Hi everyone! I am your friendly neighborhood IC, meaning Inexperienced Challenged, meaning that in addition to playing, I'm also here to help you out with any questions that you have while playing. If this is your first game here, welcome! If you are one of the 4 SEs (semi-experienced player), I expect a good game from you guys!
The number one thing that I want to emphasize is that it's ok to ask questions, especially if this is your first game. It can be a little intimidating playing with so many more experienced players, but don't be afraid! We're pretty nice people in general.
I'd like to start off with some general do's and don't's of Mafia.
Do talk. Not participating actively on purpose is just as liable to get you killed, especially on the first day. Why? Because a lot of mafia players feel that in lieu of a good scumtell, a lynch based off inactivity is just as good as killing scum because it helps town more than having dead weight hanging around. Consider yourselves warned. Please note that in addition to just not participating, called
lurking, there's also what's called
Active Lurking, meaning that you're posting without moving the game forward. This is just as bad to many as not posting at all, so don't do it!
Do read the wiki. Seriously. Most questions that you will have can and will be answered in the wiki. From common abbreviations (like WIFOM or OMGUS) to unfamiliar terms (meta, mafia theory), you'll find it in the wiki. Also, some more experienced players will, instead of answering your questions, respond with a link to the wiki. So you might as well cut out the middleman.
Do not be afraid to vote. Voting can and does create discussion. Even if you think you don't have enough evidence for a vote, feel free to lay out what you do have. More discussion helps town. Less discussion hurts town. If you still don't think you have enough for a vote, lay out your evidence and add a FoS - finger of suspicion, meaning you find the person suspicious but aren't ready to vote.
Do not claim, except in the cases of L-1 or LyLo (if you don't know what these terms mean, where are you going to find them? If you answered "the wiki", you win. What you win is irrelevant). Claiming only serves two purposes: it gives scum more information than they need to have, and it distracts town. Please note: "town" is an alignment. By being town-aligned, you can have one of 3 roles: Cop, Doctor, or Civilian (also known as Vanilla Townie - VT - or townie). Saying that you are townie, VT, or civilian means that you are claiming a role, even if not a power role. You don't want to do this, as it can narrow the field on potential legitimate power roles, thus making it easier for the scum to pick them off.
Do not be afraid to die. Remember, you win if your alignment wins, NOT if you survive until the end. Yes, it sucks to get killed, but the goal is to win, not to survive.
Do not take things personally. It's just a game, and if someone points out a flaw in your logic, it doesn't mean that they think you're stupid. On the flip side of that coin, don't make personal attacks on people. It's liable to get you mod-killed, and it's just mean-spirited. This is a fun game, so try to have fun with it!
TRY not to appeal to emotion. It happens; we all end up doing it, for the most part, some without even realizing it. And people respond differently to it. But know that if you do appeal to emotion, some will find you scummy.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, do scumhunt! The scum are not going to sit around with signs over their heads asking to be caught. You have to ask the hard questions and get them out into the open and make them mess up or say things they shouldn't. And I don't mean ask questions like, "How are you doing today?" Ask people about their motivations for doing things, or why they said things the way they did. Mafia is a game of details, and sometimes you have to be nitpicky.
Now, to answer Sween's questions,
1) My timezone is EDT (and after daylight savings time, will go to EST, though I don't know if we'll still be playing this particular game in November
).
2) I've played Mafia IRL for awhile, and joined Mafiascum in February of last year. I've completed five games and have various others that I can't talk about
3) Hopefully at least once a day, but it depends on the day. I work and go to university full time, so some days I literally just can't get online.
@Mod: You said with eleven alive, it takes 6 to lynch. However, I only count 9 players. To verify, it'll take 5 to lynch, correct?
Finally,
VOTE: cnnr. Your name makes no sense. And your avatar is too ridiculously cute to let live. In regards to your question about strategies, I don't disagree that it could be interesting, but as this may be some peoples' first game, I'm not sure how helpful it will be. Also, my own person strategy depends a lot on the people I'm playing with, which I won't know about until later in the game.
