The people on mafiascum are simply not active. If you take a look at their games, they have lots of different players in lots of different games, but none of them really participate in any of them. When they do, the majority of their posts consist of 'Vote so and so because I feel like it'. I'm playing one game there now, and have read others, and I'll be glad to be out of there once I'm done w/ that game.
However, I don't think that is indicative of here. The players that participate well here, IMO, would participate well, no matter how many games they were involved in.
You're right that it'd be more complicated. But things naturally get more complicated as they evolve and progress. The current system really doesn't allow more than 30 regular players and 20 or so that play sporadically...at the very least, if there are more games, people can play more..IMO, a person is more likely to be more involved in their games in general if they're involved in more games. Like, if someone is somewhat busy, they'll put off logging participating for a day or two or three if they're only in one game, but, if they're in 3 or 4 games at once, they're going to make time to participate more in those games as a whole. I just don't see how it benefits us to have such strict limitations...it can only hinder us, and IMO, that is what is happening.
This seems like the right place for this. I feel that the rule specifying that you can only be in 1 type of game at a time should be abolished, or at the very least, the # of games should be upped. Right now, all of the hosting lists are long, and will only get longer as time progresses. I propose that the # of games that you can be involved in should vary, depending upon how many games you have completed. I suggest that, from now on, people HAVE to participate in a newb game before they can participate in a normal game. I don't think they should have to live to the completion of the game or anything, but, they should have to participate in one at least. Here's a rundown:
If you've participated in 0 games, the following applies:
You may participate in : Newb Mafia.
If you've participated in 1 game, the following applies:
You may participate in 1 of each type of game, and only 1 more Newb game ever, but not more than 3 games at once.
If you've participated in 4 games, the following applies:
You may participate in 2 of each type of game, and 1 more newb game, but not more than 5 games at once.
If you have participated in 7 or more games, the following applies:
You may participate in 3 of each type of game, but, may not participate in any more newb games, even if you've only participated in one newb game previously. Also, you may not participate in more than 7 games at one time.
This would allow for many, many more games to be run at a time, giving people more games to play in at once, and, letting things flow alot more smoothly.
I think that puts game mods in an unfair spot...it's got to be hard enough to be a game mod as it is, without having to police the players. Plus, some people are simply petty, and I think this would create needless tension. If a simple set of rules is created, then the Mods aren't responsible for any ill will that it creates. Plus, like you said, you're biased, and it's possible that other people are as well..if some people get lots of chances and others don't, it just creates more problems. Like I said, I think that it should just be something concrete and mostly non-negotiable. Like, if you sign up for a game, and ask to be/have to be replaced due to circumstances that were forseeable(school, work, family etc), you shouldn't be allowed to sign up for a given amount of games. Similarly, if you have to be mod-prodded more than X times(more than once, IMO), you should be auto-replaced, and again, shouldn't be allowed to sign up for the next X(I propose 3) games.
The other alternative is that a game mod should be able to 'reserve' as many slots as they want for active players. The problem with this is that, once you develop a slightly bad reputation, it makes it impossible to get rid of it because people just won't let you participate anymore..plus, it's close to being favoritism..and favoritism sucks.
Honestly, I think that's weak. When you sign up for a game, you are acknowledging that you might end up being a Vanilla Townie. Even if this is the case, people still need to participate and keep the game going...as the game itself is more important than anything else. Games that just collapse are bad for everybody..it makes the mod look bad and, IMO, discourages people from playing. Just because alot of power roles don't exist doesn't make a game not worth playing...the interaction between players is what makes it worth playing...when you're mafia, it's the thrill of fooling everybody and misleading them into taking actions that you want to be taken..when you're town, it's the thrill of reading into what people are saying and cornering them and discovering that they're not on your side..power roles are great and all, but, people focus too much on them. It's a game of deception and deduction, the roles just add a little bit of a random twist to it. Nothing is more irritating than a person that lurks the entire game, randomly gets killed near the end and ended up being a vanilla townie, and it's obvious that they just couldn't be bothered with playing the game.
It seems like alot of the games that have been made recently are on the verge of dying. This seems largely due to players that just sign-up and and then basically don't participate. I understand that, lamentable though it may be, lurking is part of Mafia. However, the same person having to be Mod-prodded over and over goes far beyond lurking. I think that some more strict rules/penalties need to be imposed. Like, if you have to be replaced, you shouldn't be able to sign up for the next 3 or so games. Also, I think that if any person has to be mod-prodded more than once, they should just be auto-replaced after the first time, and again, shouldn't be allowed to sign up for the next X amount of games. I understand that replacements are going to happen from time to time, but, the amount of times in which they happen lately is just ridiculous. People are utterly irresponsible about signing up for games and then flatly ignoring them, and replacements hugely disrupt the flow of a game.
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However, I don't think that is indicative of here. The players that participate well here, IMO, would participate well, no matter how many games they were involved in.
If you've participated in 0 games, the following applies:
You may participate in : Newb Mafia.
If you've participated in 1 game, the following applies:
You may participate in 1 of each type of game, and only 1 more Newb game ever, but not more than 3 games at once.
If you've participated in 4 games, the following applies:
You may participate in 2 of each type of game, and 1 more newb game, but not more than 5 games at once.
If you have participated in 7 or more games, the following applies:
You may participate in 3 of each type of game, but, may not participate in any more newb games, even if you've only participated in one newb game previously. Also, you may not participate in more than 7 games at one time.
This would allow for many, many more games to be run at a time, giving people more games to play in at once, and, letting things flow alot more smoothly.
The other alternative is that a game mod should be able to 'reserve' as many slots as they want for active players. The problem with this is that, once you develop a slightly bad reputation, it makes it impossible to get rid of it because people just won't let you participate anymore..plus, it's close to being favoritism..and favoritism sucks.