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Foolishness
United States3044 Posts
The purpose of this thread is to lay down some general guidelines to hosting mafia games. After talking with a variety of hosts, I have assembled a list of "rules" that all hosts should be abiding by in their games.
As a disclaimer, I am not trying to single out any particular person as a bad host or whatever. We are all human and mistakes are bound to happen; even flamewheel, Incognito, and GMarshal can attest to their fare share of causing shitstorms because they messed something up.
The list is not all inclusive, nor does it address specific situations.
1) Keep your OP updated.
This is rule number 1 because hosts very frequently neglect this. It is much easier to see the current status of the game and how far along a game is when you only have to look at the first page and see who and what roles are dead. Otherwise one has to check up on all the day/night posts, which can be tedious.
And speaking of which, make sure to link to all the day/night posts as well. Also make sure you have the players' filters somewhere in your OP.
Personally, I like ghost_403's style of OP (see here.) The very first post has the filters and player list (as well as coach information) and then has the flips and important posts in the spoilers. I like this because it's the first post and near the top; I don't have to scroll down and look through the first three posts to find this information. While you don't not have to copy this exactly, it should give a good idea on how to format your OP.
And again, make sure you keep it updated as the game progresses.
2) Do not make unnecessary posts.
As the host, your job in the thread is to answer player questions and make the respective day/night posts (and whichever ones may be required by your game). Occasionally posting is okay, but it is obnoxious when a host is contributing to spam because they are talking unnecessarily.
3) Do not interfere with the game.
Hosts exist to move the game along and not to help players find out the mafia. Things that a host should not be doing include: choosing night actions for afk players, helping players analyze others, and helping mafia pick their targets.
4) Players will try to fish information out of you. Do not help them.
Let's not mince words...some people are jerks, and they will do whatever they can to get an edge so that they can win. You, as the host, will have a hard time giving an unbiased opinion because you know the role list and most everything occurring in the game. This leads to number 4...
5) Avoid discussion with players in the game.
See number 3. Unless a player is asking you a game related question, there is no need to be sharing a cup of coffee while discussing the latest happenings in the mafia game.
6) Send the game setup to Foolishness for balance.
Nothing would suck worse to play in a game only to find out afterwards that your chance of winning was so low you might as well not have played. Someone experienced needs to verify your setup to make sure there are no shenanigans. Make sure to PM me your setup when your game goes up (if not, earlier).
Also keep in mind it's important to build a game that's fun for the players, not just fun for you. Sure it'd be hilarious if there weren't any mafia in the game and you randomly killed people at night, but the players would not be happy when they found out.
7) Do not volunteer information not explicitly asked for.
This rule applies more to crazy game setups (such as pick your power) than to normal games, where it is near impossible to account for every crazy scenario that may happen in a game. The player is responsible for asking the right question, not the host for providing the outcome the player wanted/expected.
8) Do not hand out the role list.
Multiple hosts have agreed with me on this point; role lists should not be distributed to anybody. This includes, but is not limited to: players outside the game, coaches, and dead players. Most everyone is guilty of this (which is okay) but it is for the best if the role lists are not handed out until the game is over. In case of a mishap, it's okay to give it to someone like GMarshal or Foolishness to help resolve an issue.
9) Make sure you check the banlist thread before starting the game.
Should be self explanatory
10) Have a cohost for your game. Make sure your cohost actually does some work (however little).
This is already stated in the Active Games thread, but I wanted to put it in here for emphasis.
11) Double check, triple check, and get your cohost to check the vote count.
A good way to mess up a game is to accidentally kill the wrong person because the vote count was messed up. As there is never an easy solution to this that all parties are satisfied with, it is best to avoid this situation altogether.
12) PM Foolishness when your game ends (or make a post in the Active Games thread).
It helps me to know these things right away to make sure new games are up at the appropriate time.
13) Have fun!
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United States22154 Posts
I like it, I wish this thread had been around earlier though ^_^
Anyway, great job foolishness, thanks for writing this up.
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Wait I never messed anything up while I was hosting! I only messed things up when somebody else was hosting.
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A few things:
On June 14 2011 08:33 Foolishness wrote:
7) Do not hand out the role list, no exceptions.
Multiple hosts have agreed with me on this point; role lists should not be distributed to anybody. This includes, but is not limited to: players outside the game, coaches, and dead players. Most everyone is guilty of this (which is okay) but it is for the best if the role lists are not handed out until the game is over.
I think this is a little too strict. There have been situations where hosts handing me the role list so I can help them moderate their game helped them considerably. I demand a Qatol exception!
Also, this should probably include something about having hosts make sure to create a setup which will be fun to play in, not just fun for the host to watch. For example, while it is fun to joke about making a game with no mafia members where the host uses a RNG to figure out who dies each night, it is not a good idea to make such a game because the players would not have fun. After the game, they would feel cheated and many would probably not join any game you hosted ever again.
And make sure people know they need to link to the day/night posts in the OP. In particular, the wrapup posts which give all of the roles and actions are especially important and too often neglected. They need to be made, and they need to be linked.
On June 14 2011 08:50 RebirthOfLeGenD wrote:
PHIL WHO ASKED YOU?
I DID! (Mostly because I didn't want to make this thread myself and we really needed it.)
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I hand out my Role Lists to Flamewheeel since A.) I usually end up going out on weekends and might miss the Night Post and B.) I'm not too interested in writing storyline death posts and he'll do a better job anyway.
I agree with mostly everything else except #1. Hosts should post during the game, but just have to know when to stop and let the game go on.
#10 is what annoys me the most when reading other people's games. Just put a spoiler in the OP with the dead players and when they died so that people that just want to see it don't have to search every Day/Night post. This way people that want to read the entire game don't get screwed and people that want to know who died know where to look. Easy for both parties.
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Also yeah Foolishness you forgot the flamewheel/Qatol clause in there hmm.
Hmm and what Ace says is true. I always tried to keep mine updated like this.
On July 29 2010 13:12 flamewheel wrote:Player Roster1. Chezinu2. Bill Murray ( Ninja, Night 4) 3. Pandain ( Ninja, Day 2 Lynch) 4. DarthThienAn ( Tracker, Night 2) 5. Divinek ( Townie, Night 2) 6. youngminii7. VayeshMoru ( Ninja, Night 4) 8. rastaban9. Pyrrhuloxia10. XeliN11. love1another ( Townie, Day 1 Lynch) 12. Amber[LighT] ( Medic, Night 4) 13. Chaoser ( Nosy Neighbor, Night 1) 14. Artanis[Xp]15. BrownBear16. zeks ( Townie, Night 2) 17. KF9118. bumatlarge ( Mafia Goon, Day 3 Lynch) 19. Foolishness20. iNfuNdiBuLuM21. Iaaan ( Townie, Day 1 Modkill) 22. LSB ( Townie, Night 1) 23. ~OpZ~24. Misder ( Mafia Goon, Day 4 Double Lynch) 25. tree.hugger ( Mafia Framer, Night 2) 26. Jayme Ace (Day 3 Replacement, Nosy Neighbor, Night 3) 27. Roffles ( Townie, Night 2) 28. Hesmyrr29. SouthRawrea ( Townie, Day 4 Double Lynch) 30. larjarse ( Townie, Day 4 Modkill) 12 of 30 players remaining ? of ? Detectives remaining ? of ? Trackers remaining ? of ? Watchers remaining ? of ? Medics remaining ? of ? Vigilante remaining ? of ? Mad Hatters remaining ? of ? Bus Drivers remaining ? of ? Veterans remaining ? of ? Nosy Neighbors remaining 9 of 24 Town-aligned players remaining 3 of 6 Mafia remaining (Cumulative Mafia Count) 1 of 1 Godfathers remaining ? of ? Roleblockers remaining ? of ? Framers remaining Mafia KP = # of Mafia alive / 2 rounded up Current Mafia KP: 21 Double Lynch remaining
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United States4567 Posts
I will try to hold to these guidelines, but I am a forgetful person, so remind me!
Also what game was that FW? It's on the tip of my tongue.
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Foolishness
United States3044 Posts
Okay I changed some of the wording to accommodate the things said in the thread (particularly rules 1, 5, 10). Let me know if anything should be reworded, or any other rules to add.
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
Hrm also having a cohost is not entirely necessary... It's more fun with one though.
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Foolishness
United States3044 Posts
On June 14 2011 14:39 flamewheel wrote:
Hrm also having a cohost is not entirely necessary... It's more fun with one though.
I think it should be, especially if one host has to go away for an extended period of time (due to whatever issues). It's also a way to have multiple people hosting at once, as without it there would be a huge list of games to be played since everyone would want to host.
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On June 14 2011 11:38 bumatlarge wrote:
I will try to hold to these guidelines, but I am a forgetful person, so remind me!
Also what game was that FW? It's on the tip of my tongue.
That´s the infamous game that Ver analysed in his town guide, Mafia XXX iirc.
Also imho sticky this or link it into a sticky.
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12) Don't leave your game halfway through
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On June 14 2011 23:27 Caller wrote:
12) Don't leave your game halfway through
~_~
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I have another one for you:
PM Qatol and Foolishness when your game ends to let them know it is over. They may or may not be following your game very closely, but they need to know when the games end to keep this forum running smoothly.
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
On June 14 2011 08:41 flamewheel wrote:
Wait I never messed anything up while I was hosting! I only messed things up when somebody else was hosting.
You cursed me Phil.
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On June 14 2011 08:33 Foolishness wrote:
7) Do not hand out the role list, no exceptions.
Multiple hosts have agreed with me on this point; role lists should not be distributed to anybody. This includes, but is not limited to: players outside the game, coaches, and dead players. Most everyone is guilty of this (which is okay) but it is for the best if the role lists are not handed out until the game is over.
I feel like people can learn if they are allowed to get confirmation from a host if they are trying to figure stuff out on their own while the game is going on (i.e. hosts responding to if X is mafia or whatnot). Its just not the same if you wait til after the game, as you forget a lot of the stuff or the reasoning that got you there.
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We can try to figure out specifics on exceptions. I do understand that it can be good for a learning purpose, but I feel like we should have some way to limit the role list distribution and some way to make sure people are actually using it for said purpose. Maybe we could allow 1-2 people a game the role list for learning purposes, provided they do a write up on each cycle and what their observations were. If you fail to provide the analysis you are bumped from being allowed to have a role list. The same could go for asking the host questions about alignment/roles.
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I don´t think we should make rules for exceptions.
If you say giving the role list to up to 2 people is ok, hosts will likely give them to the first 2 half decent requests, instead of only giving them out in exceptions.
In the end that´s what exceptions are about, not having exact rulings for the case.
Making an exception is up to the host, since he has to assess the risk of someone ruining the game. If you make rules for that, you take the responsibility away from the host if the game does get ruined.
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Has there ever been a problem with handing out the role lists?
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EPT
