Advice for Newbies

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Advice for Newbies

Post Post #0 (ISO) » Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:33 pm

Post by Ircher »

While I intend for this thread to be geared to newer and inexperienced players, it's possible some of it can apply to experienced players as well. I intend for this to be a resource for both newer and older players who would like to improve their play. In addition, it's been a while since we have had a thread like this, and since mafia shifts over time, it's good to get a fresh perspective on it.

What would you consider to be one of the most important and fundamental piece of advice that you would like to impart to newer players and that will serve them well through the rest of their mafia careers? Your advice can be geared towards a particular alignment, or it can be general advice.

My advice would be along the following lines:

The game of mafia, while it has clearly delineated sides, is not at its a core a black and white game. Every action that occurs in a game is motivated by a wide variety of factors. Some of those factors may include one's alignment, but the vast majority are totally unrelated to a player's alignment. One of the key skills to master is deciding whether a post and an associated action is town-indicative, scum-indicative, or not alignment-indicative at all. In the vast majority of cases, it's the third one. Just because you offer one explanation for a set of actions a player makes doesn't mean alternative explanations cannot exist. Nor is your explanation always the correct one. Always keep an open mind, and try to see things from both a town and a scum perspective. You will often find that things you would instinctively think must be done by scum (or by town) often have credible uses for the opposite alignment that may apply to the game at hand.
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Post Post #1 (ISO) » Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:40 pm

Post by Ythan »

Ego I'm bad at mafia.
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Post Post #2 (ISO) » Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:40 pm

Post by NotAJumbleOfNumbers »

In post 1, Ythan wrote:Ego I'm bad at mafia.
2nd'd please I need help
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Post Post #3 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:27 pm

Post by Frogsterking »

Okay I will help. Reading now.
Bruce: Terry. I've been thinking about something you once told me... and you were wrong. It's not Batman that makes you worthwhile; it's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different.
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Post Post #4 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 2:35 pm

Post by Frogsterking »

"What would you consider to be one of the most important and fundamental piece of advice that you would like to impart to newer players and that will serve them well through the rest of their mafia careers? Your advice can be geared towards a particular alignment, or it can be general advice."

For town:

1) Play a bunch of games and focus on learning town tells as opposed to scum tells. Then, team up with the players who have the most town tells and execute all of the players who have the least town tells. A town tell is a sign that you can trust someone and they will not stab you in the back.

2) Learn how to prioritize and organize your points so you're viewed as credible, and post frequently enough to drown out anyone you think is scum.

For mafia:

1) Watch every single episode all the way through of Survivor: Heroes vs Villains and Survivor: Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty. As of New Years Eve 2020, both of these seasons are available now on Netflix.
Bruce: Terry. I've been thinking about something you once told me... and you were wrong. It's not Batman that makes you worthwhile; it's the other way around. Never tell yourself anything different.
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Post Post #5 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:00 pm

Post by Isis »

I'm still old school. The mafia are not trying to figure out who the mafia is, and they posted something else instead.
"Let us say that you are right and there are two worlds. How much, then, is this 'other world' worth to you? What do you have there that you do not have here? Money? Power? Something worth causing the prince so much pain for?'"
"Well, I..."
"What? Nothing? You would make the prince suffer over... nothing?"
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Post Post #6 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:02 pm

Post by Ythan »

In post 5, Isis wrote:I'm still old school. The mafia are not trying to figure out who the mafia is, and they posted something else instead.
I think this is the most fundamental element of scumhunting.
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Post Post #7 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:04 pm

Post by unwnd »

Think before you post.
Be deliberate in your actions, say what you mean.
It's okay to be wrong.
If you don't know something: Ask.
You're not alone (Unless you're Indy). Listen to your faction, they might surprise you.
The person on the other side of the screen is human too, practice empathy.
If you're Mafia, don't always think you need to just act like
you
would as town, look at the situation and attune yourself to what town is looking for in someone's behavior.
Your vote is your bond. You use words to explain it.
Last edited by unwnd on Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:22 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Post Post #8 (ISO) » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:12 pm

Post by Ythan »

In post 6, Ythan wrote:
In post 5, Isis wrote:I'm still old school. The mafia are not trying to figure out who the mafia is, and they posted something else instead.
I think this is the most fundamental element of scumhunting.
I'm actually gonna double down and call understanding this principle also the most important element of shaping your own scum play.
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Post Post #9 (ISO) » Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:15 pm

Post by Gamma Emerald »

In post 4, Frogsterking wrote:"What would you consider to be one of the most important and fundamental piece of advice that you would like to impart to newer players and that will serve them well through the rest of their mafia careers? Your advice can be geared towards a particular alignment, or it can be general advice."

For town:

1) Play a bunch of games and focus on learning town tells as opposed to scum tells. Then, team up with the players who have the most town tells and execute all of the players who have the least town tells. A town tell is a sign that you can trust someone and they will not stab you in the back.

2) Learn how to prioritize and organize your points so you're viewed as credible, and post frequently enough to drown out anyone you think is scum.

For mafia:

1) Watch every single episode all the way through of Survivor: Heroes vs Villains and Survivor: Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty. As of New Years Eve 2020, both of these seasons are available now on Netflix.
Lmfao the advice for mafia is amazing but also quite valid
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Post Post #10 (ISO) » Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:28 am

Post by Nancy Drew 39 »

If you’re newb scum, Don’t make a post like this:
Hi, let me tell you all about myself (insert anything unrelated to the actual game you’re playing) I’m new but I really just want to find all of the scum then kill them dead. First, I think we should start off with some RQS. What is your absolute favourite role and alignment? Why? Least? Also why? Also if you could possibly be any tree you like, what tree would you be?
***
We just need to tread carefully because if you slip up around her as scum she notices and will tear your spine out and slap you to death with it. (I'm slightly scared of Nancy)
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Nancy is pretty heavenly ngl
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Post Post #11 (ISO) » Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:04 am

Post by Krazy »

Stop now while you still can.

Best advice
vote conspiracy
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Post Post #12 (ISO) » Sun Jan 03, 2021 9:25 pm

Post by Gypyx »

if they make an account, it's already too late
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Post Post #13 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:05 am

Post by Nancy Drew 39 »

Image
***
We just need to tread carefully because if you slip up around her as scum she notices and will tear your spine out and slap you to death with it. (I'm slightly scared of Nancy)
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Nancy is pretty heavenly ngl
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Nancy-scum feels like a hot knife slicing through butter. Nancy-town feels like a magnifying glass in the sun glaring down at an insect.
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Post Post #14 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 5:33 am

Post by MURDERCAT »

Not qualified to give advice but I want to ego the thread so I'll contribute:

1. Townhunting is easier than scum hunting
2. Actions (votes) speak louder than words
3. Look for negative evidence in addition to positive evidence

The last one is classic philosophy of science. You have a hypothesis that you want to test, so you should be looking to falsify it. Try to find posts that someone would *never* make as scum in addition to looking for posts that you think they would make as scum. In practice this can help you avoid confirmation bias.
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Post Post #15 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 8:57 am

Post by Harumi Ayasato »

The obvious best philosophy is "everyone is scum except for me"

But yeah, coming from my experience playing Blood on the Clocktower (although I am new to
regular
mafia), confirming (or getting as close as possible) town is just as important as hunting scum for the simple reason that it makes hunting scum easier.
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Post Post #16 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:06 am

Post by Isis »

Welcome to the forum.

"everyone is scum except for me" is not a popular mantra here, I don't think, but it has elements of merit to it at a minimum since as a townie the only elimination you
know
is a bad elimination is your own.
"Let us say that you are right and there are two worlds. How much, then, is this 'other world' worth to you? What do you have there that you do not have here? Money? Power? Something worth causing the prince so much pain for?'"
"Well, I..."
"What? Nothing? You would make the prince suffer over... nothing?"
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Post Post #17 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:32 am

Post by Cook »

I am completely unqualified to speak about this but here's an idea:

Using a lot of spare time, write down every possible scum group and then see how that works.
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Post Post #18 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:34 am

Post by Ythan »

Has anyone ever tried to brute force Mafia like that. Maybe smaller setups or toward the end of a larger one it'd be more typical.
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Post Post #19 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:39 am

Post by MURDERCAT »

I think looking at possible pairings of remaining players is useful, but it is much more useful later in the game when there aren't many possibilities.
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Post Post #20 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:41 am

Post by Harumi Ayasato »

In post 16, Isis wrote:Welcome to the forum.

"everyone is scum except for me" is not a popular mantra here, I don't think, but it has elements of merit to it at a minimum since as a townie the only elimination you
know
is a bad elimination is your own.
Holy crap, I wasn't serious about that!
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Post Post #21 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:46 am

Post by Gypyx »

tbh, i'm pretty sure that with enough content, anyone could go through every team possible one by one and get out of that with a fairly correct solve, provided they are ready to sacrifice 4 hours of their time
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Post Post #22 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:52 am

Post by MURDERCAT »

I think it would take a lot longer than 4 hours tbh
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Post Post #23 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 10:10 am

Post by Gypyx »

depends on the size
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Post Post #24 (ISO) » Mon Jan 04, 2021 10:44 am

Post by Cook »

In post 18, Ythan wrote:Has anyone ever tried to brute force Mafia like that. Maybe smaller setups or toward the end of a larger one it'd be more typical.
Here's how I'd notate that:

Let's, for instance, take the 12 players here and assume 2 of them are scum and we're playing mountainous, to make the math easier.

Create a spreadsheet, table it out for all twelve players, and then create some sort of highlighting thing to mark down suspects a la clue.
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