# Random Mafia **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 18, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942 "2010-03-18T21:47:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/261 "2010-03-21T20:12:07Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I thought that pointing out the typos didn’t seem scummy. At worst, the typos mean nothing except a moderator who made a mistake. At best, they could be information. But why suspect the person who notices them? That’s a big WTF from me. **Chronos** voted for **Wanderers** because **Wanderers** _voted_ based on the typo/s he discovered. If the typos themselves aren’t scummy, and somebody votes because of the typos, what’s incongruous about voting for the person who casts the anti-typo vote? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/262 "2010-03-21T20:14:08Z")
OK, granted **Wanderers** did vote, but I’m just seeing the voters for him as scummier than his vote. I do hope he unvotes **NAF** for that Joseph thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/263 "2010-03-21T20:31:38Z")
That seems weird. Help me out. Why, to your eye, is it less scummy to cast a vote on a person for doing something that isn’t scummy than it is to cast a vote for a person for casting that vote in the first place? It seems like it ought to follow logically that if the typo was not scummy, then a vote based on the typo must be scummier than the vote against the person casting it. Or at least the same level of scumminess, maybe; it just doesn’t seem possible to me that there’s a better scum motivation to lynch a player for an unjustified vote than there is to lynch a player for having a typo in his post. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/264 "2010-03-21T20:33:06Z")
Well, I don’t think the vote was unjustified when he first made it. The fact that he hasn’t rescinded the vote since we’ve realized that the typo is in more than one post says more to me, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/265 "2010-03-21T20:36:56Z")
[His vote](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12244900&postcount=179) was based on the fact that the typo is in multiple posts: [QUOTE=One and Only Wanderers] Joseph is spelled wrong in both your attempts to claim [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/266 "2010-03-21T20:41:16Z")
Okay, I agree it could have been a mod mistake. But I’m not sure why it’s such a bad reason to vote for someone on. Aren’t we basically taking stabs in the dark here on day one? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/267 "2010-03-21T20:54:32Z")
No, of course. These are all lightweight cases. Some can still be better than others. But as it turns out, I misread your initial post (misinterpreted the context for the “worst” in “At worst, the typos mean nothing except a moderator who made a mistake.”). You never actually said that the typos weren’t scummy, which means the inconsistency I was confused about wasn’t actually there. For the record, even though I just confused myself while defending it, I would not have voted based on **Wanderers** ’ vote. I’m voting for him because I didn’t think demanding a full copy-and-paste from someone who had already name-claimed was helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/268 "2010-03-21T20:55:31Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > For the record, I checked the rules (post 70 for future reference), it was not stated that the Scum would know anything about each other. > > Meeko, how do you know that the Scum know each others names? I am Town. How am I to know what information Scum had to begin with? I mean, isn’t this usually what makes scum, scum? If scum don’t know their scum-mates, this game might well never end. Or, are you saying that they don’t have this information, by design? Don’t hang me me for making an assumption that has remained true for 100% of my games heretofore. > [@special\_ed](#): > > Additionally, **Meeko** , you’ve mentioned that you think NAF is a power role. Can you explain how you came to that conclusion? On the assumption that Religious people are only in this game to provide “prayer” or protection. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Okay, I agree it could have been a mod mistake. But I’m not sure why it’s such a bad reason to vote for someone on. Aren’t we basically taking stabs in the dark here on day one? Because it invites people not to play their best game. \*\*If you are going to vote based on word of mod typo, we might as well not play at all. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/269 "2010-03-21T20:58:30Z")
Freudian, you are coming out of nowhere on all of this. A bit off for your part, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/270 "2010-03-21T21:00:52Z")
But we don’t know that it was a mod typo yet. It could very well have been scum making up a post. Anyway, maybe the religious posts are doctor types. I’m wondering what fictional means. I know I wasn’t given any special duties or other roles in my PM… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/271 "2010-03-21T21:01:56Z")
NETA: All I’m saying is that the typo thing did look a little weird, but that so far it could mean anything. It could mean that **Wanderers** is right, or he could be scum jumping on an easy reason to vote for a lynch. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/272 "2010-03-21T21:36:23Z")
If nothing else, even if the Scum don’t know each others’ role-names (and everything else in each others’ PMs) right now, we can be pretty well certain that they’ll know toNight. Typically the first thing on the Scum board is the Scum introducing themselves to each other, and they have no reason to hold anything back at all from their teammates. When that happens, yes, they probably will be able to make better use of that information than we are, and that’s regrettable. But it’s part of the way the game works: We can’t keep Town in the dark for the sake of keeping Scum in the dark, too. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/273 "2010-03-21T22:34:33Z")
My list FWIW… ```auto TexCat Benedict Arnold (Traitor). Tom Scud Busby Berkeley (Choreographer). Oredigger George Washington (President). special ed Guy de Maupassant (Writer) Freudian Slit Patroclus (Greek). You are Fictional. Red Skeezix Ogden Nash (Poet). Meeko Joan Miró (Aritst) Mahaloth Samuel Johnson (Critic). storyteller Baldrick (Servant). You are Fictional. GuiriEnEspana Gustave Eiffel (Architect). One & Only Wanderers Fu Mingxia (Olympic Gold Medalist). KellyCriterion Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer). MHaye Tim Horton (Canadian). NAF1138 Joesph Smith (Mormon) Jimmy Chitwood Alexander Graham Bell (Inventor) Rysto Petr Cech (Goalkeeper). Chonos Jesse Jackson (Reverend). Drain Bead Eva Peron (Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina). Zeriel Lysander (Lover). You are Fictional. peekercpa wicked witch of the west??? ``` ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/274 "2010-03-21T22:46:55Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > I am Town. How am I to know what information Scum had to begin with? I mean, isn’t this usually what makes scum, scum? If scum don’t know their scum-mates, this game might well never end. I didn’t say they didn’t know who the other Scum are, I ask how you knew the Scum knew the role names of the other Scum. You didn’t imply, you directly stated that the Scum know each others’ role names. I agree that it is standard operating procedures for Scum to know who the other Scum are, but it is definitely not standard operating procedure for them to know each other’s role names or roles. > [@Meeko](#): > > Or, are you saying that they don’t have this information, by design? I’m saying that I don’t know that they have this information. > [@Meeko](#): > > Don’t hang me me for making an assumption that has remained true for 100% of my games heretofore. OK, now you’re saying you just assumed it. Perhaps because you subbed in you missed the discussion of this in Colorless. It became a large point of discussion when drain was up for lynching that it would have been ballsy for a Scum goon to vote to bus a fellow Scum on Day 1. I know you were in the game at that point. > [@Meeko](#): > > On the assumption that Religious people are only in this game to provide “prayer” or protection. Why do you put credence in the fact that the role names imply some sort of power? Why especially when the game is called Random Mafia? ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/275 "2010-03-21T23:10:29Z")
I think TexCat’s list is right, though it is not in claim order. I assume it is in the random order sach gave us early one? Are we through it then? Did everyone claim? ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/276 "2010-03-21T23:11:29Z")
NETA: Except peeker, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/277 "2010-03-22T00:21:18Z")
Hi guys. It’s been a busy weekend; I’ll try to give things a reread, do some scum hunting, and take a look at the Wanderers vs. others case tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/278 "2010-03-22T01:19:00Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > Why do you put credence in the fact that the role names imply some sort of power? Why especially when the game is called Random Mafia? One day, Ed and I will have a game of Mafia where we won’t knock each other around on Day 1. \*\* This is not that game. \*\* Why do you NOT put credence in the fact that role names imply power? 1b.Are you guessing that there are no powers in this game? 1c.If there were to be powers in this game, what names would have them? or Do you **KNOW** something about powers in this game? Why are you pushing me on this? 2b.Do you need to come back to this later and vote me because of it? ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/279 "2010-03-22T01:26:56Z")
NETA : I mean, I’m guessing that there is a Priestly / Messiah type protector role in this game, and I believe I am looking in the right place for it. Combine the **WEAKEST** reason\* for a vote I have ever seen, and you know, I think I am on to something here. \*I hence forth christen the **OMGTMRAGS** Vote. Oh my god, the Moderator’s roles as given sucks vote. I have a dream, that one day, Mafia players won’t be voted based on the transposition of their names, but based on the content of their character. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/280 "2010-03-22T01:28:13Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > One day, Ed and I will have a game of Mafia where we won’t knock each other around on Day 1. > > \*\* > This is not that game. \*\* I’m not trying to bait you. I’m just curious as to how you reached your conclusions. > [@Meeko](#): > > Why do you NOT put credence in the fact that role names imply power? > 1b.Are you guessing that there are no powers in this game? > 1c.If there were to be powers in this game, what names would have them? 1b. I think there are power roles in this game. I don’t think sachertorte is inclined to allow us to guess that name implies power. I think he even went so far as to title the game ‘Random’ 1c. I think there are power roles with randomly assigned names. > [@Meeko](#): > > or Do you **KNOW** something about powers in this game? Nope, which is why I was wondering why you were claiming to know something about them, as well as knowing something about the Scum. > [@Meeko](#): > > Why are you pushing me on this? > 2b.Do you need to come back to this later and vote me because of it? Because you have stated something as fact (that scum know each others names) while I have no idea how you would know that. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to question you on that. It does tend to fall into the PIS category. Additionally, I have a request. When anyone questions you on your comments or statements, please just answer them instead of turning it into a discussion of ‘why do people pick on Meeko’ This Mafia, not Mafia featuring Meeko. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942.md?page=15)