Modding Best Practices: One Player's View

[Mr Stoofer]

1) Vote Counts

Vote counts belong in their own post. It makes reviewing a game's voting trends as easy as selecting the mod's name in the View Posts by Player boxes.

Some mods edit them into the first post of each page. That's nice, if they also exist in a way I can find them when I want them. If I want to see if the same person is 4 voting someone, or who never left a particular wagon or whatever, I don't want to spend time looking at each page and either writing info down, Copy/Pasting vote counts or (as is usual) trying to remember the details and flipping back and forth when I can't.

Agreed 100%.

2) Role/faction/name reveals

In the first post and in death scenes, give all public info together. Most mods do this, but I have seen death scenes that gave a role/name without alignment and vice versa. For clarity, I like both.

Agreed. Death scenes should always end with a clear, one line per death, summary of what went on.

3) Confirm when a night action is recieved

This was suggested in a recent MD thread. I've been scum and woken up to no deaths and frantically PM'd the mod wondering if my partner had sent a kill (as we had agreed on). I can imagine all roles wanting to know that there action was received ok.

In the case of role-blocking a cop, or any other role that expects info, something like, "No result obtained" should be sent as well. Some roles won't know if there action worked (either because they don't know what they do, or a "passive" ability like protect or kill) until the next day, and even then it might not be clear (if SK and Mafia kill the same person, did one of the kills fail? Better left unsaid.)

Agreed. I don't always do this, but I agree that a Mod should acknowledge every nightchoice received.

4) Deadline info

A deadline should be issued via its own mod post, not edited in to another post. Editing it in to another player's post is just

mean

. When a deadline is issued, note it in the thread title, if possible. It helps me decide what games to look at if I have limited time. It is also nice to have it in the first post, at least in cases where it doesn't fit in the thread title.

For explicit clarity and prevention of any confusion at all, deadline details, including time and timezone, date and a pointer to/restatement of deadline lynch rules (typically the rules post unless they were amended or stated later), should be in the issuing post.

Agreed.

5) Prods

When player publicly requests a prod, acknowledge it when the prod is sent. Personally, I feel a player picking up the prod is public info and should also be stated when it occurs.

If the player is silent, says he's lurking on purpose, or says he will post- that can remain between mod and player. If he requests to be replaced, then announce that, of course.

Agreed.