Quick note to newbies: Don't be afraid to talk right now. It's still pregame so anything you say can't be used to bandwagon you, plus we get to know you and socialise quite a bit and that is always a good thing when you think about it.
Although if people find you annoying, rightfully or arbitrarily so.... They could use that to bw you day one, and no-one would bat an eye. Than again if you have a non-presence and you around a bunch of very polite & talkative players (rare), they may vote you out just because they don't know you.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
Quick note to newbies: Don't be afraid to talk right now. It's still pregame so anything you say can't be used to bandwagon you, plus we get to know you and socialise quite a bit and that is always a good thing when you think about it.
Although if people find you annoying, rightfully or arbitrarily so.... They could use that to bw you day one, and no-one would bat an eye. Than again if you have a non-presence and you around a bunch of very polite & talkative players (rare), they may vote you out just because they don't know you.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
Instead, backstab, trade information and what not in order to blackmail others into not voting for you.
Quick note to newbies: Don't be afraid to talk right now. It's still pregame so anything you say can't be used to bandwagon you, plus we get to know you and socialise quite a bit and that is always a good thing when you think about it.
Although if people find you annoying, rightfully or arbitrarily so.... They could use that to bw you day one, and no-one would bat an eye. Than again if you have a non-presence and you around a bunch of very polite & talkative players (rare), they may vote you out just because they don't know you.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
Instead, backstab, trade information and what not in order to blackmail others into not voting for you.
Most importantly, if you find yourself in a Phalla with a popular theme yet inexplicably hate that theme, you might not want to make that known prior to or during Day 1.
jdarksun found that one out during Chrono Trigger.
Also, there is ALWAYS info to go on during Day 1: the votes that develop during the day. Any PMs you send out (sometimes known as 'soft networking') count as well, in games where there are more special roles floating about and more information originally known only to a couple, ostensibly village-aligned, players.
Quick note to newbies: Don't be afraid to talk right now. It's still pregame so anything you say can't be used to bandwagon you, plus we get to know you and socialise quite a bit and that is always a good thing when you think about it.
Although if people find you annoying, rightfully or arbitrarily so.... They could use that to bw you day one, and no-one would bat an eye. Than again if you have a non-presence and you around a bunch of very polite & talkative players (rare), they may vote you out just because they don't know you.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
Instead, backstab, trade information and what not in order to blackmail others into not voting for you.
Most importantly, if you find yourself in a Phalla with a popular theme yet inexplicably hate that theme, you might not want to make that known prior to or during Day 1.
jdarksun found that one out during Chrono Trigger.
Also, there is ALWAYS info to go on during Day 1: the votes that develop during the day. Any PMs you send out (sometimes known as 'soft networking') count as well, in games where there are more special roles floating about and more information originally known only to a couple, ostensibly village-aligned, players.
Note on the other hand that players like me are more likely to kill you if you send them a random PM.
Wildcat on
0
Options
SpectrumArcher of InfernoChaldea Rec RoomRegistered Userregular
We try to ignore that Spectrum kid, he overthinks this far too much.
Spork is a shiftless layabout, deluded with his own ideas of being 'awesome', and not someone you should take lessons from. (He should also probably not attempt to use 'kid' to refer to someone older than him. =X)
Similarly, if LightRider shows up, he will be giving very good advice if you do the exact OPPOSITE of what he says.
We try to ignore that Spectrum kid, he overthinks this far too much.
Spork is a shiftless layabout, deluded with his own ideas of being 'awesome', and not someone you should take lessons from. (He should also probably not attempt to use 'kid' to refer to someone older than him. =X)
Similarly, if LightRider shows up, he will be giving very good advice if you do the exact OPPOSITE of what he says.
Listing my good attributes won't save you! Particularly when we all know age is really based upon bitterness.
We try to ignore that Spectrum kid, he overthinks this far too much.
Spork is a shiftless layabout, deluded with his own ideas of being 'awesome', and not someone you should take lessons from. (He should also probably not attempt to use 'kid' to refer to someone older than him. =X)
Similarly, if LightRider shows up, he will be giving very good advice if you do the exact OPPOSITE of what he says.
:^: Also ignore Spec's analysis if he's evil. It all makes sense but will still lead the village to death and failure.
dunedainjedi on
0
Options
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
Quick note to newbies: Don't be afraid to talk right now. It's still pregame so anything you say can't be used to bandwagon you, plus we get to know you and socialise quite a bit and that is always a good thing when you think about it.
Although if people find you annoying, rightfully or arbitrarily so.... They could use that to bw you day one, and no-one would bat an eye. Than again if you have a non-presence and you around a bunch of very polite & talkative players (rare), they may vote you out just because they don't know you.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
Instead, backstab, trade information and what not in order to blackmail others into not voting for you.
Most importantly, if you find yourself in a Phalla with a popular theme yet inexplicably hate that theme, you might not want to make that known prior to or during Day 1.
jdarksun found that one out during Chrono Trigger.
Also, there is ALWAYS info to go on during Day 1: the votes that develop during the day. Any PMs you send out (sometimes known as 'soft networking') count as well, in games where there are more special roles floating about and more information originally known only to a couple, ostensibly village-aligned, players.
I should say, however, that considering Day 1 as a day where you do nothing and act silly is probably the WORST thing a village can do in a phalla - all because the mafia is playing serious from the get go. Early votes you can do whatever you want with them (I usually RNG it), but by the end of the day you can take a good stance and find patterns if you are good.
EDIT: Also do not vote Spectrum as best mentor, it's a wasted vote because he doesn't like candy olol
Adding to what Dac Vin said, unfortunately some players seem to have it on their agenda to act silly regardless. Either posting in an overtly provocative/suspicious/bizarre way (and this isn't due to a posting restriction) or focusing way too intensely on a grudge.
While this tactic can be helpful to the individual, since people can say he/she acts weird regardless of alignment. In my experience it usually wastes the time of the village and gives the mafia and easy target to point out....Hell even normals and specials will point it out and the mafia may just support it.
A lot of times they are just distracting.
Egos on
0
Options
SpectrumArcher of InfernoChaldea Rec RoomRegistered Userregular
We try to ignore that Spectrum kid, he overthinks this far too much.
Spork is a shiftless layabout, deluded with his own ideas of being 'awesome', and not someone you should take lessons from. (He should also probably not attempt to use 'kid' to refer to someone older than him. =X)
Similarly, if LightRider shows up, he will be giving very good advice if you do the exact OPPOSITE of what he says.
:^: Also ignore Spec's analysis if he's evil. It all makes sense but will still lead the village to death and failure.
...more relevantly, if there is an OUTED bad guy, ignore everything they say. EVERYTHING.
Spectrum on
0
Options
GonmunHe keeps kickin' me inthe dickRegistered Userregular
edited September 2009
For the most part I'm seeing quite a bit of useful advice and it's appreciated.
I pre-signed up as well. The judging who gets in by number of games is a much better idea than the reserving up I sent you a PM about, Julius.
My time zone.... is technically EST, but it should be considered NST (not spork time) :P
I will manage to survive Spork being my mentor should it come to that, but it will be an.... *ahem* interesting experience to have my mentor be a player I've grudged.
Rawkking Goodguy on
0
Options
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
edited September 2009
The most important message that you should take to heart from this phalla is that your goal is to find and kill the mafia. This seems simple, but too often people focus on punishing someone for misleading the village, on killing people to obtain information, or on killing people of opposing factions. There are two reasons to ever cast a serious vote as a village-aligned player:
You believe the player to be mafia, or at least more likely mafia than anyone else who might win the vote.
There are a limited number of players with many votes and you believe the other players to be village specials
Exceptions exist, but they are rare and you might do well to pretend they do not exist until you have a strong handle on things.
As a corollary: information is not valuable unless it informs your guesses as to who is and is not mafia.
I'm going to !sign-up, pending approval. (eastern time zone)
I have technically been in 7 games, but one of them was Lady Eri's hangman styled game that was over in like 10 hours. (http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=95633) It was more of an experimental forum game than full-fledged phalla.
games played:
care bears mini
temptation island main
max payne mini
whedonverse main
ghostbusters mini
firefly mini
lady eri's phrase game
Okay, I'm going to provisionally let you in pablo, but know that you're the first one bounced if we fill up (but you'll also be the first reserve in case anyone drops). If anyone else has the same dilemma, please sign up, but be aware that you're in the same boat and if we are full up of honest-to-God new players, then I may exclude you.
Do not lose all hope, because (assuming I get the host's approval when the time comes) I will re-open signups for the second, advanced mechanics, phase of this game, and I will be more inclined to let newish players with more experience into that one.
Which isn't to say I'm definitely going to exclude you, so don't be shy. You might be lucky #20, #25 or #30.
pablo_price - what's your time zone?
Spectrum - are you going to be able to serve as a mentor (I think you said it depended on your work schedule, but I seem to have misplaced the PM)?
Powerpuppies - time zone?
psolms - time zone?
And do we have anyone else in New Zealand? Any vets that I don't know who might appreciate a PM invite to help out Hippie?
The most important message that you should take to heart from this phalla is that your goal is to find and kill the mafia. This seems simple, but too often people focus on punishing someone for misleading the village, on killing people to obtain information, or on killing people of opposing factions. There are two reasons to ever cast a serious vote as a village-aligned player:
You believe the player to be mafia, or at least more likely mafia than anyone else who might win the vote.
There are a limited number of players with many votes and you believe the other players to be village specials
Exceptions exist, but they are rare and you might do well to pretend they do not exist until you have a strong handle on things.
As a corollary: information is not valuable unless it informs your guesses as to who is and is not mafia.
In longer games, killing someone early specifically to obtain information is a time-tested tactic.
Obviously, you'd like to vote out a mafia. That is the ideal case. Failing the ideal case, voting out someone else* can give you information for future days WHICH IF ACTED ON can greatly help your chances of voting out a mafia.
*Do not confuse this with voting out someone who is an almost guaranteed good. That's dumb.
As a reminder, vets, you are encouraged to refrain from commenting or giving advice that pertains to currently running games.
pablo_price - what's your time zone?
Spectrum - are you going to be able to serve as a mentor (I think you said it depended on your work schedule, but I seem to have misplaced the PM)?
Powerpuppies - time zone?
psolms - time zone?
And do we have anyone else in New Zealand? Any vets that I don't know who might appreciate a PM invite to help out Hippie?
Probably not, unless you absolutely positively need another PST mentor and can't find another suitable. You seem to have enough mentors in general for now, just need more newbs, so... =X
As for NZ, try one of the Aussies, that's close enough. simonwolf, eecc, etc
Okay, I'm going to provisionally let you in pablo, but know that you're the first one bounced if we fill up (but you'll also be the first reserve in case anyone drops). If anyone else has the same dilemma, please sign up, but be aware that you're in the same boat and if we are full up of honest-to-God new players, then I may exclude you.
cool, I figured that would be the case. I'll be happy to step aside for a newer player if need be .
I'm eastern, btw.
SaraLuna on
0
Options
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
edited September 2009
I'm in MST I think? It's 7:26 PM here.
Spectrum is correct, I was overzealous, but I would heavily stress that if you are going to vote someone out to get information you should be able to easily explain how that information will help you find mafia in the future.
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
edited September 2009
A special note to villagers:
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Powerpuppiesdrinking coffee in themountain cabinRegistered Userregular
edited September 2009
Okay so I phrased this horribly the first time around, so here goes: Soaking up a mafia kill is great, but only if you're not also soaking up vig kills or votes. The best way to do this is to fight villager apathy and sheeping, raise the signal to noise ratio of the thread, and provide convincing and hopefully correct analysis.
Powerpuppies on
0
Options
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Had to get this out.
A corollary to this point, however, is that you also shouldn't act evil and suspicious just to prolong your own survival at the detriment of the village's chances of winning and to give yourself a better chance if you're evil in later games.
To elaborate on Dac's point, if you soak up a mafia kill and you are a villager, you're doing it right.
Except this is the complete opposite of what I said.
Being a meatshield is not a bad tactic, as long as it's not your only tactic. Remember, Phalla is based on the game mafia, and in most of those (that I've played, at least, IRL) the mafority of people are villagers. If you don't get a special role, you are still a central part of the game. Look at voting patterns, try to PM people (politely) for information, look for hints in the narration (if the narration is not fluff, that's a game-by-game thing), try to figure out game mechanics (if they are weird).
You have stuff to do! But one of those, Dac, is to try and keep good specials alive. It's why the seer uses a mouthpiece and such. But I think you were getting more at people being deliberately suspicious or pretending to be a special in order to draw attention and gather kills on themselves, and that is, I agree, not a good plan. Usually.
To elaborate on my own point and not what anyone else is saying, I do believe that as a vanillager your biggest power is having nothing to lose. If you're the only seer the village has, you probably want to play it safe. If you're a vanillager, fuck it.
I say this because I hear people talk about how being a vanillager is boring, and always see people being super inactive when they are one. If this happens, you're doing it wrong. Make the game more interesting yourself, dammit, there's no programmed AI here.
That being said, Dac Vin is right in that you don't want to be crazy and confuse everybody, as that just wastes the village's time.
Nocturne on
0
Options
SpectrumArcher of InfernoChaldea Rec RoomRegistered Userregular
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Had to get this out.
A corollary to this point, however, is that you also shouldn't act evil and suspicious just to prolong your own survival at the detriment of the village's chances of winning and to give yourself a better chance if you're evil in later games.
As a matter of preference, you should also not be constantly inactive, postining the minimum requirement for a game and drive-by voting (that is, voting without any real reasoning and walking away) consistently just so no one can get a read on you or for whatever other reason you dream up.
You're not really taking part in the game that way and this really only helps YOU individually, mostly when you are evil.
If the mafia considered you dangerous and you got killed, you did your job. Ideally, this happens when you're not one of the main village specials.
As the king of Phalla Fuck-Ups and Insanity (Also the holder of the Big Names Players List!) I believe it is my duty to give my grand knowledge and wisdom to you, are newest gen of phallans.
1) Don't play madlibs with your win condition: I'm the first to use it (as far as I know) and the last to be kicked out of a game for it.
2) Ask if you are good, evil, or neutral. EVERY TIME. I've revealed as Mafia not knowing it. I was to try to get a good guy network going. It ended badly. I'm still healing from that one.
3) Be active. There is nothing worst then quite players. You will get killed before too long. However, don't be TOO active. Some people like to kill the ones they remember from the last game. Also, as I've been told and still learning, make senses when you try to prove someone is evil. Otherwise, people will hate you. No one wants to decode your "rants".
Thats all I can think of. I might mentor but I'm seeing if more "big name players" show up. Pray you [strike]don't[/strike] do get me! Also EST.
samurai6966 on
0
Options
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Had to get this out.
A corollary to this point, however, is that you also shouldn't act evil and suspicious just to prolong your own survival at the detriment of the village's chances of winning and to give yourself a better chance if you're evil in later games.
As a matter of preference, you should also not be constantly inactive, postining the minimum requirement for a game and drive-by voting (that is, voting without any real reasoning and walking away) consistently just so no one can get a read on you or for whatever other reason you dream up.
You're not really taking part in the game that way and this really only helps YOU individually, mostly when you are evil.
If the mafia considered you dangerous and you got killed, you did your job. Ideally, this happens when you're not one of the main village specials.
Actually, if the mafia consider you dangerous enough to kill you, well, congratulations. Maybe if you ask the mafia gently they'll dump a "Most Dangerous Vanillager" medal, stuff you and expose you somewhere in Naples, I heard there was a mafia exhibits for kind like you.
As it stands, it's the opposite: If you get killed by the mafia, you haven't done your job - your job just came to an abrupt end. Then all you can do after this is hope someone else take up your job and finish what you started.
Because in the end, as a village aligned anything, your only job is to win and kill all the mafia. Nothing more, nothing less.
And a tip for the mafia: sometimes, a good vanillager is infinitely more dangerous than a village special. That was one of the things I learned when I became mafia for the first time.
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Had to get this out.
A corollary to this point, however, is that you also shouldn't act evil and suspicious just to prolong your own survival at the detriment of the village's chances of winning and to give yourself a better chance if you're evil in later games.
As a matter of preference, you should also not be constantly inactive, postining the minimum requirement for a game and drive-by voting (that is, voting without any real reasoning and walking away) consistently just so no one can get a read on you or for whatever other reason you dream up.
You're not really taking part in the game that way and this really only helps YOU individually, mostly when you are evil.
If the mafia considered you dangerous and you got killed, you did your job. Ideally, this happens when you're not one of the main village specials.
Actually, if the mafia consider you dangerous enough to kill you, well, congratulations. Maybe if you ask the mafia gently they'll dump a "Most Dangerous Vanillager" medal, stuff you and expose you somewhere in Naples, I heard there was a mafia exhibits for kind like you.
As it stands, it's the opposite: If you get killed by the mafia, you haven't done your job - your job just came to an abrupt end. Then all you can do after this is hope someone else take up your job and finish what you started.
Because in the end, as a village aligned anything, your only job is to win and kill all the mafia. Nothing more, nothing less.
And a tip for the mafia: sometimes, a good vanillager is infinitely more dangerous than a village special. That was one of the things I learned when I became mafia for the first time.
If you are in a perfect world and the mafia is full of retards, then yes you strike some sort of perfect balance where you consistently vote out mafia while not being considered dangerous enough to be killed and ride that all the way to victory.
In the real world, if you are effective, you are killed. This is a team game, you did your part, if you still lose overall, it's not your fault. Live with that.
If you are ineffective, hilariously so, then you are kept alive while the mafia abuses your terrible theories.
If you are TOO ineffective, you're probably also killed for being a likely hiding special. Unless you have a history of being terrible, at which point you have bigger problems.
Posts
Central Standard Time, but 3pm-3am-ish CST is when I'm around a computer the most.
On that note, Day One bandwagons are typically (but not always, and I wish it occurred a lot less, but stupid village is stupid) based on silly, pointless reasons. Since there is little info to go on (no Nights or actions, no past votes), it's harder to make an educated decision. So don't freak out if lots of people vote for you on the first day for no reason.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
Steam profile
Instead, backstab, trade information and what not in order to blackmail others into not voting for you.
Oh he's hosting? Nevermind then. :P
jdarksun found that one out during Chrono Trigger.
Also, there is ALWAYS info to go on during Day 1: the votes that develop during the day. Any PMs you send out (sometimes known as 'soft networking') count as well, in games where there are more special roles floating about and more information originally known only to a couple, ostensibly village-aligned, players.
Similarly, if LightRider shows up, he will be giving very good advice if you do the exact OPPOSITE of what he says.
Listing my good attributes won't save you! Particularly when we all know age is really based upon bitterness.
:^: Also ignore Spec's analysis if he's evil. It all makes sense but will still lead the village to death and failure.
I should say, however, that considering Day 1 as a day where you do nothing and act silly is probably the WORST thing a village can do in a phalla - all because the mafia is playing serious from the get go. Early votes you can do whatever you want with them (I usually RNG it), but by the end of the day you can take a good stance and find patterns if you are good.
EDIT: Also do not vote Spectrum as best mentor, it's a wasted vote because he doesn't like candy olol
While this tactic can be helpful to the individual, since people can say he/she acts weird regardless of alignment. In my experience it usually wastes the time of the village and gives the mafia and easy target to point out....Hell even normals and specials will point it out and the mafia may just support it.
A lot of times they are just distracting.
You're welcome.
My time zone is GMT+12 (NZ)
So... who wants me? :winky:
My time zone.... is technically EST, but it should be considered NST (not spork time) :P
I will manage to survive Spork being my mentor should it come to that, but it will be an.... *ahem* interesting experience to have my mentor be a player I've grudged.
Exceptions exist, but they are rare and you might do well to pretend they do not exist until you have a strong handle on things.
As a corollary: information is not valuable unless it informs your guesses as to who is and is not mafia.
I have technically been in 7 games, but one of them was Lady Eri's hangman styled game that was over in like 10 hours. (http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=95633) It was more of an experimental forum game than full-fledged phalla.
games played:
temptation island main
max payne mini
whedonverse main
ghostbusters mini
firefly mini
lady eri's phrase game
Do not lose all hope, because (assuming I get the host's approval when the time comes) I will re-open signups for the second, advanced mechanics, phase of this game, and I will be more inclined to let newish players with more experience into that one.
Which isn't to say I'm definitely going to exclude you, so don't be shy. You might be lucky #20, #25 or #30.
pablo_price - what's your time zone?
Spectrum - are you going to be able to serve as a mentor (I think you said it depended on your work schedule, but I seem to have misplaced the PM)?
Powerpuppies - time zone?
psolms - time zone?
And do we have anyone else in New Zealand? Any vets that I don't know who might appreciate a PM invite to help out Hippie?
I'm in EST.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
Obviously, you'd like to vote out a mafia. That is the ideal case. Failing the ideal case, voting out someone else* can give you information for future days WHICH IF ACTED ON can greatly help your chances of voting out a mafia.
*Do not confuse this with voting out someone who is an almost guaranteed good. That's dumb.
As a reminder, vets, you are encouraged to refrain from commenting or giving advice that pertains to currently running games.
Probably not, unless you absolutely positively need another PST mentor and can't find another suitable. You seem to have enough mentors in general for now, just need more newbs, so... =X
As for NZ, try one of the Aussies, that's close enough. simonwolf, eecc, etc
cool, I figured that would be the case. I'll be happy to step aside for a newer player if need be .
I'm eastern, btw.
Spectrum is correct, I was overzealous, but I would heavily stress that if you are going to vote someone out to get information you should be able to easily explain how that information will help you find mafia in the future.
Your job is NOT to act as a meatshield and attract enough attention to yourself so you get killed instead of a special. Christ, this is possibly the most harmful mentality you can have playing phalla, that you are just a pawn in the grand scheme of things, yes I see countless people recommend this as a good strategy.
Had to get this out.
Except this is the complete opposite of what I said.
A corollary to this point, however, is that you also shouldn't act evil and suspicious just to prolong your own survival at the detriment of the village's chances of winning and to give yourself a better chance if you're evil in later games.
Being a meatshield is not a bad tactic, as long as it's not your only tactic. Remember, Phalla is based on the game mafia, and in most of those (that I've played, at least, IRL) the mafority of people are villagers. If you don't get a special role, you are still a central part of the game. Look at voting patterns, try to PM people (politely) for information, look for hints in the narration (if the narration is not fluff, that's a game-by-game thing), try to figure out game mechanics (if they are weird).
You have stuff to do! But one of those, Dac, is to try and keep good specials alive. It's why the seer uses a mouthpiece and such. But I think you were getting more at people being deliberately suspicious or pretending to be a special in order to draw attention and gather kills on themselves, and that is, I agree, not a good plan. Usually.
3DS Friend Code: 3110-5393-4113
Steam profile
I say this because I hear people talk about how being a vanillager is boring, and always see people being super inactive when they are one. If this happens, you're doing it wrong. Make the game more interesting yourself, dammit, there's no programmed AI here.
That being said, Dac Vin is right in that you don't want to be crazy and confuse everybody, as that just wastes the village's time.
You're not really taking part in the game that way and this really only helps YOU individually, mostly when you are evil.
If the mafia considered you dangerous and you got killed, you did your job. Ideally, this happens when you're not one of the main village specials.
1) Don't play madlibs with your win condition: I'm the first to use it (as far as I know) and the last to be kicked out of a game for it.
2) Ask if you are good, evil, or neutral. EVERY TIME. I've revealed as Mafia not knowing it. I was to try to get a good guy network going. It ended badly. I'm still healing from that one.
3) Be active. There is nothing worst then quite players. You will get killed before too long. However, don't be TOO active. Some people like to kill the ones they remember from the last game. Also, as I've been told and still learning, make senses when you try to prove someone is evil. Otherwise, people will hate you. No one wants to decode your "rants".
Thats all I can think of. I might mentor but I'm seeing if more "big name players" show up. Pray you [strike]don't[/strike] do get me! Also EST.
Actually, if the mafia consider you dangerous enough to kill you, well, congratulations. Maybe if you ask the mafia gently they'll dump a "Most Dangerous Vanillager" medal, stuff you and expose you somewhere in Naples, I heard there was a mafia exhibits for kind like you.
As it stands, it's the opposite: If you get killed by the mafia, you haven't done your job - your job just came to an abrupt end. Then all you can do after this is hope someone else take up your job and finish what you started.
Because in the end, as a village aligned anything, your only job is to win and kill all the mafia. Nothing more, nothing less.
And a tip for the mafia: sometimes, a good vanillager is infinitely more dangerous than a village special. That was one of the things I learned when I became mafia for the first time.
In the real world, if you are effective, you are killed. This is a team game, you did your part, if you still lose overall, it's not your fault. Live with that.
If you are ineffective, hilariously so, then you are kept alive while the mafia abuses your terrible theories.
If you are TOO ineffective, you're probably also killed for being a likely hiding special. Unless you have a history of being terrible, at which point you have bigger problems.