Standard Roles for Newbie Games?

[Yaw]

If we're doing templates, I prefer the idea of a checklist. Just say, "Townie PMs must contain:" and let mods word it as they wish. Checklist items would also include negative statements (eg. "No title for the role other than Townie").

It's more formatting than anything else, however. I completely agree that standardizing the content of roles is necessary for Newbie games.

[Yaw]

The problem is that the Sour Cream and Guacamole clearly isn't scummy. Scum is whatever fakery comes out of a Taco Bell.

Seriously, things could work the other way as well for modding. Standardization makes games faster and easier to set up than otherwise. It might mean more people would mod, given the smaller setup commitment. (I'd personally be more likely to mod a standardized game, as I haven't had the time to sit down and hash out a great Newbie front post and set of role PMs as of yet.)

[Yaw]

Yes, we do have for the most part good mods. Yes, mods are capable of writing their own opening posts and role PMs. That said, the situation MrBuddyLee refers to should

never

have happened:

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.

We need guidelines for these games that avoid situations like this one.

That's

what the standardization argument is about. It's not about stamping out mod individuality as much as it's about recognizing from our collective experience modding over 200 Newbie games that there are ways to mod them that work better than others, and that prepare Newbie players better for the rest of the games on this site.