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[LibraryAdventurer]

So I've played a lot of IRL mafia games with friends and was thinking about joining a forum mafia game. I'm thinking I'll wait till another one opens because both of the ones open now have flavors I've never heard of.  In the meantime, what do I need to know as someone who knows how to play IRL mafia but has never played forum mafia?

(I've already made the civility pledge and read the opening posts of the couple games that have signups open now.)
Do you ever use the Sherriff / Doctor roles?
How much does the flavor influence the game?  Or does it still mostly feel like a regular mafia game regardless of the flavor?

[Witherweaver]

So I've played a lot of IRL mafia games with friends and was thinking about joining a forum mafia game. I'm thinking I'll wait till another one opens because both of the ones open now have flavors I've never heard of.  In the meantime, what do I need to know as someone who knows how to play IRL mafia but has never played forum mafia?

(I've already made the civility pledge and read the opening posts of the couple games that have signups open now.)
Do you ever use the Sherriff / Doctor roles?
How much does the flavor influence the game?  Or does it still mostly feel like a regular mafia game regardless of the flavor?

Mafiascum has a lot of good information, especially role descriptions.  There is a wiki. 

Most games have a standard Cop/Doctor.  There are usually other roles added, designed to stay balanced.  Some games are RMM, meaning (almost) all players have some kind of role, either original or ones you can find on the wiki.

Knowing flavor is not mandatory.  It can be kind of fun.  I joined my first game because it was Wheel of Time and I loved the flavor.  Some mods integrate flavor into the roles/alignments, but sometimes they're simply random.  Either way, you will be at little to no disadvantage if you don't know flavor.  It's more that you'd appreciate some design things.  It will still feel like regular Mafia, I think, but I've only played in real life once before.

Anyway, I'd just join one and see how it goes.  They also run newbie ones sometimes, so those can be good to get started. 

[LibraryAdventurer]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

[Awaclus]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Yes, roles are normally revealed when people die.

[Ichimaru Gin]

So far, I haven't had knowledge of the flavor for any of the mafia games I've played in. Despite that, the flavor does make each game feel unique to me, and not just the same game reskinned or something. Part of this is likely due to the diversity of setups that the community uses.

[scott_pilgrim]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Alignment (town/mafia/etc.) is always revealed when someone dies.  Role is usually revealed as well, especially in open set-ups (games in which the set-up is publicly described by the mod pre-game).  Usually in closed set-ups at least the name of the role is revealed, but sometimes the role is not described/explained (until post-game).

[LibraryAdventurer]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Yes, roles are normally revealed when people die.

Alignment (town/mafia/etc.) is always revealed when someone dies.

That's too bad.  Is there some particular reason for this (Does it not work as well when playing in a forum to not reveal)?  Or is this just what everyone's used to?

[scott_pilgrim]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Yes, roles are normally revealed when people die.

Alignment (town/mafia/etc.) is always revealed when someone dies.

That's too bad.  Is there some particular reason for this (Does it not work as well when playing in a forum to not reveal)?  Or is this just what everyone's used to?

Well, I'm sure part of it is that it's what everyone is used to.  But a huge part of mafia I think (or at least as we're used to it) is looking for partner interactions.  You can't do that if you don't know a dead player's alignment.  I think adding that extra information adds a lot of depth and makes games more different each time.  It makes things less about looking for traits that are scummy in a vacuum and more about how people are interacting with each other.  It also makes investigative roles more meaningful; for example, if you don't know whether a dead claimed cop was telling the truth, their results don't mean anything.

[Ichimaru Gin]

Also. If you're just going off of the list of current open games, silverspawn's MLP themed game is in fact open. We'd love to have you join!

[Archetype]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Yes, roles are normally revealed when people die.

Alignment (town/mafia/etc.) is always revealed when someone dies.

That's too bad.  Is there some particular reason for this (Does it not work as well when playing in a forum to not reveal)?  Or is this just what everyone's used to?

Well, a lot of the way we form 'reads' (whether we think someone is Town or Mafia) here is not based just upon personal opinion, but also upon the alignments of other players. If a player is lynched and is shown as Town, the following day we can look to who pushed their lynch the most since that is where is Mafia is most likely to be (since they generally know who is/isn't Mafia) and if they're Mafia, we can see who stayed away from their wagon the most since that is where Mafia is most likely found (since they don't want to lynch their partners). But it's usually no where this clear cut and is normally warped by elements of WIFOM, personal metas, and the metagame as a whole.

PPE: 2. Someone probably already said this

[2.71828.....]

I think one of the biggest things to be prepared for is the pace of play and style of arguments.  Bottom line: Prepare for a (much) slower-paced game than IRL mafia and posting stuff is a lot different than talking IRL.

IRL mafia lasts an hour or two, maybe longer.  Here a single day phase lasts 10 days, 7 days, whatever is specified in the setup.  That will take some getting used to.  I remember my first game I went all out.  Like crazy.  First of all, I had a ton of free time, and I spent it ALL on mafia.  I mean, I made a crazy little spreadsheet to keep data for myself (not sure if I have actually shared that with anyone before).  Archetype may or may not recall that I got really vicious with him because he was lurking and I found that unacceptable.  I mean, I called him out pretty harshly for it during the game so much so that after it finished I sent him an apology PM because I felt that I had crossed a line (he was cool about it though).  These days I am a much less active poster (real job and all (well, I had a real job back then I just actually have to do a lot more work now)) but I try to stay as involved as possible.  I firmly believe that while a game (which I think we all need to be reminded of every now and then) it is still a commitment.  You don't have to post a million times or go crazy and follow the game every second and minute of every day.  But if you fail to check in on it at all you are just being a real jerk. 

As far as arguments go, they are completely different than IRL mafia (from my little experience playing IRL).  First, you can't read expressions or anything.  You can just read posts.  Also, I would say that we are a very analytical community.  Rational arguments are preferred over emotional arguments.  Your posts will be dissected.  They will be misinterpreted (intentionally or honestly).  They will be twisted and used in ways that you did not intend them to be used.  That is all part of the game.  However, be careful when doing this, because trustworthiness is critical in mafia (IRL and here.  I don't really need to tell you this I guess.  I just started writing).  If you twist a post too much or cross a line too far, we will just analyze how you totally misrepresented that other person and call you scum for it.  But the only way to get someone lynched is by building a good argument against them.  Which can be a lot harder than it appears.  Now, emotional arguments do play a role, but I think as a community we value an analytical arguments.  Which can be really hard to get used to.  Sometimes you just have to find something (anything) and go with it.  Don't be afraid to go with your gut on something.  For example, back to my first game here.  I called Robz out as scum because I felt he was just going along with a plan for no real reason because it was the popular thing to do.  I later abandoned that read pretty easily when people started critiquing me over it, but guess what?  Robz was scum.  I mean, you never know.  The biggest thing is just to go for it and you be you.  Learning how to make reads and find scum is something that you get better with over time.  Or not.  Just have fun with it.

Just my two cents.  You should play.  Never know until you try.

[Galzria]

The biggest thing about forum mafia, as has been mentioned, is time.

This becomes true for both scum and town alike, but you can craft your posts. In real life games it's all reactionary. You accuse, or you're accused, or you talk, or whatever. You're getting instant, unpredictable, unrehearsed reads off people. Here... well, because a response may come instantly or in 12 hours, you never know. Maybe it was written word for word to draw a reaction. Maybe it was spontaneous to when that person logged in. The beast is still the same. It's still Mafia. But how you succeed or fail is very, very different than in person.

As a prime example of the above example, back when I was still active, we were playing one of our first massive Role Madness Games - that is, everybody had a role. Day one was the relative scuffle - everybody calling everybody out, some cases being made, but no real evidence produced itself. I was town. About 42 hours I noticed a pattern on a certain player. He stayed mostly quiet until called out by name, and then within 6 hours or so he consistently posted. This drew me to make a case on him being scum trying to "slide by" unnoticed D1. I was vocal, time was dwindling, the lynch went through, and I was right - he was scum.

Was it a great case? No. Could there have been legitimate reasons for his lack of posting? Absolutely. But I had my read, it was as solid a case as anything D1, and it stuck.

His alignment reveal gave everybody still left in the game the following day a LOT of information to go on. Who defended him? Who tried subtly, and not so, to derail his lynch? Who jumped on early as a potential bus (scum lynching their own partner)?

In a real life game everything happens so quickly that there's often not time for that last minute irrational decision. I know it sounds backwards, but with so much more to analyze you've already decided if somebody is guilty or not in the first 5 minutes of real life play. And reactions to your thought process and belief drive your opinions of others, with or without the alignment/role reveal.

Here, because of the community we are, it's as much about the puzzle as it is the game. Everything gets analyzed, fairly or not. It's very much a different game, but it's still just as much fun, intense, frustrating and demanding as it's real life counter part. There's a learning curve, sure, but once you've conquered that, it opens up whole new doors - and makes the real life version look like child's play.

- Note, I'm a terrible poker player irl. I know my math, I know my cards, I know my hands and my odds. I can't keep a straight face to save my life. I cannot, for the life of me, play mafia in person. I'm either an innocent child (obv town), or scum - and everybody knows it. Thus forum mafia is perfect for me. Give me time, and I can craft any post. Make me say it on the spot, and, well...

Forum Mafia is different. It's still Mafia, no doubt, but it will take some adjusting to. Fun it certainly is... But don't expect things to be as cut and dry as they are irl.

[Galzria]

Above should read "About 42 hours to deadline" in the second real paragraph. On mobile, correcting difficult.

[XerxesPraelor]

So I've played a lot of IRL mafia games with friends and was thinking about joining a forum mafia game. I'm thinking I'll wait till another one opens because both of the ones open now have flavors I've never heard of.  In the meantime, what do I need to know as someone who knows how to play IRL mafia but has never played forum mafia?

(I've already made the civility pledge and read the opening posts of the couple games that have signups open now.)
Do you ever use the Sherriff / Doctor roles?
How much does the flavor influence the game?  Or does it still mostly feel like a regular mafia game regardless of the flavor?

Changed my flavor to something you're sure to know. Join! (It's always hard to fill up RMM games)

[silverspawn]

So I've played a lot of IRL mafia games with friends and was thinking about joining a forum mafia game. I'm thinking I'll wait till another one opens because both of the ones open now have flavors I've never heard of.  In the meantime, what do I need to know as someone who knows how to play IRL mafia but has never played forum mafia?

(I've already made the civility pledge and read the opening posts of the couple games that have signups open now.)
Do you ever use the Sherriff / Doctor roles?
How much does the flavor influence the game?  Or does it still mostly feel like a regular mafia game regardless of the flavor?

Changed my flavor to something you're sure to know. Join! (It's always hard to fill up RMM games)

but regular games are way better as a starting point 

[Teproc]

About the "revealing alignments upon death" thing.

I actually play without revealing them whenever I play IRL, which is increasingly rare (The Resistance : Avalon has largely replaced IRL Werewolf for me), but it seems to be very unpopular on the internet. There certainly has never been such a game like this here, but I might mod one at some point.

It's VERY different though, but the way we play on f.ds is already kind of adapted to that I suppose. It makes things much, much easier for scum, which works fine IRL because, as you play more and more with the same people, you become better at reading them, which kinda stacks the game against scum naturally. On forums, it's much harder to "read" people, the games are based on evidence a lot more (also it's easy to see who voted for whom, whereas you can easily forget IRL).

Yeah, I don't know. Might run something like that at some point, but the setup would have to heavily favor town probably. This is kind of off-topic, but everything has already been said by e and Galzria, so there.

[sudgy]

Scum has it way easier online because they can take all the time in the world to answer things.  Town needs a buff as well, and revealing roles upon death is a good balancer.

[GreyICE]

One more question: When a character dies, do you normally reveal their role?  I noticed one of the open games said they would do that and I wondered if this was usual or not.  IRL I've always played that we don't reveal anyone's role until the end of the game.

Yes, roles are normally revealed when people die.

Alignment (town/mafia/etc.) is always revealed when someone dies.

That's too bad.  Is there some particular reason for this (Does it not work as well when playing in a forum to not reveal)?  Or is this just what everyone's used to?

Well, a lot of the way we form 'reads' (whether we think someone is Town or Mafia) here is not based just upon personal opinion, but also upon the alignments of other players. If a player is lynched and is shown as Town, the following day we can look to who pushed their lynch the most since that is where is Mafia is most likely to be (since they generally know who is/isn't Mafia) and if they're Mafia, we can see who stayed away from their wagon the most since that is where Mafia is most likely found (since they don't want to lynch their partners). But it's usually no where this clear cut and is normally warped by elements of WIFOM, personal metas, and the metagame as a whole.

PPE: 2. Someone probably already said this

Oh dear no, that's not the case.  Town is usually the ones who start pushing any wagon, on the whole.  Mafia are the people who show up at votes 3-5 when the party is getting started.  I mean with ratios like 10:3, at some point town is going to push town, it's just a matter of adding weight in the right places.  Or hell, white knighting like heck if you think the player is playing poorly enough to get hammered without your input.

No reveal dramatically reduces the satisfaction from a scum lynch, which is most of the fun of being town, and leads to generally games where the ratio of random yelling to content becomes unacceptable.  The last no reveal we played in, I drove scum lynches on day 1 and 2, then everyone was asking if I was scum because of the lynches, then we lynched someone silly on day 3, then the last mafia got lynched on day 4 and everyone was like "Oh, the game's over, that sucked". 

TLDR: No reveal is satan, don't do it.

[LibraryAdventurer]

Well IRL, me and the friends I play with have a lot of fun playing with no reveal.  But I can see how it probably works better to reveal when playing online.

[Hydrad]

Well IRL, me and the friends I play with have a lot of fun playing with no reveal.  But I can see how it probably works better to reveal when playing online.

Ya I was wary of it when I first started online mafia also. But now I actually prefer it by a bunch and don't think I would enjoy the game if it wasn't with a reveal.

[faust]

Scum has it way easier online because they can take all the time in the world to answer things.  Town needs a buff as well, and revealing roles upon death is a good balancer.

That's a good point.

[faust]

Regarding the question:

I thnk something that makes forum mafia a lot different from IRL mafia for me is voting. In my IRL groups, we usually all vote simultaneously. But in the forum, votes are dripping in, giving you a sense of who's likely to be lynched. Then you can make use of that information before the lynch actually happens. Also data availability. If I play an IRL game, I might not even remember whom I voted for D1 at the end of the game, much less so whom others voted for. Here I can just check the thread. Much more responsibility for your actions comes with that, and it allows for different arguments.

Scum having the ability to talk at night is huge. There's so much to be done with this that would never work IRL. These things are why I actually prefer forum mafia over IRL mafia, just because I'm that kind of analytical player.

Another thing is lingo and knowing the players, but that less of a forum mafia thing. There's a thread with abbreviations we use that hasn't been updated in a while but still has most the important stuff.

[ashersky]

/tag this thread for scumhunting fodder against all of you in future games.