Standard Roles for Newbie Games?

[petroleumjelly]

Why not just do the following:

• Give each game the same title
  
• Give each day the same deadline
  
• Give each game the same set-up
  
• Give all the players a quota of posts they cannot surpass and must meet
  
• Tell players what they should post about and in what order
  
• Tell players who they should lynch
  
• Tell players what their night-choices should be

If you're striving towards absolute conformity, you might as well think big. We can make it so every Newbie game is exactly the same! Oh boy, doesn't that sound

exciting!

[petroleumjelly]

Basically, I prolly won't be modding any more newbie game if the role PMs are going to be standardized. I'm pretty sure I know how to write a role PM after being here for a year and a half, and having me copy-paste something somebody else did is not very appealing.

I like being able to scroll down the newbie games, read each mod's rules and roles, and see some of the mod's personality shine through - for example, MeMe's games always have the characteristic "if you don't like it,

do

something about it" attitude coming with them, and this is apparent from both her roles, rules, and implementation of the game. I think doing this will quickly lead towards other conformities - such as the same introductory post for each game, the same exact rule-set for each game, the same explanation of the set-up for each game, the same vote count structure for each game, the same deadline implementation in each game, and so on and so forth. I'm not a big fan of things which are completely cookie-cutter, and I can tell that's where this is headed.

If you are going to enforce something like this at all, I would rather hope you would instead have a list of requirements which must be mentioned in a PM, but allow it to be the mod's discretion for what order and wording is to be chosen, or some such thing.

Edit: This is like having a strict dress code on mafia scum, and I'm not even seeing why it is necessary. We're already

just

finishing the path of removing all flavor from all newbie games, and

now

we're already jumping into standardized role PMs. I am weary of what types of things will come next. I have always prided this site for it's creativity, and it appears as if we are headed towards the exact opposite direction as of late.

[petroleumjelly]

I approve... 'nuff said.

You have strayed from the acceptable sentence structures which I can recognize.

ERROR ERROR

.

Is bringing up insane/ineffective variants needed in the PM?

I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Dave.

First post edited in light of the above. I agree with changing "scum" to "Mafia", I've made the Cop role clearer, I've taken out the reference to "quacks", and I've clarified the Doc's "effectiveness".

I

love

Big Brother! <3

[petroleumjelly]

Eh. Well, I spent (wasted) class-time in school to emphasize my point in a more satirical manner, so I'm not going to let them go to waste even though I see that people have started to lean towards making sure certain contextual things are in role PMs instead of standardizing the roles as a whole. Anyhow, I'm mostly just posting this so it doesn't feel like a complete waste of time to my mind.

A few modest proposals in conjunction with standardized role PMs:

1.) We should all refer to ourselves by numbers instead of names - I suggest using order or sign-ups. After all, there are names on the forum which could confuse newbies, such as "mith v rnith" or "unvote" or "myself". By having everybody refer to themselves by numbers (and we could likely change the system such that everybody no longer even has a strict 'name'), we avoid all unnecessary complications.

2.) We should take away everybody's avatar and replace it with something uniform, or nothing at all. After all, it has been shown not only that similar avatars can confuse new players, but they can confuse experienced players as well. In order to avoid this potential problem of confusion, it is clear that this is the perfect solution.

3.) We should set up a "How To Mod A Newbie Game" thread in the Mafia Discussion Forum. I humbly propose it look something like this:

• Firstly, make a title for your game. Then scrap it, and copy-paste the Game Number. Titles are overly confusing, especially if they are in any way similar to other titles.
  
• Secondly, make a balanced set-up for 7 players. Immediately scrap it, and copy-paste the accepted Newbie Game set-up.
  
• Thirdly, write out your opening post for the game to introduce it to the Newbies. Toss this out the window - it is too confusing for those danged Newbies. If they have happened to read any
  other
  mafia game (perish the thought!), they may wonder why
  their
  game has a different introductory post than
  another
  game! As such, you will copy-paste the accepted opening post.
  
• Fourthly, make sure you have a rules which are all-inclusive for Mafia. Then burn them. Rules which are in any way different from another game can clearly cause undue confusion, and may result in mass panic. Copy-paste the accepted rule set to a Tee.
  
• Fifthly, write up your role PMs, and then scrap them since (again), any deviation from the norm will clearly be too significant of a mental challenge for Newbies to comprehend if they try to compare it to anything else. Copy-paste what has been deemed appropriate.\
  
• Sixthly, etc. etc. etc.

4.) We can sell audio tapes to get Mods into the correct thought process when making Newbie games. I suggest the content be roughly the following:

Do not be individual. Do not deviate from the norm. Do not be individual. Deviation is confusing. Conformity is simple. If you should see somebody deviate from the norm, do not talk with them. Deviation is confusing. Conformity is simple. If you should see somebody deviate from the norm, do not associate with them. Deviation is confusing. Conformity is simple. If you should see somebody deviate from the norm, report them to an administrator immediately. Do not be individual.

And we can simply have that on a continual, never-ending track. We simply

must

think about those poor, confused Newbies!

5.) I would also suggest that we time Mafia Scum down to the smallest detail... just in case Newbies are confused by the strange concept of "time zones" and how that might affect whether somebody is perceived as "lurking". I would firstly propose that everybody only post in intervals of 5 minutes. Also, you can only quote up to one other person in any one post - multiple quotes in the same post, after all, can be confusing. Clearly, you cannot vote two people in the same post, even if you are making a point: it is confusing. Since

FoS's

have no substantive effect on the game, but are often bolded as if they are important, they should be summarily banned. After all, this could be confusing to Newbies.

****

To show how much we love conformity here at Mafia Scum, here is an educational video!

*Classic educational video music plays*

Camera slowly descends from over trees to a young boy in a striped shirt and a big grin. The film is, of course, black and white. Colors are overly confusing.

Narrator: Here we are in the quaint town of Mafia Scum, where everybody decides to conform to what they are told they ought to conform to. But why would somebody want to do this?

Young boy puts hand on chin, and stands in a thinking pose.

Narrator: Let's ask this completely unbiased young boy! Hey, you!

Kid looks up at camera.

Why do

you

love conformity?

The boy grins widely. "My Mommy says the best children are neither seen nor heard. And I

love

my Mom! Everything against what she says is just too danged confusing for lil' ol' me.

Narrator: *Laughs* What's your name, son?

I used to be called Johnny - but that was too confusing because Mom said there might be somebody

else

named Johnny, or John, or even Johnathon. So I got a name from the government that nobody else will ever have, because we're all numbered! My name is 16420!

Narrator: Well, 16420, if Billy jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?

*Boy thinks* I don't know anybody named Billy - but I'll just pretend you mean 13983. I would only jump off the cliff if everybody

else

was going to do it to! After all, there is strength in numbers and conformity! And there's nothing to be confused about! Huzzuh!

Narrator: Let's talk to the mother.

Camera pans back to woman standing in doorway.

Narrator: What do you think about little 16420, here, ma'am?

"I'm so proud of 16420. Nobody can even tell him apart from the other children anymore! Why, just the other day I was told by no less than four people that 16420 looks and acts just like everybody else. This is how

I

know that I've done a good job as a mother. After all, the crooked nail gets hit by the hammer! I wouldn't want him to stand out in any way!

Narrator: Hmm. If 16420 looks and acts like everybody else, how do you know it's actually 16420 when you pick him up from school?

That's the best part - I don't! I could be taking home a different child every day, and I would never notice the difference! It's so convenient! Really, the only problem that ever troubles

me

anymore is trying to figure out what conformity

can't

solve!

Narrator: *Laughs* The world may never know, Ma'am... the world may never know.

Camera fades away from home, where 16420 and the mother wave happily.

Well, there you have it. Now you too know the joys of conformity!

****

Anyhow, yeah. Jelly has way too much free-time sometimes. >.> I might have more serious comments later. Although I will point out that I don't think these sorts of points are necessarily part of a "slippery slope" fallacy - I am more arguing against your point by ad absurdum. Essentially, if you accept a certain premise and it's implications (i.e. we should structure newbie games so that they are not confusing), it leads to more absurd conclusions which people will not likely accept. If you want to standardize role PMs, I think you are going to need better reasoning than "nonstandardized role PMs could potentially confuse newbies".