Yes, the game of "Mafia" on the whole is pointing the finger of blame and watching how people wiggle out from underneath it, and making inferences about what that could mean. If you never do that it means your not dedicated to winning your just faffing for time until everyone else loses.
You don't have to do it as aggressively as me and storm were busting each other the last two days. But find something someone says make two hypotheticals as to why they could have said it; both positive and negative ideally and run with it, If you have to write it down, some of us use Google docs. Some of us just you know jot it down in our tents.
Keep track of the suspicions you toss to the thread and which ones you leave in private. If people make stellar inflatable defenses that cannot be questioned, try to question a different way at a later time, see if the story changes or note down the new information. Keep doing it until you win.
People who refuse to answer are not necessarily suspicious, But a consistent refusal to answer is suspicious, which is why storm eventually answered me as to what their wincon was because I kept pushing for that specifically knowing I was going to be voted out, for my war crimes of accidentally killing a singular person of great froggy value. Some people are noted low posters, going after low posters is the easiest way to scum hunt, pay specific attention to how they defend themselves, If they have a reason for low posting be it school boredom or w/e as a grace be nice, because people still have agency to do whatever and it's a game at the end of the day.
But note down when someone does "something solvey" but that solving only throws wrenches, or lacks "new information" in a typical mafia game a lack of moving the information forward or presenting new ideas is actively "fluff posting" meaning you're not trying to win. You are just trying to stall for time until somebody else gives you something you can jump onto. Which is being actively suspicious.
Playing as scum is to do the exact opposite and not get caught. So by that merit, lack of votes, not presenting the thread with new information, and fluff posting is all mafia tells, also in some ways being away from the thread and not making any attempts at solving so you don't get caught up in a lie. "Mafia units" only have to worry when a thread starts getting too solvey in their general direction, otherwise they can just kind of nudge things along and make sure that their little pet project is evolving the way that they want it to.
A good Mafia player knows when and when not to buss their partners and take the L. Paying attention to sudden alignment switches is another good way to scum hunt. HatVest is very good at active pressure on other mafia members and bullying tactics because of you have to defend yourself a lot in early game it does a lot to trick people into giving you townie credits that you can spend at a local retailer near you.
This wall is getting massive and my thumbs are tired. I hope you've enjoyed my dissertation of how to play Mafia. @herodualies
Anybody who's more skilled than me (basically everyone in this thread) want to pair on to this with more information. Please do, I don't know everything, this is just most of what I've learned from my limited games I've played.
You don't have to do it as aggressively as me and storm were busting each other the last two days. But find something someone says make two hypotheticals as to why they could have said it; both positive and negative ideally and run with it, If you have to write it down, some of us use Google docs. Some of us just you know jot it down in our tents.
Keep track of the suspicions you toss to the thread and which ones you leave in private. If people make stellar inflatable defenses that cannot be questioned, try to question a different way at a later time, see if the story changes or note down the new information. Keep doing it until you win.
People who refuse to answer are not necessarily suspicious, But a consistent refusal to answer is suspicious, which is why storm eventually answered me as to what their wincon was because I kept pushing for that specifically knowing I was going to be voted out, for my war crimes of accidentally killing a singular person of great froggy value. Some people are noted low posters, going after low posters is the easiest way to scum hunt, pay specific attention to how they defend themselves, If they have a reason for low posting be it school boredom or w/e as a grace be nice, because people still have agency to do whatever and it's a game at the end of the day.
But note down when someone does "something solvey" but that solving only throws wrenches, or lacks "new information" in a typical mafia game a lack of moving the information forward or presenting new ideas is actively "fluff posting" meaning you're not trying to win. You are just trying to stall for time until somebody else gives you something you can jump onto. Which is being actively suspicious.
Playing as scum is to do the exact opposite and not get caught. So by that merit, lack of votes, not presenting the thread with new information, and fluff posting is all mafia tells, also in some ways being away from the thread and not making any attempts at solving so you don't get caught up in a lie. "Mafia units" only have to worry when a thread starts getting too solvey in their general direction, otherwise they can just kind of nudge things along and make sure that their little pet project is evolving the way that they want it to.
A good Mafia player knows when and when not to buss their partners and take the L. Paying attention to sudden alignment switches is another good way to scum hunt. HatVest is very good at active pressure on other mafia members and bullying tactics because of you have to defend yourself a lot in early game it does a lot to trick people into giving you townie credits that you can spend at a local retailer near you.
This wall is getting massive and my thumbs are tired. I hope you've enjoyed my dissertation of how to play Mafia. @herodualies
Anybody who's more skilled than me (basically everyone in this thread) want to pair on to this with more information. Please do, I don't know everything, this is just most of what I've learned from my limited games I've played.
