Discussion: Rules

[cosmicpanda]

To all who have modded games of mafia here:

 

What rules do you like to use? I'd like to get a discussion going about what rules players like and what rules mods like, and why. Don't be shy, this is open to all, past and present.

 

Personally, I like to use as few rules as possible. I find people often don't bother reading the first post in a game of mafia, and so I try to keep it as concise as possible to make it as painless as possible.

 

The rules I consider essential:

 

- Don't quote mod PMs.

 

This is essential in my view because otherwise players can use them to prove their role easily. And that's not how mafia should be played. Mafia is a game of skill, and quoting mod PMs takes the skill away.

 

Of course, people can get around this by paraphrasing them or counting words, etc. To beat that as a mod, I like to put the vanilla townie role PM in the first post. This way, anybody can claim vanilla townie, even if they don't have that role PM.

 

 

- When a person hammers, the person they're hammering stays hammered.

 

Chaos ensues otherwise, and lynches become reliant on 'when the mod's around'.

 

 

Less essential rules:

 

- Don't talk about the game outside of the thread.

 

This one I feel isn't as essential as tradition demands it to be. I've played experimental games where players were allowed to discuss the game outside of the thread, and nothing bad happened. I feel there's room here for a bit of mod discretion - perhaps it'd be nice to see a few games with talking outside of the thread allowed.

 

Of course, it renders roles like masons useless, so there is that.

 

 

- Don't edit posts.

 

This one I feel is frankly unnecessary here, since all edits are shown in the post. This enables players to easily recognise when others have edited a post, and to give them hell for it. No modly intervention required.

 

 

Well, that's me. What do you think?

[loki redfern]

Don't quote mod PMs.

 

This is essential in my view because otherwise players can use them to prove their role easily. And that's not how mafia should be played. Mafia is a game of skill, and quoting mod PMs takes the skill away.

 

Of course, people can get around this by paraphrasing them or counting words, etc. To beat that as a mod, I like to put the vanilla townie role PM in the first post. This way, anybody can claim vanilla townie, even if they don't have that role PM.

 

 

i played a game where i let mod pms be quoted, the trick is to make them as standard as possible, so they can be faked.

 

in that game i rexaled alot of the rules that are seen as hard and fast, such as the talking off the thread one, partly becuse i wanted to see how it would work and what effect on the game it would have. chaos ensued. damn fun chaos imo.

[loki redfern]

Don't edit posts.

 

This one I feel is frankly unnecessary here, since all edits are shown in the post. This enables players to easily recognise when others have edited a post, and to give them hell for it. No modly intervention required.

 

i feel that one is nessary, yes people can see when you do but i think whats said on the thread should stay said. that said as a role i wouldnt mind it, i played a game on MJ where it was  (though it was the ability to mod the posts of others as well) which i though worked quite well  (you know since it allowed me to win :D )

[Liathiana]

 

- When a person hammers, the person they're hammering stays hammered.

 

Chaos ensues otherwise, and lynches become reliant on 'when the mod's around'.

 

I see what you mean but I think that could be used as a tool like some of the other rules. Chaos is fun! ;D

 

I think I will find this thread really interesting because there was a lot of rules that other Mods seemed to take for granted that I had no idea about when I ran my game.

[Barmacral]

- When a person hammers, the person they're hammering stays hammered.

 

I'm considering having this one be the case because I think you screwed your entire mafia team out of a sure win over this one Pandy... or maybe it was Mynd, one of you two anyways. However, this never used to be an issue, since my deadlines are sent for certain brackets (I leave some leeway since I can't always be there on the dot).

 

- The Mod is God This one is key because you should be able to edit your rules at any time if you find a reason to do so, which I have more than once.

[loki redfern]

yes i agree with that the mod should be god. sometimes you find flaws or something you couldnt plan for happeds, especially in a game with lots of complex role interactions and you have to change things on the fly

[Naeann]

Punishments for inactivity.  It's understandable things come up sometimes and I don't in any way mean that.. but I'm talking about individuals who do it in EVERY SINGLE GAME.

 

I like having set times for phases.  Otherwise the game can drag on forever.  I also like the different ways people handle it when no majority is reached.  (killing a random player, killing a random non-voter, killing a random person voted for)

[LedZepMan]

I like the mod is god rule. can't wait till I can mod a couple games.

[Verbal32]

- When a person hammers, the person they're hammering stays hammered.

 

I'm considering having this one be the case because I think you screwed your entire mafia team out of a sure win over this one Pandy... or maybe it was Mynd, one of you two anyways. However, this never used to be an issue, since my deadlines are sent for certain brackets (I leave some leeway since I can't always be there on the dot).

 

- The Mod is God This one is key because you should be able to edit your rules at any time if you find a reason to do so, which I have more than once.

 

It was Pandy - he was mafia with myself and Danya in your Christmas mafia game.

 

But we are discussing this issue within DPR's MJ game right now.  He is counting unvotes after a hammer.  I would do, but I specifically like to state that the phase ends at the deadline, or when I'm online and a majority has reached.  I tally all votes up to the point I'm online, and then act.  If you hammer somebody but another unvotes, and then I'm online, I'll count everything up to me coming online.

 

I can see it both ways - it's just mod discretion.

[cosmicpanda]

Don't you think that that adds too much luck to mafia? It robs them of the ability to quicklynch on the last day.

[Verbal32]

True, but it places too much reliance and fortune on those who can be online at a whim.  For those that can't, allowing them to get in there and act prior to the mod getting online gives a little more freedom.  We are talking about online forums here....sometimes it's hard to get online in time.

 

But you have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, so that's why when the mod is online, the line is drawn.

[Barmacral]

It also gives the players a chance to think things through, I was in a game recently where the hammer vote was the end-all, the mod said that they were going to be away all weekend so the next day wouldn't start until Monday anyways, and somebody hammered Friday evening, thus putting the entire weekend to waste since there really wasn't anything for anyone to do except wait and see the results.

[Verbal32]

Exactly.  That's why I think DPR is going to rule with an unvote counting after a hammer but prior to him coming online.  But in the end it's all about mod discretion and what they want to do.  As players, we try to find ways to influence the game to our advantage, but we still have to operate within the rules the mod sets up.