Long Game 77: A Political Trap

[Araris Valerian he/him]

17 minutes ago, DrakeMarshall said:

I guess I'm just surprised that less than half of the players are voting in a game that has voting incentives, and when voting is just plain a good thing even without incentives.

This is, unfortunately, kinda normal. Which is also weird, since voting is the core mechanic of the game. We also don't have PMs, so there isn't anywhere else for people to be spending their time.

For the sake of keeping the thread more active, I'm going to switch from Mat to TUO. I'm also partly taking into consideration what Mat has said earlier this turn, but mostly this is because Mat has invested plenty into this game and I think we'll all have more fun if he's still kicking around next cycle.

[The Unknown Order he/him]

Just now, Matrim's Dice said:

Kinda dumb that I’m the winning train because I’m active here, huh. TUO can dodge votes for posting once and where does posting once get me?

@everyone voting me, specifically name something sus I’ve done this game.

Go. I’m waiting.

No-one is sus apparently. 

[Araris Valerian he/him]

8 minutes ago, Matrim's Dice said:

Kinda dumb that I’m the winning train because I’m active here, huh. TUO can dodge votes for posting once and where does posting once get me?

@everyone voting me, specifically name something sus I’ve done this game.

Go. I’m waiting.

You might get better results with this if you specifically ping the folks voting for you.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

 

Quote

No-one is sus apparently. 

If no one is sus, then the people who have been saying and doing lots of things, who have had many more opportunities to incriminate themselves and haven't, should logically be the worse choice for the execution.

Edited June 9, 2021 by DrakeMarshall
too much spacing >:[ why won't it go away

[Devotary of Spontaneity]

I still think Biplet is more likely to be evil than Mat. I don't really understand why her survival makes it less likely for her to be evil. 3 elims and a thug out of 19 players including an SK that wants to whittle down both sides isn't unbalanced. I do know that she bought an item last night since I only managed to steal 3 boxings from her, but I don't know what that would be. Someone super dedicated could tally up how many boxings she would have barring gaining extras from kills. I'd guess medallion or vest, but I really don't know.

TUO doesn't give us anything except for the votes today, and even that will likely be skewed by vote manipulation if the past three days are any indication. He very well could be evil but I don't know how helpful that would be even if he was. At likely 6-3-1 currently, one mix here could lose the game if elim, Coinshot, and Kandra kills hit villagers. I'll vote Biplet again this cycle but won't see whether this becomes viable.

[Ashbringer he/him]

Hmm. This seems... familiar.

It's tied right now. We've seen evidence of at least some vote manip this game, and whether Elim or not, I do not want that vote manip solely deciding who lives and who dies. Especially not at D4. And especially if it's 6-3-1 and we still have no idea what that 1 (Kandra) is actually doing. 

(I'll write up my opinions on ties after these games tie up, as... similar things happened in this game and the QF, but for a general rule I don't like RNG deciding executions unless I'm suspicious of both parties about equally. And not non-suspicious of both, but equally suspicious.)

So, TUO. And no, this is not RNG. I'd rather have Matrim alive in this instance. A verified Thief will become fairly obvious if they start doing too much damage, but I'm still not sure how much chaos a Slider is capable of, and Slider's a claim I'd rather not trust. And I do have some experience with TUO's reactions to these pushes, and... this one doesn't quite seem the same. Not different from Village! or Elim! TUO, but... different from both, somehow. Weaker. TUO does usually not analyze unless pressured, but they usually have something when they are... so here we are.

Hopefully I'll get up before rollover, but it's 1:00 AM somehow so no promises 

That, and exing someone for being active only when prodded may get me to actually focus on this game again... sometimes a hypocrite is just a kandra in the process of changing. So, I'll do better if I can.

[Archer he/him]

*checks to see if atium misting is a role*

How someone can just RP and not mount a vocal self defense is beyond me. Maybe they have an extra life. Striker mentioned Bloodmaker or something could do that? If they do, that is at least relevant to Biplet's alignment, so that's better than the absolute nothing we'd get from exing TUO otherwise. 

Oh. Oh. KANDRA. 

Edit: nevermind, he claimed already, didn't he. Darn

Anyway, I'm keeping my vote where it is because Mat:

-hasn't seened worried about NKs, despite his wealth and high activity. He could have bought a Vest, for example 

-robbed Devo, who is one of the few non trusted villagers and non elim teammates left with any cash. 

-stole from me, his village trust

-made that comment I think is covering for submitting an NK. The one about trying to rob me twice and being unable to do so so he did nothing that night 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Archer

[Mat he/him]

4 hours ago, Archer said:

-hasn't seened worried about NKs, despite his wealth and high activity. He could have bought a Vest, for example 

Of course I haven't been worried. I've been suspected the entire game, no elim team is going to NK me. I'm a valuable mixexe, and one on an active player.

4 hours ago, Archer said:

-robbed Devo, who is one of the few non trusted villagers and non elim teammates left with any cash. 

...That was a pretty quick Devo clear :P.

Like I have said a billion times, who I steal from is entirely NAI. In this case it was the cash, but also I had some suspicions of Devo from the beginning, and being the other thief could be an elim one.

4 hours ago, Archer said:

-stole from me, his village trust

Like I have said a billion+one times, who I steal from is entirely NAI  I've explained it enough, but I don't think you're looking for an explanation.

4 hours ago, Archer said:

-made that comment I think is covering for submitting an NK. The one about trying to rob me twice and being unable to do so so he did nothing that night 

If I were an elim, what would I gain from making that comment? Wouldn't it be an easier 'cover' just to not mention night actions at all, unless asked directly?

I would switch to Biplet, but I'm not for self-pres.

[Biplet she/her]

Good morning everyone! Just woke up. Apologies for my slight lack of activity yesterday. Road trip and other such things, but now Striker and I are once again in the same place!! Yay!!!

Okay, I gotta vote TUO. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but I've lost and/or won 2/3 completed games I've played due to village inactivity. I don't want to be anti inactivity, because like!! I think people deserve to take breaks and whatnot. And I'm fine with inactivity in the early game. But late game, as we start to creep closer and closer to an elim win? Yeah I'm less fine with it. When there's multiple inactive players and we reach exlo, the elims have basically already won because they know a bunch of villagers won't vote. I really don't want us to lose again that way. It just doesn't feel good.

[StrikerEZ he/him]

And that's the turn! No more posting or submitting actions until the next one is up!

[StrikerEZ he/him]

When Walker revealed themselves to have actual spikes through their eyes, the entire meeting hall went silent. Most people there hadn't even heard of hemalurgy before, or if they had, it was just quiet whispers in the night. Something that couldn't actually be real, but was fun to scare people with.

Yet, here was what appeared to be an Inquisitor from the legends in flesh and blood. And he seemed downright insane.

"Well," Goren said. "I can't say I'm glad to know that you're...impaired in this way." He coughed, seeming uncomfortable. "But I think I speak for all of us that we'd like you to leave."

Walker just slowly turned towards Goren, his spiked eyes reflecting the light in odd ways. "I will be more than glad to leave." He said coldly. "I have grown tired of these games, and life in general. I hope I never see any of you again."

And with that, Walker walked out the doors of the meeting hall, never to be seen again.

~

The Unknown Order has been removed! They were a Loyalist Slider/Gasper Twinborn!

The Unknown Order (5): Araris Valerian, Ashbringer, Biplet, DrakeMarshall, Matrim's Dice
Matrim's Dice (3): Archer, Flyingbooks, Szeth_Pancakes
Biplet (1): Devotary of Spontaneity

PMs are still closed, so please avoid PMing still. In addition, the Black Market is now open! You can see the amount of items available below. Buying an item doesn't count towards a player's two actions per cycle.

This turn will end at 9 am CDT, on Thursday, June 10th.

Player List:

Spoiler

1. @Ashbringer
2. @Biplet - Shara, advisor to a representative of the third Octant, Iden. 
3. @Szeth_Pancakes - Earl Euphemie, a journalist from the Elendel Daily, definitely not a highly trained assassin.
4. @Matrim's Dice - Philico, here to steal Faleast's Kandra thunder.
5. Lotus - Josephine, definitely not out of her league. Rebel Pulser/Pinnacle Twinborn
6. @Araris Valerian - Sweeper, a lowly cleaner of the political chamber building.
7. The Unknown Order - Walker, who...walks. Yeah. Loyalist Slider/Gasper Twinborn
8. @DrakeMarshall - Juno, member of the Board of Somethingorother, and an enthusiastic protestor.
9. Jondesu - Myra, not witty or even particularly bright, but she’s honest. Loyalist Rioter Misting
10. @Archer - The Great Panini, wealthy patron of the arts and amateur ventriloquist, accompanied by Bagel.
11. Illwei Loyalist Seeker Misting and Hemalurgist
12. Experience - Zara, questionably loyal, but in extreme ways. Loyalist Tineye Misting and Investigator
13. @Devotary of Spontaneity - Magrait, an amalgamation of Adomert and Inedze through their stored memories from a coppermind.
14. Azmine_king Loyalist Hazekiller
15. Mist - Lumen, a secretary who's trying her best and wants to bring justice to whoever needs it. Loyalist Leecher/Soulbearer Twinborn
16. |TJ| Loyalist Lurcher/Trueself Twinborn
17. manukos - Bill, Bill Door. Probably shaped like a triangle. Loyalist Augur/Connector Twinborn
18. @Dannex
19. @Flyingbooks - Veren, assistant to the Elendel representatives, playing both sides to get the nobility less influence in politics.

Black Market:

Spoiler

• Steel Trap: 4 available (25 boxings)
• Blackmail: 3 available (30 boxings)
• Bribe: 4 available (40 boxings)
• Medallion: 3 available (45 boxings)
• Bulletproof Vest: 2 available (55 boxings)
• Charged Spike: 3 available (65 boxings)
• Dagger: 2 available (80 boxings)
• Uncharged Spike: 2 available (90 boxings)
• Lerasium Alloy: 1 available (115 boxings)

PMs will be sent out shortly, if they haven't been already.

[Mat he/him]

No vote manip. Huh :P.

[Archer he/him]

I sympathize with the desire to CC players who aren't helping the team. But it was too late in the game for that, and I think most people knew that. I'm suspicious of Biplet especially for casting her vote solely based on contribution crusade intentions. She made good points at the wrong time. There's usually some inactive elims, and that sucks, but it's better to focus on the catchable ones. It's frustrating because I know most of those votes came from villagers. I believe Mat is evil and the elims tipped the scales towards TUO in order to protect their teammate and waste our exe. 

Sidenote, I'm thinking the soother might be village, because they haven't been trolling us very much, as I'd expect an evil one to do. Or maybe they're holding them in reserve. 

So, where do we go from here?

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

Here’s Araris’s comments on TUO from last turn - this seems to look an awful lot like what you were dissing Bip for, Archer:

Quote

For the sake of keeping the thread more active, I'm going to switch from Mat to TUO. I'm also partly taking into consideration what Mat has said earlier this turn, but mostly this is because Mat has invested plenty into this game and I think we'll all have more fun if he's still kicking around next cycle.

I completely agree with Archer on this one - this is most definitely too late in the game for inactivity lynches.
Regarding Mat, his tone just seems overall abrasive, and it feels like instead of trying to remove suspicions from himself, he’s trying to deflect all of them onto me. All of his reads lists have me at the far right in orange. So... yeah.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Szeth_Pancakes

[Biplet she/her]

36 minutes ago, Archer said:

But it was too late in the game for that,

1 minute ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

this is most definitely too late in the game for inactivity lynches.

That’s literally my entire point. It’s later in the game and I have enough experiences losing because we didn’t get rid of inactives early enough. And what if mat was village? We’d have misexed a villager and kept an inactive alive, giving the elims the upper hand and removing an active voter

[Mat he/him]

3 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Regarding Mat, his tone just seems overall abrasive, and it feels like instead of trying to remove suspicions from himself, he’s trying to deflect all of them onto me. All of his reads lists have me at the far right in orange. So... yeah.

That's a stretch :P. You can't honestly say that all my defenses were shading you; I hardly mentioned you in any of them. My sussing of you is separate from that.

I'm sorry if I sound abrasive, really am  I don't mean to convey that, I'm just tired of overexplaining things and feel like I'm being sussed for no reason at all. We're still friends  

I don't see how pointing out that I put you far orange means anything, that's just continuation of me suspecting you.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

4 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Here’s Araris’s comments on TUO from last turn - this seems to look an awful lot like what you were dissing Bip for, Archer:

I’m not quite sure I see your point. Again, I’d like to point out that I don’t think there is enough tinfoil in the world for you to believe I’m elim. But I was/am pretty frustrated with TUO and the other inactive players (I think just Dannex is left at this point). You actively make the game less fun for everyone else when you sign up and then don’t play.

We also have enough leeway to risk something like that. My kill will get roleblocked tonight, so the count should be 4-3-1 come daytime.

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

45 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

You actively make the game less fun for everyone else when you sign up and then don’t play.

Yes, but maybe instead of voting them out in-game, we could let the GM @StrikerEZ take care of them. Maybe the inactivity filer needs to be a little stronger. But I think we should be focusing on people who are being suspicious, not people who are being annoying. 

[Biplet she/her]

12 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Maybe the inactivity filer needs to be a little stronger.

There isn’t an inactivity filter

[StrikerEZ he/him]

15 minutes ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Yes, but maybe instead of voting them out in-game, we could let the GM @StrikerEZ take care of them. Maybe the inactivity filer needs to be a little stronger. But I think we should be focusing on people who are being suspicious, not people who are being annoying. 

Like Bip said, there’s no inactivity filter for this game. When I first designed the rules a year ago, I was hoping the activity incentives in the form of boxings would be enough to counteract inactivity though obviously I need to put an inactivity filter in for the next run of this game

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

Well. Storms. That doesn't look good. Tomorrow is probably going to be exlo. Heck, even if the elim kill fails tonight, we are still basically looking at exlo. And I don't often get to see a village pull itself back from the brink of exlo. Hey @Dannex please show up to vote tomorrow! Every vote is going to count. At least we can probably rely on the Kandra to side with the village in tomorrow's vote, but it's still a narrower margin than I'd like.

And, like, I still don't think it was the wrong choice with what we knew to exe Unknown Order. Not because of inactivity or whatever, at least not directly, but because we had essentially no reason to trust them :/ The defense "I did nothing wrong" rings kinda hollow when your self-proclaimed playstyle is to do nothing, period.

The state of the black market is also interesting, and beyond that I am going to mostly avoid commenting on for now.

The lack of soothing is also interesting and very IKYK.

On the bright(?) side I have at least two new suspicions, and also some new ideas.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

Yo @Szeth_Pancakes wanna nicroburst Araris?

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

42 minutes ago, DrakeMarshall said:

Yo @Szeth_Pancakes wanna nicroburst Araris?

Ok... I’m slightly suspicious of him, but I’ll do it. This way, we may be able to catch him in a lie.

[DrakeMarshall he/him]

1 minute ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

Ok... I’m slightly suspicious of him, but I’ll do it. This way, we may be able to catch him in a lie.

Cool.

Not tonight, though. It affects the turn after you nicroburst, and an extra action during the day turn won't help Araris. The best we can manage is using it on him during the next day turn, so he can attack twice, and I don't imagine the elims can block both attacks.

[Araris Valerian he/him]

2 hours ago, Szeth_Pancakes said:

But I think we should be focusing on people who are being suspicious, not people who are being annoying. 

Well, strictly speaking, doing very little to try and find the elims is extremely suspicious. I wasn't just killing off a person that annoyed me. Both Mat and TUO were good options, and the activity is just what tipped the scales for me. 

Also, if it's not clear, I'm not 100% sure that Mat is elim. His point that none of the votes on him had solid suspicions backing them was valid. I have a vague sort of gut feeling that I'm sure there is some real substance behind, but I'd like to pin that down, or at least learn that it's rather misguided. I'm planning to ISO him before the cycle ends, since I suspect I'll meet an untimely demise sometime this evening. If I don't die, I'll look forward to some double-killing tomorrow!

And yeah, this post isn't 200 words. Fortunately, impending doom means that I don't particularly need to watch my word count that closely anymore .

@StrikerEZ, do roleblocks (other than the Steel Trap) block all actions taken by the target player that turn?

Edited June 9, 2021 by Araris Valerian

[Szeth_Pancakes he/him]

9 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Well, strictly speaking, doing very little to try and find the elims is extremely suspicious. I wasn't just killing off a person that annoyed me. Both Mat and TUO were good options, and the activity is just what tipped the scales for me. 

I just don’t understand the reasoning behind it. Why is TUO a “good option” other than his activity level?

11 minutes ago, Araris Valerian said:

Also, if it's not clear, I'm not 100% sure that Mat is elim. His point that none of the votes on him had solid suspicions backing them was valid. I have a vague sort of gut feeling that I'm sure there is some real substance behind, but I'd like to pin that down, or at least learn that it's rather misguided. I'm planning to ISO him before the cycle ends, since I suspect I'll meet an untimely demise sometime this evening. If I don't die, I'll look forward to some double-killing tomorrow!

I share the same sentiments about Mat. My read on him is purely gut, but it’s pretty strong for some reason.