Mastin Academy

[Metal Sonic]

i just moseyed around in the mafia discussion forum and i saw this for the first time. read a few articles, and they're pretty good

mastin is cool

[mastin2]

read a few articles, and they're pretty good
mastin is cool

Thanks. I only wish I could be as actively involved with this as originally envisioned. (If I had my way, I'd be involved in every single MD thread that I could possibly contribute to, respond to everyone's posting in my own threads, answer every possible question and concern, and take it to the next level by actually following through and doing the teaching that I wanted to be doing. But alas, small steps.)

Edit:

Every proper article has been linked to in the OP, as well as on the wiki page for the Academy. (Yes, I made a wiki page for it. It's not great, but it provides documentation.)

Additionally, I've copied every not-article-but-still-response I did to the thread into my notepad where I expand on these things, so I might be able to answer some old questions with new spins on them. (With luck, anyway.)

[Metal Sonic]

ok allow me to ask a question


i refer to article: On balancing charisma and logic

I happen to be a player who "spamposts" and seem to fit the "charismatic" posting archetype as mentioned in the article. however, I do not find myself to be very charismatic. what are your opinions/thoughts/views on this?

also, any feedback regarding my play? we've played a few games (seeing as to this is what you do here in the academy)

[Docthorr]

Are you still taking new students?

blabla
Sooooo, sorta kinda yes, I am.

Working on my 2nd newbie game, trying not to be a lurker this time. Going well for now.
So maybe in a month or 2,3 we can meet in another game.

[Ankamius]

(As said above, the only way I'll be able to help Ank specifically is by playing a game with him.)

I've been lurking on the forums pretty consistently despite not really having posted in a few months. I'm willing to go through with this at any point you are. The only reason I had to flake out of my last game was because of work issues that have since been resolved.

[Tr1ckster]

How do you handle the self-vote?

[Majiffy]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

[Jake from State Farm]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

I can get behind this one

[Zdenek]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

I can get behind this one

Except that for the most part, that's not the way self votes go down.

[Zdenek]

How do you handle the self-vote?

It's like everything else in mafia. You try to understand what the player is thinking in the particular circumstance to determine if it coming from a place of sincere frustration (or something) or if it's an act.

[Majiffy]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

I can get behind this one

Except that for the most part, that's not the way self votes go down.

Irrelevant. Until everyone understands that self-voting is not in any way OK for town to be doing, acting like there are legitimate reasons for townies to self-vote is only giving the scum more shit to hide behind, and also makes it harder for townies to play when other townies are refusing to.

[Zdenek]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

I can get behind this one

Except that for the most part, that's not the way self votes go down.

Irrelevant. Until everyone understands that self-voting is not in any way OK for town to be doing, acting like there are legitimate reasons for townies to self-vote is only giving the scum more shit to hide behind, and also makes it harder for townies to play when other townies are refusing to.

Sure, but if this is your standard, you should start by advocating for lynch all lurkers.

[Jake from State Farm]

You should be lynching all Lurkers anyway. If you aren't then you aren't doing it right.

[Majiffy]

Sure, but if this is your standard, you should start by advocating for lynch all lurkers.

It's much harder to draw a line in the sand over what defines lurking than what defines self-voting.

Some players are just naturally less active or have very little to say. Punishing them for that isn't going to make them not do it.

[Moonlight]

Always kill a self-voter with fire. The

only

time a self-vote is a good idea is if you're scum gambiting the "frustrated suicidal townie" look to save yourself from a lynch. And so, if you are a townie seeing someone self-vote, assume it is a scum gambit.

I can get behind this one

Except that for the most part, that's not the way self votes go down.

Irrelevant. Until everyone understands that self-voting is not in any way OK for town to be doing, acting like there are legitimate reasons for townies to self-vote is only giving the scum more shit to hide behind, and also makes it harder for townies to play when other townies are refusing to.

The problem with this approach is the assumption that anti-Town equals scum.

That begs an even bigger question: are we trying to teach someone that what they're doing is bad, or are we trying to actually read them? Do we want to "prove" that we're a better player or do we want to just win the game?

I would imagine that one of the major factors of Town losing a game is Townies scumreading other Townies for what they perceive as suboptimal play, so I am very hesitant to generalize that self-voting doesn't come from Town. I agree that it

shouldn't

happen, but again it's a question of what we're trying to do: figure out what

should

be happening or what

is

happening.

[Majiffy]

I'm not assuming that anti-town equals scum. Just because a behavior only makes sense coming from scum doesn't mean it necessarily

has

to be. There are plenty of morons.

What I

am

saying is that it makes no difference; lynch it. Either you're hitting scum, or you're dissuading players from behaving in an anti-town fashion. Either way is a win-win. Just don't policy lynch at LYLO because that's also really fucking dumb.

[Mr. Flay]

Some players are just naturally less active or have very little to say. Punishing them for that isn't going to make them not do it.

[Burning_Earth]

Lol

Majiffy's right though

[Jake from State Farm]

If you can't be active don't sign up to play. If you know in a month you will be on vacation, don't sign up. If something happens and you can't be active anymore, replace out IMO.

Not having anything to say is bullshit cause there is always something to say. If you don't know how to scum hunt, go learn how. You don't learn by sitting on the sidelines.

[GreyICE]

If you can't be active don't sign up to play. If you know in a month you will be on vacation, don't sign up. If something happens and you can't be active anymore, replace out IMO.

Not having anything to say is bullshit cause there is always something to say. If you don't know how to scum hunt, go learn how. You don't learn by sitting on the sidelines.

This and this are hilarious together.

Replace outs are cancer. They are incredibly destructive to game integrity.

[Jake from State Farm]

is that a dig at my 6 replacements? majority of my reasons were the "if something happens and you can't be active anymore"

[Majiffy]

Apparently I've only replaced out of 3 games. That's surprising, because I feel like I've replaced out of at least 5 by now.

[Burning_Earth]

I've never replaced out yay

[Majiffy]

I've never replaced out yay

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have a game together eventually.

[Mr. Flay]

Apparently I've only replaced out of 3 games. That's surprising, because I feel like I've replaced out of at least 5 by now.

That data is only for recent games, as AGar works backwards.