On Appearing Town

Original Lecture: On appearing town

The best way to appear to be town is to not try and appear to be town. :P

Similar to my thoughts on the townbloc, this is basically because the more forced you try and make it, the less successful it's going to be. Be natural. Be yourself. (Well, not entirely. The better elements of yourself. :P) Focus on scumhunting. When talking to others (and yes, you should be talking to others), make sure you're not defending yourself, but rather, working with them. You might say that if they think you're scum, they're wrong. You might clarify something that they didn't get. But don't defend yourself. It's almost never a good idea. Focus on the offense, focus on finding scum, and when talking with others, have that similar focus. (For instance, "alright, I get it, you think I'm scum. But if I wasn't, who is? Talk to me, here" or something along those lines is something I have said plenty of times.)

If you look like you're not concerned about how you're perceived, then you'll be more likely to be townread. And defending yourself is going to make people think you're scum. So don't. Don't do things with the intention of making yourself look town. Or to put in another way--don't try to be town. Actually BE town. If you let things flow naturally, if you let yourself focus on the objectives a town player has in mind (that is, to find scum and lynch them), then you're going to be perceived as being town.

Now this is all fine and dandy for town players, but scum players have to modify it a bit. For the most part, it's the same! A scum player needs to not focus on defending themselves. That survivalistic attitude not only makes them look worse, but also sabotages their team's chances as a whole if it includes hardcore bussing in it. Mafia are not serial killers; they win as a team. So keeping that in mind, the objective as scum isn't to lynch scum; it's to get town dead as fast as possible and scum dead as little as possible so that you endgame town as quickly as possible. (The more days town has to figure things out, the more likely it is they will do so.)

Thus, as scum, your posts are similar, but not identical. You should still be yourself, but you're not entirely posting naturally. Your perspective on things is biased because as scum, you know more. (For instance, your scumbuddies are going to look scummier to you as scum than they ever would to a town-you.) So pure-natural posting from scum is detrimental. Keep it as close to natural as you can while still having that objective in mind. Focus on scumhunting just as town, but make sure your scumhunting is advantageous to your faction. You should be talking to others just as much (if not MORE!) when scum, and working "with" them the same. The only difference being that instead of working "with" them, you're subtly (AND I DO MEAN SUBTLE!) sabotaging them, via miniscule misdirections. Focus on looking like you're trying to find scum, while having your actions direct the town players away from scum.

This is the fundamental basics of it. There's more to it, and I'll probably need an advanced class to explain it in detail. (By which, I mean, a more specific wiki article covering the subject. :P) One final tip on this, though, is that you're not trying to sway people to your side, as either alignment. (Basically, you don't want to give them the solution; they'll reject yours and substitute their own. :P) You're trying to make them think what you do (as scum--rather think what you want them to think), or have thoughts that synchronize with your own (as town). It's a subtle difference between the three, but basically...instead of trying to make them agree with you, you're trying to make them think they've found the solution for themselves. (When, as scum, it's something you implanted into their minds, when subtly guiding their train of thought.) If you're town, your goal is to have them find a solution that you can compare to your own, and as scum, for it to be exactly the same as your own.

I realize this is a difficult concept to grasp, but it's what separates the good from the great. Great town players can bring out the potential in another player. Great scum players can make another player their pawn. Both by running the same process, with just a slight modification in ending technique. It's definitely something you'll need to practice, and practice a lot.

When it comes to further reading on the subject if you need it, as I said, it's not something I have a definitive article on. (I need to write one.) The closest I have is recognizing reads and my argument on charisma, for further reading on the subject. I'd also recommend skimming Albert B. Rampage's Alignment Discovery, which talks about the differences between town and scum objectives.

Good luck![/quote]