The Syndicate

When I started playing mafia, I did not understand the big deal against posting while dead. After awhile it just become something I understood to be the norm on my site.

I think part of the concern is that the dead player posting is usually not in the best position to determine if their post can influence a game or not. So as a general rule it's best to not post.

While I do not think your intentions were bad at all Marmot, and hey, I totally get having fun, we did have btsc going that allowed you to vent any thoughts you just had to get out.

There was even an express rule against posting while dead in this game. I was not necessarily offended by it, but it was irritating to me that everyone else was following the rule and you did not.

Don't feel bad about it at all though. Many things irritate me , and I do understand your intentions were harmless.

In my defense, I wasn't told there was a spectator BTSC chat until Day 6 or so.

Also, what's the Honorary Win poll option a reference too? Is that a joke I missed out on?

My host philosophy - my interaction is a deliberate mindfuck - if you read into it it could be to your benefit or your detriment. I'm probably rare, but it actually irritates me when people won't interact as hosts or deadies, and I actively dislike hosts who won't answer questions to all in thread and interact with their players. Coming to this site is supposed to be fun. It's not a maths exam. Heck, where I came from, reading the host posts could provide you with game information - and to me thats entirely fair play because hosts put in effort to writing the posts and want you to read them, and the information was equal for all factions. In addition, you'd banter with the host, and that was fine - the host should want EVERY player to try their best, and I think having banter with your players keeps them engaged and hoping to succeed.

Having said that, dead posting and non-player posting MUST be off topic. No exceptions. But 'rezz please' has been a long accepted thing to say. And hosts have to absolutely watch what they say behind the scenes to make sure they aren't giving anyone an advantage. But the day I stop bantering with my player set is the day I stop hosting.

I enjoy being quiet as a host. I'll answer any questions that need answering, but beyond that I stay as far away from the action as I can. Most of the fun in hosting is in watching players try to crack the nut you've given them. The less you say, the harder they have to work.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote: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.

I also want to directly address this.

Provide dead players or the host are staying within fair rules, when they influence the game, that's the problem of the active players. As a player, one has to figure out how to deal with it to not let it influence you.

I've seen plenty of tunneling based on this kind of external information and be wrong nearly every time. Perhaps I've just been brought up in a community where you quickly realise that as much information as you might perceive people are providing while you're playing - the reality is that if you base decisions off it you're probably going to be entirely wrong. I think active players severely overestimate the actual value and relevance of the posts that end up influencing them. That's not to say they don't have influence... just that it's on the people who are influenced.

Dead on-topic posting, host information... these things are part of the design space that should be available to hosts as well, provided it's balanced.

Having said that... I did host a game where dead posting was outlawed, and I had to put it in bold and red in the rules and PM players to remind them, because I know that unless you are that forceful about it, our culture here is one that allows deadposting and you'll just see it happen naturally.

Sloonei wrote:I enjoy being quiet as a host. I'll answer any questions that need answering, but beyond that I stay as far away from the action as I can. Most of the fun in hosting is in watching players try to crack the nut you've given them. The less you say, the harder they have to work.

Perhaps I just have a knack for creating more nuts when I talk

Honestly it's quin that deserves the honorary win.

The majority of the time I think this stuff is innocuous. There have been a few cases though where I have personally been influenced by a dead post, or more frequently a host post, in a way that has aided my hunt rather than hinder it. Indeed I think that raises the most frequent "mistake", if it should be called that: hosts interacting directly with players in the midst of a hunting effort, solicited or even unsolicited, in such a way that it becomes clearer than before that the hunter genuinely does not know something. I could call it a "host slip".

This isn't something I would raise a stink about, because I don't care that much. Most people aren't bothered and that's good enough for me.

Since this dialogue is happening in the Phenon thread, I want to make it clear that I have no complaints about the way you ran your game sprityo. It was great fun and you did a great job.

Golden wrote:Honestly it's quin that deserves the honorary win.

But what does the poll option mean?

We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

I like it as a design space, it could be interesting.

G-Man's also talked about the game where people just stay as full participants when they die, which is also interesting.

Both are harder to balance though. And the wifom must be intense.

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

I like it as a design space, it could be interesting.

G-Man's also talked about the game where people just stay as full participants when they die, which is also interesting.

Both are harder to balance though. And the wifom must be intense.

I've thought about this concept too. It's essentially the dumbed down version of the jokey stump-mafia game I mentioned earlier in this game

Marmot wrote:

Golden wrote:Honestly it's quin that deserves the honorary win.

But what does the poll option mean?

A joke.jpg

Golden wrote:My host philosophy - my interaction is a deliberate mindfuck - if you read into it it could be to your benefit or your detriment. I'm probably rare, but it actually irritates me when people won't interact as hosts or deadies, and I actively dislike hosts who won't answer questions to all in thread and interact with their players. Coming to this site is supposed to be fun. It's not a maths exam. Heck, where I came from, reading the host posts could provide you with game information - and to me thats entirely fair play because hosts put in effort to writing the posts and want you to read them, and the information was equal for all factions. In addition, you'd banter with the host, and that was fine - the host should want EVERY player to try their best, and I think having banter with your players keeps them engaged and hoping to succeed.

Having said that, dead posting and non-player posting MUST be off topic. No exceptions. But 'rezz please' has been a long accepted thing to say. And hosts have to absolutely watch what they say behind the scenes to make sure they aren't giving anyone an advantage. But the day I stop bantering with my player set is the day I stop hosting.

This is largely how I am when hosting too; I love interacting with my players in thread and giving them the answer to questions.

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

I like it as a design space, it could be interesting.

G-Man's also talked about the game where people just stay as full participants when they die, which is also interesting.

Both are harder to balance though. And the wifom must be intense.

Even better. Allow info drops in this dead-participant game, but never flip roles on death. Closed setup.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

Vito only hosted maphia games.

speedchuck wrote:

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

I like it as a design space, it could be interesting.

G-Man's also talked about the game where people just stay as full participants when they die, which is also interesting.

Both are harder to balance though. And the wifom must be intense.

Even better. Allow info drops in this dead-participant game, but never flip roles on death. Closed setup.

Wow. I love this idea. Now the question is how to balance it...

Golden wrote:

speedchuck wrote:

Golden wrote:

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:We played one RYM game where the host just entirely turned off the restrictions against dead posting -- dead players could post whatever they wanted on or off-topic. It was actually the same game where I blew up a thousand people.

That was... interesting.

I like it as a design space, it could be interesting.

G-Man's also talked about the game where people just stay as full participants when they die, which is also interesting.

Both are harder to balance though. And the wifom must be intense.

Even better. Allow info drops in this dead-participant game, but never flip roles on death. Closed setup.

Wow. I love this idea. Now the question is how to balance it...

Easy. Add time travel mechanics.