Topic: Mafia XXIX: "It's the Great Pumpkin (Mafia), Charlie Brown" Epilogue

[decoyman]

Epilogue

Later that night... The Cat Next Door, with Lucy (aka GoldenPhoenix) and Schroeder (aka Toruresu), snuck to the kite-eating tree. Linus (aka Khushrenada) pulled off his cat disguise and began jumping. “Hey!” he called. Still up in the tree, Marcie awoke at the noise.

“What are you doing, sirs?” asked Marcie suspiciously.

“Game’s over. I’d just like to get my blanket back. Can I have it? Please?”

Marcie frowned, then handed down his blanket. Linus clutched it greedily, then began sucking his thumb. “Thanks. Welclome back, Maxi, my blanket. Time to get down to business.”

Down the street, the little troop marched. At Charlie Brown’s house, they stopped. Linus, using his blanket as a whip, latched onto Sally’s window and opened it. Then he swung from a tree in through the window.

Sally (aka DrewMG), asleep in her bed, heard the noise and got up. “Linus?! Oh, my Sweet Babboo, you came to rescue me!” She ran to hug her crush.

“Yes. Now let’s go. We have work to do.” Linus grabbed hold of Sally, then he swung Indiana Jones style back out the window and safely down to the ground, where the rest of his crew was waiting. With a flick of his wrist, the blanket released from the tree branch and coiled neatly by his side.

“One last place to hit before we can get to work,” Linus said with a smirk.

Again they set off down the street. They turned a corner and then went halfway up the block, stopping at a seemingly random house. Linus knocked in a curious pattern.

No one answered. Linus went to knock again, but as he approached the door, it swung open. There stood a random adult from the Peanuts universe, aka Spak-Spang. “Well, there you are,” he said.

“How’s your butt?” asked Linus, knowingly.

“Why, it’s...” Spak-Spang, the former Great Pumpkin, reached around and felt his butt. ”Why, it’s just fine. Guess the ice did the trick.” And with that, an eery orange glow began emanating from the former townie. Where his face had been, a huge jack o’lantern appeared, and when he talked, fire spewed from his mouth. “How can the Great Pumpkin be of assistance?” he roared, laughing an evil, merciless laugh.

Linus nodded gravely, looking mock-concerned. “You’d be just surprised at the number of people who don’t believe in you! I think it’s clear that we have some... ‘re-education’ to do here. Before the night is through, we’ll make sure everyone not only believes in you, but that they never forget you. Ready to fly through the air bringing pain and terror to all the unbelievers of the world?”

“Oh, yes. Hop on, my little friends!” the Great Pumpkin said, as Linus and his Blanket, Sally, Lucy, and Schroeder piled onto his back and he flew off, his shrill and evil cackle piercing the cool, clear autumn night.

The End!

I think the horse may be dead, but feel free to continue any discussion of the game here if you want. I'll probably put a few final thoughts here as well, maybe tomorrow. For tonight, I'm all tuckered out! That was a lot of writing. Hope you guys get a kick out of the story at least, even if the ending of the game itself left something to be desired for the townies.

[BeautifulShy]

This game was great! My first win!

[Khushrenada]

I love it. Romance is in the air. Lucy and Schroeder are together along with Linus and Sally (although Linus may have something on the side with his blanket). They're all able to enjoy the beautiful night sky and the Great Pumpkin's rise. It brings a tear to my eye.

[vudu]

This game was great! My first win!

Since I'm being a poor sport, I have to say that you didn't do anything to contribute to the win.  You had a half dozen give aways that told us you were mafia.  You played a bad game and only won because the game was stacked against the townies and Khush lied to Toruresu and convinced him that his only chance of winning was to switch sides.

Also, there is no Santa Claus.

[BeautifulShy]

Oh I didn't? I found out who Toruresu was thus I pretty much wrapped up the game on Day 2.

[vudu]

[Toruresu]

Vudu, what do you mean!?

NO SANTA CLAUS!?

[BeautifulShy]

 I believe in lots of things Shaven Yak day,The Great Pumpkin, and The Tooth Fairy.Surly there must be a jolly old man in red that sends out presents on one magical night.


Come on people when I make outlandish comments like this it should be clear that I am joking.

Vudu I know what you are getting for Christmas.It something dark and not nice.

[Spak-Spang]

All debating aside.

I really enjoyed this Mafia.  THANK YOU DECOYMAN!!!

This game started out with the potential to be a memorable and fun mafia game...and it was definitely fun and memorable.

Less controversy really than the last games...and I would love to play another game hosted by Decoyman.

[BeautifulShy]

What was the most controversal mafia game? Was it the Animal Crossing one?

[that Baby guy]

The Pokemon one was a big controversy, I think.

Hmmm, my first game should have been more controversial, it was stacked against the townies.  Two games ago was controversial.  That's all I remember, the rest I've looked over are all a haze.

Oh, and stevey's game was controversial, since the roles were announced as it progressed, and the time of the action submitted had an impact of how the night went, despite no mention of it.

For the record, because the game is set over such a large period of time, and because of the diverse group that plays on the site, I believe all night actions should take place at once.  If one night action has priority over another, it should be determined before the game begins, not by whoever submits their action first.  That, I feel, is only fair, since otherwise, it depends on the player being online at just the earliest time or who lives in what timezone.

Would people be opposed if we worked out, then stickied a thread for "standard mafia rules/hosting suggestions?"

[BeautifulShy]

I agree thatguy.We need to have a mafia rules/hosting thread.

Yeah I can see how the time zones would mess up the night actions.

[Dasmos]

The Pokemon one was a big controversy, I think.

Hmmm, my first game should have been more controversial, it was stacked against the townies.  Two games ago was controversial.  That's all I remember, the rest I've looked over are all a haze.

I remember we basically broke Rogue Mafia and vudu boycotted the game half way through. That was fun.

[that Baby guy]

Hahaha, well, when we captured Spak, the tough guy, and no townies could tell which side the dead were on, it really was a cakewalk.  We lost Shift_Key on day one, and I got voted out thanks to Mr. Investigator, NuclearSpeed, but all-in-all, the game was stacked in our favor.  Great job, Khush...

[Khushrenada]

Rogue Mafia wasn't broken. Even without the information of who was who, Wandering correctly deduced 18 Days was mafia but he couldn't get the support needed for the vote. If people paid attention more instead of giving up, the townies still had a shot. They could also have prevented such a situation from arising. I used to think that maybe Rogue mafia was borked but there was evidence then that it wasn't and looking back I can see it wasn't either. But the mafia did set themselves up really well.


The most controversial is either Stevey's game or the dreaded Star Wars mafia game hands down. One or the other.


Animal Crossing isn't that controversial. It just had unexpected story twist at the end that people at first cried foul on but have come to realize now that it didn't have much impact on the game.

Pokemafia wasn't that contraversial either. It's problem was that it was more luck based than skill based and may have been skwered more in favor of one group or the other. Yet, it could have ended in many other ways than the way it did.

Actually, almost any mafia game has some kind of controversy if you look hard enough. I could list them all off too but it isn't that important. It's a social game so there are always going to be unexpected results. To keep things fresh, twists and new roles are often thrown in which can change the way things are played for better or worse. And different hosts will have their own interpretations of the game and that will change how it is played also.

When you look at the early games, yes, people were playing to win obviously. They might not have been trying as hard as we sometimes play now or take it as seriously as we seem to be lately but they were still playing to win. The difference is, they were also just looking to have a blast and share a laugh among friends. That's why there was a lot of role-playing for people to tell jokes with one another and provide some entertainment. Sometimes people were voted out for no strategic reason but on a whim or for a laugh or for vengence. It could be a very carthetic game to finally get your chance to kill someone on your nerves.

Look at Mafia 8 where a bunch of people voted RAB in revenge of Pokemafia and his constant survival. He was the bomber and a ton of people went with him. Today, we would poo-poo the idea of revenge for a past game or try to circumvent people voting that way for something more rational. We would want to try and figure out who RAB was first before voting. Sure, some people (stevey) were upset that RAB was the bomber but in the end, everyone had a good laugh because, hey, it was freakin' hilarious. That's something we've seemed to lost and maybe I'm partly at fault with that because of how I play. I'm not sure but it is something I would like to see creep back into the game, that spirit of mischeviousness and mirth. Sometimes, you need a Joker character to just come in and cause anarchy.

My take on things.

[Khushrenada]

Oooh. I just remembered another classic moment and sign of decline. Day 1 of Rogue Mafia has one of my favorite Shift Key messages. Always brings a smile to my face. His vote for Pittboi. Classic. It was kind of funny how that backfired too and he got voted out the first day because of it. I know I often decry the death of a new person on Day 1 but that's mainly because I want to see the game grow. If someone is killed on Day 1, they don't experience the game and may never return feeling that they are unwelcome. Of course, that didn't stop the Spak killings and they are funny in their own right. But, it was around this time that new people started getting more of a chance to play.

I did my part this game by killing Gylldas on Day 2 but maybe that was one day too late.


Anyways, with Stevey hosting the next game, say it with me: I pledge to change my mafia ways and create total chaos next game for laughs and screw everyone else.

[NWR_DrewMG]

Man, I'm ready for another game.  What's the timetable for Mafia XXX?

Also, will it be Vin Diesel themed?

[decoyman]

Pokemafia was my most frustrating mafia experience, because of one rule: if a doctor was voted out, all the other doctors tried to save the doctor. This resulted in no doctors EVER being voted out. >:U Controversial or not - we knew who the mafia members were, and couldn't frickin' vote them out. Townies were crippled. That was the only rule that broke the game for me.

Hmm... it's funny how many times it's one innocent rule (or lack thereof) or one tiny oversight that causes a game to lose its balance. I really do think this was the case in this game.

Oh, I wanted to mention a special thanks to thatguy, for somewhat inspiring this game. Homicidal Jungle Cat (Calvin & Hobbes) mafia was one of my favorites. I loved the complexities and the relations that the characters shared. The multiple win conditions were awesome. And it included some really cool roles, too. T-Rex in an F-14 was win. I wanted to do a similarly-heavy-character-based mafia, and that's where the idea for this one came about. Also, Khush's Wild West mafia was another great one - I just loved the stories in that one, and so one of my main goals here was to actually spend some time on the stories, make them interesting and twisty.

One of my othe rmain ideas was that I wanted a twist – something that would shake up the game on Day 3. Sometimes these games take on a life of their own, as was the case this time. I didn't know whether the twist would go against the mafia or townies when I was working up the game, but I was really happy with the way it worked out. I just really, really wished I would've put in that win condition for dead roled townies in the event of a townie win. I really think that was the only reason the game was unbalanced. Although it wasn't game-breaker this time, I'd never understood the logic of, if the godfather is voted out, he loses his hit. But now it makes sense - it's a way for the townies to stop the hit.

Coincidentally, if Sally HAD decided to defect to the townies before it was official (like Schroeder did), she would've been able to use her power to target the godfather and stop the hit. That never came to pass, but it would've been a tool for the townies as well. As it was, that was the only way for the hit to be blocked, other than the godfather just forgetting to send it in on time (but it was Khush – that just wasn't going to happen ).

I think those were my final thoughts on the game I wanted to mention... DrewMG, stevey's setting up the next game, which I believe will be a "Hawtness" themed game (search the forum for hawtness, and you'll understand).

[Spak-Spang]

I can't comment on the most controversial because I haven't played all of them.

But the most complicated and confusing were definitely Calvin Mafia and Crisis Mafia...even though I really liked Crisis mafia...hosting that game was a blast.

[decoyman]

When you play enough games and begin to understand things well, you really appreciate the special rules and other things that complicate the game a bit more. It doesn't make it easy for new players to immediately come in and have an impact, but they usually aren't able to do that anyways. I remember how confused I was during the first mafia I watched (not played... before I actually signed up, I just watched it all go down in a few games, to try and get a feel for things). I honestly had no clue what was going on. All I knew was that I wanted in for the next game.

[Plugabugz]

But the most complicated and confusing were definitely Calvin Mafia and Crisis Mafia..

You forgot Mario Kart.

[vudu]

I think Mafia II was my personal favorite.  I like the idea of two opposing mafias with one double-agent in both.  (Although, it helps that I was that double agent.)  I don't think we'll ever be able to do that game again because it requires two large mafias so you need at least 20 - 25 players in order for the game not to be completely broken.

[Spak-Spang]

I didn't think Mario Kart Mafia was that hard to follow...and i really enjoyed Mario kart Mafia.  In fact, my next Mafia game I host will be based on that game.  It will be of course after Stevey's game, and will require me to spend some time determining how to give out items...because items were the only thing out of balance that game. 

[Plugabugz]

I didn't think Mario Kart Mafia was that hard to follow...and i really enjoyed Mario kart Mafia.  In fact, my next Mafia game I host will be based on that game.  It will be of course after Stevey's game, and will require me to spend some time determining how to give out items...because items were the only thing out of balance that game. 

I balanced the items based on the teams. So for every red shell on one team, there was a banana on the other. Every item in the game (except for vudu who was the Green Player) had an item that could be blocked by somebody else. In theory everything was balanced.
But i am interested to hear what ideas you have to mix up the formula

[Spak-Spang]

plugabugz:  I would like to develop the items more like Mario Kart.  Which means that there would be tiers for the weapons.

Start of the game would only have available:  bananas, Turtle Shells (Blue and Red), mushrooms, basically the very low powered effect one person items/ defense weapons.

Then as a team and or individual player loses balloons life, more items become available to them, including the Team Specific items if there are any.  This would include items like:

Stars, triple shells (Red and Green) Lightning, multiple bananas, ghosts

Finally team specific powerup will become available when either the teams are unbalanced or players are unbalanced...and could include items like: Mafia: Protection from vote or Paintbrush (Recruit townie)

Then I would just have to work out giving items on a fair probability chart.

Also, I will work my Mafia Kart Mafia traditional with a smaller Mafia and mafia members knowing each other with the idea of a larger townie force.  To balance this out...the townies that get an item will be equal to the number of mafia that get items, forcing voting as still the major means of eliminating players for the townies.