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mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 8:13 am
by dunya
i wanna get better at mechanical game solving in mafia and wanna spectate more games that rely heavily on mechanics but in a balanced setting. i feel like this is a glaring weakness in me and while i've played several with heavy mechanics on like NF (mostly bastard games tho), my eyes still glaze over when we get deep and dirty into mechanics talk.
if you have a game starting like that or ongoing, please let me know. if you have tips, also please let me know. thx.
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:52 pm
by JaggedJimmyJay
It’s an aspect of Mafia that we don’t always practice around here, given our penchant for claimless games. Even when claims are legal there is still some hesitance to *do it*, and mechanical solves either never come or are significantly delayed. We also don’t tend to run HEAVILY mechanical games. The influence of sites like HeroClix Realms, Naruto Forums, and Mafia 451 on our own games can be beneficial in that way.
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:27 pm
by Urist
Yeah, mech solves come more often with open games. There is a recently finished game with a mech solve on 451, DM me if you want the link.
To increase your odds of winning (or to find the mechanically correct play), it's a good idea to start by laying out your options. At the start of every game day, ask yourself what would happen if each of the roles claimed. How many investigative results can you expect? Can you infer what the results would be by the fact that they haven't already claimed? How many more results can they expect to get before being nk'd, and is one more result worth risking all their existing results? Is it advantageous to sleep (no-tk)? If you have a night kill, should you use it? Is there any way to force mafia to counterclaim into a 50/50?
If someone else comes up with a solve, try to poke holes in it. If you follow the solve, is there a course the mafia can take to subvert it? What happens if one of the claimants is mafia? Try to understand how and why the solve works. I think that a lot of solves are game-specific, so it's difficult to give general tips on how to approach game-solving, but I hope the above helps.
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:23 am
by Epignosis
To me Mech solving means using the PPC or an array of rocket launchers.
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:31 pm
by protocultures
Epignosis wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:23 am
To me Mech solving means using the PPC or an array of rocket launchers.
Does "Steiner scout lance" bring a smile on your face?
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 10:46 am
by Epignosis
protocultures wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:31 pm
Epignosis wrote: ↑Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:23 am
To me Mech solving means using the PPC or an array of rocket launchers.
Does "Steiner scout lance" bring a smile on your face?
Gives a new meaning to "Atlas Shrugged."
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2020 11:02 am
by dunya
Urist wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:27 pm
Yeah, mech solves come more often with open games. There is a recently finished game with a mech solve on 451, DM me if you want the link.
To increase your odds of winning (or to find the mechanically correct play), it's a good idea to start by laying out your options. At the start of every game day, ask yourself what would happen if each of the roles claimed. How many investigative results can you expect? Can you infer what the results would be by the fact that they haven't already claimed? How many more results can they expect to get before being nk'd, and is one more result worth risking all their existing results? Is it advantageous to sleep (no-tk)? If you have a night kill, should you use it? Is there any way to force mafia to counterclaim into a 50/50?
If someone else comes up with a solve, try to poke holes in it. If you follow the solve, is there a course the mafia can take to subvert it? What happens if one of the claimants is mafia? Try to understand how and why the solve works. I think that a lot of solves are game-specific, so it's difficult to give general tips on how to approach game-solving, but I hope the above helps.
this is awesome and exactly what i was looking for, thanks!
can you dm the link on discord or here?
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:54 pm
by Dragon D. Luffy
Hosting lots of (role heavy) games can help. At this point I've probably seem every classic mafia role succeed or fail in various ways, and some of this knowledge can help when I'm playing.
Re: mechanical solving - i wanna get better
Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 12:16 pm
by Alison
My take is that an easy way to get better in mechanical solving as mafia is to play a lot of mechanics-heavy games. It doesn't have to be mafia. Secret Hitler would work (SH relies less on reads and a lot on mechanics). Even stuff like strategy video games can work.