Dedicated mafia section

Author: DebateArt.com

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#1
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In a forum topic that I recently created asking about new sections on the website, somebody mentioned that a lot of people like the mafia game and it deserves to be something special, so now I am thinking about making it a first class citizen on our website, the only problem is, I know nothing about the game lol

So I wanted to ask somebody to please give me the short overview of how it usually works in our context ( obviously I could check the forum myself but then there is no guarantee I would understand everything correctly so it's just safer to ask ) and to create a Telegram (which is much better than WhatsApp ) group where you could guide me on the specific implementation details, if, of course, you are up for it and confident in your understand of the process :)

Preferably, it'd be nice at least 3-4 people in the group :)

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#2
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@Earth
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Ping
#3
Lunatic
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@DebateArt.com
Are you talking about just making a new forum dedicated to only mafia, or thinking about implementing features that make mafia a part of the website? I feel like you mean the latter, since creating a new forum wouldn't require knowledge of the game. 

Basically the game is an un-informed majority (the town) vs an relatively informed minority (the mafia). There is two factions generally with two separate win conditions. As a town player, your goal is to try and guess who the mafia are based on their in-game behavior and actions. Once you've guessed who a mafia member is, it is your goal to convince the as many players as you can to vote to lynch that player since every player gets a vote. Mafia also have a vote too, so you have to have a convincing argument. When the majority of living players have voted a single person and hit a certain lynch number, that person is killed and removed from the game. These lynches occur in what is called the day phase. The night phase follows this, in where there is no public communication. Generally the minority group (mafia) will be the only ones allowed to talk in a private messaging system to each other. Each night phase they have to decide amongst themselves which town member to kill. As mafia you are trying to slowly kill each town member and lead mis-lynches by lying and misleading the town into lynching themselves instead of you and your team. In addition to this, most living players will usually be granted a role or ability that they can use in the night phase to assist them in the game. Both town and mafia are commonly given roles. 

That is a brief overview of what mafia is. But to answer your question of how to implement it, I would say a forum works just fine. The only thing that makes it difficult on this website is the lack of a group messaging system, seeing as mafia can't communicate with each other on the site, and we end up having to use third party applications to communicate. If you could implement a chat system, or messaging system that allows for more than 1-1 communication, that would be a huge help to the mafia community!


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Are you talking about just making a new forum dedicated to only mafia, or thinking about implementing features that make mafia a part of the website? I feel like you mean the latter, since creating a new forum wouldn't require knowledge of the game. 
Yeah, it feels like the forum is not exactly the most convenient way to play and a lot of things could be improved so it'd be a separate section of the website :)

Thank you for the overview, it's really helpful!

My idea is that all those moderator and players assignments and management, replacement situations, group chatting and lots of other things could be improved but it'd be handy to have somebody to consult along the way, to make things as flexible and convenient as possible.
#5
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@DebateArt.com
Lunatic covered the game well enough. Only thing I'd add is that mafia win once they reach a majority of the players, or at least half, seeing as you need a majority of votes to lynch somebody, and if mafia make up majority, then they can choose who gets lynched or not. 

Town wins once all mafia are eliminated. Mafia wins once they have majority, since after that it would be a straight shot to victory. 

Also, what Lunatic said about group PMs, that would be extremely helpful. That way, we can just communicate through the site instead of having to find other alternatives. 
#6
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@DebateArt.com
I don't think that will be necessary. The games forum is essentially the mafia forum already. In addition, the games forum is a forum where members play games AND discuss them. In other words, mafia already fits right in with the games forum.

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@Vaarka
Thanks, that's really helpful, I've been doing my research today and I think I start seeing the big picture.

I know that group PMs would be handy and we'll have them soon, hopefully.

I am starting working on a separate concept of mafia games, which would be something you'd be able to create just like you create debates but I need to decide what characteristics and options each game must have?

At the moment I can come up with:

  • Game name
  • Status (collecting players, finished etc)
  • Number of players
  • Description (not mandatory, only if needed)
  • Host (the player that created the game)
  • Phase lengths for days and nights (should those be static, should they be dynamic depending on the number of alive players or something like that?)
So what else do we need and how would it work?

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#8
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The question above is for everyone :)
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@Mharman
A lot of things could significantly be improved using the mechanics that the website can provide. It would be possible to set exact time periods, rules, some dynamic changes like the length of phases, handle replacements properly and a lot of other things. I think it's worth a shot to try implement something like that.

But it's still just an idea, I wonder if something can come outta it.
#10
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@DebateArt.com
Thanks, that's really helpful, I've been doing my research today and I think I start seeing the big picture.

I know that group PMs would be handy and we'll have them soon, hopefully.

I am starting working on a separate concept of mafia games, which would be something you'd be able to create just like you create debates but I need to decide what characteristics and options each game must have?

At the moment I can come up with:

  • Game name
  • Status (collecting players, finished etc)
  • Number of players
  • Description (not mandatory, only if needed)
  • Host (the player that created the game)
  • Phase lengths for days and nights (should those be static, should they be dynamic depending on the number of alive players or something like that?)
So what else do we need and how would it work?

What you have rn is really good. Once we have PMs that can host multiple people then we'll be set, even if you left things as "the game forum". Making games like this would be helpful though, especially once mafia picks back up. It's been inactive for a while now, but hopefully should get more active as the site grows and the holidays ends. 
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@DebateArt.com
If that is something you'll proceed with I would make lunatic your sole and exclusive co sultant with that. 
#12
XLAV
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what happened to the history section 
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#13
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@Wylted
Yeah, I will definitely consult with Lunatic :)
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@XLAV
Nothing, it's still on the list, it will be there, I promise. I simply try to implement things that are interesting to implement to prevent myself from burning down. I know it sounds selfish but at least I keep myself motivated. Something has got to motivate, if it's not money, then its interest, that's how it works I am afraid. 
#15
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They summarized mafia well.

I think it is good. It gives games it's purpose. Mafia can give easy reference to people interested instead of going to games

#16
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@DebateArt.com
  • Game name
  • Status (collecting players, finished etc)
  • Number of players
These are all perfect

  • Description (not mandatory, only if needed)
Yeah, description can be used for roles as long as the description doesn't show publicly in the forum part. 


  • Host (the player that created the game)
  • Phase lengths for days and nights (should those be static, should they be dynamic depending on the number of alive players or something like that?
Phase lengths are usually controlled by the mods, so if that's a feature you can let the host change, that would be perfect!