Scumhunting

[Wake]

So you want to get better at catching Scum, eh?

Well, it's not that easy. The later in the game it gets, the easier it becomes.

It's rare to lynch Scum during Day 1, and it's uncommon during Day 2 barring PRs.

There are a lot of different ways to go about catching Scum. Much of it is a matter of opinion.

This link is helpful: Mastin s Guide To Scumhunting bull mafiascum.net

Tool Number 2: Motive. Look at the reasoning behind a post. I’ve been advocating this one longer than any of my other tools. It might not have been the first of my three tools for me to use, but it was the first of my tools which I began to knowingly use in every game.

It is a key point to get inside the mind of other players and look at the reasoning behind their actions—does it make more sense as coming from town, or scum? What’s the town motive, versus the scum motive? What reason does the player have to do this action as town, versus what reason do they have for doing this as scum? What does this player have to gain as town from this action, versus what this player gains as scum from this action. Equally as important, what does this player have to lose as town, versus what they have to lose as scum?

I’ve given it multiple names in my time in MD/Games, but you get the general idea. Looking into the Motive of a player can reveal more about them than anything else. Another sub-set of Motive is “Intention”. If you look at what someone intended to do, you can solve a lot of problems. For instance, someone promises content of some sort. They post what you see as a load of junk…on the surface. Now look deeper, think of it from their perspective—try to think of it how they thought of it. Was the Intention there? If they tried to deliver what they intended (even if they failed), they’re far more likely to have been legitimate.

There’s one more key name I attribute to “Motive”, related to reading Intention—that’s “Mindset”. Looking at how a person is literally thinking can be extremely revealing as to their alignment. If you see someone pulling actions which look consistently scummy (like, say, constant bandwagonning), your first thought is probably going to be “this guy’s obv-scum”. But if you take a look into the mindset of a player, think about their actions. Do they look like scum lazily taking advantage of every wagon, or town doing what they see as legitimate Scumhunting?

Mindset is a great way to look at a player, because certain mindsets can only come from town. Look at their jumps in logic. Some thought processes only come from town, whereas others only come from scum. Certain conclusions they make can be huge town-tells, or equally large scum-tells.

Mindset is a bit harder to pin down than typical Motive, because whereas Motive measures what they actually post, Mindset measures what they were THINKING at the TIME they posted. It’s well worth the reward, however, since it’s one of the best ways to see a player’s alignment.

(NOTE: I tend to be fairly good at Mindset when looking at Newbie Players. [There’s a reason my best Scumhunting and best scum play are both in Newbie Games.] Newbs are extremely fun to play with, because they’re both simultaneously extremely predictable and extremely unpredictable at the same time—they pull certain moves which you can read like a book, but sometimes have surprises up their sleeves and do things you couldn’t have predicted. I’ve developed a whole set of mental tells for newbies, but I think that’s a subject for another Guide. Essentially, they’re predictably unpredictable.)

You should always question, analyze, and weigh the motives of others.

I find interactions to be one of the best ways for me to hunt Scum.

There's also a list of things I'd like to list as Scummy/Not Scummy. If you want, you can share things you think might be Scummy, and I can try to weigh those instances, too.

As Town I work to never take players' posts out of context. That's one thing I personally feel is Scummy. Also, you have to be careful to not indulge in hyperbole. Whenever a player evades, ignores, reacts defensively, or emotionally, or negatively, et al, that's like blood being poured in the water. Always strive to question the motives. Even if it means getting very quiet, focused, and deliberate with your questions.

 

[Wake]

And it's ok to be wrong when hunting Scum, too. No one's a Scumhunting God. Even the best of the best are wrong more than 40% of the time during each game. Your effectiveness in catching people in their lies will improved as you continuously temper your wit and your discernment.

Oh, you're wrong about a read and they flipped Town? Don't sweat. Don't kick yourself. Best thing you can do is take notes and try seeing what you can do to improve yourself. Lately I'm finding that playing Mafia's been affecting how I deal with situations and social situations in the real world, in that I'm way better at discerning things, now. You can also play Mafia in real life with your loved ones, and it's a very fun experience, too, because now you're face-to-face. THAT is tough. Tough not to SMILE!

And when you play Mafia, it's always better to use logic while keeping a cool head. Scum'll do anything they can to get their fingers around your thumbscrew and turn it to their advantage. Of course, there are also Scum that love hiding behind a veneer of logic. I suppose there are ways to use the emotional and logical sides of gameplay to your advantage, if you've got a good handle on timeliness.

 

[Wake]

You will wear yourself out if you try to dominate the game. You need to pace yourself as you play the game. You have a life, and your life must come first.

Balance in Mafia is extremely important. Much like lurking/rarely posting isn't good, neither is rapid-fire posting or spamming. Find a happy medium that works for you.

I'll read through the thread once. Make tiny little notes with a post # next to it on paper. There's usually a lot of stuff you're safe skimming over. Only inquire players of the things that stick out to you the most. Trying to hyper-analyze every little wrinkle and squiggle and anomaly will short-circuit your brain-gear, my friends. Overthinking things is another thing to watch out for.

You can easily post 2-3 decent, meaty posts each day an be alright. Wordiness is another pitfall, too.

 

[House]

On a similar note, I found this link to be enlightening.

 

[sameech]

I find that framing Avatar works 40% of the time too.