The Syndicate

Thanks for a fun game everybody!

It wouldn't be classic mafia without at least four players saying they hate the game and want to quit! Ah, memories...

That G-Man read should say lurky, not lucky^

Well, I have no aversion to giving reads during the night phase, and since there's a non-zero chance that I will be NKed, here's what I have to say about everybody still playing.

bea - No real reason to suspect her, but I inherently don't trust her and her cheerfulness feels a little more forced than what I'm used to. Entirely possible she is bad.

DFaraday - I will be pissed off if he is bad, because never participating and taking advantage of the town tendency not to lynch non-participants is a lame way to play.

DharmaHelper - He's either a good actor or a civilian. His response to almost being lynched yesterday felt real to me.

DrWilgy - I've been reading him as civ, but since he stopped licking people he's kind of disappeared, so I'm prepared to reevaluate.

Elohcin - I think she's good. Her day 1 posts were consistent with what I remember of her pattern of always getting suspected for things that turn out not to be baddie tells, but just the way she is.

G-Man - Again, more lucky than I like to see from him. He's on my radar.

Golden - is behaving more like a Civ than anyone else in the thread.

Kate - Genuinely angry, but that could be for a couple of reasons. I thought DH's point about her being the target of an NK was a good one, and it's possible she's mad she got caught.

thellama73 - Supatown.

Michelle - Not sure. Had her down as a civ fairly early, but it's been long enough that I need to reevaluate.

Quin - Bad, despite what Sloonei says.

Scotty - Participating like hell and being very useful. Either civilian or a very devious villain indeed.

sig - On my radar for being blend.

Sloonei - I feel good about Sloonei after the day 1 result and the nature of his contributions after that.

Vivax 2.0 - Behaving largely the same as before her substitution, which is good, and I had a town read on her predecessor.

Therefore, if I should die before I wake, look at Quin, Bea, Kate, G-Man, and Sig to be possible culprits.

I will not be very active for the rest of the night phase due to social obligations.

Kate seems unhappy, and that's a shame.

Scotty wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 10:19 am
thellama73 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 10:12 am
Kate wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 8:58 am
Sloonei wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 3:12 am … I hope the hosts didn’t go too old school and reinstitute the “only players alive at the end of the game can win” rule.
What?? You can win while dead??
In my day the Mafia won as a team whether alive or dead, but civilians had to be alive to win.
This is a terrible way to play and I’m glad it’s gone.

It…is gone, right? Anyone wanna test it out?

For science?

No. Everything new is terrible and the old ways were best. Just another symptom of our societal decline.

Kate wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 8:58 am
Sloonei wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 3:12 am … I hope the hosts didn’t go too old school and reinstitute the “only players alive at the end of the game can win” rule.
What?? You can win while dead??

In my day the Mafia won as a team whether alive or dead, but civilians had to be alive to win.

bea wrote: ↑Sat Oct 29, 2022 2:12 am Another thing to look into: did we see any evidence of Tangrowth this phase?

Lorab’s posts, though few in number, tended to
Contain a lot of sentences.

Sloonei’s defense of Quin has puzzled me from the start. It’s so full throated and insistent it almost feels like an info hint, but I can’t really believe that it is, nor can I really believe that it is one mafia sticking up for another. I think the most probable answer is that Sloonei is just genuinely convinced and willing to stand by his convictions.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 9:02 pm The question you really ought to be asking is if Llama moved his vote off of me and back onto Quin genuinely or if he did that because he knew he could safely tuck in a vote for his teammate.

My vote was never on you, guy. It was briefly on Lorab.

Kate, ignore Sloonei’s question and answer mine instead. Are you bad?

if

thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:52 pm
Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:46 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:44 pm
Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:41 pm This is going to make solving that Map a huge endeavor

I was out at dinner and got back right at end of day. Just in my reread in the last 30 minutes- that felt like an unnecessarily chaotic end of day. I don’t think I would have switched off LoRab if I had the chance in the moment. But the wagon changing is something to analyze tonite. I wish someone had marked the votes in the last hour and a half or so

I don’t really care about solving the map. I tend to
Think those kinds of puzzles are largely a distraction from baddie hunting.
ZoidbergWhyNotBoth.jpg

Whoops, I butchered that. Let me try again.

Because the players have finite time and attention. The more time that is spent on puzzle solving, the less time is available to spend on reading and rereading the thread, forming theories, making cases, and analyzing voting records.

We already have several people barely participating. I want them focused and on message.

Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:46 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:44 pm
Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:41 pm This is going to make solving that Map a huge endeavor

I was out at dinner and got back right at end of day. Just in my reread in the last 30 minutes- that felt like an unnecessarily chaotic end of day. I don’t think I would have switched off LoRab if I had the chance in the moment. But the wagon changing is something to analyze tonite. I wish someone had marked the votes in the last hour and a half or so
Because the players have finite time and attention. The more time that is spent on puzzle solving, the less time is available to spend on reading and rereading the thread, forming theories, making cases, and analyzing voting records.

We already have several people barely participating. I want them focused and on message.

I don’t really care about solving the map. I tend to
Think those kinds of puzzles are largely a distraction from baddie hunting.
ZoidbergWhyNotBoth.jpg

Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:41 pm This is going to make solving that Map a huge endeavor

I was out at dinner and got back right at end of day. Just in my reread in the last 30 minutes- that felt like an unnecessarily chaotic end of day. I don’t think I would have switched off LoRab if I had the chance in the moment. But the wagon changing is something to analyze tonite. I wish someone had marked the votes in the last hour and a half or so

I don’t really care about solving the map. I tend to
Think those kinds of puzzles are largely a distraction from baddie hunting.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:58 pm @Vivax @thellama73 Quin wagon is dead. Choose Lorab or DH if you are around.

Also, I wanted to say that this attitude is why we don’t have a viable third party in the United States. You’re everything that’s wrong with democracy, Sloonei.

See what happens when you don’t listen to me and vote for Quin?

Well that’s not ideal.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:58 pm @Vivax @thellama73 Quin wagon is dead. Choose Lorab or DH if you are around.

No.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:33 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:32 pm I have to say, DH is (finally) saying some things that make him sound a little more trustworthy to me. I would rather we lynch someone else today.
"Guys we fucked up lol he's right the bus was too obvious shit shit shit"

Well, that's gratitude for you.

I have to say, DH is (finally) saying some things that make him sound a little more trustworthy to me. I would rather we lynch someone else today.

On the other hand, it's possible that the mafia chose to OT a low posting player because they wanted to avoid giving civ cred to a high poster who might otherwise get themselves lynched.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:20 pm
Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:19 pm
DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:14 pm Kate is the most suspicious me vote, is what I'll say.
Why?
Because if I were mafia and I had the ability to take out someone's on topic discussions for a whole phase I would not waste it on Kate unless she was my teammate and asked me to do it and I wanted to keep her from being lynched for being inactive.

That is a very astute point that hadn't previous occurred to me.

We should get some useful data from this, whatever happens.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 7:07 pm Very cool and not at all obvious EOD bandwagon to save a mafia teammate though guys great job.

It is an interestingly sudden shift, I grant you.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:58 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:53 pm Only weak ones. After Quin, the people I am most uneasy about are probably DH, sig, bea, and G-Man (undecided on Lorab but willing to give her a pass for today.) I'm reading everyone else as pretty civ, except for DFaraday who I have no read on, because he never posts.
Can I get the bullet points of why you’re uneasy about all those folks?

Sure.
DH: Chatty, passive aggressive, posting lots of ISO's that don't say a whole lot, seems perpetually irritated and aggrieved, hasn't said anything to make me trust him.

sig: Got called out as mafia on Day 0, briefly garnered suspicion, but escaped any serious danger of being lynched. Since that time has largely disappeared into the background, possibly to avoid being noticed again.

bea: I never really trust her because I think she is great at maintaining the same demeanor regardless of alignment. That being said, her cheerfulness feels slightly more forced this game. I may be imagining it.

G-Man: Has some (I assume) legitimate real-life obstacles to being active, but his play feels on autopilot compared to what I remember from the old days. He pops in with an occasionally "golden the coward", but hasn't really contributed anything of substance. Might be hiding.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:56 pm And I thought not reading my posts was the most transparently fake reason for suspecting me

Not reading your posts wasn't a reason I suspected you. It was just mental self-preservation.

DrWilgy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:52 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:51 pm
DrWilgy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:48 pm @Golden move your vote to DH. Let's make this a spicy boi
[VOTE: DH] aubergine

I fully intended to move it back, I just moved it away to take the heat of DH and let him get thoughts in the thread that weren't dominated by defending against me.
O7

Good job soldier.

I'll probably save LoRab last second.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:53 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:51 pm
DrWilgy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:48 pm @Golden move your vote to DH. Let's make this a spicy boi
[VOTE: DH] aubergine

I fully intended to move it back, I just moved it away to take the heat of DH and let him get thoughts in the thread that weren't dominated by defending against me.
Stunning. Stellar job.

These posts are 50 seconds apart and say almost the same thing. It's possible DH saw Wilgy's post and responded in exactly the same way in mockery in a very short amount of time.

It's also possible that there is some parallel thinking going on that would be a bit

Sloonei wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:46 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:44 pm Cranky Lorab feels like a frustrated civ to me, as does Golden's little tantrum earlier. I'm happy with my vote.
Do you have any off-the-radar suspects who we have not spent much tome talking about?

Only week ones. After Quin, the people I am most uneasy about are probably DH, sig, bea, and G-Man (undecided on Lorab but willing to give her a pass for today.) I'm reading everyone else as pretty civ, except for DFaraday who I have no read on, because he never posts.

Cranky Lorab feels like a frustrated civ to me, as does Golden's little tantrum earlier. I'm happy with my vote.

Golden wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:36 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:29 pm
LoRab wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:20 pm You know what I love--players telling me how I should play the game. Seriously. It's my favorite. Almost as much as when people say that civvies deserved to be lynched.
You should have used sarcastic orange for this.
Sarcastic orange is dead

Good. I always hated it. Jokes are not funny if you have to explain that they are jokes.

LoRab wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 6:20 pm You know what I love--players telling me how I should play the game. Seriously. It's my favorite. Almost as much as when people say that civvies deserved to be lynched.

You should have used sarcastic orange for this.

Spacedaisy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:47 pm Attention Non-Players!!!
You are not allowed to vote for any option in the poll except Host/Non/Mod unless a Host specifically instructed you otherwise.

But they are voting with me. Don't take this away from me. It's all I have!

LoRab wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:24 pm When one is being suspected and has to defend one's self, one has less time to come up with reads.

False. That is when you should have the most time to come up with reads, because you can't defend yourself by saying "trust me I'm good!" The best defense is a good offense, or in other words, coming up with a suspect who makes more sense than you do.

Yay I'm in a tier of my own.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 5:00 pm
Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:59 pm Like…if you were to take the energy you’re putting into this guffawing and defensive hullabaloo you’re dishing out and put it into reading the game at large, I think we’d all be more productive
I think this might be the funniest thing I've read all day.

I'm not responsible for the threads productivity.

We all know DFaraday is responsible for that.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:55 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:51 pm
Golden wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:49 pm I encourage others to do a DH iso.
Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me at all if DH is mafia, so I approve of you bringing attention to him. Maybe I'll even vote with you if you're nice to me.
Which of my posts haven't you read that drew you to this conclusion?

I haven't read any of your posts. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Golden wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:49 pm I encourage others to do a DH iso.

Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me at all if DH is mafia, so I approve of you bringing attention to him. Maybe I'll even vote with you if you're nice to me.

Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 4:46 pm You’re fine to vote for Quin, it just felt silly to shake your finger at her and then kick the guy who already…also..has a wagon.

I've never claimed not to be silly.

G-Man wrote: ↑Wed Oct 26, 2022 9:21 pm Veering into a tough 48-hour stretch for RL (tomorrow night is Trick-or-Treat and Friday is my wife's 40th birthday), but I will do my best to go behind my wife's back and ignore my children enough to participate a bit wherever possible.

RIP Splints. At least we know that, with 3P Vivax gone, it's just civ-vs-mafia, so maybe Splints can get rezzed when we come to that. I'm going to ignore my work and try to re-read some of the eod weirdness for anything that stands out.

I wanted to go back and see the last time G-Man posted because it feels like he's been gone forever. I see he has real life issues, but I'm tempted to vote for him just for the blasphemy of trick or treating on October 27 instead of the 31st.

Scotty wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 3:52 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 11:38 am You know what, I changed my mind. [VOTE: Quin] aubergine
…what? That’s some weird logical leaps. That’s like having a terrible meal at restaurant, jumping to your feet and explaining in outrage “this food is disgusting!” Then paying with a 30% tip and coming back the next day for lunch.

Allow me to elaborate. The Lorab vote was starting to feel kind of wagony to me, and then she came in and was so ridiculously unhelpful that it made me wonder whether a baddie who was leading the lynch poll wouldn't try harder to muster some kind of a defense. Also, my suspicion of Quin is older and more deeply rooted in my brain, so I want to follow it and see where it leads.

Sloonei, I appreciate you elaborating on your town read of Quin. I think it is sincere. However, I don't see those things as obviously indicative of alignment as you do. For example, remembering patters from a previous game is something anyone can do, not just civilians. So my vote stays on Quin for the time being, but I didn't want you to think your input was being ignored.

You know what, I changed my mind. [VOTE: Quin] aubergine

LoRab wrote: ↑Fri Oct 28, 2022 10:18 am Indeed, I don’t have many reads. It’s day frigging 2 and I haven’t played in a while. Also, I tend to think more about mechanics than read early in games. Mainly because my reads on people come largely from pattern recognition of individual’s posts, which takes time.

"I don't have reads because it's day 2" is so unhelpful. We do not have unlimited time to find the Mafia. Every day that we lynch wrong makes it easier for them to win. "I'll just wait until Day six or seven to hunt baddies" is not an option. Most of the people doing the hunting will have been night killed by then.

If you want to play the game, you need to start playing it, because otherwise you are effectively working for the baddies regardless of your actual alignment.

Scotty wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:59 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:57 pm
Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:53 pm If eloh and I are both town, the mafiers had a very relaxing end of Day 1.
This is my contention, and part of why I think they are taking it easy right now.
Let’s put some pressure on them then.

Vote LoRab with me. She says she is going to post more, and we’re now less than half the day left, and she won’t give reads.

Or vote Quin, who is content to just shrug about everything.

Okay. [VOTE: Lorab] aubergine

I note that Quin has also voted Lorab. Bussing would not surprise me if she flips bad.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:53 pm If eloh and I are both town, the mafiers had a very relaxing end of Day 1.

This is my contention, and part of why I think they are taking it easy right now.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:24 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 9:02 pm
Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:59 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:55 pm I continue to believe that the mafia are largely being quiet in order to let the civ devour themselves.
Is there anything specific that makes you feel this way?
Mainly just experience. It's a smart and historically effective strategy for them. If we are on the wrong track, what reason would they have to be super active and provide us with lots of chances to catch them in a slip up? There are some players (like Epignosis, for example) who can't help themselves and are always active even when they are mafia, but not many of those folks are in this game. DH is one who I would expect to be active even as mafia. But it's just a sense I'm getting from the general vibe of the thread and the players.
Unfortunately I think a lot of players have moved toward that Epi mold in recent years. Controlling the narrative is more important than sitting idly by and hoping civilians don’t find each other. Several players in this game would likely have moderate-to-high volume posts regardless of alignment: Golden, Scotty, Michelle, NAA, Quin, myself.

And yet Quin demonstrably hasn't.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:59 pm
thellama73 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:55 pm I continue to believe that the mafia are largely being quiet in order to let the civ devour themselves.
Is there anything specific that makes you feel this way?

Mainly just experience. It's a smart and historically effective strategy for them. If we are on the wrong track, what reason would they have to be super active and provide us with lots of chances to catch them in a slip up? There are some players (like Epignosis, for example) who can't help themselves and are always active even when they are mafia, but not many of those folks are in this game. DH is one who I would expect to be active even as mafia. But it's just a sense I'm getting from the general vibe of the thread and the players.

Sorry for the double post. Site was glitching.

Scotty wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:51 pm You currently have LoRab and Quin as your top contenders for mafia.

Those are my top 2 candidates right now too.

Can you better explain what you find suspicious about LoRab or have I missed it?

I continue to believe that the mafia are largely being quiet in order to let the civ devour themselves. I don't have much specific dirt on Lorab, but she is one of the quieter ones without an excuse of a) being cursed or b) it being totally in character (like with DFaraday.) My reasoning for Quin is similar because I remember him being quite an active player generally, and his lack of participation this game seems super suspicious.

Scotty wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:51 pm You currently have LoRab and Quin as your top contenders for mafia.

Those are my top 2 candidates right now too.

Can you better explain what you find suspicious about LoRab or have I missed it?

I continue to believe that the mafia are largely being quiet in order to let the civ devour themselves. I don't have much specific dirt on Lorab, but she is one of the quieter ones without an excuse of a) being cursed or b) it being totally in character (like with DFaraday.) My reasoning for Quin is similar because I remember him being quite an active player generally, and his lack of participation this game seems super suspicious.

Scotty wrote: ↑Thu Oct 27, 2022 8:50 pm Your logic checks out, llama. Carry on my wayward alpaca

I know you meant well, but confusing me with an alpaca is a terrible way to win my favor.

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