fhomess

Black Falcons never struck me as an evil faction the way the two most recent dragon factions have. There was nothing sinister about the face, so the only thing to suggest that they were bad was the conflict with the crusaders, and to me, they were just different kingdoms. Neither good or bad, just at conflict with each other. Oh, and I was in the prime 5-12 age range during that time, so suggesting that little kids can't develop their own storylines is silly. It's the biggest thing I hate about Lego now. They try to dictate the story to kids rather than letting kids come up with the story themselves. My daughter loves knights and dragons and castly stuff, but hates the mean faces on the bad faction minifigs. As for this new Castle line, I had been reluctant to pick up any of the sets based on the pics, but I love castle too much to ignore it. When there was a good sale locally this weekend, I caved in and bought several of the sets. I also liked the faction colors much more than I expected, and I think the problem was one of the photography. The reds and blues are a bit less bright than suggested by the photos. The photo colors reminded me of the jelly bean era, but that wasn't my reaction when I opened the packages and put them together. I love the dragon. Forest Ambush is a great little army builder even with flick fire missles. I don't much care for them, but I know I would've liked them as a kid. I was also pleasantly surprised by the use of gold spears on the front of the Dragon Mountain catapult rather than using animal spikes.

Perhaps you meant this thread: Bill and Mary Go to the Airport

One thing I've done in the past when wanting to start a town but not sure how to start is to let the town grow organically. I would build a few buildings, then set up some extra minifigs with their own open air shops containing useful bricks. Maybe one minifig specializes in selling windows, while another sells doors or steering wheels or tires. In order to build anything, the construction workers would have to buy or barter for bricks from the other minifigs, and those minifigs could then use what they got to start building more. This is a fun way to create stories in your little town and watch it grow organically. As you buy more lego, it can easily be added in. Maybe your town has a castle as a centerpiece that provides tourists who can take advantage of the various vendors.

I love these topics. I grew up in the US but my family is Dutch and I visited quite a bit in the 80's so I'm sad I missed out on all the Dutch promotional sets. They're pretty neat. Thanks for sharing.

Easily my favorite MAC build to this point. Nice work. I particularly like how the wall is large enough that it's easy to see how it withstood the elemental attack.

Just to clarify, my comment on the masons was more in context of having lost our investigator. I think the original setup was fine from a balance standpoint. This was a game that swung heavily in scum's favor, but I don't think that was a design problem. It came out of the choices of players and could have just as easily swung the other way. It's one thing to create a well balanced game. It's an entirely different thing for it to play out in a balanced way. The host doesn't have any control over the latter.

Tammo, thanks for the well prepared feedback on all of us. I really think that this is the most valuable part in getting better and not all hosts are able to provide such good feedback. Heh... I seem to go back and forth. The times I lash out at people it's usually on a townie, and the times that I don't, it's usually on scum. It gets very frustrating! I PM'd Trumpet almost immediately after joining as something pinged me early on, but after that I kind of forgot about whatever it was. He felt fairly townie until the role cop thing became a bit too convenient. The main thing was that I didn't understand was why the scum would reveal their role cop in that way. Nice work, Trumpet! I'm not going to disagree with this. The scum team as a whole did a very good job of either blending in as either reasonably townie or not quite as useless as some of the actual townies. Townies need to be active. When I was reading the first two day threads to get caught up, I didn't think Caleb or Esther would come up scum after their lynches. Beatrice and Connie didn't strike me as scum, either. That said, Esther basically was asking to be lynched the same way Zakura was. I didn't get either of those situations from a strategy standpoint. Peanuts was someone I was pretty convinced was town, and when he said that Kadabra was probably town based on the vote for Jessica, I read that as him having some additional info about Kadabra that made him know he was town. I had an early note about Adam that he was either the town Doctor or Scum based on something he said, possibly his interpretation of the night 1 kill. Also, Tammo and Hinck - what was it about CMP that rang out scummy to you early on? I missed it and didn't really have strong suspicions about CMP until the Role Cop issue came up. I think the balance was reasonably good in this one. The scum had some powerful roles with the Role Cop, Blocker, Janitor, and Godfather. The poisoner, with the various timing on the kills, was a bit of a confusing role - perhaps that was intended. The only problem I had with the poisoner was that there wasn't any way for the town to figure out how to explain the various timing of the kills. Would TBW's win condition have nullified the scum's win condition? It didn't appear that they were mutually exclusive, which was another reason I didn't see any incentive for TBW to work with town. Town had a number of roles with which to counteract the scum plan, but the scum put a pretty quick dent in out ability to use them. I've noticed that it seems to be particularly hard for town blocks to form in the absence of investigations. Protectors and blockers seem reluctant to take risks to trust anyone and form such a block. I don't know what Peanuts and Adam had going on privately, but I was the same way in Mafia Mafia. Scuba's early claim of scapegoat was the only way that he really could've played it well, but I didn't really get the sense that he wanted to capitalize on that and really scumhunt. A bit of metagaming there, but he just didn't seem quite as invested in this game as some others. Apologies if that read is incorrect. I would've preferred a vig that could kill more regularly. I will say that I'm thoroughly disappointed that there was no bomb or PGO in this game, since those roles just seem like they belong in a western themed game. I'm not sure how I felt about the masons being able to only recruit every other night. On balance, it makes sense. In practice, we needed it more frequent given that our investigator was killed so fast. That's just the way some games go. Scum made some really good choices and there wasn't enough time left for us to recover in the midst of everything else going on. I think the quality of scum play has gone up quite a bit over time here at EB, while the quality of town play isn't increasing as fast. Part of that, I suspect, is that the entire scum team needs to be engaged for a successful campaign, while Vanilla townies, in particular, don't seem to feel that way. It's also harder to scum hunt than it is to townie hunt since the pool of candidates is bigger. As for the digital images... I think they did the job just fine and it was cool that Tammo could work on the game from anywhere even without access to his Legos. I guess I'm a traditionalist as I do prefer actual builds, though. That said, I can't say enough about the commitment Tammo made to continuing this game in the midst of difficult life circumstances. I will say that while your role play was a little scummy in defending another player day 1, it really was your "don't look at this group" comment on the vote analysis that convinced me you were scum. Of course, Trumpet posted that analysis and none of the scum were in the group you were trying to get us to ignore!

Nice work scum. I was pretty well convinced that Trumpet, CMP, and the role cop, whoever it was, was scum by the last day, along with PPBJ and Danny. However, given that TBW killed mostlytechnic, who I was certain was town, I didn't think he was being honest about working with us. I figured we were pretty much doomed either way so we might as well gamble that Mencot was janitored because he was scum. I think my game lent itself well to being a vanilla replacement. Thanks for the fun game, Tammo.

Are you going to explore this or are you waiting for someone else to do it? It seems to me that if we're going to NOT lynch a known killer, we better be 100% certain that he's working with us AND we've got a real live scum on the hook.

What makes you so sure that Sheridan, Tristan, and Kane are town? What convinced you Mollly was scum?

I thought he meant himself. Ah.... so now you're telling us you're the poisoner. Why then, did you kill Molly instead of Sheridan?

I'm in agreement on this one: Vote: Boris Wheeler (TheBoyWonder)

I agree with Molly and Perry. We need to be careful that we're not clearing the wrong people. That said, let's move on to our suspect lists so we can focus on those we think are scummy. For my part, Boris is still reasonably high on my list. I also feel like Prudence, Damian, and Abigail warrant some additional prodding. I know there is likely another scum or two out there that doesn't fall into this group, but these are the names that I feel have been least helpful to the town cause so far.

Why are you so eager to clear us all as town? Vanilla doesn't mean anything beyond having no night action. As has been suggested repeatedly, a vanilla result could just as well mean we're Goons. This is reminding me a bit of Michael's "don't look over here" response to the vote analysis Tristan posted Day 3.

I suppose it's possible. Scum do all sorts of odd things in these parts. As Sheriff, I've seen some of the biggest wackos come through my jail. That said, look at some of the history on Michael. Clay started things off with a vote against him Day 1. Kane and myself were eager to see him lynched Day 3. Tristan jumped on early on Day 4 eventually leading to his lynch. All of us are still alive and I would think that if Michael were town, the scum really wouldn't have a problem with pointing fingers at any one of us. That said, if Michael is scum, which I strongly believe, that's a number of us that are quite possibly cleared. At any rate, perhaps we should create a search party today to go hunting for the grave so we can dig it up to know for sure. Patrick or Damian are bound to have a few shovels. Wait a minute... can't Carletta just read all of our palms and get this whole thing over with? Carletta... make yourself useful!

I can't think of a good reason the scum would have janitored Michael if he were town.

Best wishes, Tammo.

This is a perfectly reasonable reason to vote for me. All I can say is that something else is going on. If the poisoner is the SK, then they're rather fortunate that they've been blocked or thwarted by protection until Day 3. How the poisoner managed to kill on Day 3 and Night 3 is something I don't have an explanation for at this point. There is some other role involved or some role modifier that allowed this. I agree that spilled win would be an odd clue and one I think a lot of us speculated about but know that there shouldn't be clues in the pitctures. All the kills happen by the same method, so there are some clues in the pictures. As I stated above, I lean town on Tristan, but concede that it's possible he's not. I'm actually more interested in the role cop and their results claims. It seems to me there's something fishy going on with who was role copped and who knew about it. I assumed he meant at the start of Day 4. I don't really know why the role cop would've claimed to him. As far as we know, he's not an investigator and wasn't investigated by Jessica. In addition, by his own post, Tony, Carletta, and Kimberly were the role cop's targets on the first three nights. That leaves no room for him to be role copped with a role that is almost assuredly town. What night was Kimberly role copped?

There are several problems with Tristan's argument, aside from it not being true. I will publicly state that I have no killing action. I am town, not neutral, but I am not the vig, if we even have one. If I was the SK prior to my personality crisis, I would expect that there would've been additional poisonings. Additionally, it doesn't make any sense for any player to be given an extra chance at a kill simply due to personality crises. There is something else going on with the poisoner that allows them to kill at various times. I don't know what it is, but I am not involved in it in any way. Furthermore, if Tristan had been in contact with a role cop who got a killer result on Kimberly and Kimberly is now dead, and this is the reason Tristan believes me to be the poisoner... then I don't understand why Tristan didn't vote for me earlier or why I'm not higher up on his scum list. Town needs to eradicate all threats, not just the Red Coyotes, so Tristan should've voted me instead of voting for a relatively uncertain scum read like Michael. I think it's irrefutable that the scum have a role cop given that we know Jessica was killed and was the investigator. Whether or not the role cop that Tristan is talking to is the scum role cop or not, again I have no idea. I do firmly believe that scum will try to use this suspicion to off a useful member of the town. Now, does all of this make Tristan scum? Again, I'm not really sure. Tristan's caution in presenting this case could be scum hoping to fall in line with town's thinking. This would be particularly true if it were a scum role cop buddy of his that he was in cahoots with on this theory. It could also be that Tristan really is a concerned townie trying to do the right thing and being cautious. At the moment, I lean towards the latter because of earlier conversations I've had with Tristan. Let me ask this... among those who knew of the suspicion on me as a potential SK or vig candidate, but didn't know of the role cop result on Kimberly, were any of them pushing to paint me as the vig? Those would be the people I'd be most suspicious of if you are among those in the know on this.\ Who else knew about the role cop? For now, I will: Unvote: Abigail Nelson (Adam) Vote: Michael Thompson (Mencot) Abigail has done enough for me to remove my vote, and Michael I still find suspicious for the reasons stated earlier today and yesterday.

I think people need to look at disconnecting behavior more than just who's been fluffy and not. The case against Michael, in my mind, starts with fluffiness but is amplified by his odd reaction to Tristan's vote analysis that was presented early yesterday. It really struck me that Michael was trying to steer Tristan away from looking at the voters absent from the Day 2 bandwagon on Esther. It's disappointing to see so many people still voting based on lack of contribution rather than looking for content in what others are saying that is inconsistent with townie behavior. While I'm not really sure how Perry came up with his lists, it seems to be populated with people who haven't been as active in accusing back and forth. It's almost like another list of quiet people. The absence of certain individuals is indeed notable. That said, I have also had some concerns about Abigail, who Perry ended up voting for (with rather little explanation). Abigail's speculation on the vig's identity on Day 2 seemed almost as if it came from a perspective of having information that the rest of us didn't. In addition, I didn't much care for the way she voted for Connie. It was a piling on bandwagon vote "to get her talking", and at that stage of the voting, I felt like that was a bit of a convenient place to hide. In addition, Abigail's response to Perry was not to give any indication of how she has actually been helping, but rather demanding more from Perry. Vote: Abigail Nelson (Adam) Michael, you are by no means beyond my radar.

I agrees wit everyone. Da new Sheriff is da bomb! I have similar feelings about the Connie/Boris situation as Jessica describes. That said, I'm going to Vote: Michael Thompson (Mencot). I still don't like the way Michael tried to dissuade us from looking more closely at those that avoided the bandwagon yesterday: If not all scum were on the bandwagon, then of Tony, Michael, Esther, and Jessica, I find Michael to be the most suspicious.

You must have SOME basis for suspicions. If that basis exists, it's possible that others haven't noticed it but can put things together. We need townies to contribute as we're far more effective in scum hunting when we are openly sharing ideas and working as a team rather than working individually. The fact is, you haven't provided any original thought of your own these three days. You have followed everyone else. It seems awfully convenient of you to say on Day 3 that your second highest suspicion the other day just so happens now to be the person that is garnering votes. I don't want you to say it. I want you to prove it. It's like being in love. Saying you love someone is meaningless unless you show it with your actions. Given your lack of concern over your husband's death, I'm guessing you have never understood that.

Ok, Connie. I'll ask some questions... How does keeping your suspicions to yourself help the town? How is this a pro-town attitude? You sound an awful lot like Zachary here.

Sorry, I thought you lumped both day's voting into your comment. Anyway, it's not futile because one scummy player doesn't appear in the analysis. We should be looking at multiple suspects so that we can find the best one. Furthermore, there is a clear dividing point in the bandwagon which came when Esther made her actual claim. Maybe no one's including Connie (who I assume is the suspect you're referring to) because they already have reasons for finding her scummy. She cast very late votes for Esther both days. That doesn't help her case, particularly her Day 1 vote after everyone else had decided her claim was worth not lynching her over. Vote analysis is useful as a starting point for discussions if nothing else. In the post I quoted. You told Molly her reasoning was flawed, then told her that you thought she wasn't worth pursuing anyway. All in that one post. No, it wasn't. You gave no indication prior to your vote for Esther on day 2 that you thought "all along" that she was lying.

This isn't the type of defeatest approach that helps town. Maybe there's nothing we can say for certain, but there are patterns and behaviors to look at that can inform us of who to ask questions of. In fact, you yourself did this early yesterday: This was obviously before we knew the situation with Esther. Here, you seem to imply that Molly's vote for Caleb sealed Caleb's fate over Esther, something I won't deny certainly helped. Every added vote was one an unvote would not reverse. However, what's the point of challenging someone's behavior and then immediately dismissing that challenge as something you have no intention of caring about the response to? If you're going to challenge someone's behavior, even if you don't think it's a strong suspicion, you should at least make them answer to you before blowing it off. Being decisive in your accusations is one way to lead that doesn't necessarily result in what you are afraid to repeat. Decisive accusations, or at least, pursuing a poke until its logical conclusion is a way to get discussion flowing that allows for mistakes. What did you think she was lying about all along? That she had a PR? Esther made her soft claim after Kane, Carletta, and Tristan had voted for her. Molly, Boris, and Connie are the only three non-confirmed townies who voted for Esther after that point. After the bandwagon on Caleb got rolling, there wasn't really a strong push to vote for Esther anymore. Only Connie's late vote came in after that. The only other comment about Esther that struck me as odd late in the day was post 231, where you initially said that "voting off a potential power role seems really counterproductive to me", but then later suggested that no one ought to consider anyone but Esther and Caleb since they were the only ones likely to be lynched at that point. Seems to me you should've just been pushing for Caleb's lynch based on what you said. Look, I merely made an observation about your reaction to Tristan's comments. You reacted in such a way as to deflect attention away from the group that included you.