Orlok Tsubodai

@Rathmaskal, could you switch to voting on Gancho? At the moment, if someone soothed Araris there would be no lynch.

This cycle I propose we lynch Gancho Libre/Callsign: Leviathan. I'll praise Araris again. I haven't yet had time to look at Xinoehp, which I'll aim to do tomorrow.

I was hoping the Tineye would claim, as I think it would guarantee us an eliminator. I've suspected an eliminator tineye for a while - the first message left by the other Tineye at the end of N1 felt contrived - almost like they planned to use the tineye claim at a later point in the game. Given the content of the message, I've done a ctrl-f search of the thread, and have found that only the following living players have used the term "Spiked": Young Bard Furamirionind Callsign: Leviathan/Gancho Libre Jondesu Interestingly, this overlaps to a not-inconsiderable degree with my suspicions. Regarding Furamironind, who has used the term "Spiked" overwhelmingly more often than any other player, I remain in two minds. Much of what they've done in my doc is explainable by being a new player, but there are appeals for advice that ring ever so slightly off. Last cycle, they raised that they thought there might be an eliminator tineye, which I need to think much further on - in light of today's tineye post, it seems strange timing. If our scanner is at all active, I think at this point in the game it might well be worth their claiming. They ought to have five scan results in by now, and assuming even three of those remain alive, being able to clear potentially a further four people (themselves included) would take this from a three known with c. three eliminators in ten remaining game, to a three eliminators in what is possibly as few as six remaining game. Apologies if my thoughts are a little incoherent. It's 3am, and I'm in the middle of an essay in the library.

I think in light of the tineye advertisement, it's imperative that the tineye who posted it claims. @xinoehp512, @Jondesu, @Araris Valerian, @Young Bard, @Callsign: Leviathan, @Rathmaskal, @Coop772, @Shqueeves, @Furamirionind, @Aonar Faileas, @A Joe in the Bush, @Nohadon.

xinoehp512 - Eviterces, a person of unknown quality. Why would they hide themselves like this? Jondesu - Quintus, an old hat at situations like this. Makes you wonder how he lived through them to tell the tale... Araris Valerian - Ookla the Curmudgeonly, an old man with a stern face. Perhaps evil is concealed within that stony visage. Young Bard - Jendred, eighth son, and thus unimportant. You can probably ignore him. Gancho Libre - George R.D. Mackleberry. Never trust a man with two middle initials. Orlok Tsubodai - Locke Tekiel, named for a ruler of Fadrex City, beloved by all. This character is different in two regards. Rathmaskal - Lord Flamingo, flamboyant and fond of hopping. Coop772 - Burrsir, too cool for school. Shqueeves - Ookla That Watches, definitely a Tineye. Furamirionid - Furamirionid Yuln'Broael, Fura to his friends (if he has any). Aonar Faileas - Tomir Izenry, only here for the money. A Joe in the Bush - Sabine Seidel, of questionable sanity. Nohadon - Severance Greed, greedy by name, greedy by repeated examples of taking more than his fair share throughout his life. Looking back at the D3 lynch, and re-evaluating I'm increasingly unconvinced that Rathmaskal is actually evil. The confusion at the end of the cycle seems too natural, and the sort of thing that would have been resolved in the elim doc. Of the players left, I have gut suspicions of Gancho Libre, Jondesu, and Furamirionid, who is in my doc, and who feels ever so slightly "off". Another option is that Araris himself was trying to bus MetaTerminal from the beginning of the game, but I'm not terribly sure of how likely that is. @xinoehp512, @Young Bard, @Coop772, @Shqueeves, @Aonar Faileas, @A Joe in the Bush, @Nohadon, if any of you are around in the next hour, I'd be keen to see any of the three I listed above either scanned or coinshot. I have an essay due on Tuesday, which is going to have to be my priority, but will see if I can do any further analysis on my train home this evening.

Rathmaskal, Araris. Rathmaskal's attempts to cast doubt on me this cycle "..almost too clean", primarily, read as insincere and an indirect attack to me.

I doubt I'll be able to address either of your two concerns. Steel's death is coincidence. Clearly, I can't prove anything, but could point to the rushed nature of my post last turn as indicative of how little time I've had. I'd also suggest that I'd have to be mad to kill Steel the same turn as a claim, if I were evil, and certainly hope that I'm not mad. On confidence, I think I was entirely justified in my confidence, and that my post last night cycle set out why.

There was an implicit qualification that it was contingent on Meta being evil, but I was very confident in that being the case.

In case I die, I remain suspicious of Rathmaskal. I now consider Elandera, Araris, and Steel cleared. I'd currently suggest that Furamirionind is a villager, and am deeply uncertain abut where the support for Jondesu has come from.

Before responding to anything, I think a vote count would be helpful: Lynch: Metaterminal: Orlok, Furamirionind, Steeldancer, Badadah (4) Coop772: Nohadon (1) Orlok: Elandera, Elandera (2) Praise: Araris: Orlok, Steeldancer, Badadah, Furamironind (4) Elandera: Nohadon (1) Jondesu: Elandera, Elandera (2) Elandera, it's great to see such a useful collation of activity throughout the game. I'll look into that when I have a bit more time. For now, though, I'd like to address the two bolded sentences. The first is relatively easy to address. I take full responsibility for the Cadmium mislynch. I stand largely by my rationale for it, and think as a D1 lynch it made a great deal of sense, but recognise the lynch was as a result of my arguing for it. The only other lynch in the game, however, I voted on without providing justification at the time, such was thhe rush I was in. I think anyone would be hard pressed to call that the "main driving force" behind the lynch. In totality, then, the statement "He has been a main driving force behind most of our mis-lynches" is misleading. I drive one lynch, and there have only been two. It seems hyperbole from every angle of interpretation. I'd like to hear why you chose to use that language. The second sentence is much more concerning to me, and one I'll treat at face value now, as I'd consider it a hit considerably below the belt if it were made disingenuously. Looking at it, then, as a genuine interpretation of how I've played, I'm actually deeply saddened. I play SE to have fun, and to take part in a community in which everyone else is having fun. I analyse posts and try to drive conversation because I think conversation is integral to people having fun, and hope that my analysis engages people. If it challenges eliminators, that's wonderful - I've definitely had the most fun when evil when I'm having to defend myself, rather than coasting through. To hear that I'm seen as not contributing to fun, but instead am seen as overly critical, and someone who will "jump on any mistake" has left me really quite shaken. I've got a lot out of this community over the last three and a half years, and very much don't want to undermine that community. If people really do think I hurt the community with how I play, then I will take a step back from these games. I have tried to play this game in a more laidback manner than usual, with only one really susbtantial analysis post so far, and more RP than I've done in any game before, but apologise to everyone playing if they do feel like I've been harmful to the game. I'm genuinely sorry.

Elandera, would you explain why you praised Rathmaskal?

The restraint or inactivity of the coinshot is unfortunate. MetaTerminal, Araris. @xinoehp512, @Jondesu, @Elandera, @Araris Valerian, @Young Bard, @Gancho Libre @Steeldancer, @Rathmaskal, @Coop772, @Shqueeves, @Furamirionind, @Aonar Faileas, @A Joe in the Bush, @Badadah, @Nohadon, @MetaTerminal

This cycle is now over. Wyrmhero will post the next cycle in 24 hours time, at 7pm GMT on Sunday 11th November. PMs are now closed.

Looking back on this, I'm more minded to view Fifth as a villager from it. Given the actions of Metaterminal, It looks like the eliminators tried to keep me from being praised in the first cycle. This post contradicts itself within four lines. He claims to want a D1 lynch, fitting with common village wisdom, but sets a standard of voting for himself far higher than is feasible on D1, and conveniently prevents him from expressing an opinion. I'm similarly slightly suspicious of Elandera for the push to prevent my being praised, particularly in light of some of her later interactions with Metaterminal and Rathmaskal, but much less so than of MetaTerminal. Here, Elandera puts thoughts on the lynch into the open, contributing to discussion, and I'm still unconvinced that the attack on her was a WGG. Again, fear of me without rationale, and voting for a candidate demonstratively as influential in the first cycle. Why would Fifth not be just as much of a risk of shooting yourself in the foot? Here Meta requires someone else vote properly before removing a poke vote, seemingly to encourage discussion, whilst simultaneously acting in a way that admits to having no reason for his own vote. The double standard, and the refusal to engage in alignment indicative posting build my suspicion of MetaTerminal. Again, a lack of alignment indicative information, and jumping on a bandwagon. This is the first post that clears Araris for me. He quite correctly points out that Metaterminal shouldn't be nearly as frightened of me as he claims to be. Elandera summarises the thread, which I normally find suspicious, but adds her own thoughts. Her suspicion of MetaTerminal this early leads me to further diminish my suspicion of her. @MetaTerminal, why then did you vote to praise Fifth Scholar in the same cycle? He was just as vocal in the cycle as I'd been, and was just as much of a threat with influence. Further, I've never played a game with you that I recall, and am unsure why such paranoia is therefore apparent. This reads very much to me like an attempt to justify preventing village!Orlok from having influence due to fear your team has made you aware of. MetaTerminal goes to great lengths here to have us avoid looking for eliminators in the bandwagon he joined. MetaTerminal defends Rathmaskal (further links between them later), and votes on Fifth, an active player. He backpedals significantly on his views on the Cadcom lynch. At this point, I might conclude that MetaTerminal was the only eliminator in this lynch. I'm minded to clear Steeldancer for this post. Araris' continued focus on MetaTerminal also leads me to believe he's a villager. Link between MetaTerminal and Elendara. I keep flipflopping on whether they're teammates, or whether this is a pocketing attempt. Definitely worth a scan, and maybe a lynch after lynching MetaTerminal and Rathmaskal. Further interaction between MetaTerminal, Rathmaskal, and Elendara. This strikes me as a panicking eliminator distancing himself from the team, when he thinks he might die. Real life happens, and I'm very surprised by the vote on me here. The vote removal from Rathmaskal feels odd, at this point. This post saved MetaTerminal, and with the above leads me to think MetaTerminal and Rathmaskal are teammates. At this point, I'd clear Steeldancer, Araris, and Fifth, and would like other views on Elandera.

Multiquote shrunk significantly. In case I don't finish it by rollover, I'd bet quite a lot on Metaterminal and Rathmaskal being evil. I'd also very much appreciate protection tonight.

Apologies, all. I've been incredibly busy with university deadlines, and have multiple essays due. I haven't read much of the last cycle, but am incredibly suspicious of Metaterminal for what seems to me to be a contrived and fabricated reason to call for my lynch. Comments in the upcoming multiquote serve to build this suspicion. Edit: reading back, people want clarification on Itiah. As I recall, it was over his advice regarding tineyes, and my suspicion that it was to cover for an eliminator tineye. Clearly it wasn't, although I'd be entirely unsurprised if one were to exist.

There seems something disingenuous in here, with Elandera's passive suggestions of why they were attacked. Further analysis more generally, including of Elandera forthcoming, but somewhat delayed. I've also just discovered that there's an upper limit of 50 to the number of posts you can multiquote at a time, which might interest some if you.

My fellow Lords. We may be gathered here in contest, pitting ourselves against each other. There are those amongst us who appear even to wish harm to us. Today, though, we face a threat unparalleled since the dying days of the last age. The threat facing us is existential. It threatens our holdings, our ways of life, our very names. Gathered Lords, we must take action now, together, or we will succumb to the grabbing, clawing hands of the multitude. The peasants, these Skaa, seek to collectivise, to unionise. They wish to force each of us to face a thousand of them in negotiations, to divide us, and smother us in their regulations. Let us stand up for society, for the functioning of the economy, and for ourselves, in this time of great peril. Esteemed Lords, I call now for an agreement amongst ourselves. Let us each, today, agree never to employ a Skaa who joins one of these "Unions". We must place them on a common blacklist, unable to gain employment or patronage. Only through this might we stem this tide, and so save all of Elendel's society. We do this, though, not just for our society, but out of paternal kindness to our workers. We alone have been blessed with the capacity to recognise the threat these Skaa pose to themselves, and we must save them from themselves. Their "Unions", their regulations, will stifle competition, will raise our costs, and will leave our good selves with no choice but to cast many more of them out into the cold. We must make our stand now, we must collectively expel these organisers, these saboteurs, and protect our workers and ourselves. I call on all of you now to join me in this pledge, raising your voices in agreement, and demonstrating the soundness of my arguments to the Court and the people. Thoughts to follow, perhaps as an edit. The last 24 hours have been extraordinarily busy.

Fifth Scholar, Aonar, Itiah, Aonar. Reasoning forthcoming as soon as I have time.

I'm in firm agreement about the need for more people to contribute. If neither Fifth nor I are evil, this thread will give very little information to the village. Fifth, in brief response to your last post, the part of the prior post I bolded was simply illustrative of the sort of thing setting me on edge. I don't normally believe there to be much value in analysis of early kills anyway, and think we'll get far more out of last thread, so a move to discuss something I consider of very limited value would clearly be seen as a warning sign.

I'll happily do so after my midterm tomorrow (in about nineteen hours). For now, I'd note the above post did so in the bolded section. Many eliminator teams select targets that are deliberately difficult to analyse. You've had a large role in driving discussion this game, and I can see you trying to send the village on a wild goose chase with the above.

On the contrary, Fifth, I've kept my lynch vote on you. I do very much appreciate your input, and you've definitely been making me thing, but I can't quite place something that seems off about your posts this game.

@Fifth Scholar, I'll give you significant credit for your post. You make a very important point, and one that has led me to take more time than I should have spared to think on it. I think there are two key reasons for my difference in actions in this game and in historical games. The first of these is simply engagement. I think my instinctive behaviour is one of optimisation, which I then temper with consideration of other factors. When I'm engaged and thinking about the game, I spend considerably longer considering things like fun. When I condemned Cadmium, I was celebrating my 21st with my family, and wasn't nearly as thoughtful about the game. @Cadmium Compounder, for that, I am sorry. I do think, though, that there is a tangible difference in the cases - or at least one significant enough to put me into a mode of thinking where I didn't think about fun. Unlike Stink and Alv, as notable examples, Cadmium brought up directly that he was trying to obscure his alignment. I think there's a difference in attitude there that makes a consideration of the Commons relevant. Related to this is the consideration about the general fun. We went through a period in SE where the village were not winning games. We had a real crisis of analysis. In a situation like that, I believe the general fun diminishes significantly, as there isn't a spirit of friendly competition to the same degree - there's something that starts to become resigned inevitability. In that sense, the policy lynch on Cadmium was justifiable to make an example, given his declaration that his actions were entirely to make him more difficult to read. That said, I will continue thinking about this, and appreciate your time and effort in pointing out my inconsistency, Fifth. Edit: To clarify, I think that when Cadmium declared he was taking his action to deliberately make himself harder to read, that was equivalent to declaring an intention of his to play in a more optimal manner, rather than because of a motivation to have more fun in a new playstyle. At that point, I think the village are justified in acting themselves in an optimal manner (the discussion being one of efficacy), rather than considering fun to the same degree.

A brave assumption. Fifth Scholar, Snipexe, Fifth Scholar, Aonar.

Although I've got a mid term tomorrow, and so don't really have time for SE, I'd like to see discussion start to move. Fifth, would you expound on your criticism of the last lynch as a policy lynch? @Fifth Scholar Snipexe, because I feel like trolling @Wyrmhero about a technical gap in his rules.