WHAT IS 'STEVEN UNIVERSE'?
Spoiler:
For thousands of years, our Earth has been under the protection of an elite group of magical warriors known as the Crystal Gems. There was once a time that intergalactic war threatened to destroy the planet we call home. Nowadays, such perils seem like fiction, but for the remaining Crystal Gems and a young boy named Steven, these age-old threats loom ever closer.
Steven Universe is a 2013 American animated cartoon series that chronicles the ongoing struggle of Earth's defenders, a small group of magical alien women known as the Crystal Gems. While the show does include an ongoing plot that involves the fate of the universe, the focus of Steven Universe is on the day-to-day trials that the youngest Crystal Gem, Steven, must overcome. The show's colorful visual style and strong musical focus help to make Steven Universe stand out as one of the most beautiful animated shows of the decade. Despite being a cartoon aimed at a teenage market, Steven Universe maturely navigates themes of responsibility, depression, abuse, love, and conflicts on a scale from internal to galactic.
The goal of this Mafia game is to reproduce the delightful color of the world of Steven Universe while rendering both its lighter and darker themes into mafia mechanics that feel fulfilling. As of writing this, Season 3 of Steven Universe has finished airing--I hope to encapsulate the events of Season 2 and 3 within this game, as I see the two seasons as strong a pair as the previous halves of Season 1 were. I will be revisiting mechanics featured in my previous Steven Universe games, although there will be more focus on creating a succinct, fun game for everyone to enjoy. My goal for this game is to create a set of public mechanics that are simple to navigate, yet allow for strong role diversity and fun, engaged, rhetorically-focused play. I have a lot of love for the source material--I hope that my passion translates to this game and allows for players to engage in both the flavor and the game of mafia as a unified experience.
Steven Universe is a 2013 American animated cartoon series that chronicles the ongoing struggle of Earth's defenders, a small group of magical alien women known as the Crystal Gems. While the show does include an ongoing plot that involves the fate of the universe, the focus of Steven Universe is on the day-to-day trials that the youngest Crystal Gem, Steven, must overcome. The show's colorful visual style and strong musical focus help to make Steven Universe stand out as one of the most beautiful animated shows of the decade. Despite being a cartoon aimed at a teenage market, Steven Universe maturely navigates themes of responsibility, depression, abuse, love, and conflicts on a scale from internal to galactic.
The goal of this Mafia game is to reproduce the delightful color of the world of Steven Universe while rendering both its lighter and darker themes into mafia mechanics that feel fulfilling. As of writing this, Season 3 of Steven Universe has finished airing--I hope to encapsulate the events of Season 2 and 3 within this game, as I see the two seasons as strong a pair as the previous halves of Season 1 were. I will be revisiting mechanics featured in my previous Steven Universe games, although there will be more focus on creating a succinct, fun game for everyone to enjoy. My goal for this game is to create a set of public mechanics that are simple to navigate, yet allow for strong role diversity and fun, engaged, rhetorically-focused play. I have a lot of love for the source material--I hope that my passion translates to this game and allows for players to engage in both the flavor and the game of mafia as a unified experience.
WHAT IS A 'VARSOON GAME'? WHAT SORT OF GAME SHOULD I EXPECT HERE?
Spoiler:
Steven Universe Mafia II will be a 25 player Large Theme featuring a handful of unique public mechanics that focus heavily in rhetorical engagement and flavor payoff. My previous game, Bloodborne Mafia, was a striking disappointment for me, largely due to how the over-complex mechanics were handled. I am hoping to create a set of mechanics in this game that are more concise and fun to engage with for everyone involved.
As a moderator with a deep passion for rhetoric, expect a game with mechanics that will always supplement the rhetoric of the game rather than the usual sort of roles that are supplemented by rhetoric. My games are typical Role Madness games--I like to give every player some sort of unique 'something' to play with in tandem with the actual game. I try to include very engaging public mechanics in order to retain player interest, which can be a difficult thing to do in the Large games that I like to run. Do not expect many, if any, 'vanilla' roles here.
'Varsoon Games' are typically characterized by heavy flavor, high quality moderation, and unpredictable yet satisfying mechanics. I am very cognizant of my moderator meta and I constantly keep even seasoned fans on their toes. I have achieved a Master's Degree in writing Fiction; I enjoy writing involved flavor that reflects the sensibilities of players and the game state while not revealing anything that would give a mechanical advantage. I also take Mafia very seriously; I spend over 8 hours a day with access to the site, always with a tab open, refreshing my games, re-reading them, and so on--even when I worked full time and went to college, I accomplished this endeavor. For me, Mafia is a labor of love and a full-time job. I want to deliver the quality experience that I came to love on this site. My games, hopefully, represent that.
As far as moderation goes, I see online Mafia moderation the same way I do moderating a face-to-face game with my friends. I am here to ensure all of my friends and guests have a fun time playing a game we all enjoy. That said, Mafia does get intense. Mafia is psychological. Mafia can feature very aggressive rhetoric. We lynch people here. I love those aspects of the game, and I want them to be in a game, although they will always run risk of ruining the experience for some players. I am far less draconic in my moderation than other moderators. I will always err on the side of the player. That said, I have no patience for players who do break the rules. Do not play my game if you are habitually in trouble with moderators and other players. I'll do everything I can to keep you in-game and having a fun time, but if you cross the line and it's clear you intentionally broke a rule, I will have no mercy in my judgment.
I do not enforce Blacklists, Wisdom of the Crowds, Wisdom of the One, or any similar requests to prohibit players from playing. The only players not welcome in my games are banned players. Do not ask me to prohibit a player from joining for personal reasons; I will never do so unless they currently have a ban or restriction. Everyone is welcome at my table. If you have a personal problem with a player, come to a happy agreement with them before creating drama in my signup thread or in my game. If you absolutely can't play with someone else, do not sign up for a game of mine if they are in the player list. If you do, I will allow you in, but don't think I'm going to shunt the other player because of your personal issues. I want everyone to get together and have fun here. I fully support even bitter rivals playing at the same table and learning to overcome their own differences in order to have fun with something we all enjoy.
As a moderator with a deep passion for rhetoric, expect a game with mechanics that will always supplement the rhetoric of the game rather than the usual sort of roles that are supplemented by rhetoric. My games are typical Role Madness games--I like to give every player some sort of unique 'something' to play with in tandem with the actual game. I try to include very engaging public mechanics in order to retain player interest, which can be a difficult thing to do in the Large games that I like to run. Do not expect many, if any, 'vanilla' roles here.
'Varsoon Games' are typically characterized by heavy flavor, high quality moderation, and unpredictable yet satisfying mechanics. I am very cognizant of my moderator meta and I constantly keep even seasoned fans on their toes. I have achieved a Master's Degree in writing Fiction; I enjoy writing involved flavor that reflects the sensibilities of players and the game state while not revealing anything that would give a mechanical advantage. I also take Mafia very seriously; I spend over 8 hours a day with access to the site, always with a tab open, refreshing my games, re-reading them, and so on--even when I worked full time and went to college, I accomplished this endeavor. For me, Mafia is a labor of love and a full-time job. I want to deliver the quality experience that I came to love on this site. My games, hopefully, represent that.
As far as moderation goes, I see online Mafia moderation the same way I do moderating a face-to-face game with my friends. I am here to ensure all of my friends and guests have a fun time playing a game we all enjoy. That said, Mafia does get intense. Mafia is psychological. Mafia can feature very aggressive rhetoric. We lynch people here. I love those aspects of the game, and I want them to be in a game, although they will always run risk of ruining the experience for some players. I am far less draconic in my moderation than other moderators. I will always err on the side of the player. That said, I have no patience for players who do break the rules. Do not play my game if you are habitually in trouble with moderators and other players. I'll do everything I can to keep you in-game and having a fun time, but if you cross the line and it's clear you intentionally broke a rule, I will have no mercy in my judgment.
I do not enforce Blacklists, Wisdom of the Crowds, Wisdom of the One, or any similar requests to prohibit players from playing. The only players not welcome in my games are banned players. Do not ask me to prohibit a player from joining for personal reasons; I will never do so unless they currently have a ban or restriction. Everyone is welcome at my table. If you have a personal problem with a player, come to a happy agreement with them before creating drama in my signup thread or in my game. If you absolutely can't play with someone else, do not sign up for a game of mine if they are in the player list. If you do, I will allow you in, but don't think I'm going to shunt the other player because of your personal issues. I want everyone to get together and have fun here. I fully support even bitter rivals playing at the same table and learning to overcome their own differences in order to have fun with something we all enjoy.
CURRENT PLAYERLIST (25/25):
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Beeboy + Titus)
2. Klingoncelt
3. Sir Cakez
4. Foxbird
5. Xkfyu
6. Skybird
7. Almost50
8. Shiro
9. DrippingGoofball
10. Farside22
11. Yume
12. CooLDoG
13. Reasonably Rational (Cerberus v666 + Drixx)
14. grapes
15. mastin2
16. Not Chara
17. kraska77
18. killthestory
19. McMenno
20. Firebringer
21. Seraphim
22. SnarkySnowman
23. Creature
24. randomidget
25. TheWayItEnds
17. kraska77
18. killthestory
19. McMenno
20. Firebringer
21. Seraphim
22. SnarkySnowman
23. Creature
24. randomidget
25. TheWayItEnds
