liv: cup of tea with text from HHGttG (teeeeea)
[personal profile] liv
I am doing a job that's both fiddly and intimidating, and I'm forcing myself to concentrate in very small chunks. So I would be most grateful if you'd join me in playing a silly game. I believe [personal profile] ceb invented this, and titled it pessimized twenty questions.

I'm thinking of something. In order to find out what it is, instead of asking yes/no questions as in traditional twenty questions, you are only allowed to ask me what my something is like. I will answer either: yes, it's a bit like what you guessed, or: no, it's more like French toast. I have to be honest, but I don't have to tell you in what way my thing is more like your thing or more like French toast. If you get a yes, your guess replaces French toast as the comparison object.

Like this:
Me: I'm thinking of something
Player: Is it like Guess1?
Me: No, it's more like French toast
Player: Is it like Guess2?
Me: Yes, it's a bit like Guess2.
Player: Is it like Guess3?
Me: No, it's more like Guess2.
Player: Is it like Guess4?
Me: Yes, it's more like Guess4 than Guess2.

Guesses should in general be specific things rather than categories of things. Eg "Is it like a tiger?" or "Is it like Cate Blanchett?" are legitimate questions, but "Is it like an animal?" or "Is it like a celebrity?" belong in trad twenty questions, not in the pessimized analogy version. And if you ask "Is it like [the thing I originally thought of]" then you win and you can think of something and lead the next round.

(I'm wondering if we can take advantage of threaded comments to make triangulating on the answer non-linear, but that's probably too complicated.)

I'll start the first round in the first comment, to make it easier to read if the game works and we want to try further rounds.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-24 07:38 pm (UTC)
randomling: Aeryn Sun from Farscape, as played by Claudia Black. (aeryn)
From: [personal profile] randomling
More like Katniss.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-24 09:09 pm (UTC)
alextiefling: (Default)
From: [personal profile] alextiefling
More like Hawkeye (Avengers) than Katniss?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-24 09:56 pm (UTC)
randomling: Zoe (Firefly). "dangerous beauty" (dangerous beauty)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Still more like Katniss!

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-25 12:37 am (UTC)
randomling: Justin Timberlake makes a victory face. The words "still got it" appear. (got it)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Definitely a lot more like Katniss.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-25 01:55 am (UTC)
seekingferret: Two warning signs one above the other. 1) Falling Rocks. 2) Falling Rocs. (Default)
From: [personal profile] seekingferret
Is it more like Katniss or more like The Hunger Games?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-25 11:11 am (UTC)
randomling: Zoe (Firefly). "dangerous beauty" (dangerous beauty)
From: [personal profile] randomling
More like Katniss.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-25 03:12 pm (UTC)
seekingferret: Two warning signs one above the other. 1) Falling Rocks. 2) Falling Rocs. (Default)
From: [personal profile] seekingferret
More like Katniss or more like Buffy Summers?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-27 07:46 pm (UTC)
randomling: Claudia Donovan (Warehouse 13) looks mischievous in goggles. (claudia)
From: [personal profile] randomling
More like Buffy than Katniss.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 02:12 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
Is it more like Faith or Buffy?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:03 pm (UTC)
randomling: Lance Bass of *nsync, wearing shades and grinning, looks up and to the right. (lance shades)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Tough one, but I think on balance more like Faith than Buffy.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:09 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
More like Echo (from Dollhouse) or more like Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:12 pm (UTC)
randomling: Aeryn and Crichton (Farscape) lean in for a kiss. (aeryn/crichton)
From: [personal profile] randomling
More like Faith still.

(Echo! I love Echo.)

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:17 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
(I love Echo, too. Shame that Dollhouse never got very far.)

More like Root (from Person of Interest) than like Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:20 pm (UTC)
randomling: River Song (of Doctor Who). The text "expect fireworks" is displayed. (expect fireworks)
From: [personal profile] randomling
(Indeed!)

I'm not very familiar with Person of Interest, but from reading a bio of Root I think probably more like Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:23 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
Okay. More like Olivia Dunham, FBI Agent, Fringe Division than Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:25 pm (UTC)
randomling: Olivia Dunham (Fringe) looks scared. (olivia)
From: [personal profile] randomling
This is turning into a delightful tour of fandom. Olivia is my girl.

That's actually really tough, it has aspects in common with both, but I think that in the final reckoning it's probably still more like Faith.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 03:49 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
Hee. Glad to be hitting the fandom buttons, at least.

More like Colonel Eve Baird, Guardian of The Librarians than like Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 04:03 pm (UTC)
randomling: Claudia, Myka and Pete (Warehouse 13) look for clues. (claudia myka pete)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Hmm. Had to look her up again, but I think still more like Faith than Eve Baird.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-02-28 04:18 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
Hrm. More like Mystique (X-Men) than Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-03-02 02:00 pm (UTC)
randomling: Toshiko Sato (Torchwood) rests her face on her hand. (sad tosh)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Ah sorry, I went away to think about it and then it went out of my head!

Tough one, but I think on balance still more like Faith.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-03-02 05:03 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
I feel like I'm orbiting the right idea, but I haven't yet hit the path forward.

So, now for something different, more like Willow than like Faith?

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-03-02 05:04 pm (UTC)
randomling: Tara McLay holds a lit candle out to Willow Rosenberg. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) (tara/willow)
From: [personal profile] randomling
Yes! Definitely more like Willow than Faith.

Re: Round 2

Date: 2015-03-02 05:13 pm (UTC)
silveradept: A kodama with a trombone. The trombone is playing music, even though it is held in a rest position (Default)
From: [personal profile] silveradept
That would do it, then. More like Alyson Hannigan than Willow?

Re: Round 2

From: [personal profile] randomling - Date: 2015-03-02 08:11 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: Round 2

From: [personal profile] randomling - Date: 2015-03-02 08:13 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: Round 2

From: [personal profile] silveradept - Date: 2015-03-02 09:33 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: Round 2

From: [personal profile] randomling - Date: 2015-03-03 05:05 pm (UTC) - Expand

Re: Round 2

From: [personal profile] silveradept - Date: 2015-03-03 09:09 pm (UTC) - Expand

Soundbite

Miscellaneous. Eclectic. Random. Perhaps markedly literate, or at least suffering from the compulsion to read any text that presents itself, including cereal boxes.

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