Crazy irrational theory on scum hunting that might backfire.

[mastin2]

What if as Town, you start to do things that are Scummy (for you) or just start doing things a wee bit out of character for you. Is this a viable way to Scum hunt?

Yes. I did it all the time. The thing is, though, it only works if you're given select circumstances and mindsets.

1. You must be trying to use your scum meta to improve your town game, not degrade your townplay into your scumgame. If you're intentionally playing worse than normal, you're gonna eat a mislynch and could potentially even face a ban. (Unlikely, but possible.) The difference is important!
   
2. You must have enough players in the game that are
   intimately
   familiar with you. Not just "generally", or "vaguely". Intimate knowledge is a must.
   
3. You must be actively prodding the players you are scumhunting using this method: are they giving you a pass when they shouldn't be? Are they jumping onto you for reasons that are entirely unrelated? Does it look like they are waiting to jump on you until later? If so, why? Do they hold suspicion of you?
   
4. You must not be too blatant about this. If you broadcast your intentions too openly, the whole effectiveness of the gambit is lost.
   
5. You must have a select end point, where you proceed to explain your thought process, step-by-step, and your findings.

Even then, expect to find some heavy retaliation: some town players won't believe you, thinking you're scum covering up your mistakes. Some town players will recognize that you're town, but will doubt the legitimacy of your findings, thinking, "Okay, so what stops scum from doing *this action you attribute to town*, or town from doing *this action you attribute to scum*?"
And, of course! Scum players will fall into one of the two above camps, whichever is more convenient to them.

So, you'll need to be prepared to reply to all of that and scumhunt there, too.

Even after all of this, you'll still be placing yourself at considerable risk, so it always helps to have a backup plan in place. I never did this without some idea of what could go wrong, and a countermeasure to that. It's also something that can't be done consistently. Once in a blue moon, sure, but if it becomes the new norm for you...then it loses its potency, as scum are quick to adjust.

So, is it a possible, even viable, scumhunting tactic?

Yes.

But ONLY under specific conditions, and even if those conditions are met, it is something that has a fair failure rate, and reasonably low success rate. Meaning, I would not recommend heavy reliance on this. It'd be a tool, and nothing more.

[mastin2]

But what if your town meta is that you always look scummy and your scum meta is that you always look townie?

Congratulations, you are now among a select group of scummers: the group that is most likely very good at the game (the one and only thing in question being how good you scumhunt), but hates every minute of it.

The first few times you're good at scum, you're proud of it. You think it's an accomplishment that you're that good.
The next few times you're good at scum, you're still thrilled that you haven't lost your touch.
The next few times you're good at scum, you begin to get a series of emotions: annoyance and even boredom.
If those emotions don't sabotage your scumgame and you're still winning, eventually they shift into being sick of it and absolute apathy.

Doesn't take long for those to turn into hatred after that.

You'd be surprised at the vast number of scummers who, simply by playing when landing scum, have a near-guaranteed victory.

[mastin2]

You'd be surprised at the vast number of scummers who, simply by playing when landing scum, have a near-guaranteed victory.

If you were scum, who would be your two or three partners for your dream team?

I'm a bit out of touch with the current playerbase, but off the top of my head, zMuffinMan comes to mind.

Nacho does lose a number of his scumgames, but he and I have great synergy so might be a good addition to the team. (Mind you, if we're talking a team with me on it, I'd probably be the weak link anyway.)

I'm sure there are others I'd want, but again: been a while since I've actively been playing, so I don't know that many people.