Now, my belief that bussing is bad might seem a bit irrational, but I insist on it for a long list of reasons, reasons not based off of my own personal beliefs (hell, I love bussing just as much as everyone else), but rather, off of experience and simple logic.
Let's start with the basic theory behind bussing:
Bussing, back in the day, was a groundbreaking concept. Nobody thought it possible that scum would vote their scumbuddy. Not because it hadn't been done before, not because of ignorance. Because, as far as they were concerned, bussing your scumbuddy was borderline playing against your wincon, because by bussing, you're delaying your victory intentionally.
That's what made it so effective. There was an incredible risk for scum to do it, so high that town players thought it impossible--and that thought generated a reward high enough to make it worth it. Now over time, bussing progressively became more mainstream. But even when I was playing in 2009, it was still significant. While people were familiar with bussing, they had to analyze carefully to determine if it was, and scum had to equally carefully choose whether they wanted to bus or not.
That choice was, in fact, the driving force behind bussing: was it worth it? Did the scum gain more from the bus then they lost through it? Scum players had to think it over to great extents, and town players had to analyze carefully to see which it was.
Not so anymore.
Bussing has become so common that it is more shocking to see someone
not
bussing than it is to see someone bus.If I see a scum lynch, know what I immediately begin analyzing? The players on the scum lynch, looking for the bussers who I am near-guaranteed to find.
Vice-versa, too. If I see a town lynch, do you know the first place I look? I look
off
the wagon, to see if there's scum who chose to bus their scumbuddies. In both cases, it's of course not the only place I look, but the fact that I expect scum lynches to be scum-driven (and they ARE!) can give you an idea of just how damn frequent bussing is on the site.People have forgotten what the point of bussing was.
The point of bussing wasn't "oh, you're scummy, so a town-me would be voting you, sorry mate". The point of bussing was to gain more than you would lose. Risk-Reward analysis was the driving force behind the decision to bus, and almost nobody (except a small minority--mind you, most of this minority are veteran players with pre-2010 joindates) does that anymore.
Your scumbuddies are not as scummy as you think they are.
You are the informed minority. You know more about the setup than the town does. Knowing your scumbuddies are scum, you're going to pick up on scumtells from them that a town player would never catch. Seriously. Towns are more idiotic than you think they are. They're not nearly as smart as you give them credit for.
This also applies to yourself as a player. I've noted over my career that it's a decently-common tell: players who are confident and competent are surprisingly-often scum, bussing. That same player as town misses things that their scum-self picks up on, that same town player lacks the same confidence because they don't know, that same player will be less effective at scumhunting as town than they are as scum. (Note that this is far from universal, and
is
incredibly player-specific. But in general, it's what I've observed.)The scum-you will be smarter and pick up on things, which makes the scum-you more inclined to bus, because you (wrongly) think your town-self would be competent enough to pick up on the thing your scum-self just locked on to.
You can get away with some incredible BS.
A common mistake scum players tend to make is assuming that they have to play smart, and they equate bussing = smart, not bussing = dumb, and dumb = scum. While this may be true of specific players (who are so competent as town that they have to fake incompetency as scum in order to not screw themselves over, more or less--not a theory I particularly agree with, mind you, but which happens), in general, it's not.
You can get away with some incredible ploys, so long as the town will write them off as a mistake a town player will make. And believe me! Town players are not scumhunting gods, so they'll make a lot of mistakes! Meaning you, as scum, can make a lot of seemingly-incredible "mistakes" that actually further your wincon. Far too many scum don't realize that this sort-of "Refuge In Audacity" WORKS.
Far too many town wins are a result of bussing; an incredible number of scum wins are a result of
not
bussing.Or more accurately,
strategically
bussing. And I don't mean strategy as in, "Oh, you're clearly going down, so I might as well get the towncred by being on your lynch". That's not strategy; that's stupidity, because you'll get zero towncred from it. I also don't mean strategic bussing in the sense that you hardcore tunnel on a scumbuddy; that's also painfully transparant to a town player who's half-way competent. When I mean strategy, I mean running the risk-reward carefully.Ask yourself how much you gain by bussing, and how much is lost.
It really does make the difference.
The main factor in how you're perceived is how you play!
Not who you push. While who you push is
part
of your play, the largest factor in my experience isn't that you pushed someone, but the way you pushed them and your general approach to the game. What does this mean?Bussing doesn't give you the towncred you want; playing solidly does.
And playing solidly generally involves being a strong player, working with others, being reasonable, being charismatic, and involved in the game, showing effort and attempts to scumhunt.
Playing solidly does not require bussing.
Because bussing is such a minimal factor in how you're read, therefore, it becomes largely unnecessary to do. Bussing CAN be part of playing solidly, but it is not a requirement (and can, counter-intuitively, actually be a hindrance) for it.
That's not to say 'No bussing at all'!
It just means that you need to get the most bang for your buck in the bus. The most bang for your buck is not going hard on your scumbuddy immediately. It's not in cross-bussing. It's in, via the overall play in relation to the bus, gaining more than you have lost.
Run the math carefully!
Bussing in a micro on D1 is suicide, as you've lost your scumbuddy, have to get three mislynches in a row, and must dodge the town PRs, of which there are typically 2-3 in a micro.
On D2, it's slightly more viable, but still risky. And on D3, if both of you are alive...why are you trading the potential for an immediate win for the far-lesser potential of a 3P lylo win? The cross-bus in lylo doesn't get you any towncred, and if you were the second-most-suspicious player and your scumbuddy the most-suspicious player, you just lost a game you could've won without bussing.
Bussing in a mini can be done, but only once. Minis with only two scum actually have a fair number of scum wins, because the loss of a single scum member proves to be little hindrance. But when doing so, you need to set it up so that the remaining two scum do not get lynched themselves. It must be carefully planned and executed, for the ultimate payoff.
If you get down to 7 players with two scum, it
might
be viable, but that runs the same risk as in a micro.Even better is if you can get a win with all three scum--and yes, it IS possible to do.
Bussing in a large is actually similar. It can be done once, and you'll generally be fine. The loss of a single member will put you at a disadvantage, but if your team was reasonably sized, only slightly so. It's particularly useful to get rid of a weaker scumbuddy who you fear will drag you down, too. But again, tread carefully; it must be done with caution, and if you repeat this on a second scumbuddy, you just entered a slippery slope that has a near-guaranteed end result of a town victory.
Few games are all-or-nothing.
They can happen, but mostly, scum seem to assume that defending scum will create an all-or-nothing. In general, it will increase the all, yes. By keeping your scumbuddies alive for as long as possible, you get to lylo much faster. The mistake is in assuming that doing so is too large a risk, because the result can be "nothing".
Why? Because your town-self is not a scumhunting god. Nor are your scumbuddies. It can be entirely reasonable for a town-you to townread your scumbuddies and defend them from attacks, so don't be afraid to do so. Especially if you see a town player doing it! If THAT player, who was town, legitimately townread your scumbuddy...why can't you, as town, have done the same?
"But it's something I would do as town!"
Well, see above about the town-you not being as smart as you think the town-you is. It's harsh, but admit it. Unless you're Paragon-levels of good, it's simply not true.
But furthermore...
Scum shouldn't be playing as if they are town. They should be playing to
appear
as if they are town.This subtle difference makes all the difference. If you're playing as the town-you when you're scum, you're actually playing as a survivor and not as scum. The approach you SHOULD be taking is to make yourself look as close as you can be to your town-self
while furthering your scum agenda
. Your scum agenda isn't "fuck my scumbuddies, I need to live!". It's getting to 50% of the living--which is much faster WITH those scumbuddies.When all else fails...
Don't do what's expected. For instance, a scumbuddy on a downward spiral who puts their scumbuddies in their scum-list has just condemned their scumbuddies to death, because the scumbuddies who weren't there before but are there now have just been identified by this transparent tactic. Towns are smart enough to see through the wifom. Instead, try the opposite; put scumbuddies who were null or scum in your TOWN list; you'll practically clear them once you're lynched.
In other words, once again...town expect bussing. They do
not
expect heavy defending.A word of warning:
These tips are geared towards current site meta. If I have my way and people listen to my advice, these tips will be obsolete within half a year. But right now, they'll work like a charm.
In summary:
Think before you bus, don't default to the bus.
