# 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:** 83
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1641 "2010-05-06T21:48:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Pushed to Night-kill a lot of the best players early. I figured it was very transparent, but I liked that idea. I was up for killing Ed earlier in the game. We probably should have. He nearly had us. I did have you. I just couldn’t convince anyone else :smack: > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Most other stuff I did, like when I forgot about Rysto and Cookies being confirmed was all mistakes. Mistakes that a Town player would have been unlikely to make. Town players had it foremost in their minds who was confirmed since everyone else wasn’t. Your primary focus as Scum was to force a mislynch. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1642 "2010-05-06T21:50:47Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > In terms of win-condition. The Mod-kill was a huge help to Town. So much so that I was worried that it broke the game. Storyteller pointed out that the set of unknowns was getting smaller, and Zeriel was an UNKNOWN. In other words the pool in which scum had to hide was very small. At the time Guiri had all the scum identified. No one listened to her. Furthermore, no one looked at what she had said after she died. I agree. it helped us in that it removed 2 unconfirmed and 1 I strongly and wrongly (as was the norm at the beginning of this game) suspected. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1643 "2010-05-06T21:52:00Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > I also fully accept the criticism that Red should have been modkilled. I wasn’t going to say it out loud, but in the back of my mind, I was wondering if you didn’t remove him because he was perhaps the last Scum. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1644 "2010-05-06T21:53:22Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > The rule exists because lurking as a strategy isn’t fair to the other players. People invest time and energy into the game and if someone is going to intentionally not participate as a strategy to win, then the game devolves into something not worth playing. It’s like the person who goes inside when you’re playing hide and seek outside. Makes it really tough to find them… ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1645 "2010-05-06T21:58:09Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > It’s like the person who goes inside when you’re playing hide and seek outside. Makes it really tough to find them… Except it’s very easy to spot the low participators in forum mafia. There is a completely usable counter-strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1646 "2010-05-06T21:59:55Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Except it’s very easy to spot the low participators in forum mafia. There is a completely usable counter-strategy. Yes, but it’s impossible to distinguish the low-volume scum from the low-volume Townies. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1647 "2010-05-06T22:02:03Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > Yes, but it’s impossible to distinguish the low-volume scum from the low-volume Townies. Lynch them all, and early. After a game or two of that, there won’t be such a thing as a low-volume townie. Unless they are new. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1648 "2010-05-06T22:03:06Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Lynch them all, and early. After a game or two of that, there won’t be such a thing as a low-volume townie. Unless they are new. Instead, loud players who if they are scum will trip or trap themselves eventually are lynched on days 1 and 2. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1649 "2010-05-06T22:03:11Z")
I trusted my gut, but Red was a catalyst. My experience wasn’t ruined either. I just know what my limits are as a player, and I try to avoid writing checks that my brain can’t cash. No mod and no other player is responsible for me not being able to get past my own blind spots. A better player would have been able to compartmentalize Zeriel and Mhaye better. I had thought about asking for everyone to give me their own cliff notes on the pre-sub days, but we all had our hands full just trying to re-read eachother. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1650 "2010-05-06T22:04:04Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Except it’s very easy to spot the low participators in forum mafia. There is a completely usable counter-strategy. So the game devolves into lynch the lurker. Again, not fun, even if Town wins. It defeats the purpose of playing: Scum lurker = Town win. Yawn. Town lurker = Scum win. Yawn. The point isn’t a matter of “fair” in a win-condition sense, but “fair” in a game-play sense. I wouldn’t want to waste my time with that, and I don’t expect anyone else to do so either. Winning isn’t the point. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1651 "2010-05-06T22:04:15Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Except it’s very easy to spot the low participators in forum mafia. There is a completely usable counter-strategy. If I wanted to play a game that wasn’t any fun, I’d go to mafiascum. 😉 It’s a party game. Of course maybe that’s why my Scum record is pathetic while my Town record is merely lousy. :dubious: ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1652 "2010-05-06T22:13:00Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > So, who’s got next? I suppose we should take a look at BSG. Have you been there lately? I also have another game which is nearing finishing stages. I can probably slap it together for Monday if no one else has a game. Though I’m not sure how interested people would be in a Lewis Carroll game. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1653 "2010-05-06T22:20:06Z")
I’ve been working on a game too, based on characters inspired by the movie-that-was-inspired-by-actual-events, [Flame and Citron](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920458/), but it is just a baby of an idea and it has been ignored for over a month now. Pleo has been gracious enough to look at the setup with me but if any of you flat out refuse to play in a game of my creation, you could help me torture the addicts. For all of my bitching when it feels like my faction has been shafted, balancing is not necessarily my forte and I think the more people who vet such things the better. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1654 "2010-05-06T22:21:55Z")
> [@Red\_Skeezix](#): > > Yeah, and I was trying to suck up to cookies a bit. Glad you did it. I was wondering if you would be around if I needed you. Would you have been there to move votes around 1:45 eastern? I was hoping so, but didn’t need it anyway. Well played on the final Day, Red, by the way. Very smooth. > [@sachertorte](#): > > Scum were nearly silent. Quieting up, which was different than lurking was really part of my strategy near the end. I didn’t go silent, but I was finding that allowing some of the squabbling to go on between town was effective. > [@special\_ed](#): > > I did have you. I just couldn’t convince anyone else :smack: > > Mistakes that a Town player would have been unlikely to make. Town players had it foremost in their minds who was confirmed since everyone else wasn’t. Your primary focus as Scum was to force a mislynch. Well, you did have me, but I was so distracted with real life stuff, I still think I would have goofed about Cookies and Rysto if I was town. Even though this is my best game yet, that was probably my lamest post ever. I still think we would have had an easier time if we killed you early, Ed. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1655 "2010-05-06T22:23:08Z")
> [@special\_ed](#): > > I suppose we should take a look at BSG. Have you been there lately? > > I also have another game which is nearing finishing stages. I can probably slap it together for Monday if no one else has a game. Though I’m not sure how interested people would be in a Lewis Carroll game. Sign me up. Actually, anyone who goes next should sign me up. I can probably get one together after June, so perhaps I can mod a game after the next one(June, July, or August). ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1656 "2010-05-06T22:23:31Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > So the game devolves into lynch the lurker. Again, not fun, even if Town wins. It defeats the purpose of playing: > Scum lurker = Town win. Yawn. > Town lurker = Scum win. Yawn. > > The point isn’t a matter of “fair” in a win-condition sense, but “fair” in a game-play sense. I wouldn’t want to waste my time with that, and I don’t expect anyone else to do so either. Winning isn’t the point. I guess I’ll concede your point. I’m a little crusty on the game right now since I’m way over represented in the times that I’ve been scum. Also, I’m down to zero games playing so I’d be game for just about anything. _Crosses fingers for VT role_ ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1657 "2010-05-06T22:29:32Z")
Ed, is your game open or closed? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1658 "2010-05-06T22:29:55Z")
I don’t think that players gaming an objective criterion (like, “at least three posts each Day”, or whatever) is necessarily a problem, but if you want to avoid that, then the solution is to set some a priori criterion at the beginning of the game (before you know who, Town or Scum, will fall afoul of it) and then not tell the players what it is. And I don’t know yet whether I’ll play in the next one. I need to get a lot of work accomplished this summer, and I don’t know yet how my schedule will fall out. I certainly won’t sign up unless there’s a week or two of downtime in between now and then. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1659 "2010-05-06T22:31:09Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > I’ve been working on a game too, based on characters inspired by the movie-that-was-inspired-by-actual-events, [Flame and Citron](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0920458/), but it is just a baby of an idea and it has been ignored for over a month now. Pleo has been gracious enough to look at the setup with me but if any of you flat out refuse to play in a game of my creation, you could help me torture the addicts. For all of my bitching when it feels like my faction has been shafted, balancing is not necessarily my forte and I think the more people who vet such things the better. I enjoy game balance challenges. I don’t promise to get it right, but I will do my best. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942/1660 "2010-05-06T22:31:58Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Ed, is your game open or closed? probably closed. No reason why it couldn’t be open though. It’s slated to be very different from Colorless which was completely open and..well..colorless [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942.md?page=82) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-mafia/532942.md?page=84)