Quagmire wrote:
Well, let's take a look at why the first point is wrong. Realistically, the only thing your role tells you is alignment and ability, neither of which is necessary to know on day one. The other flavor information will never, ever get utilized on day one, and instead is part of the game mechanics that tend to get passed over until later in the game (usually day 2 or day 3).
I'm not talking about the flavor information. I'm talking about who your scum partners are, and, by extention, who the town is, if there's only one scum group.
This is incredibly useful information. By knowing who the town is and who the scum is, you can act in a way that will EITHER help your side more then you could without that information, or in a way that will make you look more pro-town then you possibly could without that infromation, or sometimes even both.
If I'm town, and there's a shitty case on player A, I'll probably defend him against it. If I'm scum, and there's a shitty case on player A and I know he's town, I'll probably defend him ineffectually, so he'll get lynched anyway but I'll look good in the process; or else I'll act in such a way so he gets lynched without me taking any blame for it. If I'm scum, and there's a shitty case on player A and I know he's my scumbuddy, I might defend him if I know I can win, or I might bus like a mofo and get tons of town credit for it.
That's a simplification, of course; it depends on a lot of factors, like who else is in the game and what kinds of scum tells they look for.
But in general, if you want to look pro-town, and you're good enough to not make obvious tells or connections, it's quite helpful to know who the town and the scum are.
While, on the other hand, if I am pro-town, I'll often take bigger risks on day 1 to get more information. lt works, but doing that as scum as foolish, since it increases your odds of getting lynched.
I can establish myself as a pro-town player regardless of my alignment on day one instead of beginning to reveal tells.
Even if you can act just like a townie without reading your role PM, that just means that, all else being equal, you come out of day 1 on about the same level of pro-townie-ness as the 9 other people who actually do have a pro-town role PM. That's not much of an advantage.
I want us to win just for Yos' inevitable rant alone. -CrashTextDummie