Newbie Mini Mafia XXXIV - Page 32

OE spent an inordinate amount of time tunneling me for my no-lynch comment, but didn't bother to go through my entire filter and present a full case. He admitted that my own case against Syl was good, but then said he didn't like it without breaking it down point-by-point. He then voted for me without a full analysis, mostly based on a single suspicion.

I found this especially suspicious because when it became clear not many others were biting on the case against me, he pulled his vote back instead of fighting for it.

These were the items that compelled me to come up with a case against OE near the end of D1, in addition to his defensiveness and his emotional response to Spag. I think that mafia are prone to using emotion as part of their argumentation much more readily than townies, as it discourages a clear town atmosphere and doesn't necessitate logic or truth.

The reason I didn't put the case forward were twofold: one, I was worried it was tunnelling on my part, as I was a little unnerved by his persistent attacks on me and the fact that Sylencia and someone else had picked up on it as well. I didn't want to bring nothing but suspicions to light and act as if it were a tight case, and spend the energy persuading everyone else of it when I wasn't fully persuaded myself. Secondly, it was simply a matter of time. I was able to hawk the thread all day because I was at work and things were slow, but on the second half of Day 1 work picked up and when it was finished, I had RL stuff to attend to leading up to the final lynch. I suspected I could make a case with a thorough look through his filter, but didn't have the time.

Mocsta, like it or not, was a leader for the town environment Day 1, and his stance on voting out TeMiL was dramatic and seemed quite final. Being unsure of my suspicions on Day 1, I completely bandwagoned him on TeMiL, knowing Spag would also vote him out, and while I wasn't entirely convinced it was the right thing to do, I didn't feel sure enough about StriX or jampi, and not certain enough about OE to go through the energy of fleshing out my case and making it and pushing for a following.

So when the person whose argument already held my vote made a very dramatic stand about OE, I read his case and went, "Yep, that's what I thought, too!" This is my second game and it feels good to realize that others have the same suspicions as me, as honestly I was at a point where I could see almost everyone being mafia after reading everybody's filters multiple times.

Additionally, I knew that a quick bandwagon move like this would provoke some kind of reaction to the other votes, which had been quite settled up to that point. I knew that it would be easy for Mocsta's analysis to go stale and for almost nothing to happen save for his single vote change, and felt that in order to really see hwo people felt about it, it would need a second voice.

My analysis was lacking (ie, nonexistent) because I was literally hopping in and out of the computer room between changing my son's diaper and putting him to bed, spending time with the wife, etc. There was no reason for me to think I'd have enough consecutive free time to devote to a full analysis that illustrated appropriately why I agreed with Mocsta's analysis, let alone with enough time left over to put pressure on the rest of the voters before the deadline.

I think it's totally reasonable to have expected this explanation from me much sooner than now; it was a big switch given with no explanation. RL issues have prevented a quicker response, which does make me a poor town player for the past few days at a time when solid town play has been needed to create a good discussion environment. So I do take credit for some of the state of the current thread.

Analyzing discussion is valuable, but I see how the votes fall as the most compelling evidence; your vote is your most valuable asset, and how you use it shows a lot.

The person whose individual case for being a townie suffered the most from the D1 lynch was OE, without question. If he had been mafia, other mafia would have made a more concerted effort on jambi; lynching StriX puts OE in a horrible position.

OE was one of the only people to make an actual concerted case against StriX, and the one to first make real effort on it. A mafia who knows StriX is innocent could easily make that lynch happen and OE have the blood on his hands.

Additionally, OE is known for playing/behaving a certain way in Mafia, according to Spag, who went well out of his way to cast suspicion on OE multiple times while explicitly saying "that doesn't mean I really think you're scum." I looked at OE's filter from the last newbie mafia, and true enough, he's generally played pretty emotionally and defensively, and with a healthy amount of pep. That kind of play was consistent across the last game, and consistent to every post he's made this game.