Hi guys, I'm your IC. Inexperience Challenged is a faux-politically correct term on mafiascum.net for experienced players ("IC"s) who sign up for Newbie Games to represent the site and its meta. I've been on the site for more than a few years, so I have a good sense of what the site and its meta is, even if I personally am not a prototypical example of it.
A little about myself: I'm a college student who passionately studies psychology and is trying to become a scientist someday. I spend my free time watching TV, playing video games like LoL and Overwatch, being around people, biking, and - most importantly to me, performing or studying science. I've done some studies pertinent to how mafia is played here, and I might bring them up if any of their results turn out to be topical.
There are a few standards I'm held to while I have this role:
-
Good attitude
. I shouldn't be rude, unhelpful, or inattentive.
-
Never flake/be replaced, or even lurk
. I should make an effort to post in the game, and post regularly.
-
Don't self-vote/hammer
. If any of you don't know why self-voting/hammering is always a bad idea, the simple explanation is that every player in this game has a win condition that's threatened considerably when a member of their team is lynched.
-
. The links included just now can serve as a partial window into those things, but it's my job to go the next level and be ready to answer any questions you have about how the site as a whole generally thinks about this game. Be aware, though, that "the site" is probably only marginally better at this game than you are, if that, and that it's easy to overlearn from these theory pages and make bad decisions. Instead of acting based on what a theory page says, try hard to think through the unique situation you find yourself in, appreciate its nuances and opportunities, and act based on that.
-
Treat the game like a normal game
. I probably won't be doing this, because I just don't have an IC-like air in most of my normal games. You guys will make me be a better me. Leave it to the SEs to act like this is normal. Speaking of which, SEs should probably introduce themselves, too!
-
Explain everything as much as I can
. Literally everything. Unprompted. That I can.
-
Be ethical.
I'm going to follow the rules. I'm going to try to make sure you follow the rules. But beyond that, I won't try to win in the wrong way (ex with some sort of scorched earth approach that makes this game unfun for everyone), and I'm going to try to keep you from doing that too.
I'm not some mafia-playing paragon. I don't have all the time in the world to play this game and explain everything that comes up. But I will use the time and skill I have to make you guys' first game as edifying and fun as possible. Some final notes:
Mafia is a really fun, really tough game! When you play it face-to-face it's quite a bit easier. When you play it with people you know, it's quite a bit easier. If you're some sort of wizard (we do get those), then it's quite a bit easier. But barring all of that, this game is tough and you just have to accept it. You're going to have to go out on a limb. You're going to have to take risks. You're going to have to rely on your gut. And at the same time, you're going to have to try and make sense. Because if you don't make sense, you're going to find it hard to reach a consensus on anything, and even if you do you're probably deciding who to lynch at random - which is another way of saying that you're probably deciding to lynch a townie. Do that too often, and you lose. Unless you're scum.
So to some extent the town lives and dies by the quality of its cases, and more fundamentally on the behaviors that they latch onto and decide to call "town tells" and "scum tells". Few people on this site have perfectly congruent ideas about what counts as a scummy post, or a townie post. Your opponents will try to anticipate how you'll interpret their behavior, shifting their habits to match more competitively with your own. And your allies, well - they will confuse and disappoint you a lot. Sometimes it will be sort of their faults. Sometimes it will be yours. Sometimes the mafia are in the background pulling strings. But usually, it's a mix of all three that make a bad lynch happen. So...watch out?
Another thing that inevitably happens is conflict and anger. When someone gets chosen to be lynched, they're likely to take it personally. And even when someone isn't getting lynched, there are tons of reasons people might get, well, pissed off. Someone might feel like they aren't being treated with the proper amount of respect. Someone might be angry that the rest of the town doesn't agree with their theory about who's scum. I could go on and on.
It's important to remember that this is just a game. Imagine the games you used to play when you were younger with balls and running and whatever. Whether you win or lose, whether you suck at it or not, whether you think that dude over there is being a complete idiot in your opinion - none of that comes close to mattering as much as whether you and the people you've chosen to play with are able to enjoy the game. Sure, it can't all be fun. Someone has to lose. Someone even has to get lynched on Day 1. You guys need to take it all in stride, while still trying your hardest to win. That determines whether playing a game as absurd as Mafia has been worth your time.
So, keep that in mind.
You can't step in the same river twice.
) should react when others are trying to build a wagon on them?