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Mafiascum's Evolving Play: Tips
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History
Original Publication: September 25, 2013 by Mastin2
Introduction
The game of mafia is constantly evolving over the years. The game is vastly different even in general from what it was ten years ago, and will be virtually unrecognizable to what we currently know in ten years. It's not that drastic on a smaller time scale, but still significant. Even on just this site, the play from three years ago is like a foreign site compared to the play now. Two years ago is slightly more recognizable, but still different. Heck, even play from a year ago is different from play as it is now.
And that trend will always continue to happen. Slowly, gradually, the game evolves into a different game entirely, both across the world in general and across this site specifically. This is nothing groundbreaking. Everyone knows this. (Or, should know it, at least.) But not everyone seems to realize the implication of it--
If the game evolves, so should the players. This is something that a lot of people seem not to get. A lot do! Plenty of people understand that their play from years ago is obsolete and they need to adapt. But far too many people get trapped in the past and assume a tactic which worked a year or two ago has any true effect today.
So, I've decided to compile a list of tips that can help smooth the transition for those who experience this time-based culture shock. Both for people returning years later and for people who play frequently but seem to find themselves feeling like a relic of the past with their tactics.
Play the game as a game.
Have fun! You have NO clue just how dang much of a difference it makes. Don't be concerned about winning or losing. Just play the game. As town, this less-stressful, more relaxed approach will allow you to be more comfortable and natural--allowing your interactions to be better and permitting you to pick up on things that you otherwise would miss. As scum, it greatly increases your chances of winning the game, because your decisions tend to be better and less panic-laden, and your interactions with others make them more hesitant to eliminate you.
This also means you need to avoid apathy. While as scum, inducing apathy in the town is a good way to win, it only is a good way to win if you yourself are not apathetic. If you're apathetic as scum, then you're not invested and thus, more likely to make a tactical error (such as overly lurking). As town, apathy kills your passion, your drive, to scumhunt, and if you get into that mindset, you've basically lost the game.
I always try to have a blast when playing a game. If I'm not, something has gone horribly wrong and it's time to reassess the game-state to lock onto the problem.
Play to win!
The goal should be to have fun, and having fun increases your chances of winning, but that doesn't mean you should be careless just because "it's a game, the end results are just words" or something to that effect. It's not just a game, so you need to consistently keep your win in sight. As town, you never, EVER should let yourself get into the mindset that losing a game would be acceptable or even preferable. ("Meh, I don't care anymore, VOTE: personyou'dnevervoteiftrying" is all too common.) As scum, giving up is a self-fulfilling prophecy, whereas continuing to try and fight will give you a chance of winning.
Basically, you have a commitment to try in a game. If you're not trying, then you're borderline playing against your wincon. Games are a devotion. They take effort to win. If you're not giving that effort, if you're not trying to win actively, then you've sabotaged the game not only for your faction, but your rival faction as well. (Because the experience is cheapened when you've made it easy to win for them.) Every game I play I have this self-enforced policy, that if I'm not giving my best, I am being negligent. That doesn't mean I have to spend hours every single day on a single game, but it does mean I need to put in some serious time for each game I tackle.
Be yourself!
It doesn't matter if it's good enough (good enough) for someone else. :P But more seriously--presenting yourself as much as possible as who you are is a vital skill to master. Don't try to be someone you're not. Generally, a lot of the best players look a lot like they do inside the game when doing things outside the game. That's because when they're playing inside the game, they're not putting on the mask of an alignment.
Basically, most of my best plays are things which I did because I felt like doing them, without much thought to what role I possessed. (Though, see below; what role I have influences these situations.) That said...
Present the better elements of yourself.
For instance, if you're overly-emotional, presenting that is a good way to get yourself eliminated. AtE is not looked upon favorably at all. Another example is my verbosity. It's part of who I am, but in games, I try to minimize it, instead focusing my effort on presenting the side of me that people seem to enjoy. Basically...
Be a reasonable person who is fun to be around.
The more likable you are as a player, the better your chances of winning the game are, regardless of your alignment. As town, it makes people more inclined to listen to your feedback. (It also makes them hesitate to nightkill you if you want to live.) As scum, it makes people more hesitant to eliminate you.
Never lose sight of the goal!
As town, you have a goal of getting all anti-town factions dead. As scum, you have a goal of being half the living town. So despite playing for fun, despite presenting a large part of yourself as a person, you're still ultimately a player, and need to actively work towards those objectives.
Despite how my play is largely spur-of-the-moment improvisation, I never forget the end-goal. As scum, I have a plan, and backup plans, and backup plans to the backup plans in mind for the game as it progresses--what the plan(s) is(/are) will change with the gamestate as things begin to shift one way or the other, but I ALWAYS have a plan, and rarely do something impulsive without first thinking of the consequences and what I can gain from it.
As town, I tend not to think that forward ahead, because my info is less perfect than as scum. But I still have an approach to the game, a plan, a strategy, to best catch scum. Again, what that strategy is will vary with the gamestate, but I'll always have something in mind to help hunt scum. Speaking of ever-evolving gamestates...
Never let yourself be comfortable with your play.
Every game is different, so if your play is identical in two games, you're doing it wrong in at least one of them. Your play should be fluent, constantly changing to the circumstances surrounding you. Context is everything in a game, and what worked in one game will get you speed-eliminated in another. You should actively be observing the nature of your game, and if your play doesn't seem to mesh well, you need to change it.
That said...
Don't force the change.
Your change in playstyle should still feel natural to you, or at the very least not incredibly difficult. The you that you present in a game should still be close to the you as a person (as mentioned above), so while you need to adapt to reflect your individual game, your adaptations will typically be subtle as to allow you to retain your core playstyle.
Though...
Don't be afraid to try new things.
Even things that make you uncomfortable. Worst case scenario, you just fall back into your old play. Best case scenario, you change your core play for the better because of this unique adaptation that you've taken on. Just as the site evolves, you need to evolve as a player, meaning that you should constantly be experimenting with your play.
Don't be afraid to try old things!
Mafia is mostly an evolution, but it is partially cyclic in nature, too. Tells and strategies from years ago can occasionally still be useful, so don't ignore them. Yes, most of them are dated, because evolution and publication reduces the effectiveness of them. But it does happen, especially with tells/strategies that are more generic. (Helpful hand, the more generic and contextual-dependent/subjective/subtle a strategy/tell, the more likely it is to be timeless.) Old doesn't *always* mean obsolete.
On a related note...
Read your past games.
Most of the time, you'll only see mistakes, things you could have done better. (Which, itself, is a good thing to think about!) But occasionally, you'll discover something your old self had that you currently lack. By looking a the old-you, you can take that lost element and reincorporate it into your current play. Do note, however, that the purpose of the reread is meant to restore glamor to your current play (via improving it)--not to bask in the glory days of your career that have in your opinion since passed.
Too much will never be a good thing.
Too many pages, or too many walls. Regardless of the method, too many words will always be too many words. There's no such thing (as far as I know) as a professional mafia player. Everyone plays as a hobby/passion in their free time, which is typically limited in the day. There's only so much they can process at one time, and thus, something that will ALWAYS be true of games is that too many words is a bad thing.
Summary
This article provides the answer to the question, "What Would Mastin Do?"
Closing Notes
Note that while this is a decent list, it is not an exclusive list. There are plenty of other things that I am sure I neglected to include. Search around, experiment a little bit, and you'll find your own timeless tips.
A note on presenting yourself:
The tips about being who you are outside the game are not "act like your real-life self", necessarily. It's a message to be comfortable. Experimenting is good and healthy, but ultimately, forcing yourself to be something you're not will be detrimental to your play. If you incorporate elements into your posting, they have to integrate well. Your inside-game-self may benefit from having a lot of the outside-game-self you present...but it doesn't have to be a carbon copy. (Nor should it be!)
A note on the usefulness of this article
Though this article may be more beneficial to newer players, veterans are not excluded from this process. Almost nobody is a 100% foolproof town/scum/both player, and thus, everyone can typically improve their play. This article is geared more towards fixing common problems that veterans have in their play during games. Veterans often are smart enough to realize the game adapts, but too often mistakenly believe they've adapted. Since the game continues to adapt, the players need to continue adapting. Though these tips may all seem intuitive, not enough players actively apply them to their own games.