Mini 554 - Mafia in Vollville - Over!!

[Matt_S]

Sorry team. I was gambling on Oman telling the truth about being unNKable. I knew I wouldn't be able to beat the minds of three townies, so I hoped Oman would live and we'd lynch him. Then I'd only have to worry about Patrick's mind, which probably still would have killed me. I chose Incognito instead of Erg0 because I wanted someone(hopefully Jitsu) to wonder why Erg0 was still alive, so that I could attack them for being stupid. It didn't work. That's what I tried to do for most of the game, plant WIFOM and wait for someone to jump on it. That's the reason I wanted to kill Adel (Xylthixlm thought she was the vig[I thought Incognito or Patrick was the vig, or Oman or Jitsu the serial killer]). Just to assuage your curiosity, I suggested pickemgenius for N1's kill because I thought he was the likely cop. I was almost right.

Unfortunately, I spent most of the game freaking out about how scummy my partners were acting(what Patrick calls Stoofer's syndrome). That, not distancing, is why I voted Xylthixlm day 1. And day 3 for using such crappy WIFOM. I tried to warn you . The fact that you attacked me back made it awkward for me since I couldn't just back down suddenly, so I had to keep attacking you. It also surprises me how little I had to lie. However, I think my truthfulness was my downfall. I didn't make enough cases on people because I knew they were crap.

Now, I have a question for the town. If Guardian^2 really was the serial killer, and you knew he wasn't actually mafia, would you view lynching him as the best move? I thought that letting him live would be the best move from the town's perspective, so I went with it.

And I fear this game will give me a bad meta that will get me mislynched a lot as town. However, this gives me a good guide on how not to play as scum in the future.

Good game, town.

1) Was the setup balanced? Or, rather, would it have been balanced if the tracker and watcher didn't die before doing anything Razz?

I think it was fairly balanced. The two investigators dying was a convenient coincidence, but not breaking I don't think. However, the lack of a doctor and a cop made things awkward to analyze. Oddly, I did get pickemgenius, and I thought Guardian was the doc.

2) I basically came up with my nightkill MOs on a whim. As in, there was nothing systematic about them; it was just me trying to have fun with the deaths. Was that appropriate?

It confused me a lot. I thought there was a bus driver at first, with the knife being a serial killer. However, I don't think it really did any harm to either side, so it was fine.

3) Vote-counts. Did my system of having the top-of-page counts and the first page collection work well?

If I actually had to skim through who voted for who and when, it would be neat. But I usually look at the context of the votes, so I didn't look at the first post too much. I really dislike analyzing large amounts of stuff, which is why I think my endgame performance will probably make me dead a lot in the future.

4) Anything else?

Ironically, I think the deadline is the only reason we ended up wagoning ChaosOmega to the point of him fakeclaiming. If we weren't under pressure, I also would have stayed on Xylthixlm instead of rushing to be important late in the day.

[pickemgenius]

@Pickemgenius: You got killed before I could interact much with you, but I also appreciate your support for me on D1 also.

mhm.

[Incognito]

@Incognito: I admire your tenacity in investigating suspects and not being afraid to stand so firmly behind your cases. What you did, you did with gusto. I aspire to integrate some elements of your playstyle and Vollkan's into my own.

Thanks for these comments.

I did get really frustrated several times when my honest attempts to be a good townie were misinterpreted, and in several cases, my inexperience almost hurt the town. But being that this was only my second game ever, I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself. I don't think I did quite as well here as in Underground Mafia, but this game was more difficult for me in a number of ways. I'm just glad that I was able to play well enough to avoid being lynched.

I don't think you played poorly here at all, Jitsu. I could see how a lot of the early stuff with opie might have been confusing, and I think the only thing that made me somewhat nervous about you was that shift in position with respect to opie. Aside from that, I think your play here was very solid and logical. I think there were moments where I was thinking "hmmm, Jitsu's seeming a little

too

townie", and there were moments where I began thinking that your play may have been a ruse but that was probably just paranoia creeping in.

[Patrick]

Then I'd only have to worry about Patrick's mind, which probably still would have killed me. I chose Incognito instead of Erg0 because I wanted someone(hopefully Jitsu) to wonder why Erg0 was still alive, so that I could attack them for being stupid. It didn't work.

Why not nightkill me instead? Remove the town's second shot at finding scum.

That's what I tried to do for most of the game, plant WIFOM and wait for someone to jump on it. That's the reason I wanted to kill Adel (Xylthixlm thought she was the vig[I thought Incognito or Patrick was the vig, or Oman or Jitsu the serial killer]).

It's probably better to make the more straight forward kills, as many people will be wary of reading too much into the nightkills anyway. And in this case, killing Adel didn't really frame or implicate anyone, because she was so unpredictable and had expressed suspicion of pretty much every player in the game at some point.

Now, I have a question for the town. If Guardian^2 really was the serial killer, and you knew he wasn't actually mafia, would you view lynching him as the best move? I thought that letting him live would be the best move from the town's perspective, so I went with it.

It becomes much harder to decide then, but I'd probably still lynch the SK. I can't really think of a situation that could have arisen where we'd be sure that someone claiming SK was an SK though. There would always be that chance they were mafia.

[Jitsu]

Thanks for these comments.

I give credit where credit is due. Your 100% case on Guardian turned out to be wrong (just like I was later on), but you had the guts to stick to it and you believed it. One of the flaws I've had in this game and my previous one is that I haven't voted enough, I think. From Day 2 onward, I voted only twice, which wasn't enough, I think (granted, those two votes were both for scum). I've spent too much time analyzing and waiting until I was really sure before voting. That's nice and all, but I could do better by voting a bit more often to apply pressure and watch reactions. I think I've been too timid and need to vote a little more on habeas corpus.

I don't think you played poorly here at all, Jitsu. I could see how a lot of the early stuff with opie might have been confusing, and I think the only thing that made me somewhat nervous about you was that shift in position with respect to opie. Aside from that, I think your play here was very solid and logical. I think there were moments where I was thinking "hmmm, Jitsu's seeming a little

too

townie", and there were moments where I began thinking that your play may have been a ruse but that was probably just paranoia creeping in.

Thank you, I tend to be a little hard on myself, and bragging isn't my style. Overall, I'm pleased with my effort here -- I think I could have done better, but I feel I helped the town win, and that's what's important. I can't remember reading a lot of games here on MS where so many townies (many of them vanilla) had a big impact on the outcome.

Heh, I got the "too townie" response in my last game too. I had to work hard to convince a couple people I wasn't acting. It's amazing how easy it is to make people suspect you, even when you are honestly working at avoiding that. I guess that's just the nature of mafia and the tendency to be suspicious of everyone.

[Jitsu]

Unfortunately, I spent most of the game freaking out about how scummy my partners were acting(what Patrick calls Stoofer's syndrome). That, not distancing, is why I voted Xylthixlm day 1. And day 3 for using such crappy WIFOM. I tried to warn you . The fact that you attacked me back made it awkward for me since I couldn't just back down suddenly, so I had to keep attacking you. It also surprises me how little I had to lie. However, I think my truthfulness was my downfall. I didn't make enough cases on people because I knew they were crap.

Now, I have a question for the town. If Guardian^2 really was the serial killer, and you knew he wasn't actually mafia, would you view lynching him as the best move? I thought that letting him live would be the best move from the town's perspective, so I went with it.

I totally believe you were freaking out most of the game. It's a wonder you didn't have an aneurysm. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you did a pretty decent job, all things considered. Your partners dug you a pretty big hole, IMHO. ChaosOmega's lurking and not justifying any of his votes doomed him D1, and Xylthixlm's alternating between attacking you for odd things and then ignoring you is ultimately what did both of you in. Once Xylthixlm drew the Vig kill (even though it failed), it was over. I would say that I caught you not so much by anything you said as it was how your partners interacted with you.

As for your question, I agree it is a tough call. You need to lynch the mafia to get the ratio down, but having an SK around at endgame gets very messy. With losing three townies on Day 1, I might have been tempted to keep the SK around for a day to try to get a crosskill, but as Incognito said (and actually I had independently come to the same conclusion at about the same time), an SK could have chosen to NK a townie to ensure that he would live to endgame, had we mislynched. For that reason, I'd probably have to lynch the known SK.

[Matt_S]

Why not nightkill me instead? Remove the town's second shot at finding scum.

I probably just thought way too much into it, but the main reason was that I believed that Oman would be alive, either because he was telling the truth with his unNKable claim or you wouldn't kill him for whatever reason. Then we'd have 5 people left, which would be two shots for the town anyways, so I figured it would be better if you made your shot the following night rather than two townies against me the next day.

It's probably better to make the more straight forward kills, as many people will be wary of reading too much into the nightkills anyway. And in this case, killing Adel didn't really frame or implicate anyone, because she was so unpredictable and had expressed suspicion of pretty much every player in the game at some point.

You're probably right, but for the Adel kill Xylthixlm thought she was the vig, and it sounded plausible. The WIFOM there was just a potential added bonus. Of course, I was also busy that day bussing Xylthixlm, when I should have waited and pressured Jitsu when he talked about the mafia searching for the SK.

I totally believe you were freaking out most of the game. It's a wonder you didn't have an aneurysm. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think you did a pretty decent job, all things considered. Your partners dug you a pretty big hole, IMHO. ChaosOmega's lurking and not justifying any of his votes doomed him D1, and Xylthixlm's alternating between attacking you for odd things and then ignoring you is ultimately what did both of you in. Once Xylthixlm drew the Vig kill (even though it failed), it was over. I would say that I caught you not so much by anything you said as it was how your partners interacted with you.

Thanks. However, I think I brought most of my interaction with Xylthixlm on myself.

[MeMe]

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