# Mafia: The Thrill of the Chase \[Newbie Friendly!\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 20, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526 "2011-11-20T06:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/141 "2011-11-28T19:38:59Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > We all vote for you… I will never vote for guiri, until that time when I want him lynched. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/142 "2011-11-28T20:12:08Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > wait, huh? > > Are you confusing false accusation with wild guess? > > It would only be false if it weren’t truly random, right? I guess that’s one way of thinking about it; what I was trying to convey is that when I randomly accuse \*\*SilverJan \*\*of being scum, this accusation may be randomly correct (ie she might indeed happen to be scum) or it may be randomly false (ie she turns out to not in fact be scum). Either way, the way my accusation came about was through randomness. Sorry about the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/143 "2011-11-28T20:42:18Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > I assume this was directed at me. > > I’m not junior modding. I’m just trying to build consensus to lynch the over-eager. > > Let them die and decrease the surplus population > > Humbug! **Special Ed** , what’s wrong with the over-eager? How is it over-eager to accidentally edit a post (if that is what \*\*fisha \*\*did, and if that is what you are referring to in this quote)? And how do you figure that the over-eager are surplus population? Are they necessarily scum? Inquiring minds want to know. ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/144 "2011-11-28T21:04:51Z")
**Švejk**. Well obviously they are trying to hide in plain sight. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/145 "2011-11-28T21:37:02Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > **Special Ed** , what’s wrong with the over-eager? How is it over-eager to accidentally edit a post (if that is what \*\*fisha \*\*did, and if that is what you are referring to in this quote)? And how do you figure that the over-eager are surplus population? Are they necessarily scum? Inquiring minds want to know. Yeah God bless us every one! New scum are often over eager. Or not. Or maybe somewhat ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/146 "2011-11-28T21:37:52Z")
> [@GuiriEnEspana](#): > > Is junior modding part of your new approach to the game? Along with making short-breathed sheep sounds? > > **What happens in the event of a tied vote?** [del]Minigame[/del] It gets resolved at random. Randomly, one of the two or more top-vote-getters is killed. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/147 "2011-11-28T21:41:21Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > Yeah > > God bless us every one! > > New scum are often over eager. Or not. Or maybe somewhat Right. And regular scum often revel in innuendo, posting things to lead townies astray, confuse them, and mislead them, don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Normal\_Phase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Normal\_Phase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Normal_Phase)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/148 "2011-11-28T21:44:43Z")
Advertisement! I’m starting a new mafia game at the Geeb in about a week. Signups are now open. While I realize the timing is not the best as regards this game, I do hope a few of you _cough_will get killed fast_cough_ can find the time. Cheers! > **[Hill House -- Intro and Sign-ups - The Giraffe Boards](https://giraffeboards.com/showthread.php?p=691528)** > > Hill House -- Intro and Sign-ups The Dungeon ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/149 "2011-11-28T23:42:19Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Right. And regular scum often revel in innuendo, posting things to lead townies astray, confuse them, and mislead them, don’t they? Ed has moved to a new less analytical, more mystical pronouncements from on high style of playing. If it makes you feel better, in the two games he’s used it in so far, most of his accusations have been horribly wrong. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/150 "2011-11-28T23:44:42Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Right. And regular scum often revel in innuendo, posting things to lead townies astray, confuse them, and mislead them, don’t they? Not in my experience. I think most Scum try less to lead Town astray and try more to appear as if they were Town. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2011, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/151 "2011-11-28T23:45:45Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Ed has moved to a new less analytical, more mystical pronouncements from on high style of playing. If it makes you feel better, in the two games he’s used it in so far, most of his accusations have been horribly wrong. Bah! you act as if I had a tendency to be correct before that! I maintain that I am just as horribly wrong as I have always been. No more, no less. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/152 "2011-11-28T23:59:37Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > How do we usually get started, just speculating? Random accusation? A ceremonial gathering of pitchforks and torches? Random accusations don’t fare well on this board. We prefer justified votes, even if the justification is that you hate their pants. I don’t even know where my pitchfork is anymore. The mob burned my shed down last game and I lost everything. Speculating can be fun. I also like to hammer out some baseline stuff on Day 1. I think it will be helpful with all the new people although I think we can skip most of the Grudges are Bad talk. (If, by chance you were in another game earlier and someone fucked you over, this is a new game with new roles and getting back at them could very well bite you in the ass, so don’t do it. But everyone knew that already.) Lurking: I hates it, even if I do it sometimes. Some people define lurking as not posting. I don’t. Not posting is nonparticipatory and it’s a jerk thing to do. Mafia can be stressful and especially when Vanilla townies get bandwagoned, they can feel attacked and railroaded. No one hates you and we don’t actually mean to stress you out. So please don’t just disappear if the stakes seem high. Eventually you’ll get used to it. Anyway, I consider posting a few generic posts to be lurking. Lurkers comment on the gamestate and make generic statements that can apply to any game but don’t commit them to any positions. It’s really easy for scum to hide in a lurker pool. Policy votes: “I hate X and anyone who does X should be lynched.” Can be dangerous because sometimes you really don’t want to lynch someone even if they did X or it turns out X actually helped you but committing to an anti-X stance may give others ammo to eliminate you. It’s good to have opinions on things but consider each offense on its own merits rather than sweeping them all into the same category. Slips: Sometimes people say weird things. They can be all sorts of things like assumptions about the scum team makeup or game mechanics or name mixups. I think it’s a good idea to use slips as supporting details in a case but not as standalone reasons. There are a few opinions; feel free to share your own or to argue with my characterizations. _prepares for the barrage of Lecturing the Townies votes_ ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/153 "2011-11-29T00:02:07Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > Bah! > > you act as if I had a tendency to be correct before that! I maintain that I am just as horribly wrong as I have always been. No more, no less. Hey man, I have your anti-bah posted printed out, laminated and hung on my wall. (Ok, no I don’t but how honored would you have been if I had?) ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/154 "2011-11-29T00:34:01Z")
Here’s the bad/good thing about Mafia. Everyone needs to post-a lot. Timely, intelligent, insightful posts. However… Everything.single.thing you post will be held against you at some point. Don’t take it personally. Keep posting. The only information we have to detect scum is by everyone’s posts. Scum know this, therefore they (general rule) try to lurk-either by not posting at all, or by posting fluff. Lynching in absence of information is basically betting odds. At this point of the game, odds favor scum. I hate blind lynchings. Townies at the end of the rope sucks ass. There is a very strong sentiment of ‘lynch the lurker.’ I happen to agree with it, not only because it can be a scum ‘tell’ on occasion, but mostly because if you’re not going to participate, well, why are you even here? That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate 1 very insightful post to 10 ‘fluff’ posts. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/155 "2011-11-29T00:46:16Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Lynching in absence of information is basically betting odds. At this point of the game, odds favor scum. I hate blind lynchings. Townies at the end of the rope sucks ass. Meh. While I don’t gun for townie lynches, they’re almost as useful as scum lynches because then you can tear apart who propelled the lynch and there’s a good bet you’ll find a scum somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/156 "2011-11-29T01:09:53Z")
> [@fisha](#): > > Timely, intelligent, insightful posts. Aw, crap. Stick a fork in me then. Would it be considered bad form to vote for someone who’s been vocal, but is voting for someone who is also vocal, and thus less likely to be scum? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/157 "2011-11-29T01:14:11Z")
I don’t understand. You want to vote for someone who’s talking a lot, but they’re also voting for someone who’s talking a lot and you’re afraid talking a lot is a town tell? It’s Day 1. Make your vote. We won’t know who the lynch is until Thursday morning, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/158 "2011-11-29T01:15:05Z")
Let’s see if we have these principals good. Those who lurk are avoiding attention (possible scum) Those who post fluff are avoiding enemies (possible scum) So, with these assumptions we can deduce that it’s be absolutely insane for scum to stand out (in any way) from the crowd while the game is in it’s infancy. Someone who stands out will be highly scrutinized by the mob and, since the game just started, the odds are already with the scum anyways so why take silly chances? ---
**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:** [November 29, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/159 "2011-11-29T01:17:01Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > So how come there’s only two votes in? Come on people, make with the false accusations! False or hasty? I’ll do hasty(well, quick, anyway) on Day One…don’t know about false since I don’t know who/what anyone is. **Vote Svejk** for the random vote. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526/160 "2011-11-29T01:20:26Z")
See? This board really hates random votes which is a shame if only because a lot of other sites use it frequently and offboard encyclopedias include it as a valid Day 1 strategy. I swear, we lose more noobs to random voting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mafia-the-thrill-of-the-chase-newbie-friendly/603526.md?page=9)