TWG XXXVIII: Snakes on a Plane Post Game

[the_last_sheikah]

1. Liquid Snake - Gzgregory
2. Solid Snake - Bubbles
3. Big Boss Snake - Verm
4. Badger Badger Badger Snake - Spitllama
5. Human Doctor - K-NiGhT/SFK
6. Seer - Maestro
7. Cool Guy - Mashi
8. Human(immune) - Bird
9. Human(immune) - FSM
10. Human- Socialfox
11. Human- Mr. Saturn
12. Human- Blueflower
13. Human- Jub3r7
14. Human- Spyro
15. The Pain, as portrayed by Nicholas Cage - Wry/Dude
16. Raiden who hisses - kman

And now, player analysis, with Bird:

the_last_sheikah was kind enough to let me do the post game anlyses. I'd say that it was a very good game overall. First I'm going to discuss the game itself, and the hosting, then I'll go over how each of the teams did, then finally I'll discuss each individual player.

The Game and Host: There were a few hiccups, but I think the_last_sheikah, despite all his self-deprecation, did a great job as host. There were a few hiccups, but none really broke the game. For somebody's second hosting, on a game as complex as this (one he didn't even create) I don't think we could have asked for much more. Thank you for stepping up to the plate and hosting the game for us!
As for the game itself, it didn't necessarily go as planned. The poisons were very easily avoided by overlapping them then curing the person who was doubly poisoned. I wish somebody had pointed out this hole I overlooked, but oh well! The millers never really came into play either, and the seer was removed early. But despite the fact that the game's little mechanics didn't really work out in game, I think that the game went really well. Even though not a lot of people died due to poison, the poisonings were still a very important element of gameplay. The wolves actually used the poisons to create an excellent defense for Gzgregory. If I could remake the game, there are definitely things I would have changed, but I think that the players helped make a flawed game design really shine.

The Wolves: Outstanding performances, all four of you. Not much more needs to be said. The humans were really eating out of your hands the whole time. Clever move with how you handled poisoning GZG as well. There were a few circumstantial things that helped you out, such as Maestrogate, verm being green and some very inactive humans, but I think there's a good chance you would have dominated regardless. Really excellent work. More detailed analyses in the player-by-player.
Two quick questions though: Did you guys attempt to get Maestro lynched by wolfing blueflower? And how did you avoid getting caught sending PMs?

The Humans: For the most part, I think the humans did a very good job as well. This game was very active, and some people really gave it their all. Mashi, Jub3r7, FSM, SocialFox and Kman spring to mind. Unfortunately, the activity didn't translate into catching the wolves. I'm sure we'll learn from this experience though and get them next time!

On the flip-side, there were some players whose performances were definitely lacking. I'll be more specific (and perhaps unpleasantly harsh) in the player-by-player, but the main culprit was inactivity. This game is a shining example of how it can cripple the human team. If there are skilled wolves who act like humans, I think it's pretty reasonable for the humans go for players who have literally posted fewer than 5 times. Who knows how the game may have turned out if Wrydryn and Mr. Saturn were as active as some of the other humans in this game.

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link!

----------------

Mashi: I thought you did a very, VERY good job. The last time you were human in a game with me, you were very neutral about everything, not providing suspicions when asked, generally not being terribly helpful! You were almost the exact opposite this game, actively doing detective work and talking to people. Ultimately, you made the mistake (that pretty much everyone made) of trusting Verm too much. Additionally, perhaps in future games you could be more stubborn in your opinions. You thought Dude was human, but then after 30 minutes of discussion with Verm, you had him as one of your four wolves! Overall, a splendid performance, and very deserving of the HUMAN MVP.

Verm: Goddamn, dude! Impeccable performance, solidifying your position as probably the most terrifying wolf I've ever encountered. Being seered green night 1 was a massive stroke of luck, but I doubt it would have mattered. You had everyone trusting you in the end. I'd like to tell you how you could improve as a wolf, but it's hard to beat perfection. Congrats, and enjoy being the OVERALL MVP.

Bubbles7689: Well done. The only reason anybody really suspected you at the end was because they were running out of people to suspect. You could have been more active towards the beginning, but your suspicion list at the end (as well as seeming very helpful) really helped!

SocialFox: I think this is your first game, if I'm not mistaken. If so, good job. The false claim was definitely not traditional, and it may not have been the smartest thing to do in retrospect, but it was a really creative way of trying to assist the human team. I hope to see more clever plans like that in the future, but make sure you consider the consequences such plans might have. And sorry about you getting wolfed so early!
*host note* Your false claim to save a human was admirable, and similar to what I did my first game.  I have high hopes for you in future TWG.

Mr. Saturn: For a guy who claimed to like TWG so much, you really were useless. I don't really know why you signed up even, you were just dead weight for the first few phases, and lynch fodder for the later ones. And you said you were always this inactive! That really makes me sad. Try to be more active in the future! When you win as a human thanks to your hard work, you'll really enjoy it.

Bird: That's me. I'm really kicking myself for being so easily fooled by the wolves, but they did a great job. Surprisingly, my downfall was being not hardheaded enough when it came to my suspicions. I was ready to lynch both Verm and Spit at one point, but gave up when I saw their defenses. It's odd since I'm normally one of the most stubborn players! I was also kind of mean at some points, so sorry about that everyone!

Blueflower999: Well, somebody has to draw the short straw. Sorry man!

Kman96: Great effort, but like SocialFox, I think you should spend more time considering the consequences of your actions. I think humans should be all about openness and honesty. If you're going to lie, that's fine, but try and tell people in a way that doesn't sound so suspicious. Humans shouldn't really focus on sounding human, but I think they should spend some time trying not to sound like wolves.

Gzgregory: Very, very good job. I feel like sometimes you were reliant on the poisoning as your go-to defense, but if it worked, it worked! You also kept your head really well when Mashi, Verm and I pretended to have "found you out" although I suppose Verm might have just told you what was going on. You did a very good job, and I hope I'm not so easily fooled by you in the future.

Wrydryn: Come on, man! Don't sign up for a TWG if you're not even going to check what role you are. Sign-ups flew by, and we actually expanded the game, so it's a shame to see somebody just be dead weight. Try to be more active, or if you can't, try to give your role to somebody more willing to play.

Jub3r7: One of your better games. I'll admit that sometimes I considered you sort of a "background character" when it came to TWG, but that definitely wasn't true with this game. You really tried hard to find who the wolves were. I think that in the future though, if you get a suspicion, you should try pressing it harder. I think that wolves are more likely to make mistakes under pressure anyway.

Maestro: I may have been unnecessarily harsh towards you in the chat. You did get kind of screwed over day 1, but I don't think that's a very good reason to spite your team. You're a smart guy, I'm sure you knew it would have been a better move to claim before you died. Us lynching you was just an honest day 1 mistake. It would be great if you would try to help your team, even if it meant helping people who got you killed in the future.

K-NiGhT: Basically, the same stuff I said to Wrydryn. If you aren't going to have time to play, don't sign up! And then you made the very odd move of claiming to three separate people. The chances of claiming to a wolf were about 75%. You ended up claiming to TWO wolves. I guess it did work, in that you weren't immediately wolfed, but it seemed like a very hasty decision. In the future, I recommend only revealing your role to people you ABSOLUTELY trust.

Spitllama: Wow, that performance came out of nowhere! I had no idea you were such a force to be reckoned with. Other wolves tend to brush away suspicion, but you FOUGHT if off in a really admirable way. Nobody really noticed this except for in hindsight, but sometimes wolves make the mistake of sounding too confident that somebody is human (because they actually do know that the person is human). I'd just watch out for this, but it doesn't look like it really hurt you at all this game. I really look forward to playing more with you in the future!

FSM-Reaper: It looked like you really tried this game, and you came up with some clever suggestions for the humans. You were the first person to suggest overlapping the poisons to get rid of them, which was a great solution to the "how do we not poison ourselves" issue. And you frequently stalked the online list which was great, even though it didn't pan out this game (how did the wolves do that, by the way? They never got caught). In the future though, I'd try and analyze suspicions more than who is sending PMs. I expect great things from you someday!

Spyro: You were also sort of inactive, only popping in to make guerilla votes without much explanation. I don't really know how to say that, but that isn't really helpful to the human team. If you don't have time to be super active, at least try and back up why you think somebody is a wolf. An accusation without evidence isn't an accusation worth making.

Dude and SuperFireKirby: For people who played the game for short periods of time, you both did very well. One of you pointed out how wolfy it was that people seemed to be going for "easy lynches", and you both showed activity and dedication even when a game was basically winding down. Thank you for that.


In summary, it's way more than I ever expected out of an NSM game, and I look forward to many more like it. Thank you for playing.

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Thank you Bird, and thank you everyone else for an interesting and fun game.  On to the next one!  AVANTI!

P.S.  NEW RECORD FOR LONGEST GAME!

[spitllama]

Wolfywolfywolfywolfywolfywolfywolfy

The blueflower lynching really was random. And we used separate tabs to send messages, or used private PM chat, or just sent messages extremely quickly.

[Bubbles]

Actually I had a seperate way to avoid being caught, but I wont tell you so I can use it in future games 

[Mashi]

Although I appreciate the sentiment, I really don't think I'm deserving of MVP at all.  If anything, Bird should receive MVP for his hard work.  I think that if he hadn't been wolfed, he probably wouldn't have made my mistake of trusting vermilionvermin so much and may have given the Humans a chance at winning.  Bird is probably being modest because he made the Post Game!

[Kman96]

Ok, WTF HAPPENED?!?

I'm so confused...

[MaestroUGC]

Data, data, data. This game has given me some great insights for future games.

[Bird]

Although I appreciate the sentiment, I really don't think I'm deserving of MVP at all.  If anything, Bird should receive MVP for his hard work.  I think that if he hadn't been wolfed, he probably wouldn't have made my mistake of trusting vermilionvermin so much and may have given the Humans a chance at winning.  Bird is probably being modest because he made the Post Game!

It's hard to give out an MVP in a game with all the wolves being alive anyway! Dude ended up guessing all of them at the end, but since he didn't go for the people he suspected at all, it didn't really matter.

Ok, WTF HAPPENED?!?

I'm so confused...

The wolves had advanced the game to a position where it would be impossible for the humans to win. It was 6 to 4 in the night phase, then a human would be wolfed. At that point it would be a day phase with 4 wolves and 5 humans. If all the wolves voted for the human with two phantoms (dude) it would be an insta, and there would be nothing the humans could do to stop it. So the_last_sheikah ended the game early.

A few more thoughts that I couldn't fit into the post game analysis, though. I think I probably would have gone for Bubbles the last day phase, if I hadn't been wolfed, since Wrydryn was more likely to be a human if he survived the poisoning than a wolf. I'm also surprised that Mashi believed spitllama suspected K-NiGhT/SFK. I feel like I mentioned at one point that the doctor had claimed to Gzg, SFK and I. Oh well!

[Yugi]

I actully thought that verm and Mashi were wolves because of the Manti Rule + verm blaming me for lynching Maestro.
But Sadly, I died before I could mention that.

[SuperFireKirby]

I totes should have gotten the mvp.

[Spyro]

Well, I'm sorry that I have school most of the day and can't get on as much as everyone else......

But you guys should have listened to me!

Good game though.

[FSM-Reapr]

:O

DAMN I KNEW IT BUBBLES

Also, I give up stalking. No use.

Great game.

AND NOW I CAN HOST YAAAY

Also, I was right suspecting Verm more than Kman.

[blueflower999]

Good bame, guys. And Excellent job wolves. I didn't suspect any of you. But...

so, after some TWC discussion, it has been decided that MaestroUGC will be banned for this game due to his purposeful shenanigans last game.  That will be all.

Am I missing something here? 

[the_last_sheikah]

Apparently Mashi is bitter at Maestro for not saying he was the seer until he was as good as dead.

[Bubbles]

:O

DAMN I KNEW IT BUBBLES

Heh. Were still buds, even though you suspected me

[blueflower999]

Apparently Mashi is bitter at Maestro for not saying he was the seer until he was as good as dead.

And that bans him from a game? 

(If that's the case then I don't know why I haven't been banned yet.)