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[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   Oh, okay that makes sense. You say a 9 person game
must have 2 scum. I figure seeing as this is a beginners
game that probably holds true but is there a reason
or rule for this or just a "well we always do it that way"
kind of thing?

[Vector]

   Oh, okay that makes sense. You say a 9 person game
must have 2 scum. I figure seeing as this is a beginners
game that probably holds true but is there a reason
or rule for this or just a "well we always do it that way"
kind of thing?

The usual goal in mountainous/vanilla games is 3 days of play if the scum don't screw up.  This is due to endurance concerns on both sides, and also because one-day games aren't very fun.  It gives both sides a "fair" chance.  That the third guess must be correct seems fair, right?  One or two guesses is too little for the town, and four or five guesses without getting it right is unfair for the scum.

Many games are balanced to be a bit longer, but the usual time by which one needs to get-a-lynching well is 3 days.  The second or third day is usually when everything really heats up.

[SaintDraze]

AHHHHH so many posts @^@

I don't mind being called scum as long as you know I'm town.

What I learned after being speed mislynched was that I am a VI poster child.

[Argembarger]

Ergh.

Arg, we tried that with another game and it caused massive horribleness.  I assume you've also created a new scumchat.

Yes, there's a new scumchat.

There's a new EVERYTHING

It's as if the last setup didn't happen.

[Argembarger]

MY powers of hindsight told me that all I would have had to do to prevent the situation was put in the rules or in the original post that no PM = vanilla townie.

Then, if someone claimed they got no PM it could always be scum lying.

Because I didn't say that explicitly, there's no way scum could have known in order to lie about that, so there's no way Darvi could have been lying.

Therefore, I had to reshuffle.

Anyway, it's over now, it should be obvious to everyone why it happened (protip: it's because I'm a complete idiot)


And it happened in the early part of the Random Voting Stage anyway, so really, it shouldn't be affecting anyone's perception of this game much.

Y'all have till tuesday at 10 PM, should be plenty of time to get on track and whatnot.

Now let's make this a good game, shall we?

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   What I did was not random at all. I voted for the
first person to vote so I could see how they reacted!

[SaintDraze]

Okay so new game officially?

Akhier
Your avatar makes me trust you less

Darvi
I don't trust you, Period...

[SaintDraze]

because You are crafty... like a waffle >.>

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   Unvote

   I will have you know SaintDraze that I made my
avatar myself! Clearly you are some kind of evil art
critic and I personally made sure all the art critics
we brought with us on the spaceship liked my art
so clearly you must be an alien brain slug you evil
nasty yeerk!

[SaintDraze]

Truth be told I am actually jealous of your avatar because I can't make a good avatar because I don't have a mouse and have to use A touch pad... Its really sucky...
No if I was infected I would be on toasters team then that would be impossible since I have an anti toaster avatar (and sig)

[Tyberix]

That was kind of confusing,but let's get started then.

Akhier : What's do you think is the most obvious scumtell you can spot ?
zrk2: Any thoughts on D1 strategy ?
chewie: How do you think we should approach the lurkers issue ?
SaintDraze: If you were attacked,will you start being defensive or carry on with your investigation ?

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   I have better then a mouse, I have a tablet!

   To answer Tyberix's question I believe that someone
who lurks for a time then all of the sudden jumps on
who ever has the most votes. Someone going for the
lurker/bandwagon combo in a newb game is a scumtell
because they are new so do not quite know how to
act like they are a townie so figure nothing is better
then something then ends up needing to vote so picks
whoever has the most votes at the time.

[lordnincompoop]

SaintDraze: Mafia is srs bsns. Start acting that way.

Really though, if you want to scumhunt you have to put some effort in. Ask real questions, etc.

Tyberix: Your scumtells and why, please.
Akhier TDH: Scumtells and why.
Zrk2: Come out, ask questions, etc.
chewie: Why haven't you posted? I say, that's quite suspicious, and a common newscum tactic. Are you newscum?

Akhier your avatar is fine.

[Akhier the Dragon hearted]

   My scum tells would be acting just like you because
you set such a fine example of course!
  But seriously I have none that would come through
on a forum post that I know of. Most of what I had
from playing Werewolf was voice inflections and such.
   Whats the blueing of names supposed to mean? I have
seen it but not an explanation of what it is.

[lordnincompoop]

FoS - Finger of Suspicion, writing someone's name in blue signifies a great deal of suspicion. It's kind of like a fake-vote, or the threat of a vote. Good for getting attention.

Also reposted for erryone's benefit:

Spoiler: Dakarian's Scumhunting Bible, reposted here for your convenience (click to show/hide)

A VERY rough sketch of how a scumhunt is done (to help those who aren't sure now).


Step 1: When you have no suspicions on anyone, pick someone at random (I MEAN random.. some use Random.org for this!), take a glance as their past posts, and talk to them, usually with a vote.  The goal is not to kill but to learn more about them.  The vote is a "Pressure Vote", simply used to make sure they don't ignore you.

Step 2: When someone feels 'off' to you: perhaps you disliked their answer, or maybe they scare you, or confuse you with their text.  Perhaps they look fine but your feelings or your gut says something is wrong. Perhaps you see them do one scumtell.  Don't ignore it: make them your target.  Attack them.  Tell them what bothers you about them.  Push them, harass them.  Tell them how scummy they are.  Ask them every question in the book.. and I mean EVERYTHING:

Litia: "You bother me.  Vote Dakarian!"

Dak: Meh.  Why?

Litia: "Because you bother me.  Why are you pushing me off as if it doesn't matter?"

Dak: "What? No, you just have nothing on me."

Litia: "You're voting for Vector.  why?"

Dak: "He looked scummy.."

Litia: "Vagueness is a scumtell!  "Scummy.. how is he scummy!"

Dak: "He just is.. you don't have a reason to go after me either."

Litia: "OMGUSing now Mr.Scum?  Being defensive?  You also didn't answer my question!"


Note, this is Step 2: Litia doesn't feel like she knows Dakarian is scum.. just had a 'feeling'.  She has no hard evidence, nothing real.  The questions are to add pressure.. make Dakarian crack and panic.  If you did it right, they WILL town or scum.  WHEN they do, you will be able to see more of their true self.  From there, decide if you can find them as scum for truth.  If you don't: pull out and go to your next suspect: if no one else is there, go back to Step 1.

If you do believe they are scum after that, Step 3:


Step 3: When you believe someone is scum, gather evidence.  Find every scum tell, every sign of their true motives.  Pull more from them.  DON'T LET GO!  Even if the town ignores you or even votes for you because of it, DO IT ANYWAY!  Push, push, PUSH, ***PUSH*** until you have solid proof of what they are.

If you can't find enough to prove them and run out of things to say, check one more time to see if you still feel he's scum, then pull back, look at others (Step 2) but be ready to go back to them at any time.  If your convinced and ready to kill them, Step 4

Step 4: Final step.  It's time to convince the town.  Show what you have.  Push the target so they show more scumminess.  Attack, but do it only to demonstrate to the town what you KNOW is true.  You aren't trying to argue with the mafia anymore.. you are trying to show the town why you are right and Mr.Mafia MUST be lynched.  If you are at this point, only 3 things can happen:

1.  The scum is lynched.
2. You are given so much information that you become CONVINCED that the target is town. (no less than CONVINCED.. doubt, maybe, 'perhaps' won't due)
3. You are dead.



That's how a basic scumhunt is done.  One last note on doubt:

Doubt is something that's ok to have but UGLY to show.  If you doubt or have second thoughts, DON'T DISPLAY IT.  If you think "He looks passive but I don't know..."  you SAY "You scum!  Stop being passive!!!"  If you think "He may have a good reason to attack guy really." say "Give me your reasons and stop being vague."

Doubt is something for yourself.  When you have doubt, go back and see if your original ideas still hold up.  If they do or if you find yourself saying "I'm not sure" then go back to the attack until you are sure.  This ain't the USA: we play by Guilty until Proven Innocent here.  Unless you can get yourself to believe they may be honest, keep the attack.

So doubt is ok to have if used right.. but the town does NOT need to hear it.  If you doubt, accuse anyway as if you know.  If you wonder, accuse as if you know it.  If you know the answer, ASK ANYWAY and let THEM answer.  Make them convince you they are town: don't do the job for them.


And that's scumhunting in a nutshell.  Everyone, try to figure out what Step you are on and work accordingly.  Note that you should be almost done Step 1 by the end of Day 1 (though some may be higher by then).  If you aren't, keep random voting and consider an Extension.

If you don't know WHAT you are.. you're in Step 1.  Get to random voting.

Last note: 'Not voting' should only be done when you are doing a quick look over everyone's past.  Otherwise, your vote and your attention should always be on SOMEONE, even if it is at random.

It's best for a lynch to be for a reason reason.. but it's better for someone to be lynched randomly than for no lynch to occur at all.

Spoiler: A List of Common Scumtells (click to show/hide)

Scumtells are things that someone does or says that imply that they're scum. Usually the reasoning is that it's bad or not productive for townies to do it, so it can be hard to distinguish signs of being scum from signs of being a noob. This is one of the reasons scum almost always win beginner's mafia games.

Note that scumtells are very very subjective; there's no simple way to distinguish a scumtell from a noobtell from being justified and/or lazy. Whether a justified, non-scummy version of a scumtell should still be called by its normal name varies from person to person. (Someone might describe their voting of someone who voted them as "not an OMGUS," other would say it's "a justified OMGUS" for instance)

In any case, common scumtells include:

Bandwagoning: Voting for whoever has the most votes or seems most likely to be lynched, despite having poor/no reasons or not wanting them lynched previously. It implies that you don't care who gets lynched, you just want someone gone, which is generally the case for scum.

OMGUSing: Short for Oh My God You Suck, by the way. Voting or otherwise applying pressure to whoever's voting you. It implies that you're really concerned about being pressured/lynched and want them to stop, which is more a scum thing. A townie would, in theory, be more open to the notion that their fellow townie is attempting to scumhunt at them, and less concerned about being found out.

Defending/Chainsawing: Defending just means what it sounds like: saying things to defend another player's actions or words. Chainsawing or chainsaw defending means attacking someone who's attacking another player in an attempt to get them to stop. The idea in both instances is that townies don't know if their fellow players are innocent or not, and hence have no real reason to defend them from legitimate persecution. Scum, on the other hand, know they're on a team and so are prone to not wanting their buddies found out or pressured.

Lurking: Not posting. Especially suspicious in the case of Active Lurking, which is trying to look active while not actually doing anything (posting frequently but with no substance, for instance). The idea in either case is that townies actually care about finding scum, and so should be doing things. Scum don't care, they just want some random guy lynched so they can kill someone at night.

Appearing Too Townie: There's no official name for this one, but being too concerned about your image; specifically avoiding things that might be seen as scumtells. The idea is that scum are very concerned about being found out, and so want to act nonscummy. Townies know they're not scum, so they're less concerned about LOOKING nonscummy and more concerned about finding scum.

Akhier TDH: Your eagerness to go after the town is suspicious. What have you to say on this matter?