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The Sandbox Setup

sl0nderman
over 7 years

It's really sad that main has better setup diversity. Sure they may play Fancy Pants too much, but at least their competitive setups rotate and new things are coming into play every now and again. When I was testing out some new setups with the Role Patrol group, we were overlooked in sandbox but games filled in minutes in Main.

Closed roles didn't always exist. It was suggested back in 2011. When I joined in 2012, sandbox still wasn't completely dominated with closed roles games. Sandbox was just the lobby you could play for fun, instead of the serious attitude in Training or Competitive (for you newbies, training became Main lobby and the dedicated competitive lobby died off). When I started playing and I was my turn to host, I would hand make a setup each time, trying to put a little balance in it as I went. Maybe the Sandbox Setup is so popular out of laziness. It's right there, stickied, and ready to go and you know people will join it at this point so might as well, right?

Did you know there are over 1,200,000 setups saved? Sure most of them will be crap and duplicates, but even out of half of them Sandbox will be playing the same old closed roles one (with the occasional update with new roles, of course).

This is the part of the post when I do a counter point. "But sl0nderman," you are saying to yourself, "the beauty of closed roles is that you get a semi-unique setup each time you host!" Well this is where Sandbox gets part of it's reputation of "not trying." Yes, part of that is the lack of rules, but the other part is that there is less strategy in a closed roles setup than in normal ones. There's little to no way of knowing what roles are in play for the average player in the Sandbox Setup, which in turn causes people to not think about actions as much. Say you went to gun you friend but they were actually a granny and you died. Say everyone just automatically NL'd on the first day but there was an interrogator in play and he just killed the doctor. You can't fault the players for this, there's no way to play around literally every role in the game.

Maybe I've been around too long (which is silly because I've not even close to one of the oldest users on the site), but don't you get bored, Sandbox? Obviously there are those of you who are so done with games that you've complete given up and just sit around in the chat.

I invite everyone who is willing to play games to do a very simple thing. Host a different setup and try something new. There are literally a million to choose from. You'll probably start having more fun that you realize.

EDIT: SHUFFLING THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS AROUND IS FAKE DIVERSITY

The worst thing about sandbox games is...
41
players who suicide over small things.
17
the lack of effort.
3
the banality.
0
the randomness.
Bebop
over 7 years

Cubotv1 says

There should be a day when closed role setups are banned




1. enforcing that would be hellish
2. no
deletedover 7 years
There should be a day when closed role setups are banned
USA
over 7 years


It's really sad that main has better setup diversity.




There is an extremely low chance that the usual 12 player set-up will have the same exact roles as a previous game. It is so extremely diverse that you ignore the fact that it is diverse.

Want to stop the 12 player set-up train? Create a set-up that doesn't suck balls. Take inspiration from the Wolf Hunter set-up (https://epicmafia.com/setup/356450) that was mildly successful in 2011 and 2012.

I didn't read the rest of your post because it's too long and your first statement is false.
ashes
over 7 years
I try my best to play seriously in Sandbox. I use the lack of rules to my favor, to the point some people have called me "psychopathic" with my strats.

The problem is, this is how it's been since 2014. Maybe earlier. Old habits die hard. And I don't see Sandbox people bothering to try with logic/complex setups like VDLI, or even FP.
Golbolco
over 7 years

sl0nderman's OP says

This is the part of the post when I do a counter point. "But sl0nderman," you are saying to yourself, "the beauty of closed roles is that you get a semi-unique setup each time you host!" Well this is where Sandbox gets part of it's reputation of "not trying."


Here's the thing about one of Sandbox's most common play styles, though: a lot people really don't try in most games. And I'm certainly guilty of not trying from time to time myself. It's already a drag to get a 12-player closed roles game filled, and once everyone's there most just seem to tab out and only vote so they don't veg. Sometimes they'll troll or do meme things like vote the clear, which gives Sandbox players such a bad reputation.

From my point of view, closed roles setup should be all about role logic. You should know all about your role, all of its interactions, and how to best play it, and then use your knowledge against people. Pay attention and play the game, don't just sit there and bandwagon. That doesn't mean you have to be "super cereal on the dot like Main lobby" all the time, that just means you're playing the game and you won't get reported thrice if you win.
SirAmelio
over 7 years
yeah same, its not just about hosting. people arent usually interested in joining. filling an open roles setup is not easy, unless its a meme one like 9 deputies and 3 snipers...

i have hosted some of these setups before and they took a while to fill, with people joining 7-3-2 and that was with me actually linking the game in skype groups...
Bebop
over 7 years

Golbolco says

I think a big part of why people only host the same 3-4 setups or their own personalized ones over and over again is that for the most part, people are guaranteed to join them.


This is true, I've tried hosting other setups that I've created (for example, most recently I've hosted a setup I created to try to work in President) but they just don't fill. 7-3-2 styled setups suck up the players.
Golbolco
over 7 years
I think a big part of why people only host the same 3-4 setups or their own personalized ones over and over again is that for the most part, people are guaranteed to join them. Hosting a Plissken game or an experimental setup for more possible play in Main or just something different, however, just won't fill as fast, if at all. Main lobby has the same problem, I've been making new setups for Role Patrol to utilize new roles or just to introduce more life, but as you say, sl0nd, people just like their fancy pants.

I have more thoughts on the other things you bring up, but I'll talk about them in a little bit.
Bebop
over 7 years

Ohdearmycatisgone says

Remove endo's and put in 3rd party


It's already happened.
Bebop
over 7 years
I also agree, setup diversity in Sandbox would be a great thing to see.
tigermom
over 7 years
I think this all boils down to hosting more varied games, that's all. No need to artificially promote "diverse games" by stickying them amongst the stickied setups (although that wouldn't hurt as they're all identical lol).
deletedover 7 years
Remove endo's and put in 3rd party
JamalMarley
over 7 years
I agree with this.