The Baiter's Cup- A Competitive Scambaiting Tournament

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419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

I have an idea, which as far as I can establish has not yet been tried. I can't for the life of me imagine why not.

Allow me to introduce my suggestion for your assessment, critiquing, improval and/or dismissal:

The Baiter's Cup
A Competitive Scambaiting Tournament

The cup is a single-elimination tournament, where a number of baiters compete directly against each other. Each round, a winner is declared when one baiter concedes, or when the consensus of opinion is that one baiter has entirely outperformed the other to the extent where he/she can no longer be beaten. Winners progress to the next round, and will compete 1-on-1 until only one remains.

Each round, two baiters are pitted against each other. An email is selected from surplus. This is supplied to each baiter at the same time. The baiter is then allowed to take any approach they wish with the lad- straight-bait, ASEM, crazy modalities, the works. However, they are only allowed ONE initial contact email. If they send an ASEM which gets ignored, they're done. If their bait fizzles out or their character gets caught in a dead-end or exposed, they are not allowed to pick up again afresh unless the bait continues naturally onto a different, existing character (eg the lawyer/wife/dog of a "dead" businessman).

Each baiter has a forum thread dedicated to their version of the bait, where every email sent or received is posted for public viewing. Anyone is welcome to comment on the baits in progress, but not to offer advice. Obviously, the two competitors will each be fully aware of the other's bait.

Baiters may not directly sabotage each other. It is not OK to claim the other baiter's character is trying to chop your dolla, for example. It's fine, however, to get the lad stredded in Liberia so he's unable to respond to the other baiter's emails.

One exciting aspect of this idea is that, at the outset of each stage, no-one has any idea what the lad will be like. It may be a semi-literate treasure who will happily trek to Shanghai to pick up the suspiciously-named laptops shipped to him by his new church buddies, or it may be a guy who has been baited fifty times before and will drop anyone who asks him a question. The baiters will have to play it by ear, and study each other's baits for clues. A risky move may win the match, or could get you eliminated.

What I would like to do here is get some feedback from the community about whether this idea is workable in its current form, whether there is sufficient interest, and what aspects need changing, clarifying, adding or removing. Ideally, I would also like two volunteers to have a dry run competition against each other, so I could see how well this works in practice...

419Eater is my life Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 351

If this is workable it sounds ACE and I would love to have a go.

Perhaps the winner could have golden cup or something in their sig line?

Edit: Oh yeh, claimed my first piggy today... just thought I'd mention... yeaaayy Very Happy

Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:31 pm

or, even better, someone can get a lad to create a golden cup to be sent to the winner via a drop box Very Happy

419Eater is my life Joined: 08 Aug 2008 Posts: 475

A NICE IDEA

and the rules sounds fair to me.
people like you keep the ball rollin' .

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

El Nombre wrote:

or, even better, someone can get a lad to create a golden cup to be sent to the winner via a drop box Very Happy

Genius! I think that would be a pretty clear round-winner... Smile

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 18 May 2009 Posts: 81

It's a great idea, I just wonder how long it would take to get to the final? I suppose it all depends on the number of people wanting to take part, but one could envision 2 decent baiters going against each other and the bait going on for weeks or even months. Maybe to help this along, there could be some time limit involved? Maybe be either actual time, or total number of emails sent (e.g. 50 emails to get the best result)? But I definitely think it's worth a try!

Master Baiter Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 241

No time limit, that would be foolish.

The best bait is to send least number of email to inflict the most damage.

We have to set a target for example, could be

a, safari

b, photo

c, complete 27 page forms.

d, MTCN Secure with 500 clicks

e, TWAT

I put my hand up to volunteer and I am still a noob, please don't pit me up against a pro

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

jackthelad wrote:

Maybe to help this along, there could be some time limit involved?

I thought about that, but a bait that lasts a year and 1000 emails is intrinsically better than one that lasts only a week with 50, even if the same stuff happens in both. I imagine that the competitive side of things would make the baits shorter than average though, as if both baits had been going a while and were fairly safe you'd end up with both baiters taking increasingly risky steps trying to out-do the other.

ramsey wrote:

We have to set a target

I disagree, I think it should be free-form. For some (many) lads, something like 500 M7CN S3cur3 clicks would be impossible. I think half the skill in baiting is reading the lad's response and working out how they will react to each outlandish suggestion. Early in the bait you assess "How desperate is this lad? Will he travel? Is he likely to be paranoid?" and so on... you can't really just decide in advance that both finalists are aiming for an arrest, for example.

Plus, I like the idea of the baiters being able to surprise us, and each other, by suddenly pulling a genius plan out of nowhere... Smile

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:16 am

I really like the idea of a head-to-head competition using an arbitrarily selected Lad shared between baiters, but....

Scammy Scameroo wrote:

...a bait that lasts a year and 1000 emails is intrinsically better than one that lasts only a week with 50, even if the same stuff happens in both....

My specialty is slow-motion baiting, and I can tell you this could kill the contest. Not just because a faster baiter could run into a sticking point sooner, but also a slower baiter could change the approach up, depending how the scammer responds to the other bait (if everything is published as it happens). And it's just plain boring during the early phases of the bait which mainly concern supposed problems in getting the scammer's messages!

So I'd set a strict deadline at which point the "winner" of a round would be decided. I would suggest not having a specific goal in mind, as this can favour certain kinds of baiting over others.

419Eater is my life Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 351

Setting a time frame I think would be wise, and I'd suggest a month as being reasonable?? Keeps it at a good pace that way so those that drop out straight away keep interested.

Perhaps some kind of basic scoring system for what a single baiter can acheive in that time i.e. 0.5 points per mile on a safari (thats won't be easy in a month), 100 for an 'orginal' trophy, then some other scoring for closed sites and accounts for that bait only.

Edit: spelling...ugrh

Master Baiter Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 241

I like the scoring idea. Otherwise it would be too hard to judge. One baiter might like forms while one guy like trophys. Without a specific format it would be very difficult to judge.

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

OK, I'm persuaded! A one-month "deadline" for each round does sound like a good plan actually, plus there's the added excitement that could occur in a close-fought competition where both baiters end up pushing hard for trophies or travel as the deadline looms...

I'm not sure about scoring, though. I think that keeping it informal would be best, until we hit the point where one round is too close to easily call.

The problem is that the scoring entirely depends on the lad. Some will fill in forms until their hands drop off with little or no encouragement, others would rather tattoo someone else's face onto their face... I think we (the community) can definitely keep an informal scoring system up and running, but I don't think setting actual points values per mile or per click or per loaf of bread on their head would work out.

...or it might be essential. That's why I want to try a dry run first! Wink

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:14 pm

Quote:

The problem is that the scoring entirely depends on the lad.

I think that this is actually part of the fun as, in baiting experiance terms, it allows for a more open playing feild.

I'd definately agree with the more informal scoring system, in case it goes down to the wire. In certain circumstance a time extension could be granted.

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:50 pm

i like this idea. a time limit may not be a bad idea, 30 days sounds reasonable, I'm usually bored with them by then. Wink

a points system might also be a good idea, maybe something like 1/2 point for each page of a completed form, 5 points for a bank account, 10 points for a trophy pic, 10000000 points if they light themselves on fire and run through their village naked, etc.

forms are most times fairly easy to get, but do have that chance of ending the bait so there is that risk, especially if there is another interested victim. it wouldn't really be fair if one baiter is piling up the forms and the other is shooting for a trophy pic or safari?

points would also be a good way to rank all of the baiters in the contest.

baiter 1=100 pnts
baiter 2=75 pnts
MG = -30

the only problem i can forsee is that sometimes the lads pulled from surplus never reply.

maybe a ruling that the lad has to reply xx times for it to be considered a good address, unless your opponent has had success with replies?

I think a few minor thoughts to work out, but sounds fun, I'm in.

edited to add, maybe instead of points, a voting poll? after the 30 day deadline, the members of eater could determine who advances?

** Retired ** Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 750 Location: Air

^^^ IMO the voting poll is a great idea. It ensures no bias to any particular baiter.

30 day ext, voting poll, head to head, could be fun Smile

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

mewing_ghecko wrote:

maybe a ruling that the lad has to reply xx times for it to be considered a good address, unless your opponent has had success with replies?

I was thinking that both baiters could agree that they have a duff lad, and then restart the round with a new one. Seems a fair system to me. Obviously if the lad randomly ignores one competitor but not the other, it'll be up to the successful baiter to decide if he wants to take the easy victory or allow a restart.

mewing_ghecko wrote:

edited to add, maybe instead of points, a voting poll? after the 30 day deadline, the members of eater could determine who advances?

Good idea! That way, it's not just about lad pain, it's also about running an entertaining bait- and, after all, that's why most of us are here! And again, it balances out the competition for different baiting styles... it's the community who decide what value to place on the 29 pages of forms or the photo of the lad's penis.

EDIT: Aw, someone wants me banned. Sad

** Retired ** Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 750 Location: Air

Scammy Scameroo wrote:

EDIT: Aw, someone wants me banned. Sad

That was me !

Dont worry, I dont want you banned, far from it. I just couldnt resist it Wink

So about the voting poll, what if its a split decision ??

Have you got your 22 guinea pigs for the dry run yet ?

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

smartbomb wrote:

So about the voting poll, what if its a split decision ??

Er... we could let the lad decide? Confused

smartbomb wrote:

Have you got your 22 guinea pigs for the dry run yet ?

I think a few of the posters here would be up for trying it out. I was thinking two people, shorter time limit (two weeks?), just to see if the basic idea and 2-thread "post everything" format work. I'll happily do the legwork, because there isn't really any legwork. Smile

OK, so, could anyone who'd like to try out the two-week dry run please lob me a PM? I'll kick it off in a day or so, and we should hopefully soon see which bits don't work. Smile

Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:04 pm

I'd love to play.

I'd love to have the challenge of keeping going with whatever sort of Lad it turns out to be. I accept that my 'successes' in baiting are mainly down to 'choosing the right Lad for the job' and discarding the will-never-works. So to try and make a success of whatever comes my way would be great fun.

IF, however, it is judged on 'entertainment value' of the bait. I've lost already. My characters are never entertaining. They are really boring.

I'd still like to play, though. I don't mind getting no votes.

419Eater is my life Joined: 15 Apr 2009 Posts: 296

Branwen wrote:

IF, however, it is judged on 'entertainment value' of the bait. I've lost already. My characters are never entertaining. They are really boring.

I'm sure you can make a Lad miserable enough to more than compensate for not using a character called "Ivana Ramas"! Remember it's your fellow baiters who will be voting, so seeing a clever strategy being played out is likely to impress the voters more than feeding the lad some funny details.

Oh, and you can't use "Ivana Ramas", because she's a real person. Some parents are cruel...

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Posts: 3193

You've currently got two "baiting gods" in the poll. It seems to me that they have just selected themselves for the dry run. Laughing

If, of course, they are godlike enough to admit it was them. Wink

Edited for Engrish; no excuse

419Eater is my life Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 351

^^ Risking the wrath of scoffs, fnarrs and 'yeh whatever's, it was me Embarassed

No point in doing things in halves eh? Wink

I'd game for doing the dry run but can't start until this coming Sunday at the earliest - off on me jollies again yeayy!

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 18 May 2009 Posts: 81

I'm looking forward to seeing how this progresses in the dry run...maybe I'll take part if it goes ahead "for real", maybe by that time I'll be a bit more experienced and stand more of a chance Smile

Master Baiter Joined: 23 Jan 2009 Posts: 241

This is getting more interesting by the day. OK, lets give the poll a go. I have got to make my boring character a bit more funky.

Who wants to have a dry run with me? Please PM me. We will just pull one of surplus and give it a go.

** Retired ** Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 750 Location: Air

^^ I agree. And IMO, the newer baiters stand just as much chance as the more eperienced, as experience is usually associated with big baits like a safari or church bait which is not normally something you can do in 30 days.

Nice idea Scammy Very Happy

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