Amanuensis

So, it's 1524 EST and I'm finally getting to writing this post. I kind of got distracted by 13 Reasons Why (it's a very powerful show, can't even remember the last time something made me cry as much as it did), so sorry about that. I'm not sure how long this post will take me to write, since I've missed quite a bit and I really do try to respond to everything. I'm still very sick and feeling a bit lazy, though, so I'm going to only reply to the essentials for now and maybe tackle the rest later. So, let's go back to the previous turn. @_Stick_, I want to apologize for my part in your death. I haven't gone to look at AG3 yet, although I'm not sure it matters now that you're gone. If I hadn't gone to bed and woken up very sick and late to a meeting, I think I might have intervened with your lynch. Now I'm afraid that with me being gone this whole turn, discussion hasn't been what it could be, and looking at the lynch I can't help but think I've failed the village this turn, too. Orlok, in this post you ask me why I voted on Straw. Now, I know that you say shortly afterwards that you were only halfway through the discussion on C1, but I think you might be farther along now. Just in case you haven't, though, I voted on Straw purely to get a dialogue going. For me to do my job effectively, I need everyone to participate in the thread. When I voted on him it was still very early in the turn. I eventually changed my vote to Silver for similar reasons, then attempted to get Silver's attention multiple times throughout the second day. Unfortunately he never responded while I was online, so I didn't want to retract my vote as that would set a bad precedent, and I was unable to access the internet closer to the end of the turn, so I never got the chance to move my vote somewhere more useful, as I explained the following day. Hope that answers your question. Last turn I was acting under the assumption that someone would be informed if there was a failed attack, whether it be the thread, the player saved by a Line of Forbiddence, or the player who drew the LoF (if it was a different person). I now know I was wrong and I'm afraid that misjudgment may have cost us the game. DA was a very unusual kill for eliminators make on the first day of a game, so I wrote it off as them trying to deprive us of useful information as well as a poor attempt to frame Lopen. I am now convinced, however, that it was just a happy coincidence for them, and that the real target was protected that night. Specifically, I believe that target was me. On C1 I flipped tails and thus decided to use a Line of Forbiddence on myself. I wouldn't be surprised if other players did the same but since no one else has come forward or at least mentioned someone bringing it up in a PM, I'm guessing that's because other Rithmatists used different actions. What I'm trying to figure out now is why they didn't just kill me last turn since they would know that I was vulnerable. At first I was thinking it's because the Forgotten discovered a more important target via an Artist, which makes sense given that Silver was a Duelist, which, in my opinion, is the most dangerous role for the Forgotten. The problem with this theory is that Silver, like DA, is an unusual player to scan, and as Sart just Ninja'd me, didn't even use an action on the first night, which an Artist should have also learned with his specialization. While I do still think the Forgotten could have an Artist, it doesn't make any logical sense for them to have checked on SB in the very beginning or waste a kill on him when there was a chance of him dying via inactivity. My next thought was that I was left alive because my death might implicate a Forgotten. So far I'm pretty sure that only two players have expressed suspicion of me. Mint, who thought I was trying too hard to be helpful, which as annoying a reason that is to be suspected, I can at least understand given my reputation. Lopen, however, has only stated he distrusts me because I apparently "chose to vote and focus on Stick" which isn't even completely true, considering I never voted for her. As for him saying he thinks I was "trying to draw attention away from Joe," I believe that's a large misinterpretation of what happened, and now that I don't think the Forgotten killed DA, I'm beginning to question if he's doing that on purpose. What really makes me think that is the first time Lopen expresses genuine suspicion of me is the last post of C2, before Stick was revealed a villager. While I get leaving final messages before the end of a turn in case you die, this almost sounds to me like Lopen already knows the results. The fact that he mentions the possibility of Stick being a Forgotten as the last sentence feels more like an effort to combat that. While this post in general is a smart move for a villager, it's also great for an eliminator, as it shows that he's concerned about being attacked while also sowing distrust about an actual villager. If Lopen is Forgotten, then it makes a bit of sense why neither of us were attacked last night. Him because he obviously wouldn't kill himself, me because I've publicly declared to believe he's innocent. Another wrong lead by me and a turn left alone by the Forgotten and he could maybe get me lynched. The only real danger would be if I managed to get a teammate of his killed, but even if that happened it wouldn't prove my innocence. Besides, all it would take is for the lynch target to use Vigor on me so they can take me down, too, Plus, Lopen has openly said he's attacked me on D1 in plenty of games, so if I'm right about them failing to before, it fits his MO. Considering the state of the current lynch, I don't think Ecth is evil. It reminds me a lot of the lynch on Stick, and even if Lopen has a valid point about no one really being able to defend Ecth if they wanted to, I think this is being orchestrated by the Forgotten. Considering everything I've already said, I think it's Lopen making this happen. He "suspects" me for saying I'm a little suspicious of Joe and instead focusing on someone else, but then doesn't really try to convince anyone to vote for him. Failing to get a lynch going on him, he instead changes his vote to another low-active, and a bandwagon forms, even if his vote on Ecth has less reasoning. It just doesn't sit right with me. As I write this I'm convincing myself more and more that Lopen is Forgotten. I'm a little suspicious that him and Joe are allies and have been playing at distancing themselves from each other, given the convenience of him retracting his vote for Ecth after Joe explained he's busy IRL. Despite me leaning village for Len on C1, I'm starting to wonder about him too, considering his flawed reason for voting on Stick C1 that I pointed out the previous turn, and his participation in the last two lynches, and the fact that he's on Lopen's distrust list (I'd expect Lopen to spread his teammates among those who he trusts and distrust, but then not really act on the distrust). Seonid would be another good option for this. Of those he trusts, I'm suspicious of Mint, PK and Orlok, since none of them have done anything I personally think warrant trust, particularly not Lopen. I just got a call about a protest against US action in Syria and have to now go to work in case it gets out of hand, so I'll have to cut my post here. I'll vote for Lopen even though I severely doubt anyone will join me. I have more to say on him and a few other players, so hopefully they don't kill me before I can. (C3) Votes: Thus Far (0) A Joe in the Bush: TheMightyLopen, (1) Ornstein: Paranoid King, (1) Elenion: Ecthelion III, (0) Paranoid King: Jondesu, (4) Ecthelion III: TheMightyLopen, Elenion, randuir, Jondesu,

Sorry about that, everyone. I've been extremely sick the past couple days so I've been sleeping a lot to hopefully recover quick. I'm in the process of catching up with everything I missed since my last post, after which I'll respond in full.

If someone who protects themselves by Lines of Forbiddence gets attacked, are they notified? What if someone is protected by someone else; is the Rithmatist who drew the line alerted, or the player? Also, there goes that theory about HH being a vanilla Forgotten.

Okay, so I went back and gathered all of HH's posts that weren't solely RP and pasted them here, so that people can easily reference them while I try to analyze them. Let's see how this goes. Nothing really in these two posts other than him making a mistake with the rules. There is a chance, however, that he thinks there are vanilla players because he is a vanilla Forgotten. @Sart, is it possible that with the Forgotten being a "Special Role" they could possibly not have a Specialization? If so, this might be a big clue to HH being evil. If not, then I think this is non-indicative of his alignment. So here we have a contradiction between his words and his actions, although he later explains, after being voted on by Rand, that he was waiting for Stick to respond first before he made a decision. I'm willing to take that at face value, however, it's possible he was avoiding voting on Stick because they're teammates (which fits in him tying the lynch by later voting for Straw). Hence this post. He "excepts" her defense, which really wasn't much of a defense, imo. She just said she can't really defend from a gut read, that she'd prefer that PK vote for her for something more solid reasoning than being a moderately active poster, and that she would change her vote last minute from PK to Straw only if she was an elim. This ties in with the part she said "I'm fine with getting lynched if it gives helpful information (I don't think it will) but I'm not discounting the possibility that it was a bluff, and that she had the guarantee someone else on her team would intervene. The question, then, would be why potentially sacrifice the integrity of a teammate to save Stick? My guess would be if this theory is true is that she's a valuable role, but aside from Assassin, which I doubt they have unless @Sart says that the write up will not inform us if a player is saved by Lines of Forbiddence. Otherwise we'd certainly have seen another death, or, at least, an attempt. Not much in that first post, as it's just a response to Orlok saying a vote with thought and reason is significantly more useful than just a bandwagon. In the end, however, he joins the Straw bandwagon because of gut and he wants Straw to say more. The thing that gets me here is that HH then calls for those who haven't voted to do so. Now I agree with that completely, in that the more people vote, the more we can learn, but given this tied the vote between Straw and Stick, I could see it as a wishful attempt to get a villager to intervene by joining him, or even setting up an ally to join. While on the surface it seems unwise to have multiple elims vote for the same person, that very same thing is expected enough that an elim might become less suspicious for voting with an ally. Case and point, Lopen doubting that Straw and I were both elims last turn because we both ended up voting for the same person. Thank you for posting so that I didn't have to edit this into my last one. Couple comments though. Generally villagers also try hard to prove their village, as it saves their team from wasting time lynching them. Nothing wrong with a healthy paranoia of me though, as much as it tends to bother me. Also, Straw is dead he was just lynched. Did you mean someone else, or did you just not notice?

Do you know which game that was? I'd like to go back and read it to compare, because I really do have mixed feelings about you. A lot of your tone makes me think you're village, but your initial comments on players making plans + expression of paranoia towards me + multiple lynch diversions + comment about the elims having known DA's role make me question your motives. Having something more to work with would be nice. Can you explain why you think someone scanning Lopen is unlikely? He's among the "highest-priority" players in this game, in terms of danger from either side. I wouldn't say he's the most likely player to have been checked last night, but I'd put him in the top 10% at least, if any scanners didn't have particular suspicions to act on. No worries on priorities. It's just really nice for us to have information like this because without it, myself (and a few others, I'm sure) get suspicious when people lurk. I do hope you can get more involved soon, though. Ugh. I feel your pain, brother. I'm currently dealing with a terrible sore throat and a particularly viscous case of congestion. I hope you feel better soon. Since this is your first game, it's understandable that you didn't expect that from Straw. I, personally, was very happy that he was saying more than he usually does / being so cooperative. I debated for a long time trying to save him / sway votes off of him, but had niggling thoughts about Stick that I wanted to see where things would go. If I had been on the last few hours I think I might have tried to tie the votes, but that might just me wishful thinking now that I know Straw is village. As for thinking yourself hasty, try not to beat yourself up about it. Mislynches happen all the time, and there definitely could have been a worse death than a low-active Blackmailer for the village. What really matters is if Straw's death leads us to an elim, so that his death won't have been in vain. As for your opinion on my behavior, I would do the same thing if I was evil. Not sure if I'd be able to do it as well as when I'm village, but there's been a lot of games in the past where I convinced villagers I was on their side when I wasn't, and in nearly every scenario it inevitably cost them the game. So, basically, even if I seem helpful, don't trust me completely. Not until you have hard evidence, at least, which since I'm not a Non-Rithmatist or an Acid-Specialist, I don't think is possible this game. The embassy I worked at just closed, so now that I've finished replying to everything I want to right now, I'm going to go back and read HH's posts like I promised, to see if I can learn anything more. Hopefully I can finish it before I have to make my way home.

Since right now the subject is focused on DA, I'll give my two cents on him before I try figuring out the lynch. Personally I hadn't figured out what DA's role was, since Rand brought it up. I might have been able to if I tried, but it wasn't really a priority of mine. I was more focused on generating discussion than figuring out role distribution. While the latter is helpful, the former is essential, and unlike discussion, which depends entirely on the players, role distribution is guaranteed to be revealed in write-ups. If I really wanted to know, I would have just PM'd DA myself, since he offered. I considered messaging him just to ask that he didn't tell anyone, but decided to advise the entire thread instead. I actually don't think that DA was killed because of his role. DA is not a player who is likely to be targeted with a Line of Making, and even if he was, him becoming a proven villager wouldn't be that dangerous for the elims, especially since he said he wouldn't be able to participate as much as he'd like. Additionally, the elims would have a lot to gain from leaving DA alive and befriending him, as they may have been able to convince him to teach them a new specialization. Potentially getting the ability to Assassinate players on top of their kill would be worth the risk, imo. For that reason, as well as the fact that Lopen openly claimed to have PM'd DA and knew his role before the kill, I'm convinced that Lopen is a villager. While it could have been a trick on his part, it doesn't really fit Lopen's style. At least, in my opinion. So, for the reason DA was actually killed? My first thought was that it was a poor attempt at framing Lopen. For that reason, I'm a bit suspicious of Joe for being the first person to bring it up. His post came approximately 2 hours after the write up, which is quick enough that he could have been anticipating the situation. However, I think it's worth nothing that the relevant post in which Lopen claimed knowledge of DA's role was a post he began addressing Joe, so it's not outside reason that after seeing DA's death, he immediately remembered the comment and went back to find it. Right now I'm leaning elim on him, although I do think Joe has enough XP under his belt to have executed an attempted framing better, or at least, more subtlety. Stick, however... Maybe I'm just reacting to this post adversely because I'm of the complete opposite opinion, but the use of "clearly" and "couldn't be that lucky" feels like you're trying to sell an agenda. While these games involve a significant amount of skill, luck is a huge factor, especially when it comes to the early game stage. In LG15b, the only village alignment-scanner was lynched on the very first day in a last-minute bandwagon, saving the life of an eliminator capable of giving their teammates the roles of the dead. In AG2, elim!Lopen was lynched accidently due to a combination of several vote manipulations on the very first day. In LG22, an elim!Sart with scan-immunity and the power to give that up to kill an extra player was lynched on the first day over semantics. These are just three examples I can think on top of my head, and I'm confident I'd find a lot more (the first cycles of LGs 19 and 21 being other good examples, if you care enough to go read them). While I won't deny it's possible that DA was killed for his role, I doubt it. I wish Lopen had asked if DA had revealed to anyone else, but sadly that didn't happen so I can only guess. Unless anyone else comes forward, we can assume he was the only one who was told, and while it's possible that an eliminator figured it out from one obscure comment, I still don't think it's likely. Assuming you're an elim and that I'm right, this sounds a lot like you trying to get us to go on a witch hunt for a leak when there is none. My primary concern regarding this theory is that you're so blatant about it. It doesn't really fit your MO as an elim, although I've only played one game with you when you're evil, in which I was evil too, so I might not be the best judge of your character. That and the fact that you were pretty open with being lynched last turn make me think you could be a villager, but your assertions that the elims had to know DA's role, combined with you narrowly escaping the lynch, and that you attempted to make people paranoid of me last turn, make me suspicious (even if that last bit of advice isn't bad for the village when I'm evil). Speaking of the lynch, I'm not particularly suspicious of Orlok right now, since he was the first to vote for you and it was for something reasonable (that you seemed to be trying to discourage players from making plans). PK was the second person to comment and vote for you, although his reason was because you were "active but not too active" (which as you responded, isn't unusual for you, which I agree with). It was at that point I voted on Straw, creating a tie between the two of you, but after I got a sufficient response from Straw, I ended up retracting it on you in favor of Silver. Not too long after, Brightness says she agrees with your statement about the elims being involved in making plans, and then votes on Straw for not being very helpful and because she can't help being suspicious of him (which is a pretty vague statement, now that I look at it again). Straw, who we know was a villager, votes on SB creating a 3-way-tie. Lopen mentions that of the three he'd prefer to vote for Straw or SB (the former because he thought him and I might be teammates). Len was the next player to vote, breaking the tie in favor of killing you. Although his reasoning was flawed considering he was suspicious of you trying to subtly protect those making plans when you were also the player who brought up an elim being among them. That being said, the quote he referred to does look a lot like backtracking, which is suspicious in itself. Tangent aside, Lopen comes in and ties the lynch again by voting on Straw, although the tie is broken again in favor of you when Silver retracts his vote. The vote remains with you in the lead for quite a few hours, until HH once again ties things by voting on Straw along with a request that other people vote so that it doesn't get wasted. A few players vote, but none get involved with the tie, up until Joe comes in within the last two hours to vote for Straw after he was prodded by Lopen for saying he wouldn't mind him being lynched and not voting. In the same breathe he says that he doesn't think Straw is suspicious but agrees to lynch him because it might prove that I'm evil (if he is too). So, for those not keeping track, that's four separate examples of players creating ties when Stick is in the lead or outright leveraging the lynch in her favor (Brightness, Lopen, HH and Joe). I've already said that I think Lopen is village due to the elims killing DA, and that I'm suspicious of the elims trying to frame Lopen, which kind of implicates both Joe and Stick. I do want more information from @BrightnessRadiant on why she was suspicious of Straw, exactly, since she didn't really explain why, only that she didn't think he was being helpful enough. HH... I'm going to go back and read some posts to figure out how I feel about him. I at least remember he did that thing he usually does where he asks whether or not he should vote and if so, on who, which IMO usually indicates him as being village, however I can't recall if I've ever seen him evil. I'll have to save that for after I relieve one of my coworkers so he can have breakfast and eat myself, though, so I'm going to end this post here.

I woke up stupid early this morning and had an exceptionally exhausting day at work, so I'm posting now to let you all know that I just got home and that I'm going to sleep now. If anyone is active tonight, the two things I'd mainly like to see discussed is potential reasons why DA was killed, and whether or not people think an eliminator was involved in Straw's lynch (if so, who among them is most likely, and is it possible that someone was trying to divert the lynch away from Silver or Stick, who both at one point in time were tied for the lead, if not in it). I'll offer my own two cents on this in the morning, when I'm better rested and have processed the information more. EDIT: Actually, I don't think it was. It appears the GM mixed up you and Silverblade5. Silver's vote is above despite the fact that he retracted, and yours is the only one missing, so I think it's just an error. The tally should say this in the write up above. C1 Votes (4) Straw: BrightnessRadiant, TheMightyLopen, Hemalurgic_Headshot, A Joe in the Bush (3) _Stick_: OrlokTsubodai, Paranoid King, Elenion, (1) Silverblade5: Amanuensis, (1) Hemalurgic_Headshot: randuir, (1) Paranoid King: _Stick_, (1) Randuir: Jondesu

It's been ~9 hours since you've posted this. Can you respond now? Also, ask and you shall receive: I knew your previous situation, at least. I had assumed that you returning to the forums / Discord meant that you were no longer on lock down. Either way, the point of me asking publicly is because I'm sure there's a few players who don't know your situation. Understanding why you won't be as active / invested in this game is important for getting a read on you. Especially since a common strategy for eliminators is to bide time in the foreground while they pick off the active players. Fair enough. I was actually thinking of voting on you for being active without commenting on the lynch, but that's been remedied since I went to sleep, so there's not much need for me to prod you now. I would say @Straw is not usually this active, but as far as I'm concerned it's an improvement, so I'm happy to leave him be if he keeps it up (hint hint). I'm still waiting for @Silverblade5 to respond to my previous mentions of him. I'm more bothered now that he's been online and still hasn't answered, so for now I'm keeping my vote on him. There seems to be a reoccurring theme of eliminators ignoring questions I ask them, so that coupled with the fact he started the game off with a vote on a player who "wasn't trying to be helpful" and then disappearing completely... And I've been ninja'd not just by Stick, but SB too, making a lot of what I typed so far moot. Silver, now that you've finished catching up, do you have any opinions on the players? Removing your vote on Straw just because he voted (for you, in fact) and not adding one to anyone else seems a little odd to me. Anyway, regarding @Seonid, I'd also like to hear more. The issue I have with "watching and waiting" is that this is a team game. Everyone needs to participate to some degree, even if it doesn't seem like it benefits you much. Saying you're alive and aware doesn't really help anyone make an informed decision about you. I also find it weird that you haven't seen anything suspicious yet. Villagers do suspicious things all the time and get voted on for them. Multiple players have voted on others this game so far because of things they find suspicious. If you don't think their reasoning is valid, then can you explain why? Eliminators love to remain neutral as it's the safest way to keep them out of the spotlight while the lynch and their kill takes care of more dangerous villagers. What reason do I have to believe that's not what's happening? And in the event that you are a villager and genuinely don't think anyone who's been voted on is suspicious, what does sitting back and letting it happen accomplish? You giving your perspective on things could potentially save a villagers life. Honestly I'd vote on you now if I didn't want to hear more from Silverblade. Back to my responce to Rand... honestly I'm not sure when Joe started doing massive quote posts. I know he did in LG31 for sure (as it's content was what tipped me off for him being evil) but I feel like he did it in LG30 too, before he went inactive. I didn't see anything particularly notable the first time I read it, but I need to go relieve one of my coworkers so he can eat breakfast, so I'll do it after I finish this post. Stick I've got mixed feelings about but so far whenever I've seen a player say "lynch me" they've ended up villagers, so right now I'm leaning in that direction. @Hemalurgic_Headshot I've also been considering voting for with hopes of getting him more involved, so I might actually join you depending on what him, Silver and Seonid say now that Stick and I have posted. C1 Votes: Thus Far (2) Straw: SilverBlade5, Amanuensis, BrightnessRadiant, TheMightyLopen, (0) A Joe in the Bush: Paranoid King, (0) Seonid: TheMightyLopen, (3) _Stick_: OrlokTsubodai, Paranoid King, Elenion, (2) Silverblade5: Amanuensis, Straw, (1) Hemalurgic_Headshot: randuir, (1) Paranoid King: _Stick_,

Just posting to say I'm going to bed, and to give ya'll an up-to-date vote tally. Have a goodnight my fellow Americans, and good day my foreign friends. C1 Votes: Thus far (2) Straw: SilverBlade5, Amanuensis, BrightnessRadiant, (0) A Joe in the Bush: Paranoid King, (1) Seonid: TheMightyLopen, (3) _Stick_: OrlokTsubodai, Paranoid King, Elenion, (2) Silverblade5: Amanuensis, Straw,

Given that Lopen will be co-GMing LG33 soon, I'm going to vote for Orlok with Rand as a back up (we need a representative and a replacement in case something unforeseen happens, just so the rest of you are aware). LG32 has 18 players left, IIRC, and it's still a couple weeks away from the first qualifier, so I think Orlok should be able to handle both GMing the tail end of his LG and starting up the competition (if he even gets put in the earliest available game). I'm mainly voting for him over Rand because he's been a member of our community longer, though I have no qualms with sending Rand first and having Orlok as his understudy. In regards to voting, I think everyone should vote twice, like I did above, with the first bolded and the second normal. The person with the most bold votes should be the representative while the player with the most votes total (bold and normal) should be the replacement. That makes sense, right?

I removed the questions I didn't feel the need to respond to and numbered the ones I left for convenience. Okay, so. Considering there's a possibility of there being multiple Non-Rithmatists, that means a Non-Rithmatist may be able to make up for the mistakes of another, although it also means that the Forsaken could potentially receive multiple powers from different sources. I honestly don't think the Non-Rithmatists will affect the balance of the game too much, but I firmly believe that caution is wise. As for the Acid-Specialists, that's a good way to keep the game from getting imbalanced from too many people having strong roles while also keeping the conversion mechanic relevant. Both of those things mostly help the Forgotten help, but I'd rather play a balanced game than one broken in favor of any specific team. That's an interesting clarification. Usually a GM wouldn't spell it out like that, as this means Artists are capable of finding guaranteed villagers (at least until a conversion occurs), as well as Duelists who stop a Non-Rithmatist from teaching someone a new Specialty. If you're a village Artist/Duelist in one of these scenarios, I recommend you establish contact with that player and try working with them thoroughly. That being said, if you're a Non-Rithmatist or an Acid-Specialist contacted by an Artist or a Duelist who knows your role, don't trust them absolutely, as there's a chance they're a Forgotten trying to play you. Furthermore, this means every Forgotten has a specialty of some kind. Assassin is extremely unlikely, Duelist and Guardian I hesitate to guess, although it's possible if another Forgotten is a Sentry, as a Forgotten with a power only helpful to the village could counterbalance either form of roleblock. Artist and Blackmailer are the two roles I'd guess are most likely in their hands, as the first allows them to make informed kills and the latter allows them to cut villagers off from posting and voting. In this case, lynching inactive is more-or-less pointless, as if they stay that way they'll die anyway. However that does mean we may want to be more considerate about lynching actives, as a mistake there could easily cost us the game if we're losing too many inactive players simultaneously. Orlok? I don't remember mentioning Orlok. But fair enough, to basically everything. Although I am curious about your gut on Joe and if the giant post he just ninja'd me with has any affect on it (also, @A Joe in the Bush, go do your work! :P) As for Straw, we're not teammates, I've just been pretty irked with lurkers / inactives since LG30, and Straw felt like the best candidate at the time for me to pick on. I am very glad he was more responsive than Phatt was, which is part of the reason why I retracted my vote. I don't want to punish him when he actually took the time to respond, and if his increase in activity is because he's an elim getting prodded by Villaman™ then I'd rather give him a few days to produce more content for us to analyze. That being said, I wouldn't necessarily mind lynching him to prove we're not teammates, although I'd rather wait for a better reason. Besides, I doubt it would do any good, as it's not like I've never bussed an ally before, or that him turning out to be a villager would clear me any way. ... I'd quote / respond to Joe but I don't really see anything notable right now. He didn't really say anything about me at all this time, which could mean he learned his lesson from when he made a similar post in LG30 and set me off with his comments. I know you said you're done for the day, Joe, but is there a specific reason you're avoiding commenting on me?

Didn't say this in the sign up thread, but welcome, Brightness! I saw you're one of Lopen's siblings. I think that makes you the third or fourth he's gotten to play one of these games (I remember Steph and Biggo, and feel like there's another I'm missing...) What are you confused about, exactly? If you ask I'm sure myself or someone else can help you out. As for Stick saying that... it really depends. An eliminator might say that if it's all villagers making plans, or if one of their teammates is doing it, the first either to make others question the plan-makers motives, the latter to curry them some favor later if they outlive said teammate (by saying something like "I told you so"). Whether or not Stick herself would think of something like that is hard to say, though based on her bringing up MR18, I'm leaning that it's a result of legitimate paranoia. As for your vote on Straw... as you said in blue text, there's extenuating circumstances for you just posting now, whereas with Straw, low-activity is normal for him, which is why I tried to nudge him into the spotlight a bit. While his responses weren't the most informative thing ever, they were, at least, more than I'm used to with him, so I'm willing to give him some leeway with hopes that he'll keep it up. My original point is, try not to beat yourself up about hypocrisy. I reckon that your post is more helpful to me than you think. That being said, be careful with double posting. In a scenario like that, where you have more to add but no one else has responded, just edit your old post with a disclaimer (if you look back in some of my previous posts, you'll see me skipping a line and starting a paragraph with "EDIT:" I'm assuming it's because he voted on you and you've accumulated another vote since I retracted mine, but it'd be helpful if you explained why you're voting for SB. Reading between the lines is all well and good, but for players that like to analyze tone and intent, we're likely to make less errors in judgement if we don't have to play guessing games. C1 Votes: Thus far (2) Straw: SilverBlade5, Amanuensis, BrightnessRadiant, (0) A Joe in the Bush: Paranoid King, (1) Seonid: TheMightyLopen, (2) _Stick_: OrlokTsubodai, Paranoid King, (2) Silverblade5: Amanuensis, Straw, @Sart, I can't find in the rules what happens if a lynch vote is tied. Does no one die, is a RNG used to determine who dies, or do all players die? @Elenion, @_Stick_, @Darkness Ascendant, @Seonid, @Jondesu, @Hemalurgic_Headshot, @OrlokTsubodai, @A Joe in the Bush, @Ecthelion III, @Frozen Mint, @Paranoid King, @Ornstein, @randuir: we're nearing the 24 hour mark and most of you haven't participated in the lynch discussion at all. Why not? Do you have any thoughts on the players who have voted or been voted on so far? What about those who have posted while not getting involved? Are you not voting because you'd rather there not be a lynch?

To clarify, there are no Non-Specialists, unless you're specifically referring to the Acid-Specialists, which technically are still a Specialist, just their power bonus is passive rather than active. Also, the whole point of the plan Len presented is that players are Warding every other turn in order to prevent conversions. To be honest, it's a bit unnecessary in the early game, due there being a significantly lower number of elims compared to innos, but if we don't designate players to Ward every other turn now then we put ourselves in danger of an early conversion. Regardless, there's some Specializations I'd rather not get used early game, such as Assassin and Blackmailer. Assassin because obviously I'm against uninformed vigilante kills (*cough* Aonar *cough), Blackmailer because more often than not the player will be limiting a villagers ability to communicate and vote, and a role like Blackmailer seems like it'd be great for the Forgotten, so if someone ends up being Maked as using Silencing, we might be catching an elim in the act. Of course me stating this now reduces the chances of that happening, however, it also limits them from using it if they know it could implicate them. Can you say more, Ornstein, than you liking the coin flip idea? I'd rather not vote on you because you are a very new player and I still don't understand the kill made on you in LG32, but for the village to really get anywhere, everyone needs to participate a little bit. Do you see the last question I asked Straw? Can you do us a favor and answer it for me as well? Speaking of voting. Straw. Silverblade5. @Silverblade5 I saw you viewing the thread after I pinged you the first time, but according to your profile you got offline before the second time. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that it's because you got busy with school or went to sleep (I'm not sure which, honestly, but I think you're Mountain or Central Time. Maybe Pacific, any of which means it'd be the former versus the latter). But as DA pointed out earlier this turn, you're vote on Straw could be due to being evil and thus eager to lynch a villager. It's not necessarily unusual for you to make a vote early on in a game, IIRC, but I'm a bit concerned with the specific reason you gave (that he wasn't trying to be helpful). While you did suggest that players alternate between Warding and Forbidding before making that post, I feel like you're just barely skating above your own criteria. Therefore, by your logic, you should also vote on yourself (really I'm only pointing this out because I want you to say more). On the idea itself, it isn't immediately bad, as it does make some tactical sense on the surface, but the problems I have with it are 1: it severely limits villager's options for what they can do and 2: it allows the eliminator's to capitalize on the use of Vigors, as both of those lines are the only ones that can be countered by that power, which is basically only efficient for the Forgotten (there's only one scenario where I can thing Vigor would be useful to use as a villager). While I think it's more likely you just didn't consider the idea very thoroughly, I have to wonder a little if you're an elim trying to lead the village astray.

Fair enough. In my big post I was considering suggesting that we reflip our coins every two cycles for similar reasoning, but I realized that put us in too much danger of us not having enough Wards, especially as the player numbers get lower. This seems like a better compromise for that, although I do worry that relying on pure chance so much will come to bite us in the end. That being said, I've already flipped my coin and sent in my relevant order. That last one is totally cheating, but still, it's more than you posted before, so I'll take this as a small victory on my part . @Silverblade5, do you still want to vote for Straw now that he's said more?

While I appreciate the quick response, you still didn't answer the initial question I asked Might have got lost in all that text, though... I'll quote it alone so you don't have to sift through it again. Please and thanks

I'm going to try to keep this post terse, so let's see how that goes. Coin-flips versus player-pairs. The first option is safer in that the elims won't immediately know who's doing what, although there's a danger for an imbalance in Wardings. The second, obviously, allows balance at the cost of giving elims a little more information earlier. My first thought is that everyone flipping coins is the better idea of the two, partly because I'm an advocate of PM safety, and partly because of what Orlok said regarding dictatorships. Also because the longer we can delay the elims from getting any conversions the better. However, as Lopen and Stink pointed out, Acid-Specialists and Sentrys are a thing, so it's unlikely a conversion will happen anyway, unless the Forgotten get really lucky with their kills, or if the relevant players claim their roles to them. Which brings me to a slight tangent... @Darkness Ascendant, I have a question and a request. First, why will you not be as active / invested in the game? Second, I would prefer it if you didn't just claim your role to anyone, and that everyone reading this doesn't either. I can't think of any reason why it would be important to claim this early in the game. Plus, whether or not you're a critical role, the moment the elims get that information, their perspective of the game broadens significantly. If you really want to claim or have a good reason to, give it a few turns for reads to develop and information to be released, at least. That way you can make a more informed decision, and hopefully make the right choice. Regarding Non-Rithmatists. @_Stick_, the rules also say this: "Rithmatics: To combat the chalklings, most soldiers (excluding Non-Rithmatists) use Rithmatics." So I think it might just be a wording thing rather than a definitely rule (that there's only one). Just in case, I'll @Sart and ask. Almighty GM, is it possible for there to be multiple Non-Rithmatists in this game? What about Acid-Specialists? As for the Non-Rithmatist(s): be careful who you give your specializations to. You can only hand one of each out, and the last thing we want is to give the elims more power. I'd probably recommend you not use your power at all this turn, so that way you at least have four days worth of discussion, a lynch and a kill to decide who deserves what, not to mention any conversations you have in PMs during that time. However, assuming there's 3 Forgotten, the statistics are on your side. Just think about it carefully. Especially if Sart answers that there can only be one. One thing I didn't realize when I first read the rules that I did just now is that this game is essentially role madness. Every Rithmatist begins the game with a specialization (most of which are pretty dang powerful), and that even the two special roles have useful powers of their own. That on top of the fact that regardless of our specialties, we can use any other Lines, so really, the village has a significant amount of power here. As a result, I think it's natural that the elims will have to play cautiously to start because every player is automatically a wildcard. A good example would be the Assassin(s). I, and many players I reckon, are against vigilantes making early kills for good reason. In most games this means the kill role would use now power for the first few turns, but in this game they have the ability to spy on others for suspicious activity. While protecting yourself on the turns you're not Warding might be a good idea, being able to see for yourself what players you're considering killing are doing with a Line of Making can help you figure out if a player is good or evil for sure... which brings me to Lines of Making. Since this game is role-madness with a ton of options, everyone should be using a power every turn. If you use a Line of Making on a player and you don't see them drawing a line, there are really only two options. They're the elim who put in the kill, or they're the Non-Rithmatist. Of course they could be inactive / have forgot, but I would probably hope that no one is wasting Line of Making on the former, and that no active villager would commit the latter. As such, I'll try to remind every player to get their order in, either via PMs or @mentions. Speaking of @mentions, @Seonid, @Jondesu, @Ecthelion III, @Frozen Mint, @Ornstein, @BrightnessRadiant: none of you have posted so far. We still have over 24 hours in this turn, but the sooner you all get involved, at least a little bit, in the conversation, the better. Now, a vote. Straw, Joe and Seonid have all been essentially been poke voted for inactivity, which is a peeve of mine. I'd rather not go on another rant about poke votes, so I'll just refer to my post about it during LG32, instead. That being said, of those three, Straw had posted, although as SB pointed out, was not helpful, and his only post since being voted on was that he agrees with the coin-flip idea. Joe's response to PK was satisfactory enough, and we're still waiting on Seonid to post, who hasn't been online for 13 hours (9 hours before Lopen voted on him), so that's not immediately suspicious, especially since he's usually not very active, particularly in the beginning of games, IIRC. That being said, does anyone know Seonid's time zone? Also, @TheMightyLopen, why aren't you using @mentions to alert people? I noticed you didn't do it for Sart, as well. I know it shouldn't be necessary, but the only players following this thread are Stick, Joe, yourself and me, so Seonid wouldn't receive a notification either on the shard or his email from a simple post. As for Stick... At the very least, I don't see a point in pursuing her lynch. While it is important that we exercise a healthy amount of paranoia, it's also bad if we allow it to limit discussion. Orlok has illustrated that point enough that I don't see a reason to emphasize it. So I'm going to add my vote to Straw. @Straw, do you honestly have nothing more to say? I'm aware that short posts / lurking fits your MO from both sides but that doesn't mean I'm going to let it slide. Last time I played a game with you (QF22) I left you in my blind spot and came to regret it, so I feel it necessary to put the spotlight on you now. If you are village, than I'd really like you to get more involved. Otherwise the elims are likely going to leave you alone while they target vocal players, thus putting the village at a larger disadvantage. While you're unlikely to attract a kill even if you do say more, your insight and/or interactions might help us reach an actual lead, or at the very least, keep us from wasting our effort on killing you. Unless, of course, you are evil, which right now you've got about as equal chance of being as anyone else. Can you give me at least your opinions on a quarter of the players who have posted so far? Has anyone said anything that makes you lean one direction or the other in terms of their alignment? Similarly, I'd like to see more from @Hemalurgic_Headshot, @Silverblade5, @Paranoid King, @_Stick_ and @A Joe in the Bush. For all four of you, the same question I asked Straw applies (and for those I @mentioned earlier who haven't posted yet, I'd appreciate a response to it, too). HH, as great as your RP is, we need to know what you're thoughts are on the game, too. Silverblade, has anyone else "caught your eye" since your vote on Straw? PK, was Joe's response enough for you, or would you like to push him for more? Stick, when you mentioned plans that aren't as beneficial for the village as they seem, in the past what have you seen that fulfills these requirements? You seem to imply that you see none now, but without referencing something, I could see an elim using that as an excuse for them attempting to "sow chaos." Finally, Joe, I know you said you're busy, but I've got to ask. Why are you so worried about a poke vote? Anddd I've been ninja'd by PK retracting his vote. Fortunately I don't have anything more to say, so it shouldn't happen again. Although I am trying to figure out why you green'd Sticks name, too. Was that meant to be a vote on her? As always, here's a vote tally a la Aman, day one edition. (2) Straw: SilverBlade5, Amanuensis, (0) A Joe in the Bush: Paranoid King, (1) Seonid: TheMightyLopen, (2) _Stick_: OrlokTsubodai, Paranoid King, EDIT: Yup, very terse...

Before I weigh in on what's been said so far, I think I need to read the rules two or three more times to wrap my head around them. I've been playing Overwatch with a few friends all evening so I've only been looking at the threads while queuing for matches, and now I'm about to go to bed since I have a meeting early in the morning. Sooo, yeah. Vote on me if you think it's necessary, but either way I'll get more involved tomorrow. Goodnight, everyone. And oh god. I just realized the colors available in the pallet are different. Test. Test. Test. Test. EDIT: Okay. So if you use the color=red, blue and green tags, they still look normal. Still an inconvenience though. EDIT2: Changed the OOG text to the proper blue to make sure it's accurate.

Well, I guess I should buy Rithmatist so I can roleplay too. I'll start it after I finish Snapshot.

Emphasis mine. You don't really need the characters to be involved in a lynch. Keeping them uninvolved (at least directly) is perfectly reasonable, and I'd go so far to say more interesting. We've had enough lynch mobs in the history of SE. Let the characters run for their lives, then let the players decide their fate. It'll allow you to be a lot more creative with the deaths that way. I'm thinking the crazy, elaborate, Final Destination kind.

So far it looks like the candidates are: Myself Kipper Lopen Orlok Rand Anyone else have someone they'd nominate? Herowannabe is also a great choice, although I know he's meant to run a game soon. @Herowannabe do you think you're capable of playing this year?

I honestly don't think you give yourself enough credit

@OrlokTsubodai and @Kipper you both have been nominated. Are either of you capable of participating? I would also nominate all of our moderators, but @Gamma Fiend has been gone for some time, @Metacognition seems busy lately, which leaves only @Alvron and Wilson actively running our community, the latter of which has already said she can not partake in the Championship this year. Alv, what about you? Are you capable of and interested in being our representative? And because I think we need more competition, I would also like to nominate @Jondesu and @randuir. While they may both be newer members of our family, I have personally been impressed with them since their very first games.

As before, my vote is on TheMightyLopen, with OrlokTsubodai as a back up.

So, considering that it says "before the 13th" and it's nearly 9PM ETC, should I just register on Mafia Universe and say I'm our representative? EDIT: Never mind, just read it again. So it's just by the 13th we need to say we're in.