Forum Mafia

[JaggedJimmyJay]

Hey there Bengals Board/Jungle Noise squad.

I come with a proposition of sorts, just to test the waters and see if there is any interest and to what extent. Some or many of you might have encountered before a party game called "Werewolf" or equivalently "Mafia" (they are the same game, just differing on two popular themes). These are games of social deduction, where players compete with each other on teams. Some are members of an informed minority (the mafia) and others form an uninformed majority (the town or the village). Members of the town team must attempt to sort out who the mafia members are, and mafia members must try to remain undiscovered by the town.

This party game has a message board forum variant that is extremely popular across the Internet. I know of over 200 forums that play the game in some capacity. There's even an annual tournament involving many or all of those sites to identify the very best players in the world. I have taken part in that tournament twice, and it's a fascinating experience.

This is isn't an advertisement for any other site though. I want to suggest that we play Mafia right here on the Bengals board. I have seen a lot of folks around here that I think could have the temperament for it, might enjoy it, and might be really good at it too. This Klotsch forum appears to be the most appropriate for this kind of thing, but if that's not correct please forgive me and move this thread liberally.

Here's a quick look at the party game if you want more information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)

If there's interest, I could expand on how it works within a forum. To get a single game running, I would ideally need a minimum of 9 players not including myself. I could host the first one to help folks figure it out. Is anyone interested? Lemme know in the thread below.  

[*bfine32*]

(11-15-2021, 06:58 PM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: Hey there Bengals Board/Jungle Noise squad.

I come with a proposition of sorts, just to test the waters and see if there is any interest and to what extent. Some or many of you might have encountered before a party game called "Werewolf" or equivalently "Mafia" (they are the same game, just differing on two popular themes). These are games of social deduction, where players compete with each other on teams. Some are members of an informed minority (the mafia) and others form an uninformed majority (the town or the village). Members of the town team must attempt to sort out who the mafia members are, and mafia members must try to remain undiscovered by the town.

This party game has a message board forum variant that is extremely popular across the Internet. I know of over 200 forums that play the game in some capacity. There's even an annual tournament involving many or all of those sites to identify the very best players in the world. I have taken part in that tournament twice, and it's a fascinating experience.

This is isn't an advertisement for any other site though. I want to suggest that we play Mafia right here on the Bengals board. I have seen a lot of folks around here that I think could have the temperament for it, might enjoy it, and might be really good at it too. This Klotsch forum appears to be the most appropriate for this kind of thing, but if that's not correct please forgive me and move this thread liberally.

Here's a quick look at the party game if you want more information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)

If there's interest, I could expand on how it works within a forum. To get a single game running, I would ideally need a minimum of 9 players not including myself. I could host the first one to help folks figure it out. Is anyone interested? Lemme know in the thread below.  

I have no idea about this game, but I'm in. Do we get hats? 

[Tiger Teeth]

(11-16-2021, 12:11 AM)bfine32 Wrote: I have no idea about this game, but I'm in. Do we get hats? 

Screw hats, do we get to pack heat?  Hell, count me in man.  Just explain it to me.

[JaggedJimmyJay]

You might get to pack heat... in an intangible sense.

Glad to have each of you aboard. Seven more would bring us to a minimum. I'll explain the process a bit more:

As I said before, the game is comprised of an informed minority (mafia) and an uninformed majority (town). These are the teams. It's possible to have more complex setups than that, but we'll start with the most basic. If we have 9 players, it would look like this:

7 town members vs. 2 mafia members

The town's objective would be to discover who among the 9 players are the two mafia members. The mafia's objective would be to remain undiscovered. In this way, it's a game of investigation and deception. It plays out entirely within a single thread, where players converse with one another to try to sort out their own respective objectives.

The game takes place across cycles of phases: the Day Phase and the Night Phase.

During Day phases, players talk with each other in the thread and place votes, individually within the thread, for a single player to eliminate from the game. The player with the most votes is eliminated ("dead"), and is no longer permitted to take part in the thread until the game is over. When the player is eliminated, the host (me) will reveal their identity as either town or as mafia.

During Night phases, the thread is closed and nobody may speak in it. The mafia will use this time to communicate privately, usually via a separate resource such as a QuickTopic thread or a Discord server, about their strategy to survive the game. They will together choose a single town player to night kill, which removes that player from the game (just as the public vote does in the day phase). This is how the mafia eliminate threats to them.

These Day and Night phases repeat in cycles (e.g., Day 1, Night 1, Day 2, Night 2, Day 3, etc...) until the game ends. The game ends when either all mafia members have been eliminated (town wins), or the number of mafia members equals or surpasses the number town members (mafia wins).

The game takes place across numerous days, because everyone here has lives and can't sit around forever in a message board thread. Players would participate in the thread when they feel like it and when they can. The phases can last any amount of time, but let's say for the first game...

Day phases are 72 hours, and Night phases are 24. I might go with 48/24 instead if that's more agreeable.

[JaggedJimmyJay]

Let's see if this forum has a mention feature:

@Tiger Teeth
@bfine32

That probably won't provide notifications, but worth a try.

[grampahol]

Do we get nice fedoras, heaters and mauls?  I only wanna do it if I get to walk into a nice Italian restaurant and open fire with my tommy gun, nice big ass bullet proof limo waiting with the really hot broads in it..   Someone has to say, dahhhhhh..hey Boss! You want I should know im off for yas? (Fake Brooklyn accent of course)

[JaggedJimmyJay]

You can role play anything you want.

[Tiger Teeth]

No offense bro. But you might want to put this idea, which I like, on the back burner while we're in a playoff hunt. And another issue, not a lot of members even come down here. (In Klotsch)

[MileHighGrowler]

Interesting idea doing it on a forum. I've never heard of that. I stopped playing Mafia some time back. I played a lot in college and legitimately had people no longer talk to me. The "nice guy" being such a good liar and not being trustworthy in a game didn't go over well, I guess... As an adult, it's been played from time to time at a party and someone always just gets so upset it ruins the evening. Secret Hitler is another version of the same game. But no matter what, someone gets too angry, so a few years ago I said no more. Hopefully it stays a bit more light-hearted on here. Mid-season or off-season, great idea and have fun!

[Tiger Teeth]

(11-16-2021, 11:59 AM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: You might get to pack heat... in an intangible sense.

Glad to have each of you aboard. Seven more would bring us to a minimum. I'll explain the process a bit more:

As I said before, the game is comprised of an informed minority (mafia) and an uninformed majority (town). These are the teams. It's possible to have more complex setups than that, but we'll start with the most basic. If we have 9 players, it would look like this:

7 town members vs. 2 mafia members

The town's objective would be to discover who among the 9 players are the two mafia members. The mafia's objective would be to remain undiscovered. In this way, it's a game of investigation and deception. It plays out entirely within a single thread, where players converse with one another to try to sort out their own respective objectives.

The game takes place across cycles of phases: the Day Phase and the Night Phase.

During Day phases, players talk with each other in the thread and place votes, individually within the thread, for a single player to eliminate from the game. The player with the most votes is eliminated ("dead"), and is no longer permitted to take part in the thread until the game is over. When the player is eliminated, the host (me) will reveal their identity as either town or as mafia.

During Night phases, the thread is closed and nobody may speak in it. The mafia will use this time to communicate privately, usually via a separate resource such as a QuickTopic thread or a Discord server, about their strategy to survive the game. They will together choose a single town player to night kill, which removes that player from the game (just as the public vote does in the day phase). This is how the mafia eliminate threats to them.

These Day and Night phases repeat in cycles (e.g., Day 1, Night 1, Day 2, Night 2, Day 3, etc...) until the game ends. The game ends when either all mafia members have been eliminated (town wins), or the number of mafia members equals or surpasses the number town members (mafia wins).

The game takes place across numerous days, because everyone here has lives and can't sit around forever in a message board thread. Players would participate in the thread when they feel like it and when they can. The phases can last any amount of time, but let's say for the first game...

Day phases are 72 hours, and Night phases are 24. I might go with 48/24 instead if that's more agreeable.

Uh, wait a second.  I just thoroughly read through this.  I don't think I can keep this straight.  I'm in the Official Board Fantasy Football League, and currently mentally locked in on shredding the other members.

If you do this after the draft, PM me.

[JaggedJimmyJay]

No worries gang. This doesn’t have to happen now, and it’d need more interest to be plausible anyway.

[*michaelsean*]

I’m sure it’s more complicated, but can’t you stay undiscovered by just not telling anyone?

[JaggedJimmyJay]

(11-17-2021, 04:47 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I’m sure it’s more complicated, but can’t you stay undiscovered by just not telling anyone?

If only it were so easy! There are two core challenges for the mafia team:

1) They are informed, so they start the game knowing each other. They are hiding themselves as well as their teammates, and sometimes it can be difficult to avoid tipping players off that you know more than they know.

2) You spend the game's Day phases trying to get members of the town team voted out, which means you have to accuse them of being mafia or of doing suspicious things even when you know they're innocent. The main objective of the town is to figure out who's engaging in that kind of BS.

The intellectual challenge of the game, especially in the forum format, is to be able to get away with those kinds of fake perspectives (or to figure out who is doing the faking).

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

Following.....

[hollodero]

Sure, I'm in. A bit busy the next few weeks though.

[SladeX]

I'm intrigued. If you need a ninth I think I can. My work schedule is weird, though... .

[JaggedJimmyJay]

bfine32
Wyche'sWarrior
hollodero
SladeX

These are the folks that have conclusively shown interest (I'm interpreting following the thread that way) without necessarily waiting for the offseason. Just keeping track of numbers. 5 more would be needed for a viable first game. Glad to have everyone.

[Tiger Teeth]

(11-18-2021, 12:45 PM)JaggedJimmyJay Wrote: bfine32
Wyche'sWarrior
hollodero
SladeX

These are the folks that have conclusively shown interest (I'm interpreting following the thread that way) without necessarily waiting for the offseason. Just keeping track of numbers. 5 more would be needed for a viable first game. Glad to have everyone.

Oh hell, put me down man.  That's an interesting list so far.  I think they know something I don't.  Not having that.  I'm in!

[JaggedJimmyJay]

Even better, TT. 

[JaggedJimmyJay]

Four more and we're cooking with gas.