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Fantasy Bakeoff

Hello hello hello.  Another week, another blog post.  This has been, I think, the most consistent part of the pandemic for me.  So much so that I don’t feel much of a sense of accomplishment for keeping the streak going, AND I’ve run pretty dry on ideas at times, so a real WIN-WIN there.  But I’ve got some ideas for how to fill the rest of the calendar anyway, so hopefully I can bank a good buffer of posts and ideally that would translate to a more regular and sensical posting schedule.  But how about we start with yet another clumpy outpouring this week and go from there?

Been lots of Bakeoff in this household lately.  I remember when I took the job as Co-AD of my theatre, an ensemble member recorded a bit where she received a Hollywood Handshake.  I didn’t know what that was, or where it was from, but it was good content for a Giving Tuesday effort so I was over the moon over it.  Sometime after that, I watched the 2018 season of GBBO, although I can’t recall if I watched that as it aired, binged it, or watched it in clumps.  Either way, I enjoyed it, I got into it, but I wouldn’t quite say it got its hooks into me. Especially as I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the season ended.

Fast forward to the pandemic.  Ever heard of it? Nightmare shit! But watching the new season of Bakeoff proved to be a very doable vibe, especially as so much other media just... stressed me out.  I can’t tell you how many Very Good and Very Smart and Very Serious dramas I’ve started, enjoyed, and just abandoned because I have absolutely no need for narrative tension right now and haven’t since... May.  Anyhow, watching it weekly was nice, but a friend told me that the season between 2018 and this one (can’t remember what year that was) was super good. So we binged it. And then, well, we went back and watched the year before that one, in about a day.  And then we started at the top of what Netflix had. Just finished a season last night, started another one tonight over dinner. Really really - it’s the cozy shit I crave right now.
Ok.
So.
What the fuck does this have to do with gaming?
Loads! It’s deeply gamey.  Hell, I already referenced GBBO a little while ago when I wrote about ranked-choice voting.  The glass ring of Star Baker, the begging-to-be-errata’d current state of the show, the glimpse into madness that is the Technical Challenge, the Baker’s Dozen wildcard - it’s all super gamey.  And there’s enough stratification and ranking and awarding that it feels like another of my favourite things - fantasy sports!
Ok, now, there are actually two very different ways this could go from here.  I tend to sneer at brackets, but they represent a very neat condensation of a lot of the fiddly granular stuff that goes into a fantasy sport.  And 12-13 bakers is the kind of data set that lends itself well to a bracket that you make at the top of the season and rank based on closeness to final result.  But as I said, I’m not into brackets! I want to get weirder. So, what might Fantasy Bakeoff look like?
Well, I think it should feel a little softer and cozier than your typical fantasy sport.  Conveniently, episodes air in the UK a day earlier than they air stateside, so tea time the day before the UK air date is a nice roster lockin time, and the more space between locking in your roster and seeing the results, the more people should ideally chill out about the decisions they made.  I also think that there should be sharing (a baker may be drafted more than once, though not by the same player), and rubberband mechanics (redrafting opportunities after eliminations). The experience I want to foster is:
  • A fun draft that feels quirky and like the aforementioned bracket
  • Rewarding trading
  • The smugness that comes with calling who’s not going to go all the way
  • A further investment in your favourite bakers, and learning their strengths and weaknesses
  • People taking big swings on weird choices
  • A different type of game for the first half of the season vs the second
  • A subjective and social element, like a leaguewide vote on fan favourite of the episode
  • Fun stat tracking like Hollywood Handshake, ranking in Technical, Star Baker, streaks of being in contention, etc.
I’ve really gone on too long with this, but it reminds me of when some friends and I drafted the best Mountain Goats songs for a podcast, and that fucking ruled and still does, so.  Vindicated! But it’s late now, so I’ll call it on this fun dumb idea. Til next week!

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