Second Official Smogon Mafia Game Preview

Hello Smogon!

We of the Circus Maximus mafia community are excited to announce that we will soon be holding our Second Official Smogon Mafia Game, OFFICIAL Mafia 2.

Err... what's mafia again?

Mafia is a widely popular strategy game, also commonly referred to as "werewolf" when played in real life; for an introduction to Smogon Mafia, I encourage newer users to read this article to get a better sense of how mafia has evolved on the Smogon forums, and this introduction thread for an overview of what happens in Circus Maximus.

As some of you may recall from our First Official Game Preview, Official Smogon Mafia Games are large, openly accessible mafia games that are hosted by experienced players, certified by the Circus Maximus staff, more visible to the rest of the site, and carry greater recognition to those who play and win them. As a refresher to those who may be rusty on what sets such games apart from other games, I broke down four principle differences these games would have in the original game preview:

The winners will receive custom banners until the conclusion of the next Official game;
These games will have publicly announced signups and game previews (like this one!) ahead of time;
These games will be beginner accessible, enabling anyone who is interested in participating to do so;
Participation in and, more importantly, hosting Official games will become the primary consideration for badging in Circus.

So when can I sign up?

Signups will be posted Sunday, November 13th, at 5 PM PST in the Circus Maximus subforum. To sign up you simply need to post "in" in the thread.

To improve your chances at being selected to play in the game, I recommend the following:

Join the Circus Maximus room on Pokémon Showdown!—this will be the primary method of communication in this game, and demonstrating an ability to use Showdown as well as an active interest in the game will certainly improve your chances;
Simply PMing the hosts (vonFiedler and Yeti) indicating your interest and what your favorite mafia roles are (if you have mafia experience outside of this site) will help get you noticed;
Please do NOT spam the signups thread.

How'd the First Official Game go?

Metagame Mafia was hosted this past late-May to Mid-June by myself (UncleSam) and Walrein, and it was an action-packed game played out by a whopping 58 players, each of whom was assigned a Pokemon and each of whom had to ensure that the Smogon tier of their assigned Pokemon defeated all others.

After over a dozen cycles and 50 player deaths, the Anything Goes Tier, represented by acidphoenix and TheTwinMasters, claimed victory over the remaining OverUsed, Ubers, and Rest (all other tiers) players, as their strength could no longer be stopped by the remaining players. I highly recommend reading back through that game (and looking through the updates, linked to chronologically in the OP of the game) for a fuller rehash of how that game progressed.

After the great success and rousing interest in the First Official Game, we at Circus Maximus are very much looking forward to another success!

So....about that Game Preview...

Right! Sorry! Below is a preview of what to expect should you sign up for the upcoming Second Official Game, courtesy of its cohost, Yeti:

This game is OFFICIAL 2. The latest in a long history of experimental multifactions, the second OFFICIAL Mafia melds exemplary strengths and weaknesses with flavor spanning years of Circus Maximus history. You will be immersed in a competitive, strategic game featuring the usual village against mafia dynamic, but expanded to a new level.

This game features three villages:

The SANDS, a populous village with incredible control over the lynches. This team seeks to ensure their votes always matter and eliminate their opponents through each cycle's lynch;
The STARS, an inquisitive village with the tools to gain information and great rewards for gaining it. The more they know, the better they are at swinging the game in their favor;
The MUDS, a hearty village that will fight to remain alive to the bitter end. They are survivors oriented around defensive plays and predictions.

And one mafia:

The AQUANAUTS, a powerful mafia team with strong roles just waiting to be utilized. They are a united team looking to hide within each village until they can overrun each town.

This game is held on an ANONYMOUS FORUM off of Smogon that will be linked in the Game Thread in Circus Maximus. You will receive a USERNAME and PASSWORD PMed to you on Smogon—this is your new identity for the game. You will log into your account on the anonymous forum and receive your Role PM. Be VERY protective of your username, aka ALIAS. Anyone who learns of it, now has the means to kill you, whereas your Smogon username is safe from being lynched or killed. Remember to only share your Role Name until you are certain you trust someone and read the Newbie Guide in the Office of Strategic Influence for more information.

This is a unicycle game, which means Day and Night take place in one merged cycle. You will lynch at the same time you can kill, hook, protect, inspect, whatever your role may be.

About Your Hosts

vonFiedler and Yeti both have a lengthy history of hosting multifaction games on Smogon. von is notable for his inclusion of social experiment elements within his games and desire to motivate skilled play and negotiations. He hopes to appeal to newcomers by ensuring there are no overly complicated mechanics in this game. Yeti brings the flavor and fun to the game as the host of the mafia series the factions herald from. Together they have developed unique and fun roles that players can use in smart and crafty ways to propel their team to victory.

The SANDS, STARS, and MUDS have been battling each other since anyone can remember. They have always had about equal numbers, and though one may temporarily gain the upper hand, the other two will quickly surge to beat them back down. Embroiled in their conflicts, they didn't quite notice the AQUANAUTS creep up on them, encroaching from far-off lands they have already conquered. This new, smaller threat now seeks to sweep over the other three and drown them out. But each team has become specialized in their craft and seeks to use their talents to their advantage, or to the advantage of another if it benefits them in the moment. Only by working with the others, even if temporarily, can any one team hope to achieve victory. When you stab is up to you. Too early, you get retaliated against. Too late, your fate is already sealed. Right on time? We'll see how that goes.

—UncleSam, Yeti, and the entire Circus Maximus staff

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