> Official EM News 10th Edition published by CarlySunshine24
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> EM Headlines
Dedication of this Issue
This issue is dedicated to Antidote for reaching 50,000 points! :D
Late Issue
Sorry for the late issue, readers! Last week was a busy week for our staff. We hope you enjoy this issue. Please expect the next issue to go out on March 10th!
Mod Competition-Winner
SACHY! By one vote over Lucid ;) Here's an interview with Sachy!
How did you find EM?
Well my uni friends used to play it so I joined they left. Now they laugh at me for being forever trapped.
What's your favorite and least favorite part of being a mod?
Eh the best part has to be the mod chat giving back to the community. I really hate when we have to mod someone and also some conflicts that comes from modding.
What's your favorite EM memory?
hmm It would prob have to be playing minesweeper days I think and some of the people. Pretty much circle jerking.
Thank you, Sachy, and congratulations once again. I'd like to thank all the mods for their hard work and contributions to the community!
Notable Account Changes
> User News
- LaurieRose reached 90,000 points!
- brownpimp007 reached 90,000 points!
- Shmeur reached 90,000 points!
- Giga reached 80,000 points!
- Antidote reached 50,000 points!
- vancyon reached 30,000 points!
- Bronco reached 25,000 points!
> Bans
Montagne was banned from training and competitive lobbies.
Zhuorb was banned from training, competitive, and sandbox lobbies.
llurenTrash was banned from training lobby.
llurenbabycrier was banned from training lobby.
bruno1308 was banned from and all lobbies.
Jotak3 was banned from all lobbies.
NkzRawr was banned from all lobbies
TheHeadlessKnight was banned from Training lobby.
vergiloos was banned from Sandbox and Games lobbies.
orgnal was banned from all lobbies.
> An interview with last round's champion, and the most decorated player on EM, Brownpimp
When, why, and how did you find EM?
Found it through Atikur. Used to make fun of her for playing EM.
What is your favorite thing about Mafia?
I like anything that is competitive.
How did you get to be so amazing at the game?
Just practice. Figuring out how to read people and manipulate.
How does it feel to be the most decorated player on EM?
Feels good. But not the all-time most decorated player yet.
What's your favorite EM memory?
Lot of fun times joking around with people in the games.
Any last words?
TRUST THE PIMP
> Topic of the week
http://www.epicmafia.com/topic/52385
Brownpimp007 has earned 9 trophies between his alts, and Brownpimp is currently in first place in the EM hall of fame for trophies. He's definitely become a legend on EM.
> Song of the Week
by Gearmow
Holiday by Poor Moon
Suggested by: Jupiterskyking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QoXyp11xeM
Want to submit a great song? PM Gearmow!
> Member of the Week
by Lady
This week's winner is <a href=http://www.epicmafia.com/user/150498#/>runwithfire</a>, winner of two bronze trophies. Congratulations! In an interview conducted by <a href=http://www.epicmafia.com/user/213555#/>Lady</a>, here's what runwithfire had to say for herself:
How long have you been a member on EpicMafia and what brought you to the site? On this account at least two years. I had another long before that I can't remember. I came here after an internet search when Slasher got destroyed.
What is the inspiration behind your username? I wanted to be cool so I wanted a Native American sounding name. And at one point I came across runswithscissors. I decided that's not cool enough. You can't really beat fire.
If you could change one thing about EM, what would it be? Kicking players in ranked. Or more pink. Yeah more pink. I like the visitors lobby a lot. Oh and I would force HelloBubble to come back. And Katt... :(:(:(:(
What is one unique thing about yourself? I'm not really unique. I'm a Kansan girl. I can bend my elbow funny, though.
Outside of EpicMafia, what do you enjoy doing? In my free time I coach soccer, watch Scandal, and eat... but in all seriousness I do two of those things while playing em ;)
Please submit all nominations for MOTW to <a href=a href=http://www.epicmafia.com/user/213555#/>Lady</a>! You can nominate yourself or a friend, but be sure to say why!
> Mystery Member
No Mystery Member this week, but... Last weeks mystery member was Skepticism!
> Riddles Section
by TriAft
If you throw me out the window,
I'll leave a grieving wife.
Bring me back, but through the door,
You'll see someone giving life.
What am I?
> TriAft's Comp Lobby Update
by TriAft
Hey guys, last round was the second Special Round, which I for one thought was much better than the first. This Round was chock full of original setups and interesting mechanics that is what a Special Round, in my opinion, is all about. So, let’s get right to it!
Setups chosen by 1600pennftw:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/42512
BAC
1600pennftw chose some fantastic setups this round, starting off with BAC. I do enjoy the finer points of the setup, attempting to feature seldom seen roles in competitive, like the Drunk and the Silencer, and the mylo on D1 is a fantastic experience, but to be honest, past then it seems to be quite townsided. While Drunk is a very powerful town role, on D1 he really is useless, only there to be cc’able and let the town be aware of what needs to happen the next few days. Other than that, the entire majority of the ability for scum to win this game lies on the D1; if any mafia is lynched, the likely hood of mafia winning is very very low. For instance, even if watcher and cop and drunk all have bad reports, most likely all of them will be claimed, and all of them can check into the unconfirmed PRs leaving it a high chance of confirmations being given. Even the NL strategy works to ensure a town win. All in all, I find it somewhat ridiculous that this setup is townsided at all, from what I’ve played, town usually wins. Nonetheless, I think that this is a very suitable setup for this round as silencer/drunk are roles that usually are not in top played setups.
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/595532
Kittenz Was The Hooker 2.0
The most played setup this round is a good one, but not necessarily fitting of the Special Round title in my opinion. For special rounds, I believe setups should exhibit mechanics that take players outside of their comfort zone, such as a Granny or a Silencer. This setup is very plain and very simple to understand. A mix between 163 and a setup out of TEO, it consists of characteristics that are generally seen in a top played competitive setup: multiple PRs for both town and maf, a ML, varying strats which ultimately boil down to scumreading, but behind it all is actually influenced by the luck of reports. I do not object to playing this setup, I just find it very simple is design and should not be played in a ‘Special Round’. Good setup though.
Setups chosen by Goodbar:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/252
Masquerade Ball
Another setup prime for special round play. This setup has the surprising feature of 3 Disguisers, allowing really anyone to be Mafia at basically anytime. While the PRs are few in number, it is astounding how much work they can do. I enjoy playing this setup, partly because I love guisetests so much, but partly because it is very very scumhunt-oriented. As long as neither of the PRs die N1, it keeps the play interesting an active as there are four guilties to keep it going. It can get boring after extensive play, but on the occasional play, it is quite enjoyable and a good addition to the round.
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/576057
Sifting Through A Charade
This setup is quite scumsided and I will now explain why. Let’s say Miller dies D1 and Godfather can CC Cop. Even if GF is lynched, Strongman assures a Cop kill and leaves the Day 2 with no valid report and a ML. Sure, you get the ML and a Doc alive, but it really does not assure a town win. And if mafia survives D1, you’ll be even worse off for the rest of the game. However you play it and whether it is scumsided or not, this setup is inherently flawed in the way that Cops do not matter in this setup as the only two innocent reports are either claiming Cop or Doc, meaning that Cop does nothing but be cc’d. Yeah, that’s fine, but that mechanic makes it so there really is only one PR and that Doc doesn’t do much. But then again, that’s what this round is about, testing interesting ideas that may or may not work. In this situation, I believe it doesn’t work.
Setups chosen by Pacifist:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/20238
No comment
The child of Manhunt and DLYV, this setup is certainly unique. Mixing such roles as Leader, Jailer, Yakuza, and even Granny into Day Start with Whispers is certainly an experience. This setup is challenging because there is so little meta on it that it can really go anyway. Similar to in Manhunt how you can lose up to 4 people a day, in this setup you can potentially lose the same amount: two yaks, a jailer death, and tracking the Granny. Personally, I think this setup is really valid, keeping a lot of it down to scumhunting and rapt attention to how the game has progressed and that the Granny works really well to counterpart the Yak. A NK is also very interesting, with three different possibilities of what could’ve happened (gran or jailed block, or a NK). Overall, I think this setup works, but the large number of roles that just aren’t seen in Competitive like Granny and Leader are overwhelming. Personally, I’d enjoy seeing an Agent swapped for Leader and a Bomb/Samurai swapped for Granny to balance it out a bit, but otherwise I do enjoy this setup.
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/583230
Politics as Usual 2.0
Another fantastic addition to this round as it attempts to showcase the Politician (I assume stemming from the ‘Politics’ that are as usual :P ). I think this setup really works as it removes a PR from both sides to add the Politician (along with adding that miller to balance it out a bit). Making the Politician be a PR for both sides is definitely something that I would enjoy see in more setups, and while it does induce more luck into the equation, it keeps the game suspenseful, though people tend to just remove the Poli altogether through a lynch or something. The only problem I have with Poli is that he can side either way he wants and when the points come out, he can turn kingmaker or go for the points, whatever floats his boat. This is a hard setup to win as mafia as even if there’s a town lynch D1, the politician can choose to NOT joint and the D1 mylo turns to ml (along with the possibility of Poli dying at all). It’s a very good use of Politician, maybe the best I’ve seen, but it is not a good competitive setup.
All in all, I think this was a fantastic choice of setups for a Special Round as it really does introduce setups to Competitive that wouldn’t be seen otherwise which was the original point of the idea. Good job from the mods and congratulations to the winners, brownpimp007, terzake, and Zoro!
My ranking of this round: 7.5/10
> Dear Tree...
>Dear Tree, how do I get throw the February slump? Life goes so slow and I'm sick of everything! School, the >cold...everything is getting boring and annoying! How do I get past this final push before spring? -Annoyed Andy
Dear Annoyed Andy, We all get caught up in that February slump sometimes, and if things aren't going as it seems, it's time to shake things up! Do things out of the normal! Change things you don't approve of, and enjoy the final push to the break of Spring! Of course, EpicMafia does help pass the time ;) Hope these tips get you through the late winter slump!
Sincerely, Tree
If you have a question, please PM CarlySunshine24, which will be taken to our secret tree. ;)
> Mafia Tactics
by CarlySunshine24
A Mafia Tactic I would like to tell people about--that I use successfully--is what I call "reverse guisetesting"
What is this exactly?
When a guiser is about, instead of guisetesting players, try talking about something that the person who died (the guiser) should know about. You have to be really nonchalant for it to work, but it does. For example, if the guiser was from San Francisco, you might start talking about the 49ers. Or maybe say that you won a trip to Frisco. If a player starts talking about it--be suspicious. Another way is to look at their friends list/comments and make up a story about that player. Maybe ask if anyone knows that person and talk about how they trolled you in a game. It's a different way to go about it, but it works!
Now that the idea is out, expect players to be a little careful. This probably won't work too well in comp games because they are usually more focused on the game. It has been working well for me in training lobby, however.
> A Submission from LuapNor!
We received this in a message from LuapNor. Enjoy!
Luap's Law: In any scenario where people are voting randomly/voting their FOS, the person receiving the most votes is more likely town-aligned than mafia-aligned.
Reasoning: Town-sided characters are mostly voting randomly: in a game with 4 townies, 3 mafia, each townie has a 3/6 (1/2) chance of voting to lynch a maf (assuming they don't self-vote, of course). However, a mafia character who is not bussing would vote for one of the four townies, i.e. 4/4. Even if we presume one of the mafia IS bussing, it still holds that 2 of the 3 mafia lynching votes are for non-mafia.
Of course, this is why letting everyone "vote your FOS" without any actual discussion is a very bad idea; it leads to town-sided players being put on an unnecessary and unproductive defensive, that, if they fail, can lead to a relatively easy mafia victory. By letting the mafia dictate the terms of discussion, the town concedes vital ground in the War on Scum™.
> Shoutouts
From Kenny: I'd like to give a shout out to my gurlz Loganeisha, Chris'toe'felondria, Platypussy, Phawkalinia, Siskoclitorisandria, Sishinia, Ina'dazia, Gut'licious, Nikkinimbeesha, and King Kong Kellydaé.
From R0ronoaZoro to nikkinims: (Never forget cabo ;) )
From Sarah: I want to give a shoutout to OblivionKey for being the best.
> Comic
Thanks to Jim Banton for the comic, and TriAft for finding it!
> Current News Team:
CarlySunshine24: Editor
PhantomPride: Journalist {Question of the Week}
Link: Journalist {Vivor/Big Brother Tracker and Analyst}
Gearmow: Journalist {Song of the Week}
SimplyJade: Journalist {Mystery Member and other puzzles/comics}
Lady: Journalist {Member of the Week}
TriAft: Journalist {Comp Analysis/Game of the Week}
If you would like to be a member, please say so in our Staff thread, and post what kind of an article you would like to take charge of! Thanks!
Here's the link: