This is a werewolf game. More particularly, this is a joint POG/SSFR Forum werewolf game. Because many of the players have never played before, the rules will be explained in more detail than usual.

First many thanks to ElliotR for allowing me to borrow nearly 100% of this OP from him.


The Setup

There are 21 players. Of these, 14 are regular villagers and 2 are seers; together, these 16 players constitute the good team. The other 5 players are wolves, who together constitute the evil team.

This a completely "vanilla" game, meaning there are no roles other than these three.

Each player received a PM with his or her role assignment. (If you didn't, contact me now.) The exact PMs sent to players are as follows:





Players were assigned their roles with a random number generator, without regard to, among other things, their experience, when they signed up, or whether they had confirmed their participation.


The Voting

Each day, each player may vote to lynch a player. To do so, type the name of the player in bold; if you want to be sure the moderator sees it, you could be so kind as to write something like "vote: Helen of Troy", but it is not required. You may abbreviate the name of the player, provided it is clear to other players (and the moderator) whom you mean.

You may remove your vote by posting "unvote". You may change your vote simply by voting the new player; you do not need to unvote. (It wouldn't hurt, though.)

At the end of the scheduled game day, the player with the most votes is lynched, and his role revealed in the thread. If two or more players are tied for the most votes, one of the tied players is chosen randomly by the moderator.

If at any time during the day any player has a majority of the possible votes on him (e.g., with nine players alive, five or more is a majority), the day ends immediately and that player is lynched. Any player who believes a player has reached majority should post "night", and all other posting should cease while the vote count is confirmed.

At "must lynch" (when the village must successfully lynch a wolf or lose immediately) voting rules are somewhat different; this will be explained when the time comes.


The Timing

All times given are server time, which is also Eastern Standard Time.

I will open the thread every morning by posting "It is day." I will shoot for 8:00 am server time, but I may be late; you may not post in the thread until I have made the morning post. (Note: it may not be formally locked, although I will try to do so. If not, you need to refrain on your own.)

Day lasts until 9 pm (again, EST). Posting at 9:00 pm is acceptable, and votes with that time stamp will be counted. Posting after that, even just a minute after, is not acceptable, even if I have not yet declared it night by posting "It is night." Do not post in the thread at any time, for any reason, between the end of the day and the opening of the thread the next morning. Posting after 9:02pm may result in a modkill (at my discretion).

Weekends are different: There is not "night" Saturday night -- the thread remains open from Saturday morning until Sunday evening. There is no scheduled Saturday night lynch.

If any player reaches majority and is lynched before 2 pm, the moderator may, at his discretion, reopen the thread for a second game day that same day. He will do so only if it seems clear that this will not unduly disadvantage either side.


Communication

Villagers and seers may not communicate with any other player in the game, other than by posting in this thread. Any communication about the substance of the game (i.e., anything beyond the fact that the game is being played and that you are in it) is prohibited.

Wolves may communicate with each other by any means they desire at any time they desire, even during the day.


The Roster

Ainex
AlexB182
billzfan86
BingoBango
CalledDownLight
cardassian
dnkyhunter31
ehafner
hochiminh
jack frost
Joe Pike
JumanjiBoard
karak567
MinusEV
O0Brian0O
oldschool
ReneLuske
riverfish1
RosaParks
umaine89
vizer02



Questions and Confirmation

Any questions regarding the rules should be submitted to the moderator by PM or AIM to gtpitch13.


It is still night. Do not post in this thread.

Other Rules

Editing of Posts

Do not edit any post in this thread, for any reason. Not to correct a typo; not to add a funny "Last edited by" note. Just don't. It has the potential to distort the game and be an angleshoot.


Participation

Werewolf is a participatory game. While it may be good strategy simply never to post, it is not fun for other players when people play that way. Accordingly, everyone is expected to participate on a regular basis.

This means that everyone is expected to post something every day, but it means more than that. Popping into the thread once a day to say "posting to avoid modkill" is an excellent way to get modkilled. Participate. Try -- to find wolves, or to look like you're doing so. Yes, every day. (The weekend, for this purpose, is one day.) If you don't, I will find a substitute for you, or modkill you.

If you aren't going to be able to post or vote at all on a given game day, tell me beforehand. Life happens; we get that. Once or twice is not an enormous problem, but if it's going to be an ongoing issue, we'll have to find you a substitute.

Players who do not vote and do not let me know in advance will have a 50% chance of being Modkilled.

On this same note. If you know ahead of time that you won't be able to participate for the rest of the game please PM me and I will try to find a substitute. This is much more +EV for your team and the game than a modkill.


Angleshooting

If it seems like it shouldn't be allowed, it isn't. Go with that. I will use my discretion to decide what is allowed. That said, in the thread, just about everything is allowed, except things that are specifically prohibited.

Lying is not only allowed, it is expected.

Quoting or paraphrasing communications with or PMs from the mod is not allowed. I quoted the role PMs above, so this is unlikely to be a problem, but it applies to any other PMs and the like from me as well.

Player assistance with vote counts will be greatly appreciated when the moderator is not available. If you make a mistake while doing one, that's to be expected. Do not intentionally make any, though.

Posting after day has ended, whether I have called "night" or not, is not allowed. Because this has been an ongoing problem, I am imposing a new rule: Any post made more than one minute after the end of the day (including all night) will result in a 25% chance of modkill. Yes, really. Posts at 10:01 are sometimes unavoidable accidents, so they will not be so punished, but making such posts intentionally is still cheating; do not do it.

Wagering on the game is not allowed.

Discussing the game outside the thread is not allowed. Sometimes this comes up when someone is in two games at once; basically, the most you can say outside this thread is that the game is going on, and so-andso was or is in it.

Another ongoing problem is discussing ongoing games in this thread. Don't do it. I will give a few warnings for this since there are mostly new players but it will not be happily tolerated.

Posting in the thread after you're dead is not allowed, much. You may post once after you are killed, if you want, but you may not say anything substantive -- "go, village" or "take it down, wolves" are about the limit. After that, stay out of the thread; root, but root silently. Coming back to say “I knew I should've lynched Durron” will not be tolerated.

It is best if after you are dead you don't discuss the substance of the game with anyone else in the game, or even other people, until it's over. We may need substitutes, word gets around... stuff happens. Best to keep things to yourself.

I would recommend that after you are dead you continue to keep an eye on the thread. I think you'll find that it is sometimes just as much fun to watch your remaining teammates.

Beyond that -- if you're not sure, ask.


It is still night. Do not post in this thread.

Below is some handy strategy. Again since this is mostly newer players I want to make sure to include this. The game will be more fun if all players involved have a good sense of the game ahead of time.

Thank you to atakdog for posting these at one point axel_nd for reposting them and of course the authors that wrote them.

It is still night. Do not post in this thread

Suggestions


Experience

Some of the players in this game have played before; many have not. The dynamic will be interesting, and anyone open to learning will be able to do so, but some caution is needed.

Inexperienced players: I suggest you listen carefully to your more experienced counterparts -- they have done this before, in some cases many times. Listen to them, consider their advice carefully. Do not, however, trust them, as their goal is to win the game.

Experienced players: I suggest you exercise a bit of restraint at first, lest things get off to an unpleasant start. You are not expected to soft play -- everyone is trying to win. However, it behooves everyone to recall that this is not an all star game. Also, while you may say anything you want, I would appreciate it if you do not make misrepresentations about the structure of the game, or about basic strategy. Ideally, some of the new players will stick around; please do not drive them away. And finally, I suggest you listen to them -- fresh eyes and new thoughts may turn out to be quite valuable.


Fighting

Werewolf is an adversarial game. It is also a game of very limited information. Whether for these reasons or others, discussions sometimes become arguments, and feelings sometimes get hurt. In particular, two things are often difficult to deal with: being called names, and getting wrongly wagoned (voted for lynching) or mislynched (meaning, lynched when you're a villager).

Name calling... maybe shouldn't happen, but it does. And I won't stop it, as it is, for better or worse, part of the game. Recall, though, that when someone calls you a moron or says your play is ******ed, he means it in the context of the game -- and he may not mean it at all. Maybe he (or she; you know what I mean) is a wolf trying to agitate you, or a villager trying to make you crack if you're a wolf. On the other hand, maybe he really thinks that right now you are being ******ed. And he may even be right; in retrospect, it may turn out that you're making an obvious mistake. People do that, even people who have played this game a bunch.

Remember always: it's a game. People are trying to win, and you need to, too, but it's not worth getting upset over. Put down the mouse, step away from the keyboard. Maybe take a walk -- you could probably use some fresh air anyway.

Being wrongly wagoned or mislynched... happens. In fact, it's inevitable. In a typical game, especially early on, more villagers are lynched than wolves (until seer peeks come into play, anyway). The person saying you're "wolfy" and trying to kill you for it may really believe that you're a wolf -- and the fact that he can't see that you're "obviously" a villager doesn't make him a bad person, it just makes him wrong. Also, he may be a wolf trying to get rid of you -- but assuming that that has to be the case is usually a bad plan. Meanwhile, if the whole village seems to think you're acting like a wolf, they may be right -- if you're the only one who can see that you're an obvious villager, you need to rethink what "obvious" means. And if you can't convince them, remember that in the long run, if your team wins it doesn't matter if you're alive or dead -- you still won.


Giving Up

That having been said, it is rarely right to give up as a villager. Good players very rarely roll over and say "I guess you have to lynch me" -- while those times happen, they are rare. It is your job as a villager not just to help the village find wolves but also to help it find villagers -- including you.

With that in mind, tantrums when people are wagoned, however wrong-headed and lazy the village may be at the time, will not be tolerated by the moderator. If you find the urge to vote yourself to spite the village, restrain it -- because if you indulge that urge, I may modkill you and give the village another lynch, which would hurt your team even more than the mistake it's making. (Everything in these two paragraphs applies pretty much only to villagers; it doesn't often come up when the person in question is a wolf, but tantrums will not be appreciated regardless who throws them).

If you have trouble, just remind yourself that it may all be the wolves' doing, and that's actually a compliment. If they want to get rid of you, you must be doing something right.


Playing to Win

Villagers and seers win if the village wins. Each wolf wins if the wolves win. This is a team game.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's not so simple. We're human; everyone wants to play. To be honest, the villager who is mislynched day one (if that happens), and the one who is eaten night one, are not going to get as much out of the game as those who make it into the second week. It is the nature of the game, however, that some people have to be eliminated early. Sorry; next game, maybe you'll get to play to end game.

Sometimes you may be tempted to do something that probably isn't best for your team, but will tend to make you survive longer . I can't keep you from doing that, but I will implore you to forgo it. Playing to survive, when you think it hurts your team, is contrary to the spirit of the game. Do not do it.


What Matters and What Doesn't

The answer's easy: none of this matters. It's a game. It's fun. If you don't have fun and think you won't next time, don't do it again. But meanwhile, enjoy this game, and help others do the same.

We don't play for money. There is no fame for werewolf players. There are no championships to win. If you keep at it long enough, people may start saying you're really, really good at the game -- but even then you won't win a whole lot more than your share, because there are large stochastic elements that prevent anyone from dominating. Similarly, if you lose -- maybe this game, maybe a lot of games -- it's not a big deal. Maybe you're just unlucky. Maybe your teammates let you down. Heck, maybe you stink -- but so what?

However, you need to be warned. Some of you will find that this silly, text-based Internet game with a bunch of people you're never going to meet in real life, which requires lots of effort but on which nothing rides, takes on a life of its own. You will spend hours at it. You will dream about it. You will not be able to explain why, to any rational person who doesn't play, but it will matter. A lot.

At that point, you will be one of us.


It is still night. Do not post in this thread.

All role PMs have been sent as of the time stamp of this post. If you didn't receive one please PM me or AIM me at gtpitch13.

Below is the roster:

Ainex
AlexB182
billzfan86
BingoBango
CalledDownLight
cardassian
dnkyhunter31
ehafner
hochiminh
jack frost
Joe Pike
JumanjiBoard
karak567
MinusEV
O0Brian0O
oldschool
ReneLuske
riverfish1
RosaParks
umaine89
vizer02

The thread will open approximately 8 AM EST tomorrow morning.

It is still night. Do not post in this thread.

The people of the SSFR community woke up during the day to find that their wonderful community had been overrun with trolls giving bad poker advice. There were 21 people of that community and 5 had taken to steering every astray. Will the 16 remaining good posters be able to find and kill the trolls in time? Stay tuned to find out.


IT IS DAY

Were open and this is my only game atm and i got no school this week so wolfs.... watch your backs!

also:

Frist

***MOD NOTE***

I work from about the time the thread opens until about 6pm EST. I don't have access to AIM at work although I do have access to 2p2. If you need to ask me a question during that time just PM it to me. Thanks and good luck.

***MOD NOTE***

2nd...

gogogo

2nd

Hello Rene

My first game...I am excited..!!

Damn...fail already

3rd..!!

I hope we don't have too many silent players..

My suggestion..start looking at silent ..non-posters on D2....maybe start lynching D3

Sounds like something wolves would say imo.

Not voting for Joe anywhere soon, reason: new and wanna give new players a chance, and hes hoping a pro village hope, not too many utr would definetely help us cuz the wolves cant hide that way!

And Minus i trust you know the rules about editing so lets not go there.

TO EVERYONE: EDITING YOUR POSTS IS NOT ALLOWED CHECK THE RULES

Really..I think this sounds distinctly lupine so early in the game..

But...there is a good chance that a lot of us Newbs will sound wolfie when we are villagers....

Sorry if you are not a newb MinusEV

To all new(er) villagers who are not gonna read any strategy here is my .02: Its hard in your first game, but try to make yourself as clear as a villager as possible, write down your thought process word for word and give your own arguments as to why you vote some1. I know for a fact that first bigger ww games can be VERY overwhelming when you just start playing!

A nice plan for if you think you see an overload of information that is not in the strategy guides: Try and focus on 3-4 players solely, really read into them and get to be a ´pro´ on them. Give your thoughts on those players and try to give arguments about why these players are wolfy/villagery. Ofcourse you shouldnt lose track of the bigger picture and keep binders on, but This way the information is not as hard to take in opposed to when you read into every post any1 makes!

Id prefer it if you just read the basic strategy guide however!! The advanced 1 might be a lot to take in at this moment so basic is what id recommend

My bad, sorry - been a week since my last game and I use the edit-field more than the post-field out of these games...

*** Not In Game ***

Do not edit posts

*** Not In Game ***

This is my 5th game so I'm pretty n00bish - sounding wolfy as a villager is my speciality though, so if I sound wolfy, you know I'm probably a villager

Which I am.

sounds like something a noob would say imo

Yes, I believe that has already been established.

well it hadn't when I was reading the your post. And I was really close to editing it

***MOD NOTE***

DO NOT EDIT POSTS!!!!

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