Standard Roles for Newbie Games?

[MrBuddyLee]

They're newbie games. For educational purposes. There's no compelling reason for them not to use standard PMs other than to appease ADD-addled ICs. Who would be better off on the sidelines anyway.

[MrBuddyLee]

A newbie comes to a site called "Mafiascum".

They're intrigued by the opportunity to roleplay a bunch of Mafia guys running around shooting innocents.

They complete a newbie game and sign up for another, where they're a Cop chasing after a bunch of Mafia guys who are shooting innocents.

Amazingly, this is still exciting and new for them. They do not in the least regret being unable to play a Habanero Pepper in a Trenchcoat searching for the Evil that is Sour Cream and Guacamole.

They like mafia so much they decide to sign up for a second simultaneous game in the Theme forum, where if they wish they are able to join PJ's game in which various flavors of peanut butter combat the evil bottles of nutella attempting to infiltrate the tasty town.

Free choice abounds, Big Brother is relegated to SK in Thok's 1984 theme game, and fun is had by all.

Where's the problem with this scenario?

[MrBuddyLee]

Creativity's a beautiful thing but I've definitely seen it cause confusion for newbies who'd be better served by a bare-bones experience. Confusion like the four distinct townie names landmine field that scum has had to traverse when fakeclaiming.

To be honest, if a mod doesn't want to mod newbie games because they don't get to exert their creative right over the setup, they're in it for the wrong reasons in the first place. I'm all for creativity, but not at the expense of a simple learning environment. I'm sure that mith can find a balance that allows a reasonable amount of flexibility in PMs but still insulates against mod error.

Driving instructors don't take their kids out on the PCH in a fire truck. Fun as that might be.

[MrBuddyLee]

i think that pj does have a serious point here. the way these policy discussions have been going, it seems like some people want complete conformity. which is bad

Yeah I think the natural followup to this thread is that we should limit Theme games to movies, books and Broadway plays with one or more mafia members with a few additional guidelines added for clarity.

[Subclause 1]:

Literature on which games are based should be entirely English-based or translated to English no less than 500 years ago in order to give all players equal opportunity to comprehend nuances in the source material.

[Subclause 2]:

Said mafia members should be of {Italian, Russian, American, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Venezuelan} descent in order to best ensure a common understanding of roles, rituals and killing practices across the MafiaScum user base.

(Subclause 2a):

Weapons used for killing should be culturally consistent with source, but should not contain methods deemed against the Geneva Convention.

[Subclause 3]:

Votes should be placed in the color and font of the original source text so as to avoid any and all confusion. The colors {#000000 -> #FFEEDD} are reserved for mod text only, with the exception of #FF0000 which is to be used to represent extreme lukewarm displeasure.

[Subclause 4]:

In addition to previous modding requirements, Theme mods must hold degrees in the appropriate genres {Film/Literature/Theatre} plus stamped passport indicating travel to the host nation of said games.

(Subclause 4a):

Games based in America lack any such additional cultural requirements due to general lack of said culture.

[Subclause 5]:

Three shall be the number of the scum and the number of the scum shall be three. Four shalt thou not scum, neither shalt thou
scum two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out.

Sorry to steal your thunder mith, I know this is where you were headed eventually with the standardization thing.