Why is this a thing?

[Nero Cain]

mods stating that the game is single ball?

[Zachrulez]

Some players seem to dislike multi ball and very strongly so.

[Nero Cain]

yeah but is that fair to scum? I think its one of the scums strengths for to NOT know the setup but telling town part of the setup takes that awat.

[Alisae]

I feel like its safe to assume that its singleball (1 scumteam) unless told otherwise.

I feel like you should be asking why do mods announce that their game is multiball

[Nero Cain]

that's basically the same thing...mods giving town setup information but yea, I agree, they shouldn't.

[Zachrulez]

There was probably a point where I felt that way too, but as time has marched on I've really started to shy away from multiball setups and probably wouldn't run one without giving the players an indication that it would be possible for it to be multiball.

Also if we're being real multiball isn't really fair to anyone. Town has their win odds gimped and even the scum do as well due to the chance of losing to the other scumteam.

It's like in wrestling when wrestlers flip out upon realizing they've been booked in a triple threat match after expecting a one on one match. Suddenly their odds of victory are much lower.

[Nero Cain]

wrestling is scripted

[borkjerfkin]

i generally announce it one way or the other now so that it's out in the open at signups and the game can both be balanced around that announcement and people can join/not based on their personal preference.

being town in multiball is the worst

[Gamma Emerald]

Honestly team numbers should inform you if it's singleball BARRING WEIRD BULLSHIT.

[Firebringer]

mods stating that the game is single ball?

My mod meta has it so you can predict single ball every game basically.
Announcing it does little more than allow people unfamiliar with my mod meta to know what to expect.

[Thestatusquo]

Given how frequently scum wins on this site I think "this is unfair to scum" is probably a not very persuasive argument.

[Ranmaru]

i generally announce it one way or the other now so that it's out in the open at signups and the game can both be balanced around that announcement and people can join/not based on their personal preference.

being town in multiball is the worst

I like this. I dislike the thought of multiball.

[Spiffeh]

Multiball is also the worst and I'd prefer to know if about a game being multiball so I can avoid it

[Alisae]

[mhsmith0]

i generally announce it one way or the other now so that it's out in the open at signups and the game can both be balanced around that announcement and people can join/not based on their personal preference.

being

town

serial killer in multiball is the worst

IFYT

[callforjudgement]

Knowing whether or not the setup is multiball is something you can balance around. In Normals nowadays, mods are encouraged to make a choice about whether or not they reveal faction sizes to their players (which would reveal multiball-ness as a side effect); keeping them secret is a valid decision, as is disclosing them, but it's something that we want to be intentional rather than just kind-of happening.

It's also worth noting that for, say, a 13 player normal with 1 kill per night, players are going to assume the setup is 10:3 without very strong evidence otherwise. So if the assumption is correct, nothing's really changed, and if it's incorrect, players are most likely just going to be angry and you haven't actually improved the game at all.

And yes, as mentioned elsethread, an explicitly-not-multiball game is likely to be faster to fill because of all the players who avoid multiball. (If a game

is

multiball, making that fact explicit might presumably also help the game to fill, attracting a different subset of players.)

[Lycanfire]

Beat mafia players with the multiball stick until morale improves.

[Radical Rat]

I like multiball.

Sure, it affects win chances and all, but it also allows for a greater depth of strategy than singleball and more variety in gameplay

[Thestatusquo]

Adding more scum is a pretty good way of increasing town win rates.

[Creature]

Some players would rather make it clear that the game is actually normal.

[AnonymousGhost]

yeah but is that fair to scum? I think its one of the scums strengths for to NOT know the setup but telling town part of the setup takes that awat.

I think the fairness to the scum if the game is multi-ball depends on the two, or more, teams WinCon. If the WinCon both teams is to become the majority without competing against each other, then the game tips into scum favor. If the WinCon proclaims that the scum teams are competing against each other, then the game is in town's favor because scum have to work twice as hard to win the game. The latter could be made slightly fairer if the scum teams played with the mindset 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' and then backstabbed each other towards the end.

I feel like you should be asking why do mods announce that their game is multiball

I think a reason why Mods state if a game is multi-ball is the same reason Mods announce if a game is bastard or not, because expecting one thing (could be a game is normal and not bastard or single ball) and then realizing late into the game that everything you thought was true is false can royally screw you in the end.

Plus, I think most players play differently, or at least come in with different expectations, if a game is announced to be bastard vs normal. Same thing applies to the multi-ball vs single ball. If a player comes in with the assumption that the game is single ball, then they're only going to be scrutinizing for one scum team and maybe a couple of 3rd party players. If the game states that it may be a multi-ball, then they come in with the expectation that there stands a chance that they'll have to deal, if they have an anti-scum WinCon, with more than one scum team.

Then again, the mods don't have to straight up say, "Hey this game is multi-ball!" They could merely say, "There's a chance that this game could contain more than one scum team." It's not lying and gives the players a warning that they shouldn't expect a standard - whatever your impression of that should be - setup.

[Alisae]

Bastard and Multiball are two completely different things.

[AnonymousGhost]

Bastard and Multiball are two completely different things.

I never implied that they were two similar things. My previous post was responding to the question of why Mods announce multi-ball. I stated that it's the same reason Mods announce that a game is bastard.

If a game as announced as bastard, then players will make at least two decision based upon that information: one, whether or not they want to participate in the game to begin with and two, (if they do participate) approach the game and its players and its Mod differently because it is bastard.

Multiball is also the worst and I'd prefer to know if about a game being multiball so I can avoid it

i generally announce it one way or the other now so that it's out in the open at signups and the game can both be balanced around that announcement and people can join/not based on their personal preference.

being town in multiball is the worst

If a game is announced as multi-ball, then - based on the quotes above - it evokes a similar response from players just like if the game was announced as bastard (or maybe it's announced as bastard and multi-ball, but that's besides the point). You have players who may or may not participate in a multi-ball game based purely on the Mod's announcement, just like a bastard game. Once they're in the game, players will come into it with a different expectation and scrutinize the actions of the other players because they've been told that the game isn't standard.