The Syndicate

God damn, I can't stress enough this really was a great game. I can't believe how much fun I had watching every post after I died, even though my team went down in flames.

So many people played SO WELL this game. The final players, all of you totally deserved to win; it was a shame you couldn't have.

I can't believe how close to the wire the other goblin team and the civs came to winning this thing. The endgame was definitely intense and pretty awesome.

Wow, what a game and what an ending!!!!

Congratulations to Juliets!!! Very well played.

Thanks for hosting, Russ, what an amazing game! I hated dying but once I got over that I loved watching along.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

Russtifinko wrote:

The Misty Mountains Goblins have been eliminated.

Bummer

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Here's a list of post counts for anyone interested, including any relevant information regarding play-status.

Post Totals wrote: 350 - thellama73
188 - Epignosis
149 - kneel4justice
138 - Snow Dog
134 - Metalmarsh89
126 - Dom - 'Killed' on Night 4, but returned on Night 5
86 - fingersplints - joined the game on Day 2
72 - juliets 2.0 - replace in for Lizzy on Night 7 (50 from Lizzy, 22 from juliets)
70 - insertnamehere

51 - The Mendoza Line - MovingPictures07 - lynched on Day 1

46 - birdwithteeth11
44 - Bullzeye
34 - Kylemii 2.0 - replace in for A Person on Day 8 (29 from AP, 5 from Kylemii)
31 - nijuukyugou
27 - Spacedaisy

Dom wrote:BWT, I would like to add that INH's game ended on June 14, over a week ago.

llama did point this out already, here.

Hahaha, I love that I am the Mendoza Line in this game! Fantastic!

Russtifinko wrote:Message from the Host:

Anyone who signs up for MP's Fight Club game, and then PMs him saying it was I who recruited them, may cc me in the PM and will receive a bounty of 500 gold. This also applies to deadies who may be looking for that shot at resurrection.

Thanks!

LOL, now this is recruiting.

This is not my doing, but I must say it is an amusing application of intertwining the current game with the subsequent!

thellama73 wrote: Haha, charade you are!

thellama73 wrote:THE POLL IS BROKEN!

Lol.

It's because he has to delete the poll and create a new one. I sent him a PM letting him know, but maybe he'll see this post first.

thellama73 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Turnip Head wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:I was looking forward to this game SO much. Now I won't be able to likely even play a big game on my own site before I start my PhD program.

Aww, c'mon dude. I feel bad about lynching anyone Day 1, it sucks, but you don't have to go making us feel all guilty about it like this Now I'm even more unsure.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to guilt anyone, I'm just really upset.

I know how you feel, and I fel really bad, not just for you, but for me, because I like having you around in games to talk to. At least now I will be the highest poster and attract Hedgeowl's vote.

You bastard, I wanted that top poster spot so bad.

Turnip Head wrote:Any parting advice for us, MP?

No, not really.

Turnip Head wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:I was looking forward to this game SO much. Now I won't be able to likely even play a big game on my own site before I start my PhD program.

Aww, c'mon dude. I feel bad about lynching anyone Day 1, it sucks, but you don't have to go making us feel all guilty about it like this Now I'm even more unsure.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to guilt anyone, I'm just really upset.

Wow, just got home. This is so INSANELY upsetting to me I can't even express it in words. I was looking forward to this game SO much. Now I won't be able to likely even play a big game on my own site before I start my PhD program.

Apparently, I can't ever play without attracting a ton of suspicion to myself, so whatever.

Alright, have to go now.

Vompatti, just randomize your vote (since I know you're hardcore and actually randomize it and you like to do so) between Dom and Daisy. I would include FZ. as well but she doesn't have a vote and I don't want to spread it any more than I just did.

Spacedaisy wrote:If I have to vote for something on Day 1, I am more likely to vote for something that seems like an unnecessarily strong post than random vote. If you feel more comfortable voting for Dom for lack of aggressiveness, go for it. I just don't know that I expect anyone to be all that aggressive on Day 1, unless there is some slip up or something.

Linki: leamyconstant, I would never judge you! Vote for who you wish for whatever reason you choose.

I'm casting my vote for INH for lack of anything better, or for time to wait and see if anything else develops.

I still don't understand; you didn't explain to me how unnecessarily strong posts make someone bad.

I'm voting for you, in a twist of events.

Also, I appreciate the comparison to James Joyce. :P

Linki with Daisy: It is a strong post. INH often has strong posts, as we all know. Since when did strong = baddie? I feel I'm missing something here.

Leamiteo, agreed completely.

And Epig, lol, I'm not complaining, those are just my thoughts; do you have any others? You haven't even said you're suspicious of anyone, so I'm curious what you're thinking.

Epignosis wrote:
It is presently Day 1. Your post count is 39 and you have used more words than a Hemingway short story. In Pokemon, which has just concluded, and in which you were recruited early to the bad guy team, you had 39 living posts. That game lasted 5 Day phases.

Therefore I find the enlarged statement incompatible with the above. But what could that mean?

I think that, in a game with a single evil team, one who is on that team must be especially cautious in how one carries oneself. But in a game with two or more evil factions, there is a greater urge to hunt for evildoers, because there is a chance that one might ferret out someone on the other team, which is a threat to the team one is on.

In WWE, you were on a bad team and there was another bad team. You rivaled James Joyce in both prolixity and clarity. But in Pokemon, with one evil team, you averaged fewer than 8 posts every 72 hours.

So my conclusion is that your Mafia style does not mirror your civilian style, as you claim. Your Mafia style when there is one team is decidedly different from your Mafia style when there is more than one team.

Now I must decide what bearing, if any, that has on my vote today.

Maybe you're right; maybe my baddie game has tells and nuances that I don't notice. At least in my baddie game that's what I try to do and I think I do a pretty good job (but not a good job at avoiding death).

And actually you make a very good point about one mafia team v. two. Pokemon also only had 15 players and hardly anyone talking early on; this game has 30 and others besides myself have said quite a bit more already than what was said in the first few day periods of that game. But you're right in that changes the whole dynamic of the game, especially for the lone baddie team. At least with two baddie teams you can catch other baddies. As someone who has been in both situations, I can say it makes me feel more comfortable and less paranoid. I prefer games with two baddie teams.

What you fail to consider are other factors that would change the frequency with which I post: This game is on this site (I feel more comfortable here than anywhere else, and thus, will post more than on games on other sites, in general), and that the frequency with which I post is also contingent on my workload/schedule (it is currently a Saturday, so I have much more time to post), and the biggest flaw is that you fail to see that I post like a maniac regardless of alignment. The first game that comes to mind is Homestar Runner where I was a civvie and I posted more by the time Day 1 was over than I have so far in this game, I would imagine, since I posted A TON in that game. I do in every game I can.

If you think my post count makes me suspicious, by all means, but I think you're trying to build the groundwork for votes against me today and I can't help but feel it makes you seem a bit shady. I'm trying to avoid that feeling of persecution though and realize that you're just speaking what you feel, but I do wonder about aggressive civvie-minded Epignosis v. manipulating baddie Epignosis all the time, so you'll have to excuse me on that front. Since we're both aggressive and often more talkative players, and you have quite an amazing legacy of insane baddie wins, I find myself questioning your intentions perhaps more than others, so take my feelings with that considered.

Leamiteo, the "INH thing" refers to this post:

insertnamehere wrote:

juliets wrote:I may vote for the person with the most "filler" posts - posts that are only tangentially or not at all related to the thread.

Ok, I can see some problems with this. What denominates "filler"? Is it OT posts? What about posts that are only half OT? Are those considered one half in your scoring system? What about jokes? If I post a suspicion of someone, and add a joke at the end, does that count as "filler"? Also, if I post 8 "filler" posts and 2 "on-topic" posts, would I be ranked higher or lower in your magical "filler" system than someone with only 2 "filler" posts in the thread? If you deem a post to be "filler", can someone dispute that claim?

On a "serious" note, I'm not sure I like this. One of the reasons I love this site is the banter, which you affectionately refer to as "filler". Even if you don't enjoy it, persecuting those who do just seems kind mean-spirited. Also, my "strategy" is to usually sit back and observe for the first few cycles, and see what developments happen. I don't want to be misconstrued as inactive, so I post "filler", usually with some connection to the game. It doesn't mean I'm not taking the game seriously, I just play it in a different way. For you to condemn players like me because of it, strikes me as a bit rude.

juliets wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Ugh, I'll have to vote soon; Daisy and I have a day filled with activities, and I doubt I'll be back in time to vote. I wish I knew what many other players were thinking right now.

And now I have two votes to decide, lol. :P

Linki with juliets: Eh, I personally don't feel Dom was being insincere, but I feel I have hardly any other viable options if I want to avoid: random voting or voting for a random voter or low poster. The only player I felt any sort of ping of possible insincerity was FZ. and I don't feel strongly about that at all. Llama has a pretty good gut when he's civvie, and so far I see no reason to think he's bad, and I do sense Dom being a bit "off" (subdued, but not suspicious), but maybe llama has caught something I haven't. That's the only reason I'm considering it.

What do you think of Dom? I'm used to aggressive Dom and I haven't seen that yet so it does make me wonder.

What are you thinking of doing with your vote?

Yeah I haven't seen Dom's posts as insincere either. I am also used to a more aggressive Dom but it's only Day 1 and I don't see him as suspicious for not being aggressive this early. That might change as time goes by. I was not aware of llama's instincts on baddies so I'll keep an eye on that, both is he good and can I trust his suggestions.

I'm thinking about giving my vote to inh today because of his over the top reaction to my thought about voting for someone who seems to be just posting filler posts. I wasn't even thinking of inh so i certainly wasn't accusing him but his reaction pinged me - he sounded so defensive over something so small. Between now and 4:00 something else could come up or I could be convinced to vote elsewhere but that's all I've got for right now.

linki but posting anway

Eh, I really just don't like an INH vote. If he is bad, I know this could come back to haunt me, but out of anyone in the game right now my gut is most likely to say he isn't bad, to be quite frank. I am seeing a very sincere INH, not a nefarious (how's that, CBK?) one.

I mean, I get the reasons, but I'm afraid it's only because he is acting in an odd way that's gotten him attention. He reacts over-defensively quite a bit; I wouldn't say it makes him baddie. Civvies can be over-defensive too.

Spacedaisy wrote:I don't understand why you would expect an aggressive Dom on Day 1? Is he normally aggressive on Day 1?

I am more inclined to pay attention to the INH thing personally (I think it was INH anyway, I just did the fastest catch up read ever, lol)I was not reading Juliet's as " mean spirited" at all. I find it odd that he phrased that post the way he did, and have to agree it seems like he made her post into more than it actually was.

linki: leamyconstant, if you come visit me some weekend you may see him again before he moves...

Also, we need a smiley with batting eyelashes on this site....

Hmmmm... that's a good question; is he? Sometimes he is. I just was thinking Pokemon since that's the most recent game I've played with him and he was super aggressive against Bullz while I was in the game (I will refrain from saying more as the game is still in progress) and my encounters with him in the past where we were aggressive against each other, but maybe I've over-simplifying my picture of his gameplay.

Maybe others who have played with him often can help?

And you think the INH thing is worthy of attention? Why? That surprises me a bit. I mean, I disagree with him; I didn't see juliets as mean-spirited at all. But don't you find this to fall under 'normal' behavior for INH? He always has some pretty wacky theories, like Zombies, which follow him almost regardless of alignment. I just feel like an INH vote is a cop-out vote and there's no reason to believe INH's disagreeing with juliets makes him baddie.

vote someone on D1 in their first game back*

Bullzeye wrote:I'm gonna have to random vote today because this weekend is just too busy for me to have my mafia head on. I don't know if I'll be back before the deadline so I'll just do it now to be safe. Randomiser wants me to go with *Snow Dog*.

How dare you vote someone on their first game back from an almost year-long break? !!!!

Leamiteo wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Leamiteo wrote:

Snow Dog wrote:MP is now, imo, posting much ore as I am accustomed. No HUGE posts yet though.

Hey now, there is plenty of time for the huge posts to develop! Let's not encourage the bogging down the thread just yet.

We love you, MP!

Indeed, just give it time. Though actually, between preparing to move to San Antonio and my job and doing other things, we'll see. I'm not sure how talkative I will be. But during the free time I do have, you can bet you'll be hearing from me.

*GASP!* No way?! Well shoot, I'm glad I got to see you last weekend! I'll never see you again! OK, that's a lie. But good luck with all that!!! Moving and whatnot.

Yes! I am getting my PhD in Accounting at UTSA. Well, I am not moving until early August, so if there's a chance I could see you again in the midst there, maybe not! So right now I am just researching and trying to find the right place, plan the trip to visit down there, etc.

Thanks!! It is very exciting but also a bit of a pain and a bit nerve wracking. But overall very exciting!

thellama73 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Llama, what are you thinking then?

Honestly, after going through the thread, it made me realize how the attention, and thus the votes, especially on Day 1 will nearly always fall into one of two categories: (1) random/self-vote, or (2) a vote against someone who has posted something with content -- because, let's be honest, the "cases" that develop on Days 1 and 2 are nearly always centered around some event that has happened, some discussion among two players or more, something that someone said that was "weird" (see: why Zombies gets lynched all the time), etc.

Any time baddies do get lynched on Days 1 or 2, it's nearly always because of luck and not due to any foolproof analytic case (though sometimes observations are made that are indeed apt).

Maybe I just need to stick with my gut. But as you said, FZ. always is super eager to get the baddie hunting going, and upon re-read honestly I wasn't feeling the insincere vibe.

Maybe I'll follow you in your Dom vote. Because why not?

I don't know, I just don't like ten or fifteen people to end up with one vote each, because then it's too easy to manipulate the results. I guess it can be useful for later vote analysis, but it renders our chances of actually lynching a baddie at about zero. If we had a consensus and all piled on to one person, there would be little the baddies could do about it. Of course, we could just as easily be wrong, and lynch a civ, which is no good either.

I would be happy for you to follow my vote onto Dom, because he is the best guess I have for a baddie at this point. If two or three other people also piled on, it would be harder for his teammates to rescue him without oting themselves, assuming he has teammates.

The flipside is that if we all decide on one person and that person does flip civvie, it gives us no information. At least the spread vote might lead to baddies more likely in future votes, even if it shoots us in the foot now. So I'm torn.

I do hate spread votes though because you're right, it basically hands the lynch to the baddies because they can much more easily manipulate it to save a possible teammate. If it's split among four or five people or less, it's not near as bad; that might actually be the best kind of situation because stockpiling on one person can sometimes be just as bad as one vote for everyone.

I'm considering a vote for FZ., Dom, or a low poster/random voter vote, I guess. That still leaves me with way too many options.

Ugh, I'll have to vote soon; Daisy and I have a day filled with activities, and I doubt I'll be back in time to vote. I wish I knew what many other players were thinking right now.

And now I have two votes to decide, lol. :P

Linki with juliets: Eh, I personally don't feel Dom was being insincere, but I feel I have hardly any other viable options if I want to avoid: random voting or voting for a random voter or low poster. The only player I felt any sort of ping of possible insincerity was FZ. and I don't feel strongly about that at all. Llama has a pretty good gut when he's civvie, and so far I see no reason to think he's bad, and I do sense Dom being a bit "off" (subdued, but not suspicious), but maybe llama has caught something I haven't. That's the only reason I'm considering it.

What do you think of Dom? I'm used to aggressive Dom and I haven't seen that yet so it does make me wonder.

What are you thinking of doing with your vote?

Llama, what are you thinking then?

Honestly, after going through the thread, it made me realize how the attention, and thus the votes, especially on Day 1 will nearly always fall into one of two categories: (1) random/self-vote, or (2) a vote against someone who has posted something with content -- because, let's be honest, the "cases" that develop on Days 1 and 2 are nearly always centered around some event that has happened, some discussion among two players or more, something that someone said that was "weird" (see: why Zombies gets lynched all the time), etc.

Any time baddies do get lynched on Days 1 or 2, it's nearly always because of luck and not due to any foolproof analytic case (though sometimes observations are made that are indeed apt).

Maybe I just need to stick with my gut. But as you said, FZ. always is super eager to get the baddie hunting going, and upon re-read honestly I wasn't feeling the insincere vibe.

Maybe I'll follow you in your Dom vote. Because why not?

Leamiteo wrote:

Snow Dog wrote:MP is now, imo, posting much ore as I am accustomed. No HUGE posts yet though.

Hey now, there is plenty of time for the huge posts to develop! Let's not encourage the bogging down the thread just yet.

We love you, MP!

Indeed, just give it time. Though actually, between preparing to move to San Antonio and my job and doing other things, we'll see. I'm not sure how talkative I will be. But during the free time I do have, you can bet you'll be hearing from me.

Hey, all you guys are great! I am so glad to be playing this mafia game with every single one of you!

So I just quickly glanced through the entire thread and it actually made me feel less sure about an FZ. vote. Dammit.

Epignosis wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Leamiteo wrote:

Epignosis wrote:Posts like these...what is their purpose? What are they meant to accomplish?

1. It expresses a suspicion but an unwillingness to act on it.
2. It may be enough of an impetus for others to vote that way, so that
a. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is bad, the person posting this could say, "I knew something was off with him. Great job guys!"
b. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is good, the person posting this could say, "I'm glad I showed restraint with regard to my own vote."
3. Wouldn't voting for the first person to cast a random vote be, in its own way, a random vote?

linki: But really though, Epi makes a good point here.

Okay, sure, but personally I feel I need to talk through every single thought that I'm thinking because that's how I work best to baddie hunt. Question the content or purpose of my posts if you need, but I personally feel everything I'm saying serves some purpose, and what Epig fails to mention is that baddies can be caught in situations where they continuously post and vote things like expressed in his 2a and 2b points. Personally, I'm of the "more discussion = better" camp, and people have every right they want to disagree. Sometimes though, a fellow civvie can help convince you that maybe you were thinking of something the way they were, and that maybe there was some substance to it. Besides, when you're not lying, you have nothing to lose, and I lay it all out there. My baddie game is based on trying to make it seem like my civvie game as much as possible, and my civvie game is defined by expressing every single thing I'm thinking that I feel helps contribute to finding baddies or to help sorting through my thoughts.

My playstyle gets a lot of flak, and I've tried changing it even, but I never will because it's just how I play, even if sometimes the "purpose" of some of my posts is questionable. But you could argue the same of so many other type of posts in the game as well.

Huh.

What are you thinking?

birdwithteeth11 wrote:Just checking in an giving a heads-up. I haven't looked at anything since I last posted on Day 0, and haven't had a chance to catch up yet. I probably won't get that chance until tomorrow evening though, because I'm too busy during the day, and at night, I'm just too darn tired to want to mafia. So this is probably the last post you'll see from me until Day 2. Having lots of fun on my mini-vacation though!

No vote?

Snow Dog wrote:Ok I just don't know. Besides Insertyourname here being a bit over sensitive is it? Over defensive? Even that could be civvie behaviour though....even so he stands out the most for me at present.

For what it's worth, it seems rather par for the course for INH to react like that. So far if anything I'm actually getting normal, decent vibes from him, but I'm considering his possibility to be bad to be nearly the same as everyone else, so take that with a grain of salt.

I at least know I won't be voting there today.

Vompatti wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Vompatti wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Vompatti wrote:I'll donate my vote to the first person who wants it.

Why? Don't you have any thoughts on anyone yet?

I know many of us have grown accustomed to your zany style, but there was a time I played games with you where you actually contributed much of worth to the thread, even if it was often against me (you as a civvie, me as a baddie).

I'll start contributing and perhaps even reading the thread if I'm still alive by the time it has sufficiently slowed down.

Hmmmm... can I take your vote donation offer then if you're seriously not going to utilize it?

My wish is your command.

Alright, cool. Let me think on this. I'm not sure where I'm voting with my vote yet either.

Leamiteo wrote:

Epignosis wrote:Posts like these...what is their purpose? What are they meant to accomplish?

1. It expresses a suspicion but an unwillingness to act on it.
2. It may be enough of an impetus for others to vote that way, so that
a. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is bad, the person posting this could say, "I knew something was off with him. Great job guys!"
b. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is good, the person posting this could say, "I'm glad I showed restraint with regard to my own vote."
3. Wouldn't voting for the first person to cast a random vote be, in its own way, a random vote?

linki: But really though, Epi makes a good point here.

Okay, sure, but personally I feel I need to talk through every single thought that I'm thinking because that's how I work best to baddie hunt. Question the content or purpose of my posts if you need, but I personally feel everything I'm saying serves some purpose, and what Epig fails to mention is that baddies can be caught in situations where they continuously post and vote things like expressed in his 2a and 2b points. Personally, I'm of the "more discussion = better" camp, and people have every right they want to disagree. Sometimes though, a fellow civvie can help convince you that maybe you were thinking of something the way they were, and that maybe there was some substance to it. Besides, when you're not lying, you have nothing to lose, and I lay it all out there. My baddie game is based on trying to make it seem like my civvie game as much as possible, and my civvie game is defined by expressing every single thing I'm thinking that I feel helps contribute to finding baddies or to help sorting through my thoughts.

My playstyle gets a lot of flak, and I've tried changing it even, but I never will because it's just how I play, even if sometimes the "purpose" of some of my posts is questionable. But you could argue the same of so many other type of posts in the game as well.

Epignosis wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Epignosis wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Epig, you've been a bit quieter than your normal self; what are you thinking?

I have no normal self.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Boogs wrote:I will be busy all day tomorrow with friends and a dance recital my friend is doing, so I will now vote before bed. I don't think anything ever stands out to me on Day 1, but I will randomize.

I am voting for kneel4justice . Sorry poodle

I don't like this vote.

Tempted to throw a vote at Boogs for it, but it just feels too easy. I just can't bring myself to vote for the first random voter.

Posts like these...what is their purpose? What are they meant to accomplish?

1. It expresses a suspicion but an unwillingness to act on it.
2. It may be enough of an impetus for others to vote that way, so that
a. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is bad, the person posting this could say, "I knew something was off with him. Great job guys!"
b. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is good, the person posting this could say, "I'm glad I showed restraint with regard to my own vote."
3. Wouldn't voting for the first person to cast a random vote be, in its own way, a random vote?

There's no purpose other than expressing my current train of thought -- is that not what the thread is for, but to hunt for baddies? I feel I do best when thinking aloud... Yes, often my thoughts are scattered, but it helps me piece together what I feel is right for me after I sort through everything. You of all people should know that.

I don't question what yours or anyone else's posts purpose is, so I'm not sure I understand the purpose of your post here, honestly.

The thread is to "hunt for baddies," but questioning the purpose of someone's posts is not a part of that hunt?

Touche.

Vompatti wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Vompatti wrote:I'll donate my vote to the first person who wants it.

Why? Don't you have any thoughts on anyone yet?

I know many of us have grown accustomed to your zany style, but there was a time I played games with you where you actually contributed much of worth to the thread, even if it was often against me (you as a civvie, me as a baddie).

I'll start contributing and perhaps even reading the thread if I'm still alive by the time it has sufficiently slowed down.

Hmmmm... can I take your vote donation offer then if you're seriously not going to utilize it?

DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:I am now here.

And Epig, you're right, voting for the first person to cast a random vote would be "random" which is why I don't like it. But I also don't like that people can skate through the first mafia Day without ever getting their votes analyzed in the following days because it was "random" and there was "nothing better to go on". So on the one hand, I feel they should be held accountable for that kind of playstyle and should suffer because of it since they never do, and they don't help us find baddies almost ever, but on the other hand I realize that I'm all doing is adding to the lack of accountability by voting that way.

Vompatti wrote:I'll donate my vote to the first person who wants it.

Why? Don't you have any thoughts on anyone yet?

I know many of us have grown accustomed to your zany style, but there was a time I played games with you where you actually contributed much of worth to the thread, even if it was often against me (you as a civvie, me as a baddie).

Leamiteo wrote:I don't understand how people feel "pinged" on day 0 or day 1, but I'm a newb. Those experienced players have a leg up of knowing play styles and tactics of their mafia buddies. I don't have any leanings at this point, but it is extremely early. I will have to vote in the next few hours. I'm re-reading everyone's posts about their qualms with people who are talking too much, not enough, sincerity, etc. As for me, nothing.

What to do?!

Yes, but these tactics are ever-changing, and often being an experienced player comes with tunnel vision and stereotypes; sometimes a fresh mind can be quick to catch onto something of substance that someone with much experience, especially with many of the other players in the game, might not pick up on.

Just follow anything you feel. If you feel literally absolutely nothing, then I would start questioning why.

thellama73 wrote:Not very strongly, MP, but it's the best I have for now.

Understandable, thanks. Just was curious if it was a weaker or stronger ping since I wasn't sure.

I am getting a 'weird' vibe from Dom, but he seems subdued and distracted to me, not sure about insincere.

Epignosis wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Epig, you've been a bit quieter than your normal self; what are you thinking?

I have no normal self.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Boogs wrote:I will be busy all day tomorrow with friends and a dance recital my friend is doing, so I will now vote before bed. I don't think anything ever stands out to me on Day 1, but I will randomize.

I am voting for kneel4justice . Sorry poodle

I don't like this vote.

Tempted to throw a vote at Boogs for it, but it just feels too easy. I just can't bring myself to vote for the first random voter.

Posts like these...what is their purpose? What are they meant to accomplish?

1. It expresses a suspicion but an unwillingness to act on it.
2. It may be enough of an impetus for others to vote that way, so that
a. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is bad, the person posting this could say, "I knew something was off with him. Great job guys!"
b. if Boogs (or whoever) is lynched and is good, the person posting this could say, "I'm glad I showed restraint with regard to my own vote."
3. Wouldn't voting for the first person to cast a random vote be, in its own way, a random vote?

There's no purpose other than expressing my current train of thought -- is that not what the thread is for, but to hunt for baddies? I feel I do best when thinking aloud... Yes, often my thoughts are scattered, but it helps me piece together what I feel is right for me after I sort through everything. You of all people should know that.

I don't question what yours or anyone else's posts purpose is, so I'm not sure I understand the purpose of your post here, honestly.

Finally finished my nicknames... apparently I was feeling inspired by post-rock or something.


A Person, Anime Person Eating Rotten Sour Oranges Nightly, The Keeper of All Good Music Recommendations, The "Reserved" One of the VALiant Trio

birdwithteeth11, The Horse Bird Who Is Not So Much a Bird As He Is a Human, Whose Fanboyism for Devin Townsend Knows No Bounds, and Who Will Be Made the 13rd and Final Doctor or His Name Isn't birdwithteeth11

Boogs, The Evil Rich Cat of DOOM That Comes to Your House Masquerading As the Sweetest and Most Hyperactive Feline Ever But Secretly He's Pure EVIL and Wants to Take All Your Money, Best Friends with Rich Uncle Pennybags, and Fiance of blindfaeth

Bullzeye, Always Right on Target, Except When He Isn't, and Then It Makes Him More Likely to Be Lynched

Captain Bunny Killer, Sister of The 42nd Hippie to Hitchhike Across the Galaxy, Blind and Faithful Guardian of Benjamin Linus

DFaraday, Daniel Faraday's #1 Fan (Soon to Be #2) in All of San Antonio Who Always Is Spending His Time Doing Nothing Other Than Watching Wrestling and LOST, Reading The Hobbit, and Listening to The Beatles

DisgruntledPorcupine, The Prickly Porcupine Who Always Has to Buy New Headphones Because He Loves Music So Much and Yet He's a Porcupine So He Can't Properly Wear Headphones but He Is So Calm and Cool He Doesn't Seem to Mind Being Lynched Sometimes So Long as He Can Listen to Boards of Canada While Everyone Kills Him

Dom, The Most Knowledgeable of Theater of Anyone, Ever, and Also Former Protector of Cory Monteith, R.I.P.

Elohcin, The Amazing Cake Creator Who Somehow Despises Yes and Rush with a Similar Intensity with which She Crafts Epic Cakes

Epignosis, Lover of Elohcin, Beer, Language, and Music, Endlessly Working Towards Knowledge

Flyin' High, The First Entomologist to Win the Nobel Prize for Demonstrating a Stunning Connection Between Futurama and the Development of Future Insect Breeding

FZ., Unofficial Protector of Muppets and Keeper of Phantoms Who Have Died Only Solely Because She Misspelled Their Future State of Being

Hedgeowl, The Founding Member of "Owl Rights", An Activist Group That Fights for Owlian Rights, and Destroyer of All Vegetable-Kind

insertnamehere, Creator of the Almighty Program That Determines Who Is a Baddie with Utmost Accuracy, and Also the Official Lover of All Wacky Yet Amazing Things

juliets, The Sole Reason That Folgers, Maxwell House, Starbucks, and Keurig Are Still in Business

kneel4justice, Not Actually Nicki Minaj and Official Advocate to Make the Color Blue the Default Color for Everything Ever

Kylemii, Ultimate Pokemon Master and An Even Bigger Master of Awesome Drunk Mafia Posts Especially During Games That Involve American Horror Story

Leamiteo, Sister of chaindeath and Vloddamick, Traveler of the World, and the Only Person in the Entire World Beside Jigsaw (Not the Killer, but the Man Named After Him) Whose Favorite Character on LOST is John Locke

Lizzy, The Most Underestimated Lawyer-in-Progress in Existence, and Future Destroyer of Romania as We Know It, The "Cunning" One of the VALiant Trio

Metalmarsh89, The Newish Guy Who Apparently Is The Only One on This List Whom Your Sockian Overload Knows Nothing About Yet Seems to Love Music and Anime and Is From the Site That The Almighty Sock Is Also From

Mongoose - The Fantastic Film Fanatic Frolicking Further through the Forest to Further Favorable Feelings For Fuzzy Felines

MovingPictures07, The Greatest Music-Loving Sock That Ever Landed on Earth and Morphed Into a Human Being

nijuukyugou, The Only English Teacher Better Than Epignosis by Day, The Inkiest Blooper Across All of the Interwebs by Night, Otherwise Known as Super Blooper

reywaS, The Only Almighty Defender of the Universe Who Decided It Would be a Good Idea to Utilize a Backwards Text Generator When Crafting His Eternal Moniker

Russtifinko, The Hostest with the Mostest and Soon-to-Be CEO of KeyBank and Mayor of Cleveland, OH but Secretly Working for the Swedish Government as a Spy on All of America

Snow Dog, Survivor of The Great Betrayal or The Night of the Long Knives, The Most Loyal Dog of Them All, Especially When It Comes to Bringing Down Some Dude Named By-Tor

Spacedaisy, The 42nd Beatles-Obsessed Hippie to Hitchhike Across the Galaxy and High Five George Harrison

>SpaghettiEverywhere, The Blood Feasting Microsoft Paint Extraordinaire Who Hasn't Demonstrated His Skills in Quite Some Time and Lives on an Island Eating Nothing but Pasta

S~V~S, Campaign Manager for "Vote Cthulhu 2018", Queen of the Tildes, Lover of All Things 1980s, Who Is Secretly Apocalypse from X-Men

thellama73, The Very First Llama Leader of the Libertarian Party and Enemy #1 of Low, Lingering, Lazy Posters

Turnip Head, One of the Best Mafia Players Ever, Perhaps Because the Turnip That He Has for a Head Actually Has Some Sort of Psychic Power Which Actually Would Explain So Much

Vompatti, Has Done Things with Wombats That None of Us Want to Know But Happens to Have the Honor of Possessing the Coolest Voice Ever, Forever a Masochistic Poet, The "Criminally Insane" One of the VALiant Trio

Oh, I must correct myself -- Looking at the votes now, it seems Metalmarsh was the first random voter. Still can't justify it, even though I hate random voting.

I want to hear more from some players before I cast my vote. I'm currently leaning FZ. because out of anyone she has struck me as most possibly insincere, but I have a few others I'm eyeing as well.

And hopefully I'll have nicknames before the time I vote too. (Yes, Lizzy, much earlier than Day 10).

Epig, you've been a bit quieter than your normal self; what are you thinking?

Yikes, vote ends at 4:45. Within the next hour or so might be my only chance to vote. People should come talk with me!

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:And for anyone who cares, I'm still working on crafting my nicknames for everyone.

You don't know me.

No, I don't really, but that won't stop me.

Boogs wrote:I will be busy all day tomorrow with friends and a dance recital my friend is doing, so I will now vote before bed. I don't think anything ever stands out to me on Day 1, but I will randomize.

I am voting for kneel4justice . Sorry poodle

I don't like this vote.

Tempted to throw a vote at Boogs for it, but it just feels too easy. I just can't bring myself to vote for the first random voter.

Hedgeowl wrote:I'll be sticking with my focus on the high posters this game. You know who you are.

Top ten posters, you've been warned.

Bring it.

Captain Bunny Killer wrote:

insertnamehere wrote: Usually in big games like these, I sit back and watch for the first few cycles, and then presumably if I'm not eliminated, I start posting more and more. I like to get an idea of the dynamic of the game before I completely dive in.

That being said, I agree with FZ. To me it looked like MP was just making a suggestion to vote a NP if no clear candidate is revealed, which happens often on this site. The fact that K4J immediately jumped on that makes me a bit nervous.

This first part is my thinking exactly, although the whole big game thing doesn't mean that much to me. These are the only ones I've played.

And I can't fully agree with the second. I feel slightly suspicious of MP, but I seriously always do. He's just seemed a little wishy washy about whether it's ok to vote a no-poster. But I know how analytical-to-a-fault he can be, so it could be just that.

And this is why I sit back to start, because I don't have much to go on right now.

I'm wishy washy all the time and it's due to the bolded.

I'm trying though, I promise.

Leamiteo wrote:Oh, one more thing! I'm going to vote for MP based on how many times he uses the word nefarious throughout this game.

Hey, I like that word.

Captain Bunny Killer wrote:

Leamiteo wrote:Oh, one more thing! I'm going to vote for MP based on how many times he uses the word nefarious throughout this game.

haha, I noticed the same thing

MovingPictures07, The Nefarious, residing in the Misty Posts and bending all thoughts of suspicion upom Himself, dominating through self-destruction

Ok, that's more about previous experience. You know I'm just picking on you, MP.
By the way, I noticed two names for you included "Master." I think you should just go ahead and take The Master leap.

YES! Maybe I should change my title from "The Don" to "The Master".

Snow Dog wrote:Another mafia game another first lynch vote. I am not "pinged" by anyone in particular at the moment. MP is maybe posting less than usual but I don't know if that is suspicious in itself.

You have no thoughts about anyone at the moment?

And lol, I love how that's true, especially from what you used to see from me and considering I have the second most posts of anyone.

thellama73 wrote:

Dom wrote: Llama, I am not sure why you asked me what you did, but I await your response! :P

Well, I'm about to tell you, if you'll listen.

Dom wrote:Just checking in, Sorry I've been less present than I'd like to be. I've had quite the day!

I see FZ and MP have been talking quite a bit. That doesn't surprise me one bit. Kyle, I think you make a fair point. I would like to read up on this more when I have time. We have until Saturday, which is nice.

This post stuck out to me. I don't know why, but it just felt off. Insincere, perhaps. Just a gut feeling I had. I wanted to get you talking to see if my suspicion remained or went away after you were more vocal. Unfortunately, your response had much less detail than I would have liked. I also think your vote for MP is opportunistic.

Sorry, buddy, but I'm gonna have to vote for you today. I am just not feeling good about you this game.

How strongly do you feel about this, llama?

insertnamehere wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

insertnamehere wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:
I know llama agrees with your "why sign up if you're not going to play?" because he is quite vocal of that and so do I, but I have counterargued with him before that some people have busy RL (I understand after going through tax season), they still want to play, but maybe can't check in with the same kind of frequency as others, or maybe are particularly busy while D0/D1 is happening, so typically I think it makes more sense to vote for a no/low poster later on in the game (or like you said, unless there's honestly nothing else to go on). And let's be honest here, some people just have more talkative game styles than others.

So those are all things to consider.

Usually in big games like these, I sit back and watch for the first few cycles, and then presumably if I'm not eliminated, I start posting more and more. I like to get an idea of the dynamic of the game before I completely dive in.

That being said, I agree with FZ. To me it looked like MP was just making a suggestion to vote a NP if no clear candidate is revealed, which happens often on this site. The fact that K4J immediately jumped on that makes me a bit nervous.

You think K4J is suspicious for that?

I have a weak Day 1 suspicion of her. Probably not worth voting, but I have my eye on her.

Thanks for the elaboration! Just wanted to get a feel for how strongly you felt about it.

Any other thoughts yet? (and that same question goes for anyone else)

And for anyone who cares, I'm still working on crafting my nicknames for everyone.

insertnamehere wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:
I know llama agrees with your "why sign up if you're not going to play?" because he is quite vocal of that and so do I, but I have counterargued with him before that some people have busy RL (I understand after going through tax season), they still want to play, but maybe can't check in with the same kind of frequency as others, or maybe are particularly busy while D0/D1 is happening, so typically I think it makes more sense to vote for a no/low poster later on in the game (or like you said, unless there's honestly nothing else to go on). And let's be honest here, some people just have more talkative game styles than others.

So those are all things to consider.

Usually in big games like these, I sit back and watch for the first few cycles, and then presumably if I'm not eliminated, I start posting more and more. I like to get an idea of the dynamic of the game before I completely dive in.

That being said, I agree with FZ. To me it looked like MP was just making a suggestion to vote a NP if no clear candidate is revealed, which happens often on this site. The fact that K4J immediately jumped on that makes me a bit nervous.

You think K4J is suspicious for that?

So who still hasn't checked in?

thellama73 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote: I know llama agrees with your "why sign up if you're not going to play?" because he is quite vocal of that and so do I, but I have counterargued with him before that some people have busy RL (I understand after going through tax season), they still want to play, but maybe can't check in with the same kind of frequency as others, or maybe are particularly busy while D0/D1 is happening, so typically I think it makes more sense to vote for a no/low poster later on in the game (or like you said, unless there's honestly nothing else to go on). And let's be honest here, some people just have more talkative game styles than others.

I was completely MIA in X-Men and spent the whole game talking about nothing but Morlocks. I survived to the end and only lost due to an impossible-to-predict hidden rule. I don't like that this is such a viable game strategy and like to discourage people from employing it by voting for them.

I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment. High posters unite!

The only problem is that not all high posters are civvies. Or maybe this game they are...

I appreciate the additional thoughts on FZ. She does always seem super eager when I've played with her, but I actually don't think I've seen her baddie game, and I'm trying to evaluate players on their behavior alone as well (out of context of who is doing it) because I find that I've been evaluating everything in terms of context (who is saying it, why, etc.)... which is helpful, but sometimes it has downsides where you can overlook obviously suspicious behavior by writing it off as "normal" for that person.

kneel4justice wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote: Touche.

I meant if you had an opinion about anything else (not about FZ., since you did provide it, which I appreciate it). Response appreciated.

I think I seriously might pull a Llama and vote a non-poster if there are still some that haven't shown up by tomorrow. I don't know. I want to see how people react.

Why are you so set (you've mentioned it more than once, I wasn't sure if you were serious) on a low poster vote though? I can understand if we were farther into the day and nothing happened but the day just only started. I think instead of planning on voting for a non participant we should start digging around and see if anything warrants suspicion and if not, then we vote a low poster.

And I'm not quite sure why you admitted to wanting to see how people react. Now their walls are up concerning anything you say. But we'll see if you find anything noteworthy even now, I guess!

I don't even know if I'm serious (yet); I just wanted to start discussion. I haven't voted yet for a reason.

I think I've been successful on that front, no?

I admitted to wanting to see how people react because everyone always takes me super seriously and eyes me pretty hard, so I wanted to be clear that I'm not actually advocating that everyone lynch a no-poster right now. I've been lynched over less, especially this early on in the game, and I don't want to stop playing just yet. Lol.

Kylemii wrote:
I agree with this, stating from the get-go that you plan to vote for a non poster this early opens it up for baddies to remind their teammates to post so they don't get got. It's better to discuss voting that way later on if nothing else comes up.

Does it? My job here is to generate discussion. When no one says anything, baddies can't be caught in nefarious lies (civvies lie sometimes too, but obviously not for nefarious reasons, unless you're playing chaos).

Anyone who seriously knows me knows that I almost never self-vote, random vote, or vote for a no-show or low poster (especially this early on) and I've explained multiple times why (removes accountability).

I just want people to talk. Is that so much to ask?

FZ. wrote:

thellama73 wrote:

Mongoose wrote: Been forever since I was in a long game, so I'm excited to get entrenched.

Lynch Mongoose on Day 1.

Can anyone tell me if this back and forth banter between llama and Mongoose a regular thing? Because it seems little like distancing. Something along the lines of : If the two were working together they wouldn't be going at each other like that in a playful obvious way...

MovingPictures07 wrote:

thellama73 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:
So, whom are we going to lynch?

What say you, llama, how about a non-poster?

It's early yet, but I could get behind that. As I've said many times, a non-posting civ is almost as bad as a baddie, so there's not much to lose.

I'm not even sure I will do that, but there's no sense in not discussing it.

Frankly, I thought it was a bit weird that FZ. brought up her point that players could be suspicious for engaging in the contest. It's true baddies could be just as likely to want to win as civvies, but I don't see why that would be any lead whatsoever.

Though I guess it'd be better than randomizing, so.

Can you elaborate on your comment about me, whether you thought it was strange that I thought baddies wanted to win (which is completely not what I said), or the fact that I said the contest made it easier for baddies to blend in and like other said, came off as aggressive?

Because if it's the former, than you just misunderstood and I meant that it's the kind of conversation that helps the baddies blend in, because they can participate without having to fear what they say can be used against them. I think it's pretty obvious.
If it's the latter, it makes me more concerned, because I would expect that comment from people who haven't played with me, not those who have. I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt because it's been a while since we played together, and we didn't play that much, but like llama said, I like to get the game moving early on, and people who know me, know that, and I thought of you as someone who should know that.

As for K4J, you worried me there for a moment, with your comment about how I suspected you for being too serious last game we played together, and now I was being too serious, because I don't think it was like that at all, because I felt someone should mention that this isn't going to lead us anywhere and maybe progress the conversation, but I think I was far from being too serious. But I see you repented, so it makes me feel better about you, because why post that last post if it wasn't genuine (still, after last game, I'm going to be a lot more watchful with you.)

In any case, I have to admit that this is something I struggle with here on TS every game. Too much time of trying to do nothing, and then people either randomly vote, or even worse, self vote, or just vote for the no shows.

Now, I have my eye on someone, but I want to see what that person will say further into the day, so I'll decide who I want to vote for when I come back on Saturday before the deadline. And thanks for making the deadline on Saturday, Russ, it's so much better for me

As to Mongoose and llama: It's normal; they know each other very well and have for quite a while.

As to elaboration, the former, but nonetheless I still think you jumped to that conclusion too early, since at that point it was still really early on in the game and the contest had only been occurring for a short period of time. I know you're eager, but your comment seemed like suspicion mongering to me, like you could use it in the future to set up a nefarious vote against someone because they "blended in" by participating too much in the contest. That was just how I read it in my gut as I was reading through. I know it seems rather in character for you, but I'm just telling you that's how I interpreted a possible intention of yours in that post.

However, I agree with you; way too many people over here random vote or self-vote. Actually, maybe instead of a no-show I'll vote for the first person who random or self-votes.

FZ. wrote:One other thing, I see people pointing fingers at MP for "pushing" for a low poster. I agree that it's too early to decide such a thing, but going after MP for that seems too easy. I always want to vote for those who are not around because I think why the heck sign up if you're not going to play, and it makes it harder for the civs to figure out who is scum. But even though I say it and want it, I usually do it only if I really don't have a reason to vote for someone else. So far, MP hasn't voted...I think. So to me, it seems more like him talking the big talk in order to move the conversation along. Even though I didn't like what he said about me, at the moment, he seems like the person who's moving the game along the most, and for that reason, I think I don't like those who are targeting him. Now I need to go back and see who they were. Damn, this game is too big

Thank you!

I know llama agrees with your "why sign up if you're not going to play?" because he is quite vocal of that and so do I, but I have counterargued with him before that some people have busy RL (I understand after going through tax season), they still want to play, but maybe can't check in with the same kind of frequency as others, or maybe are particularly busy while D0/D1 is happening, so typically I think it makes more sense to vote for a no/low poster later on in the game (or like you said, unless there's honestly nothing else to go on). And let's be honest here, some people just have more talkative game styles than others.

So those are all things to consider.

Russtifinko wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Russtifinko wrote:Actually, I'm going to change this once more. All but 6 players have now checked in, and one of those just got her role a few hours ago. Poll is going up now, followed shortly by the Day 1 post. Note that the Day 1 lynch will actually END SATURDAY, JUST AFTER 4:30pm EST.

Because of the repeated changes to Day 0's schedule, ALL players will be receiving their 100 gold for the Day, regardless of whether they have checked in.

Contest entries will be accepted until I go to bed in about an hour. If you read this later and feel that you had something to contribute to the contest but did not get to participate because of the change, PM me and I will judge your entry on its own merits.

Bah, really? I was going to see what I could come up with tonight, and the contest didn't even last that long. But I suppose since you said we could PM you I still will do so and post mine in the thread and PM them to you.

Yeah, this is a good point. I apologize for all the changes; Day 0 was a bit unorganized for me, figuring out how everything works as a host and such. So I dropped a few balls along the way. One thing was that more people had checked in than I thought, and I read the room as being eager to get on with the game (a sentiment I 100% shared).

I am totally with it now (I think), so it should go more smoothly from here on. Anyway, I agree completely that contest submissions should be posted in-thread and not PMed to me so that all can enjoy. I am also amenable to extending the contest deadline until the end of Day 1 so that everyone had a chance to participate. Let common sense and prudence prevail! So rule I, Host Rsusit.

(By the way, anyone who wants to make nicknames for me is welcome to as well. And though I really can't speak for S~V~S, I doubt she would mind either.)

Yay!!!!!!

And I wasn't trying to undermine you, if you felt so, by the way -- merely expressing my opinion. You've done a great job picking up the hosting ball already! As a longtime host, I truly understand how insane of an amount of effort goes into it.

And I am totally adding you and S~V~S to my list, which I will have to finish later or something because I have to go now... it's slowly getting there.

kneel4justice wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Wow, I really suck at this name thing. Lol.


I know you folks over at KSite are right out of the gates, and I've only played a few games with FZ. so I can't attest to how weird it is, but nonetheless the thought itself struck me as weird -- like it was too forced at pushing the game into a serious direction, instead of letting it happen organically.

That's my ping anyway. It could be right, it could be wrong, maybe I'm full of shit.

I would be glad to hear what others think.

What do you think? Usually you have an opinion by now, don't you?

I've expressed my opinion in that post, it could go either way. I have no real opinion as of right now. I don't have a lot of opinions because the game has yet to take a serious turn and for once I'm not trying to push it because unlike Ksite I find it doesn't work all that well on this site. So I was letting it happen 'organically'.

Touche.

I meant if you had an opinion about anything else (not about FZ., since you did provide it, which I appreciate it). Response appreciated.

I think I seriously might pull a Llama and vote a non-poster if there are still some that haven't shown up by tomorrow. I don't know. I want to see how people react.