Gmax-Proof: Making a Secure Mafia Channel

[jumpluff*]

lol jk gmax

As mafia, you will need an IRC channel to chat with your teammates, to get to know them and to strategise, and to communicate with the host in real-time. If you don't know how to get on IRC, there are tutorials available at this page. One on Colloquy and one on ChatZilla should be up soon enough, but anyway, this isn't the focus. If you know how to get on IRC and register your name already, skip the next paragraph.


You will need a registered nick to get past the security and to register a channel. So your first order of business on IRC should be to use /nick USER to get on the nick you would like to use (preferably your username), then type /ns register PASSWORD EMAIL. Go to your email and get the confirmation code command. To log into your nick in future, you'll need to type /ns id PASSWORD (or /msg nickserv identify password).

Next, you'll need to join your mafia channel and get ops there, so don't try to register an occupied channel. Let's call our channel #alphabetsoup. Nobody is in #alphabetsoup, so you get @ automatically. Type /cs register #alphabetsoup PASSWORD DESCRIPTION. Password should be a pass for the channel (duh), though you probably won't need it. Now if you follow this guide, unless someone fucks up or services go down, nobody should know #alphabetsoup exists, but don't make the description MAFIA HEADQUARTERS or something. That is asking for it.

Mlock (mode lock) works so that whenever anyone joins the channel, ChanServ sets the modes you need automatically. You'll need +s (secret) so that the channel doesn't appear in the /list or /whois channel lists, and +i (invite only) so that you have to be on the access list to get in. /cs set #alphabetsoup mlock +si

Then you need to add the host and your partners to the access list. /cs sop #alphabetsoup add Mekkah or /cs aop #alphabetsoup add Mekkah. (to delete mekkah, use del instead of add) Mekkah needs aops or sops to invite himself. If Mekkah wants to come in, he'll need to type /cs invite #alphabetsoup then join. Alternately, you can make it so anyone with the hostmask *!*@nothing.left.to.lose (Mekkah's vhost) can join the channel, by setting /mode #alphabetsoup +I *!*@nothing.left.to.lose This way, Mekkah cdan just join whenver he feels like it, providing +I is on, but all modes drop when you leave a channel (that's why mlock is necessary). (also +I is less secure than /cs invite being required, but only marginally so)

You should probably get someone with a good connection (mafia partner or uninvolved third party who did not sign up and you can trust not to fuck the game up) to idle in your mafia channel 24/7 to stop the modes from dropping: if Shaun the Sheep wants to get into your channel and knows it exists, he can just wait for you all to leave. Also, if nobody is there, all the +Is drop! If you don't know anyone you can have idle there, drop jumpluff an IRC or forum PM, add jumpluff to aops/sops, and she'll put her bot, Jirachi, in there.

tl;dr: if my mafia is altair, askaninjask, accent, and me:

/join #alphabetsoup
/cs register #alphabetsoup shaunthesheep flash game discussion channel
/cs set #alphabetsoup mlock +si
/cs sop #alphabetsoup add altair
/cs sop #alphabetsoup add askaninjask
/cs sop #alphabetsoup add accent

[Mekkah**]

Random notes that prolly won't have to be edited in:

- When screenshotting things for unrelated business (for example to show off your IRC background/color combination), black or cut out all places where your channels are listed.
- When copypasting logs of a conversation that can be seen by people not on your team, be careful not to copypaste these:

[12:06:20] * ChanServ (services@services.synirc.net) invites you to join #alphabetsoup
[12:07:13] -dissonance.nl.eu.synirc.net:@#alphabetsoup- ChanServ invited Mekkah into the channel.

You can prolly tinker the IRC options to put invites and notices in your status window but I could never figure out how to do that (the options that indicate to do so don't seem to work properly for me @ _ @). Alternatively you can just use +I but as the OP outlined that's got other issues.

[jumpluff*]

oh, yeah, you're right. I also always delete mafia-related notices, etc. put any relevant logs in notepad and strip them.

[billymills]

Few things:

Register your nick /ns register password email
//mode $me +p
don't talk to strange people
don't make your mafia channel something obvious, like the name of your team only backwards.

As long as the channel name isn't guessable, you don't need all those random modes on it.

[Thorns]

don't register a channel under your nick if you can, if synirc slips and they see #dangerousanimals regged under thorns they will assume that you made a mafia channel

[Bass]

Originally Posted by Fat Thorns

don't register a channel under your nick if you can, if synirc slips and they see #dangerousanimals regged under thorns they will assume that you made a mafia channel

I was about to say, there is a remedy for this. All you need to do is change the founder of the channel. This can be done with /cs set <channel> founder <nick>. As a general rule of thumb, I tend to make the host the founder of the channel for convenience, but if you want to be extra cautious, you can make the nick arbitrary.

Also keep in mind that if your channel is invite only, you will need to add yourself to the sop list before entering this command, or else you cannot access your channel without being invited by someone else or using the channel password (which you registered it with).

Good read, I have historically done most of this stuff whenever making a mafia channel anyway, but it's still a useful reference. Particularly because anything that can counter Gmax's methods is essential knowledge.

[Accent]

Alternatively you can fight the problem at its source: kill the man

[Thorns]

the problem with that is that being a small person, the only user who couldn't beat me up irl is jumpluff

and even then shes a hornsworth so even then it's dubious

on topic though, I should stress that channels are very very useful if you are mafia, it is a great base to conspire with your teammates and allows you to launch coordinated moles on the village. this is something that should be taught in partner mafia but that's another thread altogether

[Gmax]

Looks like I'm going out of business soon, and permanently if Accent gets his way...

[crabnebula]

Heres a better idea:

[19:25:11] * CN sets mode: +b gmax!*@*

[MagicMaster87]

It might be worth noting that on a few clients (such as Pidgin), "/ns" and "/cs" are not recognized as valid commands, so you'll have to replace them with "/msg nickserv" and /msg chanserv".

[jumpluff*]

Originally Posted by Fat Bass

I was about to say, there is a remedy for this. All you need to do is change the founder of the channel. This can be done with /cs set <channel> founder <nick>. As a general rule of thumb, I tend to make the host the founder of the channel for convenience, but if you want to be extra cautious, you can make the nick arbitrary.

Also keep in mind that if your channel is invite only, you will need to add yourself to the sop list before entering this command, or else you cannot access your channel without being invited by someone else or using the channel password (which you registered it with).

Good read, I have historically done most of this stuff whenever making a mafia channel anyway, but it's still a useful reference. Particularly because anything that can counter Gmax's methods is essential knowledge.

haha. i agree, i had #alphabet-soup hosted by the mysterious MOON, but i never thought of making the host founder. nice idea.

[billymills]

If you own mIRC, you can install the below script to register channels with security measures implemented, by pressing alt+D to open the aliases window, and pasting the script at the end.

superreg {
join #$1
cs register #$1 $2 -
cs set #$1 mlock +iKnst
cs set #$1 founder $3
}

1 is the channel name; 2 is the password for the channel; 3 should be the host's name

/superreg Gmax really sucks

would register channel #Gmax, with password 'really' and owner 'sucks'.

//cs info #gmax would now return

[20:31:27] -ChanServ- Information for channel #gmax:
-
[20:31:27] -ChanServ-         Founder: sucks
-
[20:31:27] -ChanServ-     Description: -
-
[20:31:27] -ChanServ-      Registered: Jul 16 10:00:43 2010 CDT
-
[20:31:27] -ChanServ-       Last used: Jul 16 10:01:09 2010 CDT
-
[20:31:27] -ChanServ- For more verbose information, type /msg ChanServ INFO #gmax ALL.

Users will need to be added via:

//cs aop #channel_name_here add username_here
or
//cs sop #channel_name_here add username_here

then you can enter the channel via:

//cs invite #channel_name_here

as was already explained

[blue_light]

Perhaps instead of implementing all these counter measures, it would be a much more manageable feat to just ban gmax from mafia altogether.

[Amelia]

XD
However, can i hijack this thread a bit? It's about MIRC after all. After reading a few mafia rules, they all have this rule in them:
USER and USER MUST be informed of any IRC channels or spreadsheet/whatever else you create for this game.

Must they, honestly? I know that sometimes they want to learn and other things, but honestly, this seems more like something a player can choose, rather than something he must do. I know i sound like an old grandparent by now, but there are a few things i would rather keep secret sometimes... in the interest that i'm the only one who knows wth am i'm doing.

[Outlaw]

Originally Posted by Fat Amelia

XD
However, can i hijack this thread a bit? It's about MIRC after all. After reading a few mafia rules, they all have this rule in them:
USER and USER MUST be informed of any IRC channels or spreadsheet/whatever else you create for this game.

Must they, honestly? I know that sometimes they want to learn and other things, but honestly, this seems more like something a player can choose, rather than something he must do. I know i sound like an old grandparent by now, but there are a few things i would rather keep secret sometimes... in the interest that i'm the only one who knows wth am i'm doing.

Do you have to right down every single secret thought? Just keep those out of the channels/spreadsheets.

[Seven Deadly Sins]

Usually "USER and USER" are the hosts. If you're hosting, and you don't care, don't make that rule. Personally, I like chilling in all the channels and seeing what people know or are up to.

[Amelia]

Yes, SDS, i know they're the hosts, i placed USER so that it doesn't imply anyone. Anyway... sorry about this nitpick, i'm really secretive at times :P