Mini 919: Quiz Show Mafia -- Game Over!

[Netopalis]

My question to everybody: Describe your style of play on this site, and what you value the most in the game of mafia.

[Netopalis]

My responses:

1. No question from bv -

No answer from Netopalis, then.

2. Are you town?

Yes, but I'd say that as scum too.

3. What is your strategy if you are a scum roleblocker? Why?

If I'm a scum roleblocker, I generally like to roleblock the quieter players that might have power roles. This frees up the kill to attack players that are better scumhunters. Netopalis' First Law states that there is a 95% chance that at least one of the least-engaged or scummiest players will have one of the most powerful roles.

4. What benefit do expect to accrue from people talking about their usual playstyle in a game that that appears to be extremely different from convention?

People describe their playstyles in different ways depending on whether they are town or scum. Scum approach the game as trying to convince people that they are town. Townies, however, approach the game trying to find scum. Asking questions which attempt to get people to describe something often shows some subtle differences in approach.

5. Have you played any mafia games in a non-forum style (such as chatroom or RL)

Yes, both chat and face-to-face style. I prefer forum mafia, though.

6. Do you support the Lynch all Lurkers argument? Why or why not?

At times. I do support it in cases where someone continues to lurk, but posts just enough to avoid replacement. I also support the idea that it should at least be brought up every now and then as a serious threat to encourage more activity. Additionally, sometimes lurking is scum-driven. As a general rule, though, no.

7. How important do you find meta?

Mostly unimportant. I've never gotten a great deal of benefit from using it. I recently made a post on the subject in MD, if anyone is curious.

8. Would you please link and describe how you act in a game as mafia and as town?

From my perspective, my town and scum playstyles are somewhat similar. Two games that I feel that I did the best in as scum or as town are as follows:

Hellsing Mafia (Town): http://mafiascum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12442

Mafia in Belgrove (Mafia): http://mafiascum.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12561

As both town and scum, I tend to be extremely cautious on D1. I try to avoid interacting in D1 a lot because I find that I generally suck at it. My playstyle is very logic-based, and in order to use it, I need material and information to work with. Therefore, I'm much better on D2 and beyond. The biggest difference between my play as scum and as town is that I seem to be a bit more aggressive as town, but I'm not entirely sure that this is true. Self-evaluation on playstyle is inherently biased and generally inaccurate.

9. Why should I trust you?

You shouldn't. You shouldn't trust anyone in Mafia.

10. Describe your style of play on this site, and what you value the most in the game of mafia.

As stated earlier, I favor a very logic-based style of play and really dislike gut-based arguments. I understand their necessity, but I disagree as to their effectiveness. Generally, I focus on contradictions, nervous behavior and a general feel of trying to hide something. I also tend to be extremely cautious on D1 - this has gotten me lynched before when I objected to a 3-man bandwagon that formed on page 2. However, I would contend that cautiousness and hating RVS is not a scumtell. RVS, incidentally, is anathema to me. That's one reason I signed up for this game.

As for what I value the most, I would say logic, debate, argument and cool-headedness.

11. Why did you decide to play this game?

It seemed like a unique concept and I'm hoping that it will help flesh out my knowledge of D1 play and alternative methods of starting the game

12. Are you a 'leader' or a 'sheep'?

I like to consider myself a leader, but I only lead when I have something to say. I feel that it's counterproductive to attempt to take the reins when you're not entirely sure how to proceed. That being said, once I feel confident in my suspicions, I do my best to make strong arguments and lead the charge in that direction.

[Netopalis]

Farside: He didn't get anything in in time.

[Netopalis]

Oh, Mod: Can we ask ourselves questions? I noticed that you have a "No question from self" placeholder - I think it could be useful to explain other answers or controversies.

[Netopalis]

Vote: Dragonsofsummer

[Netopalis]

To Doombunny, Sanhora, BV, Farside, Dragonsofsummer: Why did you vote for The Inquisition? Did you feel that he was scummy enough to merit a bandwagon? Why?

To Debonair Danny DiPietro, CryMeARiver: Why did you vote for BV? It seems like there was probably some logic there. What was it?

Ellibereth: Why did you abstain? Why does it seem like you're trying to hide something? Is there something that you do not wish to disclose?

The Inquisition: There have been several votes against you on the last voting stage. What do you think prompted those votes, and who do you think would have been a better lynch candidate?

Cobalt: Why did you not use all of your questions for today?

Kirbyoshi: Did you intend for your vote on The Inquisition to gain a bandwagon? Do you think he would have been a good lynch candidate? Why or why not?

[Netopalis]

2. How did you expect your first question to find scum? I expected it to provide information which would be valuable in evaluating peoples' responses - when considering players' motivations, it's important to understand how they view their own style of play.

3. If you find meta "unimportant", what made you ask the question that you did in Q1? I don't consider this to be a meta question so much as a self-evaluation question. I want to know what factors people consider to be important in their decisions so that I can better identify where they are breaking with their stated logic.

4. You suggest that my vote (and CryMeARiver) had some logic to it. Are you suggesting that the others votes were therefore not logical? Please explan.
Yes, I am. I saw little to no reason for the bandwagon on The Inquisition, but it seemed that your vote was more calculated. I'm not sure why, really just a hunch.

5. Can you give us a quick summery of what you think of all the players int his game so far?

Sure.

bv310 - Annoyingly inactive. Also on the Inquisition bandwagon, which I find to be scummy.
Cobalt - Mostly irrelevant in my past experience, but he seems to be much more on track in this game. I'm fairly pleased with his play in this game, and I think I'd put him in the pro-town category.
CryMeARiver - Slight pro-town read, mostly neutral.
Debonair Danny DiPietro - Pro-town. Good questions overall and his answers seem solid.
Doombunny9 - I don't like his hopping on the Inquisitionwagon. It seemed as if he just wanted a wagon for the sake of having a wagon.
DragonsofSummer - I don't like his hopping on the Inquisitionwagon and putting The Inquisition at L-1 for no obvious reason. I also find that most of his answers are substantially less informative than I would like.
Ellibereth - Didn't vote, which is scummy. His questions are decent, but his answers are extremely uninformative. Right now, him and Dragonsofsummer are my strongest suspects.
farside22 - Fairly informative, but on The Inqusitionwagon. I don't like that, obviously.
Kirbyoshi - While he was the first vote on The Inquisitionwagon, he was also the only person voting at the time. I don't have a strong read on him at this point.
Netopalis - Awesome.
Sanhora - Don't like her presence on the Inquisitionwagon. Questions and answers are decent, though.
The Inquisition - Questions seem good and answers marginal. I don't really get why everybody else has seemed to hone in on him as the scum.


6. If you were required to hammer someone in the upcoming voting stage who would it be and why? Ellibereth. Second choice would be Dragonsofsummer. I'd prefer not to lynch either yet.

7. Do you really think I would give you anything close to a full anwser to your question? And to the latter 3, why repeat a question that has already been asked?

I should think that all town should give a full answer to pretty much any question. I'm not sure what you find so offensive about my question in particular. Do you really hate explaining yourself that much? As for repeating a question, it was honestly carelessness. My apologies.


8. Why did you vote for DOS

I found his and Ellibereth's answers to be the most lacking. The Inquisition was already voting for Ellibereth. Hence, I voted for Dragonsofsummer.

9. Do you think this game will favor your playstyle? Why or why not?

I do - in fact, that's why I signed up for this game. My play is based on comparing statements to each other and trying to point out illogical inconsistencies in motivation. This format forces players like Ellibereth who generally refuse to answer questions to, well, answer.


10. None From Self - Awesome. Clearly, this person knows that I'm with the town.

11. During the first Question, Answer and Voting stage,whose actions did you find scummy and why?

As previously mentioned, I primarily found Ellibereth and Dragonsofsummer's sparse answers to be scummy. I also found the Inquisitionwagon minus Kirbyoshi to be scummy.

12. Why dragonsofsummer? Do you think my question to him is fair?

I've already answered the "Why dragonsofsummer" question - both the Inquisition vote and the lack of answers are scummy to me. I feel that your question is a fair one and I look forward to his response.

[Netopalis]

Vote: DragonsofSummer

[Netopalis]

Mod: Are we allowed to answer these questions now? Should we be asking questions? What's proper procedure?

[Netopalis]

To all players: Since we probably shouldn't lynch Inquisition, who would your second pick be and why?

[Netopalis]

OOC: Can I have a few minutes to post, since you didn't compile the questions?

[Netopalis]

Netopalis - Given that my claim is vengeful townie (see below for explanation) and I will 100% use my power and thus die today forcing a different lynch today, what do you think my complete list of targets should be?


My list with reasons:

DragonsofSummer - Evasive, abrupt answers that fail to really clarify anything.

Debonair Danny DiPietro - Seems rather obsessed with lynching CMAR lately, without a great deal of reasoning


Sanhora - Lack of good responses; not that much of a loss if we lose her.

Cobalt - Failure to use questions in a productive manner is scummy.

NOTE: The following reads, with the exception of Ellibereth and myself are merely gut.

Doombunny9
CryMeARiver
Oman
farside22
Kirbyoshi
Ellibereth - While I find Ellibereth extremely scummy, the soft-claim worries me, and I wouldn't put him near the top of the list given it.
Netopalis
_______________



@Everyone Else: Why aren't you helping me lynch CryMeARiver?
Because I don't find him scummy. I'd need good reasoning to find him scummy.
________________

Neto: why did you think the inquistion had good questions during the first question phase?

With the exception of the rolefishing questions, he asks questions which at first seem to be harmless, but may later be useful in identifying trends in players' actions. Take, for example, the following:

farside22 - Which is lonelier when you play, town or scum? Why?

At first glance, this is a pretty fluffy question. However, he can use it to later judge Farside's actions - if it looks like Farside is getting bored with the game and has said that she hates playing as scum, then that might be a good scum indicator. Likewise, if she prefers playing in an informed minority, we should be able to see her interactions more clearly.


________________


@Neto- Why do you find the Inquisition bandwagon to be so scummy?

Because I felt that, originally, the reasons were extremely weak. They've since improved, but I still find the original wagon to look extremely opportunistic. Specifically, I don't like the last half of it, because it looks as if people were just jumping on the safer wagon.
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@Neto: Why do you say that you would hammer Ellibereth before DoS, but then vote DoS again?

Because Ellibereth later soft-claimed. Also, I know that pressuring Ellibereth is completely useless. You still won't get an answer, whether he's scum or town.
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Netopalis: Assume DoS is town. Who's scum?

Debonair Danny DiPietro for his strange desire to lynch CMAR, who I have a fairly decent town read on and Sanhora for her evasive answers and lack of content.
_________________


@Everyone else: who are your top three scum reads?

Dragons of Summer, Debonair Danny DiPietro, Sanhora.
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Netopalis - To speed a re-read, who can you not get a read on?

I'm having trouble getting a good read on Doombunny. My gut tells me that he's scum, but I can't yet explain why, so I haven't pushed the case. In time, I'm sure that I'll find some reason for it.
_________________


To all players: Who do you feel has committed the largest scum tell so far today (other than Inquisition), and what was it?


Debonair Danny DiPietro's odd continuing attack on CMAR. Also, Sanhora's lack of content.

[Netopalis]

I know, right?