Guide for players coming from offsite

Greetings and welcome to the .Org! :bow:

Whether you're here to play just a single mafia game because you were lured here by somebody else, or if you see yourself sticking around for the long haul, we're glad you're here with us. If you're reading this thread, you've probably played mafia on another site and are thus familiar with the basic mechanics of how the game goes. The purpose of this specific thread is to point you in the right direction of certain tools that might make your life a little easier when playing the game.

Part 1) Forum Rules

The overall .Org forum rules can be found here. It's fairly standard stuff - be nice to people, don't post or do anything illegal, that sort of deal.

The rules specific to the Gameroom can be found here. This should cover most instances of behavior - again, be nice to people, be a good sport, don't cheat, and be good to the host. If you'd like to know how to use the encoded phase timer, scroll down to the bottom post in the linked thread (ignore the incredibly out-of-date mafia glossary and other player statistics).

Additionally, there's been a long and tortured history with this site's policy towards profanity though it currently doesn't really have one, so just try not to go overboard with it. Especially don't direct it towards other players.

Part 2) Tools

Signatures, posts per page, and undertitles:

Displaying signatures are, I believe, enabled by default. If you would like to disable this, click the "Settings" button at the top right of the page:

https://i.imgur.com/V89GQOx.png

From there, click "General Settings" on the left bar of the screen. About halfway down this page, under "Thread Display Options", there should be a checkbox you can toggle to enable or disable users' signatures, depending on your personal preference.

https://i.imgur.com/VjF1L4m.png

Also included in the above screenshot is a way for you to change the number of posts per page. The forum default is 30; the maximum allowed is 80.

If you would like to change your undertitle from "Member", the way to do this is, from the Settings page, click the "Edit Profile" button on the left bar of the screen. From there, you may find the option to edit your undertitle under "Custom User Display", like so:

https://i.imgur.com/WKmh91x.png

Feel free to browse the Settings categories to further customize the forum experience to your desire. Note: some options may not be available to you until you make a certain amount of posts or have an active account for a certain period of time. Contact me if you run into this problem.

ISOing:

ISOing refers to the practice of viewing a single player's posts in isolation; i.e. if you wanted to read them and just them. While there is not a specific ISO tool on the .Org, a reasonable workaround can be found by doing the following:

First, return to the Gameroom subforum. On the main page, find the game you want to ISO a player in and click the total number of replies that thread has on the right side of the screen, like so:

https://i.imgur.com/Qt1AK6g.png

From there, a new window will pop up in which you are given a list of everybody who has posted in the thread, sorted by number of posts made. Find the person you want to ISO and then click on their corresponding post amount to ISO them.

https://i.imgur.com/hW2BD6C.png

This will bring up that player's most recent 100 posts in the thread, arranged from most recent to least recent (i.e. if you want to read chronologically, read backwards). Unfortunately the search function is limited to returning only 100 posts, and as far as I'm aware there is no way around this aside from really roundabout strategies like putting every single player on ignore aside from the one(s) you wish to ISO and just reading the thread. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Vote counting:

The .Org does not have a forum-supported automated vote counter. Most hosts generally make manual vote counts, however, one of our users, novice, created a plugin that automatically generates vote counts that some people use - though it depends on an individual game basis. The details of how to use this plugin can be found here.

Part 3) Quick Primer on .Org Meta

The following section deals with the general meta in terms of standard operating procedure in my best estimation. The major caveat to this is to of course read the host's OP in any game you play, as their specific instructions can and do supersede the general meta.

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The first thing I'd like to note is that the .Org has an overall casual atmosphere. Obviously some games are more intense than others, but on average it's certainly more casual than your average game on Mafia Universe, for example. The general phase length is usually around 48/24, and rarely will it be necessary for you to live in the thread all day. In addition, being around for end of day (EoD) only recently started becoming a thing on this forum, so it might not have the impact that you're used to elsewhere.

There is usually not a minimum posting requirement beyond zero, though this varies by host.

The .Org does not have an automerge feature, which means multiposting is a possibility. While this is not discouraged, don't go overboard with it. As for what has been deemed "shitposting", you're allowed to casually make conversation with people, but once again, don't go overboard and let it cross into full spam territory, nor should you let it go for too long, out of respect for our players who don't have much daily time to devote to the game. I will usually post a public message in green, acting as moderator, to warn you if I deem it getting out of hand before I start clamping down.

We used to be very lax on the global "no outside contact" rule, but this has tightened up in recent years. Follow the host for exact guidelines as to what exactly you can and cannot do in a particular game - most if not all hosts will have very specific instructions on this front.

In general, official voting is done with a simple bolding and preface with a "Vote:" tag, like so:

Vote: GH

Some hosts will require colors along with the bolding, consult the OP of the game to be sure. Usually just a bolding of the name without the "Vote:" preface is not enough.

Threads are not automatically locked at night (unless I'm the one hosting, since I'm the only one with mod powers). Hosts will usually allow a minute or two of leniency before you're sanctioned for posting during a night phase, so be aware of the deadlines.

In general most hosts frown upon editing a post once it has been made, though some will give you a minute-long grace window to clean up any obvious formatting errors or the like that do not alter the content of the post. Important notice: Sometimes I, acting as moderator, will have to edit a player's post if it breaks forum or game rules. For the most part I will try to avoid doing this, or at the very least keep the original content under spoiler whenever possible, but you'll just have to trust me when I say that I have the ability to keep my interests as a moderator and as a player separate.


I'm pretty sure that's everything, anything else can be covered under the rules of common sense or simply asking me or other players to clarify. In the meantime, thanks again for stopping by, and don't forget the eternally most important rule:

Have fun! :yes: