Theme Test Market

[Seol]

I don't like the above suggestion: Mafia is a team game and a requirement that you have to urvive destroys that.

It is still a team game - the town is united by a common cause - but as an analog to a real situation,

no-one should ever be happy being lynched

. That they are is a curiosity of the workings of the game.

This variation is quite different to regular Mafia - it's not exactly the same game. Many principles survive the translation, but some don't. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Surely the simpler solution is to have just townies and mafia - that way they can never be confirmed town. Plus it is always preferable to have a simpler set-up with novel mechanics.

It probably will be a very stripped-back setup for the first run, but if possible I want the concept to be extendable, rather than just a one-off gimmick. So... maybe. Perhaps I'll run the first game with "big wins" (your team wins, you survive) and "little wins" (your team wins but you're dead) and see how that goes.

[Mr. Flay]

I always consider it a "lesser" win if I don't survive until the end of the game (and I realize, after Res. Dogs, that Stoofer disagrees with me). I don't play to win, however, as much as I do to make the other side lose... if I were playing to win, I'd do the minimum to not get lynched, not step out on a limb, not make myself a target, etc...

*shrug*

[VisMaior]

Sometimes I consider a win if my side lasts longer than expected, even if they eventually lose.

[Seol]

if I were playing to win, I'd do the minimum to not get lynched, not step out on a limb, not make myself a target, etc...

How do you think you'd act if the Mafia really did invade your town and lynch-mob justice was invoked?

...that said, the game may be overly prone to encouraging lurky behaviour. Obviously, due to the game's fundamental mechanics, the result of any deadlines would be No Lynch, Lights Out. Maybe, seeing as we're talking multiple lynches per day, a constant week's deadline (starting at the time of the most recent lynch) would be appropriate.

Except that nobody seems to like the mechanic.

[Mr Stoofer]

...that said, the game may be overly prone to encouraging lurky behaviour. Obviously, due to the game's fundamental mechanics, the result of any deadlines would be No Lynch, Lights Out. Maybe, seeing as we're talking multiple lynches per day, a constant week's deadline (starting at the time of the most recent lynch) would be appropriate.

Except that nobody seems to like the mechanic.

I like that idea

a lot

. If you have a plain (mafia+townies) set-up, the town have little to gain from a night, so forcing them constantly to lynch on pain of losing a townie would definitely keep the momentum of the game up.

[Seol]

...that said, the game may be overly prone to encouraging lurky behaviour. Obviously, due to the game's fundamental mechanics, the result of any deadlines would be No Lynch, Lights Out. Maybe, seeing as we're talking multiple lynches per day, a constant week's deadline (starting at the time of the most recent lynch) would be appropriate.

Except that nobody seems to like the mechanic.

I like that idea

a lot

. If you have a plain (mafia+townies) set-up, the town have little to gain from a night, so forcing them constantly to lynch on pain of losing a townie would definitely keep the momentum of the game up.

They do have

something

to gain from Night, information-wise, in that the roles of the dead aren't revealed until night falls - this is the fundamental dilemma of the game.

Anyway, that's enough battering-out of a setup - what's the procedure for a large theme game? It's Free Market, right - does that mean there isn't a queue?

[Iammars]

...that said, the game may be overly prone to encouraging lurky behaviour. Obviously, due to the game's fundamental mechanics, the result of any deadlines would be No Lynch, Lights Out. Maybe, seeing as we're talking multiple lynches per day, a constant week's deadline (starting at the time of the most recent lynch) would be appropriate.

Except that nobody seems to like the mechanic.

I like that idea

a lot

. If you have a plain (mafia+townies) set-up, the town have little to gain from a night, so forcing them constantly to lynch on pain of losing a townie would definitely keep the momentum of the game up.

They do have

something

to gain from Night, information-wise, in that the roles of the dead aren't revealed until night falls - this is the fundamental dilemma of the game.

Anyway, that's enough battering-out of a setup - what's the procedure for a large theme game? It's Free Market, right - does that mean there isn't a queue?

Nope, just as long as you have the modding credintials, have your setup-reviewed by someone, and appoint a comod, Phebous will give you the mod powers. And if you need a co-mod, just ask. I've been in that buisness lately.

[Seol]

Nope, just as long as you have the modding credintials, have your setup-reviewed by someone, and appoint a comod, Phebous will give you the mod powers. And if you need a co-mod, just ask. I've been in that buisness lately.

We have lift-off, then. I'll have to wait for my mini to finish first, which will give me time to prepare the flavour (why did I have the genius idea of writing all linking scenes in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter? can't just hack

them

out in ten minutes...) and write up the brand-spanking new ruleset.

[Iammars]

Nope, just as long as you have the modding credintials, have your setup-reviewed by someone, and appoint a comod, Phebous will give you the mod powers. And if you need a co-mod, just ask. I've been in that buisness lately.

We have lift-off, then. I'll have to wait for my mini to finish first, which will give me time to prepare the flavour (why did I have the genius idea of writing all linking scenes in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter? can't just hack

them

out in ten minutes...) and write up the brand-spanking new ruleset.

I prefer traditional ballad form. Much easier.

[Seol]

I prefer traditional ballad form. Much easier.

Yeah, I realise that

now

.

[Yosarian2]

if I were playing to win, I'd do the minimum to not get lynched, not step out on a limb, not make myself a target, etc...

How do you think you'd act if the Mafia really did invade your town and lynch-mob justice was invoked?

...that said, the game may be overly prone to encouraging lurky behaviour. Obviously, due to the game's fundamental mechanics, the result of any deadlines would be No Lynch, Lights Out. Maybe, seeing as we're talking multiple lynches per day, a constant week's deadline (starting at the time of the most recent lynch) would be appropriate.

Except that nobody seems to like the mechanic.

ACtually, I was writing a game with pretty much that exact same mechanic, where basically , every day lasts a week, and the town can lynch as few or as many people as it chooses within that time period. That would punish lurky behavior, for sure, because the town has to really post a lot and move fast to get the best advantage out of that situation.

[Norinel]

I'd considered running a game in chat with similar rules to what Seol's describing just to see what would happen. On forum, I'd want to give it a little more thought, but some of that you've already done.

(why did I have the genius idea of writing all linking scenes in rhyming couplets in iambic pentameter? can't just hack

them

out in ten minutes...) and write up the brand-spanking new ruleset.

I did blank verse in Newbie 149, which was hard enough even with only four scenes.

[Bacde]

Does anyone think that an 'open' game of mafia would be a good idea? E.g. Where players would be allowed (and encouraged) to do things that you usually aren't in mafia, like quote role PM's, talk to anyone privately during the day or the night, post in the thread during the night, and pretty much lie in any way possible? I'd of course add in little quirks to players' roles that would make the players want to talk privately, or create false quote.

Or was that just a brain-fart?

[Yaw]

From having tried it: DO NOT allow quoting of mod PMs. In theory, it should work if you're careful about giving scum players enough information to fake their PMs reliably. In practice, it makes things like mod spelling and grammar an issue that can just screw faking scum over. Stuff like international spellings, and the mod's personal style of writing suddenly become tells. Trust me, you don't want this to happen.

[Bacde]

Actually I had thought of this, and thought of the idea of writing each PM individually and in different styles.

[VitaminR]

Edit: Never mind.

[Mr Stoofer]

Does anyone think that an 'open' game of mafia would be a good idea? E.g. Where players would be allowed (and encouraged) to do things that you usually aren't in mafia, like quote role PM's, talk to anyone privately during the day or the night, post in the thread during the night, and pretty much lie in any way possible? I'd of course add in little quirks to players' roles that would make the players want to talk privately, or create false quote.

Better than allowing the quoting of role PMs, is just to post all role PMs in the thread. Many set-ups - not just newbie games - do this, and it avoids the problems mentioned by Yaw.

[Fritzler]

OK, its almost my turn on the mini theme queue. I have two set ups I want to run. The first is The Good, the Bad, and The ugly mafia. The other is eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Which one do you guys think I should use? (I'll use the other one at a later point, regardless probably.)

[Mr. Flay]

TGTB&TU, based on the movie? That sounds somewhat more interesting, but I haven't seen the other one...isn't that about amnesia? That could have potential, too.

[Fritzler]

Thanks so much for helping me decide.

And its not amnesia, but a company that erases people from memories.

[PolarBoy]

Actually I had thought of this, and thought of the idea of writing each PM individually and in different styles.

Black and White was a decent joke on anyone who would quote a PM, given the chance, but I wouldn't do it on a regular basis. Actually I'm not sure I would even do it again.

[pacatak]

I am working on a Knights of the round table mafia, based on T.H. Whites "The Once and Future King." Is there i resource I can look at for suggestions and guidence on how many mafia/townspeople/power roles to include?

BTW I probably won't mod this for a while, i simply don't have the skill yet, and I don't think i even qualify under the rules.

[Mastermind of Sin]

I would like to claim ScumChat mafia, mafia where the roles are based off frequent scumchat goers. I plan to run it after my UPick mafia is done.

[Fritzler]

I would like to claim ScumChat mafia, mafia where the roles are based off frequent scumchat goers. I plan to run it after my UPick mafia is done.

So incredibley /in for that. That'll be awesome.

[Iammars]

Thanks so much for helping me decide.

And its not amnesia, but a company that erases people from memories.

Ooh! Ooh!