Week 8 Update

Hallo Füsters . . .

We’ve officially closed out Week 7 and are on the fast track to finishing Winterfüste 2021. Only three weeks of game play left and hopefully everyone is getting everything they were hoping for out of this year’s event.

Quick update:

• This week is the last week before Trippelts come into play (officially they begin next Sunday, Feb. 28th; there was a glitch on the homepage calendar that said they started this past Sunday but that’s been corrected). Please remember that you can still score Singelts and Doppelts as desired without a penalty once Tripplets come on line. Point being, you don’t have to do Trippelts once they start up.

• This week is also the last week of February so if you have outstanding STRAVA bonuspunkte to earn, get it done by Sunday. Cause next Monday is March 1st (how is this possible?) and we’ll start a whole new month of STRAVA bonuses.

• Round 2 of the Skwädron Tournament is complete and GG will be tabulating scores. Look for an update to the brackets in the next 24 hours. And don’t forget, just cause you’re eliminated from the Tournament does not mean you’re out of the running the BestenSkwädron competition. The Tournament is basically like one really big Skwâd bonus allowance. Yes, the winner of the Tournament will be the odd’s on favorite to win the overall competition but there’s no guarantee of victory. Anything can happen during Winterfüste!

• Couple new bonuses have been posted. There will not be too many more Individual Bonus Allowances for the rest of the game as Hell Week and your Drachenfüste will really take center stage for the last couple weeks of the game. So that gives you some time to get caught up and complete whatever you have outstanding (and there’s a TON of bonuspunkte currently to be collected).

That’s about it for now. One thing GG would ask of you: if you’re done playing and your’e only reporting every so often and you’re well below Percentile Platypus on the Bestenliste, please voluntarily retire from the game. The official rules say that you cannot be below the Platypus for more than 72 hours but GG has been very, very lax with enforcement of this rule this year as he wanted to give everyone as big a chance to be successful as he could. But if your hearts not in it, please retire from the game. Each player, regardless of whether they’re still committed or not, has a daily impact on GG for reporting and collation. With only three weeks left, if you’re done, tap out and let GG know. There’s no shame in it but not reporting and leaving GG to constantly go into the daily summary to see if he missed something isn’t super cool and is a huge energy suck on the game manager. So take pity on GG and do the right thing here.

Alright, everyone have a great week and we’ll see you on the Spielbrett!

Griswalde

Week 6: Over the Hump . . . (but where's the damn downhill??)

Füsters

The first half of WInterfüste is complete. You've managed to survive five weeks of workouts, bonus challenges, no meat Mondays, intermittent and HEAVY fasting and your Cheat Day and you’re still here to open the back half of the game. GIve yourself a pat on the back and then snug up those höschen cause here’s where the game gets real. Instead of rolling to a downhill finish after clearing the midpoint, Winterfüste becomes decidedly more difficult as we introduce three weeks of Doppelt Schmerzenfüste, followed by the final two weeks of Trippelts, which include the new Höllenwhoche Event during Week 9, your Drachenfüste slayage during Week 10 and the Finalefüste Skwäd die Staffel to really put a stake in this things heart on the final weekend. But enough of this self-suckling, let’s get it on!

• As mentioned above, Doppelt Schmerzenfüste are now in play, meaning everyday you can earn +2p for exercise. The parameters for the Doppelt can be found HERE in the Regelbuch. Just a reminder, you can either simply double a Singelt (basically run two 5Ks which yes, equals a 10K) or do two different Singelts (swim for 35 min, run a 5K) to earn the +2p. You do not have to do the two Singelts together, meaning you could run one 5K in the AM and the second in the evening. However you want to get there.

• More Individual Bonus Allowances have been made available. GG is implementing a new rule for the back half of the game. You may only take one IBA per day. You may not combo bonus allowances and you may not stack bonus allowances onto the same day. One a day to keep things fair as not all Füsters have the same amount of time and personal freedom to dedicate to the game.

• The Turnier der BestenSkwädron begins today (Feb. 8th). This tournament supersizes the daily efforts of the Skwäds and puts them in direct conflict with each other as they navigate a three week, 16 team, bracketed speilbrett that will ultimately lead to a single victor. The key here is for every member of your Skwäd to get every daily punkte and every Skwäd bonuspunkte possible each week. Do this, defeat your enemy, sit back and breath in the greatness. More to come later today on the tournament.

• The HG Days are over (thank Gotte) but intermittent fasting will continue with single Tuesday Fastentag days through the end of the game. That means that each Tuesday you can still earn your +0.5p bonus for a dawn to dusk fast (unfortunately the days are getter longer as Winter heads towards Spring so . . . ). And while we’re on the subject, congrats to the 25 hardcore Füsters who suffered through all six of the full Hungriger Geist Days this year. The 24, 48 and 72 hour fasts are a beast to be reckoned with and you all did it with minimal complaint. Truly impressive!

• Please make sure to review the new bonus allowances for a very special support event for the Harp Seal. GG is asking for your help and support here so do what you can to lift up our friend and very important Füster (VIF?).

That’s it for now. Again, this is where things have a tendency to get crazy. Push hard but please take care of yourself and rest as needed. GG never intended this game to be won by someone scoring every single point. That’s just nuts (looking at you Marten, Polarbär, Wolverine, Hare, Orca etc.). If that’s your goal, you may need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask, “Bin ich okay?”. GG’s not a head shrinker (he leaves that up to the Snowy Owl) and doesn’t pretend to understand the motivations of each and every player. He just knows that the next five weeks are logarithmically more difficult than the first five, so go easy and don’t hurt yourself.

That’s it for now.

As always, may the Füste be with you in all that you do.

Griswalde

Week 5 Update

Füsters

Believe it or not, we are only one week away from the halfway point of the game. This means the Betrugentag is nearly upon us. For those of you who are new to the game, the Betrugentag is your “cheat day”. That means that all rules are off and you can do what you want. Now this year’s Betrugentag definitely feels anti-climatic after the once in a lifetime Inaugural Day-Off we had two weeks ago but traditionally the cheat day is one of explosive excess that leaves many a Füster regretful and debilitated for at least 24 hours. GG is betting that if you partook in the inaugural debauchery, you probably already learned this hard lesson. If not and you haven’t experienced a Betrugentag, all GG can say is go easy, freund. Remember, your body has been without sugar and alcohol for over a month and you will absolutely have a reaction to reintroducing these literal poisons. As far as the day itself, you may take it on either Saturday, Feb. 6 or Sunday, Feb. 7th (yes, GG is tired of hearing the whining about the Super Bowl so you can choose to take your cheat day Sunday if you want). On this day you will be released from the Foodenfüste, Drunkenfüste and Schmerzenfüste requirements (which means you cannot score these points). However, two things here. First, if you so choose, you may still go out and complete a bonus challenge for points. Entirely up to you . And second, in order to earn your right to your cheat day, you must complete the Midfüsten Assessment. This is exactly the same assessment that you completed at the Startenfüste: a morning weigh-in, test you ability to do push-ups and sit-ups and a plank to exhaustion and then run a mile at your best possible pace. Do all these things on the morning of the Betrugentag and you are then clear to destroy yourself! GG will send out a link to the Midfüsten Assessment Tool later in the week.

Couple more things:

• Unless you have a very good reason to do so and get GG’s strict permission in advance, there is no combining of bonus challenges. For instance, those who would want to get double credit for their Wanderungfüste elevation hike and their Parkenfüste Challenge by using the same activity, yeah, that’s not a thing. So unless you have a very, very good reason for wanting to combine two bonus challenges, please do not ask GG for this consideration.

• This week sees the final series of Hungriger Geist Days delivered upon us for our sins. This is effectively a 72-hour clear liquid only fast (yes, GG knows, he’s still recovering from the trauma of last week too). After this and starting Week 6, the only fasting will be on Tuesdays, a single Fastentag each week, dawn to dusk. This is all pre-designed for your enjoyment. The first half of Winterfüste is all about breaking you down and the back half is all about building you back up (with Doppelt and Trippelts and did anyone else notice that on the game calendar, set for the second to last week of the game, there’s something that translates to “Hell Week”?? 🧐). So, here’s a suggestion from GG. The 72-hr fast is scheduled this week for Tuesday - Thursday. As GG has already stated in the past, you may move your fasting days around as needed. GG would highly recommend that you move the fast up to Monday (tomorrow). Because you obviously don’t eat meat during a fast, you’ll get your No Meat Monday +0.5p bonus in addition to the +1p. You will then also get Thursday off to eat like a normal person before hitting the final Friday Fastentag. So to be clear, if you don’t move up your 72-hr fast, you’re going to end up finishing three days of not eating by not eating until dusk on Friday. You can certainly choose to do this if you want (and I know some like Narwahl will opt for the original schedule because he has “issues”), but GG is giving you the M-W option as well. Up to you. And as always you can choose to only do one or two of the full fast days and earn a +1p for each day you do. Or you can just do a dawn to dusk Fastentag on Tuesday also. Lots of options for you to get hangry and yell at your spouse and/or children. Just let GG know if you’re planning on moving the 72-hr fast from its original dates.

• As expected, GG has seen an uninspiring drop-off in the voluntary submission of homework audits. He’s not even remotely surprised. Which is why starting next weekend, the homework audit is worth +1p to your individual game. Send in your audit unprompted sometime between Friday and Sunday, earn your bonuspunkte. It’s just that easy to be a responsible Füster (it does however make GG feel cheep that he has to buy your love and attention . . . please feel the appropriate level of shame. Danke).

• Do not forget that the Anderefüste Allowance (STRAVA Challenges) resets on Feb. 1st and you may again earn up to +6p by completing the distance and effort based STRAVA bonuses for February.

• A couple things to advise you of in advance:

  • You’re going to want to scope out a path around a standard city block or find a school track to access for Tuesday’s Groundhog Day Aufblitzen Bonus Challenge. Just sayin.

  • Starting Week 6, we will enter a new phase of Skwädron bonus play as we begin a three week Macrofüsten Tournament of Champions. Why is GG telling you this now? Because only 16 of the current 20 Skwäds can earn a place in the tournament. This means, in order to secure a slot on the roster, your Skwäd must be sitting somewhere between 1st and 16th place by the end of the day next Sunday. If you earn a slot then you will experience three weeks of brutal Skwäd on Skwäd competition with a last man standing structure. This tournament will help your Skwäd earn big bonuspunkte and supercharge you for the Finalfüste event. Each week half the Skwäds will be eliminated until only one stands supreme. But you’ve first got to get a spot on the Spielbrett first so that means this week, if your Skwäd is in 16th place or worse, you’re going to need to really pull out all the stops on the bonus play and also not give up any Schmerzenfüste punkte. It’s all hands on deck if you want in on the tournament!

That’s it for now. Don’t forget to head over to the Bonus and Howework pages to see what’s new for Week 5.

Have a great week and as always, may the Füste be with you!

Griswalde

Week 4 Update

Füsters

Three weeks down and the game is now in full swing. Based on the last couple of days of game play, it doesn’t appear anyone did irreparable damage to themselves with last week’s inaugural celebrations so good on you.

Here’s this weeks update:

• A point of clarity around the bonus play: unless it clearly states otherwise in the bonus allowance description, all bonuses are valid through the end of the game. Most can only be taken once so once you’ve scored your bonuspunkte, you can cross that one off you personal list.

• Almost everyone is doing a great job with identifying their Skwäd names when they text GG proof of a Skwädron bonus (long dogs, planks and yes, there’s a new one posted on the bonus page). So keep it up and if you haven’t been doing it, ask yourself why you want to hurt GG.

• GG has noticed that a handful of Füsters are reporting fasting points on non-fasting days. While GG has previously stated that you can move fasting days around with cause, he does need to know what you’re doing before you do it. If he sees that you’re reporting points for a fast on a non-fasting day and you haven’t run it by him, he ‘ll assume you reported this in error and ignore it. Open communication is the key to a healthy Geschäftsführer.

• And while we’re on the topic of fasting . . . Tuesday and Wednesday are both HG Days and combined they create the dreaded 48 hour full fasting event. That means that after Meatless Monday, at midnight, you begin your clear liquid only two day fast. Now, you may choose to only do one of the two days and only score one of the two points. Entirely up to you. And you may choose to only do the Fastentag dawn to dusk fast on Tuesday instead. Or you can say hell with this and not fast at all this week. OR (and) you could then just eat a whole pizza while wearing nothing but a trash bag and screw this whole Füste thing, what what was I even thinking pizza is SO good and so are donuts and sitting on the couch and . . . see, it’s a slippery slope. Do the 48 hour fast. Be smart about it. Use the warm lemon water and maple syrup drink as needed, don’t get crazy and pass out and crack your head open. It’s only 48 hours. You can totally do this.

• GG is spending a lot of time going back each day to see if the people who didn’t make the cutoff for reporting the day before actually reported later in the day. He’s then been adding these points back in to your score. Starting this week, he will no longer be providing this courtesy. If you don’t report by noon each day, your points are gone. It has to be done. All you have to do is set an alarm for yourself and report by noon. That’s it. The only exception is our night shift friends (we have a couple) and they’re usually confused and on edge so GG gives them a little leeway.

• This week is the last week of January (which doesn’t even make since given it was Xmas like three days ago) and as such you have one week left to score your January STRAVA Challenge bonuses. That’s the 5K and 10K runs, the 100K Gran Fondo bike ride, etc. Next Sunday at midnight we’ll switch to February’s bonuses and any of the +6p you didn’t earn for January will be lost to you. So finish strong and get all your bonuspunkte before the end of the month!

That’s it for now. Couple of interesting things happening this week so keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to respond. One last thing of note, GG is on the road all week and as anyone who has Füsted in the past can tell you, this often leads to delays in both general communication and also posting the Bestenliste. With all the new systems in place, GG doesn’t anticipate we’ll see a lag in the Bestenliste but he will definitely be slow to respond to text comms so please be patient. GG promises he’ll get to you as he has time. Thanks for your understanding.

As always, may the Füste be with you!

Griswalde

A Pause for Reflection

Füsters

Tomorrow, January 20th, we’re going to do something unprecedented.

While you will still be able to score bonuspunkte if you want to go out for a hike or you happen across a long dog, you will not be able to earn your three daily points. This doesn’t mean you have to stop Füsting (and GG recommends very strongly that you don’t), it just means that if you choose to raise a glass in a toast tomorrow night (or whatever you want to do), there will be no penalty for this action. So take the day for yourself and do whatever it is you need to mark this moment in time. Because it’s not insignificant, what we’ve lived through, what we are living through, and there will always be those days where something like the Füste, for all the good it does, can get in the way of tradition and catharsis and that’s not what GG wants.

We’ll get back to it on Thursday.

Griswalde

Week 3: A Gradual Increase in Pressure

Hallo Füsters,

GG hopes this game update finds you happy and healthy and enjoying the Füste experience. By now you should have seen a small decrease in your overall body weight, averaging 1 to 1.5 pounds per week for the first two weeks. If you haven’t, then you need to consider a couple of things. Are you exercising to the full extent of your ability, giving each day the attention and time it needs to earn your punkte (including completing your homework)? Are you holding true to the Foodenfüste parameters? If yes and you’re still not seeing a weight shift, take a look at portion size and start to back things down. Regardless, we still have eight (mein Gott) weeks of game play left so there is plenty of time to kick things into gear and capture the results you’re hoping for . . .

Speaking of health, we’ve so far had two Füsters retire from the game after contracting COVID-19 (and we wish them a speedy recovery and return to full health). Please be careful in everything you do and above all else wear your mask when in public. We are nowhere near the end of this pandemic and your care and caution will go a long way in keeping yourself and your loved ones safe. And since we’re on the topic of the Rona, there is a very strong possibility (GG calculates better than 85%) that we will not have an in-person Finalfüste Event this year. The odds that the pandemic will be under control in eight weeks and that restrictions on in-person gatherings will be lifted by March 13th are slim to none. But do not fear, GG is working on a Skwäd based competition that will take place out in the world on that final weekend and will provide a sense of closure to Winterfüste. Let’s just say that you and your Skwäd mates are going to be put to the test on an individual and group basis and if you think you’re going to win the Bestenskwädron title then you best get your homework done and earn all the Schmerzenpunkte you can between now and then. GG doesn’t want to scare you but . . . oh, who are we kidding, GG absolutely wants to scare you if that’s what it takes for you to excel!

Moving on . . . there are new Individual Bonus Allowances posted on the Bonus page of the website (you know the way) as well as an update to the Skwäd Plankenfüste Allowance requirements. And GG can guarantee there will be at least one Aufblitzen Bonus opportunity this week (remember, these are the one day bonus events, e.g. last week’s dress up your pet day).

One note of clarity, it seems that GG has confused some Füsters around the reporting of bonuses. To be clear, all bonus play that requires proof is sent directly to GG via text, if possible (our non-iPhone friends have a Dropbox folder to upload videos to because, well, let’s not get into it here . . . ). When you send proof of an Individual Bonus Allowance, you don’t have to do anything special. But when you send proof of a Skwädron Bonus Allowance (currently pics of long dogs or a Plankenfüste video or last week’s pic of your pet), GG is asking that you note your Skwäd name in your text. This will help GG immensely with his mental health over the next two months. And a happy and healthy GG has benefits for all. To be clear, the weekend homework audit in which you send GG proof of one completed Qualkammer (whoops, did you forget to do that this weekend?? 🤦🏻‍♂️), that’s an individual event, not a Skwäd event so no need to identify your Skwäd when sending over those videos.

Also . . .

HOLIDAY LINK: Tomorrow is MLK Day. Click here and take 15 minutes out of your busy day to watch his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. No bonus associated with this reflection on social justice. GG will just leave it here for you as needed and given the events of 2020, he suggests everyone take the time on this one.

One more thing . . . GG will make a special announcement on Tuesday night regarding Wednesday’s game play. He’ll send it out via text so that no one misses it.

That’s it for now. Please stay safe this week as it might be another rough one. Keep up the hard work and don’t let talking heads on a television or voices on the radio get you down or freaked out. We are all in this together and if nothing else, GG is happy you’re here with him this Winter.

May the Fùste be ever with you,

Griswalde

Week 2: And so it begins . . .

Hallo Füsters,

Week 1 of WF2021 is behind us and GG can hardly express how impressed he is by what he’s been witnessing. Game play this year has been extraordinary. A record 82% of all Füsters earned their +3p Eisschmerze Challenge bonus. Almost half of the players are still ranked in the top three slots on the Bestenliste with a whopping 40 out of 122 Füsters tied for first place (after having earned every possible point available in Week 1). GG doesn’t want to jinx it but he’s seeing a game for the ages developing . . .

Now, on with the update:

1. Game play begins in earnest during Week 2 with the introduction of a number of Individual and Skwädron bonus opportunities. Go HERE (please at least review the Anderefüste Allowance bonus rules; lost of questions about that one this week).

2. Skwäd play comes on-line this week, starting tomorrow, Monday, Jan. 11th. A reminder about how this works. Each day each Skwäd member’s Schmerzenpunkte is added to their Skwäd’s total (not their Foodenpunkte or Drunkenpunkte). So that means that exercise is where it’s at for Skwäd points. If you don’t go out and Schmerzenfüste then you might as well have just slipped a knife between the ribs of your Skwäd mates. There are also Skwädron bonus opportunities (but you should have reviewed those already). All earned Skwäd punkte are divided by the number of members on the Skwäd so we’re going to see some interesting math along the way. Because of that, GG will commit to updating the Skwädron Bestenliste only twice a week.

3. Fasting ramps up with a +0.5p Fastentag Day on both Tuesday and Friday. Get hangry both days for a total +1p bonus this week. Another important point on fasting. If you are a shift worker or traveling for business, you may ask GG for permission to move a fasting day to a new date. Rules here are simple: you have to complete the fasting day within the same week as the originally scheduled day (remember, Füste week’s begin on Monday and end on Sunday). GG allows this because there are a large number of hospital based workers who Füste and given the impact that COVID is having in our facilities, far be it for GG to deny these hardworking heroes their much needed grub.

4. This week introduces an all new concept to the Füste: Meatless Mondays. As always, GG is trying to be socially responsible and Earth friendly. Come along for the ride by NOT eating any meat or meat products on Mondays for the remainder of the Füste. So vegetarian diet only. Pull this off and earn +0.5p for each Monday that you murder veggies instead of animals (emoji thumb’s up).

5. Week 2’s homework increases your daily pain buy just that much more. Go HERE to see how. Then, starting next weekend, you will be required to provide GG a video audit of one Qualkammer (due by Sunday at 5pm PST). That’s it, video a complete Qualkammer and text to GG. Do this, and starting in February, you’ll earn +1p bonus. Don’t do this, take the punkte hit and also get on the Geschäftsführer’s radar (a place you don’t want to be). And speaking of video . . .

6. To my non-Apple product using friends . . . your continuing resistance to assimilate to Steve Jobs’ plan for world domination continues to be a pain in GG’s rear. As you are most assuredly aware, you phones will not reliably text GG video. So any bonus that requires video proof (e.g. the homework audit above) becomes a real scheisse show. As a result, GG is going to send my little group of misfits links to Dropbox and Google File folders, in which they can submit their videos. May Gott have mercy on your souls.

7. A note on day to day operations. You may have noticed that some of the new efficiencies that GG has instituted this year are leading to a much earlier in the day posting of an updated Bestenliste. One repercussion of this, if you do not report by noon, you will most likely not see your points on that afternoon’s Bestenliste. And by all rights (and by the almighty power of the Regelbuch), you may not see those points at all because if you don’t report by noon, you’re in danger of forfeiting yesterday’s points. Another time related impact, any bonus proof sent to GG after noon will most likely not show until the next day’s posting of the Bestenliste, for obvious reasons.

And speaking of bonuses etc., here’s the breakdown of all available punkte for Week 1:

• +21 total daily punkte

• +1p for completion of Startenfüste Assessment

• +3p for completion of Eisschmerze Challenge

• +0.5p for completion of first Fastentag day on Friday, Jan. 8th.

• +1p for Sieben Tage Bonus (having earned all 3 daily punkte for the first 7 days of the game)

Total punkte available for Week 1: +26.5p . . . how many did you earn?

That’s if for now. Be on the look out for a couple of Aufblitzen Bonus opportunities this week . . . what are those? You’ll see.

As always, may the Füste be with you.

Griswalde Grolar

Week 1 Update: Sunday Night Chats by the Fire with GG

Evening Füsters!

GG knows you’ve been inundated with a lot of words on screens in prep for the Füste so he’ll try to keep this week’s update concise (fat chance but his heart is always in the right place).

Here we go:

• Excellent work using the new Daily Reporting Tool. GG couldn’t be more pleased. The only issue we had today was a number of Füsters put the wrong date on their report. This caused a couple of heart stopping moments earlier but it’s all worked out. So please, big learning here, make sure you put the correct date in when you report, which will always be day before’s date.

• Another small issue from Day 1’s reporting. GG noted several Füsters reported having fasted and entered the appropriate points. To be clear, you can fast any day you’d like during Winterfüste, but you can only get points on the designated fasting days. This is covered in the Rule Book HERE (and the days are also listed on the official calendar available at the bottom of the Home Page and as a download to your phone or computer).

• And to that, this Friday will be the official beginning of the fasting regimen with the first Fastentag Day. Remember, Fastentag Days are clear liquid only fasts from dawn to dusk and they earn you +0.5p.

• Some of you may have noticed that on the game calendar the next five days are listed as Spulwöche. This is a term for a general cleanse. The idea here is for you to start easing off the 2020 throttle. Reduce the size of your portions by 1/3. If you’re so inclined, try a multi day cleanse (but not a “juice” cleanse as they are a source of an enormous amount of sugar). Fast if you want to, drink tons of water. Just try to prepare your body for the coming weeks by reducing intake and flushing out waste. GG has limited bonusplay during this time so you can exclusively focus on yourself.

• The question around downhill skiing as Schmerzenfüste has been raised once again by several Füsters. Here’s the official ruling. Downhill skiing is unquestionably a workout. But it’s also a tremendous amount of fun. Which isn’t what Schmerzenfüste is about at its core (schmerze actually translates from the German as “pain” so . . . ). There is also the issue of cost and the fact that not everyone can afford a day on the slopes. So a couple of years ago GG put the ban on it and it stands today. If you want to earn Schmerzenpünkte while wearing long, skinny rails of carbon strapped to your feet, try cross-country skiing. If your heart doesn’t explode right out of your chest, you’ll earn +1p for a daily workout lasting 45min (it’s in the Rule Book).

• A quick note on an off-book rule. Some of you are athletes who regularly complete long distance training events. These are the runners and cyclists and folks who spend hours on the road, trail or in the saddle. For this kind of Schmerzenfüste, it may be necessary to fuel with carbs or products containing sugars. In some instances, it’s that or face the dreaded “bonk”, which can actually be dangerous (GG has bonked more times than he cares to admit). Therefore, if you’re one of the long distance maniacs who has a fueling regimen that works for you, do you what you need to do. If you’re running a half marathon, GG’s not too concerned if you use an energy chew or drink to get you home in one piece. But make good choices. This allowance is not a green light to take down a sleeve of Oreo’s just cause you ran a 10K.

• For those who have Füsted before, a gentle reminder of a game change. There’s no weekly day off this Winterfüste. All game days are eligible for Schmerzenpunkte.

• A note on general comms: GG will do his best to answer emails and texts in a timely fashion. However, please remember that the Füste is still a one man show and it may be several hours before you get a response. Hopefully this possible delay won’t impact your game play.

• And finally, don’t forget to complete your Startenfüste Assessment by Monday night (Jan. 4th). It’s worth a +1p bonus (added to everyone’s score on Tuesday the 5th).

That does it for Week 1’s update. Again, this is a fairly quiet week meant to ease you in to what’s to come. GG’s glad you’re here.

Griswalde Grolar

STARTENFÜSTE 2021

Hallo Füsters and willkommen to Winterfüste 2021, the one where we try to reverse an entire year of bad karma . . .

As you should already know, game play starts tomorrow morning, Jan. 2nd, at 5am. After that, for ten weeks, you’re going to be responsible to yourself and accountable to GG and hopefully that’ll be enough to get the hot mess you became in 2020 back under control for the New Year!

So, a couple of things to know and review coming out of the gate:

1. You just got a text with a link to your Daily Reporting Tool. It should be titled “Smartsheet Forms”. You’ll want to save this link to your phone’s homepage as a bookmarked app thingie. This is incredibly important. For instructions on how to do this, go HERE. If you have a pre-existing Smartsheet account for work or because you’re a weirdo who likes spreadsheets or whatever (no judgement, weirdo), this link will place the Daily Reporting Tool in your Smartsheet main folder and there it shall live until March 13th.

2. Did you sign the Waiver of Liability? No? Go HERE now and get it done.

3. Did you pay the game fee of $100? No? Either hit up GG on Venmo (@ggrolar) or go HERE for the pay portal.

4. If you want to aggressively stay in the know and preplan your obsessive game play, you can down load the WF2021 Calendar to your own device by clicking HERE.

And now for some stuff happening this weekend:

1. Complete your personal assessment. You received the link to the Startenfüste Assessment sheet in your Totemfüste assignment email but here it is again: LINK. Please get this done by EBD Monday as this will give GG a better understanding of who you are physically (this will come into play later for both challenges and homework). You will receive your first +1p individual bonus when this is done!

2. Your second chance for a bonus this weekend it to complete the wicked Eisschmerz Challenge! You know it, you love it, a long standing Füste tradition to welcome the New Year. Go find an unheated body of water and (safely) wade in. Water goes over your head. NO DIVING or jumping in shallow areas! No wet or dry suits. Just you and the cold, unforgiving gaze of the sea, lake, stream or your neighbor’s backyard pool. You must send GG video proof of your accomplishment to earn a +3p individual bonus. You have till next Friday, Jan. 8th to get this done and claim your bonuspunkte. This is your first test and first taste of what Winterfüste has in store for you. Yes, it’s brutal. But like most things in the Füste, you’ll be happy you did it and happier with your +3p!

Remember, push yourself hard this first weekend and first week. There just might be a bonus waiting for anyone who earns the full +3 daily punkte (food, drink and exercise) for each of the first seven days of game play. Week 1 is intentionally light on extra and bonus game play specifically so you can focus on the basics of Füsting and ease yourself into your new reality. We’ll get crazy starting Week 2, don’t worry.

That’s it for now. Remember, load up the Daily Reporting Tool to your phone and click on it Sunday morning to place your first report for Day 1’s activity (and then every morning after that for next 70 days). GG expects everyone to earn +3p Saturday and you don’t want to disappoint the Geschäftsführer on the Startenfüste cause that goes no where good.

Happy New Year and again, willkommen to the Füste!

GG

Final Week

Hallo Füsters . . .

Well, six weeks are up and the quarantine is basically over (but don’t fool yourself, The Rona is still a very real thing with numbers of infected increasing almost daily right now and all the hard work you did for three months of staying at home seems to have been for no good reason at all but hey, who is GG to read the stats, interpret the data, and come to a conclusion that doesn’t match up with our capitalist benefactors who are pressuring the world’s governments to open up so they can still make their annual bonuses; but I digress). We’re in the final week of what has been an interesting experiment for a basically absent GG. You guys have done this one almost completely on your own and GG applauds your efforts. He was a little busier for the last couple months than he had anticipated when he originally offered the RRF but you guys all persevered (well most of you, we started with 50+ and we’re down to just under 30) and really brought this little Füste home. Couple things, game play officially ends at 18:00 hours on Saturday. To make things more interesting as we finish up, GG has opened some bonuses on the website, all of which can be earned in this final week and right up until the very last minute on Saturday. So that’s pretty much it. I hope this Füste helped you in some way. It’s been a rough one for GG and didn’t do much good but not every Füste is going to be a huge success and that’s just life on the Spielbrett. Keep reporting this week as you have been and please send your final report by Sunday morning. Good luck as you finish up and please stay safe and healthy!

GG

PS If anyone is interested in adding two more weeks and finishing on the 4th of July, GG would be open to it. Just text him and let him know you want to continue on . . . This won’t effect the end of the RRF (a winner will still be declared Saturday night) but the game will just continue for the folks who want to extend. Up to you. In GG’s mind, extending to July 4th closes out the first half of 2020 in a mathematically sensible way (and there will absolutely not be another Füste until Winter of 2021). Cheers.