My activity is BLUH lately
But exams are over--thesis is still running.
Teneb, I need a bit of help here ._.
Going to be a mix of IC and otherwise, so have a player-written post by Tiruin.
This is a good example of a wall of text. While 'walls of text' usually describe someone writing down their thoughts--they aren't generally a problem unless busy-ness or otherwise is in a person's background as they typed it. My wall of text here has the context of content...to make up for my absence ._.
In quoting anything from a wall of text, you can easily put a person's name and "quote
"
[quote][/quote]
the text by copy-pasting it. Or go the long way and directly quote their post, delete the unneeded portions, and have it as a nice quote with link to their post.
Moving for an
extension.
...Moreso because this isn't the quality I'd expect for many of you to survive vanilla games in communicating with other people in making persuasive arguments or discussion.
Just because we have ONE scum down leaving ONE scum left does not entail ANYONE to be more lax, to be less active, or to construct their talks to others like 'I think you're scummy. *VOTE*"
In making a post--this is the information you're giving to other people. This is your voice in talking to other people, albeit through text. Forum mafia differs this way in that your post can NOT be edited (unless it states otherwise in the OP/first post of the thread by the GM/Mod), and that this will be taken as your words towards the situation present: A post is your voice. Your voice cannot be found lacking; it can be in brevity, but it must have content for anyone to actually scumhunt purposively, or effectively. You cannot ascertain a TOWN win if you vote blindly just because 'I think they're scummy'. You put the reasoning behind it so other people can make sense of your thoughts, like putting an invisible 'why' at the end of your ideas.
Why I'm telling you all this is to encourage personal development. If any of you wish to play the day-game well, which is Town's best motive and tool (because they're all about information), you've to communicate just as well--even if it is to the person you have voted, if you do not think that you've done enough to be sure
anyone else gets the substance of your vote.Like for example: If you thus believe that random lynching is a good idea--or whomever you have voted is really scum, you've to talk about it rather than just leaving your vote on it. If in doubt of a person or if you've got suspicion on them,
ask instead of attack, especially in the early days. Every bit of social communication etiquette in reality applies to any game, as games entail figurative or role-based realities. One of the main principles in playing a Mafia game is sticking to your wincon, just like
Asimov's rules of Robotics, they cannot be argued against because they have a context that matters holistically in a sense, for a purpose or result to be achieved.
I've written things to people in spoilers, but in BMs,
it is good to take IC's and generally other players' commentaries to each other/other people who aren't you, as a point of learning. You can learn or sharpen how you communicate in a way by watching other people. Basically the adage of "Myself in your boots/shoes/place" thinking, as I do believe many people spending their time playing Mafia online do have time to think about other people when playing the game.
You can even look at other games or other BMs (check the notable games area) to see how other people communicate if you yourself may feel that you've places to improve in.
Town will never win games if they aren't
proactive, and since Mafia generally wish to look town, game mechanics just like any game such as these move to improve personal characteristics or skills such as
awareness, empathy, and communication. You work with other people in making decisions, choices, and your own personal mindset in facing
similar situations in the future that deal with the main themes being presented--which in Mafia, means communication.
Sometimes you'll probably feel anxious because you're being lynched, don't take it personally or against you, even if your argument may be sound the context where you are is also another point to think about. (Personal experience:
one of my first 'vanilla' games with a theme--I got lynched D1, because while I felt I was right or doing OK,
social context had a lesson for me that I didn't know or refine yet, . Also if anyone is curious--BM XXX {
The 30th BM, compared to the 60th of now} is my first ever Mafia game, ever. On forums or otherwise.
Maybe give it a go to see how it was in the old days--I personally find reading others' games if I've the time, to be refreshing and insightful)
Case in point: Why I emphasized 'empathy' along with those other characteristics, is because it helps you learn by noting things by other people. Now I recall one Jim Groovester in memory, because in quoting my first game up there,
he has a playstyle that goes with empathy, and that helped me a lot even if I felt attacked back then because it provoked me into thinking more (because I had/have social anxiety
).
vishdafish:
Also, sorry to double post[...]
Only generally in Mafia is it OK in etiquette to double post.
While everywhere else, you can go modify/edit your post, here you commonly can NOT, due to the reason I wrote above.
Tiruin is female? [...]
Yes. I am a she-person.
But on this note--you can check other people's profiles. Forum profiling generally has that note to help pronouns.
And if it's not stated, and this person corrects you, it's basically like that. Which goes for what just happened.
Soz its just 90% of b12 people are male. [...]
While statistics may entail a general idea of who you're communicating with,
statistics are not a rule for when you apply them, else you may mess up just like what just happened in application.
If 90% of any given population (ie If any 'majority' feeling pops up), this does not mean that one is free to use the majority standing towards everyone, because unless THOSE STATISTICS include reasoning to
why that should be done, you may encounter error in applying
impressions.Yes this is important, because there are arguments that go 'statistics show that {x} can be scum because {y total amount of players exist with z mafia members still alive}
To believe that statistics is impressionistic and leave it at that is a very incomplete way to think of it. As the point of statistics lies in the context it is describing, so too should anyone's conclusion follow context rather than the impression they had from the statistics.
It's a tiny mistake, and in no way am I prodding you in the ribs for it
But it is something to take note of.
If the power role has investigated OSG, and he is town, please can they claim. It will cut down the list of suspects by 2.
Are you aware that if there was such a COP (the BM is limited in what power roles exist--there can even be NO power roles in existence in a BM!), then they'd be risking their lives?
This also as a note opens the game up to FAKECLAIMING as a cop--kudos if there is no actual cop because it's a blind shot without anyone knowing further, as scum can easily hide behind the 'cop' idea as they know who are town, and can make guesses in such a manner.
Well, although the main purpose of my comment was to provoke a response, it would be more viable in day 4. Especially considering me and roo are (almost certainly) not scum, if there was a NK, a claim on day 4 could remove the suspicion (or find the scum) from two more people, leaving the scum to be lynched.
Self-referential comments corresponding to alignment, or any comment to one's certainty of alignment will draw attention. Mostly: HOW you got that idea (easily answered by the invisible 'why'), and will draw other people's focus. Sometimes in games like now, when boredom or day-inactivity is generally high, and quality of context of a player is generally low, people may 'jump' or focus their efforts on the one making these comments, because of the vagueness of the context.
ImicFirst questions to be answered:
> What is your goal in joining a BM?
> What are your thoughts today, before reading what I've written down below?
Could I join or is it too late? I am new to mafia. Ish. I played a version of it two years ago.
I'm in! Hello all!
Hello and welcome to Bay12, Imic! Forum Mafia is generally different from Physical Mafia (or how other people say real life Mafia :v) for many reasons:
-- Forum Mafia relies solely on text, so the tone of reading lies with the reader; any misunderstandings are best met with asking or stating how you intended the writing to be read, because people get impressions from how the wording, semantics, or structuring can be done.
-- Physical mafia has other ways of communication, such as body language and non-verbal gestures. These make up around 70% of how people communicate, as a general note, because such gestures are important in denoting meaning (ie General feelings of the other person), and is a classic example of the phrase: 'uncertain but indicating'. Body language, while it may be defined in a certain context (ie Have you looked at all those 'how to spot a liar' videos online? :V),
cannot be categorized solely under those meanings, as it all depends on the
context to be defined (ie In contrast to all those 'how to spot a liar' videos, very few at all even go beyond that to teach body language wholesomely. Like, one may be anxious and display ALL those signs, and the other person doesn't know that because they aren't both trained in actually dealing with this because they've a motive instead {find liars}, and because what they first learned appears SO convincing that it 'can be' true!).
Basically, forum mafia relies more on written or typed work that spoken word--if you can display your ideas concisely, all the better. But never aim for brevity unless you're really busy, as being detailed is a skill to help in communicating.
Now...
Before the mod announces it! Totes mod-kill behaviour etc. etc.
I mean, Imic has replaced roo!
A lone wanderer walks through the blizzard.
He arrives at the inn, and starts to talk to everyone.
Your friend Roo apparantly ran out into the blizzard to get away from all this. I know this 'cause I met him, wandering just a while away from here. He stopped me and gave a few things and asked me to try and help. Someone asked him, 'what did he give you?' The key to his room, replied Imic, as well as some money, and... A cookie. Ddly enough. Ah well, so. What's happening? And, if yer thinkin of leavin like Roo, the blozzard just got worse. I barely made it. Oops.
Because I like towns.
Is there any purpose to this introduction? Did you have any experience where introductions like these helped you?
Also what are you referring to by 'Because I like towns'?
Just stay out of it, just stay out of it...
You have an idea on the matter of pronouns. Go for it.
Making a post like this may give off the impression that you're either anxious, or speaking to yourself/giving out an impression.
But this is a game, not a discussion thread.
The entirety of your posts should not be just commentary. They need to have a purpose.
Not much. For all you know, I could be scum. Don't get any ideas, though.
If you are scum with this comment--the scum IC is doing a very bad job.
That said, if you're to make contradictory statements such as these, they won't help your cause in the long run. It's basically saying "hey, put in mind I can be scum, but don't be silly with it."
...Which doesn't help anywhere at all. There's a lack of communication, and a lack of mutual discussion. This doesn't cover what other people are even thinking because it
assumes out of uncertainty. Especially in regards to alignment.
It also provokes the idea that "I could be scum" has the opposite implication--it's as if people are thinking everyone else is town already.
So,
ImicAlso as a general rule to anyone--votes of any kind should be in a place where they're easily visible, or the Moderator may miss it. Think of it like a hazardous sign or a vocal position of significant intent, it shouldn't be misplaced in a spoiler tag despite someone meaning well, or ESPECIALLY within a botched quote. A botched quote means when there's a lacking [/quote] tag, so the bbcode spills over on everything else, and impressions of reading usually means that it's referring to what someone said
earlier instead of now. Just a point ahead of time, because since I grew up here--just like baby's first step, and baby's first word, there's
baby's first mistake which costs a whole game. (My first GM on a BM, and the link leads to a person whose vote I missed--
which is this post. Sometimes the GM can honestly miss what's going on because of many obligations going along their time.)
LARDTiruin, Roo: Could you cast a vote so I can see where you stand? Please don't put it on OSG, but that's just an editorial.
I'm not making a hard stance yet.
Kilojoule Proton
Tiruin and vishdafish: I'll try to reduce the bouncy voting. It's probably annoying to have to process too.
Hey, it's OKAY to make mistakes in a BM. What matters is this:
It was no shame to perceive your limitations, as long as you continued to work to surpass them.
Point being: a BM is for learning--while you can be corrected in them, it's ok to make mistakes
within reason, and to improve your communication rather than make mistakes again and again.
You making a statement up there clears the idea underlying why you're voting like that, so that's a good step in the right direction too--the statement by itself helps.
Still think Vinshdafish is scummy.
I still think you are scummy.
...
OSG, I'm aware that you're pretty experienced at this point, so...could I ask a running impression from you here?
juicebox: Posts please? Along with others' posts, I liked the display of reasoning you have in yours.
I was going to make a post about snow dwarf and what he can improve on...but I'll leave that for when the game is finished since he's replaced out.