fraxert:fraxert:
I figure that his insistence on innocence was suspicious, so I vote him for suspicious activity. Scum seem more likely to become defensive or offensive, so if he responds strongly to the accusation I let the vote stand on a basis of more heavy suspicion. If he doesn't respond as strongly (no response is unlikely in any case) I assume innocence and unvote.
By "let the vote stand," do you mean turn it into a lynchvote? Are you saying that if he'd answered calmly/quickly you'd have written him off as town and moved on?
Not so much quickly as calmly, and I guess I should have mentioned logically. My point was that more lynchvotes would likely put an inexperienced scum off-balance, albeit I wasn't thinking about the guidance they are getting from the ScumIC.
This is good reasoning, but what I'm wondering about is the next step. You seemed to be implying that depending on how he responded to that one question, you'd have written him off as innocent or guilty.
Also, "lynchvote" tends to refer to a vote whose purpose is to dispose of someone come day end, as opposed to a "pressure vote" which is designed to force a reaction out of someone because they think they might be in the noose.
Now, however, because I explained myself, he knows how to act to get me to drop it, so my vote shall stand.
What was your plan here?
Unfortunately, because of the prohibition on PMs I couldn't explain myself to you privately, and not answering would likely bring about lynchvotes. Although, it now occurs to me that answering privately would likely still instigate votes against me.
I meant the "let the vote stand" part.
I was being wishy-washy. Perhaps I still am.
Your suggestion for more scumhunting does appear to be wise (you are an IC), but I am still suspicious of +!!scientist!!+ and my sanity is still missing.
I Unvote for now.
Then why aren't you hunting anyone, !!scientist!! or otherwise?
ReDeadEr:Alright, so I've had some time to sleep on it and I've decided to go with my gut.
Captain Ford, I find your actions somewhat suspect. More specifically, your attempt to make a simple statement by +!!scientist!!+ out to be a roleclaim.
Votes and suspicions tend to work better in the form of a question, unless you're absolutely sure and trying to convince others.
For instance, compare the following:
You've been lurking, so I think you're scum.
You've been lurking an awful lot. Don't you want to catch scum? It's not looking like it.
Now consider how someone would respond to each of them. For the statement, they might not respond at all- you're not asking them anything, after all- and if they do, it might not be what you wanted to know. For the question, even a relatively meaningless question like that (the answer's never going to be no), they'll feel much more obliged to respond, and that response will probably be more what you were looking for- you got to design the question, after all.
Onyxjew:Tiruin. One incredibly lengthy post after five pages of deliberation, a strong set of questions, advice I seem to have already forgotten, and a mild bit of Tolkien. Apparently you have some experience with this particular game. What, exactly, would you define as a proper question "relevant to the game"?
Ironyowl. Same question I delivered Tiruin. I think most of us are here to learn the mechanics. More examples have never hurt.
Anything that gives you more of a useful read on someone. So for instance, asking them their favorite book or ice cream flavor probably isn't going to help you get a grasp on them as a mafia player. Asking them what role they'd prefer, who they'd like as scumbuddies, or what they'd do in a given hypothetical situation might, however.
For instance, let's say it's LYLO, you're scum, and your partner is still alive. If you lynch town, you win. If you don't lynch town, it goes to another day and everyone knows whose interactions to look at. Your partner makes a slipup and starts getting heat, but it's not completely unsalvageable. If you go for another lynch, you might be able to save him and win the game. You might also fail and look really bad come tomorrow. What do you do?
So, in this case, however you answer might give me a better read on your playstyle. Even if this particular situation never comes up, and even if nothing particularly like this comes up, I'll still get to know you a little better as a mafia player, and thus be a little more able to figure out when something's off.
Oh, and the Magic question was an attempt at reading playstyle indirectly. It largely failed because you're not familiar with Magic, and I didn't have high hopes for it anyway, but I still know a little bit more about you than I did before I asked it.
Ah, what a confusing game. Undeniably intriguing, yet confusing to an initiate.
Yep. Among other issues, there's not a lot of concrete stuff to latch onto like there is with most games; it's all gut and theory and trying to read intent and sense genuine patterns amongst arbitrary
stuff.notquitethere: Well done. You seem to have a fair idea of what you're doing.
burn_heal: but Jim Groovestar would much rather be getting on with strictly mafia-related questioning.
I think Jim was concerned we were letting the theme sidetrack us. He probably thinks we should Keep It Simple for now. We are beginners after all.
Then I guess some people aren’t into the roleplaying element as much as others, partner.
I think he was more concerned about the RVS questions not really relating to anything in general. He's not a big fan of "Did you see that latest movie?" style fluff.
+!!scientist!!+:At this point I gotta say I found out I'm bad at mafia. I can't figure out how to hunt scum, (despite looking at the guides repeatedly) and every attempt has made me look more scummy.
What I will say is I made a stupid mistake: for whatever reason I thought that Captain Ford was saying that I was being to insistant that I was townie, when that was the only possible response. If I understand correctly he was asking if I was claiming a power role, (the answer is no) and that's a lot less scummy. My only question is why Captain Ford asked me if it was a role claim in the first place.
Everyone's bad at mafia until they get better. Never give up.
Hunting scum means getting reads on your fellow players. This can be tricky because there isn't a magic way to go about this; there's no game mechanic that reveals somebody's Emotion Card or anything, you just have to read what they wrote and figure out what's going on in there. That also takes some practice.
So, continue to ask questions. If there's anything that strikes you as strange or interesting or just a possible lead into one of those, ask about it. If there isn't, look harder.
For instance, I'll ask you a question. Oh... how do you feel about Onyxjew being the third person to comment on Captain Ford needing to be clearer on his intentions? However you answer should give me a better read on you, don't you think?