Boy Band Mafia

[oblivion]

MZ, why did you decide to kill me on night 3? I was shocked, but delighted. I didn't think town could win if I were in the game on day 4.

[Feck]

Well done town we won ,not that I did much this game .

[Animavore]

Did the ebils have there own thread we can look at?

[Feral_Punctuation]

Yay! Well done guys. It's amazing how paranoid I got at the end, even when it was the most certain outcome yet.
I still want to know: If MZ sacrificed Budski, why didn't Denny vote to lynch Budski as well, and also, why did MZ kill Oblivion at the end?

So wouldn't a mayor's vote outweigh a non-mayor's?

[oblivion]

Yay! Well done guys. It's amazing how paranoid I got at the end, even when it was the most certain outcome yet.
I still want to know: If MZ sacrificed Budski, why didn't Denny vote to lynch Budski as well, and also, why did MZ kill Oblivion at the end?

So wouldn't a mayor's vote outweigh a non-mayor's?

There's a lot of theory about that, and different GMs handle it different ways. Some let the extra vote decide whether it's parity or not. Some go with the convention that once the mafia are equal in numbers with town, they each would take out a gun and kill town without waiting for a vote.

[oblivion]

You played well, Feral. It was a tough game for everyone.

[Feral_Punctuation]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the parity thing :/
And thanks
Sorry you were put under so much pressure for nothing...

[oblivion]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the parity thing :/
And thanks
Sorry you were put under so much pressure for nothing...

hah! It was for something, not nothing.

I thought I was being set up to be the endgame lynch starting on day 2. It looked to me like Twinkie was the main player in that set-up, and I decided to cooperate by making a big deal out of the unlikelihood that I'd be in the game that long. It was one of the things about Twinkie that kept me wondering about her claim. The other thing was the way she was confident enough that Ani and MZ were town that she was willing to vouch for them to me. That looked like an informed player to me.

Classic doctor tells are the most similar of town specials to the tells that scum drop. I've played several games where the vig killed the doctor early in the game. Even knowing that, I was still not quite willing to just accept her claim even a day later. If I had been vig, I might have killed Twinkie on night 1, though I think I would have given her more time to prove herself.

Probably one of the most frustrating things about the game for me was finding scum on their first post on day 1. When I put the vote on Budski, I wasn't convinced he was scum, but I wanted to see how he reacted. His reaction was to drop more scum tells. Anyway, I can see why when he turned up scum I was suspected of bussing him. And being accused of that, I tended to mentally defend MZ for having hammered Budski at the last minute.

Those were my big errors - staying suspicioous of Twinkie, and making excuses for MZ. I did this with each of them almost every day I was in the game.

[oblivion]

One thing I want to mention about game design and balance: In the small games, it's not just the numbers and what the spreadsheets say about balance, it's the rapidity to endgame and the very tiny margin for error that town has.

A vig in a small game is not as valuable as in a large game. In fact the vig can be a liability because in the early game, vigs are more likely to kill town than scum due to lack of good info. In a small game, you go from early game to endgame with nothing in the middle. After trying some different scenarios, I've quit putting vigs in the small teaching games I've been running because they tend to hurt town way more often than they help. I knew this intellectually from reading about small games and from playing a couple of them. After the last few months of designing small games, I understand why much better.

[oblivion]

Thanks for running this game, Zigmen. It was fun to play, and it was fun to watch after I was dead. And from the PMs I got after I was dead, it sounds like this was a fun game to watch even for people who didn't sign up to play.

The theme was cool, too!

[Feral_Punctuation]

It's interesting to hear your account of things.
I still really want to hear from MZ. His night kill seemed really strange.

[Magicziggy]

Congrats town. Especially those who have suffered through the endgame. Irre and Ani, it was traumatic. Oblivion, having you in the game so long was a treat for us all. FP, you continue to amaze with such little experience.

I want to thank both Denny and Budski. Budksi was awilling participant and contributor to the strategy to bus her on day 1. She played a part and did it well and almost won the game. I'm no where near good enough a player to have played that game without the clearance that lynch got me. Denny, you did a great job given your restricted time. I thought your exit gave enough uncertainty about oblivion.

Keeping oblivion in the game was addictive. She just seemed to have so much to say but never quite got around to finding me suspicious. So why did I kill her at the end? Two reasons, firstly, I thought I could get FP lynched and take it through to a 50/50 with twinks and ani. Secondly, after 3 days of playing her, I just didn't want her coming out with any major plays on day 4. As the least likely target, I did think it would give me a chance to offload some suspicion. It convinced Irre any way.

This was a great game to play. No where near as stressful for me as perhaps for town. I want to emphasise that it was built on the sacrifice of a team mate on day 1, a play I had wanted to try, and when the opportunity arose, I couldn't resist. I made a point in game 1 of this series that i wanted to try such an extreme strategy. I felt sure someone would remember me saying that. Budski is an experienced mafia player and a good friend. It may not have been possible if it were not for both of those factors. After the deed, I did feel pretty awful. To anyone thinking of trying this play in the future, I would definitely support my team by taking such a fall. Budski has led the way on unselfish play.

At the end, it was 50/50. That's where i wanted to be. I didn't agonise over who Irre would protect. I went the risky option. You win some you lose some. You got me this time Irre.

Role pms: I was put on the spot by Oblivion about the role pm. Could we devise the design so that this doesn't happen. There really is no need for scum to be put in that position. It's access to priveliged information. I guessed close enough, but even I thought I was toast after that. Ani's screenshot was a step over the line. But that's a lesson learned for next time I guess. What I said about getting my role pm late was true.

[Zigmen]

With regard to the Role PMs/

Each PM is written as a one-off/

I do not copy and paste generic Role Pms.

The "Your Band Rocks!!!" with three exclamation points could have just as easily been a liability to town. I am not sure everyone got three exclamation pints in their PM.

A word to the wise, expect varying PMs. And a word to future scum, you can make up just about anything as your fake Town PM because there is no generic template.

I may change this in the future, but for now, I'm happy with how it works.

[oblivion]

the exclamation points were not what made the PM contents useful. As I said on night 3, FP's exclamation point count was different from mine. If Denny had tried to answer on day 3 I had something else in mind as my final quiz, but I'll leave that in the mathom house. It might come in handy another day.

and I'll keep in mind that the role pms aren't cookie cutter next time I think about trying a quiz. I think I can tease out the key bits, much as I was able to in this game.

Town or scum, you can't keep doing the same thing, though. your adversaries will adapt. It may be a very long time before I try another role pm quiz.

[irretating]

Great game! Thanks for organising it, Zigmen

Phew. Ziggy's bussing of budski helped him immensely.

I trolley-tracked on oblivion because she stayed in the game (sorry about that! ). I assumed the bussing was of denny, by oblivion.

Feral, you played well, but ziggy got you with his high-risk bussing strategy.

I'll now lower my valium dosage

Ani, thanks for holding steady to the end... you must have had doubts about me, as I did about you!