International Mafia [s]Day[/s] Month!

[mith]

That's right, this wasn't

just

a random gag from the 2006 Scummies...

mith:

But before we leave for the afterparty, there is one announcement I would like to make. In honor of mafiascum.net's upcoming fifth anniversary, I am hereby declaring the month of March to be International Mafia Day!

jeep:

mith. You're declaring the month of March to be International Mafia Day? That doesn't make sense.

mith:

Yeah, that's pretty stupid, isn't it. Anyway, various things will be happening throughout the month, leading up to the fifth anniversary on March 28. More details to come as I make them up. Thank you for watching, and we hope you all come back next year for the 2007 Scummies! This is mith, reminding you to help control the non-minion population, have your female friends recruited. Goodnight, Norway!

So, what new details have I made up since then? Well...

1. Every day this month, I am going to spend time working on the site. I know what you're thinking: "But mith, how is that different from any other day?" Well, because this is International Mafia Month, and that makes any time spent working on the site extra special.

2. I've started an Ask mith thread, where you can... well, that should be obvious. The catch is, I'm not going to answer every single question asked, at least not immediately. That would take away from the oh so special time spent working on the site. Instead, I'll answer my favorite question each day.

3. Finally, each day will have its own special theme. What's today's theme? Well...

International Mafia

Day

Month Daily Events

March 1 - "Give mith More To Procrastinate On" Day
March 2 - "Texas Pwns Oklahoma" Day
March 3 - "Do Some Work You Slackers" Day
March 4 - "Living In The Past" Day
March 5 - "Obligatory Sappy Niceness" Day
March 6 - "

Brainwashing

Sharing Is Caring" Day
March 7 - "Thinking Ahead" Day
March 8 - "Minion Recruitment Drive" Day
March 9 - "And Now For Something Completely Different" Day
March 10 - "A/S/L" Day
March 11 - "Constant Vigilance" Day
March 12 - "Trademark" Day
March 13 - "Thank God It's Not Friday" Day
March 14 - "Choose Your Own Day" Day
March 15 - "Beware the I'ds" Day
March 16 - "Post R... Limitation" Day
March 17 - "Post In Green" Day
March 18 - "Adopt A Newbie" Day
March 19 - "Say Cheese!" Day
March 20 - "Poetic Justice" Day
March 21 - "Spring Cleaning (AKA Do Some More Work You Slackers)" Day
March 22 - "Techie Appreciation" Day
March 23 - "If I Tell You What Day Today Is, I'll Have To Kill You" Day
March 24 - "Knight In Shining Armor" Day
March 25 - "Finger Of Suspicion" Day
March 26 - "Charlie's On Tiger Watch" Day
March 27 - "Flying Pumpkin That Shoots Laser Beams Out Of Its Ass" Day
March 28 - "mafiascum.net Fifth Anniversary Marathon" Day
March 29 - "So... Much... Mafia" Day
March 30 - "The Next Five Years" Day
March 31 - "Wasn't 30 Enough?" Day

[mith]

March 1 - "Give mith More To Procrastinate On" Day

That's right, today is the day to suggest things for me to do. As anyone that pays any attention at all around here knows, I have a tendency to get into a little project, get it started, and then get so distracted by something else that I completely forget about the first thing.

Today, you can tell me what new things I need to do, what old projects I need to revive, and so on. Then, I'll have so much to do I won't get anything done at all. But at least it will be fun.

In addition, today is the day to suggest other daily themes. I've come up with about two weeks worth already, and I'm sure I'll think of enough others to get by, but if someone has a great suggestion for a day, then that saves me having to think so much!

mith's Official Procrastination List

1. Update this list.

[mith]

March 2 - "Texas Pwns Oklahoma" Day

As it is Texas Independence Day, and I lived most of my life in Texas... ok, no, I'm not going to demand that everyone on the site worship Texas, though certain heretics need to repent of their ways.

This day is for celebrating the "International" part of "International Mafia

Day

Month". Talk about how awesome your part of the world is. Or how much you would rather live in some other scummers paradise. Make jokes about Arkansas and the Siblings/Lovers roles. Teach us all how to say Oh My God You Suck in other languages. You get the idea.

[mith]

And in International news, it seems there is an evil plot brewing in Indonesia. Anyone saying "Ook!" is to be given the Finger of Suspicion.

[mith]

March 3 - "Do Some Work You Slackers" Day

jeep and I both have our lists of things to do this month, but that doesn't mean there's nothing for you to do!

Make an effort to contribute to the site today. Post in Mafia Discussion, whether a new thread on something that hasn't been discussed before, or your insightful perspective on something we've beaten to death already. Pick an entry or three on MafiaWiki and make it/them really fantastic.

This is also a great day to volunteer for projects that will carry on after today. If you a talent for art or graphics, let us know! I'm sure I can find a little project for you to do. If you're a programmer and might be interested on an upcoming forum software project (which may or may not start in the next three years), let us know that too. But there's always things to be done that don't require any special knowledge or abilities. I'll make a list of some later, but if you see anything that needs doing, do it!

[mith]

March 4 - "Living In The Past" Day

Take time today to remember your favorite moments from the past five years of mafiascum.net. Or however long you've actually been around, you n00bs.

[mith]

March 5 - "Obligatory Sappy Niceness" Day

Be extra nice to everyone today! Don't talk about politics, religion, or tigers. Save that cutting remark for tomorrow. Show your appreciation for someone's continued presence with a nice PM. Send mith money. Write epic poems about how pleasant it is to murder each other in games. Express your niceness in some new and original way, as I am out of ideas now.

[mith]

Why thank you!

[mith]

March 6 - "

Brainwashing

Sharing Is Caring" Day

Tell a friend about Mafia and/or mafiascum.net! Start up a face-to-face game. Invite someone give the forums a try. Invite random people into scumchat, especially if they are hot girls and mith is around. Create

propaganda

information flyers to put up in prominent places. Write "MAFIA" in tiger's blood on the doors of the unbelievers. Ok, maybe that last one is a little extreme...

[mith]

March 7 - "Thinking Ahead" Day

Today is for thinking about how we can make mafiascum.net even better in the future. What would you like to see on the site? What could we do differently? Brainstorm fantastic new roles, setups, mechanics, themes that haven't been tried. Figure out how you are going to spend even more of the next five years playing Mafia than you did during the last five.

Today we will also start to plan for two upcoming events.

On March 28, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of mafiascum.net, I want to have a special "Marathon" Day. What I have in mind is several super-fast games, with players and moderators committing in advance to be on for a few hours and deadlines set accordingly. Perhaps even a day-long game for the true addicts, or with players in different timezones sharing a role (similar to Fiasco's "Hydra" idea, really). We still have three weeks, but we need to start hammering out the framework for this, and players need to be thinking about what their schedule is like on that day and figuring out just when they can be on. If you hav any suggestions, today is the day to post them... but you can post them any time after today as well.

(Hopefully, we won't have to rename it "CPU Quota" Day later...)

I am also considering getting a new Minvitational underway, at the end of the month. If you have sufficient mod experience and would be interested in running such a game, talk to me. Otherwise, take a look at the Policy Discussion: Invitationals thread, and see if you have any input. If this happens, we will probably ask for input from the public in the form of

private

nominations (which will only provide the mod and anyone else helping with the invitations with a list to go over, rather than acting as a "most votes gets in" sort of thing).

[mith]

I think we'd be better off implementing something in the title/scummie area separate teams rather than requiring players to post in different colors... some players would be certain to forget anyway. (That's a general comment on "team play", not specific to your idea.)

[mith]

I'm sure it's doable with a bit of code... not something we can do easily as is though, no. (Not something I would want anyway, apart from rare events like this.)

[mith]

Nevermind.

[mith]

March 8 - "Minion Recruitment Drive" Day

Are you female? Do you know someone who is?

If you said yes to either of those questions, you can be a part of today's Minion Recruitment Drive!

In fact, if you meet the mith's minions membership requirements (that is, if you are female), you can consider yourself a minion already, just by having read this message!

If you are unfortunate enough to be male, don't worry. You can still be an underling, and will be especially appreciated as an underling if you bring in minion recruits.

"But mith," I hear you say, "being a minion sounds like a lot of work! What's actually involved?"

Don't worry! The only task asked of you as a minion of mith is that you recruit more minions! And given that all the unrecruited potential minions out there obviously have some built-in desire to be a minion, if only someone would let them know what's missing in their lives, nothing could be easier!

[mith]

March 9 - "And Now For Something Completely Different" Day

This is a Mafia website, and it's International Mafia Month... but there are other games played on mafiascum.net. Take time today to look at The Whole Sort of General Mish Mash and see if any games interest you, or start your own. Don't ignore your Mafia games, of coruse... but sometimes a little change of pace can be good!

[mith]

In keeping with today's theme... RPS Tourney!

[mith]

March 10 - "A/S/L" Day

Today, spend far too much time online in scumchat. Never been in the chat room before? Don't even have AIM? Then today is the day to figure it out! I'll be in scumchat all day (though whether I actually say anything is dependent on how strong the urge to procrastinate from the work I need to be doing is), so come chat!

[mith]

March 11 - "Constant Vigilance" Day

We have the situation under control for now, but today is a reminder that you need to be ever-vigilant in keeping the site safe from the dreaded tiger threat. If you notice any suspicious activity, report it immediately. Review your Tiger Attack Emergency Plan regularly. Check your tiger traps. Spy on your neighbors to be sure they are not working for the enemy. Go door to door passing out information pamphlets.

But don't live your life in fear, either. Remember, if we stop playing Mafia because we're fearful of a tiger strike, the tigers have won.

[mith]

Don't worry, one of our top agents is on it...

[mith]

March 12 - "Trademark" Day

Some users have "trademarks" which come up frequently in their posts... for example:

The List™, Non-exhaustive Gimmick Edition

Huggles
Communism
Stoofer's Laws
Sense of Smell
YARR!

Have a trademark? Overuse it today! Don't have one? Start one, or imitate someone else's.

[mith]

March 13 - "Thank God It's Not Friday" Day

That's right! No bad luck here! On this day, all your risky gambits will work out, the dice will roll in your favor, you'll make a flush on the river (or at least the toilet will flush correctly), and everyone you dayvig will be scum.*

Oh, and AniX will definitely not break the site.

Seriously.

*mith is not responsible for anyone having less-than-exceptionally-good luck. Any resemblence the above has to a guarantee is purely coincidental. Tails!

[mith]

March 14 - "Choose Your Own Day" Day

So many choices today... so you decide! Celebrate Pi day, if that's your thing. For our massive Estonian demographic, there's Emakeelepäev. There's a holiday for the guys (somewhat-NSFW). Or perhaps you want to have a party in honor of the birth of Israel William Krisstalsterne.

Can't find a ready-made holiday to celebrate that suits your needs? Make up your own!

[mith]

I happen to be wearing a mole day shirt right now.

[mith]

March 15 - "Beward the I'ds" Day

Stab someone in the back today! Hm...

[mith]

March 16 - "Post R... Limitation" Day

Today, pick a limitation which you will follow throughout your non-Mafia/MishMash-playing posts. From now, anyway... I was a bit slow in picking this for today. So no worry if your posts prior to finding this don't fit your cool limitation plan. Just do what you can. You can pick a limitation as hard or as not-hard as you want. You might just say "YARR!" in all your posts, or grainloafcrumb a word or that sort of thing. As for yours truly, my limitation may limit my ability to do "Ask mith" today. But I'll try.

[mith]

~points~

That way.

[mith]

March 17 - "Post In Green" Day

In celebration of St. Patrick driving the mother******* snakes out of his mother******* country! (And other such things that were likely made up under the influence of green beer.)

[mith]

(You should once again restrict celebration of today's theme to non-Mafia forums, unless the mod specifically approves posting in other colors.)

[mith]

March 18 - "Adopt A Newbie" Day

We've got new players joining every day. Let's make them feel welcome today. Do something to encourage a newbie (or several). Also, check out the various newbie-centric discussion threads in MD and add your thoughts regarding how we can do a better job supporting our newcomers.

[mith]

March 19 - "Say Cheese!" Day

One our biggest and longest running threads is Put a face with a name!... so today's task is to post a picture there, if you haven't before. Don't be shy!

If you already know what you look like... show us again! Preferably take a mafiascum.net related picture*, which you give me permission to spam all over the internet if I ever radically change my views on advertisements.

*mafiascum.net is not responsible or liable if you harm yourself carrying out today's task. Lynching yourself is dangerous, do not try this at home.

[mith]

March 20 - "Poetic Justice" Day

Today, do something creative which is related to Mafia or the site. Write a poem, song, or story. Make some awesome graphics (or draw something in paint that even a 5 year old wouldn't be proud of). Film yourself doing interpretative dance. Or be extra creative and think of something completely original that I haven't mentioned!

[mith]

March 21 - "Spring Cleaning (AKA Do Some More Work You Slackers)" Day

Today is the first day of Spring (though it's far too cold today for me to actually feel like it is), so when you're not balancing an egg on end, take some time to...

Work on the wiki
Give jeep more to do
Help out with tedious little projects
Add information to your profile
Clean up your signature
And look for anything else that needs cleaning...

[mith]

March 22 - "Techie Appreciation" Day

In honor Q's scumday (which is today, even though the new feature thought it was yesterday for some reason...), let's show our appreciation for the Technical Admins today, as well as the List Mods, Wiki Gods, and any of the other "behind the scenes" people that do lots of tedious work so I don't have to.

[mith]

It's listed as March 22 for me. I suspect it's a time zone thing? (And mine is set to central time, which is where Q was/is. )

[mith]

March 23 - "If I Tell You What Day Today Is, I'll Have To Kill You" Day

<_<
>_>

[mith]

March 24 - "Knight In Shining Armor" Day

Need some more games for your Mafia fix? Rather than signing up for a new game today, why not fill one of the many replacement positions open? Sure it's a bit of reading, but you will undoubtedly earn the eternal* gratitude of the moderator and the players.

*Using the rather loose definition of eternal: "Until next time you dayvig them for no reason, quicklynch them, put them in mason group with a scum mason, or until they've forgotten about it because they have no longterm memory." Eternal gratitude offer not valid outside the contiguous 48 states of matter.

[mith]

March 25 - "Finger Of Suspicion" Day

Five years is a long time, and a lot of the members who were with us at some point in the past are no longer here. Take today to remember them and their contributions to the site; if you're still in touch with someone who no longer posts, let them know we miss them, and give them a

Finger of Suspicion

for blatant lurking.

(Also, if you feel like giving someone an

FOS

just for the hell of it, today's your lucky day!)

[mith]

March 26 - "Charlie's On Tiger Watch" Day

Today we celebrate those little images that are associated with us to the point that petitions get started when some are changed: avatars!

In honor of Avatar Day, I am upping the file size limit to 30K on a trial basis. This should allow for higher quality/lower compression images. Don't abuse it with annoying animated nonsense that would require a warning for the epilepticly-inclined, please.

[mith]

March 27 - "Flying Pumpkin That Shoots Laser Beams Out Of Its Ass" Day

Because it just has to be done.

[mith]

March 28 - "mafiascum.net's Fifth Anniversary Marathon" Day

A little early, but I'm going to be asleep when it starts, so...

Link, in case you haven't noticed it already.

[mith]

March 29 - "So... Much... Mafia..." Day

If you participated in our very successful Marathon Day, congratulations for surviving the day without jumping out any windows! (Unless you jumped out a window. In which case... er... will someone clean up that mess? Thanks.) Take it easy today as you recover from a Mafia overdose.

If you didn't participate... what's your excuse, slacker??

(I hear wearing a green shirt is an excellent cure for a Mafia hangover.)

[mith]

March 30 - "The Next Five Years" Day

It's been a good five years, but let's make the next five even better. What would you like to see on mafiascum.net? What can you do to make the site a better place? Set some goals for yourself, such as "I will not lurk in Mafia games", and stick to them!