Random first night choices?

[Antrax]

The idea is borrowed from another group. They play it such that the first night target (for the cop, they only play cop/mafia/townies) is random. The reasoning is to stop the cop from choosing the same players over and over again. Of course, the same idea could be applied to mafia, doc, etc. The rationale is that in the game world, the characters have nothing to go on, and it tries to offset ye olde "kill Antrax the first night" tactic, that naturally disgruntles the Antrax. What do you think? Is it a good idea?
Antrax

[Antrax]

One is supposed to start with a night if there's an even number of players, so the "to lynch" will be a true majority. It's basically tradition, I guess. Most games are 12, 20 or 30 players, so you usually start with a night. Also, I like starting with a night because it gives the town SOMETHING to go on. Maybe the cop is signaling them the mafia he found, etc.
Antrax

[Antrax]

I think you're all focusing too much on actual cases. The point is this. OBVIOUSLY, something is added to the game by having a metagame. However, it's more or less Vizziny logic, all of it. The claim is that there shoudln't be such a thing -- nobody should be dubbed "good player" or "bad player", but rather, every game weighed individually, and the choices in each game based only on what happened during that game. To enforce that view, the first night, when there's no information, is random. So, do you think a metagame is good?
Antrax

[Antrax]

Don't you think that's turning the game from mafia to someone else? Mafia can be played with strangers. "Know-your-GLers" cannot. I personally enjoyed my earlier games a lot more, before it became so technical and complex (partially I'm to blame for it), that nobody ever does anything for no reason anymore. I know, it's easier to catch mafia when you frown on random votes, but damn those early games were fun.
Antrax

[Antrax]

The thing is, by night 2 you usually have SOMETHING to go on. I know I usually do, when I play. Metagaming isn't entirely bad, but it can become preposterous at times (see: being targetted by everyone in the game on the first night, Antrax, Mafia 30something). I agree aliases solve all problems in a much better way, but for some reason I hate them
Antrax

[Antrax]

Yeah, I thought Padded Wall was a great idea, but all those generic names drove me friggin' insane

Wasn't that the point?
Antrax