So to begin with, I realize that I was all over the place yesterday, and that I've flip flopped quite dramatically more than once in a very short period of time. I was also completely wrong about mikemike (I kind of realized it right before the lynch but it was way too late for me at that point). This is my first game in nine months, and I simply haven't had my head screwed on right. Also, I should mention (especially since I'm now at L-1) that this is my first time ever playing a town PR, and it's really been fucking with me.
And on that note, I claim
Doctor
.
Typically, I try to play as the vanilla town from hell. I'm very abrasive at first, and then analytical later. My town career got off to a rough start, but recently this style has worked well for me.
In my first three games as town, I played rashly and was mostly wrong about scum. The town lost all three games, and I was largely at fault each time. However, I decided not to change my fundamental play style, and instead to just work on becoming more accurate in my reads.
I've linked my last two games as town below, because I think it's important context for what I'm trying to say:
Newbie 983 - dominated town discussion for the whole game, along with foilist13. Correctly identified scum on page 7, got them lynched, and won on D2 with a cop result.
Mini 1026 - Correctly called out all three scum D1, and after a long war of wall posts, got them killed in quick succession without a single town death. The game was a perfect D2 win. I don't know of any other mini normals where this has happened. I was even nominated briefly for a scummy.
That was all last summer. I go back to school for nine months and don't play at all during that time period. When I get back, I figure replacing into a 15 page game is a decent way to get back into things, so I go ahead and /in as a replacement for peaf.
And then I'm told that I'm the doctor. I've never played a town PR before, and have up until this point been building a meta of dominant vanilla townie. What the hell am I supposed to do? I read some theory, but that only makes it worse by putting me more in my head.
...
Listen guys, I really tried, and I really fucked it up. The entire day yesterday was very stressful and difficult for me. I knew that as a matter of theory I was supposed to be trying to find the cop and avoiding the NK, but I was worried that I would draw attention to myself if I kept a low profile because of my meta. All the time I spent thinking about this made many of my posts and actions yesterday seem contrived, because they were. At one point through the day I basically just said "fuck it" and decided to just start playing as if I was vanilla; however, I wasn't confident in any of my reads because of all the lurkers. I've always been a notorious hunter of lurkers, and the towns I've played in before this game were all much more malleable. In this particular game, I've really been psyched out quite a bit by players who post next to nothing about their opinions and are enabled in doing so by the rest of the town. With no way to intimidate anyone, and with FD asserting very loudly and with a lot of confidence that I was scum basically from the moment I went after akira (which I still think is bullshit), I got drawn into a personality driven stand off. Of course, I'm insecure about my confirmation bias because of my bad history with it. Also, as a replacement, I kept rereading the thread and noticing new things that I hadn't noticed before, and on a couple occasions this drastically altered my attitude towards a player. I flip-flopped, overcompensated, flip-flopped some more, and then tried to scumhunt a completely new player as the lynch was in the process of going through. I can only imagine how all of this looked to the outside observer, especially ones who have some sense of how I usually play.
I don't expect this claim to exonerate me. But I DO expect those of you voting me to act with some sense.
1) I'm not a newb. There are a lot of bullshit points that have been brought against me that only make sense if you think of me as an unusually short-sighted player. For example, some of you spent yesterday literally accusing me of "defending my scumbuddy". Yeah, ok, maybe I was. But if that's what I was doing, then I was doing it as part of a wifom gimmick, not because I'm literally that stupid. You need to be honest with yourself and recognize that I'm equally likely to just be misguided town who didn't agree with you. Both are equally plausible, and those of you who have made this accusation need to make a much more nuanced argument about why I necessarily come up on one side of the table instead of the other.
2) You aren't 100% positive I'm scum. That means you should actually make a case. Right now I don't really understand why half you guys think I'm scum. Seriously, iso the players on this wagon. A lot of you have gotten away with murder as far as posting reads and justifying votes is concerned. Treat me with enough respect to make real arguments against me, so that I have at least the opportunity to defend myself.
3) A lot of bullshit happened at the end of the day yesterday, and I'm amazed that you guys aren't seeing it. In particular, Zach's play has really gotten my attention. I'll get into this more later.
4) It's very risky for me to try and make this point right now, but I think the Greymarble lynch doesn't fit in very comfortably with the official story of "epic town FD caught all three scum day 1." My gut thinks scum may have killed who they saw as a dangerous dissenting voice to their agenda. I know it's wifom, but it should at least make you stop in your tracks.
There's a lot more to talk about, but I need to go sleep right now.
Final words:
I played like shit yesterday and I'm sorry.
Now that I've claimed I'll be a lot more comfortable with myself, and I'm confident that I can gain back some cred if you give me room to post content and actually take my cases seriously.
Consider a few suggestions:
1) I'm already at L-1. I might be scum, but I might not be, and if scum is in anyway pushing this lynch, you guys are going to want to have a lot more discussion today than you have so far. I have cases I plan to make, and I can't see a scenario in which it isn't pro town for you to look at them. So I ask that someone please unvote.
2) FD decided that I was scum as soon as I went after akira, and the rest of you have pretty much just sheeped him. I understand that my play so far has been poor, but I ask that you maintain enough self-doubt to deal with this day sanely, and give me a legitimate chance to defend myself. Why am I scum exactly? You should demand that people post a case answering this question not only for
my
sake, but so that you can be sure that
their
intentions are sincere as well. I mean, fuck, just LOOK at the people on my wagon!! Do
you
know what their reasons really are?
I don't know how much time I will have tomorrow, but I definitely will be posting a lot more before the weekend is over.
Simul Edit:
So I'm not at L-1 anymore, but I'm still claiming. I recognize that in most situations this would not be the ideal play, but given the circumstances, I think it's my best option. I can't really defend myself honestly without it. People may not believe it now, but they
definitely
won't believe it if I wait until they actually try to lynch me at deadline.
It's 2 AM and I'm going to bed. Write me a case, and expect content soon.
