Teamspeak fails, come into the chatroom.
End Once the game is finished come into Backstage. There might be time to have a short interview with some of you, but if not, thanks for taking part!
