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...and they all lived happily ever after
In some Mafia games, the Mafia is required to kill. What if they weren't?
As you can see from the table of probabilities in Numbers, Part 1, the probability for the Town winning actually increases if the game starts with an even number of players instead of a slightly higher odd number. For example, a game with 8 players (1 Mafia) gives the Town a 54.29% chance of winning, while in a game with 9 Players (1 Mafia), the probability drops to 45.31%. These numbers assume that both the Mafia and the Town kill every day, but what if they don't have to? If the Mafia choose not to kill on the first night, it is as if the game has started with 9 players instead of 8; the Mafia has increased its chances by 9%! But, it is then in the Town's best interest to not eliminate (for the same reason). By this logic, no one will ever die!
Of course, this holds only in games with just Mafia and Townspeople, where the Mafia is not required to kill; but wouldn't it be interesting to see a game which ended with the Moderator finally giving up and writing "And they all lived happily ever after. The end."?
No longer just a theory
It finally happened. In March 2006, Newbie 189 became the site's first case of "...and they all lived happily ever after". Discussion afterward was decidedly mixed, with some players feeling it was a stunt done for metagame reasons.