Zchinque: As said, we need to talk. About Day 1.

I've been thinking about ways to minimize the Day 1 Slog (tm). I figured I'd bring it up now, so that the next mod could take it into consideration for their setup, if they so choose. Of course, if NFY is doing a standardized setup that point might be moot, but whatevs. Anyway, I'd like your input on what you think of these ideas, and if you have any additional ideas of your own.

So, get to it.

-Disallow unvotes. Changing one's vote would of course still be fine, but once your vote is on someone, you can't go back to not voting. The idea is that you keep votes in the system, forcing all players to take some kind of stand.

-When the game starts, the mod posts a vote count where all players are voting (votes decided by random means, of course). Players who want to partake in normal random voting are of course free to move their vote around. Probably best combined with the earlier suggestion of disallowing unvotes, as it ensures that all votes will be active at all points throughout the first day.

-Start the game at Night. It means once Day starts there will be more information (although hidden) among the players, hopefully stimulating early discussion. The biggest concern is that the mafia get to kill, which I strongly oppose since it'd mean at least one player would very likely not get to partake in the game as all. As long as we've only got one game running at a time - meaning the next game could be as much as 3-4 months away - that's completely out of the question for my part.

-Start the game with a no-kill Night (AKA Cop Headstart). Same benefits as above, but since the mafia doesn't get to kill it's a sizable boon for the town. Nothing wrong with that, but mod should take it into consideration when considering balancing.

Input? Anyone?

Zchinque: I think this is a good idea. Might want to let signups run for a bit, so that more people get the chance to see it. And for a game of this nature, I think newbies should have priority, if that should become an issue.

Is there any non-intrusive way we can advertise, other than keeping the signup thread well bumped?

I also think SPF's idea about leaving out the numbers might have some merit. It can't hurt to try, at least.

We could also try a mentor system to help new players, similar to what they have over at MTGS. I'll leave the explanation to them:
"Mentor: an experienced player that offers some of their time to help a new player by being a “behind the scenes” source to answer questions about the game. Questions can range from vocabulary, to previous examples of when game results occurred, to general strategy advice. Mentors are advised to not give play-by-play instructions or make decisions for the new player, but to tell them (usually between phases) what they have done right and wrong already. Suggestions of what to do next are not allowed, and specific examples about other players in the game at hand are not allowed. (Communications with a Mentor are usually handled in a QT monitored by the Mod.)"

TwilightBard: I'm against the headstarts as well. It only works for the cop, as a watcher/tracker will require a kill or something nefarious to actually be useful, and a cop has a chance to take out a major Mafia member by simply claiming and pointing out that they found Mafia. Or you restrict the Cop, which sorta defeats the purpose of the headstart entirely.

etna87: I think some sort of time bubble would also really help (meaning that the time spent on the mafia game does not actually use up your time). Plus, it would be an awesome thing to have on other occasions, as well.

NotFrenchYet: And from there, assuming there's a doc, you get a follow the cop scenario... Hmm.

Anyone else have thoughts about this? I'm willing to make the next game an experiment for night 0 if we think it'd be useful.

Zchinque: As said, we need to talk. About Day 1.

I've been thinking about ways to minimize the Day 1 Slog (tm). I figured I'd bring it up now, so that the next mod could take it into consideration for their setup, if they so choose. Of course, if NFY is doing a standardized setup that point might be moot, but whatevs. Anyway, I'd like your input on what you think of these ideas, and if you have any additional ideas of your own.

So, get to it.

-Disallow unvotes. Changing one's vote would of course still be fine, but once your vote is on someone, you can't go back to not voting. The idea is that you keep votes in the system, forcing all players to take some kind of stand.

-When the game starts, the mod posts a vote count where all players are voting (votes decided by random means, of course). Players who want to partake in normal random voting are of course free to move their vote around. Probably best combined with the earlier suggestion of disallowing unvotes, as it ensures that all votes will be active at all points throughout the first day.

-Start the game at Night. It means once Day starts there will be more information (although hidden) among the players, hopefully stimulating early discussion. The biggest concern is that the mafia get to kill, which I strongly oppose since it'd mean at least one player would very likely not get to partake in the game as all. As long as we've only got one game running at a time - meaning the next game could be as much as 3-4 months away - that's completely out of the question for my part.

-Start the game with a no-kill Night (AKA Cop Headstart). Same benefits as above, but since the mafia doesn't get to kill it's a sizable boon for the town. Nothing wrong with that, but mod should take it into consideration when considering balancing.

Input? Anyone?

Vitek: ...

SirPrimalform: That's strange, there's only one person I remember disallowing unvotes. ;)

Vitek: I am conservative when it comes to rules but I don't like any of these suggestions.
The first and second are just plain bad and with no benefit only drawbacks.
The other 2 are sensible but it is nothing I would like to see used regulary. It could be in 1 or 2 games when mod feels like it to make the particular game more special but if it gets used regulary it won't have much effect IMO. I don't like idea of being copped as scum before the game even starts. It's something that you can't influence at all and it will make your game meaningless.

Vitek: I am conservative when it comes to rules but I don't like any of these suggestions.
The first and second are just plain bad and with no benefit only drawbacks.
The other 2 are sensible but it is nothing I would like to see used regulary. It could be in 1 or 2 games when mod feels like it to make the particular game more special but if it gets used regulary it won't have much effect IMO. I don't like idea of being copped as scum before the game even starts. It's something that you can't influence at all and it will make your game meaningless.

Zchinque: How is disallowing unvotes "plain bad"? You'll need to back that up.

NotFrenchYet: It sounds like a N0 would be something that would have to be factored into the balancing of power roles...