Part I: Rating Questions
* (1 is lowest, don't explain here)
Question #1:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the flavor of the game? Consider all parts of the game including role pms, pre-game, day/night scenes, and endgame. Also consider it's relation to the given theme.
7
Question #2:
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the Light/Darkness split-town mechanic? (Keep in mind that it is the central focus of the setup, and the setup was designed around that mechanic).
7
Question #3:
On a scale of 1 to 15, how would you rate the balance between town (as a whole) and mafia? While the split-town does play a role in the overall balance, we are looking at the balance between them and their common enemy, the mafia.
6
Question #4:
On a scale of 1 to 15, how would you rate the balance between the two towns. While the mafia are a common threat to both, you are to ignore their impact when answering this question.
12
Question #5:
On a scale of 1 to 25, how would you rate the overall balance of the entire setup. It is possible that while subsections of the setup may be balanced, the overall balance may be tilted to one side or another. The key question here is do you think each faction had a close to equal chance of winning?
15
Question #6:
On a scale of 1 to 25, how would you rate the overall quality of the game considering all aspects? This includes everything from flavor, balance, core mechanic, execution quality, and how much you enjoyed watching the game.
23
Final Score: 70 / 100 (Moderator use only!)
Part II: Short Answer Questions
* (No more than a single sentence; generally brief 1-word responses are expected.)
Question #7:
How would you summarize your opinion of this game in 1 word?
Suspenseful
Question #8:
Do you feel the setup was worth running? Do not explain why.
Definitely.
Question #9:
How would you describe the overall balance of this game in 1 word?
Fair
Part III: Constructed Response Questions
(Optional, but highly recommended; answers are recommended to be in written in paragraph form using proper grammar to the best of your abilities. Multi-paragraph responses would be wonderful!)
Question #10:
What is your opinion concerning the mechanical themes in the game and why? Keep in mind there are multiple mechanical themes in the game (Split Town, Fire/Poison kills, Town White Flag). How would you suggest to improve the execution of certain themes (primarily Split-Town)? Is there anything else you would like to say about the mechanical themes of the setup?
Some things worked out great, others not so much. Let's start with the smaller stuff: I feel that adding the White Flag mechanic to both of the towns has helped the balance of this game tremendously; would definitely consider doing that again if I run a sequel. The White Flag helps to clear up a few mucky kingmaker situations, and it helps clarify endgame situations. Nonetheless, the White Flag mechanic has a few pitfalls when applied as a lose condition in a multi-town game. The primary concern being that scum fakeclaiming a certain alignment get outed immediately if one faction achieves their lose condition. We didn't see it happen this game, but it nearly did; the only thing that caused it not to be a problem was that mafia were careful not to directly claim their alignment. A somewhat significant side effect that should be kept in mind for the future, but for the most part, I think the benefits outweigh that con plus it encourages mafia to townhunt too, so they don't accidentally confirm themselves as scum.
Moving on, we have the night kill changes for the mafia. In this particular setup, the only roleblocker lied in scum hands, and that's a really good thing because if either mafia flipped and a town roleblocker was still alive, the other was probably doomed as they were restricted by role. That said, I absolutely LOVED having delayed kills; it was a great way to keep town always guessing and whatnot! (Sure took them awhile to figure out, but kudos to Snarky for figuring it out.) On the other hand, the delayed kills present several balance issues as one realizes how weak they really are. In the mini, the lynch was good enough even though scum had to be more clever; however, in a large, the severe lack of kill opportunities and possibly high number of chances for a kill to fail in a way.... It needs to be improved. The best way to fix this is probably three-fold, but I'll talk about that when I talk about balance. Overall, a decent addition to the game, but it needs (a lot of) polishing.
Finally, let's discuss the split-town mechanic. It definitely underwhelmed me; that's the fact of the matter. Before someone assumes I'm saying "scrap it", listen first. I feel that the concept was great; in fact, it adds a whole new dimension to play! Not only do you have your common foe to defeat (mafia), but you also have your lesser foe to defeat (the other town). The problem lies with the setup imo and the execution of the mechanic; there were a lot of things I could've done to make the mechanic more interesting and more balanced. In addition, the playerlist totally killed the mechanic's idea by mass-claiming alignments; that definitely got me to roll my eyes. The fact that people thought they could break the game by mass-claiming alignments was absolute idiocracy, and it should've been clear from the start that such was practically impossible. Getting back on topic, I will conclude that the mechanic ought to be given a second chance; there is a bunch of untapped potential waiting to be utilized here, and without a doubt, if it is executed properly, it could change the way people play.
Question #11:
What is your opinion concerning both the overall balance and individual sections concerning balance of the game? How well balanced is the basic conflict of mafia versus town (ignoring to some extent the split town mechanic), and why do you feel that way? What would you suggest doing to improve the basic balance between the towns and mafia and why? How well balanced are the two towns in relation to one another, and why do you feel that way? What would you suggest doing to improve the basic balance between the two towns (ignoring the mafia) and why? What suggestions would you make to improve the setup's overall balance, and why? Is there anything else you would like to say concerning the balance of the game?
When it comes to balance, this game could've definitely another set of EXPERIENCED eyes. Don't get me wrong --> Frozen Angel, Mhsmith, and Realeo did a great job of improving the concept of the game, but when it comes to evaluating the actual balance of the game, their efforts can probably described as mediocre. (And before anyone says anything, I'll note that I am horrible at reviewing complex games, and a split town is a pretty complex mechanic). That said, the game didn't feel broken --> Each faction had SOME REASONABLE CHANCE of winning outside pure luck. Looking at how this game ended, if I were to give win chances, it would probably be like 45% Dark Town, 25% Mafia, 30% Light Town. A few problems in this setup balance-wise include the delayed kills (and way too many protective roles....) and role confirmability. This game definitely wasn't breakable by alignment mass-claim; however, the setup made it easy for scum to mess that up if they weren't careful due to White Flag. Concerning the delayed kills, a few ideas to improve that are: 1) Making it a true factional kill not tied to an individual player's role. 2) Don't flip the possession of that ability. 3) Allow mafia to execute them more often. (Arsonist every night + Poison on even nights wouldn't be too bad). Fixing the problem with delayed kills would help the town vs. mafia balance tremendously. The other thing that pught to change is the backup poison doctor's role to something else, but I couldn't think of anything that was a weak yet worthwhile role to possess. Murder's info ended up borderlining on game-breaking, but it came at a late enough time where it couldn't wreak too much havoc. Still, I ought to give them less info next time. The info concerning scum's affiliation in the Identity Cop role pms was a mistake --> The two identity cops could've used it to inadvertently confirm each other; that was not by any means intentional. Last of all, 6-5-2 would've decreased the swing of the setup and drastically improve balance between the two town factions. Overall, the balance could use a lot of changes, but the setup was doable.
Question #12:
Why did you choose to moderate/review/spectate this game? How well did the game meet your expectations?
I moderated because I find moderating more fun than actually playing (as can be seen by looking at the mod thread's length). I really liked the mechanical idea in this setup, but I feel it wasn't executed properly and there is a lot of room for improvement. Overall, a little disappointed in my own setup, but it was still great in terms of following.
Question #13:
What were your favorite part about the game and why? What was your least favorite part of the game and why? Is there anything you would suggest to improve the parts of the game you disliked and why? What is the most memorable event from the game? Which parts/aspects of the game do you think executed well/were designed well? Which parts didn't work as well? Is there anything else you would like to say concerning your overall experience with this game, and/or how it was execited?
The split-town is both my favorite and least favorite part about this is the setup because of the impact it had. I REALLY wish I executed it better and in a more fun way, but on the other hand, this setup was made around it. The most memorable event has to be Vedith forgeting his alignment and screwing the game for town. This game has a lot of potential to be better, and I'll make sure to be more thorough in the future.