SK
The member formerly known as Cow
Premium
join:2001-05-18
Toronto
clubs: 
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to AmeritecTech
Re: Mafia 34 - Margana
Wow, you put a lot of work into this. It's amazing how you were able to make a lot of the names so role appropriate.
Pontius Sabre - swordsman
Fender Fithontow - Minstrel
I found Ares Jetsjut funny.
I figured out Greetings after I was dead, but tried to hint at it in »Re: Mafia 34 - Margana but I guess I'm a bad hint-dropper.
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Flickr | I can't be a misanthrope, some of my best friends are people!
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yock
TFTC
Premium
join:2000-11-21
Fairfield, OH
| reply to Gomez
said by Gomez  :said by muzscman :And my protection, as far as I know, was 100% for the whole day.... Curious as to how she got the 50/50. If Yock only had a 50/50 he was dead on from there. Most of it was just careful timing on my part. I did my best to watch the game, but I made sure to time my days around the 24 and 6-hour marks so that I could capitalize on my opportunities.
I'll beg your pardon if I don't participate so heavily in post-game. I'm a tad hungover at the moment. |
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Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs: | reply to AmeritecTech
I kind of liked Architect Les Milke, myself  |
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Rook008
Miles To Go
join:2002-02-05
Far Rockaway, NY | reply to AmeritecTech
Good point.
Cremate Ethic might fit you better though, Mr. Bastard Mod, sir  |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
1 edit | reply to Rook008
Hard as it was, I think its a lot harder to decode anagrams than it is to encode them. 
What's the best anagram for AmeritecTech, heh?
Cache Emitter
Cache Termite
Mice Catheter
Cremate Ethic
I'm thinking Mice Catheter... |
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Rook008
Miles To Go
join:2002-02-05
Far Rockaway, NY
 ·PHONE POWER
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to AmeritecTech
Wow, I thought it would take longer than that.
The anagram stuff is fun. Puzzles in the game, pointing to a killer "outside" of the game. Great job.
--
You've crossed the finish line. Won the race but lost your mind. Was it worth it, after all?
"Superman" -Lazlo Bane |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
| reply to Gomez
I had taken a break from mafia for a while. I consulted with Yock and asked him what he thought of a game where the killer was not listed as an official player, but with some sort of mechanism to root him out. He liked the idea, but didn't know how I could give the name without giving it.
I had the spark of an idea for using anagrams on September 19th. On that day I started researching how easy it would be to do on the mentioned anagram link. Initial testing indicated that it was probably workable. I hadn't planned on a full message of anagram names, but it started to seem possible. I then posted in the metathread that I was planning.
I needed a serial killer who was a prominent player in the community. Yock was my natural choice, especially since I had already run the idea by him (so him playing as a normal player was out). He accepted, but I never told him about the anagrams. He couldn't figure out how Sarah had ferreted out "The Innkeeper" even though he had access to essentially the same information.
One thing about this game is that the work was mostly front-loaded. Crunching out the anagrams was the toughest part. After that it was pretty breezy. There wasn't a lot to manage. I didn't even use a spreadsheet this time. Administration was a cinch. No mafia team also made things flow more quickly. No true night phase meant no down-time. I'm confident you guys could have figured it out if you had just slowed down for a while, but you guys went on a killing spree there for a while, and with Yock's kills added in, it didn't take long to wipe everyone but Lurlyn out.
To answer your question, feasability research on the 19th, hard planning started during down-time at work on the 20th and continued during the signup thread until the game started 6 days later.
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"Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone Not agreeing with them. It's The non-thinkers that ALWAYS come in legions."
-John Callari |
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Gomez
Been drinking brew for breakfast?
Premium,Mod
join:2001-02-21
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
 ·Speakeasy
Host:
Pub Games
It is the economy,..
Clearwire
| reply to AmeritecTech
said by AmeritecTech :Something else: Robert advised me that he would be going out of town Friday at the start of the game. I told him that when the time came, he would be modkilled (replacement not really needed, because the cop was kind of an extraneous role). His bandwagonning of me came within 2 hours of the agreed-upon modkill time, so I decided to go through with it at that time (Moll Kid = Modkill). So see, I'm not a total bastard. Yes I am. So, how much time did you put into the production of that game?
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Disclaimer: Resemblance between the above views and those of anyone is purely coincidental. Resemblance between the above and my own views is non-deterministic. The existence of views in the absence of anyone to hold them is an exercise for the reader. |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
1 edit | reply to AmeritecTech
Something else: Robert advised me that he would be going out of town Friday at the start of the game. I told him that when the time came, he would be modkilled (replacement not really needed, because the cop was kind of an extraneous role). His bandwagonning of me came within 2 hours of the agreed-upon modkill time, so I decided to go through with it at that time (Moll Kid = Modkill). So see, I'm not a total bastard. Yes I am.
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"Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone Not agreeing with them. It's The non-thinkers that ALWAYS come in legions."
-John Callari |
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muzscman
Mr. President
Premium,VIP
join:2002-02-15
Florissant, MO
clubs:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to AmeritecTech
Still gunna whore out game 33 until I get more signups...
»[Signup Closed] Mafia Game 33..Invite Only Discussion/Signup
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"Ouch! The ramps only 2 feet high you retards" - Zed |
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Rook008
Miles To Go
join:2002-02-05
Far Rockaway, NY
·PHONE POWER
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to AmeritecTech
Good game AmeritecTech, but too many secrets
I was wondering why the player list was numbered and in a different order from when we signed up, but in my notes on the game I listed them in a different order, dropped the numbers, and didn't realise that each name was only a part of the message. I was using the scrabble tiles to decode each name individually  .
We really needed to think outside the box on this one.
Sneakers was a really cool movie.
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You've crossed the finish line. Won the race but lost your mind. Was it worth it, after all?
"Superman" -Lazlo Bane |
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SK
The member formerly known as Cow
Premium
join:2001-05-18
Toronto
clubs: | reply to AmeritecTech
Bravo on a game well run! |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
1 edit | reply to AmeritecTech
And now, the decoding of Setec Astronomy
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=360vFPX-T_g
Be more like Robert Redford |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
1 edit | reply to Sarah
Eh okay, that was a draft that I gmailed to myself. Final text is in a text file at work. 6 hours. |
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Sarah
Premium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2001-01-09
Cambridge, MA
clubs:
| reply to AmeritecTech
"If the day exceeds 24 hours, you receive an extra kill opportunity. For each additional 12 hours of day, you receive another kill opportunity. Kills may not be saved up. The first kill must be used in the first 24 hours, the second in the next 12 hours, and so on."
You didn't make him wait 12 hours for additional kills, did you? |
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AmeritecTech
Change we can believe in, 1922
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Houston, TX
| reply to AmeritecTech
Okay, I'm home! Some stuff...
You are Tony Blackwoods, full-time Innkeeper and part-time Serial Killer. You were formerly known as Peter Henkine in the last town you did your wicked deeds. You are not listed on the player list. You are tasked with killing all players. You are neither required to nor prohibited from posting in the game thread. You win when all other players are dead. You kill during the day and get one kill per day. If the day exceeds 24 hours, you receive an extra kill opportunity. For each additional 12 hours of day, you receive another kill opportunity. Kills may not be saved up. The first kill must be used in the first 24 hours, the second in the next 12 hours, and so on. Kills not used within the target window are forfeit. If a lynch vote succeeds before you submit a kill for the day, you lose that day's kill. You are Dale Priestly, town doctor and hobbyist astronomer. Each day, submit a choice to protect. If your choice has not been killed already, he or she will be protected for the rest of the day. Your choice is locked in, once made. You may not protect yourself. Choices should be submitted in the name of the player, not the name of the character. If a player survives an attack, you may heal them by treating them for one day's time. You may not protect anyone during this period. Healing was never needed. The astronomy part was necessary for the following letter he received:
Hello Dale,
I had been meaning to get in touch with you. Its been so long since our days at the Starmaster Academy. Its such a shame that we haven't kept in better touch with each other, but your decision to go into medicine definitely set us on different courses. We really should get together and talk about old (and new!) times. Today, though, I write to you about a far more serious matter.
I fear something wicked may befall your township. You see, we've just experienced several deaths which we could not explain. Our detective had been suspicious of a citizen, but didn't have enough evidence to lock him away. Then our detective ended up dead and the citizen vanished. Upon searching his home, we found several travel scrolls for Margana that sung the praises of your town. It seems that he was planning to go there next. The man's name was Peter Henkine. Please be on the lookout for him, and you might tell others to watch for him as well. He was a creepy sort. Let me know how things turn out.
Cordially,
Thomas Billon
Setec Astronomy He removed that first paragraph when he re-posted it, I guess in an attempt to disguise that he was the doctor. I intended for muzscman to have a quandary about whether or not to post it, as initial flavor indicated that the doctor was the only one to receive a letter, but he fired away. Yock didn't seem to notice anyway, which certainly benefited the town when he went after Lurlyn, who was protected by muz. This letter was designed to be my second attempt (first, Margana backwards is Anagram) to clue you guys in to the anagrams. Thomas Billon was appointed Royal Anagamatist to to Louis XIII, which is the most prominent thing mentioned about him on most Google results. Setec Astronomy is the most popular pop-culture reference that I could think of to anagrams. Its an anagram for Too Many Secrets (which was also the name of Day Two) from the movie Sneakers, which had a cast of big names. Good flick.
The first picture's "Subject" in properties was "18 15 20 M 7 15 15 7 12 5 9 20". To decode, A = 1, B = 2 etc., very simple, so it translates to ROT 13 GOOGLEIT. »rot13.com Rot 13 was the method used to encode the message in comments. That message stated that the doctor had the name of the killer, a probe I was using in case he didn't post the letter to increase his quandary. Subsequent image codes were typically done in ROT13 but without any explanation of such, as it could be gleaned from the first picture.
Designing anagrams can be difficult. You've got to try a bunch of different starting phrases before you come up with a half-way believable name. This was my tool: »wordsmith.org/anagram/advanced.html
After pulling down some sample anagrams for a phrase, I would look through them for one that had some sort of name in it. I would then designate that name as a mandatory component and come up with a decent workable last name. Some letters are extremely hard to use in anagrams. J, for example. Also, you often run into the problem of too many vowels. No decent anagram could be found for Start Message, Begin Message, or others, so Aegis Emitenitas for Initiate Message was a best effort surrender. I made him a sentry for added credibility (Aegis was the shield of Zeus). The whole message went through an extensive evolution as I honed the anagrams.
Omega Fesdens was one of my better accomplishments, I think, a triple entendre. Omega is the last Greek character, he's the last one on the manifest, and he translates to End Of Message. I thought that was going to work as a cluestick if it got translated, but it didn't.
Yock having two names was, I felt, necessary to give a fighting chance. If you guys had caught on to the anagrams early, you might have gone directly to solving his, so I added an extra layer to make it harder.
When you guys were failing to dig deep enough, I went back to the pictures. I started posting picture after picture of hints. The river of blood's hidden message said that the killer 'wants blood' to make such a river. The sun standing still image was my attempt to again warn you of the dangers of not ending the day. To keep you guys working on the puzzles, I decided some motivation was needed to compel you. Its too easy to just let things stagnate if time is unlimited, I feared, especially in a game like this. If you guys discovered eternal life (not voting), that would be unacceptable, so I gave Yock a way to keep the blood flowing. He was 11-1, so I don't consider 3 kills in a day to be unfair, especially since you guys didn't heed the 24 hour warning after reminders from Dezbend.
Yock was not aware of the anagrams until later in the game. Dezbend actually solved it before Yock even did.
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"Independent thinkers tend to ALWAYS have someone Not agreeing with them. It's The non-thinkers that ALWAYS come in legions."
-John Callari |
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Gomez
Been drinking brew for breakfast?
Premium,Mod
join:2001-02-21
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
·Speakeasy
Host:
Pub Games
It is the economy,..
Clearwire
| reply to Dezbend
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Dezbend
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-20 | reply to Gomez
After all, random choice generation is too important to leave to chance.
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If it is not recorded, it simply does not exist. |
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Gomez
Been drinking brew for breakfast?
Premium,Mod
join:2001-02-21
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
·Speakeasy
Host:
Pub Games
It is the economy,..
Clearwire
| reply to AmeritecTech
said by AmeritecTech :A standard American coin was used. You guys flunked the flip twice and lynched your third soldier. One minute and 22 seconds after Yock killed Sarah, she submitted a decision that would have made all military and Gomez invincible for a day. Gomez's protection only came into play twice, and failed both times. I suggest this: »www.random.org/integers/?num=1&m···&rnd=new
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Disclaimer: Resemblance between the above views and those of anyone is purely coincidental. Resemblance between the above and my own views is non-deterministic. The existence of views in the absence of anyone to hold them is an exercise for the reader. |
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Dezbend
Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-20
| reply to AmeritecTech
My role PM:
"You are Ed Thorfin, a cartographer."
Ameritectech designed the game for 9 but 2 of us joined late and he let us in (thank you).
We noticed the funny order of the names day 1.
Rook noticed the anagram hint day 1.
If we had only put it all together a little sooner I am sure we could have cracked it.
Even without cracking the list... Peter pointed to Tony.
I solved Tony's anagram last night, but thought it was just coincidence "yock wants blood" or whatever it said. I wish I would have thrown it out there when I saw it.
Anyway all in all a very enjoyable game.
Master Design. All hail Ameritectech. I nominate him for Mod of the Year.
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If it is not recorded, it simply does not exist. |
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