Werewolf General Planning Thread

[happycats517]

Any reason not to repeat a previous theme? With credit to the original host, same as each host credits the people whose WW rules they’re using/adapting. Could be fun to revisit old favorites.

Or if you don’t want to do that, might someone who can’t host offer theme suggestions to inspire you? (Note: I don’t have any suggestions for a theme at this time, but someone else may!)

Of course I understand that you may not have time right now. I’m just trying to help keep WW discussions (and WW) alive.

With us having 100s of games, I'm sure a theme has been repeated. It's not like we are consulting the list prior to making a theme. I think the bigger thing is that for a lot of GMs having a theme they are interested in helps keep it fun and keep them motivated. Side note, I'll be willing to run a game towards late July once I'm settled in Germany.

 

[marty99]

My work schedule too all over the place atm with 12 hr day shifts and 12 hr night shifts and stuff like that. can’t commit to a single deadline for more than a week

 

[Wagonlitz]

With us having 100s of games, I'm sure a theme has been repeated. It's not like we are consulting the list prior to making a theme. I think the bigger thing is that for a lot of GMs having a theme they are interested in helps keep it fun and keep them motivated. Side note, I'll be willing to run a game towards late July once I'm settled in Germany.

This

 

[Sleepyhead]

With us having 100s of games, I'm sure a theme has been repeated. It's not like we are consulting the list prior to making a theme. I think the bigger thing is that for a lot of GMs having a theme they are interested in helps keep it fun and keep them motivated. Side note, I'll be willing to run a game towards late July once I'm settled in Germany.

It’ll be September before you have Internet.

 

[happycats517]

It’ll be September before you have Internet.

I'm getting a phone plan where I can set up a mobile hot spot and if that fails I can at least run a lite from my phone.

 

[Wagonlitz]

It’ll be September before you have Internet.

Surely German bureaucracy isn't THAT slow anymore.

 

[happycats517]

Surely German bureaucracy isn't THAT slow anymore.

Per my searches, the issue is that many internet providers in Germany are actually resellers and Deutsche Telekom is the one who has control over actually connecting your internet. If you go through one of those resellers, you aren't actually a Telekom customer, and so they have no reason to prioritize starting your internet, so they do it when it's convenient for them.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Per my searches, the issue is that many internet providers in Germany are actually resellers and Deutsche Telekom is the one who has control over actually connecting your internet. If you go through one of those resellers, you aren't actually a Telekom customer, and so they have no reason to prioritize starting your internet, so they do it when it's convenient for them.

Ah. You should sign up with Deutsche Telekom, them.
Also curious that DT still own all the lines.
Like, is it still the copper wires or something. Or did Germany not allow anybody else than DT to put in fiber cables.

Here power companies, among others, were putting in fiber cables almost 20 yeras ago.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Per my searches, the issue is that many internet providers in Germany are actually resellers and Deutsche Telekom is the one who has control over actually connecting your internet. If you go through one of those resellers, you aren't actually a Telekom customer, and so they have no reason to prioritize starting your internet, so they do it when it's convenient for them.

Also, connecting?
Your new place never had internet before?
Because if it did, wouldn't there then be a plug in the wall you just can connect the router you get from your ISP to?

 

[Flockingbird]

I was musing over something EURO said in the one game I played, after the village lost both seer and priest:

Scanners are overrated tbh. Village can win easily without them. Yes, it's usually a good idea to set them up as juicy hunt targets but if a pack is willing to out itself in the thread to lynch one, we welcome that too.

What’s a (big) WW game like without all the various roles and traits, I wondered? What if you had traitless villagers, 4 wolves and 4 JL members (who know each other at game start, same as wolf packs do)—numbers adjusted as needed to get a good balance given how many active players you have? Would that make it easier for someone to host? Could a WW game be fun without the customary roles and traits? (What is it that makes a WW game fun?)

Are there any changes you can think of that would make it easier to host a WW game?

 

[Sleepyhead]

I was musing over something EURO said in the one game I played, after the village lost both seer and priest:

What’s a (big) WW game like without all the various roles and traits, I wondered? What if you had traitless villagers, 4 wolves and 4 JL members (who know each other at game start, same as wolf packs do)—numbers adjusted as needed to get a good balance given how many active players you have? Would that make it easier for someone to host? Could a WW game be fun without the customary roles and traits? (What is it that makes a WW game fun?)

Are there any changes you can think of that would make it easier to host a WW game?

We've had that, known as the "buddies" or something.

 

[Sleepyhead]

Also, connecting?
Your new place never had internet before?
Because if it did, wouldn't there then be a plug in the wall you just can connect the router you get from your ISP to?

That's not how to get German Internet. A Telekom guy has to come, 1-2 months after you request the appointment. Likely he won't come at all and report that you weren't home between 8 and 20, which is the time span in which he can show up. When you catch him the second time he must slaughter a goat, smear blood on the walls and chant some incantations in Latin (which is fine, basically all Germans learn Latin), then and only then do you get Internet. And it's slower than in Albania.

 

[Flockingbird]

My work schedule too all over the place atm with 12 hr day shifts and 12 hr night shifts and stuff like that. can’t commit to a single deadline for more than a week

That sounds exhausting!

IF you wanted to host a game during this time, and doing so wouldn’t make your life too difficult, might it be possible to have a shifting deadline for that one game? Announce it in the sign-ups. Maybe get a volunteer to send out PM-reminders to all the players when the deadline switches (I could do tasks like that after June 12).

But if I were in your shoes, Marty, I’d be too tired to take on hosting a game.

We've had that, known as the "buddies" or something.

Was it fun? Did it make the game easier to host? (It sounds simple enough for a complete noob like me to host, as it’d involve official vote counts, hunt orders & results, and flavor text, unless I’m missing something.)

 

[Wagonlitz]

I was musing over something EURO said in the one game I played, after the village lost both seer and priest:

What’s a (big) WW game like without all the various roles and traits, I wondered? What if you had traitless villagers, 4 wolves and 4 JL members (who know each other at game start, same as wolf packs do)—numbers adjusted as needed to get a good balance given how many active players you have? Would that make it easier for someone to host? Could a WW game be fun without the customary roles and traits? (What is it that makes a WW game fun?)

Are there any changes you can think of that would make it easier to host a WW game?

Generally small traits are part of what keeps peopel interested.
Like, not having anything to do at night and not being part of any behind the scenes at all can leave peopel feeling like they're not truly part of the game.
It oughtn't be that way, but sadly it is. Hence various small traits, like xly powers, often help keep people interested.

We've had that, known as the "buddies" or something.

That was in lites.
Not sure it necessarily would work in bigs. Though, I guess it might.

That's not how to get German Internet. A Telekom guy has to come, 1-2 months after you request the appointment. Likely he won't come at all and report that you weren't home between 8 and 20, which is the time span in which he can show up. When you catch him the second time he must slaughter a goat, smear blood on the walls and chant some incantations in Latin (which is fine, basically all Germans learn Latin), then and only then do you get Internet. And it's slower than in Albania.

Where's the Ordnung...
I will say that I wish we still learnt Latin here.

IF you wanted to host a game during this time, and doing so wouldn’t make your life too difficult, might it be possible to have a shifting deadline for that one game? Announce it in the sign-ups. Maybe get a volunteer to send out PM-reminders to all the players when the deadline switches (I could do tasks like that after June 12).

Wouldn't work. Firstylt because it'd extend some days to 36 hours, which can be a problem. But primarily because it'd mess with various orders, etc. People can't be on at any time, and the further from deadline you're on the less useful it is, honestly. As such, having it switch back and forth potentially could gimp various roles immensely.
And it just creates havoc, as some people won't realise it in any case.

 

[Flockingbird]

We've had that, known as the "buddies" or something.

That was in lites.
Not sure it necessarily would work in bigs. Though, I guess it might.

Found one of the games:

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI. Highly advanced artificial intelligence is subject to its own special problems. A bug has allowed hostile programmes to be created. These programmes are hostile towards humanity and wants to take...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

3 friends who know each other, 3 wolves, and 11 villagers. No other roles or traits. Presumably much easier to host?

 

[johho888]

We had friends/masons/buddies in big games as well. But I think never as the only role/trait.

 

[Wagonlitz]

Found one of the games:

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI. Highly advanced artificial intelligence is subject to its own special problems. A bug has allowed hostile programmes to be created. These programmes are hostile towards humanity and wants to take...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

3 friends who know each other, 3 wolves, and 11 villagers. No other roles or traits. Presumably much easier to host?

Lites aren't hard to host.
And hosting with three buddies and only three wolves shouldn't be amy easier than a standard lite of four wolves and a seer.

We had friends/masons/buddies in big games as well. But I think never as the only role/trait.

Ah. Masons seem to ring a bell.

 

[happycats517]

Found one of the games:

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI

Werewolf Lite CCCLXXVII: Wagonlitz the AI. Highly advanced artificial intelligence is subject to its own special problems. A bug has allowed hostile programmes to be created. These programmes are hostile towards humanity and wants to take...

forum.paradoxplaza.com

3 friends who know each other, 3 wolves, and 11 villagers. No other roles or traits. Presumably much easier to host?

The only thing that this does to simplify the set up is remove the seer scan, which is not a difficult order to handle in a lite where they either scan a pack member (and thus get wolf) or they get a villager result. It should take 30 seconds at most to handle the seer order. From a set up and night order perspective, a lite is simple. My notes for a lite look something like this:

Wolf Pack:
Wagonlitz
Johho
Flockingbird
Aedan

Seer:
DNFC

Dead Players:
*put a running list of dead players here in case the seer or wolves accidentally target a dead person*

When deadline hits, I count the votes, look at the wolves and seer and if the player with the most votes aren't them, I put so and so the villager is lynched. If it's the seer or a wolf that has the most votes, then I put their role. Then I look at the hunt and if they are targeting any living player but the seer, I put so and so the villager is hunted, and if they hunt the seer then I put DNFC the seer (or whoever the seer is in that game) is hunted. Finally I look at the seer's scan if they are alive. If they are scanning anyone in the pack, I return wolf. Otherwise, I return villager. If I've been regularly doing vote counts throughout the day and thus I only need to count a few additional votes, that entire process can be done in a few minutes with the votes usually being the thing that makes it take a while if there was a lot of sniping or other activity at deadline. And deadline activity isn't affected that much by lite set up.

The things that take time in a lite are being active in the thread and providing timely votecounts and writing good flavor text for the updates, which aren't affected by set up.

 

[Wagonlitz]

The only thing that this does to simplify the set up is remove the seer scan, which is not a difficult order to handle in a lite where they either scan a pack member (and thus get wolf) or they get a villager result. It should take 30 seconds at most to handle the seer order. From a set up and night order perspective, a lite is simple. My notes for a lite look something like this:

Wolf Pack:
Wagonlitz
Johho
Flockingbird
Aedan

Seer:
DNFC

Dead Players:
*put a running list of dead players here in case the seer or wolves accidentally target a dead person*

When deadline hits, I count the votes, look at the wolves and seer and if the player with the most votes aren't them, I put so and so the villager is lynched. If it's the seer or a wolf that has the most votes, then I put their role. Then I look at the hunt and if they are targeting any living player but the seer, I put so and so the villager is hunted, and if they hunt the seer then I put DNFC the seer (or whoever the seer is in that game) is hunted. Finally I look at the seer's scan if they are alive. If they are scanning anyone in the pack, I return wolf. Otherwise, I return villager. If I've been regularly doing vote counts throughout the day and thus I only need to count a few additional votes, that entire process can be done in a few minutes with the votes usually being the thing that makes it take a while if there was a lot of sniping or other activity at deadline. And deadline activity isn't affected that much by lite set up.

The things that take time in a lite are being active in the thread and providing timely votecounts and writing good flavor text for the updates, which aren't affected by set up.

This. That's a good sumup.
Only thing I wanna add is that, and this really is a potato potato/matter of taste situatin and both are equally good, is that it's also possible to list remaining players instead of dead players.
That's how I usually do it. Both cases will show you who's alive. Eithre directly or by exclusion.

 

[Flockingbird]

That’s useful; thanks!

Would running a ‘friends, wolves, & villagers’ setup make it easier for someone to host a big? (I still have to look up masons in WW games.) I have gotten the impression that the sometimes-complex interplay of the various roles and traits (and increase in PMs) can take up a lot of GM time.

Which brings me back to an earlier question, if anyone wants to respond: what makes WW fun for you?

(Having answered that, are a variety of roles & traits an essential part of your fun, or have you enjoyed games which had the bare minimum?)

I’m hoping there are ways to lessen the workload for a GM running a big, without making it less fun.

(Lastly: still hoping activity in this thread will help remind people to keep an eye on this forum for the next WW game.)