This is the official game thread for CYS Mafia! Feel free to get in character, scrutinise your fellow players’ every move and do what it takes to WIN the game.
Location: The Lounge Time: 8 PM (Evening) A feast has been prepared in the middle of the dining table. As you take your seat, others begin to arrive, filling up the room. “Welcome, guests!” A voice booms from a loudspeaker above. “Today, you will take part in an experiment that will test your skills of deduction, persuasion, and strategy.” Leaning back in your seat, you take the opportunity to examine your surroundings. A battling cage sits in the far corner with two sets of steel swords and armor. By the south-east door, a warhammer leans against the wall, stained with dried blood, marked with the word ‘BAN’. Yet, most frightening of all are the noises—from the window of a fogged-up room, where a solitary light bulb flickers, you hear terrible screeches of cries and moaning. “The voices of the SHAMED,” someone behind you explains. But when you turn to see who it was, the person has mysteriously disappeared. Before you can say anything, the voice from the speaker continues on. “We have assigned three mods to overlook this experiment. They will assess your performance and report back to us. They are—” A gunshot. The voice on the other end goes silent. Frantic whispers fill the room; panicked glances are exchanged. You scrutinize the other CYStians, but when you search their faces for any sign of familiarity, you realize you’re unable to tell friend from foe. The lights turn red. From the speaker, a new voice speaks. “We are the trolls. Leave the CYS forums now, or face the attacks of three of our strongest members!” Curiously, it sounds like a kid attempting to pitch his voice deeper, but you know the threat is real. There are three trolls among you. And who knows what they would do if— Another gunshot. This time, you hear laughter on the other side, and the original voice speaks again. “Remember, kids, you can’t outsmart a mod! The troll has been banned, and I would come over to finish up the others, but I have other things to do, being a busy mod and all. So until then, I’ll leave it to you to discover the three remaining trolls! Good luck.” Well, this dinner is about to get awkward. Evening 1: Introductions @Anthraxus @enterpride @Yummyfood @spicyXnoodle @MadHattersDaughter @MiltonManThing @UnscapeableDeath @Blister1 @Gryphon @Clayfinger @Shadowdrake27 Come and introduce yourself as a reply to this post! You have about 48 hours to do so before everyone chooses their rooms and performs any actions they can in the night. Feel free to pull someone aside for a private conversation, start an argument, or rant about how much you like Ogre; basically, do anything that normally happens in the lounge.
Hi everyone! My name's SpicyXnoodle, but you can call me Spicy if you'd prefer something shorter. I'm really excited to be part of this social test, and I'm sure some of you are feeling the same. Feel free to PM me about anything, and good luck. May the best skilled user win!
PS: I like Ogre! If you don't, you're probably going to get killed in the first round by some Ogre-fanatic troll or mod :D
Please feast on my noodles too Liminal... wait.... why does it say Clayfinger... DID YOU KILL LIMINAL BEFORE THE COMPETITION STARTED AND TOOK HIS PROFILE PICTURE?!?!
If that's the case it's alright :)
Sorry for assuming that you killed Liminal
Hello everyone! I'm UnscapeableDeath, or Scape for short. I'm here to sit back and laugh as it all devolves into chaos. Don't bother me, and I won't bother you. Feel free to ask any questions you have, and I'll answer them honestly.
Chef Jeff has the official badge for not being poisonous, our one and only goal is to satisfy our costumers with tasty noodles!
I don't know, that sticker wasn't there a little bit ago.
Because Chef Jeff forgot to put it on him! I can assure you that its not poisonous. If it was, people who ate it would have died already :D You can't blame someone for being hospitable can you?
I'm not sure about the tea...
"I am the 27th in a long and industrious line of shadow dragons that—is that tea for me?" Shadowdrake27 starts before a tea cup is randomly handed to him in his seat at the table. He takes a bite of noodles and steals three other cups of tea from around the table before realizing that his cup is topped off.
"Sorry, I lost my place... If only Ogre were here!" Shadowdrake27 continues. "He would know just what to do. I remember the first day I met him. Back then, we still went into the bank—which was a building where they kept your hard earned money in a vault that could not be accessed electronically. Yes—I know I'm old; anyways, the bank was getting robbed on this particular day—as it did back then."
Stopping to munch on a few noodles--and completely ignoring the suggestions that anything could be poisoned—Shadowdrake27 continues, "No less than 4 masked men—yes back then we assigned masculine genders to masked robbers—with guns forced everyone on the ground. Everyone, except ogre. They opened fired, but he still beat them all with a mace. He even helped the bank teller back behind the counter to help service everyone."
Chugging his tea, Shadowdrake27 frowns when it is suddenly refilled by MHD. He chugs it again—three more times—as if challenging to see if the tea really is endless. “Anyway, once I got my money I went to buy ice cream from a near by ice cream truck at a park. This was—of course—before the food truck craze. As I went to buy my ice cream, who was behind the counter other than Ogre himself. With no less than 12 bullet holes in his shirt, he recognized that I had a rough morning at the bank and gave me my ice cream for free: I like ogre.”
Shadowdrake looks around the room and sighs, “Oh, yes, yes. Call me Shadow for short. I don’t care much about trolls or mods, but if you play games know that I play to win.”
Glancing at the Ban Hammer and shuddering, shadow scoots his chair slightly farther away. Settling in place, he scans each other member of the dinner party, taking notes as they talk and muttering incoherently about their grammar.
Hello! I am Yummyfood. I like Ogre
A man in a pinstripe suit and wide moustache enters the dining room. Ignoring the tea, he looks around the room at the other dinner guests. He doesn't speak for a long time.
After listening to the others, eventually he says, "I am MiltonManThing, Editor-in-Chief of the CYS Monthly Gazette. I also like Ogre." He then remains as silent as he was before.
That reminds me! I pull out my noodle-creator-robot from the dark background behind my profile picture and start handing out steaming hot noodles to everyone ( with any choice of spices they want added to it )!
His name is Chef Jeff :)
''everyone sitting at the feast table'': LETS GOOO, FREE NOODLES AND TEA FOR EVERYONE!!!
I immediately start eating a giant bowl of noodles.
"10/10, thanks a lot, Chef Jeff!"
I would say either the lounge, newbie central, OR the writing workshop :)
Night 1: Room Selection Outside the barred windows, night darkens the skies. A solitary clock shows the time: two hours to midnight. Perhaps the long journey to the CYS Forums has taken its toil, for some of our prisoners guests have already begun descending into madness—speaking to themselves, overdosing on tea, or adding uncertified stickers to their noodles to deflect poison allegations. But most importantly, there have been several accusations of murderous intent! Whether through venemous acts of generosity, or shape-shifting and form-stealing, numerous theories surface, each more implausible than the next. The presence of the trolls weighs heavily on the minds of our members. As a sudden fatigue slumps over our guests, they decide to split up, in search of a room to sleep in (or perhaps, a room in which to carry out more sinister activities). Reply to this post with which room you would like to spend the night in. Rooms: Newbie Central (1/7): Blister Parlor Room (1/5): MHD Advanced Editor (3/3): Mousecore, Enter and Milton Writing Workshop (1/5): Gryphon Creative Corner (1/3): Shadow Reading Corner (2/4): Clayfinger and Spicy (If anyone does not reply within 24 hours, they would be sent to Newbie Central by default).
"All this caffeine has made me exhausted," Shadow yawns. "I'm too tired to critique any stories or work on my own... I'll just head to the Creative Corner to work on some poetry." He furiously packs up several pages of notes into a plain black folder.
Standing up, shadow stretches and adds, "Wake me up if someone dies: Otherwise, do not disturb my slumber!" He walks to the door to the Creative Creative Corner and stops. "On second thought, don't wake me up at all."
''It's best to read rather than sit around doing nothing at night,'' I murmur to myself as I make my way toward the Reading Corner, my belly full of tasty noodles.
Considering for a moment and flipping a coin in his head, MiltonManThing goes to the Advanced Editor Room, curious about the mice.
The cheeseburger remains in the corner in newbie central
Night 1: Secret Actions (Message RK about your actions privately and do not post them on this thread). One by one, the guests disperse across the building, searching for a room to spend the night. Soon, only a few are left. The inviting presence of the Newbie Central draws them in—and just in time, too, for the doors slam shut. Everyone is locked in their chosen room for the night. Is this another troll attack? Or a protective measure by the CYS overlords? Either way, cloaked by the darkness of the night, three figures meet to hatch a sinister plan! Trolls, please discuss among yourselves and decide on someone to eliminate. Hacker Troll, choose someone's alignment to change (they would appear to be on the other team if the Investigator Mod examines them tonight). Triggered Troll, you may choose to activate your ability to kill someone in your room and yourself, but you can only use it once in the whole game. Note: the Spammer Troll's ability would be reserved for mornings, i.e. during meetings. Despite not knowing one another's identities, the Mods continue to work hard through the night, doing their best to maintain order amidst the chaos. Troll purging comes naturally to them, but the possibility of banning a CYStian—or worse, one of their own—requires them to exercise more caution than normal. Mods, if you have a relevant ability, you may choose to use it. Investigator Mod, choose a person to investigate (and since it came up as a question, there's no need to be in the same room as that person). Contest Mod, you may throw someone in the Pit of Shame (this bars them from carrying out their role, if they have one, and they cannot be killed or vote the next morning). Chaos Mod, you may ban an entire room of users (but bear in mind it can only be used once per game). As for the CYStians, they are...well, doing whatever CYStians usually do. We know that one of them is keeping productive in some way, refining their skill, preparing for a potential writing match in the future. Another one ignores everything in a display of classic apathy. The third is typing away at their laptop, searching for any way to protect those whose online presence leaves them vulnerable. And the final ones, filled with dread and worry, search desperately for the aid of a mod, but today they find none. CYStians with abilities, you may exercise them. Coder CYStian, select a room to protect (or if you do not wish to protect any room at the risk of your own detriment, you can just say so or select an empty room). Other clarifications: if the Chaos Mod bans the room that you protect or the Triggered Troll uses their ability in that room, you are eliminated instead. Productive CYStian, you may challenge someone else to a Thunderdome match (it can only be used once per game, so if you prefer to wait until there is more information, let us know). Note: the Apathetic CYStian would be notified if one of their two lives have been used up and the Noob CYStian would only gain information about one of the mods if they survive until the second day. This process would last for 24 or 48 hours more, depending on the speed of replies. For now, I guess you can talk with the person in your room or attempt to influence other players to use their abilities in a way you believe would be beneficial to you.
Thanks! Canva makes it really easy though, it can be done with the click of a button.
In the Creative Corner with Shadowdrake, Anthraxus makes himself comfortable on one of the seats. He glances around the room, taking in the scraps of writing prompts and random character details that littered the walls in seemingly random patches, separated by an extremely diverse collection of art. At least a few peices in MHD and Peng's recognizable styles immediately jump out to the viewer. A large trash can full of obviously AI text and images sulks in the corner near a small coffee/tea station and a minifridge full of sodas and energy drinks.
Anthraxus looked to his companion and asked, "So Shadowdrake, or is Shadow ok? I can't say I am terribly familiar with you. What do you tend to do here? Feel free to whisper, I have a feeling the walls are thin and the echoes are long around here."
Shadowdrake looks up from the paper in front of him as the door opens, quickly covering the poem he was editing with a MHD drawing of an angry Mizal, as if she were offended by the poetry itself. He studies Anthraxus as he adjusts in his seat, narrowing his eyes as the seat cushion squeaks slightly. On edge, he waits for the newcomer to speak first; fortunately, that wait isn't long.
"So Shadowdrake, or is Shadow ok? I can't say I'm terribly familiar with you. What do you tend to do here? Feel free to whisper, I have a feeling the walls are thin and the echoes are long around here," Anthraxus asks.
Thinking for a moment and looking down, Shadowdrake flips the picture of Mizal upside down before responding, "Shadow is fine: I’m all for making things easier here. I’m sure the walls have ears, but I have nothing to hide at this point...”
Shadow leans forward and continues a bit quieter, “I’ve been ‘around’ for a while now; however, I took a long hiatus for a few years for… personal reasons. I’m a long time reader on this site and dabbled in my own stories a few years back, although none were particularly noteworthy. I do also like to participate the forums, review stories, be involved in the community, swap ideas with other authors and join contests.”
“I’m currently here after coming back for the summer reading contest, which is where we met, I believe. As for this experiment, I was personally invited by RK—for reasons that I wish to keep private,” Shadowdrake glances around the room with his eyes narrowing at a particularly strange drawing hanging on the wall with eyes that seem to move. “I’m sure you understand… but what do you tend to do here?”
"I'm mostly a writer," Anthraxus said with a smile, "As you could probably tell from my performance in the the review contest. I've also offered to help with some code updates, although that depends on greater forces that have not taken action as yet. You can say I have some influence, but it is pretty limited."
Anthraxus gets a root beer from the minifridge and takes a drink before saying, "You did pretty well in the review contest. Did you have a particular favorite you read?"
Shadowdrake shifted in his chair, noting the shift in tense immediately. Staring at the root beer until his face lit up, he stood to get his own. Sadly, the mini fridge only contained orange crush. Begrudgingly grabbing one, Shadowdrake sighed, "My favorite story in the summer was Of Gallantry and Sorrow, I believe. However, I've been known to mess up titles from memory. It was a good game--and I left a hefty review--which is what I might be best known for around here."
Stopping to chug the soda, shadow put the can down, closed his eyes, and waved his hands back and forth as if flipping pages in a book. Suddenly, he stopped and glared at Anthraxus, "I don't believe I've read any of your games. You can tell a lot about someone by their writing style... perhaps I'll have to fix this..."
Pulling a notebook out of his pocket, Shadow scribbled furiously for a few moments. "Did you have a favorite story from the review contest? And what's your favorite story that you have written? Perhaps I can leave a review in between helping RK with... stuff... here?" he asked, watching his roommate's response with narrowed eyes.
Liminal and I settle into the Reading Corner for the night. Before long, his thunderous snores break my focus on How to Win Any Competition. Scowling, I slam the book shut and scan the shelves for something more suited to my predicament. My eyes lock on How to Silence a Snoring Person. Amazed that this library has everything you need, I snatch it up, suddenly far more determined to put an end to those snores than to win anything.
Oh wait, my bad. I confused you and Clayfinger since both of you have the same profile picture :D
And now I can't edit it.....
Sorry man of clay, and yes, weak clay at that. I can tell you this much: the doors are locked for the night. Did you forget with your muddy mind? But go ahead, I'd really love to see you try to leave. And seriously, tone down the snoring, everyone can hear, my ears are about to burst. But why are you annoyed? What's got you so foul? Maybe you're some troll that needs to be dealt with.
Upon entering, MiltonManThing sees the "people" he now shares a room with, a trio of mice and whatever the other thing is. Sitting down at one of the available computers, he begins to click away at the keys.
'This is taking a while, he ponders to himself. 'Why did I think I could finish this properly in a Prompt Contest of all things? The scope of this project is way too much for a guy trying to run a newspaper and a full-time job at the same time! Still, you have to commit to finish what you've started.'
Click clack go the keys. For a moment, he distracts himself through an internet rabbit-hole before going back to typing.
'I wonder what Anthraxus is doing here,' he thinks. 'He better not be slacking off. Not that he usually does; he must be here for a reason.'
Minutes go by before Milton peers over his shoulder to look at the other occupants of the room.
Day 1: Announcements Sunlight filters through the windows. It's the next morning, and our guests find that the doors have mysteriously been unlocked! This time, an English breakfast spread is set out in the News & Updates room, where everyone gathers to read the morning news. It appears that even the trolls' invasion could not stop the publication of the newest edition of the CYS Gazette: (Clickable picture, because it wouldn't be a Gazette edition—or a forgery of one—without it). Within seconds, Jerry and the three mice appear, carrying the first victim of the trolls' attack into the room. @MiltonManThing is moved to the Feature Wishing Well where he can say his last words (one message) to either impart information to the group or convince them to resurrect him. However, as the group gathers around the well, they soon realize there are only eleven of them. Yes, this includes the almost-dead person who has been disposed of in the well. A quick search of the premises reveals that Gryphon has been locked up in the Pit of Shame! As such, they cannot participate in any form of voting until the next day, but can communicate with the group by shouting over the voices of the other shamed individuals. Discussion Time! Cast accusations, exchange any information you learned, and most importantly, decide on two important factors:
Anyway. I'm voting out Blister.
It's a shame we won't get any more Gazette but I would hate to use our only revive so early in the game.
Shadowdrake yawns and stretches as he stumbles out of the creative corner in the same clothes that he was wearing the day before. Mumbling to himself, he loads a plate with food and sits at the table munching on fried eggs. Eventually, he notices everyone gathered about talking and his eyes widen.
“Wait, what happened?” he asks, pulling out his notebook to sketch a few notes as he is filled in on the details of the morning.
Scratching his head, he stretches again and sighs, “Our one revive gets harder to use the later in the game we go. It requires a majority vote… and the more that die the larger percentage of the vote the trolls control. With that in mind, I also vote to revive MiltonManThing. One might want to hear his last words before deciding; however, I doubt CYS trolls are smart enough to kill one of their own anticipating an instant revival. I think MiltonManThing is the only person we can be sure is not a troll currently.”
Shadowdrake swallows a sausage whole before continuing, “As much as I love seeing those in Newbie central killed at random… I also don’t know if we have enough information to randomly kill Blister. I’ll vote no on killing him… this time. Killing a neutral member or civilian would be dire indeed... although Blister's self defense argument is starting to change my mind. Any compelling arguement in favor of killing him would sway me.”
“I’ve also noticed that Anthraxus hasn't appeared this morning… I fell asleep on a can of orange crush waiting for him to respond last night,” Shadow states. “Where did he go off to?”
The voice of the dead echoes from the well.
“Hello everyone, it’s rather unfortunate, but someone had to die first. If you bring me back, know that I’ll contribute well to the common good. Otherwise, you can save the Wishing Well power for another time. Bear in mind though that the longer it takes for you all to use the Wishing Well, the more likely the Trolls will have more sway in the vote, since there will be less innocents alive. It’s up to you all of course. I would however, if I were in your shoes, cast suspicion on those who don’t want to bring me back.
Choose wisely.”
"Milton is dead?" I ask blankly once the others in the room have caught me up. I suppose it makes sense. The journalist would be the one most capable of sniffing out the truth. "I'd also like to hear Milton's last words before deciding whether to revive him but for now, I am against it. We only get one revive and I'd rather be sure that we are using it either on someone with a good ability or someone who has information they were unable to share before their untimely death." "As for who to vote out... Honestly, we have too little information to make a decision that isn't just a shot in the dark. Any choice we make at this point is 'outrageous' as Blister put it. Certain questions need answering. Who would choose Milton to be their first kill? (At the very least, I don't think Anthraxus would kill his colleague in cold blood... unless the working conditions at the Gazette are worse than I thought. Since Blister's name came up, I will say that Milton has appeared prominently in a lot of recent posts. I'm sure even our newer entrants to the site know well what he is capable of.) Who would throw Gryphon in the pit of shame? (Yes, he is in the pit of shame. I heard a familiar voice from there on my way here and took the time to try and identify him.) What was Milton's role? (His last words could prove to be most illuminating. Remember the cogite refugee can take over the roles of the dead. Reviving him is not the only way to ensure that his powers remain in play.) Since I'm a bit inexperienced with this sort of thing, I'm down to vote along with everyone else as long as it is NOT anthraxus. If the choice is Blister then so be it."
Anthraxus enters just in time to catch Clayfinger's statement. "Thanks Clayfinger and apologies for drifting off on you Shadow," he says, "I am saddened by my friend Milton's murder and certainly would not have picked him first if I were a troll. I fully vote to revive him. I think the argument that the Trolls are unlikely to have sacrificed one of themselves so early carries a lot of weight."
He moved to stand closer to Clayfinger and continued, "As for who to vote for, I will say that I am open to vote for anyone except Clayfinger."
Hearing his name, Shadow's ears perk up. After Blister finishes speaking, he slams a fist on the table and glares at Blister with narrowed eyes. "I don't recall accusing you of anything," Shadow hisses.
Picking up his notebook, Shadowdrake flips through the pages so quickly the words on contained within seem to dance. He stops flipping and shows the incoherent scribbles proudly. "I was the first person not to vote for you, but sowing confusion and spreading lies is the literal point of the trolls in this game!" Shadow stands up and leans over his last fried egg as it giggles. "Also, I have it on good authority that the witches in Salem have whispered your guilt to one of our own! I change my vote: Blister is who I wish to cast off first."
"Ahem," Shadowdrake clears his throat and relaxes back into his chair. "Good morning, Anthraxus, all is forgiven. I think I was asleep for most of that conversation anyway."
(Note--I did not realize that we had to vote for someone and apologize for breaking the rules there.)
The trolls have the ability to kill through locked doors. This gives them a HUGE advantage because the one who killed Milton can be a few rooms away, but in the end I umm... vote out... I'm really sorry man... Blister1. Also, reviving Milton seems like a good idea. Milton must know information that could potentially cause the fall of the trolls.
Anyone wondering what the rule was, it's this one mystic mentioned:
Unless stated otherwise, most abilities are not room-dependent. That means the Trolls can kill those in a different room from them, the Contest Mod can shame someone in a different room, Productive CYStian can challenge someone in another room, etc. (The only exception is that the Triggered Troll attack would affect someone in the same room and the Productive CYStian has to issue a Thunderdome challenge from one of the specified locations)
I look up from my English muffin breakfast sandwiches and pause.
"Milton's dead? Huh. The trolls must be awfully confident in themselves. I vote to revive him and vote out Blister. I would rather vote out no one, but since I have to choose, he has the most incriminating evidence."
I go back to eating my breakfast.
Oh my bad lol. Blister
Might as well go with the crowd on this one too so why not
Night 2: Room Selection Voting Results The guests gather around the Feature Wishing Well, and they submit their one and only request: to bring Milton back. Dark smoke rises from the well. Through the necromantic powers imbued in the well, a shadowy figure rises, wispy and incorporeal, slowly transforming into a familiar form. Milton has been revived! The efforts of the trolls have been thwarted...but for how long? Tonight, however, one life has been traded for another. Blister has been sacrificed to the well. He's bound up by the guests, struggling and writhing to no avail, and thrown into the frothing waters. Since the power of the well has been used up, there is no chance for him to ever return. Blister, your time at the CYS Forums has come to an end. Room Selection There is no time to mourn the dead, nor is there time to celebrate the living. Fatigue settles over our guests as the moon rises in the skies. Just in time, too, for if the previous night was any indication, doors would be locked after a certain hour. Reply to this post with which room you would like to spend the night in. As usual, if anyone does not reply within 24 hours, they would be sent to Newbie Central by default.
Rooms:
Newbie Central (0/7) Parlor Room (2/5): Mousecore and Clayfinger Advanced Editor (2/3): Anthraxus and Milton Writing Workshop (2/5): Shadowdrake and Spicy Creative Corner (2/3): Enter and MHD Reading Corner (1/4): Unscapable and Gryphon
I head over to the reading corner, pull out a hefty book, and settle in for the night.
"Well, since it does not seem to matter which room we are in very much, I'll head to the writing workshop," Shadowdrake sighs. "Rooms only matter if we bunch up for the suicidal troll... although they are probably best just killing us off slowly, since we have no way to detect them."
Rising up from the well, Milton heads back to the scene of his murder, the Advanced Editor Room.
I should mention that Gryphon is now free from the Pit of Shame and can choose a room to join.
I head toward the Writing Workshop, pull out a pen and notebook, and start sketching a plan to win.
Night 2: Secret Actions (Message RK about your actions privately and do not post them on this thread). Death. Revival. Sleep. There is lots to think about as our guests head towards their respective rooms, splitting off into five pairs and leaving poor Yummyfood to head to Newbie Central alone. Though perhaps in this game, where shady characters abound, solitude may be a strategic play. Trolls, please discuss among yourselves and decide on someone to eliminate. The Hacker Troll may choose someone's alignment to change. The Triggered Troll may activate their one-time ability if they wish to. Mods, if you have a relevant ability, you may choose to use it. Investigator Mod, choose a person to investigate. Contest Mod, you may throw someone in the Pit of Shame. Chaos Mod, you may ban an entire room of users, but it is a one-off ability. CYStians with abilities, you may use them. Coder CYStian, select a room to protect at the cost of your own life. Productive CYStian, you may challenge someone else to a Thunderdome match, again as a one-time ability. Cogite Refugee, since Blister has passed on, if you succesfully guess whether he is a Mod, CYStian or Troll, you take on his role. Once again, I'll give you all up to 48 hours for this choice and feel free to converse with one another, whether to your strategic advantage or just to pass time.
Yay! :D
Day 2: Announcements The fire alarm is blaring. Our guests stand around a dying dragon, in a writing room that is much too bright, as a corpse languishes outside in the doorway. How exactly did we get here? Well thankfully, the newest edition of the Gazette has arrived to answer all your questions! The Lounge has now been decorated in shades of black and grey, in preparation for the many funerals that are to come, and the guests work together to move Shadow there, away from the glaring lights. Silence finally settles over the room as the fire alarm is turned off. It is time for @Shadowdrake27 to say his last few words. Yet, as he glances around at his company for the past few days, he notices one of them is missing: the previous victim of the trolls, Milton. Someone is sent to look for him and it's quickly revealed that he has spent the night in the Pit of Shame. While it is no one's first choice of accommodation, could this have been done for his protection? The locks on the cells are said to be troll-proof, after all. Yet this bars Milton from participating in today's vote. Discussion Time! Time to hold a funeral and talk about the events of the last two days. There have been four deaths, three lives taken, two assassination attempts, and one revival. Lots to discuss! Don't forget to cast a vote, too.
"Beware of MHD! Also, you misused that comma... proofread before you post!" Shadowdrake's voice calls out from the grave as the darkness fades from his eyes.
This puts a major target on my back but I have an inkling you SHEEPLE will vote me out regardless. But I am the investigator mod and Shadow knew that. Of course he would frame me in his last words.
In fact, Blister was suspicious of me too. I wonder if they were working together?
Milton shouts, "I call for a vote against MHD! She is deceiving you about her role, which is unfortunate for her because she chose to lie about MY role. Vote for her! I can't do it myself! Cast suspicion on those who do not vote against MHD!"
"Guys!" Milton shouts. "If you all have confidence that I am at least not a Troll, then you can be convinced that I am at least more likely to be truthful than the other person we know nothing about. I would be reluctant to say what my role is except for a situation like this one. If the Investigator reveals himself, he puts himself at great risk of attack. I'm revealing it because I know that MHD is lying. Anyone who argues against this idea is shooting themselves in the foot, or is in league with the Trolls."
Just realized I should have added a time limit. You have 24 hours to cast a vote or it counts as if you are abstaining. This is not the same as choosing not to vote anyone out, because if 2 people vote someone out, 1 chooses not to vote and the rest abstain, the two people will get someone voted out. Edit: I also updated my clarification post since the last time.
I don't think there is enough information against MHD, and no one else seems suspicious at the moment, so I'll pass on voting anyone out.
I abstain my vote for now
Edit: Right now, the majority has abstained or not made a decision (which is different from the one person who voted for a 'no vote'). Unless someone else casts a vote or withdraw a vote, in a few hours it looks like there'll be a revote to resolve the three way tie.
Night 3: Room Selection Voting Results Well, what a twist of events! Milton has certainly gone through everything in this game, having been killed, revived, locked in the Pit of Shame, and now voted out. He may—for the second time in this game—deliver his last words. It was quite an eventful day. Accusations were cast; allegations flung around. There was nearly a three way tie at the end between him, MHD and Clayfinger, but in the last few hours, our very own Gazette editor has been eliminated from the Forums by a single vote. Was he a troll betrayed by his own teammates, an investigator mod misaccused, or some other role entirely? Only time can tell. Room Selection It's clear that at least one person had been lying about their role. Conversations break out among our CYStians, but as daylight slips away, they split away into smaller groups. The doors would be locked again and each person can only hope the one beside them isn't a troll. It's time to choose your rooms! As usual, if anyone does not reply within 24 hours, they would be sent to Newbie Central by default. Rooms: Newbie Central (0/7) Parlor Room (1/5): Unscapable Advanced Editor (1/3): Anthraxus Writing Workshop (1/5): Yummyfood Creative Corner (1/3): Enter Reading Corner (0/4)
Nvm update thread was just not edited
Apparently I did a bad job of tracking what the vote count was when I voted then, as I don't remember having seen your or Enter's votes before I made mine. But even so, when I voted, my vote bolstered your current position.
You made a demand I agree was a reasonable request. We had two people both claiming the same role, and the only way to resolve that without just guessing would be for them to offer some kind of proof of how they had used that role. Over the course of this discussion, only one of those two people actually responded to that request, albeit a bit later than he should have.
It is apparent that you are genuinely pushing for a tied vote. Your efforts to do that so strongly, allowed MHD to pivot her vote to actually get out the one person that had offered up any kind of proof of actually being the investigator.
I still think that your earlier arguments for suspecting MHD hold water, and that is what swayed my vote. MHD has done nothing since starting the voting with you to alleviate that suspicion. That is actually the only thing making me doubt that you are the third troll in the set of MHD, Enter and ?. Yet, the fact that the three of you were the only votes for Milton, who is the only person to offer any kind of proof of their role when demanded, weighs strongly against that.
I guess we will see after this evening, as you and I have both leveled accusations at the most likely troll in the game. As the first two people to vote, it would have been easy for two trolls to plan to cover themselves in such a way and use the argument for pushing for a tie as cover for a plan to eliminate the next person voted for, or for the third troll to offer up a specific target, particularly a contentious one, like Milton.
I will head to the Palor Room to relax after all the commotion.
"I am in disbelief at how this group has voted against me. Of course, there are three trolls, so that would explain some of the votes at least. I tried to argue coherently to you, but you would not listen.
"Listen now: Anthraxus is most likely innocent. I chose to investigate him on the first night. I was murdered that same night too, which makes this whole situation very strange considering you all trusted me enough to bring me back. I thought you would have trusted me to when I said who I was. Would it make sense for me to immediately reveal who I was and let myself get targeted again so quickly? If it would have convinced you, maybe I should have.
"I hope voting me out will be the only mistake you all make this game and that it won't cost us victory against the trolls."
Milton then pixelates out of existence.
A cheeseburger is rumored to have been seen rolling from newbie central to the writing workshop
Night 3: Secret Actions (Message RK about your actions privately and do not post them on this thread). After yet another eventful day, complete with two potential candidates for Investigator Mod, a flurry of last minute votes, and lots of heated conversations in the corridor, it is time for our guests to get some rest for the night. Their numbers have dwindled from twelve to a mere eight and they have used up their one-time ability to revive a member. Whatever happens tonight has the potential to make or break the game. Trolls, please discuss among yourselves and decide on someone to eliminate. The Hacker Troll may choose someone's alignment to change. The Triggered Troll may activate their one-time ability if they wish to. Mods, if you have a relevant ability, you may choose to use it. Investigator Mod, choose a person to investigate. Contest Mod, you may throw someone in the Pit of Shame. Chaos Mod, you may ban an entire room of users, but it is a one-off ability. CYStians with abilities, you may use them. Coder CYStian, select a room to protect at the cost of your own life. Productive CYStian, you may challenge someone else to a Thunderdome match, again as a one-time ability. Cogite Refugee, since three members have passed on, if you succesfully guess whether one of them is a Mod, CYStian or Troll, you take on their role. There will be 48 hours to use your ability (if you have one). As normal, continue to have strategic discussions and since it happened in the other game, I suppose you could yell through walls if you really wanted to. Sidenote - I'm trying out a new image hosting site because imgur is blocked in the UK (using a VPN lets me view images but I still can't access Imgur itself). I'm not sure if the images taking a long time to load is just something that happens on my browser or it's the same for everyone else. If it's the latter, please recommend any alternative image hosting sites you know of.
Day 4: Announcements It is said that any successful social experiment would test the limits of its subjects in new and profound ways. Like the prison experiment, would a CYStian, upon being given the powers of a mod, use this to purge the very people they're meant to protect? Or if forced to embody the enemy, how would an ordinarily law-abiding CYStian go about pretending to be a troll? All these are hypotheticals, of course, but perhaps they may not be for much longer. Our long-suffering guests gather in News & Updates as another Gazette article has been published: Twelve guests entered the forums. Now, only six remain. @Mousecore, @Gryphon and @Yummyfood, you may each say your last words. Also, as the only one to discover the interdimensional portal in the news articles, Malk has secured a one-way trip to join this forums! But this is a cloned version of him (so he remains in the other game as well). Voting Time!
Who will you execute tonight? The choice is yours! But remember: CYS is where your decisions have consequences.
I stop shoveling popcorn into my mouth and mumble a single word around the food.
"Why?"
I set the popcorn bucket down, stand up, and stretch.
"I did warn you that I would retaliate if provoked. Not like I can do much anyways. However, I hope that you will join me in trying to use reason to figure out whether or not this is a wise choice. First off, I do not understand why you wish to vote me out whenever there is, in my opinion, no evidence that incriminates me. I will go ahead and tell you that I am not a troll, but a citizen. If you wish to vote me out and waste a valuable member who could help you against the trolls, then by all means, go ahead! Secondly... I need some root beer. And a good sandwich. Feel free to poke me again if you want to; I'll be over in the kitchen.
This place does have a kitchen, right?"
I walk away muttering to myself something about how difficult it is to make a good sandwich.
"I can understand the unfunny part, and slightly the name, but I believe that, as much as a hunch can lead you in the right direction at times, you still need to provide solid evidence to back it up! You claim that you are a mod, someone dedicated to reasoning and doing what is right without rushing headlong into things, and yet you seem to be avoiding giving a good reason as to why people should vote me out, other than " 'cause I have a feeling." You also appear to be slightly erratic, with strange voices following you around everywhere you go, and quick to go with the flow. So please, do give an extensive report as to why I should be voted out!"
"Well, I tried. Feel free to vote out the coder! (Y'know, the one who can prevent people from dying) And because of these allegations against me, I'm going to vote against Enterpride. If, however, you choose to vote someone other than me out, I would like to automatically change my vote to a pass unless otherwise stated."
(I proceed to make a sandwich while listening to It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).)
(I also want to point out that you immediately shifted the focus of trying to figure out who's a troll to someone else when confronted. And based on Griffon's final message, he might be the jailer mod, and not you. Just some final things to consider.)
(In a slightly sing-songy voice as I slowly fade out of existence temporarily):
"He's trying to deflect again!"
"Screw that vote, I'm changing it to Clayfinger now. I'm the coder (not like I can provide any solid evidence, sigh), and so he is almost definitely a troll. Y'all are going to be sorry if I die and can't protect you all. I would also like to say that I would have died due to protecting the explosion in Newbie Central, but I had forgotten to send the message to RK, lol. Anyway, if you all don't kill me today, then I'm sure the trolls will do the job for you tonight. And I'll be protecting whatever room has the most people in it if I'm here when night rolls around, so trolls: feel free to target that place instead of whoever you wanted to previously. Or just kill me directly, I don't care too much."
If the game will still be running at that point, then I am content with that arrangement.
🤝
Buddy, I am running on 6 or fewer hours of sleep and am sneaking these posts in between doing the mountain that is my homework. I am currently prioritizing remembering to turn in an assignment on time over remembering to protect a fictional room with slightly fictional characters in a fictional social game with strangers on the internet. Add that onto the fact that Mystic is the one who has to make these announcements and is having to keep track of two different games going on at the same time, I'm glad that they can keep this thing running as smoothly as they are. My last-minute message during what amounts to the middle of the night was unlikely to be noticed in the first place, let alone processed and factored into the chaos that they are having to sift through here.
TL;DR: I am tired as hell and have way too much schoolwork to do, and the mods have enough to deal with that I am grateful they are still keeping this running amid the chaos here, let alone processing a late-night message.
Oh, and I'm also trying to make three different stories at once while also dealing with everything I just mentioned, plus having to try and prepare for a game night that is going to run until 10 PM, and also having to deal with the political minefield that is homecoming. And probably a few other things that I'm forgetting. I'm surprised I haven't had a nervous breakdown yet.
With all that said, the amount of fun I'm having with all of these projects (other than school) is worth the effort for me. I just don't have enough brainpower to multitask this many things and not have a few things slip through the cracks
Thank you for attending my TED Talk
That's probably a good idea; I don't exactly have the best self-control rn. Although I am in a slightly better state of mind after eating a snack. I will admit that you do have some good arguments though. I just wish I could find a better argument against it than "I'm tired af and can't remeber what i had for brekfast," as I don't often get to debate with someone. And yes, the misspelling in that quote is intentional; Grammarly is probably screaming in agony at all the mistakes it's been having to fix lately, lol
I see that you are making a nice hit list there. Shame that the game will be over before you get to everyone
"Bonjour, cocksuckeurs... I am the dark mirror of Louisiana Malk. I am French Malk," says French Malk. A tiny moustache hangs from the end of his snout. Beneath the moustache, a cigarette. Behind the cigarette, a sneer of contempt. Behind the sneer of contempt, such sophisticated Francophone thoughts that they would bedevil and beguile any American who attempted to understand them.
The burger whispers it's final words. "I... wasn't productive enough... Damn"
I'm just trying to figure out who the third troll is. Apparently I was wrong of the game would be over. We won't have to wait long though, even as it is one more vote or night for the trolls wins the game.
I'm going to pretend that is somehow a compliment.
I don't even know what's happening here anymore--- nah, just kidding, I know exactly what is happening. However, to keep things organized, please cast a vote as a reply to this message (yes, including that one person who seems to be voting for themself for whatever reason).
As previously stated, I'm voting for Clayfinger.
I know very well who the coder is, and that is me. I am the coder, the coder is I. His attempt to pose as me just outed him as a troll, at least in my eyes.
French Malk suddenly shudders from his reverie. "Unascapab... une escap.... unscappabl.... zis fag should go to the guillotine!"
Epilogue Location: The Lounge Time: 12 AM(Midnight) Five days have come and gone. The true identities of our guests remain cloaked in deception and lies, but somehow, our final six are still standing. It's a pity one of them would soon be voted off.
Roles are revealed. MHD claims to have investigated Enter, who says he is the Contest Mod, and she instantly trusts him! Now, these two 'mods' team up against Scape, the popcorn-eating, sandwich-making troll. Because he's obviously dangerous, duh. No one looks for a kitchen in the forums unless they're hiding something. Clayfinger joins in, taking the role of the Coder CYStian, driving Scape to the verge of a mental breakdown as he mutters about homework. Enter draws up a list of targets to kill next in plain sight of everyone else. Malk shares his experiences of being French. Anthraxus...well, he pulls the other guests aside to speak one-on-one, attempting to use logic and common sense to sway the votes, but alas, the forums are too far gone. They have been for a while, actually. UD is voted off. Five remain, but only one of them is...a non-troll! RK enters the room with a wide grin. "Enter, Clay, and MHD, you guys really sold your roles as best as you could have! Like even though there was reasonable suspicion on you guys, you managed to turn it around in an interesting way!" Anthrax falls to the ground in anguish: he had suspected this, perhaps, for quite a while, but despite his best efforts, the trolls won. Though if he listens carefully, he hears a barely discernible voice over the speakers. "This experiment has proven successful indeed. Yes, while only one mod survived, we have discovered RK is a troll sympathizer! I will inform the others at once." Red lights sweep over the room, bathing the warhammer in an ominous glow and shining on the fresh blood on the ground. The doors to the forums fly open. Despite their victory, trolls lack the skills to create their own community, so they take their leave, searching for the next forum to destroy.
Commentary Once again, thank you to everyone for your participation in this game! RK and I enjoyed hosting this event and reading all your strategies, in-character posts and analysis of the game. Here's our commentary on everything that happened behind the scenes! We may have missed out some of the details so feel free to fill in the gaps with what you did, any plans you had, schemes you made with other members, etc. Preliminary thoughts: To be honest, I wasn’t sure if the game was skewed against the trolls from the start since we had twelve members. That meant their best route of winning was to eliminate all the Mods (if they went after the members, that meant having to kill five times including the Apathetic CYStian). But they exceeded my expectations by not only winning, but purging non-trolls from the forums! Evening 1 Let’s take a look at some of the strategies from the start. Clayfinger instantly portrayed himself as someone who prioritizes group harmony, Enter started his monologuing poems (though is it really a monologue if several mice are speaking?) and MHD graciously offers everyone tea! Now, who could ever suspect them of being trolls? Spicy, that’s who. He accused Clayfinger of being Liminal and killing him! At the same time, Anthraxus casted doubt as to whether the tea and noodles are poisoned, Blister spammed a lot of messages, and Unscapeable introduced himself by a nickname no one ever uses for the rest of the game (sorry, Scape). Night 1 The trolls met one another in a discord chat RK set up. It was a very wholesome meeting where their first words were ‘Mercer Gang’! They each revealed their roles and decided on two potential plans:
In the end, they decided to target Milton because he 'seemed the type to really get into any investigation'. They also had a side mission of framing Blister and Spicy for their kills! What about the good guys, then? Milton—the Investigator Mod—decided to find out whether his friend and fellow Gazette editor was on the same team. He discovered that Anthraxus’ alignment was good (that part wasn't a lie)! UnescapableDeath chose to use his coding abilities to protect the Newbie Central. Then we had Gryphon, who threw themself in the pit, knowing that would secure them a round of safety. Day 2 This was hilarious. Milton, the Investigator Mod, aka the most powerful role in the game, is the first to be killed off. To make matters worse, his last words did not clear the one person who was almost certainly good. I mean, even from a credibility perspective, it makes sense that Milton would investigate his closest friend first. He even mentioned wondering what Ant was up to in his night post which further reinforces that narrative. Enter didn’t realize there was a reviving mechanism and after I wrote a Gazette article mentioning he was in the room, he decided to deflect suspicion by campaigning for Milton’s revival. MHD took the opposite approach of going against the crowd. Clay, however, decided to appear hesitant to make decisions—this is honestly a great technique as it later helped him get away with murder! Okay, I know this may be hard to hear, but Enter played you all like a fiddle. He made up a lie about it being against the rules not to vote and Blister got eliminated, lol. At this point in time, none of the trolls had any inkling that Milton was the Investigator Mod, so they were perfectly fine with wasting the revival ability. The trolls suspected Blister was the apathetic CYStian since he did not make much of an effort to protect himself. This is one of the reasons I was confused as to how so many people believed one of the Spicy/Blister pair was a troll. Wouldn’t a troll vehemently provide a defense or at least fake a role? Oh well, I suppose Blister would have gotten banned eventually, so voting him out didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Night 2 Onto the second night. RK and I were excited that Milton actually investigated MHD, and since she had changed her alignment the night before, this was perfect timing because she couldn't use the ability on herself twice. But guess what? Gryphon came along and threw him in the Pit of Shame, lol. It was a smart play to protect Milton, but the trolls (or more specifically, Enter) were one step ahead the whole time. And he was right! Unscapeable protected Milton, shielding him from death, exactly like Enter predicted. (Perhaps at least one of them should have known the other role would protect Milton). The trolls took advantage of this distraction to kill Shadow in the shadows. Unfortunately for the good guys, the CYStian with the highest survivability, Spicy, was killed off by End. Even being an apathetic CYStian with two lives is no match for the powers of EndMaster. This also makes sense thematically since he likes to ban unproductive, apathetic slugs! Day 3 That round had everything to do with Milton. He was killed, revived, shamed, protected, and finally, voted out. Truly the main character of the first two days. Let’s examine how the trolls pulled this off: First, Shadow accused MHD after his death. He was the Cogite Refugee, but if I had to guess, I would say he was either going off the fact she was the only one who voted against Milton's revival or just causing chaos in an unwinnable game. The voting here was hilarious. I didn't expect Clayfinger to start attacking MHD first, nor did I expect her to vote for him either. Both trolls casting the blame on each other, especially where no one else was voting, would have convinced me into thinking at least one was innocent. The trolls devised many brilliant plots, including Clay’s idea that if MHD were a troll she wouldn’t have voted alone, MHD’s plan to claim the role of Investigator Mod and Enter’s trollish idea to also fake the Investigator role for maximum confusion and chaos. MHD started with her plan first. Soon enough, Milton charged into the room, shouting that MHD was lying. That was a smart move, but it was somewhat weakened by him not providing any details as to who he investigated (revealing all your information rather than only part of it is the best way to gain trust imo). It also meant his role was revealed. If he had, perhaps, used Ace’s technique in the other game to PM Anthrax, then he might have been able to use him as a cover to reveal information to out MHD without betraying either of their true roles. But that hypothetical does presume Ant would trust Milton’s message in the first place. The ‘fight’ between MHD and Clay was definitely a risky play considering no one else cast a vote beforehand, and for a long time, it seemed they would force a re-vote between themselves and the Investigator Mod. Enter took this time to flesh out a few theories: based on Milton’s closing speech, he believed he was either a cogite, noob, or coder CYStian. The one role he ruled out was the Investigator Mod (lol). There was a lull in voting and the trolls’ initial plan was to wait out the voting period. The only problem? I never specified a time limit for voting in the first place. So I went ahead and fixed that, much to the trolls’ annoyance, though I never expected what came next. No longer wanting to be deceived by Enter, most players chose to exercise a right they didn’t know they had: abstaining from a vote! Yet, Anthrax trusted Milton and voted for MHD. Enter retaliated by voting for Milton. Mousecore voted for MHD. I have to double-check with RK, but I suspect that since Mousecore is the Noob CYStian, they found either Milton or Anthrax was a Mod, hence was willing to cast a vote despite everyone else's reluctance. Remember what I said about Clay’s hesitation? This worked out extremely well here: he pretended to be unsure of who to vote for, to the point of manufacturing a tie, which then allowed MHD to cast the final vote against Milton. I’ll be honest: Clay's explanation of wanting to tie the vote would have fooled me too if I were in the game. Ironically, it was Gryphon’s decision to protect Milton that ultimately killed him. If he hadn’t put the Investigator Mod into the Pit of Shame, not only would Milton know MHD’s true identity, but he would have been able to vote (resulting in a tie). The tensions were high in the trolls’ group chat. They were waiting for the timer to count down, praying no last minute votes came in, and tagging RK and I to ask when the voting period would end. For a moment, I thought RK was trolling the trolls when he said the time was up! …Only to correct himself and say there was another hour left. RK, in his totally unbiased fashion, closed the voting period for the first and only time in the whole game so the trolls could guarantee Milton was voted out. This had to be one of the funniest moments overall. How could everyone have trusted Milton enough to use their one-time ability to revive him, use both protective abilities on him in the night, only to allow him to get voted out the very next day? Dying on the first night made him extremely unlikely to have faked being the Investigator Mod too. Seriously, how did the trolls vote out the guy everyone collectively revived in the first round and manage to get away with it? Naturally, Anthraxus had his suspicions. He confronted Clayfinger about his vote. This was funny because the day before, Ant was willing to vote for anyone except Clay. Oh, Ant, you were so close to getting it right:
‘I still think that your earlier arguments for suspecting MHD hold water, and that is what swayed my vote. MHD has done nothing since starting the voting with you to alleviate that suspicion. That is actually the only thing making me doubt that you are the third troll in the set of MHD, Enter and ?. Yet, the fact that the three of you were the only votes for Milton, who is the only person to offer any kind of proof of their role when demanded, weighs strongly against that.’
Somehow, through the power of textwalls (a strategy I am biased towards myself), Enter utilized weaponized confusion to get Ant to doubt himself. Now they shared the belief that either Blister or Spicy was a troll. This was a dangerous belief which created a false sense of security for the non-trolls. Also, the rest of you good guys should be ashamed, Mizal knew all along that Enter was a troll and she wasn't even playing the game! Though later on, she changed her mind and predicted Enter was just handing the game over to the trolls on a silver platter, which does seem like something he would do tbh. Night 3 Whilst I secretly thought that the trolls targeting Shadow was a wasted kill due to his neutral role, in hindsight, it was actually a strong benefit to them. Were he to have survived, he would’ve guessed Milton’s alignment and kept his role around. (The Cogite role was my way of strengthening the good team by letting them maintain an ability even when a player is dead. This is especially true for the Investigator Mod, since if they die early on, there aren’t many roles that can reveal the alignment of players. But it’s funny how neither Cogite took on a new role in these games. I'll probably replace this with a jester or doppelganger role if we were to play again). That night, the trolls were full of worries, especially since it was the three of them who voted out Milton which would be a dead giveaway…right? So Clayfinger brainstormed a number of theoretical possibilities as to how MHD might be able to defeat death, including this idea: does shame exempts a player from participating in a Thunderdome match? Now, the thing is, I never got back to resolve this gray area. I was distracted by how unbelievable the whole situation was. Little did I know that this exact situation would happen later… This night went as follows:
This was the round where everyone targeted MHD. They just hate seeing a woman in power, smh. Okay, here's the aforementioned gray area I never got to resolve: as MHD was shamed, could she still take part in the Thunderdome Challenge? Because of this uncertainty, I thought about which outcome would be the most fair. What did the trolls do this round? Well, after Enter and Clay accurately guessed Gryphon’s identity as the Contest Mod who protected themself in the first round, they had a target. But they later changed it to Anthraxus, then changed it again before finally settling on Yummyfood. In hindsight, RK and I should have kept a better watch on the time limits for actions. When I returned to the site a few days later, I realized: only two non-troll members were left. In normal Mafia games, this would have qualified as a win since 50% were trolls. (Except that I thought it would be too difficult to achieve with 11 players so I set the win condition to either killing all the mods or noobs). Since neither Anthraxus nor Scape had the power to kill a troll, it honestly didn't matter whether MHD was dead or alive, the game would still end with the trolls winning: Option 1: Voting ends with a tie. Trolls kill the last player and win. Option 2: Trolls vote out one member and win instantly. Despite the game having technically ended, the official win conditions weren’t met and I wanted to cause some chaos. This is why I let MHD survive and introduced Malk into the game to troll the two good guys (I added him to the troll group chat since RK came up with a cool scifi parallel-reality idea that we wanted to use in some capacity). Scape became a scapegoat and shook hands with Enter to vote himself out. Anthrax did the best he could without realizing how dire the situation was. As for the trolls? If anything, this social experiment shows that CYS is lucky they’re on our side and not the enemy’s. From then on, I bought popcorn and watched as everything was consumed by chaos, then clapped as the credits rolled. Fin. RK here. Before we fully close this out, I just wanted to include some quotes I collected from everyone in the middle of the game and towards the end. Here are some mid-game thoughts everyone had, along with some troll screenshots I thought were funny. I asked people this question around night 2, so this is before people really knew how the game would go. A lot of these were really interesting, and I hope you guys enjoy!: Yummy:
I definitely think Blister was either innocent or the spammer. I still don't know what to think about MHD. Shadowdragon ended up kind of like Gandalf saying "fly you fools". If he meant to say he was a credible source he didn't say it very well. I think if she isn't voted and no better evidence arises I might use my duel on her.
Anthraxus:
At this point I think Milton is safe. Either MHD or Clay finger are a troll, although I am leaning towards MHD. Everyone else has been pretty quiet so they are just guesses.
Gyphon:
Hm, no firm guesses as it's still early in the game. I wasn't persuaded by Shadowdrake's last words (may he rest in peace), but MHD's response was a little suspicious. She may well be up to something (or just playing it up lol)
UD:
Right now, I'm thinking that using up our only revive so early on was a bad idea, and we should have saved it for when we know who we are reviving. I also think that MHD is one of the citizens or mods, as they were the only one who voted against the revive. If there was even one more person, then I might have thought that they were both trolls, but it doesn't make sense for just one troll to vote against it.
Shadowdrake:
Oh, I appreciate your confidence in me! However, I'm not that good... I know MHD is a troll. Not using the metadata I got from knowing Milton's role, she is the only person who voted out Milton. This was after being explained the logic of Milton not being a troll and keeping as many people alive as possible. When accused (with my dying breath) of being a troll, she claimed to be the investigator. This was a mistake, in my opinion. Being not just a mod or a CYStian, but also the most important player on the game is a big deal. It's too convenient to be true. Also, if she really were the investigator, she wouldn't put a target on herself like that. No one would--unless they were a troll and didn't have to fear being targeted by the trolls. Basically, if the towns people don't vote for her now and she doesn't get killed by trolls tonight, it should be painfully obvious she is a troll. if that wasn't enough, she accused Blister and I of being trolls conspiring against her as a mod. We both were killed by trolls... so we are either both really dumb trolls, or she is standing over our body with a bloody teapot and accusing us of killing ourselves with it. She overplayed her hand. I know Milton is the investigator mod because I tried to take his role when he died... only for him to be revived (perk of being the COG refugee I guess). However, he is the only member we know is alive and not a troll, since he survived a troll attack. He should vote for MHD quietly and hope that everyone trusts him enough from this. If the trolls find out who he is this early, the game is probably over. I also think that Enterpride is innocent of being a troll. He wanted to revive Milton before I did. A troll wouldn't suggest that. However, I think Blister was innocent and a CYStain because of how he accepted his death. I think if he was a mod or troll he would have fought harder to stay in the game--either claiming to be a mod as a troll or revealing he is a mod to get votes changed. The only other players have information about are clay finger, who I'm suspicious of, but that's mostly because he is the most active person in the game right now. Anyone who votes to keep MHD around I would suspect of being a troll. Clayfinger basically said, "I'll vote against her if you do but I'll vote for someone else if I'm given a reason" which to me felt like a clever troll covering his tracks. Unfortunately, no one else has revealed enough for me to be suspicious of them. The banned player (spicy noodles, I think?) was not a troll. I tired to take his role when he was banned and guessed wrong. So I know he was a Mod/CYStian... however, I have no way to tell which.
Mouse:
Howdy RK! As of right now, I am honestly wary of MHD. I still stand by the fact that Milton is likely not siding with the trolls, and MHD's contrarian choices may be intentional. I don't think at this time that I have a definite clue as to who is a troll though.
Why do the last vote? There were 4 trolls and 2 players... I thought maybe when MHDs vote got taken away it was 3/2 in favor of the citizens... once the trolls have equal numbers the game is over.
Ahh the trolls playing for an extra round was the big twist I heard about... fun. The trolls were insanely over powered in this version of the game. They started at too high of a % of the population and gained additional members throughout the game. Plus fringe rules seemed to always work in their favor. A strange take for a game where I've never seen the villagers win in any version.
If you try this again I recommend getting rid of a troll (probably the suicidal one... trolls already have enough kill power without being able to kill 2 villagers in one night). I'd also keep the COG role, but have them automatically become a MOD when the first mod was killed rather than guess. Something like "when a Mod dies you take their role". I didn't guess villager because I didn't want to be one... and I didn't want to guess troll because I knew if the trolls got an extra member they would win by default... Numbers are supposed to be their only weakness.
However, thank you for running a game and including me.
Did the villagers win that game? I'll check it out... but I've never personally played in a game where the villagers won in Mafia/Werewolf/CYS mafia. I typically refuse to play this type of game. I only played this time because RK asked me to.
If anything, I saw the Cogite's role as beneficial towards the villagers: the first death would almost always be a non-troll and statistically, the person to die from the first round of voting will too. In fact, up until the second day of voting, it's highly unlikely a troll would be eliminated, hence the team that's much more likely to get an extra member would be the good team. But I'll replace it with a jester-adjacent role if I run this again (and also strengthen the good team with another ability, maybe a doppelganger or mayor). The revive function gave the good team an extra life too. As for the suicidal troll, you're probably right that it is a bit overpowered, but funnily enough wasn't used in either games.
Except that we already explained this play and how it would happen. They accused me of also being a troll in that argument... I was killed by trolls with no revive on the table. If you weren't paying attention, sure it was believable... but if Milton came out and said, "I'm the investigator, here is my concrete proof!" Then the trolls would have won anyway. Once he was dead the villagers had no mechanic to identify trolls.
The first rule of this game is if someone claims to be the investigator openly... you kill them. Only trolls can do that because once roles are revealed, the trolls can kill the high priority targets first. So enters argument makes sense in a vacuum but in the context of the game it was just crazy.
My quote is in the summary. After Enter made that argument, I retracted my statement and claimed that enter was a troll and they game would end in two more nights. It was painfully obvious that Enter and MHD were trolls. I thought clay ginger was more subtle.
To be fair... I didn't think I needed to explain it. I thought anyone with a brain would realize MHD was a troll as I explained in my "interview". Also, if I explain too much and show my work it allows the other trolls to just agree and stay hidden. If I leave it ambiguous, then the people who back MHD are the other trolls.
This was intentional and it worked. I guessed all 3 trolls the day that I was killed based on their reaction to my last words. The only one that was iffy was Clay... and I though inescapable death was also fishy. Still, there was time to vote out all 4 of those people starting with MHD and win. Sadly, everyone voted for Milton which was stupid. He even revealed his role and they voted him out... MHDs claim to being the investigator was basically the most obvious ploy I've ever seen anyone make in any bluffing game (no offense, but COME ON).
I'm sure you are glad you won... but the rules heavily favored you. Think of it this way, if a troll died first the COG player could have been another troll. If you add it up... there were 5 possible trolls and 8 villagers (worst case). In addition, the spammer troll can cancel one vote and allow the trolls a free night to kill without being stopped (yeah, you guys won a perfect game without using a single troll ability). So if you spam the chat and remove one townsperson without any ability to vote on turn 1, that's 7 villagers and 5 trolls as a possible scenario. If you look at the ratios of mafia to villiager in a standard game... I'm pretty sure that ratio is absolutely insane.
Note: when I looked online it recommended 3 mafia per 10 villagers in a game with rolls. It also reccomended that you could play 3 mafia and 7 villagers without roles or abilities. I don't agree with the second one, but I'm including everything for transparency.
Also, I don't mean to say that you didn't play it well. Honestly, you fooled me at the start. When you somehow convinced everyone that MHD was the investigator mod, that's when I knew you were the troll. You did well and convinced everyone of your lies while killing off the important members first. That is the point of the game and you did it really well.
that being said, even without meta gaming my knowledge of Milton's role I would have suspected you both. Flipping on Milton after just using the only revive on him is an insane move... along with claiming to be the investigator and then defending it. If MHD had said something like "I'm not a troll I'm just ____ CYStian!" I probably would have believed you both as well.
Perhaps I am blinded by my bias... but I think you are as well. Milton from an objective standpoint seemed way more likely (to me) to be the investigator. Milton only got to use his ability once... if that. He was killed, then put into the pit of shame (prevents abilities) and then voted out. MHD claimed she only investigated you, and that she did so twice in a row. She claimed that the first time you were a troll and the second you were not... proving that the trolls switched your IP adress. You may think that's super clever, and if someone only follows your logic it is, but you are forgetting I had just argued to revive Milton... who was killed by trolls...
Trolls targeting one of their own woulf be so risky. There is no guarantee they could use the revive and numbers are already their only weakness. I explained all of this on day one (two if you count the intro). Anyway, I trusted Milton was not a troll with absolute faith. That was before I was told my guess of Mod was correct. It's also why I guessed Mod and not crazy troll...
However, we are always going to disagree on certain things here. Maybe we can at least agree that using our one and only revive on anyone and then using our next vote to kill them is a dumb move no matter what... right? I mean props to you for pulling that off... but if we think the person is a troll don't revive him. If we think he is a Mod don't bit him off. Doing both is nuts... unless you are a troll.
Okay, I've lost track of what we are talking about. My point was that if you had to pick a 50/50 between Milton and MHD on the second vote, MHD was the more likely as the troll. I agree that a lot went wrong, but the game was winnable if people voted out MHD there. After Milton was voted out the game was practically over. Yes, that allowed you to have more fun as the trolls because you practically could not lose. Yes, that led to funny banter. Yes, that shit was hilarious BECAUSE it was stupid.
However, keep in mind that it was a really fun game for you because you got to do whatever and win the game while knowing everything and using strategy. I wasn't even supposed to participate in the chat/game after the second night. So it was not a fun chance to banter and role play for me... similarly Milton had the most powerful role in the game and didn't get to use it. That's all part of the game, but it's also a lot of statements made with bias in your favor.
Another reason I dislike this game opposed to other bluffing games, if that fact of being out and not allowed to participate in any way. It's also a game where only the trolls can play the game well and have fun. If a villager does the same thing, they become the number one target for the trolls and instantly die. Again, I'm not mad about it because somebody did something wrong. It's just something I dislike about the game in general. If the dead people could speak before bed every night (this would be broken) at least there would be an opportunity to role play and/or participate. Sadly, the dead just watch it all happen until the end. The least you can allow me is to have an opinion about it, or is that something only reserved for you as well?
I did. Don't worry Mizal, I'm okay. I'm also not blaming people. All I'm saying is that I like bluffing games where you aren't eliminated or that move quicker than this one. In this game, someone is always going to get eliminated every round. Normally it's 2+. There are bluffing games with different mechanics both on and offline.
This is correct. Dead people can't talk it would be broken. I believe I said that in my actual post... I wasn't suggesting an actual rule change. My point was I dislike this game because of the death mechanic it's built on and prefer other bluffing or role playing games.
Just out of curiosity, what other bluffing games do you enjoy playing?
I don't play many online games anymore. I enjoy boards games though, so the bluffing games I play are mostly in person.
There are games like Sherif of Nottingham where you are trying to earn gold and bluffing and earn way more gold, but if caught lying you lose that gold. You can try to bluff again next round and keep playing.
There are also some quick card games like Coup (which is like a themed version of BS). You do get eliminated in Coup, but a game can take like 5 minutes so the stakes aren't as high. There is also more you can do with your lies and everyone has a similar objective/role.
I've also enjoyed resistance which is like a better version of Mafia, in my opinion. People aren't eliminated but there is a similar voting mechanic and trying to identify traitors among a population of normal people. Everyone plays and shares information the whole time, and the traitors know who their teammates are but have less numbers like in Mafia.
Fair. The game is supposed to be designed in the villagers favor with the trolls only advantage being that they are the only ones who know the identity of their allies. Theoretically the villagers should always win every game, unless the trolls are really good or people misplay. I've never been on such a team of villagers though. Maybe the common problem is me and I'm just terrible at this game.
My bad, next time I'll create a third game for dead players and if you die again, you get moved to a fourth game, then a fifth, and you will never be able to stop playing CYS Mafia until the world ends!
(Or actually, I could use this to leverage productivity. The first player to write three featured reviews, challenge someone to a Thunderdome and win, and publish a commended storygame will be revived!)
That's actually a good idea, it reminds me of a multi-stage scavenger hunt I planned a while back which would get players to read stories, articles, profiles, the history page and even comments for hints to progress. It was very elaborate so I'll probably save it for a special occasion if I ever decide to run it.
Again, I'm not saying you did anything wrong or have to change it. There are things I would change and that I didn't like, but that's not a reflection on you. Nor am I trying to sign you up for more work. Although multiple linked games might be a fun concept if people were into that. Thanks for running the game. I'm sorry if you don't like my opinions about it.
Usually the most vocal villiagers are killed first. I was expendable because I didn't have a role, so I was fine with it and expecting it... also, wel played. You were the one troll I wasn't sure on until much later in the game.
I agree people should be required to say something. This exact thing actually makes there trolls stronger. It's way easier to lie online... there is not such thing as a tell in text. Everything can be edited and wiped clean. If no one talks, the trolls automatically win (unless you randomly get majority votes on all 3 trolls).
I've played these on various forums, people are usually more talkative and role claim. Silence only helps the trolls imo.
I've always played this as an in person game until now. I'm sure it exists online... but I learned to play this game where everyone was in one room sitting in a circle. I know you can buy a version of it at game shops that have cards for all of the roles and like a script to follow or something. This set is (I think) called werewolf.
Before I forget, here are a few strategies I've thought about which might be helpful in future games. Feel free to discuss your own ideas too! Some are very context-dependent and can involve a bit of double-bluff/ assumptions about the other team, though:
Also, if you're a good person who is revealing their role, there has to be a valid reason to do so. For instance: when you're about to be eliminated or will take a specific action the next night. Then, the best play would be to give everyone all the information you have, eg who you protected each night and why, the results of your investigations, the room you plan to kill, etc. There's no point in putting a target on your own back without sharing any information with the team. Next, you want to seek protection from a coder or contest mod (or if you know that the other half, Mod or CYStian, is lower on numbers, ask specifically to not be protected since your role does not matter as much). This is one of the better ways to boost your credibility as a team player. Despite the apathetic CYStian being, well, apathetic, this makes them the perfect role for risky plays in the game. They could be a valuable asset when faking a role for someone else or even just proving themself to be good after getting voted out. This also means they can voice their suspicions more freely with less fear of getting killed.
This was a really fun game, thanks for hosting it!
Awesome game. Great hosts. I see someone has already given Mystic well deserved points for creating and running the games.
