Mafiascum.net

• Optimal Doctor Strategy, 3-29-2004; Optimal Doctor Strategy, 4-21-2007

• When to Claim Cop, 6-11-2005
  
• Optimal Sheriff Strategy, 4-1-2004

• Optimal SK Strategy, 11-17-2006
  
• When to claim SK, 9-16-2005

• How to Play on Day One, 3-24-2004
  
• Playing Optimally, 4-1-2004
  
• What is the Best Mafia Skill?, 6-21-2004
  
• Becoming Better, 4-30-2005
  
• Voting Yourself?, 4-12-2005

• Logical v Behavioral Scumhunting, 2-19-2007
  
• Using Balance to Catch Scum, 6-3-2004
  
• When to Claim (Townie), 5-7-2007; When to Claim (Roles), 4-4-2007; When to Claim (Roles), 12-14-2003
  
• Fake Claiming as Town, 8-18-2005

• When a Cop Claims, 3-12-2005

• Random Voting, 5-20-2004; Random Voting, 2-22-2006; Random Voting, 11-1-2003; Random Voting, 8-19-2005
  
• Not Reading your Role PM, 11-30-2005
  
• Merits of Mass-Claim, 3-28-2006; Mass-Claiming, 6-16-2005
  
• Metagaming, 11-12-2003; Metagaming based on Mafia Discussion threads, 11-18-2003; Metagaming, 4-30-2006; Metagaming Ethics, 5-24-2006; Metagaming Ethics on Lynch All Liars, 5-22-2006
  
• Policy Lynching, 6-3-2006; Policy Lynching ‘Village Idiots,’ 5-29-2007; Policy Lynching ‘Village Idiots, 7-1-2007
  
• Codes/Encryption Ethics, 6-18-2006; Codes/Encryptions, 7-25-2004
  
• Lurking, Dealing With, 6-15-2006; Lurking v Keeping Quiet, 11-13-2003
  
• When to Share Thoughts, 5-31-2007
  
• What is OMGUS (Oh My God You Suck)?, 7-25-2007
  
• Why is Nighttalking only for Mafia and Masons?, 9-25-2003
  
• Cop v Townie, 2-6-2005
  
• Cop v Doctor, 6-24-2005

• 2 Townie, 1 Mafia, 1 Serial Killer, 11-4-2004
  
• Vigilante in Endgame, 5-9-2005
  
• Endgame: Mafia v Mafia, 11-20-2005
  
• Endgame: 3 Mafia v 3 Town, Town can technically force a Draw, 12-15-2005

• Role PM Wording, 8-14-2003
  
• Balancing, 10-5-2003; Balancing, 1-30-2005; What is Balanced?, 3-4-2005
  
• Starting With Day/Night, 11-13-2003
  
• Optimal Size, 1-4-2004
  
• When to give Unnightkillability, 1-6-2004
  
• Two Mafia Groups, 1-6-2004
  
• Buffing a Serial Killer, 5-5-2005
  
• Differently Aligned Masons, 8-5-2005
  
• Unthemed Mafia Groups, 1-12-2006

• Roleblocker v Roleblocker, 1-20-2004
  
• What to do if Somebody does not send a Night Choice, 9-16-2004
  
• When a Doctor dies and Protects Somebody Who Would Die, 6-21-2005
  
• Randomizing N1 Cop Investigations?, 12-09-2005
  
• Roleblocking a Mason, 11-28-2005

• Giving Information about Doctor Choices, 3-1-2004
  
• Informing Players about a Triggered Role, 11-11-2005

• Rules for Games, 10-19-2003; Standard Rules, 11-18-2005
  
• Allowing Twilight Talk, 10-10-2004; Posting in Twilight, 11-17-2005
  
• Mod-Quoting, 10-25-2004
  
• Voting/Unvoting, 5-19-2005
  
• When a Player Self-Votes or Gives Up, 5-20-2005
  
• Deadline Lynches, 7-13-2005; Deadline Lynches, 12-20-2005

• Qualities of a Good Mod, 10-13-2004
  
• When to Step In, 1-12-2004
  
• Using a Spreadsheet, 10-10-2004
  
• Incompetent Mods, 1-20-2004
  
• What Makes a Game Themed?, 2-22-2004
  
• Abandoning Games, 2-22-2005
  
• Vote Counting, 5-14-2005
  
• How to Make Day Ones Faster, 11-16-2005
  
• Allowing Mafia to Daytalk, 11-28-2005
  
• Enforcing Post Restrictions, 12-3-2005

• Games for Study, 10-6-2004

• Should we Change Newbie Games?, 2-24-2004
  
• Newbie Games: Cop & Doc, 2-28-2005
  
• Suggested Newbie Set-Up, 6-30-2005
  
• Newbie Statistics, 6-18-2005
  
• Breaking Newbie Games, and Solutions, 2-26-2005

• Lying About External Circumstances, 12-19-2005
  
• Responsibility of an IC in a Newbie Game, 6-2-2005

~~~~~

Goals of this thread:

To compile all threads concerning mafia theory into one, easy-to-access resource.
This resource will have links to the more commonly asked questions in mafia discussion. These questions will surely become more refined over time, and a topic can have multiple subsets, such that even the more uncommon questions are accessible.
By compiling, this will hopefully be an excellent source of determining how the meta of mafia has changed over time, as the same questions may have different answers as they have been asked multiple times in different ways over the years.

If players would like to do research on a few questions and link to mafia discussion threads, we can hopefully get this started. I will simply try to update this first post continually as research comes in, and I will definitely do research of my own when I can find time to do so.

1. Role X, Role Y and possibly Role Z and Role Q have some weird interaction in a game I'm modding. What should I do?

a. You should have decided this before the game started.
b. Check the exact wording of the role PM's. If there is a unique way to satisfy all of the role PM's, that's what you should do.
c. Other stuff that people can link to about natural role resolution.

Thok wrote:c. Other stuff that people can link to about natural role resolution.

https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?ti ... Resolution
(Someone go edit that page to take out the Xylbot-specific bits no one cares about)

Q: What are the most important things I need to know as a new player?

A: Three things...
1. Don't lie.
2. Say what you think without worrying if it makes you look scummy.
3. Lynch people who don't follow these three points.

Xylthixlm wrote:Q: What are the most important things I need to know as a new player?

A: Three things...

1. Don't lie.

WRONG
2. Say what you think without worrying if it makes you look scummy.

3. Lynch people who don't follow these three points.

WRONG

1 fails to account for gambiting, etc.

3 tells people to follow one strict set of guidelines, which is contrary to the development of playstyles.

Xylthixlm wrote:Q: What are the most important things I need to know as a new player?

A: Three things...
1. Don't lie.
2. Say what you think without worrying if it makes you look scummy.
3. Lynch people who don't follow these three points.

This is on how to play as town, right?

1 is a good starting point.
2 is very good.
I don't like 3 at all.

Guys? This is supposed to be a place to compile existing information. Not invent it. If there's stuff we need to create, we can do it after we've compiled and thus determined that something important is missing.

way to show them how its done yaw

YEA

OK, I'm going back to the beginning of the Mafia discussion forum and flagging up things

that seem of particular relevance. I've picked up everything up to page 10, ie August of

2007.

Optimal doctor strategy

Random voting discussion

Is it good strategy to not read

your role PM day one?

More random voting stuff

First massclaim discussion

Metagaming I

Metagaming II

Metagaming III and Lynch All Liars

(Discussion on whether employing any kind of metagame policy at all is incompatible

with playing to achieve your win condition).

Is policy-lynching acceptable?



Is encryption acceptable?

Interesting how hard the meta moved against this in the period between this thread, and the

appearance of Adel.

Dealing with habitual lurkers

How to play SK

Discussion of scumhunting tactics



Why premature claims are bad

When to roleclaim

Another one on doc strategy

Should I share my thought process?



Dealing with VIs

(Specifically a discussion of whether it is acceptable to policy lynch Internet Stranger

just for being himself).

Dealing with VIs II

What is OMGUS?

Xylthixlm wrote:

Thok wrote:c. Other stuff that people can link to about natural role resolution.

https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?ti ... Resolution
(Someone go edit that page to take out the Xylbot-specific bits no one cares about)

Check.

Fonz's links reorganized in first post. I am not quite sure how this will ultimately be organized -- it will surely become more refined as more threads are mentioned in this thread. For now I am just going with a very general format, with the hopes that it will be very easy to to maneuver through as time passes.

I'm also adding a few links of my own; I think there is a lot more in old discussion than is given credit. Even if a thread's title does not look promising, it may in fact have a discussion (whether you think it be a 'good' one or a 'bad' one) on something!

Sifted through pages 21 down to page 17. I have a feeling I might include the same articles under multiple questions categories, but I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

I like how this topic is trying to be the premium version of the wiki

woo stickied

I don't understand why this thread is on the forums rather than the wiki, but whatever...

Fritzler wrote:

Xylthixlm wrote:

Thok wrote:c. Other stuff that people can link to about natural role resolution.

https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?ti ... Resolution
(Someone go edit that page to take out the Xylbot-specific bits no one cares about)

Check.

If you just want the common order, I think that's been at Night Choice on the wiki for forever. Xyl's page is something specific and different...

Mr. Flay wrote:If you just want the common order, I think that's been at Night Choice on the wiki for forever. Xyl's page is something specific and different...

Mine gives the same order for those five actions, so it's actually similar but more general.

I wish I understood some of the terminology in NAR. Can you annotate the wiki page?

Here's two links that might have a place:

Model games for newbs to read: http://mafiascum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8178

Modding best practices: http://mafiascum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7580

Mr. Flay wrote:I don't understand why this thread is on the forums rather than the wiki, but whatever...

Fritzler wrote:

Xylthixlm wrote:

Thok wrote:c. Other stuff that people can link to about natural role resolution.

https://wiki.mafiascum.net/index.php?ti ... Resolution
(Someone go edit that page to take out the Xylbot-specific bits no one cares about)

Check.

If you just want the common order, I think that's been at Night Choice on the wiki for forever. Xyl's page is something specific and different...

Anything here can just be copied to the wiki if it needs to be... I've always considered the wiki a place for "skim the surface" information, and mafia discussion for "in-depth" information. Besides, players don't ask questions in the wiki; they go to mafia discussion to ask questions.

Well, this can probably be de-stickied (actually was surprised it was stickied to begin with)... I think it's a good idea, but I am just the wrong person to do this compiling right now.

I say leave it stickied. Even if the first post is infrequently updated, there are solutions:

1) People continue to add stuff and you put a note in the first post with the date of any updates you make (so its easy to skip along to see new items
2) Some one else can simply start a new thread and, being the new first poster, quote and paste your info into it and add the new stuff. The cycle could continue for quite awhile if people look for it to be updated once a month.

Or even, 3) Jeep can give mod powers to this thread to another person, even a couple of people, who can frequently update it.

Endgame question:
What happens if the Mafia wins by default by outnumbering the town, but there is a Survivor left? Do both the Mafia and Survivor win, or just the Mafia?
(Please, don't say 'whatever the mod decides'. I'm asking what you would do as Mod.)