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[1/15/13] Official EM News
deleted17mon 14d Stick to lobby
Official EM News 5th Edition
published by CarlySunshine24 EM Headlines Moderator Week!
This is officially moderator week and we would like to ask you all to thank the moderators when you see them this week, because they do so much to keep the site in order and don't get appreciated enough!
Help your neighbor!
We would like to ask that you help out an EM great in getting a scholarship! Just vote up this video so Eric7 can win 7th place or better! :) Here's a link to his video:
http://contest.joefossinstitute.strutta.com/entry/1190955
You can vote once a day until the 20th, so remember to vote for Eric!
Need help from the EM community? Just PM CarlySunshine24!
Notable Account Changes User News
Eric7 has reached 70,000 points! cdgodin has reached 50,000 points! Bans - RaidenMZwas banned from Training and Competitive lobbies.
ChuckTesla was banned from Training and Sandbox lobbies. starwars531 was banned from Training and Sandbox lobbies. Laexios was banned from Training and Sandox lobbies. MyLeg was banned from Training, Competitive, and Sandbox lobbies. -KrabbyPatty was banned from all lobbies.
ObviouslyMafia was banned from all lobbies. ProScumhunter was banned from Training and Sandbox lobbies. Catstar was banned. (Sirius) canitouchit was banned from Training and Competitive lobbies. Spookfest was banned from all lobbies. khorneBread was banned from Training and Sandbox lobbies. Hellish was banned from all lobbies. Sociopath was banned from all lobbies. Guny was banned from all lobbies. Quest was banned from Training and Competitive lobbies. TheShinyMaster\ was banned from all lobbies. titanium162 was banned from all lobbies. Popee was banned from Training lobby. Peta was banned from all lobbies. Winning was banned from Training and Competitive lobbies. Turboguppy was banned from Training and Competitive lobbies. Notable Threads
Link: http://www.epicmafia.com/topic/51002 Looks like the games lobby is going to get a makeover for a brand new world of Big Brother and Vivor games! Check it out... xXEpicGodfatherXx: http://www.epicmafia.com/topic/50897 2013 NFL Playoffs (For the football fans here, even though I don't understand you.)
A Slightly Late Interview with the Caroler Icon Creator, Mintie! What inspired your Caroler, specifically the beret?
It's a woolen winter cap with a pompom, not a beret. But basically i was just like "what do people who go caroling wear? warm clothes why am i asking myself this" and a sweater and a silly woolen pompom hat is what i think of as the poster child for generic winter clothes i guess?
How do you make such great icons, or do you prefer to not out your secrets? ;)
I wrote a thread somewhere (here: http://www.epicmafia.com/topic/35448 ) another thing to note is that at least 40% of it is trial and error. Like i spent some 30 minutes fiddling with the hair because it looked dumb.
Where do you usually play on EM? (Sandbox, Training, etc)
Sandbox, but also comp.
Any last things you'd like to mention or a short bio of yourself and how you found EM?
I found EM through tigsource a long time ago and I've been hovering in and out. I was just like OH HEY I LOVE IRC MAFIA AND IT'S IRC MAFIA 24/7 WITH LIKE 150 PEOPLE IN THE COMM THIS IS AMAZING. P.S. the combined lobby was better for newbs because training is basically just letting all the people who dont know anything sit together and spread lies amongst themselves and learn nothing.
Negative Karma has disappeared... by TriAft
"Negative karma was removed for being abused by players who didn't utilize the system for its proper intent, which is to accurately reflect those with bad play or bad sportsmanship." – user KristyInChains
In the past week, something somewhat of a big deal has changed on Epic Mafia. Not the new features, such as what your friends are playing, or that you can now kudos or add karma to someone at the end of a game, or not even the fact that you can now put petitions in forum threads. No, the big site-shaking change that has happened is the removal of negative karma, affecting all players from the most tryhard competitive players to the most relaxed sandbox players. Karma is an integral part of the out of game experience on Epic Mafia, being one of the few indicators, alongside points, kudos, and pie charts, of how good people are as players. The absence of this feature has got some players up in arms, but has got some others feeling just as they should. I talked to a group of diverse members on Epic Mafia and got some opinions.
"There wasn't really a problem with it for 3+ years so why bother screwing around with something that isn't broken and was meant for fun in the first place?" user SpiderBoom asks, a rhetorical question that many people have been asking themselves and others these past few days. The absence of karma seems sudden and unnecessary to them, changing around a system that seems to work fairly well is useless. Many uses see the negative karma system as a plus for the website, such as user Kristy who said "negative karma was essentially a punishment for bad behaviour", adding in that with the removal of this system "as long as there's nothing said warranting a harassment violation, there's nothing stopping me from being mean and annoying."
Many other users share the same sentiment that the removal of negative karma is a bad thing, but for a wider variety of different reasons. For instance, user LaurieRose makes the point that "[negative karma] shows how many people actually appreciate the person in the community for their playing/posting/friendships". Because negative karma has been removed, users that had karma in the -100s before suddenly found themselves up at +100 or even more. Some people see this as the removal of a way to see who is a valued player or not. "I am usually around Sandbox so you would use negative karma to know what to expect from each player. Now, you can't punish a player for having a sour attitude or simply being a nuisance" user Nitroxium explained, pushing a point that many players feel. People are getting the feeling that there is no reason to be following the rules adamantly; nothing to keep them in line. It removes the enabling power of an everyday player, taking away the ability for users to attempt to enforce whatever sort of law that they can. With the lack of game-to-game order, “there's no incentive to not act like an idiot on purpose as you can't be punished for it unless it blatantly breaks the rules" says user Nikke.
Some users think a bit differently. “It really does make the karma system completely useless now” said user straightchillin, an opinion he does not seldom hold, “you can't really tell whether or not someone is a bad player or simply new”. Many players before thought that karma had no point and as user hiralarious puts it, "karma is kind of a pointless scale". Some users, like Shmeur, even would go as far as to say that “karma should be done away with altogether.” Still, more people feel indifferent or even that it was the right decision. User jambecca acknowledges the corruption of the old negative karma system stating that "some people neg others for simply winning the game, and on the other hand they neg someone for indirectly causing their side to lose." User Giga is one of the many that simply don’t care saying that "it doesn't change the site" and "nothing drastically bad has occured", taking the standpoint that karma is just a number. This indifference is most widely seen by those who have grown past the idea of karma itself. But, some people believe that the old karma system could be slightly changed to make negative karma work in its favor, making sure that you can only give someone negative karma if you left a reason and positive karma could only be given post game.
Moderator Rondar stated that negative karma was removed because “it was causing a lot of strife, especially involving OGI. People kept bringing negging into games and just wouldn't stop. It was a pain to deal with.” This reason is quite interesting because out of all the people that I interviewed, only one person brought it up. “People negged bad players all the time, or after stupid mistakes. It was just terrible, especially knowing that, as long as it wasn't OGI, we couldn't do much about it” he continues. Negative karma, while at the beginning may have been a good idea for admin Lucid “[because he] didn't have the time to identify who was a troll and who wasn't while [he] was away from the site”, but at this point in time it had gotten to the point where players used it for the wrong reasons. Threatening to give negative karma to someone was an added strain on the system and overall as Rondar puts it, “it was just excess weight and a pain.”
In my opinion, I believe that the removal of negative karma will not matter in the long run. But, it is difficult to tell at the moment what the outcome of this change will bring. It’s only been a few days after the change and as user LaurieRose so nicely put it, "get back to me on that question maybe in a couple weeks".
EM Poem Are you great with literature? Submit a poem related to mafia for next week's edition. Next week's topic is
*O! Good night sweet mods
Rest peacefully in lucid slumber
Awake to madness.*
--------(A haiku) by Slapchop
*I wish to thank all the mods
for their hard work and diligence
without asking, in return
for one single pence
They work to keep up the site
And we do not appreciate it
They ward off the trolls and mites
Yet it is us who complains...
Our moans and groans are endless
While their work, tireless
When players take to cheating
This evil goes unobserved
Instead, mods take the beating
One they don't deserve.
Shall we take this week
to honor the humble, meek,
diligent "Sweet Sixteen?"
Don't be a fiend..
Just say a simple "Thank you!"
To the convivial crew!*
------CarlySunshine24
(This upcoming poem is meant as a joke :)
Thank you Jenna, you're such a mango...
Battler knows how to do the tango.
Rondar, Rondar, ride your camel!
Riot don't you know a cat's a mammal?
Matt, you kooky, anime kid...
the one who makes Les Miserables his bid ThoughtPolice I know not who you are...
but Big Brother is spying from afar.
Laexio, Laexio that one mod...
Always talked about, but never around.
Vigoroth, we're pokebuds
Even if dragonite is such a dud...
Of course there's sweet, shy Sachy
Tonight will I see you in a game of Partyyy?
For dinner is Letzshake
Having shake 'n bake?
Tamamono, if i could
pronounce your name
My rhyming power might
give you fame!
Lady, you beautiful you,
Save me from this ban, will you?
Cloudminnioni said to be the best,
And none of this is in jest...
Beta, Alpha, Gamma, Data!
So sweet, like greek baklava!
Mantys, Mantys is it strange?
When I'm maf you're in my range..
Last but not least is ark,
Who made his mark
by banning me...
-----Anonymous
Member of the Week Phantomatrix conducted this interview of the mods! The EM News team would like to extend a heart-felt gratitude to all the mods for their diligence and hard work. You guys don't get the appreciation you deserve! You keep this site running and free of trolls. We would like to ask the community to use this week especially to "take it easy" on the mods and, if you see a mod in a game, just say a sweet "Thank you!" to them for all they do. :)
Cloudminnion
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“Well, cloud loves this site and thought he could help make it better. Hopefully he has at least a little bit.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“People who love bakers. If you love bakers, cloud loves you.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“Well, cloud is a talking rabbit, but that might not be very interesting... cloud is very clean, showering and conditioning his hair twice a day sometimes ^^”
Rondar
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“Well, what got me interested is that I saw a couple things I felt needed fixing (allowed setups and training), but mainly, it sort of seemed like a challenge, and I like challenges =P”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“... Well, they're funny, sometimes.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I'm a 14 year old Egyptian twin. For some reason, that's usually enough for 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' here =P”
Vigoroth
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I didn't choose the mod life. The mod life chose me.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“When I say WIFOM they think ‘whine in front of me’”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I am really a Vigoroth. Here's my picture saying hi to all you readers.
Corruption
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I decided to be a mod because I had spare time and enjoy getting work done on here. I'd rather spend a couple of hours doing reports than playing random games usually. And I feel I have a pretty good work ethic for getting stuff done.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“Liars Dice games are probably my favourite part of the 'community'. Usually with the other mods =P.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I took part in many of the riots in Athens when I used to live in Greece~”
Data
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I wanted to do reports because i got bored with everything else on this site. Plus i love having keys”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“The people. four people in particular =)”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“When I grow up I want to enter the world of forensics and cut open dead bodies... I always wanted to do something involving dead people...detective work...becoming a mortician...and now a medical examiner =)”
Mantys
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I came to the point where training lobby was not good enough for me, so it was either to commit fully to competitive lobby or do something for the community.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“Players who take the game seriously and help new players, come up with new ideas and help the site in general.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I studied criminal psychology and criminal law, but didn't finish it. I am also a writer and I am working on a book. xD”
Projectmatt
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I'd been applying to be a moderator for quite a while before I was finally chosen - it was both out of a desire to try to help the community and also because the idea of judging other people's motivations and intent in reports sounded fun. Sort of like the game of mafia itself.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“I really appreciate all the friends I've made from this website, and although I enjoy the game/reports, I think the main reason I come to this website is so I can talk to them.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I'm not extremely interesting so I can't share anything groundbreaking, sorry. A hobby that I have that most people don't is probably the drums. I've been playing for a while now and it's extremely fun :P”
LetzShake
Why did you decide to be a mod?
“I first decided to become a mod to help out the community and "make a difference," so to speak, like many of the other mods, and moderator applicants, will probably tell you. Since then, I've been remodded two other times. I reapplied because I like to do reports. I find them to be a fun distraction, and doing reports being less time consuming than games means that I can do them more often than I can play games.”
What is your favorite part of the EM community?
“The whole competitive lobby trophy running community is my favorite. Competitive lobby is a hell of a lot of fun, and in my opinion, it resembles EpicMafia 2.0, when there were no lobbies, the most. I occasionally play in training lobby on training-specific alts or play a couple of closed role anonymous games in Sandbox, but none of them compare to competitive to me.”
What is something unique or interesting about you?
“I can almost put my foot behind my head. I'm off by 2 or 3 inches.”
Know an EM player that deserves a kudo, forum-style? Submit your nominations (via PM, please) for next week's MOTW ! You are allowed to nominate yourself, but give a few reasons as to why you deserve it! Please submit by this Thursday, 1/3/12!
TriAft's Comp Lobby Update by none other than the great TriAft!
Heya folks, Tri here with some much needed evaluation of this round. God, this was an interesting round, mostly from the setups that were put in here. The somewhat obscene absurdity in the past three rounds has been unseen in Competitive Lobby since I’ve been here. Let’s take a look at these setups:
Setups chosen by alessandra:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/58204
Voltron Doesn’t Like it
Okay, so who doesn’t love VDLI. This setup is just a blast to play on because both sides require an equal amount of skill and because there will almost always be a clear in the game. While I have made the point in the past that a setup like Classic Mafia is a sort of a clutch because there is always a cc battle or a clear to keep the game “easy”, this setup is the equivalence of that in a much more balanced way. The most appealing part of the setup is no town investigation roles, leaving all lynches being up to the players’ actions. Your stalker won’t be instantly lynched day one, but of the other token, stalker can’t claim a guilty on the cop. The way that the gameplay shifts to what you kill, what you lynch, and what you stalk is a competitive player’s paradise: a setup that is scumhunting.
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/654397
The HIV Clinic
My first reaction to this setup is, “what.” The multitude of non-nilla roles on both sides is somewhat staggering, four town prs, three mafia prs, and a third. The overloading sense of players seems, as I steal a phrase from Logan, like “an inbred mess”. There are just so many factors to take into account here: three saves, basically four with a watcher report, which can catch doctors, hookers, and the sleepwalker, the actress report which when finding a PR can guilty said watcher, but a visit doesn’t guilty… It’s just a bit too extreme for my tastes. Trying to make a setup with a Politician is always entertaining, but this time it just didn’t work out. I think the word I will use to describe this setup is ‘quaint’. The theme of an HIV clinic is hit spot on and as I think deeper into why each character would be there, it helps me find deeper meaning. Hey, it’s about as hectic as I might suppose an HIV clinic would be. 10/10 for telling a story, not so much on making a solid setup.
Setups chosen by Iluren:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/428263
Overturn 2 Riddler Another great scumhunting setup that is one of my personal favorites on the site once again graces the competitive round, though it is unfortunate it must be this round to make its appearance. The simplistic setup is very easy to understand, very fun to play, and not so easy to win. Most people can understand the basic aspects simply from looking at the setup page. There isn’t terribly much to say about this setup: while it isn’t accurately balanced, the point payoff encourages players who are trying to run to attempt to scumhunt to their best ability. Back in round 67, I personally got to 4th playing this setup because of how skill-based it is. I find it immensely a round with such classic, skill-based setups such as O2R, VDLI, and the B2NS reskin (which I shall talk about later) get completely overshadowed by the monster that is Discordia/FGM. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/428263
Feels Good Man (previously All Hail Discordia)
Oh Iluren, why did you pick this setup? This setup is as if sandbox decided that it wanted to be a part of the trophies too and spewed this demon spawn all over everywhere. It literally hurts my brain to look at this setup for too long. Anyway, Feels Good Man is definitely a competitive setup: it has 5 different sides, up to a whopping six possible deaths on day one, and a way for everyone to win. A great addition to the round if you ask me. FGM has an unbelievably high payout for every side that wins solo, from 108 to 120 points a win. This setup is essentially a pointfarm with the possibility for literally everyone to win. And of course, with such high point payoff and with such high luck, everyone is spending their golden hearts on this, instead of other setups that actually require some form of scumhunting. This setup is more figuring out who you can joint with and less of actually playing the game. I’d rather scumhunt than partake in a roll of a dice popularity contest. I also find it extremely ironic that Iluren comped such a classic scumhunting setup and then comped this piece of garbage. But hey, you’ve gotta get your points somewhere.
Setups comped by animegayboy69:
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/653118
http://www.epicmafia.com/setup/653118
Atlas Shrugged
A reskin of Back 2 Night School with the anonymous deck Idolmaster v2. There’s not much that this does to the gameplay, besides possibly killing runners n1 or expecting doctor to be on someone. B2NS on its own is a good setup, one that is not the most balanced, but similarly to O2R, played quite a bit for its scumhunting capabilities. I’m not sure exactly why we needed a deck, but it’s there anyway. Not much else to say except that B2NS is probably the best example of a setup on Epic Mafia. If I were to explain to someone how this site is more complex than real life mafia, this would be my setup. Cheers.
Overall, this would’ve been a fine setup, with four fantastic setups, and one strange one, but the addition of Discordia/FGM has effectively ruined it. Hell, the first place person on the fourth day had almost 1400 points, while usually the score would be less than 900. The extreme pointfarmness and lack of any actual skill besides manipulating people and nl’ing every day until you can get a win somehow is just absurd. What are we, back in Sandbox?
My overall rating for this round: 6/10
Quote of the Week by wakemeupxo
The sole advantage of power is that you can do more good. Baltasar Gracian
This quote signifies how important power is in our society. There are way to many people in today's society with an abundance of power. Too much power can ruin a society. Too little of it destroys us. We all have the power within ourselves to change our society. It all starts in our hearts. If we have a pure heart, we can change many things. From Epic Mafia to our personal home lives. Sometimes, it is better to look at then man in the mirror first than to worry about a league of nations.
Mafia Advice by wakemeupxo
For this week I have decided on writing this weeks advice column on player politeness. I received a plea of help from a very helpless player, and I am making it my job to try and help said player. Don't worry, I will not expose his identity for Player Privacy. Let's take a look at what this young player needs help with.
Dear Wake, I am a fairly noobish player. Yes I do play in competitive lobby, but I sometimes tend to stick to playing sandbox because I am constantly harassed. There's this one player who lobby trolls me and sends nasty rumors to other players about me. It makes me not want to play EM anymore! I know I can't run from my problems, but I dont know if I can take it anymore. What should I do?
Slumped in Seattle Dear Slumped, In my honest opinion, you sound like a baby. You're how old? You can't be a baby because you wouldn't be playing then...now would you? You see, I like you. You're a really nice person and I do enjoy playing with you. Does it really matter what others think of you? It only truly matters what you think of yourself. I understand that it might be difficult to play when being harassed, but we do have a report button for a reason. Report those suckers who wont leave you alone need to be punished. Yeah but also remember that we are mostly adults. Adults are people that can handle their business, and if you can't handle your stuff, then maybe it's time to look in the mirror and re-assess yourself age wise. Now try to brush them off, but if they won't hop off....tell a trusted person such a moderator and block those losers. :) Good luck kiddo and let me know what happens next. Love and Peace, Wake
Need advice? PM Wakemeupxo and shoot her your questions!
Village Debate
by PhantomPride
This is the question of the week section. Send in your answers to PhantomPride to be published in next week's edition!
Who is your favorite moderator and why?
Shoutouts From TellFlame to all the mods: I love the mods!
From b0oty to all the mods: ily!
From CarlySunshine24 to all the mods: Thank you so much for all your work! You don't get the appreciation you deserve!
From Craz to all the mods: Dear mods,
I just wanted to tell you that I really do appreciate everything you do for this site. You put up with a lot of unnecessary crap, probably more from me then most users. I really do appreciate you taking time out of your day to moderate the reports and deal with all of our crap. I know I get mad and report people out of my anger and even more when I think I can get something refunded, I am sorry for this. From now on I am only going to report people I see with serious intent to break a rule. Again, I just want to thank you for everything you do to help this site and I wish you all a Happy New Year! You guys are great, keep up the good work! Sincerely, Craz
From Arlian to all the mods: Thank you to all the mods!
From RifIe to all the mods: Thank you!!!
From Giga to all the mods: I would like to thank the moderators for keeping the site under control. Without them, we would be screwed because nobody would be banned and people would do whatever they wanted to. There would be suicides on autowin with no punishment. There wouldn't be refunded hearts when the server crashed during a game. These are just two of the things that would not exist if it weren't for lucid, the admins, and the moderators. They get put down a lot, and overall, they don't deserve it.
Current News Team CarlySunshine24: Publisher, Chief Editor Phantomatrix: Journalist PhantomPride: Journalist {Question of the Week} blade12344: Journalist {Roles} TriAft: Journalist {Comp Analysis/Game of the Week} wakemeupxo: {Quote of the Week/Mafia Advice} ~* Not accepting new team members at this time, but thanks anyway! ;) *~ 461,565visits0viewing « 1 2 3
MonsterMessJan 18, 2013 “I can almost put my foot behind my head. I'm off by 2 or 3 inches.”
'Also, what happened to Betrayal doing EM news? deletedJan 19, 2013! you seriously paired up jenna with laexio, i hope animegayboy beat u up
MintieJan 21, 2013 I can ACTUALLY put my foot behind my head. sometimes i use my leg as an armrest.
MonsterMessJan 21, 2013 LOL WAKE YOUR ADVICE HOREHGOIE
PoorHoboJan 25, 2013 I'd vote for mangofruit in the poll on the side, but that would mean i'd also have to vote for laexio. :|
JohnnyAppleseedJan 25, 2013 That's too many words for something that's not a book.
Also I'm not a mod. Johnny4Mod « 1 2 3
Who's your favorite moderator? This is a playoff :) admin/Lucid... Laexio/man... projectmatt/... ThoughtPoli... arkk/Riot Rondar/Clou... BlackBattler/... Sachy/mantys 23.9% 20.1% 14.9% 14.9% 32 admin/Lucid/Data
7 Laexio/mangofruit
27 projectmatt/Vigoroth
7 ThoughtPolice/LetzShake
14 arkk/Riot
20 Rondar/Cloudminnion
7 BlackBattler/Tamamono
20 Sachy/mantys
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