Just What is Attracting People Anyway?

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=115505

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=115505

Mafia (also known as Werewolf or Assassin) is a party game modeling a battle between an informed minority and an uninformed majority. Players are secretly assigned roles: either "mafia", who know each other; or "townspeople", who know only the number of mafia amongst them. During the night phase of the game, the Mafia choose an innocent to kill. During the day phase, all players debate the identities of the Mafia and vote to kill someone whom the majority suspect. Players are eliminated until either all mafia are killed or the mafia outnumber the innocents. Mafia is rarely played in groups of fewer than five, and must always start with more innocents than mafia.

Although Mafia is usually played face to face, online play is also common. These games last longer, and allow player's votes and words to be reviewed more easily. There are many forms of online play: the film Cry Wolf was promoted through a wolves vs sheep variant, played over AOL Instant Messenger. Online play typically means Internet forum-play, with early games including those in the forum of mathematical puzzle site Grey Labyrinth in 2000.[53] The standard human-moderated games require one or two moderators: a sign up thread is created announcing the game, and once the game has sufficient players, play can begin. It usually starts in the night phase with mafiosi communicating via email before submitting their kill (to the moderator). The moderator then writes the appropriate death scene for those that were eliminated, and posts a dawn scene. Software can automate the moderator function, but this is rarer. All players can now discuss (in the forum) who they should execute, followed by an execution vote. Innocents are usually forbidden in-game communication outside of the public forum.

Mafia is also played on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) using private messages to send votes and channel modes to allow private communication during the night. The first IRC mafia channel was #mafia on irc.dynasty.net. An email version was invented by a group of programmers and players on Richard's PBEMserver, and the end result was written down as a ruleset.[54] Most of the times the Werewolf variant is played, but it has the same rules as Mafia and in some cases both Mafia and Werewolf groups are trying to kill the village. The games take mostly one week and every month three games are started and finished. Versions of Mafia have also been created on BYOND and Facebook.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=115505

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=115505
Fictional reality themes are common in online play, which will work with any group of well known characters. The Simpsons, Hanna Barbera, The Lord of the Rings, Lost have been used, for example, because of their extensive character sets. Players are assigned characters from the theme, with matching roles. Generic themes are also popular - such as the Werewolf-theme.

Well then! What does everyone think about ETW?

I think it is just wonderful.

Please, tell me about it's best features.

Yeah. less spam?

its a good game. Plus, multiplayer campaign to come.

For an old NTW hand, Glenn, in ETW it is quite nice to have battle AI that knows how to shoot back at you (on hard at least); no more -- well, less! -- milling around in front of your guns, firing one shot then turning & walking slowly past your massed ranks of fire. The AI knows how to coordinate arms -- unsupported troops or poorly placed guns will be destroyed & an open flank will crumple quicker than you can say "Now where did that enemy unit of horse go?" The battles are much more, well, MTW like in some cases than the sequels -- 18th Century stylee, natch but there's that feel that the sequels missed of actually having to play tactically; a lot of people who seem to be complaining about this aspect of the game are in my opinion (& if I may make an MTW analogy) complaining that their Late Spanish Lancers & Armoured Almughavars are having no problems with the enemy's stack of urban militia & vanilla archers. Of course, the AI needs proper equipment & battlefield technology to match you, but if you fight an enemy who does have these things then it really is very enjoyable & I hope that CA are beavering away at changing the AI's priorities so it equips its troops better.


Proper application of military advances on the battlefield -- when one knows how to implement them, something that has in the MTW VI tradition been left out of the documentation & left for one to stumble over -- rocks, as you utilise fire by rank, Light Infantry etc. Also, if your opponent has those advantages, they will seek to use them against you.

On the other hand, there are issues with almost every aspect of the game, but y'know: it's only been out a month. I'm sure in due course the battle AI will be even better, things like pathfinding around obstacles & utilisation of cover which the computer sometimes has a problem with at the moment hopefully will be addressed.

The campaign AI, as in the last two TW games, has massive difficulty dealing with the flashy 3d map. If it had only a RISK style to cope with I'm sure it'd behave a lot more sensibly although there are serious issues aside from this. For instance, I do hope that they'll finally sort out the inability of the AI to launch naval invasions; it seems they've listened to Caravel's fave MTW-VI bugbear (the Byzantine amphibious landings in Scotland complete with an Imperial Highland sightseeing tour) but gone too far the other way. Like I said though I believe this is unfinished but due to be fixed rather than a sign of how it was meant to be applied.

The graphics are obviously bazzing. The ship combat is quite quite thrilling, with the (obvious to me & I'm sure yourself) proviso that applies to all arms in the game -- you can't just aim to arcade it & hope for the best, it'll leave you whingeing "Why does {insert grievance here} not act like I think it should/like I have seen in a movie?" There are of course exploits which those with too much time on their hands have found even for the good bits of the game, but they seem to be overlooking the fact that it's a game & like all games (simulations of control) the rules are not foolproof & can in fact be, well, gamed.

So in summary (I've left out the damaged/unfinished stuff because there's twenty billion threads here & at the official forums & at tw_center full of those): not quite there yet but still lots of fun. Depending on the level of polish that is applied (I personally think it's mostly grouting & paint rather than structural) it could actually become as great as MTW.

PS: Oh yeah if you've got a bazzing turbonutterninjabast top-end rig it probably won't work. Get a 2.5 or so GHZ WIN XP wih a good graphics board & plenty of RAM. I personally think most people who are unable to play the game (there re many, they are vocal) have either over-clocked or ridiculously high-end multi-thousand pound PCs. They are very disappointed. I spent seventy five quid on a new barebones one out of Micromart, another fifty for the gfx board, & I'm as happy as Larry the Labrador in a Bonio factory.

I am genuinely surprised and grateful that you spent so much time to answer me, Turbosatan - I have read everything and I do trust your judgement.
Hopefully one day I shall see this game then.

pevergreen! I thought you had ignored me - but then if we will be playing in Mafia together it may be best that you remove me from that list.

Actually, now that you mention it - I was very much intrigued by this multiplayer campaign! How I would have liked to play one in RTW!
Fantastic idea; but I know not how many people could actually play one from start to finish with another player.
Not I, said Glenn.

Thank you for your replies!