I love the rvs. If you think rvs shouldn't exist, you should still have an 'early game' to start it off anyway. I mean, you are going to have to:
1. Make accusations/state who you suspect
2. Question/heckle
3. Remain active/engaged
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I think that is what you need regardless if you think rvs should be a thing or not. It'll start off the game and cause reactions and it'll help scum find targets to mislynch, and it'll help town to possibly spot the scum's intent to find targets to mislynch. This is from experience playing in an offsite mafia site that doesn't use rvs at all.
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I mean it all links back to the main purpose of town/scum (lynch scum/mislynch town), and the only way to start that is with the three points above, or just randomly lynching like Yosarian says. Better than starting with "Hmm, well, we gotta find scum... let's lynch this guy, just because..." or rather, it'd be less awkward. Although I wonder if any mafia game has started like that?
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Important question
: What if the rvs/early game had none of those? What if town was lurky, there were no good reactions, and not many accusations, or at least solid ones? Would you say the game is doomed for town, or can it be saved? Is it too late to find reactions from scum, since they may have gotten comfortable? Or will it eventually get into a 'good state' where you can find reactions once something crazier happens in mid-game?