Gameroom Mafia Discussion

[GeneralHankerchief]

*sees interesting thread, stumbles out of his cave*

1. About the content in posts:

I've played with lots of different day phase times, average post counts in games and plenty of other variables, however, I find the system here (24/24 generally) to be one of the better I've played with. That said, we don't post an awful lot in these posts and especially in the smaller games. I like that we put more effort towards flavour in a game, it makes the experience more enjoyable for all in my opinion. However, I would love to see even just a few more words per post, in a game, at least starting from Day 2 onwards, D1 is a lottery as far as I'm concerned no matter where you come from, but from D2 onwards I feel just a little more content in posts even if it is simply just "I find this guy scummy because he voted Player X D1." would be great. I'm very well aware that I'm guilty of this too and I will be attempting to make a change in my game. Keep in mind that I'm not asking you to post more often, just with a bit more content (this isn't an issue in the later stages of the game of course). I think it would make the game a better experience for all.

I think this is an issue of seepage. Okay, so nobody has any data to go off of for the D1 vote, that's been a constant. But let me explain.

Back in the Before Time, before the metagame evolved to the way it did, yeah, nobody had any concrete data to use, but people actually tried. They'd probe, question, do other weird/wacky/etc things, something besides just throwing out a blatantly random vote. This allowed for the collection of some data to be used on D2, thus starting the actual process of the town using publicly-provided information (i.e. the thread) to root out the mafia.

Now? Things have changed. Basically everyone's throwing out blatantly random votes. The reasons for this are mainly a) there's no real data, so why look stupid and b) it no longer stands out in the crowd. Nobody wants to make waves on Day 1. The problem with this sort of thinking is that it's bad for the town in the long run. Why? Now we go from *some* data being produced on D1 to *no* (or, if we're feeling generous, very little) data being produced on D1. This means that once again, there's not really that much to discuss on D2, thus starting the whole "no conversation" process all over again. Theoretically, we could get to the point where the entire game is played on autopilot and the only way things are resolved are either through lucky guesses or night actions shedding light on things. It's an extremely gradual process, but I could see it happening - and it's already starting.

At a certain point, the town has to make the leap and realize that you can't analyze data without generating data, and if that means putting yourself out there, so be it. Unfortunately, the only way I can see this happening without the host artificially intervening is another natural evolution of the metagame, which will take time.

Basically, it's on us as townies to not be afraid to actually be productive on D1.