The Syndicate

So remember when I said DH is playing different from last game and you guys didn't believe me?

I only subbed out because my grandfather was awfully sick, and then went on to pass away a few hours after I subbed out.

I guess 1 game meta can be a thing for me or at least I know have an exhibit A.

I guess part of me wants to take some credit for shaping how DH played.

But yeah, he was a bit more aggro or less caring in some ways as compared to the previous game.

Not sure, if I should congratulate you, DH, sure I put you as a light town at some point, but that was to appease the others, I was still hella suspicious of you and that's also why I jailkept you n1.

I discovered that reverse mind melds don't exist, as Long Con saying he melded with me didn't turn out to be the same alignment.

Poutanko was obvious to me, or just has a stark different playstyle than when town.

Jack and Inh, I couldn't make out if they usually played like that or if that was their personality. I read timmer town for personality thing or something I felt most people would say more often as town than mafia, but idk.

In hindsight, it looks like I had found a slip of the mind from Jack. Inh, I think I kind of ignored him, but I probably should have realized he was bad.

But yeah, you guys need to have graveyards over here when there aren't rez abilities in the game or when all the rez abilities are gone.

I ended up chatting with DDL about what my reads were as I was kind of still following the game near the end.

I guess the picture tell on kara was a personality picture not an alignment indicative thing. But I'm glad the popcorn eating tell might still be legit over here.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:31 am

Owner of a Lonely Heart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:25 am So remember when I said DH is playing different from last game and you guys didn't believe me?

I only subbed out because my grandfather was awfully sick, and then went on to pass away a few hours after I subbed out.

I guess 1 game meta can be a thing for me or at least I know have an exhibit A.

I guess part of me wants to take some credit for shaping how DH played.

But yeah, he was a bit more aggro or less caring in some ways as compared to the previous game.

Sorry to hear about your grandfather.

You'll never get me to concede that you understand my meta or that I have a meta. You're still cool though

Oddly enough, you aren't the first 3p/indie that I've caught day 1 before. You are maybe the 4th one. But it does explain why you more in my face about defending yourself, as no one else particularly had your back. And since you were pressured so early, that might have prevented you from slipping up later. Or it's kind of like when a mafia dies day 1, but the team pulls together and wins later on, as that had no more room for error.

Or it could be forum bias? Well, whatever it is, congrats on nearly fooling everyone.

I still couldn't believe all those cop checks that weren't questioned in "closed setup mafia game". I don't care what the check says; the game should not be mechanically solvable.

And there shouldn't be a way to be immune to death. (I guess Harry Potter lore would argue with me, but still, it doesn't feel right in a mafia game...imo.)

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:48 am I think that catching an independent player purely on behavioral data is a very muddy endeavor since the primary motivator of behavioral change between games is the presence or lack of extra information (known teammates or unknown). The capacity to genuinely hunt for mafia is one of the most important benefits anti-civilian roles can enjoy -- it's as pronounced in games with multiple mafia teams (and in many cases renders those games outright unbalanced, which I would not say this game was).

I didn't think he was an indie at the time. But he was playing differently in some regard. Generally, when I have caught 3p in the past, it has been for reading far into something that is generally read differently than how others are reading it. It is like they are trying too hard to push a world. Sometimes there is some proof or reason to it, but one first read through, no one else is seeing it that way.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:47 am

Owner of a Lonely Heart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:44 am Or it could be forum bias? Well, whatever it is, congrats on nearly fooling everyone.

Thanks, and I look forward to finding out the reason you suspect me the next game we play together

I don't know if I'm playing here again. Yeah, I could have talked to dunya about it, but I was thinking of quitting a few times before the family emergency. I guess I'm of the opinion that I shouldn't need to talk to someone to get through a game.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:04 am

Owner of a Lonely Heart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:01 am

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:47 am

Owner of a Lonely Heart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 1:44 am Or it could be forum bias? Well, whatever it is, congrats on nearly fooling everyone.

Thanks, and I look forward to finding out the reason you suspect me the next game we play together

I don't know if I'm playing here again. Yeah, I could have talked to dunya about it, but I was thinking of quitting a few times before the family emergency. I guess I'm of the opinion that I shouldn't need to talk to someone to get through a game.

I hope its not anything I did. You're a fun player. All the best

At this point, I don't know what triggered it. It could be you and inh, or it could have been something else. I guess somewhere I felt belittled or that my reads didn't matter or no one was listening or who knows what.

I guess it just seemed a bit rougher than what I'm used to or something.

[mention]DharmaHelper[/mention] one thing to be aware of you were far too happy or not phased by multiple townies dying. Nutella had the correct townie response to multiple townies dying, but then you on the other hand "thought it to be good news". It's one thing to say it's good news about narrowing down suspicions, but when there's 1 to none mafia deaths and like 3 townies die, your mood is a dead give away.

Luckily for you, that didn't matter this game. But if I was alive and hadn't subbed out, that would have been maybe something I might have seen or looked at.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:19 am Obviously you and I were never in this game at the same time and I’m sorry this was your experience of the game, and it’s unfortunate to have subbed in under these circumstances. I hope that you’ll give us another chance. I can only speak for myself, but in my time on the Syndicate I’ve felt like this community is one of the most respectful and inclusive of any I’ve come across, online or otherwise.

From a purely philosophical/strategic point of view, every single player’s voice and opinions matter just the same in the balance of the game. Things can’t be solved in full if we’re not all weighing in and hearing each other out, ideally speaking.

And I hope that your emergency has cleared up and all is well.

My grandfather passed away at 91 years old. He had pneumonia, a stroke, and got a little bit better. But then landed back the hospital with double pneumonia and died in the evening of the same day. I got to see him some before he died. I went to his funeral, and I know he is in a better place right now.

I felt bad for you. Generally, I don't like to replace out as I know the chaos that I'll leave behind, and most times whoever subs into my slot can't fill the shoes as well or defend against whatever I previously said. I'm thankful that you didn't get mislynched though.

Sloonei wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:22 am

Owner of a Lonely Heart wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 2:17 am @DharmaHelper one thing to be aware of you were far too happy or not phased by multiple townies dying. Nutella had the correct townie response to multiple townies dying, but then you on the other hand "thought it to be good news". It's one thing to say it's good news about narrowing down suspicions, but when there's 1 to none mafia deaths and like 3 townies die, your mood is a dead give away.

Luckily for you, that didn't matter this game. But if I was alive and hadn't subbed out, that would have been maybe something I might have seen or looked at.

This was not a thing I paid any attention to, so things might have gone better if you stayed.

I never gave any thought to lynching DH because there was no chance at all he was a Death Eater. I wanted to catch them, and he was not one of them. Then I easentially gave myself up by opting to protect him rather than use my Thestral the night I died.

The night in question was the night you died so maybe or maybe not.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:00 pm Yikes. although that is good news since it actually narrows who could be Jack's teammate pretty significantly.

The yikes was good, but the rest of it was not a "defeated townie" or "depressed voice". DH did say though that was just about untouchable at this point.

MacDougall wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:04 pm Well. I was wrong about Quin then. At least I was right about Kara.

I assume vigs killed Quin and Kara and Mafia killed Sloonei because he had his solving hat on maybe. Or a redirection.

Leaves Colin standing out pretty starkly now.

This seemed okay from Mac. I was maybe giving him a slight town read for it.

DharmaHelper wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:51 pm

on another tangent, I kind of thought this seemed scummy.

nutella wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 5:06 pm

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 3:54 pm

Forest of Death

The students formed searching parties to find Jack. Someone saw the vapor-thing which was what was left of him go to the Forbidden Forest.

(Actually this is the kind of thing teachers should be doing, but have adults ever been useful in this universe?)

The search parties entered the forest. It was full of the most interesting magical creatures, from centaurs, to giant spiders, to unicorns. But the most dangerous creatures in there were certainly the humans.

It wasn't long before a scream was heard. One of the nearby search parties, formed by two students, moved to the direction of the scream. In there, they saw the body of Kara.

- What... just happened?
- You are about to join her. Avada Kedavra.

Sloonei fell to the ground, dead.

Quin, who had heard the scream, grabbed his invisibility cloak. He had to hide away and escape. If whoever was killing people was looking for the cloak, he had to protect it.

But someone had seen him first. And his artifact was something worth killing for.

Quin disappeared for the last time.

karavalenge, Quin and Sloonei (Hogwarts Students) were killed during the night.

Day 6 Begins!

....Well fuck.

[VOTE: colin] aubergine

Clear sign of defeat or frustration vs. DH's post that seems kind of happy

Aww, I just realized I could have used the 3p make a lot of posts tell...derp...missed opportunity.

Soneji wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 5:16 pm

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 4:07 pm

Soneji wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 3:24 pm

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Thu Nov 22, 2018 7:53 am

Soneji wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 10:36 pm

Dragon D. Luffy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:36 pm

nutella wrote: ↑Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:28 pm

you did an amazing job!!! just looking at the list of night actions I'm stressed out lol, it's really an incredible feat that you handled this game by yourself and sorted everything out.

I've been through worse. Favorites 4, one of my first games, had 58 players, bigger roles, 24 hour phases and some very poor communication between me and the other host ( @Soneji ). After that mayhem, everything feels like a cakewalk. It's just a matter of having a template and being organized.

Will I ever escape the shame of this?

It's not a shame brah, that game was super fun.

For me it's more like the initial action scene of a movie where the hero tries to invade the villain's lair but gets his ass kicked. So he has to start over and train so he has a chance of going there again some day.

It's more that it should have been the uncontested GOAT role madness game due to how brilliant it's design was but faltered due to procrastination and miscommunication. Best mafia faction bonuses, a solid set of indies including GOAT HAL-9000, a varied array of unique town roles.

...I want to do another Favorites.

I submitted a draft for Favorites here once, we could try to co-host it. Problem is you are not getting more than 30-35 players here, at best. But could be a cool way to approach it, like do quality over quantity and make global mechanics that integrate better.

Alternatively you can try to see if iwandesu will let you co-host with him next year.

Co-hosting Favorites on NF is just a given now.

Is The Syndicate really ready for Favorites? Did this game prepare them enough?

I would maybe like to try modding or co-modding a favorites game sometime, but maybe that would be on my home site. I'm not really good at day actions or most of my games fall into the category of having night actions only.