# Lord of the Rings Mafia **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 10, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867 "2010-08-10T19:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 85
**Author:** ![Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanook_of_the_North_Shore)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1681 "2010-08-25T19:43:07Z")
That’s pretty much the thing he does in every game. If things don’t go exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, how he thinks they should, the game is broken. Meeko, you’re freaking out and trying to call the game broken, based SOLELY on the word of 2 people claiming a post restriction. 2 people who’s alignment you don’t know. 2 people who could VERY EASILY be scum trying to play a game to confuse Town and/or build cred. Here’s a word of advice. It’s basically impossible to judge whether or not a game is broken when you’re actively in the game. You(generic you) will filter your perception of things through your own role. When I was Scum in SSB on Idle, me and peeker were sure that the game was being broken repeatedly in favor of Town. Because that’s how we perceived it as Scum, and with information limited to ourselves. After the game was over, it was obvious that the game was broken, but in favor of Scum not Town. What it boils down to, is you(Meeko) need to stop focusing so much on how broken, sideways, gastard or whatever term you want to use the game is, and focus on actually playing the game. You can’t know everything, by defition, as a player in the game. ---
**Author:** ![Natlaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Natlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Natlaw)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1682 "2010-08-25T20:02:00Z")
> [@Snickers](#): > > **Unvote Chipacabra** > I’ve done some reviewing, and I’m less convinced that \*\*Chip \*\*is scum. > > On 8/17 at 2:59 PM (#774), he votes **Suburban Plankton** because of **Plankton** ’s “they’re all out to get me” wording. If I checked it correctly, Chipa made it 7-3 (burb-ed) so scum motivation would be bussing on what looks like an unstoppable wagon.. > [@](#): > > This vote stands until the next day at 2:36 PM (#930) when he unvotes after **Plankton** ’s claim (like many others did). .. to jump of quickly after the (expected?) power role claim. > [@](#): > > He then votes \*\*Ed \*\*that night at 5:16 PM (#1005) because of what he saw as **Ed** ’s scummy handshake attempt to ID townie power roles and win condition trick with **Chronos**. (SNIPPED) . He also thinks that if \*\*Plankton \*\*really is an investigator, then he deserves some time. By placing the vote on the runner up and arguing that burb should not be lynched. > [@](#): > > While I don’t agree with all of **Chip** ’s reasonings, I don’t really see a scummy motivation behind them. The scum reasoning don’t seem very hard to come up with. **Chipa** himself gives his own (supposedly town) motivation: > [@Chipacabra](#): > > Short version: At the time of the handshaking attempt, Ed looked like town making an unsuccessful gambit. > > Around the time that SP made his investigator claim, I pulled my vote because I still think leaving a vote for a claimed investigator without careful consideration is, well, kind of dumb. So I went back and reviewed, and Ed didn’t hold up to me. > > \ > > **Gadarene** : Another player? I don’t really have a strong scum ping on anyone else, and I’m not willing to drum up an undirected witch hunt to save my own hide. I’ve pretty much got no read either way on Astral. Probably my next suspicion is Peeker, because he’s made a lot of noise and stirred up a lot of shit, but he hasn’t actually made a stand or followed through on any of it. Pleo… I don’t even know. He can’t be ignored, but I don’t know what to do with him. But I don’t have a strong scum ping in either case, and trying to sic you on one of them just to save me doesn’t seem like a play with strong odds. I haven’t looked if **Chipacabra** made a post why **ed** holds up Today compared to Yesterday but based on this single post its a contradiction. **Vote Chipacabra** Runner up for me is still **peekercpa** : can you at least answer question about your mass claim call? ---
**Author:** ![Natlaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Natlaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Natlaw)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1683 "2010-08-25T20:06:33Z")
Oh never mind that, I get that completely wrong: he is actually meaning a another player besides **special ed** who he is voting for. Keeping my vote though since the scum motivations as listed seem more probably to me than the town ones. I’ll go do a more thorough read of Today :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1684 "2010-08-25T20:46:22Z")
Quoth **Natlaw** : > [@](#): > > Meeko seem to be again the frustrated-town-who-doesn’t-know-everything-so-only-thing-that-can-be-done-is-claim which he did as mason in Cecil Pond. Or he’s cleverly re-using it as scum - the big difference was that there he went on a voting spree while here he is mainly focused on one player (Pleonast). Wait, did **Meeko** claim? I missed that. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1685 "2010-08-25T20:53:46Z")
He didn’t really claim, but in #1668 (just up there) he says, “I guess that totally outs me as a Vanilla in this game.” ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1686 "2010-08-25T21:07:57Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > > [@Pleonast](#): > > > > That said, I hate hate hate post restrictions, too (at least, I think that’s what you may be complaining about). To the point that I’d probably get myself inadvertently mod-killed by pushing the limits. > > In the broad sense, I guess you could call my issue, an issue with post restrictions. It was so broad, that I have yet to think of it in those terms. > > And that’s kinda my point. There is some part of this game that was not reduced to simplest terms. Those terms were not published. > > However, would it have hurt the game, to tell everyone, from the start, that some players had post restrictions? > > Again, I just feel that there is a combination of factors in MAFIA that can go horribly right. That is to say, if the planets of play style, alignment, tempo, and restrictions align just right, they game would snafu instantly. > > Well informed VT could prevent this. You can mention that one or more players have a restriction, and leave it at that. **meeko, meeko, meeko** certainly you understand that certain folks will by necessity have more information than others. your job is to figure out whether that information makes sense or whether they are full of bull crud. ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1687 "2010-08-25T21:12:18Z")
> [@Natlaw](#): > > Runner up for me is still **peekercpa** : can you at least answer question about your mass claim call? \ always a bridesmaid never a bride. are you referring to the name claim suggestion? ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1688 "2010-08-25T21:15:28Z")
and **nook** isn’t **pleo** claiming something similar at 1676? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1689 "2010-08-25T21:25:28Z")
> [@](#): > > He didn’t really claim, but in #1668 (just up there) he says, “I guess that totally outs me as a Vanilla in this game.” Ah, I think that cat was already out of the bag from the handshaking. ---
**Author:** ![MHaye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MHaye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MHaye)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1690 "2010-08-25T21:27:19Z")
Day 2 progresses. Yesterday, in [post=12814389]post 887[/post] I voted Special Ed. I didn’t change my vote even that I felt increasingly suspicious of Suburban Plankton after he posted a claimed PM. I chose not to change my vote primarily because (a) I felt SP would be lynched whatever I did, and (b) my suspicion of Ed had not _de_creased. Rereading Day 2, my suspicion of Ed has been decreasing somewhat, mainly because of the Glorfindel/Faramir name claim, which suggests (to me) that Ed has received two role PMs, one his real role and the other a cover role for one of the SAHM group. However, when I took a step back, I realised that, in fact, this does not exonerate Special Ed. He could have received those PMs because Faramir is in fact one of Sauron’s minions, and Glorfindel is Ed’s cover role. Faramir, in the films, did in fact force Frodo to come with him to Minas Tirith; he changed his mind in Osgiliath. This could be used to justify another “flip” from canon. However, while Denethor did succumb to evil at the end of his life (even in book-canon), Faramir did not. Neither, incidentally, did Glorfindel – he fought to the death against a Balrog (a much greater power than he was) in order to protect a band of refugees from Gondolin. So, at this point, my suspicion of Special Ed has abated, but not vanished altogether. I won’t be placing a vote for him right now, although he remains my fallback position in case I can’t find anything better. Instead I will attempt to reread Day 2 and formulate a vote. ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1691 "2010-08-25T21:51:28Z")
> [@MHaye](#): > > Day 2 progresses. > > Yesterday, in [post=12814389]post 887[/post] I voted Special Ed. I didn’t change my vote even that I felt increasingly suspicious of Suburban Plankton after he posted a claimed PM. I chose not to change my vote primarily because (a) I felt SP would be lynched whatever I did, and (b) my suspicion of Ed had not _de_creased. > > Rereading Day 2, my suspicion of Ed has been decreasing somewhat, mainly because of the Glorfindel/Faramir name claim, which suggests (to me) that Ed has received two role PMs, one his real role and the other a cover role for one of the SAHM group. > > However, when I took a step back, I realised that, in fact, this does not exonerate Special Ed. He could have received those PMs because Faramir is in fact one of Sauron’s minions, and Glorfindel is Ed’s cover role. Faramir, in the films, did in fact force Frodo to come with him to Minas Tirith; he changed his mind in Osgiliath. This could be used to justify another “flip” from canon. > > However, while Denethor did succumb to evil at the end of his life (even in book-canon), Faramir did not. Neither, incidentally, did Glorfindel – he fought to the death against a Balrog (a much greater power than he was) in order to protect a band of refugees from Gondolin. So, at this point, my suspicion of Special Ed has abated, but not vanished altogether. I won’t be placing a vote for him right now, although he remains my fallback position in case I can’t find anything better. Instead I will attempt to reread Day 2 and formulate a vote. how come this makes the most sense of any post out of the last couple 100 or so? thanks, **mhaye**. you do have a knack for putting it all into perspective. note to self: never ever play in a game modded by **mhaye** unless you want to double up on the counseling. other note to self: let **nook** , **chronos** and **mhaye** co mod a game. make sure that the usual cast of characters are there (story, sach, drain, nat, ed, meeko, pleo, gad, naf, inner, cookies, idle et al) and it would be a whopper. and toss in some new blood and it would be a whopper. ---
**Author:** ![peekercpa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@peekercpa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peekercpa)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1692 "2010-08-25T21:52:40Z")
neta: guess that would be a double whopper after post review. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1693 "2010-08-25T22:22:06Z")
> [@](#): > > However, when I took a step back, I realised that, in fact, this does not exonerate Special Ed. He could have received those PMs because Faramir is in fact one of Sauron’s minions, and Glorfindel is Ed’s cover role. Faramir, in the films, did in fact force Frodo to come with him to Minas Tirith; he changed his mind in Osgiliath. This could be used to justify another “flip” from canon. He could also be Scum with a completely separate name, and Glorfindel and Faramir are both cover names, given to two different Scum. And **peeker** , I do have a game or two I’m planning, and could probably use a co-mod or balance helpers. I can’t guarantee who’d be playing, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1694 "2010-08-25T22:36:28Z")
\*\*I feel as if everyone else was handed a [Santos de Cartier Limited](http://www.amazon.com/Santos-Cartier-Limited-Ballpoint-Pen/dp/B002ATGPIU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1282775675&sr=1-2). I was handed a new box of 4 ct crayolas. \*\* The documents to request other documents have been in full force. I’m not even sure the legalese of those documents would be in English. Trying to keep up, I fear all of my crayons are broken. > [@Chronos](#): > > First of all, we don’t actually know that there are posting restrictions in place. We only have **ed** ’s and possibly **peeker** ’s word on that. **Second, if there are posting restrictions in place, they probably weren’t a design feature of the game, but rather a correction of a mistake made by the mod.** I think the game would be more sideways, without the correction. However, it’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t on the correction here. > [@Natlaw](#): > > How did the Golden Snitch break HP Mafia (I didn’t follow it to the end)? I did kinda propose the idea of it to Mahaloth (with the passing public and the effect unknown until the first tie). > > **Meeko** seem to be again the frustrated-town-who-doesn’t-know-everything-so-only-thing-that-can-be-done-is-claim which he did as mason in Cecil Pond. Or he’s cleverly re-using it as scum - the big difference was that there he went on a voting spree while here he is mainly focused on one player (Pleonast). Simply because the Snitch appeared to be Mundane. If it was that mundane, it should have been public information. I had no clue it was in the game, much less that it was being used [passed] or that it had a function. Do I sit with my thumb up my ass while the game parks on an entire Day of snitch conversations? Then again, it could be said that giving the entire game my last “play”, unspent, is the exact opposite of burning it in order to gain new space to play in. [I didn’t think that game was Cecil Pond, I thought I did that in an older game.] I flat out have no move left, any glimmer of a move is me chasing a shadow of something called “value” in this game. If I stomp it out before any of you guys do … Nope, still nothing. Scorched Earth sucks for all involved. > [@Nanook\_of\_the\_North\_Shore](#): > > That’s pretty much the thing he does in every game. If things don’t go exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, how he thinks they should, the game is broken. > > Meeko, you’re freaking out and trying to call the game broken, based SOLELY on the word of 2 people claiming a post restriction. 2 people who’s alignment you don’t know. 2 people who could VERY EASILY be scum trying to play a game to confuse Town and/or build cred. Here’s a word of advice. It’s basically impossible to judge whether or not a game is broken when you’re actively in the game. You(generic you) will filter your perception of things through your own role. When I was Scum in SSB on Idle, me and peeker were sure that the game was being broken repeatedly in favor of Town. Because that’s how we perceived it as Scum, and with information limited to ourselves. After the game was over, it was obvious that the game was broken, but in favor of Scum not Town. > > What it boils down to, is you(Meeko) need to stop focusing so much on how broken, sideways, gastard or whatever term you want to use the game is, and focus on actually playing the game. You can’t know everything, by defition, as a player in the game. That’s pretty low **Nanook**. You are going to sit there and tell me that this game has gone swimmingly, with the exception of Meeko? I think there are a few things, from a few people that would be taken back in an instant, if given the chance. None of them would affect the outcome of the game. [Strong-armed guidance of the Mod assures that.] I don’t care what it is. It’s becoming a game of have and have-nots. The Have-nots can only do so much. They are on a timer if the Haves wake up to the fact that they can monopolize the game. Just play the game? If I had a fucking Idea on what to do right now. If I had a way to play, don’t you think I would? To say nothing of the **UNBELIEVABLE** series of passes **Pleonast** is getting. Yes, no one can know everything. I just feel that for this game, more so than any other, a select few, by random bad luck have choke-hold on the resources needed to understand how to play this game. > [@Snickers](#): > > He didn’t really claim, but in #1668 (just up there) he says, “I guess that totally outs me as a Vanilla in this game.” Here Snickers. Have some wine. The side dish of “If you really think I can pull this off while being scum” is with my compliments. Hey! Look, one of my Crayons is still intact here! WOOT. > [@peekercpa](#): > > > [@Meeko](#): > > > > In the broad sense, I guess you could call my issue, an issue with post restrictions. It was so broad, that I have yet to think of it in those terms. > > > > And that’s kinda my point. There is some part of this game that was not reduced to simplest terms. Those terms were not published. > > > > However, would it have hurt the game, to tell everyone, from the start, that some players had post restrictions? > > > > Again, I just feel that there is a combination of factors in MAFIA that can go horribly right. That is to say, if the planets of play style, alignment, tempo, and restrictions align just right, they game would snafu instantly. > > > > Well informed VT could prevent this. You can mention that one or more players have a restriction, and leave it at that. > > **meeko, meeko, meeko** > > certainly you understand that certain folks will by necessity have more information than others. > > your job is to figure out whether that information makes sense or whether they are full of bull crud. This is kinda halted by the fact that I knew going into this game it would be a dog paddle. It’s degraded from that, past treading water, to squirming up for air, gulps at a time. Being conscripted into a game is one thing. Having that game be based on color that you THOUGHT you knew is something else. Having the color of the game surpass a rudimentary level of knowledge in the game is a third thing altogether. > [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > He didn’t really claim, but in #1668 (just up there) he says, “I guess that totally outs me as a Vanilla in this game.” > > Ah, I think that cat was already out of the bag from the handshaking. The kicker is, if I didn’t claim, you guys would probably vote me anyway. Anything I can do, of any value, would draw investigation on me, and not a brain trust. My designs and strategy, eked out of a few choice posts be damned. I guess I am sitting with my thumb up my ass this game. ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1695 "2010-08-25T22:57:24Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > **Meeko** , I’d like a one or two sentence definition of what ‘sideways’ means to you with regards to this game. I see you use that term to describe Mafia a lot, but I don’t really know what it means. I think that’s what **special\_ed** is after too. Yes, this. I think he means it’s confusing. And see, that’s what I think makes the game great. It is confusing. And tehre’s a mishmash of what people know. Some know more. Some figure out more. Some are right, some are wrong. Some are honest. Some are lying. And we’ve got to use our imperfect systems to try to make sense of it all. And we’re usually wrong. Maybe more often than we are right. I thought that that was what it was supposed to be like. It always has to me. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1696 "2010-08-25T22:59:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Just play the game? If I had a fucking Idea on what to do right now. If I had a way to play, don’t you think I would? > > To say nothing of the UNBELIEVABLE series of passes Pleonast is getting. You just answered your own question. If you think that **Pleonast** is getting more of a pass than he should, then the way you play the game is by voting for him (which you’re already doing), and trying to convince others to vote for him, too. Meanwhile, other people vote for targets of their own, and try to convince you of their cases, and you evaluate their cases and see whether you think they’re better than your case on **Pleo** , and they do the same, and so on. That’s the way Mafia always works, and if that’s sideways, then sidewaysness is an inherent trait of the game. ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1697 "2010-08-25T23:04:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > However, when I took a step back, I realised that, in fact, this does not exonerate Special Ed. He could have received those PMs because Faramir is in fact one of Sauron’s minions, and Glorfindel is Ed’s cover role. Faramir, in the films, did in fact force Frodo to come with him to Minas Tirith; he changed his mind in Osgiliath. This could be used to justify another “flip” from canon. > > He could also be Scum with a completely separate name, and Glorfindel and Faramir are both cover names, given to two different Scum. And, of course, being the ever clever Scum that I am, I decided to use 2 cover roles all at once. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1698 "2010-08-25T23:09:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Just play the game? If I had a fucking Idea on what to do right now. If I had a way to play, don’t you think I would? > > > > To say nothing of the UNBELIEVABLE series of passes Pleonast is getting. > > You just answered your own question. If you think that **Pleonast** is getting more of a pass than he should, then the way you play the game is by voting for him (which you’re already doing), and trying to convince others to vote for him, too. Meanwhile, other people vote for targets of their own, and try to convince you of their cases, and you evaluate their cases and see whether you think they’re better than your case on **Pleo** , and they do the same, and so on. That’s the way Mafia always works, and if that’s sideways, then sidewaysness is an inherent trait of the game. Meeko and I had this discussion long ago. He wants to know what his optimal play is. And then he wants to make it. If it were poker, one could calculate the odds that a particular play would work and use that information to make a play (betting, folding, bluffing, etc) But this is mafia, and much like real life, one doesn’t have the information necessary to make that decision. So you do what you think might be best. Some play conservatively, trying to optimize their information and tactics. Some play a more risky game hoping for big rewards. Some just wing it. ---
**Author:** ![special\_ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@special\_ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/special_ed)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1699 "2010-08-25T23:12:47Z")
Anyway, back to the task at hand. Can we lynch Chip? Do we have another calendar day to go? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867/1700 "2010-08-25T23:18:15Z")
**Meeko** , it looks to me that you’re more complaining about the fact that this is not an open rules set game. That is, the rules for this game are more or less secret. I do not like secret rules games in general, but I’m pretty much the only moderator who regularly runs open games, so I’m stuck playing closed games. Next time I run a game, I’ll try to remember to send you a PM to let you know. There will still be an unequal information distribution–that’s inherent to any Mafia game. But at least you will know the parameters my game operates within. I think too many Mafia game designers and moderators rely on hidden roles and mechanics, when it’s simply not necessary for a good game. But back to this game, I’m still voting for you because of your anti-town play. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867.md?page=84) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-mafia/549867.md?page=86)