How do you play the early game?

[AcRv]

Off topic but STD, if you want to revisit Zubat's music videos (and even some live gameplay): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... dp82FEtzoa )

Though arguably these were part of my social game (at least the music videos were). But I had WAY more spare time back then.

[xofelf]

Some people are just that iconic, and you definitely were <3

[AcRv]

From Eon all of my fond memories were you, Spheal, and Oshawott. But mainly you, you were my true ride or die until I panicked and gunned for you <3 but even then you were still my most trusted.

Though to bring things back to "new players wanting to survive the early game", everything I did was based entirely on the fact that I was a new player. And I think coming back from an absence I could probably get away with it again, though I'm not sure it would go as well.

The only warning I had going into Large Social Games was "social game is more important than you think". Like that was it. I got that from one game I had half-spectated about two-three years before? The game in question, funnily enough, was one where Xof was playing and I spent the most time in her confessional. I remembered a comment along the lines of "You can't just ask someone about the game if you don't know them," when somebody was laughing about a player asking to work with them. I might have been a different player who said that, but that was really what stuck with me.

At the time of Colosseum I really didn't know anyone on site, and by Eon I only really stayed in any form of contact with was DeasVail and Snakes. So going into it I really was in the mindset of "Nobody knows me even outside of the game, so I can do whatever I want to make friends. Because I literally am making friends. I'm meeting these 23 people for the first time outside of the fact it's anonymous." Sharing life situations wasn't revealing my identity because who even knew who AcRv was? To make it better a lot of my posts had been lost in the rollback so there was so little evidence of my presence/playstyle in games anywhere. Being an unguessable participant gave me a lot of confidence.

I still tried to keep it to my fictional character but I felt I could be a bit more careless in opening up. Since it's been five years since then my life is looking very different so I probably could get away with it more but I feel like it'd be harder to do it if I knew that everyone I was playing with were people who could figure out who I was from it.

[Klick]

pika-pi!!

[AcRv]

ayyyy there's my pikachu

[Cephrir]

i now regret posting words instead of a picture, though my tablet is long dead

[DeathNote]

Just survive

[CuddlyCaucasian]

Colosseum memories

[Fluminator]

1. Talk to everyone socially about non-game related things for a few pm chains to establish yourself as a non-gamebot.

2. After that ask them "what are your thoughts on everyone else so far". Keep things entirely positive towards other players at this stage since things will leak. Not mentioning another player is code for "I'm fine voting them out"

3. Look at your conglomerate of "thoughts on other players" and find the person who wasn't mentioned by anyone else.

4. Agree with your other players to vote out that person and make an official alliance sometime in this stage.

[Fluminator]

New players should also look at idol locations in previous games to get an idea of what to look for. They affect the game enough you should be aware.

Also expect lots of swaps. This means to never give up if you're in a bad spot, and try to maintain as many positive connections as possible for future situations so you can adapt with who you're with.
But never expect tribal lines to be a thing after a swap, and the eventual majority alliance at merge will likely not be based on tribe lines.

Always assume what you're saying will leak.

Everyone always downplays how close they are to other players. It's really important to read between the lines to get a grasp on how they really view the game.

[zoraster]

Start making f2-3 deals. Never stop making f2-3 deals. Never. Ever. Stop. Making. Deals.

Scratch your head and wonder why the jury is so bitter.

[Drench]

just vibe and panic until you get to merge

[Drench]

works for me

[Jamelia]

I think for me, the mistake I see new players make (from other communities) is that they have to slow-roll at the beginning and not be too overbearing, which in turn makes them look inactive. The majority of returning players know that first impressions matter, and the first round or so really can establish you long term.

The goal for new players should be to establish themselves as active, friendly, and capable of being there as a vote. Not too strategy-forward, but understanding that it's going to be an uphill battle to get to know people who are already connected one way or another.

In the last game that was modded, we saw both examples of this. I think the players who got taken out early wasn't as active as other players. Does this mean that the vets were active too? Not necessarily, but the reason someone should be taken out should NOT be because they haven't been around enough. That's the easiest thing you can do to avoid being taken out early as a new player.

[McMenno]

i mean that's specifically for nonanon games

[Awoo]

"be active" is pretty good advice for early game anon games tho

[Cephrir]

It's Day 1. You're excited for the game to begin, practically brimming with anticipation. Finally, the much-awaited PM arrives! You open it and see that you got your first character choice. Awesome! Exciting! You are so ready to RP the shit outta this character for about 48 hours and then never do it again. You frantically click the link and fill in your login info as though that few seconds from logging in faster is going to make the slightest bit of difference. (Or, if you're like me, you deliberately wait 10 minutes so as to not seem overeager, as though that is going to make any difference either). You login and start PMing your new tribemates like crazy. You're optimistic about these new friends you're about to make and think of each one of them as a treasure already. Let's see who's filling up your PM box!

The person you'll ally with day 1 but ultimately fall off with and probably stab later: "Hey! Here's a strong conversation hook, let's discuss a weird subject that you'd probably never talk about in real life for the next 3-4 hours!"
The first boot: [PM not found]
The second boot who you probably won't be able to save even though they're kind of cute: "Hi, what's up? I'm so nervous! I hope this PM is good! Anyway, gonna go spend my time posting in general discussion instead of messaging my tribemates, peace!"
The one person who seems to get along great with everyone else but you find uninteresting: "Hey! What's your opinion about something boring, like rocks? Hope you're as excited as I am to be each other's windmills to tilt at in confessional on this tribe while pretending to everyone else that we like each other!"
Person you won't get at first but will slowly come to appreciate more over time until they probably become your #1: "Hey dude. It's nice chatting with you. I gotta run pretty soon but you seem chill. It's refreshing to finally find someone to talk to about cannibalism/evolutionary psychology/etc."
Person who is clearly xofelf: *xofelf noises*

Well, this is going to be a hell of a month or so, and it might get rough or stressful, but damn it, you're gonna have a good time, and even if you can't see it right now, a year from now you'll look back on this and realize you were right at first; every one of these people *is* a treasure.

[Cephrir]

idk i just had that post in my head and this seemed like a good place for it.

[DeasVail]

I love it

[Klick]

That was brilliant

[D3f3nd3r]

Wait so you’re saying xof doesn’t fall into any of the other categories

[xofelf]

I've been all those things depending on the game, so really, it's fair.

[Malkon05]

I'm still trying to perfect my xof noises tbh.

[Cephrir]

Wait so you’re saying xof doesn’t fall into any of the other categories

I am merely factually recounting the six people who will generally be on your tribe

One of them is simply xofelf

[Cephrir]

If your tribe is big enough, you also get the own-gravedigger: "Hi, person I'm meeting right now for the first time! Here's some gossip I've taken out of context. What if we voted out all the characters of opposite gender to ours? Just kidding! Unless..."