The Syndicate

juliets wrote:I don't think I'll play another game like this because my lack of knowledge on these terms and ways of playing was a real hindrance. I'm sorry it was so annoying for you watchers. I don't think you understand how stressful this last day was.

Quite the opposite - you were post-nutella MVP in my opinion.

juliets wrote:I don't think I'll play another game like this because my lack of knowledge on these terms and ways of playing was a real hindrance. I'm sorry it was so annoying for you watchers. I don't think you understand how stressful this last day was.

You weren't annoying; much of the stress translated into the spectator chat too! The chat was also spoiled, so people in there have a very easy standpoint to become frustrated when something they know to be wrong might come to fruition. That's Mafia.

You played a hell of a game juliets and you should be proud of it. What you and MP faced in this final phase was one of the tougher situations a civilian can encounter -- you entered leaning toward one suspect, and after careful deliberation and consideration you changed your mind. Correctly. I spent most of this phase expecting Strawhenge to be lynched because it was simply the easier choice to make. He had fewer posts, his role claim could be questioned, and his opposition (speedchuck) was pouring content into the thread. That's not an easy switch and it's extremely impressive that the two of you were able to manage it.

I really think that 80-90% of civilians in that position get it wrong. Hold your head very high.

I wasn't informed of the Spectator chat until Day 6. I'm glad that it turned up a very strong presence from non-players and deadies alike though.

My favorite thing about this game was that it brought together players from all over the Internet, unintentionally, into a boiling and chaotic environment which still remained always respectful and welcoming. It was so great to play with everyone here that I've never played with before or only played with a little bit. I'm going to say a little bit about each of the players in the game:

insertnamehere -- Bad luck. Dyslexicon was a good choice for your role I think, because given the WIFOMy approach they appreciate they were a good bet for long-term survival. The late-game explosion wasn't something you could readily control.

sig -- I wish we'd known you better. Let it be stated that the civilians made only one lynch in this game of a member of their own team, and this was it. Sorry for the generic siglynch, one of these days we'll finally know better.

Marmot -- I think you also suffered a little bad luck, because that Day 2 lynch developed late in a way that is very difficult to contain. You asked about the interactive analyses: I found them to be mostly inconclusive. You do well to reveal little. The most I got was some strengthened town reads like Sloonei said. You didn't out your teammates.

Soneji -- You did well in the time leading up to your demise in that you accelerated your play to get with the pace when it was most necessary. I think your post count jumped by about 30 in your final 24 hours of life. I appreciate the effort to forge onward.

Quin -- I'm glad you were town. I was annoyed at myself for giving you town credit in my mafia interactive analyses after you'd flipped mafia, it felt like another sound Quin duping effort. You've proven that you can look quite like a civilian and not be one, so take the continued suspicion and acceptance of your false flip as a compliment.

Long Con -- I enjoyed your gambit-oriented behavior in this game. That kind of thing doesn't always work, but it can, and it is usually good to sow confusion either way. It was bad luck that I'd tracked you on the night you claimed to pass along the gun, and you weren't truly cooked until we clarified a host detail.

Jackofhearts -- I really appreciate it when a civilian is drawing ill-advised suspicion, and even made a likely target for a kill by another civilian, and they keep their head on straight. That is really a rare talent in this game, and it shows me that you really understand the value of sacrifice and teamwork. Your role being revealed was the first clue we had that some explosions might be coming later, and you made some sound reads that weren't necessarily en vogue when you made them. Keep on playing with us, you're great to have around.

Silver Lantern -- Don't sweat the errant shot. You were the one shouldered with that responsibility and I don't blame you for it. What you did well in this game was promote yourself as a scumhunter; it enabled a few of us to view you in a good light so you could have room to operate. That's not always easy. I hope to see you here more; I think your effort-minded town play definitely has a place on any good team and it'd make you a scary bad guy.

DrWilgy -- What can ya do. I've been victimized by friendly fire very early in a recent game myself; shit happens. You always play with the right attitude and it's a relief to those who have the wrong idea about your alignment sometimes.

Golden -- This was the first time that you and I have been on 100% directly opposing sides since Economics (with GY!BE being kind of applicable). That's hard to believe. The way you meant to play off of Quin and his false flip was creative, and had you not exploded it may have been successful. I dunno, it's a bummer you didn't have the opportunity to see it through.

Sloonei -- You turned my top suspect of Day 1 into one of my top town reads of Day 2. Thank you for that. I am sure the scum team wasn't pleased when a relatively lynchable target was replaced with you, always the effortful and convincing civilian. You also clearly played an important role in the first scum lynch, and your early reads were very good.

speedchuck -- I can't say enough about the way you played in this game, sir. To win as a last-man standing independent requires as much pure luck as strong play (I'd know, being the luckiest serial killer of all time recently). You came as close as one can come, and that is to be commended. Everyone realizes how hard that situation is, and even if you didn't technically "win", this was clearly a game in which you played winning Mafia. I hope to see you around here more often, you're off to a stellar start.

nutella -- I said it before: you're becoming a very potent civilian. Don't doubt yourself on that, and don't attribute it to blind luck. This isn't the first time I have seen you put together a fantastic civilian effort in recent memory. It's been awesome to watch your confidence grow, and it has been reflected in your success. You're doing things the right way and I encourage you to keep it up.

Scotty -- "I'm a fucking stump" is a sentence that has replayed in my head a number of times. Given that I know you hadn't seen that role before, it's hilarious to me that you'd get it and feel that way about it. Also, you handled the role very well -- you earned the credit it could have given you merely by claiming it, which meant you didn't have to use it and suffer the disadvantages.

MovingPictures07 -- We all greatly appreciate you stepping in, even if it meant succumbing to your addiction. You obviously found yourself in a very difficult position in the end, and you found a way to come through. Bravo sir, and take pride in what you accomplished.

juliets -- I've already said some, but I'll add this: in the final phase, when nerves were running high and the other civilians were struggling to find their footing -- you were the calming influence they needed to sort themselves. I know that you also felt the same nerves and stress, but you still played that phase with the sort of leadership that so many towns lack in that kind of situation. That's why our faction won this game.

Dyslexicon -- You're as fun as they come, and I was so thrilled to be able to play a game with you after having hosted you in the scrimmage last year. You bring an unorthodox methodology to the table, and you use it effectively in a way that both benefits you and is entertaining. That's something I lack -- I am the most boring player! I hope to see more of you, you're a great fit here.

Fredwood -- I was wrong about my reads on you at pretty much every turn! I read you strongly as a civilian and later I read you strongly as an independent, and all along you were neither. Hats off to you for that, and for a game well-played. You outlived your teammates in part due to your own tenacity under consistent pressure from a number of sources. Keep on playing with us!

Strawhenge -- I'm so glad you played, pal. It's been too long, and combining your presence with the general makeup of this game it felt like old times on RYM. You definitely picked a good game to return to Mafia with. I know you didn't have the time you thought you'd have, but you still put up a lot of posts and made the best effort you could. It was worth exactly as much as winning the game in the final phase. Take pride.

Nachomamma8 -- I'm still cranky that you were killed so early. I was stoked to play a game with you, especially given that we were both civilians. I think we'd play off each other very effectively, and apparently the mafia team didn't want that to happen. Stick around!

Can I say, I think Soneji is one of the most underrated players going. He's been lynched as both a baddie and town for his odd surging posting style, but in this game I felt like he was mislynched (even though he was bad). He was OUR best choice of lynch (baddie team) for wifom purposes, if the forge had worked.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:Marmot -- I think you also suffered a little bad luck, because that Day 2 lynch developed late in a way that is very difficult to contain. You asked about the interactive analyses: I found them to be mostly inconclusive. You do well to reveal little. The most I got was some strengthened town reads like Sloonei said. You didn't out your teammates.

I had bad luck with timing too. I thought this game would start well before Game of Champions would, it didn't. I also thought that the crazy game over on NF would take a while to fill up, but they cut 10 roles and started early instead. These three games starting right around the same time isn't quite what I signed up for.


I also want to see what Soneji plays like as a civilian. Haven't got much of that from him.

Did I do wrong?

Long Con wrote:Did I do wrong?

No. Please never change.

Congrats juliets and the lylo civ gang! Lylo's ae tight drama, so I'm sure it's very rewarding for you to have pulled it off. Tough luck speedchuck, but it also looks like a great run, to have gotten this close. Congrats on your first hosting experience here, sprityo, your game looked power heavy and intriguing, looking forward to your next ones. Everyone coloured green in your role reveals is a winner, correct?

Ricochet wrote:Congrats juliets and the lylo civ gang! Lylo's ae tight drama, so I'm sure it's very rewarding for you to have pulled it off. Tough luck speedchuck, but it also looks like a great run, to have gotten this close. Congrats on your first hosting experience here, sprityo, your game looked power heavy and intriguing, looking forward to your next ones. Everyone coloured green in your role reveals is a winner, correct?

Correct

Thank you JJJ for making me feel better.

And again, special thanks for those of you from other sites who played this game. I hope you'll stick around and play some more (I think you already are speed, yay!)

nutella wrote:Everyone seemed to ignore that post of LC's though. Even when you were all discussing the weird mafia ratio numbers, it never occurred to you that one of them might have been a fake flip.

Something like a fake flip can be argued to almost reach bastard levels in a closed setup like this. In my wildest dreams I'd have never seriously thought there's a forger/seemer type role in any game until given reason to. Role flips are one of the few solid pieces of evidence in the game. I don't think anyone had any reason to question that until we saw the Forge flip; thereafter, speculating which roles might have been forged or not can be an exercise in futility.

It was a really neat mechanic, but yeah, I think there's way too much random speculation and WIFOM in guessing all of that even once it's clear that a seemer/forger mechanic exists. Thankfully sprityo apparently balanced this game well.

Sloonei wrote:MP deserves some props. He subbed into this game late, had virtually no time to get caught up, but still managed to bring a clear head to the end-game lynch and made the right call. That was a lot of fun to watch.

Thanks bud, I appreciate it. It was really tough, and I certainly wasn't expecting to make it to a tense endgame. But even though I gave into my addiction when perhaps I shouldn't have, I'm really glad I did and was able to help you all secure a win. So many townies worked so hard for this one. I'm glad to have been such an incredibly small part of it.

juliets wrote:I don't think I'll play another game like this because my lack of knowledge on these terms and ways of playing was a real hindrance. I'm sorry it was so annoying for you watchers. I don't think you understand how stressful this last day was.

Trust me, you did much better than I did. You rocked this game with sheer effort. We absolutely wouldn't have won without you. I definitely wouldn't let any unfamiliarity with any prospective setup keep you from playing anything in the future.

Golden wrote:

juliets wrote:I don't think I'll play another game like this because my lack of knowledge on these terms and ways of playing was a real hindrance. I'm sorry it was so annoying for you watchers. I don't think you understand how stressful this last day was.

Quite the opposite - you were post-nutella MVP in my opinion.

Agreed completely.

Honestly, this game has me thinking about Best Civilian 2017 for Sockys already. nutella and juliets fucking rocked it. speedchuck rocked it as an independent. And as Jay mentioned, so did nearly everybody from all the factions. This really seems as though it was a special game with everyone firing on all cylinders. I really got invested by the end myself despite being so unacquainted with it.

Last spam post for now. I just wanted to say that I cannot express how much I appreciate seeing these kinds of posts from you, Jay, as well as from others. Mafia is inherently such a tense game because it's built around deception, then throw in spending tons of effort/time in there, and it can make for a dangerous combo. But an incredibly fun one, especially when everyone remains civil and respectful. Honestly I enjoy many hobbies, playing board games, video games, etc. in a group, but mafia is just something special that can often surpass all of those other experiences. Each game I play, even in a very limited fashion like this one, really makes an impression on me, and I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate this community right here. You all are awesome. Thanks for making this experience totally worth breaking my mafia break.

This was a supremely sloppy game for me. I couldn't get into the groove for some reason, and my phony opinions were just so obviously phony. I'm very happy to have this in my baddie meta right now though. "See, that's what baddie Long Con looks like! A total mess!"

Jay, roll a mafia role soon please.

Long Con wrote:This was a supremely sloppy game for me. I couldn't get into the groove for some reason, and my phony opinions were just so obviously phony. I'm very happy to have this in my baddie meta right now though. "See, that's what baddie Long Con looks like! A total mess!"

Noted: if Long Con ever appears to know what he is doing, he's town.

Marmot wrote:Jay, role a mafia role soon please.

I try to be suspicious of Jay in every game we play together just to be safe, but at this point I think it's been about 3 years since he was actually scum in a game with me.

Then again, I'm also town 99% of the time unless it's the champs tournament, in which case I'm scum 100% of the time.

I'm really curious to see what the banner for this game will look like (and I'm excited to display it ). I have to give sprityo some props for the theme. I've never seen a host invent an entire original world and story for their theme before. I was really impressed by that and it was a lot of fun to play in a game whose flavor was entirely unique to this mafia experience.

sprityo had me on as a co-host, and my contributions were essentially limited to looking over his setup and making some suggestions for tweaks.

I realize I could have been more active as a host, but stepping back was intentional: Even after helping sprityo with the setup, I still didn't really understand it and didn't want to screw anything up.

Sloonei wrote:I'm really curious to see what the banner for this game will look like (and I'm excited to display it ). I have to give sprityo some props for the theme. I've never seen a host invent an entire original world and story for their theme before. I was really impressed by that and it was a lot of fun to play in a game whose flavor was entirely unique to this mafia experience.

Oh, you have to sign up for LC games more often...

Golden wrote:

Sloonei wrote:I'm really curious to see what the banner for this game will look like (and I'm excited to display it ). I have to give sprityo some props for the theme. I've never seen a host invent an entire original world and story for their theme before. I was really impressed by that and it was a lot of fun to play in a game whose flavor was entirely unique to this mafia experience.

Oh, you have to sign up for LC games more often...

I've never played an LC game.

Sloonei wrote:

Golden wrote:

Sloonei wrote:I'm really curious to see what the banner for this game will look like (and I'm excited to display it ). I have to give sprityo some props for the theme. I've never seen a host invent an entire original world and story for their theme before. I was really impressed by that and it was a lot of fun to play in a game whose flavor was entirely unique to this mafia experience.

Oh, you have to sign up for LC games more often...

I've never played an LC game.

Oh wow, you must play the next one. To be fair though the most spectacular ones that I remember are LC & BR games. He doesn't do it alone.

I'll certainly be on the lookout.

Mafia: A World Asunder will be the third in a series... and BR has started work on Recruitment Mafia 5 recently as well.

juliets wrote:

Sloonei wrote:

Golden wrote:

Sloonei wrote:I'm really curious to see what the banner for this game will look like (and I'm excited to display it ). I have to give sprityo some props for the theme. I've never seen a host invent an entire original world and story for their theme before. I was really impressed by that and it was a lot of fun to play in a game whose flavor was entirely unique to this mafia experience.

Oh, you have to sign up for LC games more often...

I've never played an LC game.

Oh wow, you must play the next one. To be fair though the most spectacular ones that I remember are LC & BR games. He doesn't do it alone.

Indeed. The LC/BR ones are the greatest.

Long Con wrote:Mafia: A World Asunder will be the third in a series... and BR has started work on Recruitment Mafia 5 recently as well.

WHEN?

I need the World Asunder for sure.

Also recruitment I missed the last one.

Also
Thanks for the game! Even though y'all lynched me.
Sorry i wasn't more involved.

Sloonei wrote:

Marmot wrote:Jay, role a mafia role soon please.

I try to be suspicious of Jay in every game we play together just to be safe, but at this point I think it's been about 3 years since he was actually scum in a game with me.

Then again, I'm also town 99% of the time unless it's the champs tournament, in which case I'm scum 100% of the time.

It's okay, you can trust me. I am never bad. Never ever.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: Very good game, everyone. I think all the factions perfomed at a high level and it made for an intense, competitive environment. That's what I love to see in Mafia. Kudos for making that happen, sprityo. I'll have more to say later when time permits.

MovingPictures07 wrote:Honestly, this game has me thinking about Best Civilian 2017 for Sockys already. nutella and juliets fucking rocked it. speedchuck rocked it as an independent. And as Jay mentioned, so did nearly everybody from all the factions. This really seems as though it was a special game with everyone firing on all cylinders. I really got invested by the end myself despite being so unacquainted with it.

This and this.

Marmot wrote:Jay, roll a mafia role soon please.

And let me be on his team pretty please that would be the most exciting role pm ahahaha

I actually can't remember the last time I was bad either? I guess it was technically BSG but that was weird because I didn't have BTSC/didn't know who was on my team. It's been a while since I've been on a team/had BTSC and I miss it.

Long Con wrote:Mafia: A World Asunder will be the third in a series... and BR has started work on Recruitment Mafia 5 recently as well.

Sloonei you should see if you can find the archives for the World Reborn and Recruitment games. Most of their predecessors were on other sites though. But yeah, LC's flavor/worldbuilding is so fantastic and those games have always been epic. Would love to see you in one.

this was all a clever ruse, this was actually Mulloland Drive mafia


(Not really, but jokes are fun)

Here is some of the original lore if you guys are interested. I was able to post about half of what I had written down before I left home

http://forum.chocolatepi.net/showthread.php?tid=644

Hi, all! I'm currently traveling and am far from home, so I don't have the chance to read the ending right now.

But I wanted to thank Sprit again for such a great game! I had a lot of fun, the setup was awesome and the vibe was just great!

Also thanks to all the players for being so respectful and fun to play with. I definitely would be up for similar games with any and all of you! \o/

Yay for town win in the end, good work last standing town. But wow - all factions played a great game! Which I think is one of the reasons thus was such a good experience imo.

I probably have more to say later. ^^

So all members of the town are considered winners? Is that typical of this site? On my site only those alive At the end win, but this certainly encourages more selfless behavior. I think it's good.

Thanks for the Game Spirit and everyone. It was also interesting seeing the spoiler spread sheet and then following along.

Silver Lantern wrote:So all members of the town are considered winners? Is that typical of this site? On my site only those alive At the end win, but this certainly encourages more selfless behavior. I think it's good.

Thanks for the Game Spirit and everyone. It was also interesting seeing the spoiler spread sheet and then following along.

It's kind of a new-ish thing around here. For years, only survivors generally got the win.

Silver Lantern wrote:So all members of the town are considered winners? Is that typical of this site? On my site only those alive At the end win, but this certainly encourages more selfless behavior. I think it's good.

Thanks for the Game Spirit and everyone. It was also interesting seeing the spoiler spread sheet and then following along.

Not in every game... depends on the host and the game theme. It is good for selfless play, though.

Silver Lantern wrote:So all members of the town are considered winners? Is that typical of this site? On my site only those alive At the end win, but this certainly encourages more selfless behavior. I think it's good.

Thanks for the Game Spirit and everyone. It was also interesting seeing the spoiler spread sheet and then following along.

In all of my cyber travels, this marks only the second time I've heard of survival-conditioned townies (this site being the other). Cool beans.

I now 100% agree with faction wins. I only disagreed with them before because of our earlier setups...

...although you will note that the first game on The Syndicate to have all civilians win together was Masters of the Universe. My first hosting experience.

Cool.

Also, I guess it is not considered rude AF to be posting all the time while dead like Marmot was doing?

I never thought something so trivial would bother me, but I found it surprisingly distasteful.

I wonder if Jack or Fred found it bothersome too coming from a site where we just do not post after death.

Silver Lantern wrote:Cool.

Also, I guess it is not considered rude AF to be posting all the time while dead like Marmot was doing?

I never thought something so trivial would bother me, but I found it surprisingly distasteful.

I wonder if Jack or Fred found it bothersome too coming from a site where we just do not post after death.

It's all good around here. If you're dead, just post bullshit. Posting on topic is illegal (*ahem*), but it's cool to post. We're all friends who kill one another.

I'm personally not a fan of dead posting, but so long as it remains about sandwiches and salad and is kept to a minimum then whatever. It crossed the line a bit in this game, that isn't representative of what's typical here.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I'm personally not a fan of dead posting, but so long as it remains about sandwiches and salad and is kept to a minimum then whatever. It crossed the line a bit in this game, that isn't representative of what's typical here.

That's how I feel about it... usually. I'm relatively indifferent to dead posting, though it is occasionally fun to engage in it past just the one-time "I'm dead, thanks for game" post, even if just for "rezz pls" kind of stuff.

But yeah, if it does cross the line, which is pretty rare, I can fathom how it would be infuriating. It drives me crazy as a host to see a deadie post that could even very slightly influence the game. I'd say this community is pretty good about not violating that though.

I almost never post after death. Mostly because I'm usually full of rage and saying "F*ck this game, I'm never coming back. I'm not even going to post after the game is over."

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I'm personally not a fan of dead posting, but so long as it remains about sandwiches and salad and is kept to a minimum then whatever. It crossed the line a bit in this game, that isn't representative of what's typical here.

I'm glad my dead posting was satisfying.

I generally refain from deadposting beyond super off topic stuff and a quick "go town" cause I'm worried I'll affect the game.

I didn't consider Marmot's posts to be rude, though.

Jackofhearts2005 wrote:I generally refain from deadposting beyond super off topic stuff and a quick "go town" cause I'm worried I'll affect the game.

I didn't consider Marmot's posts to be rude, though.

Ditto for me as well. Once I'm dead I worry that even the simplest remark could influence a person somehow, so I keep quiet unless it's something completely off topic.

And I will always prefer faction wins to survivor wins. It's a badge of honor to be killed early in the game as a townie. Denying those players a share of the win is unfair.

Sorry for crossing the lines on the dead-posting.



I don't think informing people that the thread is locked is out of bounds.

Asking players to stop lynching my teammates, I meant no harm behind it, but I do see the problem with it, and I'll be careful about that in the future.



To those of you who aren't used to it, it is a thing here. We even have <dead> tags for dead players to post in red. I hope you don't take offense to it. I was just bummed that I was lynched so early in this game, since y'all are a blast to play with, and that's the only way I can voice it.

I am interested to know why a couple of you find it rude or distasteful. I've never encountered that mindset before, so I'm genuinely curious.

I know you meant no harm, Marmot. You weren't trying to cheat or anything, shit happens.

I think there's a tendency for players and hosts alike to severely underestimate the influence they can have on the game with certain behaviors. This goes for hosts taking and answering questions publicly, allowing players to discuss replacement decisions publicly, pretty much any dead post including those that seem meaningless, non-player posts -- everything can affect the direction of thread discussion and what is happening inside the minds of the players.

I mean no criticism of anyone here, because when it comes to this kind of thing I can be a stickler. It's why I almost never post anything when I am dead and I am a very quiet host.

I can only take mafia seriously about 50% of the time.

That percentage drops considerably when I'm dead.