Actually, this got me thinking. If there's no majority consensus, we lynch the player with most votes. So, how can be a no-lynch? Not that I want to do it (far from that, actually), but are we allowed to vote for a no-lynch?

And the Ancient Lynching Machine should obviously be named after Razortip Whip.

In past games here we have been able to vote no-lynch. But then again, town has lost both games hosted on NGA. I think we should try for a better strategy and actually work toward winning.

~SE++

Except at certain times, not lynching might be the better option. E.g With four people left, not lynching would increase the odds of getting a mafia from 1/4 to 1/3.

Just thought of a town reason for discussing past games, but I'll withold why.

Also I think the strongest player in this game would probably be Altimis, mostly since he did prove a strong towny in Innistrad getting it right that both Miss Bun and I were mafia, along with seeing how we played as a mod with the Bolas Birthday party. But please refrain from being the imploding towny archtype if you are town. It never helps anyone.

But in the interest of getting discussion flowing: What are your guys thoughts on an early massclaim? I am not saying we do one, but I want to understand your mindsets.

You mean from 1 in 3 to 1 in 2?

There's always the method of nobody voting, fel, if the majority consensus. Of course that wouldn't work in confused's example. Any violators would be subsequently lynched.

Shock, I'll wait on answering your question because I'd like to see how some other people answer myself before I taint the thought pool one way or the other.

Geez, thanks!
Might as well paint a large target on my head for the goblins to aim at.

I was right about the two of you, but I went against my better judgment and voted for numbers anyways. I will not be making that same mistake again, but that doesn't necessarily I'll be right again. As for JaC I was right, but I didn't want to be right. I even pointed it out to myself in my notes and just outright said no, it must have been a misunderstanding. In short, I have no intention of ignoring my rules again. I will bring cold, hard logic to GLaDOStip Whip, and she will poop out justice like the Mob Boss against us.

All that being said, I think one thing that DOESN'T help town, is people claiming to be town. Nobody believes you anyways, so simply don't say it. That went on a lot last game and that (among other major things) certainly didn't help town at all.

I don't know if a massclaim would be a good idea. There's the whole "trust" thing altimis pointed out, and we can also expose some power roles Town might have to the Mafia.

It would, though, be a departure from what Town did in the last games, so there's that.

What is a massclaim? Would that be where everybody threw out what their "roles" are?

~SE++

That is what it is, at least to me.
That would be interesting, and given that town lost (or rather didn't win) the last two games, it couldn't hurt to try and/or at least set a precedent.

I'm kinda against it, but given that it is different I can't say that it won't work. If other people do it, I will too.

Correct Squinty. Massclaims often involve telling what role you have and flavor depending on the game. But how much you can claim or paraphrase depends on the game and how the mod sets up the rules.

Like I said, I'm only asking opinions on it to get a feel for player mindsets.

Note: Ninja'd by Alt before I could post...

I don't think I'm a big fan of it, then. Wouldn't it just give the mafia targets for power roles during the night?

~SE++

I may be wrong here but isn't just saying what you role is against the rules? It's kinda right there under the third bullet point in the opening post.

Quoting the actual PM is against the rules, but I don't think making a claim is.

~SE++

Ah fair enough. But on that note what, exactly, would the massclaim thing even accomplish? I mean everyone's just going to shout out 'Town!' if we did it. Or they would shout out Mafia as a joke and get lynched which doesn't really help anyone.

We'd know roles like doctor, cop, tracker, etc.

~SE++

Garren does have a point, the mafia is just gonna claim town. Hell, everyone is just going to claim vanilla town. Someone explain the logic behind how useful mass-claiming is going to be?

In short, the strategy of a mass claim is that EVERYONE lies about their role; then you work backwards from there.

For example:
Someone claims Town Doctor, they become an instant target for a mafia nightkill.
The actual doctor could choose to protect that player, knowing that HE (or she) is safe because of that player's actions.

It also throws a wrench into mafia because they have to deduce who is telling the truth and who is lying. The misinformtaion actually sets a little defense against the mafia. At first they were guessing randomly, but now they have people the have to deal with, but they don't know whether they're dealing with the right person or not.

For example: Someone claims to be town cop.
Now, mafia certainly need to get rid of the town cop.
Without the claim, they would be strategizing about how to throw people off their trail while they hunt for the town cop. BUT, somebody claims to be the town cop. There are two different instances of two things that can happen. That player can be telling the truth or they can be lying; and the mafia can kill that player, or they can ignore that player.
Even if you think it makes no difference, having to choose to ignore something like that really rattles your mind and can end up being in the town's favor. It's the same thing as playing a card game where someone has to pick a card from your hand, and you keep one card higher than the others. It's psychologically confounding.

That, again, depends on some people lying about their roles.

Sorry,
...
The trick is making sure some people lie, and others don't. That is the really tricky part. Because if everyone lies, then there is no benefit; and if everyone tells the truth (non-mafia obviously), you just set yourself up for failure.
Now, seeing as we can't communicate outsie of this thread, there is no way to actually tell who is and isn't lying.

Does that make sense?

Town won't lie. Mafia may or may not lie. Clearly everybody is assumed to be "town" even though we know that everybody isnt. For this reason mass claims are generally considered to refer to role only and not alignment. If mafia has a role that will put them in towns good light, tracker for example, they will be truthful about it. They may lie about their targets later on though. Town, however will tell the truth so that they aren't misdirecting later in the game. The exception here will likely just be the doc, who will probably claim vanilla for self preservation. It's not likely he will ever have to counter this claim though.

I think enough have weighed in so I'll say my piece now. With five possible town non vanilla roles, a mass claim at this juncture would do much more harm to town than good by outing the power roles.