Why exactly do the games here last for 5+ days for 1 cycle. It just seems to me that 1-2 real time days is sufficient, so long as its obvious that all players have posted votes and comments in the game thread. Maybe it works for the complexity of the games played here and I’m just used to the games I played. I understand that players are playing all over the world and time zone plays a factor, but it still seems like 5 real time days is too many.
Can someone school me on the reason? I’m just curious - don’t attack me, please … be gentle.
I think both styles can work, but the SDMB tends to be a very talky place, not just in mafia, but as a culture. To have a back and forth dialogue with people on different work/sleep schedules and different timezones takes time, lots of it. If you want to just have “state opinions, state opinions on those opinions, then vote”, sure, you can do that in a day or two. But here it’s more of a dialogue that goes 7 or 10 or 15 layers deep, and that just takes time.
It’s just… sort of… how we’ve done it. I don’t think there’s an established rule or anything, and certainly different moderators have done things differently. But I think the extended Days and Nights fit well with the way a lot of people use this message board in general. I know I wouldn’t sign up for a game with very short cycles, not because I think it’s inherently bad but because there are times that I go 1-2 real-life days at a time without reading or posting. In a game with long cycles, this is manageable, but if this meant missing a whole Day or more, it’d be a problem.
Well see, that’s where I question this : You seem to be a very popular moderator and player and you just admitted to having played games where you may not have posted in for more than 1-2 real days. If that is fairly common, why did I get questioned and suspected on Day 1 of the current mafia we are playing, because I didn’t post so frequently on Day 1, even though I had posted - just not alot?
Maybe its just certain peoples playing style or strategy - who knows. I guess it is just a culture shock as to the play style of Straight Dope mafia as opposed to Unsung Heroes mafia. I’ll get used to it. I won’t complain about it anymore. Seems unnecessary.
I mentioned slowly-shortening days a while ago, and I still think that’s a good concept in theory, but now I’m wondering if a diamond-shaped cycle wouldn’t work for our group. Something like:
Round 1: 3 days, 1 night
Round 2: 4 days, 1 night
Round 3: 5 days, 1 night
Round 4: 5 days, 1 night
Round 6: 4 days, 1 night
Round 7: 4 days, 1 night
Round 8: 3 days, 1 night
That’s a little over a month of total play time, and it’s short when there’s the least to talk about (beginning wild accusations, ending final votes)
I’d even see value in having everything resolve at once, removing the night entirely. That’s a brisk-paced game with lots of time for discussion in the middle. Adjust as the game needs.
That seems like a good question to ask the people you’re playing with and definitely not something to be asking for speculation from nonplayers about during the game itself.
The longer day cycles are meant to give everyone a fair chance at being a part of the discussion. If the Day lasts 5 real-life days, then players have more freedom to attend to their real-life duties without having to dash off every couple of hours to mess around on the internet.
A longer middle with a shorter beginning and ending is intriguing to me although I think that the malaise we often see at the end of a game is due to frustration and a feeling of futility on the part of town. I’m not sure there’s an easy fix for that.
