Originally Posted by
Water
Let me try to boil this into coherent arguments:
1. The forum serves no purpose.
Response: The forum serves an important purpose of allowing clan members discuss clan-related matters, along with competitive mafia ideas.
2. The clan has few members.
Response: The clan is indeed new. However, within the past several days, it has welcomed 18 members. These are not random spam invites. They were selected. I am hoping to get the clan near 100 within the month. I don't think it will be too hard given the large number of mafia players.
3. I abused mod powers to create a sub-forum.
Response: I did not create the forums. I do not believe it is possible for me to create sub-forums. It was created directly by one of the administrators, after DR and the other admins reached a unanimous consensus.
4. Competitive mafia does not exist, therefore the clan has no grounds to stand on.
Response: Competitive Mafia can exist. Let me explain why.
When considering games, we can view it from a luck-skill dichotomy. For games like the slot machine, it is 100% luck, for games like chess, it is about 100% skill. For games like StarCraft, it's a mixture. Skill is a big factor, but luck is a factor too. You'll find that competitive gaming generally exists only when skill influences luck. For example, Poker may seem like a game of luck, but with proper bank management, understanding of probabilities, knowing tells, etc., it becomes a game of skill. That's why there is a huge competitive industry behind it.
Skilled Mafia players also have a greater chance of winning in Mafia. There are a lot of facets of Mafia which rewards expertise and skill. Let me list a few examples:
1. Properly understanding the roles and game mechanics. It is not easy to have a mastery of it. Just as how those who understand how SC2 units work are better at SC2 1v1, knowing the game mechanics will give you the leverage in mafia. You will know who is lying, you will know your limitations and capabilities, along with your opponent's.
2. Conversational and debating skills. There are specific techniques that yield different outcomes. An obvious example is claiming that you're protective N1, as veteran, and luring a killer to attack you. Knowing what to say, and how to argue and claim is an important skill not only in Mafia, but also in real life as well. An entire profession (legal) is build around this idea. How does one articulate his arguments? What arguments should he make in order to influence the votes? These are all actually topics studied by those in the legal profession. Albeit, Mafia may be a cruder example of it, it does help refine debating skills.
3. Logic and deduction. I am able to lynch all evils within two days as Marshall with just one group execution). When someone makes a claim, you need check it against the available roles. You need to cross-reference it against other people's claims. You need to consider how long it takes for them to respond back to you. The credibility of the LW needs to be considered. You also need to consider how difficult it is to prove a role (example, doctor vs bus driver). Doing all of this within minutes requires a lot of skill (I actually use a spreadsheet with a list of all 15 numbers/colors, and wrote down claims, cross-referenced, then deduce whenever I am Marshall). You use logic and deduction everywhere in the game.
Mafia can be intellectually stimulating when you want it to. Unfortunately, the vast majority do not play mafia seriously. Most people are often multi-tasking or zoned out as they play. This ruins the experience for competitive players like myself (I am grandmaster Protoss). Our goal is to create a competitive atmosphere for like-minded individuals. Hopefully, in-house tourneys will help serve as a catalyst to achieve this.
Considering your use of vocabulary, I'm sure everything I just said went right over your head. In conclusion: I'm grandmaster Protoss; Trust me; It will work.