Ironically, there seems to be a preface to that new bible that Esteemed Maximum Spin offered me. Bolding mine:
1) Yes, I've always, since the beginning of my play here, refused to answer questions based on my own personal whims. I even got lynched for it a couple times! But eventually everyone was forced to accept it and, indeed, people have come to regard me as a strong player... and over time, the obsession with asking questions has faded away as players came to realize that it doesn't really work. You have to accept that the world has moved on from that playstyle, and rightly so.
Imp, dropping the honorific intentionally as I'm speaking frankly outside the confines of this mafia game, sidebar.
Can I offer you a new mafia bible? You can throw out that old ragged Jimnosis edition. Nobody asks questions anymore. Instead, here's my advice to you about how to play mafia, and what you're missing:
Every single player in this game is an individual human being. You have to engage with and understand each player as a separate and particular human being with his own independent nature. There are no universal rules for the right thing to do at any moment, because everything depends on with whom and to whom you are doing it.
You must know your audience, and tune yourself to that audience.
If your actions are not making the other players react in the way that furthers your win condition, you are doing wrong, not they. Everything you say should be thought through in relation to each other player. If you find yourself repeating something in exasperation because nobody seems to get it, for example, and you can't see where everyone else is coming from - that means you're saying the wrong thing. Mafia is a social game where the individual human natures of the players is everything, and you need to understand how your actions will play into that network. You don't seem to see other people very well — your words suggest you're always thinking about what you would do and what a given thing would mean to or from you. To play mafia, you have to learn the people with whom you're playing, because you'll get nowhere locked inside your own head.
To quote your old quote you were focusing on before, "aggressively questioning everything you find odd or scummy" is a recipe for failure because other people think differently from you. The things that seem important to you are not necessarily important to anyone else, or at all, and often you will just need to shut up about them because it doesn't direct other people toward fulfilling your win condition.
My sermon to you folks, not that I've decided to accept this bible in full:
When I die, I flip town. That now cannot change, unlike how I started this game. Townies, plan for my townflip and have your alternate plan of what to do next.
No one player is vital for a town win. We're probably not that bad off, 9 left alive and in play, 10 left alive, and 3 dead scum to 5 dead town, that's wonderful.
Esteemed notquitethere's mislynch was probably prevented by my inspect D4. At least that one cost additional hostile resources for all we have since lost them. Hostile redirect, actual hostile kill - no idea. Esteemed hector13's mislynch was probably prevented by my inspect D5.
Esteemed Elephant Parade and Esteemed Jim Groovester are a potent team. If they were both anti-town of any flavor, I think we'd have a far more deadly town game. I do think Esteemed Jim Groovester is fronting a free action vote steal atop a second action, or something else that works out to 'that one's doing more each night than just trying to steal a vote'. However, are they doing it town? As I look at the outcomes, I think so, yeah.
Especially this.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
So, anyways, yes, if Lenglon actually hit me with the group chat inspect, then I would be responsible for that result, but BHK's claim is kind of weird and I don't know how confident I am in BHK/Jim as targets of Lenglon's action because everything has been kind of hard to follow.
But plenty of other things too, all small and subtle.
Esteemed Maximum Spin is openly showing two things they can do at once, most nights. Again, if that one was anti-town (and not cult with a way to get a fewer-death win, and I now think there is no cult this game) I expect far more deaths. Though third party is by no means ruled out, I lean towards town here too.
Esteemed Lenglon seems believably town to me, single night action, fairly straightforward.
Esteemed ToonyMan has a a very 'stir the pot' playstyle and mindset, which might not stir all games' pots but sure did this one. Probably town here too.
Esteemed The Canadian kitten seems obv-town to me, and I'm going to be impressed if they're anti-town. Hope you use that 'whoever targets me, or tries to kill dies' issue to go after whoever you think is killing, though remember someone could get bussed to your target, I bet you're already considering that. Good, the badguys gotta consider that too, makes them eat more resources.
Esteemed CrystalizedMire seems likely scum to me. That hasn't changed from the start of game.
Esteemed Secretdorf seems likely anti-town to me. That hasn't changed from the start of game.
As of right before rollflip, of the dead scum I thought:
Esteemed Egan_BW was most likely pirate-hunter.
Esteemed BlackHeartKabal was most likely survivor-hunter.
Esteemed sofanthiel was most likely anti-town-from-the-worst-place-with-a-plan-to-use-their-elimination-to-destroy-town.
As of right before roleflip, of the dead town, I thought:
Esteemed TricMagic was terrifying, NAI and wow and what.
Esteemed EuchreJack was confirmed not-scum, and almost certainly town.
Esteemed Webadict was almost certainly town.
Esteemed notquitethere was town.
To sum up,
Not my words, not my phrasing, but calmly and kindly my stance.
I even got lynched for it a couple times! But eventually everyone was forced to accept it
If I missed 150 posts of people egging Imp on into breaking an imaginary post restriction,
my role is so valuable
This has never been true in a BYOR.
I do not intend to recognize or respond to further challenge to my decision to uphold my possible link to my deadnamed role.
Use what comes well, townies. I think you can, you've done awesome this game, all of us have.