I'm really sorry, but if I was mafia I probably would have done almost everything differently than how the mafia did it in this game. Not only has the mafia strategy for posting been terrible but they're going on with blaming it all on the off-thread conversing. But you guys can easily get in on that and use it to your advantage! It's immensely risky business to converse outside of the game. If you want evidence of how seriously I mean that, just ask Dan how much I trusted him when he talked to me.
All these pacts meant NOTHING to me throughout the game, I'll have you know. Bambi tried to contact me, I told her that I don't want any part of it. In fact, it increased my suspicion of her and I only pulled out of voting for her when she went public with her information because sending it only to me was just very suspicious to me. If I was a mafia, saying "I am a ________" would be to my advantage. Mafia is all about lying to people. That's what you do - say you're not mafia, obviously. It's EVERYONE'S job in this game, in a way - possibly excepting the Jester. So what if someone comes to you outside of the thread? What are you supposed to say? "Oh, you're not a mafia? Thank God for that! Now I can clearly trust you! Because if you were a mafia, I know you'd have told me. Boy is this a big relief. Now I will tell you that I am a cop and you won't kill me at all because you told me you are a citizen, which no mafia would ever do."
I don't mind no spreadsheets though. I never used Robin's ones because I found they lacked interesting information which I gathered on my own (and I think one vote on the spreadsheet was inaccurate, but never bothered checking to be fair). I still suspect a person that Bambi copied in the PM to me to, as a possile mafia informant. I suspect freakin' everyone. I still suspect Bambi too, actually. I have no solid evidence that she is not mafia so it could be a very good trick. Same with Robin Hood. There are very few people I am convinced of the innocence of (and that was admittedly by intense questioning and my own in-depth investigations which took roughly an hour each time).
I think Lekana and Ojoj PM'ing each other and just starting off some conversation and then joining forces is a terrible risk by them but lucky enough for them it paid off. I personally didn't do any of that. I talked about the game for a very long time before I trusted anyone.
So in a way, I suppose I back the idea of not talking outside of the thread - because for the most part that's the strategy I've used with success. However I do not back the BANNING of such activity, because if people want to take that risk then they should be given the option. I'm eager to get a chance to be on mafia in some future game so I can exploit such a thing. >=] Dan did it expertly and I want to have a go too. Someday. The kind of information that people bandy about would be very useful if I was mafia, I tell you. I think roughly half of the people in this game have used non-thread communication (either giving or receiving), maybe more. It's certainly made things interesting.
But back to the point: If the mafia think that's the reason they are losing, they're sorely mistaken - to my knowledge, most of the votes haven't included people agreeing on who to vote for outside of the thread. They've discussed things but I personally never agreed on who to vote for, I made my own mind up while at work on every occasion. I think so, anyway. I can't remember where I was on day one.
Of course, it's entirely possible that the mafia could win from this point and I could look very silly for dismissing their strategy. >_>;
