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@Zaradi
I'll tell you where I'm at with Ragnar and why; make up your own mind and tell me whether you agree.
On a very high level, Ragnar has shown the least interest of anyone here in posting reads, reading and engaging with the DP, and sorting scum and town from one another. Adding to that the fact that he is not engaging with anyone, his thought process isn't even evolving; it's not even happening, which raises the obvious question of why. Why isn't his thought process evolving and why is the only actual scum read he has made being based on OMGUS logic against Sui? Looks to me like it's because he knows, which is why his reads aren't evolving as the facts develop.
The reads he posts, few as they are, are not even reads but summaries of activity which look more like he is trying to appear to engage in pro-town actions but he can't get past the fact that he knows the affiliations and he has other things going on. He says he is willing to sheep you or Danielle, and that would be very convenient if it turned out that either of you pushed a mislynch. If you're right he gets the credit for being on the lynch; if you're wrong he claims that it was you guys and not him that made the error and he uses the fact that he was sheeping to avoid suspicion on him. Except that's not how it works. If he was sheeping you because he actually agreed with your reads/analysis then that would be one thing, but he isn't saying that at all. He is saying that he town reads you both and so he is therefore willing to let you two take all the risks without him independently contributing. That is classic scum behavior.
Ragnar's first post is 34, wherein he posts nothing, and then posts less than nothing in 42, where he says that there is one person he can guarantee is not town.... someone who is not even in the game. To his credit, nothing had really happened thus far but he also wasn't doing anything to make anything happen. He's just kind of there. Making his presence known, and nothing else. Vote count at 51, Ragnar is still doing nothing. I prompt him at 64, and nothing. Vote count at 76, and 84, and 101.... nothing. No posts other than pulp. He is not active or engaged. He is not invested in sorting town from scum, or even participating in conversations.
It takes Ragnar until 113 to do anything even semi-substantive. He posts a read list that does not take positions but does not take a hard position other than to say that he is "scum more often than not". I thought that was actually pretty funny, but it felt like WIFOM. Very subtle, funny, playful... but not moving the ball forward. He acknowledges this in his post by saying "not the best, I know". Why isn't he posting a list of reads to let people, in particular me, know what he is thinking? It's because he isn't reading the OP and therefore doesn't have thoughts on the game's progression. The reads were superficial and he missed several critical details, which I think you noted. Ragnar said that I didn't even know if I was town or scum; but I clearly said that I was only tempted to not read my role PM. Moreover, Ragnar list of "reads" isn't even a list of reads. It's just a non-committal summary, largely wrong, without even a statement of affiliation for anyone. There is no read on Danielle. He simply notes that TUF's posts 6 and 14 are "worth reviewing" and while that is a sort of alluding to an FOS, he doesn't even come out and say it. He leaves it there. He similarly is just summarizing Objectivity's posts, your posts, Sui's posts, and Oro's posts and does this with like one line of analysis. So I am now trying to figure out why even post it? I've seen Ragnar's town play, and while I think I've seen his scum play, this isn't his town play. He usually has narrow and fairly precise insight with reads. I am not seeing narrow or precise insight. I'm not even seeing insight. I'm seeing a list of reads that does not even reflect that he is reading the DP. That kind of apathy suggests an informed perspective to me, and therefore suggests that he is scum. He also doesn't even read Airmax but VTL's him in 114, only after Sui had VTL'd Max, and repeats the prior mistake where he claimed I said I didn't read my role PM in 122.
More than 100 posts pass before Ragnar is heard from again in 262, which was another nothing post. But 269 is important:
I'm a firm believer in there being two types of scum. There are mafia who are forced to be scum, and townsmen who choose to be scum. Getting rid of the first is how the game is won, but removing the second isn't so bad.Of course I did not know you were at work. Sorry about that, i did not mean to be an ass. I'll keep your schedule in mind the remaining days.Unvote
So Ragnar is saying what the thinks town should be doing, albeit in a vague and sort of noncommittal way, but he is doing nothing to either generate activity or enable the the identification of town and scum players. He is just lurking. He is not posting analysis. He is not asking questions. He is not trying to figure out who is town and who is scum. Presumably because he knows, which is why he is so easy to explain away scummy behavior of others (i.e., Airmax) so as to avoid the indignity of being caught on a mislynch and potentially exposing himself to subsequent pressure? Remember Ragnar is unvoting Airmax at 269, and continuing to explain away more potential scum behavior (even if I think the assessment is wrong) at 310 and 317.
But where are his reads? He is vaguely responding to questions, explaining away why he thinks other people's potential scum reads are not scum, but he isn't even willing to take a firm position on who is town and who is scum, more than 300 posts into DP1. Ragnar first posts a list of reads at 331, at exactly 1:20 PM by my clock on DART, just about 45 minutes after I prodded him here. So he is lurking, not posting reads, and avoding taking a position on anything other than suggesting why people are wrong about who is scum up until this point. He replies to Danielle agreeing with me that he needs to post reads.
In 331, Ragnar is still not doing anything useful. In fact he is only saying that he would be willing to sheep you or Danielle, so he is going to have you two blaze the trail while he follows. Excellent scum strategy. If you're right he looks pro-town while knowing you're pushing mislynches, but if scum he can say "I was just sheeping Dani and Zaradi!" Potentially he is setting you up for a mislynch because if you lead a wagon and are wrong, it's not hard to figure out what comes next. This is especially important where you led a wagon on TUF, which is one reason why I think the potential that Ragnar and TUF are both scum is very very low. I also think there is no chance of Ragnar and Danielle because Danielle is town. The only scum read he makes is on Objectivity, who if it turns out flips scum this could be a very convenient way for Ragnar to put distance between him and objectivity. But still, he VTL's Sui for reasons that begin and end in OMGUS. This is not the kind of analysis I expect from town Ragnar; this is the kind of analysis I expect from scum Ragnar who knows who is town and scum and who is having a hard time ignoring the fact that he knows the affiliations.
That was the point at which I was willing to VTL him for death.
