Maxified said:
I did not notice anything listed in the rules in the first post by boostedxt about having gloves or a rock on the seat. Not sure how that authenticates anything other than you are not wearing the gloves (or rock) in the picture. I guess having the tag picture timed stamped will keep the spectators happy though.
The murals are great! There are several nice murals near me, but work gets in the way of my two-wheeling hobby during the week. Happy tag hunting y'all!
I think there is a post missing or maybe it was in another thread? However this is a post made by Checkswrecks and it does discuss rules.
Being that I never heard a negative from Boostext, I figured it was good.
I've been a regular player of a number of Tag games on ADV for years and love them. Generally, I'm in the Ride-More-Worry-Less camp but having seen some games get screwed up, there are some basics that ought to be set forth here in the beginning for both clarification and sportsmanship.
A really important one is that the way the first intro post by Boostedxt was worded, the photo would have to be of the same singular object, not of a similar theme elsewhere. That is quite limiting to a world-wide group. EricV had the second post and contradicted this by saying "a statue of an Elk" which implies a similar item anywhere. In ADV the similar item concept is called "Wild Card Tag" and I think EricV did us all a favor. Boostedxt set up the game so he ought to have final say, but for a world-group I think it's important to agree up front that we are playing with the "Wild Card" concept. Be warned that wild card tags can go REALLY fast.
Which brings up getting "Bruced" by having the shot and somebody else putting the photo on the web-site first. The first to post the photo counts in all the games I know of, and for good reason. It's really aggravating to take a 6 hour ride, post from your cellphone that you have the shot and will put it up in the evening, then get home and find a photo already posted. Been there done that - it's life! The photo is what counts because the alternative is that the game gets held hostage repeatedly with excuses like "I had to go to work" or "Will post a new one when I get back from the weekend" or "I'm waiting for the snow to melt to get a new tag" etc. Nearly every McDonald's restaurant in the world has wifi, so no need for the excuses.
Tag games usually have a cardinal rule that NO file photos are allowed. The underlying idea of the whole thing is to share a ride, so the photos can't have already been taken. An easy way to assure this happens is for the person making the new tag to put something somewhere in the photo and point out what/where it is. Not all of us live where helmets are required, so for example place a pair of gloves or a stone on the seat/tank/rim/etc.
A sportsman item that should seem like common sense which not everyone gets is that if there are access restrictions, point them out and use some common sense when placing tags. I live near DC and we've had a couple of problems with things only open certain hours. One Virginia rider got picked up by security for taking a photo of a military spot. (He was released after a very uncomfortable and pointed one-sided talk about felonies, posted prohibited signs, losing his bike as evidence till a hearing, etc.) We've had a couple posted in some really dangerous areas of Baltimore (aka Bulletmore) and one guy came too close to getting hurt. Along these thoughts, please remember that most of us don't live anywhere near a farm that raises Tibetan Yaks or where we can find Hero Statues for a specific baseball or Buzkashi team. (Google it)
Finally, tag games run cleanest when there is one person as a moderator, currently Boostedxt here. Otherwise, you get the Game-Rule-Nazis constantly arguing with the It's-In-The-Spirit crowd. The mod can keep the game fun, moving, and is the power to call Bullsh!t on whiners.
Game on!