# Players That Don't Post ......



## AyeCantSeeYou

What to do about players that sign up for games, but don't post much of anything in them? 

As a player, it pisses me off to no end when people don't post in the game. It isn't fair to those that actively play. I try to engage them by asking them questions directly; sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't.


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## Wolfsister77

One of the MOST frustrating things for me to deal with playing in a game is people that go for long periods of time without posting game related content. It is so damn annoying to me. Why sign up if you aren't going to play?  I'm not talking about being on V/LA. There should be a posting requirement in these games. I see no reason if you sign up, you can't make one game related post every 24 hours. Not fluff or one liners, but game related posts.That should be a rule in all games and sign ups from now on. There needs to be a posting requirement. Otherwise, I can see the games just dwindling out here. I won't sign up again if no one plays. It's a waste of time.

How do we get reads in a Mafia game? By looking at other game related posts, by giving reads, by asking questions of each other and interacting with each other, reaction test, etc. With no one posting, it is impossible to play. 

The only thing that bugs me more is personal attacks.


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## House

Prod dodge.


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## Wolfsister77

ego post


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## Wolfsister77

Reading now...............................


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## Wolfsister77

So House is scum. Aye's probably his partner.

More later..............................been busy.


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## Wolfsister77

Fluff


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## AyeCantSeeYou

Wolfsister77 said:


> So House is scum. Aye's probably his partner.
> 
> More later..............................been busy.



Who wouldn't be his partner with those eyes?


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## sameech

AyeCantSeeYou said:


> What to do about players that sign up for games, but don't post much of anything in them?
> 
> As a player, it pisses me off to no end when people don't post in the game. It isn't fair to those that actively play. I try to engage them by asking them questions directly; sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't.



Lynch them, policy or otherwise straight out of the gates.


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## Wolfsister77

That would be a lot of lynches but might hit scum eventually. Alternatively, all games can have a vig and a cop. Lurkers tend to attract both types.


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## Grandma

This has to be the newest Mafia site on the internet, so by now players should know what's expected of them. If they can't be bothered with playing or declaring V/LA then they should be force-replaced, policy lynched, or modkilled, and be blacklisted for a period of time.


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## sameech

Wolfsister77 said:


> That would be a lot of lynches but might hit scum eventually. Alternatively, all games can have a vig and a cop. Lurkers tend to attract both types.



There are a lot of players who just wait until late in the game to become active which is counter productive as it leads to more mislynches in the beginning so it is of little difference.  If you are going to mislynch someone, it is better to mislynch a lurker IMO.


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## FA_Q2

This is one of the core reasons that the mosd are there for - to replace or otherwise deal with players that refuse to participate.

Continued offenders should simply be blacklisted for a period of time.  The rules that are generally posted in the opening post are pretty clear here - posting is a requirement.


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## Wake

It's tough.

When I was working in home health I'd have a lot of free time to play. Now with the hospital job I'm getting worked. There is the temptation, when you're bored, to sign up for many different games at once, because you want to see what kind of goodies you get i.e. roles. Then life, work, and the physical limitations of your body kicks in, and suddenly you find yourself clamped onto the tail of a T-Rex. A good rule of thumb is to jump into one or two less games at one time than you feel you can handle at the present moment.


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## Wake

I think I need to sign up for fewer games and focus on USMB. I have ZERO problem playing with everyone here. Some at the main site are just horrible/annoying people. Others are good, but you can't really gather them into one game, I think.

This last week has been Hell Week. Can't feel my feet from the ankles down from all the work. On the flip side, my body is finally adapting and, oddly, my energy levels seem to be soaring gradually. Geez, it's like a 12-hr workout on my feet. Last count, 34 blisters on both feet.


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## Wolfsister77

FA_Q2 said:


> This is one of the core reasons that the mosd are there for - to replace or otherwise deal with players that refuse to participate.



One of the main reasons I don't want to mod is dealing with the players that don't post or having to find replacements or deal with personality conflicts, etc. It just seems like a major pain in the ass plus I'd probably just modkill anyone that pissed me off.


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## Wolfsister77

One excusable reason for laying low is if you are a PR trying to stay out of the spotlight. Unfortunately, that also means you could be scum doing the same thing. I think the balancing act here is, if the whole game is doing it, it really sucks to be a player in. I probably would complain about it to put on a show if I was scum but I also probably wouldn't care much then. But as town, I absolutely hate that. I have got to have strong town help to play well as town. The problem is, making sure I'm getting it from town and not scum trying to be helpful. That is why I am susceptible to buddying. Because I appreciate the help wherever I can get it when town isn't doing anything. Town apathy in a game, where I am the only active one and therefore can't get good reads, and where scum can easily walk away with a victory, makes me not want to sign up for another game because I have better things to do than bang my head against the wall and get frustrated. Healthier things even.


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## Shaitra

As someone that doesn't always post much I'd like to weigh in on this.  I'm not trying to make anyone mad, nor am I mad at anyone or taking this thread to heart.  But it's just some things to consider.

First, in the beginning of a game for some reason I have a hard time finding things to say.  I can't look at 5 posts from someone and say they are scum or town.  I need more to be able to get a read.  But some people don't like it if you have a null read on everyone.  I really do understand that, but if I really don't know whether they feel scummy or townish, how am I supposed to say anything other than null?

Sometimes some people are posting so much it makes it hard to post.  And if the person posting gets mad because they don't think someone else is posting enough, that really turns me off.  I play these games to have fun.  When people start complaining then the game becomes a chore.  It also bothers me when people stalk you and say "they are posting in that forum but not here" type statements.  I have had people do that to me and again, it makes me not want to post.   If a mod wants to have a posting restriction and say you have to post three times a day put it up front before the game starts and I won't sign up for that game.  I won't be offended or feel that I'm being excluded.  I try to post content related posts every 24 hours at least.  Does it always happen?  No.  

Sometimes I have posted something that I do feel is content related and had other people call it fluff.  Yes, I have definitely posted fluff stuff before and it usually has a smilie of some kind in it because that's how I tend to try and show that I am joking about something.  And knowing that everyone posts fluff at some point it's annoying to hear that someone thinks that everything you've posted is fluff.  It is another reason that I don't post much.  I don't want to be accused of posting fluff.  

It's really kind of funny, but I tend to be the opposite of most people on the internet.  I am rather shy about posting on the 'net and am pretty outgoing IRL.  It really frustrates me because IRL I can talk your ear off.  When I sit down in front of the keyboard to post in a game, my gift of gab goes out the window.  

Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there as something to consider.


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## Wake

People are busy.

Posting frequency should never mean one is Scum, unless a thorough study of one's meta points to one alignment or the other.

As Town/Scum I've gravitated between posting a little and posting a lot. Post frequency is one thing that isn't really a Scumtell. 

At times I get nervous about gabbing away in a Mafia game, 'cause people are looking for an excuse to lynch somebody. The more you talk the more you draw attention to yourself, and the more your neck looks like a darn good start. That's not always the case. It depends on the people comprising the game.


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## Grandma

Speaking of non-posting players, has anyone heard anything from Scarlet or MathBlade? They haven't been at the other site, either. I'm worried.


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## Wake

In Mafia you're never going to appease everybody.

If you post less, players will find reasons to be paranoid of it. If you post more, other people will find reasons to be paranoid of it. Same with fluff and being extremely focused on game-related content. It depends on how well you know (and can work around) the personalities at play.


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## Shaitra

Very true Wake.  I actually played a newbie game where the IC admitted that they had a hard time developing reads on day 1.  That actually made me feel better about not being able to read people on day one.  I feel I do better the longer the game goes on.  Unless House is in the game cause I can't read him any better on day 7 than I can on day 1.


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## Wake

Day 1, for me, is extremely difficult to get any sort of credible reads. You'd have to really get people talking in order to suss out anything suspicious. Days 2, 3, and beyond get so much easier.


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## Wake

If you see me being aggressive and forceful, chances are I'm Town. If you see me calm and providing big, thorough reads... eh, I might be Scum. ORLY?


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## Wolfsister77

Fact is, you can't read people if they don't post and you can't read people without those interactions. That's how the game is played, you need to post. Without people posting, you are banging your head against the wall. And people can fluff, but they need to post content. Lurking and excessive fluff posting is considered scummy. Scum have no reason to be active and scumhunt. They just have to fake it. It is very common for people at MS to pay attention to when people are online and if they are posting in other games or not. It isn't stalking. It's scumhunting. Scum hide out more. I know I do as scum. If you can't give game related content posts at least once a day, or are going to lurk, or you are going to post fluff, if you don't vote, if you don't give reads, you will be scumread. It's the way of the game.


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## Wolfsister77

Wake said:


> Day 1, for me, is extremely difficult to get any sort of credible reads. You'd have to really get people talking in order to suss out anything suspicious.



This is exactly why I get annoyed when people don't post.


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## Grandma

If you don't have any reads and can't figure anyone out, then post that you don't have any reads and can't figure anyone out. It's a start. Post why you're having a problem getting a fix on players' alignments.

Day 1 is usually a mess for everyone, if Scum gets lynched it has a lot more to do with pure luck than with anyone's reads. The reads usually aren't any good until Day 3.

No need to be shy now that you know that.


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## Wake

Then, when you say you don't have any reads, the quick-wagon develops.

"Oh? You don't have reads? Scum!"


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## Wolfsister77

Credit to reinoe for this quote but it's pretty good I think. 

The sad thing is that this is true of mafiascum meta right now.

1) Cases make sense.
2) Player is behaving rationally.
3) Isn't blowing up and getting into fights with other players.
4) Seems townie.

must be scum.


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## Wolfsister77

Wake said:


> Then, when you say you don't have any reads, the quick-wagon develops.
> 
> "Oh? You don't have reads? Scum!"



Don't word it like that. Make observations about the other players. So and so seems like they want to game solve, scumhunt-leaning town, so and so is too quiet or too careful or posts look forced or fake or is taking things out of context-scumlean, so and so hasn't posted enough to get a read-null. 

Ask questions and @ people to get them to answer. Ask them how they feel about a player you are wondering about. Ask them what they think about the game so far.

Do reaction testing-use the power of your vote, call it a gut read if you don't have a good reason, join a wagon early in the game, get people to react and that's how you get tells.

It shouldn't be too difficult to come up with something game related to say with all the different personalities at play in the game.


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## Wolfsister77

From the wiki:

As either alignment there can be times when you are not sure what you want to post - or if you want to post at all. This is normal. However, posting is generally seen as pro-Town while not posting simply lets the other players continue their trains of thought without interference (which is usually only useful for scum). Note that if if the game is at a standstill, lurking is profoundly harmful to the Town.

While some people are capable of lurking as a playstyle regardless of alignment, people don't like playing with lurkers in general and frequently criticize them for looking unreadable or scummy, making them choice policy lynches/vigs as well as objects of public ridicule. (Note that lurkers are not always unreadable or scummy, although the argument that they're not making the game any easier for Town is usually fair.)

Note that you can go too far with this - there is such a thing as posting _too much_. If other players are having a hard time catching up on the discussion because of the immense volume of posts that flowed in while they were away, it will hurt those players' contributions as well as your ability to read those players. It is possible to use this as a tactic as scum, but it has a tendency to result in inactivity replacements/modkills as the other players prefer to just let the game go instead of reading it all and trying to make sense of it.


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## House

Wolfsister77 said:


> Credit to reinoe for this quote but it's pretty good I think.
> 
> The sad thing is that this is true of mafiascum meta right now.
> 
> 1) Cases make sense.
> 2) Player is behaving rationally.
> 3) Isn't blowing up and getting into fights with other players.
> 4) Seems townie.
> 
> must be scum.



He pretty much summed up my scum game.


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## Wolfsister77

House said:


> Wolfsister77 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Credit to reinoe for this quote but it's pretty good I think.
> 
> The sad thing is that this is true of mafiascum meta right now.
> 
> 1) Cases make sense.
> 2) Player is behaving rationally.
> 3) Isn't blowing up and getting into fights with other players.
> 4) Seems townie.
> 
> must be scum.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He pretty much summed up my scum game.
Click to expand...


That's mostly mine too. I'm going to need to change it because it is too different from my town game. Easier said than done because I get voted for and scumread a lot as town and I don't want that as scum. Definitely something to try to figure out.


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## sameech

There is no magic bullet.  What works one day, doesn't work the next; what works 1 game might not work the next; what is true of one player, might not be true of another player.  sometimes you just are playing probability.  I think VT's are easier to spot than scum/PR's but that might be because scum and PR's tend to play too much alike for me.


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## ika

Grandma said:


> Speaking of non-posting players, has anyone heard anything from Scarlet or MathBlade? They haven't been at the other site, either. I'm worried.



math has pmed me on one of my offsite locations.

i assume titus has rl obligations atm, last time she had a mass flake it was due to rl wrok


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## Wake

Hope she's doing ok. She's fun to play with, as well as her sister.


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## MathBlade

I am aliiiiiive!!!!

Titus has had a lot RL obligations and myself with the holidays. I miss y'all. I replaced into two games on different sites as favors and don't think I could take any more ATM. I will pop back in when I have time though.


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## FA_Q2

MathBlade said:


> I am aliiiiiive!!!!
> 
> Titus has had a lot RL obligations and myself with the holidays. I miss y'all. I replaced into two games on different sites as favors and don't think I could take any more ATM. I will pop back in when I have time though.


I require proof that you are in a living state....


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## Wolfsister77

MathBlade said:


> I am aliiiiiive!!!!
> 
> Titus has had a lot RL obligations and myself with the holidays. I miss y'all. I replaced into two games on different sites as favors and don't think I could take any more ATM. I will pop back in when I have time though.



So happy to hear you and Titus are doing well, thanks for stopping in!!


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