How to win as Mafia: Calculated Inaction

[Vi]

My first thought was "great, now I have to update my guide".

--

This is actually a good, readable article, although it's pretty calculating even for me. I'm tempted to stuff it on the wiki.
The only thing I disagree with is 12). Vanilla claims only work if there's a chance your wagon will go away instead of going to a lynch, or if you make it prematurely. If you're really, really in trouble, you should claim a role.

Actually I disagree with 9) too. In our present Normal climate scum tend to go up the creek if they miss hitting a power role with their NK more than once. This is, of course, up to judgment - leaving a Mason with bad reads alive in order to kill a Vanilla with good reads is not necessarily bad play.

All player guides immediately become outdated the minute they are posted. Town meta naturally will adjust to all possible scum advice.

Not immediately. Just shortly after the tells enter circulation. They should still be good for another month at least.

Plus as Xyl said,

skill

is what happens when you trounce someone as scum, show them how you did it, and beat them again doing the same thing.

[Vi]

Actually I disagree with 9) too. In our present Normal climate scum tend to go up the creek if they miss hitting a power role with their NK more than once. This is, of course, up to judgment - leaving a Mason with bad reads alive in order to kill a Vanilla with good reads is not necessarily bad play.

I'm inclined to believe that power roles no longer have the reliability that they once did. Now we can debate this, but I think that relying on power roles will more often than not backfire on a town. I don't know what the rate of sanity is for cops and other investigative roles, but I can't imagine it is very high. Besides that, I wasn't specifically urging killing better players, but stronger members of the town. I say that meaning people unlikely to ever see lynch, power roles, and people who are simply good at the game.

The truth is that you can kill the players who would recognise that you're playing mafia well. The truth is if you're doing it right, they can't decide before you have the opportunity to kill them. Then you run rings around the remainder. I'm sure many of you have been killed early and watched the town lose with startling efficiency.

The sanity rate for Cops in Normal games is 100% barring Millers and Godfathers. Not that I can downrate Godfathers too much after txtMafia.
Outside Normal games the sanity rate for Cops is... more or less the same actually, unless you're playing in an UncertainKitten game.

This should completely replace whatever Vi has wrote on the topic prior.

Albert B. Rampage, classiest man alive.

[Vi]

As a note, generally, if you build a meta for defending people you will do well in all your games.

:score:

Should VTs try to avoid night kills?

I think the answer depends on the anticipated strength of the game's power roles.
Generally, I think the answer is "not at all" - they're the ones who need to look Town early on, and (regardless of whether they're right or wrong) block kills that would otherwise hit power roles who can take over later. A LyLo full of reasonably believable Town power roles is really, really lame for scum.

The problem with everyone being inscrutible is that if everyone does it it becomes nearly impossible to scumhunt D1, basically FORCING the first few lynches to be on weak players for the sake of them being weak. It's possible to find scum D1, and perhaps if more attention is paid to N1 NKs...?

no one analyses night kills any more

"Any more"?

All the snide comments about Lord Gurgi's scum meta make me sad that when we played together LG was confTown

are you saying that ABR is classier than CHESSKID?

ABR smokes cuban cigars while you smoke Pixy Stix

[Vi]

A corollary to mafia being able to kill who they want because no one analyses night kills any more is that once a player is dead, no one even considers their point of view. Being dead effectively ends your ability to move the town along the right track.

That's immensely disappointing.

That's immensely true though. Although there are plenty of times when the people screaming in the dead thread are wrong as well.

Also there's some dissonance coming from the content of this thread and the "Mostly Harmless"+iPod Clefairy combo.

[Vi]

Act up a little. Question some assumptions in the thread. Make some waves. Don't do what's expected. That's good town play.

If the mafia is the informed minority, they have more information to fuel their predictions. Act unpredictably.

GreyWIN

[Vi]

Necropostan (*checks* Wait, I'm not?) to say that this exists.

[Vi]

Does this mean that we have to start paying attention to Yosarian2 when he says we have to lynch the lurkers?~

[Vi]

I question people, change my mind, draw conclusions, post frequently, and change my vote often and I rarely get lynched. Just saying.

This.

[Vi]

Amrun, the point I was making with this list is that it is far too easy to win as mafia. Not that it's fun. I applaud you taking an active role as scum, it's exhilarating to be leading the town in a crusade that could fall around you at any time. Unfortunately when there's no need to play in the way that is fun, there's a problem with the game. That's what I was trying to say. I hope that by posting things like these, people will start to actually consider looking out for the people that do this.

I know what you mean. I hope so, too. If you don't actually manipulate people, then what's the fun in being scum and playing mafia in general?

Think of it less as manipulating people and more watching Townies witch-hunt (except there actually ARE witches and they can't find them).

[Vi]

Hey Chaz. Are you

trying

to get someone who tries to stay neutral about you into a flame war with you?

I'm just asking, because while I think it's really tacky when people flame you every time you post, it's getting tempting.