I couldn't sleep last night, so instead I've dreamed up a teamplay mode for GoT. Maybe if you guys like it, then maybe someone can get a word out to Dwight and maybe he can consider putting something like it in if maybe he does get around revisiting the GoT code sometime. Lotsa maybes in there
So here's my concept:
At the beginning of the game like with advanced play you can hold the action button to switch to team play. In team play the number of players must be known from the start and each player must choose their house before the first player gets to play - no late entries are possible.
If some players choose the same house, they play as a team. Each player is a fighter for the house (with separate scores) but they advance through the modes together. To do this however they must join their forces before each mode, meaning that they have to hit their house shot once for each other player in their house before proceeding with the normal mode shots. So if 3 people play the Martell mode for Lannister, on a mode start you have to hit the lock ramp twice before you can start hitting the orbits. If you finish the mode, it is awarded to all players of the house. If you fail, progress is being saved for all players of the house on modes that do so (at least the initial house-gathering shots are saved in all modes). Lighting house modes is not shared.
If some players choose different houses they form other teams, competing against each other. The rules above remain in place (if they have a team mate), but house modes that have been finished by another team become a little harder (since they are allied with an enemy team already). To finish them the players first have to gather their forces if they have allies (as above) and then additionally to the normal mode shots, hit the house shot of the house that finished the specific mode before as often as there are players playing that house. So if one of our 3 Lannister players starts a mode that has been finished by a player who chose Baratheon, he has to shoot the lock ramp twice to gather his buddies and then inside the mode additionally hit the one set of drop targets to finish.
An exception to this rule is the fight against Targaryan: There is only one set of dragons to kill in the world. So if one team finishes the first dragon, another team would start with the second dragon right away. While you must still gather your team, no additional counter shots against the other houses are required. However if one team defeats the last dragon, no other team can finish that mode (and hence no other team can get to the iron throne, as soon as someone is allied with Targaryan). This makes it both easier and hell of a lot riskier if you don't finish what you started; pure politics
Hand of the king still triggers if the first team finished 4 houses. However if another team gets a 5th house before the current hand does, they can become HOTK and restart the mode. If then another team gets their 6th house, they again can take this post.
Winter has come also is a world-event. So if a player of one team starts, but doesn't finish it, that same shot to start WHC is lit for other teams too, until someone does finish/get the final jackpot.
Due to the extra shots required all mode timers should be slightly extended for each other player in the game.
The game would need a new set of high scores for team play. While scoring should be per player, there could be a team play champion for each house, where the team scores are summed. This would allow 3 character high scores only and just concatenate the players initials.
This game mode would require no new sounds or dots and I'd imagine it would not be too complex to implement. It would add some new risk-reward gameplay, but also allow bad players to select team up as a house with an easier shot (finally a use for Lannister!) and get to the iron throne together. And it'd make our beloved GoT truly unique