Hinckley

Great. Everybody's going to play me and I'll be trying to not be me so it'll, once again, be obvious who I am.

Kyle

1. Being born in 1976, I know this: knowledge, power, capability. 2. Dragon babies. 3. I rolled a 20.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. Like I told Josh, I'm interested to hear how I affect other players and will do my best to adjust based on what is said. I can't speak for everybody, so I'm just sharing my viewpoint of your opinion. As the supposed "alpha dog" you're referring to, I did try to conceal my actual identity. These two games were my first two anonymous games. Bob is the only host besides me to attempt it. Darkdragon will be doing it for her game, but this was my first opportunity. People told me I wouldn't be able to conceal my identity, that my personality would come through. They were right. We don't have a lot of practice at it. I tried to play Ethan Dunn, lovable n00b, in Pirates II. The Scum saw through it and tried to kill me on Night One. That was revealed through Night Actions and I gained the Town's trust and I think that's what got me to the end of the game. In Pirates III, I started playing more quietly, stating things simply. I wanted to pounce on mostlytechnic's first post but held back instead of reacting to the first ping, like I would normally. I waited a day and he got scummier and I placed a vote. Then Daniel went off for four days. Under that scrutiny, my personality came out again. In the case of me surviving this game to the end, it never made sense for the Town to lynch me...at least to them. I still can't believe I survived. But, that's the collective decision of the Town not lynching me that gets me to the end of the game, not me "alpha-dogging" the game. I think when you see a "clique" since you didn't give examples, I am making assumptions, you're talking about things like Trekkie and I claiming to each other and making jokes together. I like Trekkie's play style. He was making it fun during a part of the game where I was having absolutely no fun. That didn't mean I trusted him. That is separate from the game. You have to look at what the game is telling you about who is Scum and you have to lynch people, which by definition is an unkind thing to do. So when somebody gets lynched or disagreed with by people they see as a clique, it's not about relationships. I don't look at a game and say "Well, who do I not know and who are my buddies. All the n00bs must be Scum, let's vote them out." The one thing that set Ethan apart from Hinckley was that I didn't blab my role to everyone and I didn't attempt to get out and lead the Town block. I told two people about my role and revealed my results through another player. It was only my second time playing investigator. I've been a Serial Killer twice, Bulletproof Survivor, a role that reflected everything back on people who targeted me, a guinea pig cult leader, a witch... but only twice an investigator and the first time I was killed the night I inherited the role. I am curious who you played in Pirates II and what your specific experiences were. If you don't mind sharing, I think it will help demonstrate your point so that the players you're referring to have the opportunity to consider their behavior. I would really like to hear examples of how my play style is some sort of "alpha dog" play that uses my identity to survive and win and not actual experience and skill trying to figure the game out. Again, I think this is the double-edge sword of the anonymous game. How do we welcome n00bs if we don't know who they are? People pretend to be n00bs to conceal their "veteran" identity. And how do you welcome someone you're lynching. I tried to do that with @MKJoshA. (I'm tagging you here, not to provoke you into an argument. Just so you know you're being discussed) When we were lynching him, his reaction about making sure I was lynched when he flipped Town seemed so confident that I started to worry we had it wrong and I did feel bad about revealing what he asked me not to, that this was his first game. That was a mistake. But, I encouraged him to start fighting. In my opinion, we can't let that aspect of the game get in the way of answering suspicions. Telling someone you think they're lying when they know they're not is always going to feel intense and I imagine it feels even worse when you feel there's some clique against you. But, for Josh, he was blocked on the first night with no kill, he admitted to targeting Jean. The Town's responsibility is to test his claims and the game mechanism for doing so is lynching. Being the target of a mislynch feels bad no matter how long you've been playing and I think it is playing more often that gets you used to it. We have to question each other and when we're in a game like this, trying to find who is lying, we're going to get it wrong. I don't feel like I ever personally attacked Josh or treated him unfairly, although I accept that's the way he feels on the receiving end of my behavior. For the game as a whole, though, I voted for him several times before Day Four, but he didn't get lynched until there was other evidence against him. Yes, we were wrong, but it's the way other experienced players saw the evidence and chose to act on it. I wasn't suspecting Josh because I felt he was a n00b. I suspected him for the exact same reason I suspected mostlytechnic, and I didn't know he was mostlytechnic at the time. It's all about game play, none of that is personal and I'm definitely not trying to keep my "clique" together through the duration of the game. I'm definitely defending myself here. I don't want to take anything away from the feelings that you and Josh are expressing and I will definitely take it into account as I continue to play other games. I don't think I'm flawless and I've certainly gotten feedback in the past that I'm too intense. Specific examples really help me to dial things back and I have a vested interest in not making people feel bad.

No, I'm anonymously playing every character...in my own game.

After Darkdragon's game, which should be freakin' awesome.

Yes. More than that, how were we the only two who made it to the end?

Thank you! Here are the Night Actions I sent to Bob, everybody: Bob gave me a one-shot "Free Redbird" action. As long as I wasn't blocked, I would be successful. I knew I'd be blocked because Daniel was a jailkeeper so I kept sending attempts. I also asked Bob several times for a one-shot strongarm night kill. I meant "Fabien" and "Scum." I was probably drunk. Remember the days when we used to attack the hosts? We don't do that anymore. Hosts are quite open to respectful, constructive criticism. I think that's nice. *Fwoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom*

Oh, you'll definitely want to play my game after Darkdragon's then. I have the craziest idea. And yet, nothing as broken as what I tried in that one game. Something about furries, I don't remember all of the details.

@mostlytechnic Yeah, and you were actively trying to get me lynched for a few days there, so my view of "the good guys" was pretty clear.

I was similarly worried. I was like, "What am I doing with that gun?? Don't kill Shadows!!!" @Bob Are you going to post my Night Actions? I deleted the one where I wished on a star that I could be a real Townie and the Baluga Fairy came out of the ocean to grant my wish. I had to restart my computer and didn't feel like typing it out twice.

My favorite comment from the dead board is @Kristel saying she hoped I continued to play it. Shadows, what was your reaction to the conclusion? What percentage of you still thought I might be Scum? I admit I was slightly worried that you might've been Scum, but not anything like the feeling I got about Darkdragon after Star Trek Mafia 2's last Day concluded.

Hey, I take full responsibility for doing these things to you. I did not intend to cause you to have such a miserable time, nor did I intend any attack on personal character. In my estimation, I was doing a good job at avoiding going to a personal place when suspecting somebody. I don't see any reason to do that. Obviously I failed in many places at that on Day One, but I felt I was really careful after all of that. Not to mention, I think the only places I did it were in the situation that unfolded with one specific person, who was reading me wrong. The initial sarcasm thrown into all my initial suspicions on Day One was an attempt to imitate Pandora's trademark sarcasm. She's British so it's like a second language for her. If the Scum thought I was Pandora, they'd definitely try to kill me and I really wanted to waste their kill. I really take your feedback to heart and it kills me that you have this negative view of me. If you have the time, I would appreciate it if you could point out specific instances where you thought I was attacking your personal character. I honestly want to avoid doing this to people and I'll only know how if I can see what I did to make you feel that way. But, anything that caused me to think you were Scum were the things you were doing, not the style you were posting in. I don't actively search for "EB-Mafia-Style" when I'm trying to figure out who the Scum are. I look for behaviors I find Scummy. It's easy to say that there is not "EB-Mafia-meta-culture" from inside of it, because I don't see it. But there is evidence that what you're referring to exists. Take for example that I think Kyle is Scum every time. That was another thing that got me to trust Andrew, Fred was Kyle. But, I always find poke-voting Scummy. I can't stand it. I'm generally alone in that opinion, but it drives me nuts. So, I pointed out that I found it Scummy. With Andrew, I was right (gloat!) but with you, I was wrong. Yes, there was a way that you communicated that made you less believable to me. In an anonymous game, I don't know if that's because you're new, you're someone I typically don't understand, or if you're Scum. Yes, you told me you were new, but you can see Tariq J said he was new and wasn't. So, there's a point where we can't put personality above suspicion, because we have to be playing the game and suspecting certain things. I also don't think those that what newer players see as "EB Mafia Vets" don't see ourselves as a group. Yes, we're used to playing with certain people and that's why using anonymous games has its positive elements. On the negative side, though, we don't know when we're pressing a new player who isn't use to the pressure cooker feeling that it produces. You told me you played in real life, where the Days and Nights only take a few minutes. We have a lot more time and a lot more roles here and it does get intense. I really do respond when people feel negative energy from me. I don't want to do that, so I honestly adjust based on the feedback. I used to be 10 times more intense than this and I've taken feedback from people over the years, so please know that I'll do my best to incorporate what you tell me about how I made you feel. I really want you to play again, although I understand if you don't. Don't do anything that isn't fun. But, you were active on the deadboard and followed the whole game. Maybe you were just hoping to see me get lynched, but if it was because you liked seeing the game unfold then please give it another shot. And feel free to PM me during a game if I'm rubbing you the wrong way. One thing I do want to push back on, again because it's killing me, is you describing it as "Hinckley-culture." You're basing that on four games you've watched/participated in, the first of which—Pirates I—I didn't even play. It's hard to taken responsibility for single-handedly causing your displeasure with the game. I've tried to single-handedly control the World, and unfortunately I've realized that I do not. If I did, there wouldn't be a global pandemic the year I bought a public event business. But, that aside, I truly am sorry for my part in your negative experience in this game and I hope you will follow up with the specifics so that I can approach the game in the most positive way I can in the future. Thanks! And I'm also truly sorry you got lynched when you were telling the truth and attempting to play your best game. I really meant to try to encourage you to keep fighting and give it everything you had, if you were Town—which you were. If it makes you feel any better, seeing you flip Town after the first four awful Days of this game, I was seriously considering never playing again. It's nice to not have to come up with a song to play tuba to at the end of every post.

Sorry. That came out very quickly. I'm dealing with a plumbing emergency while geeking out over the conclusion. I see what you mean. Voting for a likely Townie is not the same as reaching out. The only time I felt I had that option was Day Nine. I truly never knew for sure who was Scum. I would've felt bad about winning if I never truly understood who was Scum in the game. I guess that's one reason why, according to Mafia Wiki, nobody likes to play a Survivor.

All the Scum needed at 3:3:1 was one lynch and it didn't matter if it were Town or me, so that would've been the worst time to reach out to them.

Right??? How did I not get lynched in this game? I know everything not to do if I ever have to play a Jester. That's the issue of playing Neutral and it seems to be assumed from the other players whenever there's a Serial Killer. The Neutral can't choose to work with the Scum because they don't know who the Scum are. We went back and forth a lot on Andrew via PM at night. I started a couple of nights asking Emmett and Aiden why Andrew was acting so Scummy. There were pockets of it, but when we'd start PMing, mostlytechnic did an amazing job at getting us to trust him, nightly. But, what would he have done if I took the risk and was like "Hey Andrew, if you're Scum do you want me to vote with you tomorrow?" He'd have started the next day with "Vincent offered to work with me if I were Scum, he can't be trusted!" My only risk of dying was being lynched, so I had the opportunity to play a bold game, but not that bold. You can't trust Scum. I am exceedingly surprised I didn't get lynched especially after all the scrutiny on Days One through Four. Nobody ever really voted for me outside of Daniel, Justin and Andrew, though. Can we see the scum board? Also, since we knew the player never showed up, that would've been a dead giveaway. I thought you were Trenton just based on the lack of posting and posts being made late at night in my time zone. When you said you were a n00b it threw me because I was sort of convinced Trenton was you.

If I were a serial killer with my own win condition, I think 1:1:1 would've been a nightmare for Bob. Just like WalterKovacs's Unrest in the Forest. Remember that one? I was told I could beat everyone if I killed off the Town, but Walter had told the Scum they could win with me. I wanted to win alone, otherwise I wouldn't have killed The Foog. I think I'm the first Survivor in a very long time. I don't think we're used to that role here and it was a good twist. @Bob Why did you choose to add a Neutral to this version of the game? Also,...WHY ME????

Just read the deaboard. Really nice to see it so active. @Dragonator I did leave out that Andrew ended up in my "likely-Town" column when I was gloating. Part of the reason I ended up trusting him was that being so wrong about Justin (sorry, @MKJoshA ) shook my confidence in any of my reads. If he flipped Scum, I was going to be all over Andrew, but I really dialed back on all of my suspicions once Justin filpped Town and then Fabien after. @mostlytechnic , you did a great job via PM and making me trust you and you totally deserve credit for that being the second reason I dropped my suspicion of you. The gloating was more of a reflection that my early read was correct and yet it was set off the whole "ordeal." I needed some gloating after feeling so down about my ability to read people, so I purposely ignored the "trusting-Andrew" phase (although I had it parenthetically, but deleted it for readability) because I needed a confidence re-boost. Also, you tried to kill me when you knew Daniel was targeting me? What happened there?? Thank you for the feedback! (I have feedback for players from my last two games that I never got around to posting ) I don't know why people assume this ^ as I stated several times I wouldn't feel good about the win if I never helped catch any Scum. The Scum team seemed vastly disinterested in trying to work with me, although I admit I probably would've outed them. Peter even shot down the idea of my fake strongarm modifier, but probably because Andrew knew it was a gambit to catch him. Funny that Andrew didn't think Peter's responses were Scummy. But, mostly, if I'm in the uninformed majority, I want to solve the puzzle. So, it would've been hard for me to give in and win with the Scum. Plus, if that became obvious, I would've been lynched. I would've redone my acrostic post if I wasn't afraid the first one would be found, anyway. Nobody noticed the one I made that said "I want to make sweet love to Peter." At least, if they did, they didn't mention it.

I left out the part where I was a Pirate sympathizer. I thought that might get me lynched. Everything else I said about my role was true. Except the part where I said hundreds of times that I was Town. Ignore that and everything else was true. Also, the part about having a strongarm modifier I could give to Peter was a lie. But, ignoring that as well, everything else was true. Great job, fhomess, with the fight you put up at the end. I take it you really didn't know that I was neutral on Night One. I just wanted to press your buttons on Day Nine. I thought Peter was jimmy and Jean was fhomess. Funny, because I get them mixed up in regular games too. I thought Fred was Kristel! I can't believe it was KotZ and I didn't want to lynch him the whole time. Great game, Bob! Thanks for hosting! It really was a slog to host all three in a row, I'm sure. This game was particularly taxing, but that isn't your fault. I did enjoy myself a great deal and am glad I played all three games. Looking forward to finding out if I was right about the Night Actions. Scum chose not to kill on Night Three and Trenton tried to kill Emmett (Shadows) for two nights in a row? Oh, I was Vincent, by the way. In case you couldn't tell.

You'd think I'd have done this? Thank you Marco!

Oh very soon! Oh, ok. That's specific. It took a lot of self control to not pester you about the day threads going up as Ethan. That would've been a dead giveaway. You know what's stupid? I was also hoping this for Ethan.

Why was Robert's result on Night One "cannot determine role?"

I still like you, Warren.

There were actually no scum in the town block! I love you!! Who are you?

The only thing I truly did that was non-Hinckley was not blabbing all the roles to everybody behind the scenes. Only Robert and Elijah knew I was the investigator. I told Liam too, a couple hours before the conclusion went up. But, by then I knew the game was over.