# Mafia: Baker Street \[Game in progress\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 7, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752 "2014-02-07T14:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/101 "2014-02-13T03:06:57Z")
Posting from phone - please excuse errors. \*\*In response to several similar queries: there are no post restrictions in this game. You may quote anything you receive from me. I also will not intervene in any case of post editing, which is permitted according to the rules of this game (but may or may not be frowned upon by other players. No instant messaging between active players is permitted. Anyone with access to an external board may post to it at any time.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/102 "2014-02-13T03:08:48Z")
Call me cray, but I’m tempted to just push that we go ahead and state all of our clues. It might not be the safest move, but I’m up for a bold move. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/103 "2014-02-13T03:35:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **DaphneBlack** : > > Do you mind explaining why you think it would be optimal to vote for the probable number of people as there are scum? I can’t help but think that that will make it harder to spot scummy voting patterns… My general philosophy is that the more information, the better, and it forces the Scum (and the Town) to commit to positions. In a game where people cast one vote and just point Fingers of Suspicion at others, a Scum could point a FoS at another Scum to build up credibility, while at the same time not putting that other Scum at any increased risk of getting lynched. With multivoting, though, if you want your suspicions on the record, then you have to make it actually count. The absolute most information would come if everyone voted for half of the total players in the game. But that absolutely guarantees that everyone will be voting for Town. And I figure, if somehow we knew exactly who the remaining Scum were, we’d all be voting for exactly those people, so it seems right to vote for that many people even when we’re not sure. Like I said, I haven’t proven this to be optimal, but that’s why I believe it probably is. **Pleonast** might be able to elaborate on this; he’s long been an advocate for multi-vote. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/104 "2014-02-13T03:38:49Z")
Oops, another page. > [@](#): > > Quoth **Mahaloth** : > > Call me cray, but I’m tempted to just push that we go ahead and state all of our clues. It might not be the safest move, but I’m up for a bold move. Fish or cut bait. If you think it’ll help to post yours, go ahead. If you don’t think it’ll help, don’t push others to. But pushing for everyone to post their clues while not doing so yourself looks fishy to me. **Vote Mahaloth** ---
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/105 "2014-02-13T04:47:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Got my PM, too. But wouldn’t the appropriate term here be “afoot”? I’ve been watching too much TV. [The game is on.jpg](http://khongthe.com/wallpapers/entertainment/the-game-is-on-31817.jpg) > [@Astral\_Rejection](#): > > For the record, I do not have a pulitzer. My wager above is safe![…] Darn! I was going to take you up on this just on the off-chance that I might win a Pulitzer. I don’t remember Estelle Anderson as a character. **Daphne** , you seemed very quick to accept Idle’s claim; do you know who Estelle Anderson is? ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/106 "2014-02-13T05:00:30Z")
No, I do not know who Estelle Anderson is. I accept the claim on tone mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/107 "2014-02-13T05:37:13Z")
Granted I know nothing about characters in this world…who is to say all of the characters will definitely be from the actual universe? I seem to recall a lot of outside characters being in other “in-universe” games. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Klutz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captain_klutz/32/4993_2.png) [@Captain\_Klutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Klutz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/108 "2014-02-13T08:38:25Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Call me cray, but I’m tempted to just push that we go ahead and state all of our clues. It might not be the safest move, but I’m up for a bold move. There’s a difference between bold and reckless. Each player can decide for themselves whether their clue is worth sharing. I’m certainly curious what all the clues are, but we have been specifically told that some clues would be disadvantageous to share. My clue, if true, could be useful. If false, dangerous. I don’t see a need to share it yet. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/109 "2014-02-13T09:14:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And we do know that most of them, at least, are true. Even if a clue does lead to a lynching, well, something that gives us a better than 50% chance of a correct lynch on Day 1 is pretty good. We know that most of the _total_ clues are true, but we also know that every scum has a true clue. This means that the total number of clues held by town _may be_ less than 50% true. > [@Chronos](#): > > Plus, every clue that we learn is false allows us to be more confident in all the rest of the clues, since there are a limited number of false ones. This makes good sense to me. What does everyone else think? Is a potential lynch on Day 1 worth the risk of a mislynch? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Klutz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captain_klutz/32/4993_2.png) [@Captain\_Klutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Klutz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/110 "2014-02-13T09:27:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Idle** , since you’re the only one who knows your clue, you know better than any of us whether it would be good to reveal it. I think that in general, it’s probably to our advantage if most people reveal, but there can certainly be exceptions (for instance, if your clue says who Holmes is, definitely don’t reveal that one!). > > On the other hand, **Johnny** , I wouldn’t be too worried about the possibility that a clue can be false, since we all know that that possibility exists. And we do know that most of them, at least, are true. Even if a clue does lead to a lynching, well, something that gives us a better than 50% chance of a correct lynch on Day 1 is pretty good. Plus, every clue that we learn is false allows us to be more confident in all the rest of the clues, since there are a limited number of false ones. That’s a good point, that finding a false clue does slightly improve the odds that other clues are true. With 22 players, there could be up to 10 false clues (that is rather a lot, and I kind of doubt there would be so many). However, scum do not seem to have any motivation to post a true clue, so there could still be more than half of the supposed clues being false. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Klutz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captain_klutz/32/4993_2.png) [@Captain\_Klutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Klutz)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/111 "2014-02-13T09:50:49Z")
To provide a bit of variety from the clue discussion, let’s look at this rule: > [@storyteller0910](#): > > \*\*1.\*\*There are only two sides here: The **Town** , sometimes identified as “Yours” and the **Scum** , sometimes identified as “Mine.” There are no third parties, whether malicious or not, and no mechanism by which a player may become a third party. Interesting that he says “…no mechanism by which a player may become a third party”. He didn’t rule out the possibility of a player changing sides to scum. So I think we need to allow for the possibility that some player(s) could be recruited to the scum side. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/112 "2014-02-13T13:05:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I realize that early votes can stimulate discussion, but not random votes, because what is there to discuss in them? If that vote stays in place once the Day really starts rolling, I probably will vote you for it. Might as well vote me now then, because Pizza is stubborn as a mule and has been voting randomly on day one since he began playing over 6 years ago. It’s day one, all you have is random voting and then people voting others because they “don’t like” their random votes. Come and get it, pizza’s hot and fresh and never really gives a damn about threats. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/113 "2014-02-13T13:08:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > So for example, I think **Chronos’s** clue was a good reveal because it makes sense and, even if it’s one of the false tip-offs, I can’t currently see it contributing to a townie getting lynched by mistake. Nicely reasoned, and agreed. [QUOTE=Chronos] Agreed on the editing. Most edits are innocent, but Scum could also edit to remove an accidental slip. Best to avoid the possibility entirely. [/QUOTE] I do my best but I am a compulsive editor- to fix spelling/grammar/sentence structure mistakes and to add sudden thoughts I typically get after posting. Otherwise this is what you have to look forward to: 5 or 6 posts of mine in a row every page. ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/114 "2014-02-13T13:33:51Z")
IS ATPG (2) IS ATPG (3) IS ATPG wevets ATPG DB IS Maha Chro JBrav Idle JBrav Chro Astral (2) Chro DB Darth Maha Chro (2) Texcat DB Idle Klutz JBrav Klutz (2) ATPG (2) It’s been about 9 hours since we started play. The following players appear to be discussing things as a group: Inner Stickler DaphneBlack Chronos Mahaloth Johnny Bravo Idle Thoughts Captain Klutz Myself The following have posted once and left **TexCat** - who asked a question to DaphneBlack **wevets** - who spoke to IS and had an opinion on game strategy **Darth Sensitive** - who only responded to my vote and waffled about his own clue Pizza says a first caught scumbag is you. **Unvote Darth Sensitive** aaaaaand **Vote Darth Sensitive** ---
**Author:** ![Askthepizzaguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askthepizzaguy/32/9405_2.png) [@Askthepizzaguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askthepizzaguy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/115 "2014-02-13T13:40:16Z")
Translation from pizza language: Every other player had an interest in discussing with others, and took a stand on something. This one is not like the others and in the “I don’t have any interest in helping solve the game” sense. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/116 "2014-02-13T14:16:33Z")
PM received. Will try to catch up as soon as possible. The upcoming weekend is a holiday weekend in Canada, so my Day 1 participation may not be up to par, but I’ll do my best. ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/117 "2014-02-13T14:36:43Z")
You know, Pizza, I dig your vote. Not a random vote at all. 🙂 If anyone is unfamiliar with playing with me, I primarily play from my phone, and have a regular day job from 8-5 (with occasional nights and weekends, too). I try to follow along during the day, but when I’m supposed to be working, I don’t always have time for big involved posts. Basically, during the day I’ll try to make posts like this, where I agree with something or question somebody, and at nights I’ll make my bigger reasonier posts. ---
**Author:** ![Dizzymrslizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Dizzymrslizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzymrslizzy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/118 "2014-02-13T15:21:51Z")
Mornin… Sorry didn’t realize we started over here, although I did read my PM. I can see why some clues are more helpful to Scum, but mine is I believe Pro-Town to share > [@](#): > > CLUE: Scum players have all been given complete, detailed false identities, including clues. So those calling for mass claims to try and Pin Scum, I don’t think so because they all have covers… ---
**Author:** ![Dizzymrslizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Dizzymrslizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dizzymrslizzy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/119 "2014-02-13T15:22:52Z")
Oh and Pizza I HATEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEe Your Day 1 random votes, in fact I don’t quite like not knowing what side of the fence you are on! LOL ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752/120 "2014-02-13T15:23:56Z")
Argh, I had a nice post all typed up and lost it when trying to “go advanced”. Very frustrating. Now I’m late and so I will summarize: I don’t mind random voting day one, especially as it can be revealing. Don’t like it when players only respond to votes on themselves. Recruitment by scum is something we should def. keep in mind for the future, as it would seem canon-acceptable. I’m not sure how much importance we should be placing on names. On **Mahaloth** : considering voting here. The “bold” plan to reveal all clues on day one: we’ve basically been told that this will backfire by the mod. Proposing such a thing a few days in, when we have had a chance to advance our understanding and get info which could help us evaluate the clues for T/Fness, is one thing. But saying we should do it now (and, as **Chronos** I think pointed out, not revealing oneself’s clue) is very dodgy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-baker-street-game-in-progress/680752.md?page=7)