# Splitting the Difference--Dead Thread for The Split **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357 "2009-02-18T03:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/41 "2009-02-27T04:23:23Z")
What to make of **Zeriel** ’s claim of (1) being a town-role investigator, and (2) that Werewolves have Farmer / Rancher roles? As his claimed power role is so weak, I’m inclined to believe him. But I’m Dead and can’t point that out to people. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/42 "2009-02-27T13:36:37Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > What to make of **Zeriel** ’s claim of (1) being a town-role investigator, and (2) that Werewolves have Farmer / Rancher roles? > > As his claimed power role is so weak, I’m inclined to believe him. But I’m Dead and can’t point that out to people. I’m inclined to believe him for now. It’s a bit too early for scum to start pulling out the “I have a power that is somewhat confirmable and could be useful later so don’t lynch me now” gambit. Though, if it is a scum gambit, I admire his creativity and ballsiness. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/43 "2009-02-27T17:07:10Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > I just saw Daphne’s post about why mass claim is bad for town. > > And people are thinking she’s scummy? Honestly? > > I don’t get it. She’s made some of the most astute pro-town posts in this game. Sure she could be scum playing pro-town very well, but that’s hard to discern at this point, and the reaons people suspect her are bad. If I were playing the game as town I’d be combing through both Seeker and Telecontar’s posts with a fine-toothed comb. Especially since Telecontar seems to be driving very hard against her for bad reasons. It screams newbie scum to me. Hey, I thought so, too, and I got pinned as a suspect for defending Daphne too hard. Even Daphne thought I was suspect! ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/44 "2009-03-01T16:41:46Z")
Welcome to the After Thread, **Freudian Slit**. Have some Nachos. If the Town stops obsessing about the Testerizer, a win is still possible. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/45 "2009-03-01T22:44:52Z")
I just want to say, I think **Zeriel** is totally scum. He makes that post about his role near the end of the Day, when there’s not really enough time to discuss it. Then he invites his other counterpart to investigate him. I knew it there was a strong possibility it was a trap, but I did it anyway. I think the scum may have a power role where they can discern what a town power role is. I hope people are suspicious of the fact that Zeriel role-claimed, but instead of getting him murdered, his “counterpart” got whacked. :smack: ---
**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 2, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/46 "2009-03-02T04:47:23Z")
It’s definitely bizarre. Why wouldn’t they have killed a prominent town role? That’s the reason why most people _don’t_ role claim. Sorry you were killed, **Ichini**. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/47 "2009-03-02T05:53:21Z")
Sorry you were lynched. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/48 "2009-03-02T16:23:49Z")
**Ichini Sanshigo** , pull up a chair. The town has two mis-lynches so far (although we had nothing to work on for Day 1). The survivors need to squeeze out a scum lynch toDay or toMorrow. ---
**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 3, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/49 "2009-03-03T05:51:37Z")
So if there are wolves who are ranch and wolves who are town, do you guys think that means that each set of wolves has a chance of accidentally killing another wolf? Or do they know who’s town, who’s wolf, and who’s ranch/farm? ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/50 "2009-03-03T11:52:44Z")
Oooohhhh, pedescribe really put the cat among the pigeons with his “role clarification” post. Nice red herring - now at least some of 'em will be haring off after the “Detective” and trying to figure out who the “Doctor” and “Healer” are. Some good analysis that _doesn’t_ rely on the Testerizer is finally coming out, thank goodness. I think I would’ve pounced on the whole “Zeriel claimed a power role, but wasn’t Eaten By Wolves - **I wonder why** ” idea. Waiting for that to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/51 "2009-03-03T13:10:36Z")
> [@Werewolf (Mafia)--The Split \[Signups--In progress\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werewolf-mafia-the-split-signups-in-progress/485692/795): > > Possibly bad thought: For the last two days we’ve alternated between farmers and ranchers in that the town has always lynched the latter and the wolves have always killed the former. This is convenient for the wolves and it occurs to me that it would be useful for wolves to have a way to determine alignment (to better divide the town). It’s possible that Zeriel has the power he claims but is on the side of the wolves. It’s not convenient for the wolves. A balanced town is a happy town. Because as long as they stay balanced, they can keep hunting wolves only. Your statement that it would be useful for the wolves to have a way to determine alignment to better divide the town is spot-on. However, you are saying it for the wrong reasons. Wolves don’t want to keep the game balanced. If one side of town gets too powerful, the other side will need to take out the more powerful side or lose. Of course, it is possible that the wolves not only have farmers and ranchers, but themselves are divided against each other, so we essentially have a four faction game, in which case you simply want to decimate a faction just to simplify the game. But don’t eliminate a faction, because then you rebalance the game. You want a faction with only one or two players. Enough that they can provide a distraction, but not enough so that they are a true threat. Keeping your opponents balanced is bad, because any losing faction that wants to still win will ally with another losing faction to take out the stronger one. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/52 "2009-03-03T16:06:57Z")
Incidentally, I created the idea behind this setup a while ago, but it sat unused becuase originally it was split between Democrats, Republicans, and Terr’ists in a race for the Presidency, and I didn’t know enough ‘also-rans’ to make good color. ---
**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 3, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/53 "2009-03-03T16:08:10Z")
If there was a four faction game, wouldn’t there be more than one death per night? ---
**Author:** ![DogMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DogMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogMom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/54 "2009-03-03T18:52:49Z")
Ooo, now, see, Elendil’s Heir’s latest couple of posts have been exactly the sort of thing I would’ve thought would be scumtells. Saying he doesn’t like to point the finger followed by sarcasm when Daphne explained that hey, that’s how Mafia works…ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/55 "2009-03-03T20:53:04Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > If there was a four faction game, wouldn’t there be more than one death per night? Not if the scum are only allowed one kill. Gastard was a bunch of PFK’s vs. Town. I was scum in that with pedescribe. We were all PFK scum, but we shared one kill. We still had the basic serial killer win condition in that everyone but the individual (including the other scum) had to be dead. ---
**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 3, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/56 "2009-03-03T20:58:37Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Not if the scum are only allowed one kill. > > Gastard was a bunch of PFK’s vs. Town. I was scum in that with pedescribe. We were all PFK scum, but we shared one kill. We still had the basic serial killer win condition in that everyone but the individual (including the other scum) had to be dead. Ah, got it. Haven’t played a game like that, but it makes sense. I wonder how many scum there are in total then. Is it 3 and 3, maybe? 2 and 2? There were 18 to start with, so I don’t think there could be more than six scum. Seven or eight seems too many. ---
**Author:** ![Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d9b06d/32.png) [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichini_Sanshigo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/57 "2009-03-03T22:09:15Z")
I’ve been assuming 4 scum, 7 farmers and 7 ranchers. Six, six, and six doesn’t seem likely (scum would make up a full third of the players), but it could be the case. If that’s the layout (6-6-6), the town is _really_ on the verge of being screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/58 "2009-03-04T00:42:33Z")
> [@Ichini\_Sanshigo](#): > > I’ve been assuming 4 scum, 7 farmers and 7 ranchers. Six, six, and six doesn’t seem likely (scum would make up a full third of the players), but it could be the case. If that’s the layout (6-6-6), the town is _really_ on the verge of being screwed. 6-6-6 would be grossly unbalanced without a lot of town power roles. And since this game is relatively low-powered according to the mod, 4-7-7 is very likely, though, expect that scum have some power role in that case. There could even be a 5-6-7 divide if ped worked something in to compensate for one town faction being down a person. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/59 "2009-03-04T00:54:27Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Not if the scum are only allowed one kill. > > Gastard was a bunch of PFK’s vs. Town. I was scum in that with pedescribe. We were all PFK scum, but we shared one kill. We still had the basic serial killer win condition in that everyone but the individual (including the other scum) had to be dead. Hey. I’m still rather annoyed that none of you actually bothered to _tell_ me that. I felt really foolish when I found out. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357/60 "2009-03-04T01:00:45Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > Hey. > > I’m still rather annoyed that none of you actually bothered to _tell_ me that. I felt really foolish when I found out. I think it was an issue of not being sure how Gastard-like the mods were being. I had suspected the possibility even before you came out. I figured if it was set up like that, our best bet to survive would have been to create an open cold-war with each other, where we would have no issues with catching each others slips, but we agree not to aggressively pursue each other if there was a better town option. The problem was I didn’t know for certain that the setup was the way it was, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would go along with my plan. It was only my 3rd game at that point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splitting-the-difference-dead-thread-for-the-split/486357.md?page=4)