Based on the lateness of the hour, I decided to post some things in case I don’t get a chance in future. I have a meeting starting very shortly which is planned to end after the day is over, for one, and in any case, no matter how things shake out, my days are numbered. Even if I don’t win the lynch vote, if I’m right, I’m basically confirmed town and a strong target for a scum kill; if I’m wrong, I’ll very, very likely be lynched tomorrow in vengeance and as the easiest target. As such, I feel the need to weigh in as I can, and if by some lucky break I survive to next Summer, I’ll be happy to answer questions about any of the below.
So here goes. In general:
The late votes are bad, bad, bad. Clearly they can’t all be scum players but this simply cannot be allowed on future Days or Town is hosed. I strongly suggest that Town players strongly try to get people to vote and discuss voting earlier in the Day. Last minute, scantly-defended-and-too-late-to-adequately-defend-against votes are simply a problem.
An even greater problem is the spawn issue. I know we’re tired of it. It’s undoubtedly tiresome to debate. But the lack of consensus is destructive – just look at what happened, with some people getting twice as many votes as others and not even having the decency to defend their actions. This is dangerous as a state of affairs, especially in close votes, and even moreso given the random voting of Spawn. I realize consensus will be difficult but giving a free out to some players to get double votes is not prudent going forward.
Further, my thoughts on other players, such as they are:
Rysto: I think Sachertorte had a good point when he said “The idea that a scummy Rysto would vote for Special Ed for a spurious reason then nightkill him doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I don’t discount the possibility, but it just seems ‘off’ to me. I’m not saying that Rysto is Town, but that the circumstances of his vote don’t really point in either direction.” I’m really, really tempted to point the finger at Rysto; I’ll admit that OMGUS reactions are my personal weakness in Mafia, and I have tried very hard this game to be equally suspicious of anyone. I do think that some of his arguments are ill-founded (naturally) but I will say in his defense that he at least tried to substantively defend his vote, and he did go out on a bit of a limb at the time to vote for me. I won’t say that makes him Town but frankly I think there are bigger fish.
KellyCriterion: I honestly don’t see the case. Kelly is playing in exactly the way that I expect a newbie to play. It’s not necessary a Town tell but I just think Kelly’s play so far is neutral. Barring some new information that makes a good case, I think it’s probably prudent to leave Kelly alone. It’s simply too easy, if Kelly is – as I suspect – town, for anyone to drum up a case based more on inexperience and, thus, inconsistency than on actual scum behaviors, costing us a head. Further, with no offense to Kelly but a newbie scum will slip up eventually. Scum is hard to play. I don’t really buy Kelly’s case against Mahaloth (post #838) either, though. I do agree that Mahaloth could do a better job of substantiating votes but there’s a lot of game left to go, and I’m sure he can be watched. If I’d have had more time, I would have liked to spend more time looking at Mahaloth.
Drain Bead: I’ll admit, my original plan was that Drain Bead was scum, but I find the role claim credible enough to consider Drain Bead close-to-confirmed-town. If someone else claims communal organism later, it’ll have to be evaluated, but considering the relative lack of pressure Drain Bead was under I’m doubtful that this claim was false.
Zeriel: Way too quiet, and nearly silent on substantial matters. Speak up. IIRC this is very unlike you, though as I recall you were a doctor or something in one of my games, so maybe that’s what spurred more involvement, but still…
DiggitCamara: What I said for Zeriel goes double for you. And you voted even more last minute than Zeriel and on spurious grounds. You’d be someone I’d be investigating more thoroughly tomorrow for sure.
Alka Seltzer: I find myself in agreement with him the vast majority of the time, which at once makes me terribly suspicious and somewhat trusting. A prudent, reasoned voice can be often be a scum voice. That said, this isn’t damning by any means, I just am leery of falling into too much trust too early. On the bright side, I don’t see any signs of withholding judgement until the end of the day which is probably one of Town’s bigger liabilities right now.
Meeko: I found your vote for me a bit weird. It really comes down to echoing one or two things that rysto said and then summing up with why you don’t want to lynch Story. It’s not a referendum of me vs. Story, and echoing others’ words doesn’t really add anything substantial. I’d like to see more of your own original thoughts but I’m leaning scum on you. Post is here: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12103950&postcount=987 Now you’ve since retracted that vote and voted for Scuba Ben, which is, in my opinion, pretty weak. You don’t have a case against him – saying he didn’t answer your question is a bit meaningless since he hasn’t visited the board at all. Why bother? Do some research and find a strong alternate candidate. Picking someone who’s almost certainly going to be modkilled strikes me as more likely to be scummy than townie. You’re another person who ought to bear close scrutiny, as a few have agitated for just now.