# MAFIA: The Game - Ideal for Beginners \[Game in Progress\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 14, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099 "2015-07-14T00:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/881 "2015-08-02T20:09:01Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Two points: > > 1. What I was trying to say is that I think this is a pretty good idea for town; just that I don’t think it should be executed during the first three Days > 2. You misunderstand the role of the Seer. The Seer’s role isn’t to spot Wolves; it is to be able to confirm identities. This is mostly important during the end game; at that time a good list of non-lynched, non-Night-killed people becomes very important to win. Yes, I understand the role of the Seer very well. It’s the same difference. Just as not more than a small fraction of the Seer’s scum suspects could be people he actually KNOWS are scum, so could only a small fraction of those NOT listed be people that he is sure are town. The signal to noise ratio is too high to be of any use to us. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/882 "2015-08-02T20:16:58Z")
Something like 600 posts in Day One and only about 200 toDay. I’m pretty happy with how the vote is going (I’m for\*\* Dante\*\* but am OK with the \*\*TexCat \*\*information lynch option), but that’s not good. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/883 "2015-08-02T20:20:26Z")
> [@johnny bravo](#): > > okay, gang. I’m going out of town tomorrow on business and will be back on thursday. duly noted! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/884 "2015-08-02T20:25:44Z")
> [@Cygnus42](#): > > \*\*JSexton \*\*- many/most of his posts thus far seem like they’ve been drive-by ‘that seems scummy’/ (or sometimes ‘this is townie’)-type comments on other players, trying to pick on one phrase here or there. Maybe trying to sound helpful, in a non-specific, non-commital way. > > Starting on post 756, Dante questions JSexton - and is satisfied by 762. Couple scums covering for their scum-buddies? Maybe… I tend to agree with your first paragraph. I voiced suspicion of **JSexton** on Day One, and I continue to be wary of him. I have the same general sense that you do, that he has been trying to be helpful in a generic sort of way. And, although he responded thoughtfully to my question to him about why he was encouraging **Plumpudding** to keep talking, I can’t quite shake the feeling that he was egging on **Plumpudding** specifically because Plum has been a distracting influence. I don’t think both **JSexton** and **Dante** are scum. They’ve been fighting a bit, and **JSexton** just voted for **Dante** to help cement his lead. I can see wolves voting for each other as a way to cover themselves, but a wolf voting to make it 6-4 in favor of lynching a fellow wolf with less than 24 real hours to go seems pretty risky. So, I think one of them might enjoy the occasional pina colada at Trader Vic’s, but probably not both. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Could somebody summarize the case on **Texcat** for me? I don’t think there ever was much of a case. **Plumpudding** admitted that he provoked her just to get a reaction, and the discussion kind of went to hell in a handbasket after that. There was a lot of exchange of spittle, but I never really thought it added up to much. More heat than light. Maybe **TexCat** is a wolf, but nothing I’ve seen so far makes me lean that way. I still lean town for her. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Hate this whole post, but especially the end. Voting for you should not be rolling the dice, at least not from your perspective! You’re either town or you’re scum. > [@Biotop](#): > > **Dante G.** doesn’t seem to know which side he is on. Why would any townsperson tell us to “roll the dice”? I will not shed a tear if he is lynched this day. I’ve defended **Dante G.** in the past. And for most of Day One, I was leaning town for him, chalking up some of his more inscrutable posts to his being a fish out of water. But rereading some of his posts toDay, I am becoming more suspicious. I agree with **Johnny Bravo** and **Biotop** that **Dante G’s** evasive playing style is hard to make sense of. Here is my unofficial vote count as of now: 1. Dante G (6 votes) - Prof. Pepperwinkle (703), Diggitcamara (764), Thing Fish (808), Cygnus42 (852), Johnny Bravo (869), JSexton (878) 2. TexCat (4 votes) - Biotop (701), Nonsuch (741), Plumpudding (746), Jimmy Chitwood (875) 3. Plumpudding (1 vote) - Dante G (713) 4. Thing Fish (1 vote) - Precambrianmollusc (718) 5. JSexton (1 vote) - Mahaloth (730) 6. sangfroid (1 vote) - TexCat (877) It looks like we’re headed to a **TexCat** - **Dante** playoff. I lean town fairly strongly on **TexCat** and am starting to lean wolf on **Dante G**. I think **JSexton** is still my preferred candidate for the gallows, but I don’t see that getting anywhere today. I think the path that gives the least risk of losing another townie is: Vote Dante G ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/885 "2015-08-02T21:58:21Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Something like 600 posts in Day One and only about 200 toDay. I’m pretty happy with how the vote is going (I’m for\*\* Dante\*\* but am OK with the \*\*TexCat \*\*information lynch option), but that’s not good. Thinking a bit more and feeling less OK with the TexCat lynch. I a much less experienced than some, but I would think that a fake roleclaim would be almost automatic for a wolf in the position she was in yesterDay. How do the people voting for her feel about that? ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/886 "2015-08-02T22:15:27Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Thinking a bit more and feeling less OK with the TexCat lynch. I a much less experienced than some, but I would think that a fake roleclaim would be almost automatic for a wolf in the position she was in yesterDay. How do the people voting for her feel about that? Maybe. What’s her experience level? If she was scum, day one doesn’t allow for much coaching. First time scum might not think to claim at all. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/887 "2015-08-02T22:26:07Z")
I don’t think a texcat lynch is a good plan , we don’t need to resolve the texcat / septimus thing right now , looking at the vote swapping and who voted is not conclusive , but certainly will be helpful down the line. Unvoting thingfish Leaning toward a Dante vote, although I fear he is new and not quite got how his statements can appear weird Sangfroid is lying low , jdexton hasn’t posted a whole lot yet wants others to post a lot to analyze - scum looking for the masons/detective? Not sure Cygnus breaking a tie - we didn’t know the tie break mechanism other than story had changed it, a tie may not have been beneficial for town and yeah if texcat turns up scum , certainly not good, but breaking a tie and essentially flipping a coin isnt terribly scum like’. I think thing fish may have something Voting sangfroid Once I remember color tags ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/888 "2015-08-02T22:37:43Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Maybe. What’s her experience level? If she was scum, day one doesn’t allow for much coaching. First time scum might not think to claim at all. I thought she had played on here several times but I could be wrong; I would think you would know if she had. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/889 "2015-08-02T23:10:15Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > I thought she had played on here several times but I could be wrong; I would think you would know if she had. I haven’t played mafia on the Sdmb in several years. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/890 "2015-08-02T23:48:56Z")
Yes, I have played multiple games here. 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 2, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/891 "2015-08-02T23:50:15Z")
Judging by my join date, it looks like 6 years worth? ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/892 "2015-08-03T00:15:32Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > I haven’t played mafia on the Sdmb in several years. Hm. Shows you what I know. I guess it has been longer than I thought since I used to read games on here! ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/893 "2015-08-03T00:25:42Z")
> [@Cygnus42](#): > > ( > > \*\*JSexton \*\*- many/most of his posts thus far seem like they’ve been drive-by ‘that seems scummy’/ (or sometimes ‘this is townie’)-type comments on other players, trying to pick on one phrase here or there. Maybe trying to sound helpful, in a non-specific, non-commital way. > [@](#): > > **Bayard** : > I tend to agree with your first paragraph. I voiced suspicion of JSexton on Day One, and I continue to be wary of him. I have the same general sense that you do, that he has been trying to be helpful in a generic sort of way. And, although he responded thoughtfully to my question to him about why he was encouraging Plumpudding to keep talking, I can’t quite shake the feeling that he was egging on Plumpudding specifically because Plum has been a distracting influence. > [@](#): > > **precambrian:** > Sangfroid is lying low , jdexton hasn’t posted a whole lot yet wants others to post a lot to analyze - scum looking for the masons/detective? I am totally not feeling this line of attack on **JSexton.** It’s objectively not true that he hasn’t posted a lot, he is currently the fourth most prolific poster despite having been MIA at the end of YesterDay. And how on earth is it a\* bad\* thing that a lot of his posts have described why he finds some comments scummy and others townie? WTF else are we supposed to be talking about? I haven’t agreed with 100% of what he’s said, but all of it has at least made sense. It’s true that, if **TexCat** is Town, it’s easy to see how the events of Day One might have been orchestrated to save him. And I did think it was a trifle odd how quickly he swung from voting for\*\* Chronos\*\* to having a very strong Town read on him. But I am not close to voting for him, and the fact that he now is the target of a a series of suspiciously similar, baseless smudges certainly isn’t moving me any closer. ---
**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/894 "2015-08-03T00:31:59Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > This is a really quality, townie post. I disagree with a couple minor points (notably, your switch to protect septimus is a bit self-serving to say now) but overall, an excellent summation that matches up pretty well with my re-read. Strongly advise everyone to carefully read this post and consider the implications. Never mind, he’s clearly scum.🙂 ---
**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:** [August 3, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/895 "2015-08-03T01:26:17Z")
I still think it is Jsexton, but it may also be Dante. It could be Texcat, but I am trusting her more for some reason I can not explain. Since Jsexton is not getting the lynch, I can live with Dante. **Vote Dante G** ---
**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:** [August 3, 2015, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/896 "2015-08-03T01:27:30Z")
Let me unvote first. \*\* unvote Jsexton\*\* **Vote Dante G** ---
**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:** [August 3, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/897 "2015-08-03T03:01:52Z")
> [@Dante\_G](#): > > What is there to hate. Vanilla town has basically two jobs. 1. Get lynched or night-killed before any town power roles (be cannon fodder). 2. Before #1 happens, make sure you get plenty of stuff on the record so that there’s data for your survivors to dig through. When you say, “roll the dice and take your chances,” that tells me that you don’t care about #2. That makes you either scum, or it makes you town who doesn’t care too much about what’s going to happen after you get lynched. Right now, as the presumptive lynch leader, you need to be singing like a canary. What do you want us to look over after you’re dead? What points have you made that you don’t want to get lost in the 1000-post shuffle? Maybe you play differently where you come from, but around these parts, not caring about your lynch is considered a pretty strong scum tell. That’s why **Texcat** drew suspicion she voted away from **septimus** (thereby increasing her own chances of getting lynched. Something we still may end up going back to later in the game. ---
**Author:** ![Dante\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@Dante\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante_G)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/898 "2015-08-03T03:16:07Z")
Point taken. I apologize for not playing in a more helpful way. I am Town and as plain flavor as can be. I have no suspects that can really lean towards, however I am taking away my vote for Plumpudding. I was upset at first with his play style and aggressive tactics. It sounded scummy to me. However, I do feel now that it was more a crazy tactic than a sign of Scum. Here’s who I like for Townies - Plumpudding, Texcat, Thingfish and Johnny. Beyond them, I can’t be certain of anything else. I am sorry again for playing so poorlyfor the town. Next game I play in, I hope I can do better. Unvote Plumpudding ---
**Author:** ![sangfroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sangfroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sangfroid)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/899 "2015-08-03T05:12:22Z")
Good points from many. No excuse for not adding a lot to the discussion other than that I only post from home, and not a lot at that. I’m just not on my computer much these summer days - if I knew how [del]obsessed[/del] devoted some of the players here are, I probably would have watched this one first. 😃 Seriously, though - I agree with Johnny’s assessment of VTown. Fodder or some crumbs for everyone else, at least. So here they are, cuz I AM town. I still don’t like that **Dante** tossed me out there from the start, but now I just don’t know. Skipping his vote for toDay. Any of the others who have randomly voted for me, and attacked me, are still at the top of the bill. Most of all, **Precambrianmollusc** and **TexCat** have been trying way too hard to stir the crud my way for a while now. I thought **Tex** was scum before, and still do. Same with the **Mollusc**. Best option this Day is to vote TexCat. And if or when I get taken out, remember this post number… ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099/900 "2015-08-03T06:55:13Z")
> [@Thing\_Fish](#): > > Thinking a bit more and feeling less OK with the TexCat lynch. I a much less experienced than some, but I would think that a fake roleclaim would be almost automatic for a wolf in the position she was in yesterDay. How do the people voting for her feel about that? It’s a fair point. Honestly, it didn’t occur to first-timer me that a false claim would be Scum Ploy #1 when a lynch is imminent, though it made perfect sense once I thought about it. We’ll get back to that in a moment. What keeps tripping me up: as Thing Fish [reminded us](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=18558712&postcount=715), **TexCat** and **JSexton** were tied at 4 votes leading into the final craziness. Then **septimus** gets three more votes, putting him in the lead. **This makes no sense to me.** If **TexCat** is scum, why not pile on **JSexton**? Wouldn’t it have been easier/safer than voting up **septimus**? Another interpretation: the **septimus** votes pulled **JSexton** out of danger. Is he the scum being saved from lynching? But if so, again, why **septimus**? Why not just pile on **TexCat**? (I have misinterpreted any of the above, please correct me. I am deliberately ignoring any post-facto justifications for the above actions, given that five of them are very probably lies. I have no firm read on those tea leaves, and so am sticking to the facts: the votes.) What I find myself looking at as the Day winds down is some extremely scummy-looking machinations that I can’t interpret to my satisfaction. The only other option, as I suggested earlier, is that the lynch was just an unlucky confluence of bad guesswork, herd thinking and panic. In which case, the whole thing is a wash and there’s no point in trying to divine significance from it. I really don’t want to go down that road. The worst thing to do with five wolves still out there hunting (not to mention a dead Guardian) is to say, “Ehh, shit happens.” So I feel I have to come down on one side of the debate or the other. The fix was in for someone; it’s only a question of who. I am leaving my vote for **TexCat** for now, even given the fact that, as the final seconds started ticking, she did not behave in a typically scummy way. I reserve the right to have second thoughts. Let us see what new insights the morning brings. (I’m on the west coast, so I likely won’t be checking in before 10 EST.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-game-ideal-for-beginners-game-in-progress/725099.md?page=46)