Newbie Game

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A special administrative category, a Newbie Game is currently run as a 9-player game using the Matrix6 setup. Newbie games typically have 2-week (extendable to 3-week at moderator discretion) deadlines for each game day.

Previous Newbie Games have been run using the C9, Pie E7, and California setups, which were 7-player games, and the F11 and 2of4 setups, which were 9-player games.

Newbie Games are played in The Road to Rome forum. Records of old games can be found at Newbie Game/History, or by reading the games themselves in the forum.

Players

There is a centralized waiting list for both moderators and players. To join a Newbie Game, players should read the first post of the Queue thread and then post in the Newbie Game Queue that you'd like to play ("/in" or "/in to play", is the most common way of doing so). When the game is full, the ListMod will assign the game to a Moderator and the players will be contacted by the game's moderator via PM.

Newbie Game Player Rankings

There are three basic "types" of players in a Newbie Game:

• New - this player has finished no more than one game of Mafia on mafiascum.net. Even if they may have played elsewhere, they are still considered to be a New player here. A player is no longer allowed to /in as a New player if they have finished two Newbie games.
• Semi-Experienced (SE) - this player has finished playing in three games on MafiaScum, at least one of which was not a Newbie game.
  • A finished game is a game in which you have been lynched, night killed, or the game ends normally.
• "Inexperience-Challenged" (IC) - For a player to qualify as IC, the player must have been a member of mafiascum.net for at least three months and must have played in at least five completed games.
  • A Completed game is a game that has come to an end with a win, loss, or tie. If the player has "died" and the game is still being played by others, it does not count towards IC status. Remember: If you can't add the game to your win/loss record, then it doesn't count yet!
  • First-time ICs: in addition to posting an "/in to IC" post in the Queue, please PM the Newbie ListMod with links to your 5 completed games so that the ListMod can verify their status. All Potential ICs MUST also read Being a good IC.

Player Game Limits

• Brand new players may only play in one Newbie Game. You may either play a game from scratch or replace into an existing game for your first game.
• Once you are out of your first game (by lynch, nightkill, or the end of the game) you may sign up for a second game. You may also replace into as many games as you can handle. NOTE: Overloading and replacing out of games can get you banned from the Newbie Queue!
• Players that qualify for SE or IC status may not use an Alt to play as a Newer Player.

Moderators

As we aim to provide a good first experience for new players, moderators of Newbie Games are required to have successfully moderated one prior non-Newbie games before joining the list, and have a good overall record of moderation.

• See the Modding Requirements wiki article to find out all the requirements for modding on the various lists.

To join the waiting list, moderators should post in the Newbie Game List thread ("/in to mod"). When a new game fills up, the List Mod will inform the new moderator, and the moderator can then start the game.

Moderators of Newbie Games must adhere to the following rules:

1. Once you have determined the setup and assigned players, please PM the data to the ListMod in case you need to be replaced.
2. YOU MUST USE RANDOM.ORG TO DETERMINE SETUP AND ROLE DISTRIBUTION! Roles/game setup should NEVER be given to players “because they want role X” or "because an all-Vanilla game setup is too boring to Mod".
3. Newbie games MUST be run with 2-WEEK DEADLINES per game day. Extensions are allowed, but try to limit them to 1 week or less.
4. All players MUST read their role PMs. If a player does not read their role PM they are not allowed to play. You may consider requiring players to PM you back a "code word" or their role name that you put in the PM, so that you have reasonable assurance that they read the PM. If you find out at a later time that a player did not read their role PM, please contact the ListMod.
5. If a player doesn't pick up their role during the confirmation stage you should go back to the first post of the Newbie Game Queue and pick the next unassigned player(s). Remember to post in the Queue thread when you replace/steal somebody!
6. If you need to replace a player after the game has started, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ensure that the player you are taking as a replacement is not a Newbie already playing in their first game. Newbies are only allowed to play in ONE GAME AT A TIME. Use the Search function on the boards and check to make sure the replacee is not already playing in their first game. Make sure to check the Queue to see if they have been assigned to a game that hasn't started yet!!
   • Anytime you replace someone, leave the original player's name in the Player List! Otherwise this can be very confusing for the other players when they are trying to reread the thread. Example formats include Replacer, replacing Replaceé or Replaceé Replacer.
7. Moderators are welcome to "replace down" with a player of greater skill level if they wish (ICs may replace SEs or Newbies, for example). Newbies may NOT replace into an SE or IC spot; likewise, SEs may not replace into an IC spot.
8. Role PMs should be as generic as possible. Feel free to use the roles as described in this thread. Especially remember not to name or distinguish the Vanilla Townie role PMs in any way. You should post all the PMs in your first or second post. Outguessing the Mod/name claims shouldn't have a place in Newbie Games.
9. Newbie Mods are expected to check their games DAILY to make sure no requests have been made and to do vote counts.
   • If you are going to be away for an extended time, let the ListMod (or backup Mod) know so that he/she can watch over your games until you return.
10. Try to do a Vote Count on every page, near the top if possible. If your players are prolific posters this may not be possible - just do the best you can to provide timely, up-to-date vote counts. If a lot of votes have changed in the course of a page, you may wish to do them even more often. Always provide a regular vote count during deadlines!
11. Give your IC players a chance to answer questions before you jump in, if possible. Mods run a risk of accidentally giving something away when they talk about the game (but some questions only you can answer, such as deadlines).
12. Prod players by PM if they haven't posted for 2-3 days (unless they warn you ahead of time), and consider setting the deadline sooner if, as a group, they're really stalling out/not posting for days in a row.
    • Remember that deadlines in Lynch-or-Lose situations should not have a reduced number of votes to lynch, or Scum can win automatically.
13. Don't worry about not having a 'theme' or flavor; that's actually better for Newbie Games, so they stay as uncomplicated as possible. Any flavor should be as close to Normal Mafia flavor as possible.
14. Moderators should read and be familiar with the guidelines for ICs in the wiki article Being a good IC.
15. New as of March 2010: If you don't have one already, please add a rule to your rules set explicitly forbidding encrypted text and put it into effect immediately. This is not in the spirit of the game and we don't want it in the Newbie Queue. See this link for why.

See Also

• Newbie FAQ
• Newbie Guide