Tol-in-Gaurhoth (Isle of Werewolves)

[Ainaserkewen]

It is my experience that the villagers usually win. The good guys should always win.

[the guy who be short]

If nobody has any major objections, could I jump in now and claim the role of Moderator next game?

[Oddwen]

I will be unable to post until Sunday Morning, EST.

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Aina

It is my experience that the villagers usually win. The good guys should always win.

Hmm. It doesn't seem to be going that way on the Barrow-Downs.

Clearly, in all three games so far (and whatever may come to pass in the current one), those playing the Werewolves have played extremely well, which accounts for a large part of their success.

But I do wonder whether the odds are stacked a little too much against the Villagers. While they have the advantage of numbers, the Villagers' accusations during the first day or so are almost entirely random. While it is possible to pick up on the things that are said or the way that they are said to identify a Werewolf, such things might also lead an innocent Villager to accuse the Seer or Guardian as being a Werewolf (believe me, I know ). The Werewolves, on the other hand, know who is innocent and can thus "guide" the accusations, while using what is said to try and identify the special Villagers themselves.

So, unless they strike lucky and hang a Werewolf on the first or second day, it is only on the third day that the Villagers can begin get any real idea as to who might be guilty. But, if two innocent Villagers have already been hung (particuarly one of the special Villagers), then those innocent Villagers who were instrumental in that are hampered in their ability to hunt out the Werewolves, being under continuous accusation themselves (again, I know this only too well ).

So, for the next game, I would propose two rule changes, either or both of which I hope will find favour.

First, while I like the idea of the moderator being killed on the first night, I do think that the Seer should be allowed to dream on the first night. This will make the deliberations on the first day, and possibly its outcome, slightly less random.

Secondly, I think that the Werewolves should be prohibited from talking behind the scenes (by PM) during the day. They can plan a strategy for the day during their night-time discussions but to give them the opportunity to coordinate what they do during the day as the day unfolds does, I think, give them rather too much power.

Finally, can I ask that the rule against discussing previous games be strictly enforced. And that should apply to comments on what might or might not be a good Werewolf strategy backed up by the fact that the speaker has previously been a Werewolf. By all means, ex-Werewolves can base their comments on having previously been a Werewolf, but they should not be allowed to refer to their previous role as a means of strengthening the force of what they are saying.

Just a few thoughts ...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I thought Werewolves could only PM at NIGHT anyway?

And I agree about the Seer dream on the first night. Will make it better.

phantom, I agree entirely. The celebration will be huge! Remember that the odds are stacked against the villagers, but the werewolves can sometimes say more than they mean to. In every game there have been tiny clues scattered hither and thither from start to end.

Although remember that first game, when two wolves went down very early, and Kuru still managed to go the distance? Remarkable.

[the guy who be short]

After becoming hooked to the Werewolf Game on the BD, I looked around and did some research on other sites discussing gameplay. Apparently, there are usually only two wolves until there are something like seventeen players.
Perhaps instead of allowing the Seer to dream on the first NIGHT (when s/he doesn't even know there are werewolves about, might I add ) we could tweak the werewolf:villager ratio a little. I'm pretty sure the next game will have record numbers of players, so I propose we keep only three wolves and make it a little easier on the villagers.

In any case, I believe the entire point of the first DAY is meant to be random finger-pointing .

[mormegil]

I don't see why the seer couldn't dream the first night. I would think the magic would come from impending danger not from an internal desire to dream of werewolves.

Only two wolves? Not sure how that would feel now that we've been up against three. They would be harder to spot probably (their advantage) but would have potentially less influence (village advantage). I would be in favor of keeping three as our standard myself.

[the guy who be short]

I'd agree with keeping at least three wolves. However, if we're adding more players, I'd advise against adding more werewolves. That way, we could keep three werewolves, but lessen their influence and also tweak the odds slightly more in favour of the villagers as it is elsewhere.

[the phantom]

I do think that the Seer should be allowed to dream on the first night.

I agree.

And I still think we should add masons to the mix. That could balance the power.

Also, when I play "mafia" (same thing as werewolf) my friends and I have a non-participation rule that I really like. If someone goes through a day period without making an accusation, defending someone, or putting forth a theory, that person is automatically killed at the end of the round (after the lynching).

The moderator simply says "You didn't say enough- you're dead".

Now, this would be more difficult to do online, since voting can sometimes move very quickly, but on days that don't see much voting until the final hour, I don't see why we couldn't do this.