phokdapolees:
You need to push harder and with more confidence. :P You might not have had it, hence the many changes in "RVS" votes, but you needed it. A little confidence goes a long way in making you charismatic to others, which will not only help avert your lynch, but help you get stronger reads as well. As to how to get stronger reads--your approach was actually fairly decent, but needs some tweaking. Instead of multiple 'random' votes, pressure multiple players early-on for legitimate (albeit weak) reasons and have your vote on the player you feel strongest about.
This process allows you to get the reads, to get the game rolling and get out of the RVS much faster, and at the same time, won't make you D1 mislynch bait. :P From there, out of the RVS, don't drop your RVS pushes. Follow through on them and write up conclusions. If someone you pushed hard had a town reaction, say that. If someone you pushed had a scummy reaction, say that, too. And push it with vigor.
In other words, you're actually on the right track. You just need the slightest tweaking to your technique, and then you'll be good.
Smurf Ninja Fan:
You need to be more active. You seem to have a decently-good intuition when you apply it, but you actually need to apply it. :P My advice to be proactive mainly applies to you more than most. You may be used to lurking, but that will hinder your ability here on MS.net. Yeah, you shouldn't be posting for the sake of posting; your posts should have purpose. But you need to actually BE posting. :P That's about all the advice I can give you. Your approach to the game seems good. Your scumhunting seems fine. Your logic seems good. All you really need is to apply them all consistently with some degree of activity.
Tamuz:
Aside from not getting emotional about Bulbazak (despite having basically every possible reason to justifiably be ticked off about him :P), I don't really think I have much advice to give ya. You know your stuff. You have a sharp game. You're a strong player with a lot of experience, who knows what they're doing and how to handle themselves. You had a solid composition this game, and have a great deal of skill. Well-done all around.
hodge:
Well, without the mafia QT, I'm not able to get the full picture, but honestly, even if I had it, I'm not sure how much help I would be for you. Your scumgame was actually decently solid. You did an awesome job of being pro-town on day one, being both active and reasonable, with solid posting that made you one of the strongest townreads of everyone throughout the game. My main piece of advice, then, would be to try and replicate your success on D1 in later days, and to continue to bring that pro-town appearance to later days. One of the main ways you slipped was with inconsistent stances. While town players do in fact contradict themselves all the time, their contradictions tend to be far more natural.
So I guess my advice is to check your posting to see if the evolution of things (that, I believe, is now basically called the "trajectory" of your reads) makes sense and feels organic. If it feels like your reads are broken and disjointed, then you're going to get in trouble; if your reads feel natural and there is a logical progression in them, then BAM, you've nailed it.
The other thing is, of course, to keep your activity level up. You were one of the main posters on the first days--by the end of the game, you were basically a non-entity. If you had applied yourself consistently throughout the game, then you could have gained an incredible amount of towncred, and averted being caught in the lynch. That's another piece of advice I have--towards the end, you kind-of gave off the aura of defeat, in that you didn't think you could fight your way out of the noose. If that's true, take my word for it: you can fight your way out of ANY scenario, no matter how ridiculously low you think your chances are. You might not always succeed, but you have a better chance of winning by trying than you do of winning when giving up. :P
Bulbazak:
I really do hope this is a humbling experience for you. Yeah. You pushed both Marquis and hodge--but it'd be sheer arrogance and ignorance to assume that made your play this game good. Every single one of your stronger pushes was on town. You strongly pushed for the last-minute phok mislynch. You strongly pushed for my mislynch. You strongly pushed for Tamuz's would-be mislynch.
Yeah, you had them as scum. But you didn't push them as scum, at least, not as strongly as you pushed town. Phok can be forgiven, because of the deadline and Marquis's claim. But you were the ONLY player here who refused to accept that I could be town. You were the ONLY player here who stubbornly refused to look into a day after I would flip town, hindering your performance. You were the ONLY player here who had Tamuz as scum, holding stubbornly onto a dead read when everyone else had universally figured out Tamuz was town.
You might have good reads and good pushes. But you can't be this, bluntly, much of an ass. Because that's exactly what you were this game--an stubborn bastard. :P
There's a difference between being confident in a read and arrogantly refusing to give up on a read. If you can learn the difference, you'll be a much stronger player. (Basically,
this article is for you. :P)
Marquis:
Honestly don't have a lot of advice to you, given how briefly you were in the game. Don't fall into common scum tactics, don't claim a role which you know will get you lynched, don't contradict yourself, and that's about it. :P
Karnage:
If you return, I'd love to see you continuing to play. You were a solid town player, showing reason throughout the game and decently-strong logic. Your jailkeep targets were all good, and you weren't as stubborn as Bulbazak was. :P
Last but not least...
Hanasawa:
I know I owe you the mother of all IC lectures, but honestly, I don't have the material I need to get things strongly down. My main piece of advice, though, is simple--don't give up on playing the game. You might think you suck now...but being aware of your weakness as a player is the first step in becoming a stronger player. I used to be a weak player. I was a weak player in all of 2009. It wasn't until 2011 that I became so much as mediocre at the game, and even then, that was only after a LOT of hard work (~40 games) and hydra'ing with someone who helped refine my play. (Nachomamma8.) In other words...everything you see about me was created through sheer force of will, with a TON of time and effort put into improving myself. I sucked. I knew I sucked. So...I worked as hard as I could to NOT suck.
You could be the next me if you let yourself be. By which, I mean...you can become a solid player if you apply your skills well. Analyze your play. Look at what you did right! Look at what you do well. Maximize those. Look at what you did poorly. Work to improve those elements of your play!
If you need help gaining charisma, this quote is a good starting point.
Socialize! wrote:Be friendly/polite, and see things from the other point of view. Though this slightly conflicts with being concise, knowing when to be direct and when to be indirect can make all the difference. Often, Bluntly saying "you're scum" doesn't work as well as "I'm confident you're scum for this," and presenting it.
Strong-arm Arrogance works really well short-term, but it's self-destructive in the long-term; you need to negotiate/persuade, not threaten and force.
For more advanced reading,
my article here basically covers the entirety of the subject in more detail. If people like you and you have a charm, then they'll be less likely to mislynch you and more likely to follow what you're trying to do.
If your problem is with accuracy, let me point to your vote history. You voted hodge, you unvoted me, you voted Marquis, your vote on phok was only out of desperation...seriously. You don't need as much help there as you think you do. :P You're already naturally a strong player.
Trust yourself
! You have good reads. You have good reasoning behind them. You're a sensible, reasonable, decently-logical player, whose accuracy is better than average. You know when not to back down and when you need to reconsider, so stop doubting your abilities. :P
I believe I said this in-game, but you have the opposite problem as Bulbazak. Whereas he has too much confidence (arrogance), you don't have enough. If you can conquer your self-doubt, if you can get into the mindset that you're not that bad, then you will be able to improve by miles. (That said, don't go TOO far and become Bulbazak. :P Knowing your play isn't perfect is the only way you're capable of improving.)
Like many others, one of my main tips is to be more active. You said that you were once known as being aggressive, and this game were scaling it back to be more passive. Once again, I'd recommend reincorporating some of that aggression into your play. Being proactive will MASSIVELY help your game, turning you from some guy who's afraid of the mislynch and of mislynching, into a guy who you respect and will work with if town, and fear and try to eliminate if scum.
So please. I'm begging you--stick around. You are not a bad player.
(Part three, in which I reflect on myself, will come in a bit.)
) I ask that you stay around long enough for me to type them up, after which, you can disperse to the eight winds of mafiascum.net. 
