Motive indicators

[mith]

There have to be guidelines though, if not rules, or the game becomes "look for loopholes" and not Mafia.

I try to eliminate meta-game play as much as possible, because I think it makes for a more interesting game. My general rule of thumb is "If you couldn't do it in a real, life-or-death, version of the game, try not to do it." The exact wording of a PM is one of those things I don't think we should rely on (unless one of the game mechanics is that everyone gets a little piece of paper telling them who they are, or something). I remember there was one game where I said I was a townie, and someone decided I was innocent because their PM said "Townie" too. Thing is, I didn't even remember mine saying that, I just said townie 'cause that's what I say. (Ok, I may or may not have just made up this story, though something did happen that was similar)

There's some things that can't be avoided, of course. Everyone that's played with me before knows I go on long rants, Antrax uses his logic, etc. etc. I just try to keep it to a minimum.

[mith]

Oh, and that isn't to say it's entirely the responsibility of the players. Moderating is an on-going learning process. Just keep in mind that moderators aren't going to do everything perfectly, and just looking for holes in their setup is rather boring.