A few questions for everyone

[Basel Gill]

This isn't until I get more experience playing Mafia first, and learning from my own mistakes better than I have already. But I've had a few theme ideas rattling around in my head, and I really hope to get to using them one of these days. So I've been wondering a couple things:

 

How much experience did you have with Mafia before you felt qualified to mod your first game? In hindsight, do you feel you should have waited longer than you did?

How much experience at modding basic/standard games did you have before you tried running an advanced game? (So far, the themes I am most excited about potentially modding are both advanced.)

 

Also, why are weekends with Mafia slower? This strikes me as weird. Quite a few DMers, including Mafia players, are students at some level or another. I'm guessing that in many countries, this means a Monday to Friday school schedule with the weekends being days off. Out of the rest of us, some but not all will have regular Monday to Friday work schedules as well, depending on your job. So why aren't weekends the busy time? Doesn't it stand to reason that more people would be available to post on Saturday and Sunday? This ties into modding my own games because I generally tend to have Saturday and Sunday off, and spend more time online those days than during the week. There're weekdays when I am not even home for 11-12 hours at a time. Which means that if I'm in charge of a game, then I would be away for a large part of when the main action is happening. Does anyone think this would be too much of an obstacle to being an effective mod?

[Nolder]

How much experience did you have with Mafia before you felt qualified to mod your first game? In hindsight, do you feel you should have waited longer than you did?

maybe 3 or 4 games

yes I should have waited

in retrospect I wasn't as good at balancing then as I am now (not that I'm some master or anything but I made some really obvious stupid mistakes then) so my first game went badly

I also made several mistakes while modding including killing the wrong player, giving the cop the wrong alignment, etc

 

it was...bad

 

a lot of this could have been avoided by gaining more experience myself or having someone experienced either look over the setup or actually comod with me which is what I'd suggest for any new mod their first time

 

How much experience at modding basic/standard games did you have before you tried running an advanced game? (So far, the themes I am most excited about potentially modding are both advanced.)

I haven't ran an advance game yet per sey

I am running a game on MJ which isn't basic but I wouldn't call it advanced either and before that I ran a successful basic game as well as a not very balanced but still fun (imo) "you pick" game on JN where people gave me their characters and I gave them back a role

despite that I have several advanced setups that have been looked over by more experienced players/moderators and I don't expect any problems when I run them

 

Also, why are weekends with Mafia slower?

I don't know

I've asked myself that so many times

all I can think of is DMers have amazing lives and go to parties and other such events on weekends

personally even when I was in highschool and such I was used to just staying home and watching TV or somesuch most of the time

also on every other website I know activity picks UP on weekends

so yeah

I have no idea

[LilyElizabeth]

How much experience did you have with Mafia before you felt qualified to mod your first game? In hindsight, do you feel you should have waited longer than you did?

How much experience at modding basic/standard games did you have before you tried running an advanced game? (So far, the themes I am most excited about potentially modding are both advanced.)

 

I played mafia (multiple games at a time) for four months before taking the leap into modding, and still my first game was not as good as it could have been. I didn't start with standard games, although, in retrospect, that would have been an excellent idea.

 

As for the weekends, that baffles me. I have no idea why DM isn't busiest on weekends when people are home and free.

 

I'm one of the more experienced mods on DM these days, and the biggest piece of advice I can give is to read DPR's thread on how to create and mod a game. Also talk to experienced mods with any questions you may have. I'd start with DPR and Verbal. They are really great guys and will help wherever they can.

[JenLenaMom]

Some people take their weekends as family time. Even though they are home their focus is on other things than games. I for one have a birthday party and two softball practices this Saturday as well as church Sunday am and pm and I like to try to sneak a nap between the two.

 

As far as modding, the simpler the game you start with the better, but organization is key. Spreadsheets are great tools I've been writing my role pm's right into mine so that if I need to refer back while I'm processing NA's I don't have to open another document, but that's just the way my mind works I'm fairly lazy. Co-modding with an experienced mod is a good way to get your feet wet, especially in a more complex game. You get to see the inner workings of the game but you have someone to help catch your mistakes.

[Christine]

1. How much experience did you have with Mafia before you felt qualified to mod your first game?

1a. In hindsight, do you feel you should have waited longer than you did?

 

2. How much experience at modding basic/standard games did you have before you tried running an advanced game?

 

3. Also, why are weekends with Mafia slower?

 

 

 

Sorry, I had to reorganize it. Too much insanity going on before.

 

1. I had played at least 10 basic games and 4 advanced games, including a DPR game. I still didn't necessarily feel qualified, so I went back and forth with a Mod God for help on balancing.

1a. No, actually, I think I had it under control. I would not have felt the same if I had not had the balance double checked.

 

2. I have yet to do an Advanced Game. So far, I have modded 4 Basic Games. I do not get my balance checked anymore, as I seem to have that down. I would go back to using a Mod God if I were to do an Advanced Game.

 

3. Everyone wants to party on the weekend. No one wants to be on a computer.

[Christine]

Also talk to experienced mods with any questions you may have. I'd start with DPR and Verbal. They are really great guys and will help wherever they can.

 

 

Lies, they would eat you alive if they could!

[Sakaea]

I had played for months, advanced and basic, before I first modded a basic game. All of my basic games have been good, with the exception of the last one, which was slightly unbalanced, but still worked rather well.

 

I'm going to be modding an advanced game some time this year, I'm like 8th in line.

 

I'm home all week, cus I haven't found a job yet. I spend the majority of the weekend at my fiance's house. He has no interwebs yet; when he does I'll at least be able to check in if there's a DL or something.

[Niniel]

I played for five months I think before I modded my first game. My second has just ended. I took a long time to prepare both times. First time I got help from Lily and Naeann. The second time DPR helped me out. I´m going to mod another one later this year in the BT. I will definitely ask someone to help me with the balance.

 

I often have more time to play on weekends. I´m not here as much the days that my daughter is with me. I can´t post from work.

[WWWwombat]

I played a while before modding. Not sure how long, but longer than most. The most important thing is to have a good mod check the balance of your setup and if you get into any tricky situations (which you usually do), to ask an experienced mod who is not in the game how to handle it.

[Ithillian Turambar]

Also talk to experienced mods with any questions you may have. I'd start with DPR and Verbal. They are really great guys and will help wherever they can.

 

 

Lies, they would eat you alive if they could!

 

 

Even bigger Lies. DPR has totally helped me get the set up of my first game ready. It is based on Star Wars III Revenge of the Sith. I have played about 10 or 11 games now, maybe more - both basic and advanced. It is rare I play more than one game at a time because I like to fully participate and I don't want to get confused. It has been almost a year since I played my first game. I chat to the Mods a lot when I play. It helps keep me sane - them not so much lol. I'm not evil, no matter what Lily says.

 

My game is mostly basic ... there is a bit of interest also though. I will let you know how it goes. I have had a lot of experience modding other types of games and felt the need to try a Mafia game. I have tried to keep it as hands off as possible because the more tricky stuff you try and build into it, the more likely you will stuff it up. I had the idea for the game for about 10 months bouncing around and eventually just sent the whole thing to DPR and said ... what about this? I'm the next in line at the BT - after Locke's Mistborn game. This is a good thing because I'm still building the roles and stuff.

 

I think people play from work lol - I know I do. I think that is why it is busier during the week.