Large Social Game Glossary

Official Terminology:

• Anonymous - An anonymous social game requires that each player take on the role of a character (based on the game's theme). Players are not allowed to reveal their MafiaScum identity during the game and may be encouraged to obfuscate personal details in order to remain anonymous.
• Non-anonymous - In a non-anonymous social game, everyone's MafiaScum identities are public and players tend to have more freedom in the mediums they are allowed to communicate with each other under.
• Confessional - A private forum viewable only by one player and spectators in which players are encouraged to write their thoughts about the game as it's ongoing, as spectators only know what players post. This is also where voting threads are kept and rewards are posted.
• Jury - A group of eliminated players that are expected at the end of the game to vote for which finalist should win the game. The Jury usually is kept apart from other dead players in a Jury forum where they discuss the game until FTC begins.
• Tribal Phase - The part of Survivor in which players are split into tribes and compete against each other. Tribes may only talk amongst themselves and votes are cast against members of the tribe only. This is also referred to as Pre-Merge.
• Swap - When tribes are reassigned, switching which players are in tribes together. This is done very commonly after 3 or more Tribal Councils and may be randomly dispersed, pre-determined by tribe numbers, picked by players, or other means. Players are no longer able to communicate with old tribemates not in their new tribe.
• Merge - The part of Survivor in which players are permanently joined together in one tribe. This is typically when eliminated players are sent to the Jury. If players are merged together then split back into tribes, it is referred to as a Fake-Merge or Shipwreck, see Lingo.
• Immunity Challenge - In Survivor an Immunity Challenge is held every round. As tribes the players compete against the other tribe for the Tribal Immunity Idol, saving their entire tribe from elimination that round. As individuals they compete for the Immunity Necklace for one person. The Immunity Necklace can be given away, though this is extremely rare and dangerous.
• Alliance - Two or more players who agree to vote together and not against each other for convenience. Alliances are not binding and can change many times over a game. If an alliance is three or more players it will typically be given a name for easy reference and fun.
• Tribal Alliance - An alliance composed of surviving members of a tribe after that tribe has been swapped or merged with another. Alliances based on the first tribe a player was grouped in are the most common form of alliance in Survivor.
• Tribal Council/Live Eviction - The period during a Large Social Game in which the players vote on a member to evict from their group. In Survivor the Tribal Council takes place after the Immunity Challenge. In Big Brother, the Live Eviction (usually not live online) takes place after the Power of Veto ceremony. Other games have their own protocols.
• Final Tribal Council/Live Finale - The period during a Large Social Game after all eliminations have taken place. The surviving contestants are given time to plead their case to the Jury, after which the Jury votes for which surviving contestant is officially the winner of the game.

Game Lingo:

• Challenge beast - A player who wins many challenge games, usually in the context of individual challenges.
• Goat - Denoting a player the speaker does not expect to win the game, usually in the context of an appealing opponent to choose to compete against in front of a jury.
• Social threat - A player who is socially connected to many other players, in this context a threat to win the Final Tribal Council vote.
• Boot - A target for elimination, or an already eliminated player.
• ROCKS ROCKS ROCKS/Go to Rocks - Purposely forcing a tie vote. The typical tiebreaker is a random draw between untied players in homage to the rock draw on Survivor.
• Pagong - When a majority of players who started together in their first tribe survive to the merge and eliminate all players that weren't in their starting tribe. Misspellings of the word are common as jokes. This behavior is controversial as many consider it a boring yet effective strategy.
• Fake-Merge/Shipwreck - When players separated into different tribes are merged into one giant tribe, then split into different tribes after. If there is an Individual Immunity challenge and a vote, it's a Fake-Merge. If there is no vote during this phase it's a Shipwreck. The terms have been used interchangeably in the past.
• Traveling Tribe - A tribe in which no one is eliminated before a tribe swap happens. This is most commonly done with the first tribe as a way to introduce many players to each other before they would normally meet.
• Pawn - A player in Big Brother nominated by the HoH for eviction who is not intended by the HoH to be eliminated over the other nominee. They are suposedly nominated because the HoH has to nominate two people. Rarely used in Survivor to denote a false target for elimination to the actual target or anyone not being told the real target.

Abbreviations:

• TC - Tribal Council.
• FTC - Final Tribal Council.
• PoV - The Power of Veto
• F(#) - The Final (number), where # is the number of remaining players.
• F2/F3 - Can also mean a Final Two/Three alliance. I like you. Will you F2 with me?
• IC - Immunity Challenge
• FIC - Final Immunity Challenge
• HOH - Head of Household
• DV - Double-vote
• PM - Private Message