[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by tgwbs

Though I'm not playing in the next game, I would like to rant about the Cursed Villager.

I'm not playing in the next game either, but I'll stick my oar in.

Originally Posted by tgwbs

For the majority of the time the Cursed doesn't even do anything...

I couldn't disagree more. For the majority of the time, if not the whole game, the Cursed is an ordinary villager. Most villagers are "ordos", and they usually seem to find much to do. Speaking as one who has been an ordinary villager in every game that I have played except one, I find much to recommend itself in the role (or lack of role).

I like the role of the Cursed, precisely because of its random nature. It adds yet another element of unpredictability. If an ordinary villager becomes a Wolf part-way through the game, it adds an enormous challenge which, to my mind, adds to the "fun" (if you can call it that). In the last game that I was in, the role played a big part as we managed to kill three Wolves but, because the Cursed had turned, we still lost. But it was still touch and go, so it did not swing the game.

If the Cursed knew his or her role, the temptation would be too much to play on the Wolves' side from the start and try to get killed by them, whereas the whole point of the role is that you start out on one side and (if killed by the Wolves) end up on the other.

That said, I am all for varying the roles and leaving the Cursed out in some games, perhaps subsituting the role with that of the Cobbler. Having both is probably too much though, unless there are a lot of villagers.

Originally Posted by Kuru

I'm afraid that the only practical solution would be for an adoption of the attitude that if you die you lose, period full stop.(which has been pretty much my attitude from the beginning).

Again, I couldn't disagree more. I have always viewed this game as a team game. If I die, I still root for my team and feel that I have the right to share in their victory if they win (not that that has happened much ). Quite often, you can't help being killed. Games usually last at least 4 or 5 days and people are bound to get killed through no fault of their own, perhaps because they are the type of player that the Wolves generally want to eliminate, perhaps because they made a few wrong accusations (practically inevitable at some point, even with the best will in the world), or perhaps because of sheer bad luck. Moreover, dying in the village's cause (for example a gifted revealing themselves at an appropriate point and thereby signing their own death warrant, or an ordinary villager playing like the Seer so as to protect him or her) is often a noble strategy, and one which should not be penalised by assigning - sorry, consigning - the player to the losing side if it plays a part in his or her team's victory. Same goes for Wolvish sacrifices intended to establish the "innocence" of fellow Wolves.

*rant over*

Edit: And I would add that playing purely to preserve your own life can often hamper your team's cause.