I've decided to make a guide, this is not a guarantee on winning whatsoever, but this can help you win. I've seen many losses because of incredibly not-so-smart reasons, and wins through logical posting. I've won six times, and from the experienced I've gathered, here is what I can share to everyone.
First and foremost, I would like to thank @Gantic for making an official thread of
the count, a simple and beautiful game.
Also thanks to @Guest_Pegasus1234 for helping me with some research.
Users who contributed to the guide with good advice:
@Doombreed
@Pedro97
@R2D21999
Here we go with the guide:
Things to know before we get started:
-- There are about 3500 pages right now, with 10 posts each. It takes 10 pages to win a count. There are about 8 wins so far. 80 pages that are wins / 3500 pages = 2.2% chance of being in a successful count. (If I'm not mistaken.)
-- Based of research, 2 out of 10 counts were stopped by moderators. The other 8 was stopped by user mistakes. 3 of those 8 were repeating numbers, and the rest were late edits. Though this is a very small amount of counts, this mostly defines the rest of the other counts.
-- Me and six other users established a counting order, on who posts when. For example: 1. Me 2. John 3. Jake 4. Jared 5. Hailey etc.. And because of that, we managed to climb to 100 three times in one day.
-- Ninja'd definition: You are ninja'd when a user's post doesn't show up when you are typing your post and you end up counting the same number or an earlier number than you are supposed to.
-- Late edit: An edit that was done 30 seconds after posting, or a post with a tag at the bottom saying "last edited...."
Correct things to do:
-- Most IMPORTANT thing to guarantee a win, is establishing an order on who posts when. This has let me achieve:
- Count to 100 4th win page 3582
- Count to 100 5th win page 3592, essentially counting to 200. No mistake in between both counts.
-- Editing, it's all about the editing. This is the cure to getting ninja'd. As soon as you post check if you are on the right number. You have thirty seconds to do so.
-- Post only after at least two users have posted after your last post. Not following this rule of thumb may lead to a newbie back to back posting with you.
-- If there are too many people counting at one time, leave the count. You are still in the list of winners if the count reaches 100 and you posted at least once.
-- Keep calm.
Panic may lead you to clicking the wrong things when you are trying to edit your post. You might report yourself or click edit twice, causing you to have an edit without an actual edit in the post. Though panicking is bad, getting excited is much worse, often leaving someone forgetful of checking if they got ninja'd or repeated a number.
-- Making the number that signifies the position of your post clear. Make sure if there are a lot of numbers in your post, that you bold the number meant to be the position of your post. Also English is mandatory because it's in the rules to speak in English in all the forums.
-- Realize that your team wants to win, even if you won already and don't feel up to it. Win once? Not impressive, win as many times as @Darkfire45, very impressive.
-- Right before posting (especially if it is a long post.), Copy and past the text, refresh the page, adjust the number in your text if needed, then post. Much easier than editing especially if you were ninja'd to the next page.
Wrong things to do:
-- Posting like this: P1, P2, P1, P3. Though it isn't against the rules, it certainly puts the count at risk, especially if P1 forgets or doesn't see the previous counting order.
-- Joining in when users are already at 90 and above. There are many
reasons why you shouldn't post anymore when the count has reached a
very high number.
1. Including yourself is selfish because these other users have worked hard to get that far.
2. You increase the risk of people getting ninja'd because they didn't expect you to join, since you are just joining now.
3. Ninja.
4. NINJA
5. NINJAS
-- Waiting to post so you can claim the 100 spot. This is very selfish, and the truth is, you aren't the only one waiting to steal it away. The outcome of that is three people posting 100 and someone forgetting the 99. It happens. Don't do it.
-- Restarting without solid evidence that you have to restart. Just wait until it's a real 100% sure that you have to restart. You can save counts by calling a post correct.
-- Restarting because a user did not follow an additional rule. The rules state
that you have to restart when a core rule is broken, not additional rules. You
can find it in the OP.
-- Do not post just because you want to increase post numbers. People really want to win, do not deprive them of their win because you have done something incredibly selfish. In conclusion, if you aren't here to win, don't post.
-- Calling out moderators, whether it has a "@" or not. Sometimes certain mods are interested in what you are talking about, especially if it's them, and they decide to post.
1. Rude.
2. Increasing the risks of killing the count, users get notified when they are mentioned in a post, meaning mods do too.
Recommended environment for winning a count:
-- Moderators and Admins offline.
1. Checking if they are offline is crucial. You can do this by going in their profiles.
-- 4 to 6 users counting.
1. 3 is too slow
2. 7 and above is a ninja meeting.
-- Fast internet.
1. Fast internet ensures that you can flip between pages fast enough to check if you were ninja'd and edit in time.
2. Slow internet sometimes makes saving the edit slow.
-- Balanced speed.
1. Slow down when you can obviously see everyone is getting ninja'd. A good sign to stop posting for a bit is when there are over 6 users and three of them are getting ninja'd at a time.
2. Pick up the pace, a slow count will always be crushed by a mod.
Conclusion:
Most of the counts fail because of user mistakes, and could have been avoided. By acting as a team player you increase chances of success.
Good luck at the count!
*Updated based on a few suggestions which I think is a very good idea!* 1/15/2015
