I guess we could have the basics, and then the full list of rules. 

I mean a lot of stuff I want people to get isn't even on there, like "understand and agree that you are expected to spend a month or more checking the thread daily, reading hundreds of posts and making dozens of posts yourself". 

[edit:  never mind, that particular thing would go in the sign up list, not the game OP.  Anyway, it's not that I have an objection to a list of rules as such, I just think that needs work.  We should look at that, and the one we have now, and go from there.]

Well like I said the rules were at the discretion of the mod. You could easily have a post minimum. I just didn't have it on their since it was a really slow forum and didn't feel it necessary to have a post minimum

But I like a strict post count of at least 1 every 48 hours. Nice and reasonable(again this is just me and the mod can change it as they see fit)

If someone doesn't post then they get a message from the mod. If they receive 3 taps from the mod then they are replaced the next time they fail to meet the minimum  

Edit: haha, I just remembered what KISS meant... 

Mafia Round XX - Sign-up Thread
Written largely by WordsofWisdom, in ages past when VGC mafia was good 

Mafia is a classic party game and an offshoot of Werewolf (or vice versa, but who cares?).  Each player in the game is assigned a role which is part of a team and they do their best to see that their team wins. 

There are two teams: Townsfolk and Mafia.

The game is separated into Day and Night.  During the Day, the Townsfolk vote to (hopefully) lynch a Mafia member.  Meanwhile, the Mafia pretend to be Townsfolk and try to lynch innocent people.  During the night, the Mafia players choose one person to kill and get themselves closer to winning.  There may also be additional teams; you will recieve specific instructions if you are in one. 

Goals
•The Townsfolk win when all threats to the town (e.g. mafia) are dead. 
•The Mafia win when victory is inevitable; generally this is when they outnumber (or equal) the Townsfolk and any other scum faction combined. 

How to Sign up & Play
•Do not sign up until you have read this entire post and agree to the rules. 
•Post your name in the list below. 
•When the "Mafia Round XX - Game Thread" is made, you will receive a PM with your role. 
•After I post "Day 1 begin" you may begin accusing people and chatting. 

Typical Roles
•Cop
--You win when all the Mafia are dead. 
--During the day, you vote to lynch someone. 
----You want to lynch Mafia so you win the game. 
----You don't want to be lynched, because that would be bad. 
--During the night, you choose someone to investigate by sending me a PM. 
----If my response is "guilty" then the person is Mafia. 
----If my response is "innocent" then the person is not Mafia. 
•Doctor
--You win when all the Mafia are dead.
--During the day, you vote to lynch someone. 
----You want to lynch Mafia so you win the game. 
----You don't want to be lynched, because that would be bad. 
--During the night, you choose someone to protect by sending me a PM. 
----If the Mafia choose the same person you do, the person lives. 
----If the Mafia choose someone else, you fail as a Doctor (the person dies). 
•Mafia
--You win when you outnumber or make up half the living players. 
--During the day, you vote to lynch someone. 
----You want to lynch someone who is not Mafia so you win the game. 
----You don't want to be lynched, because that would be bad (for the mafia). 
--During the night, you talk with your fellow Mafia and choose someone to murder by sending me a PM. 
----If the Doctor is protecting your target, you fail to kill them and waste a night. 
----If the Doctor is not protecting your target, they die ... in painfully creative ways. 

Basic gameplay
•What the mod says, goes. 
•Do not talk about the game outside of the game thread unless your role allows it (e.g. Mafia). 
•Do not post your role PM. 
•Do not edit posts. 
•Do not talk (post) after night falls. 
•Do not talk after you've been killed, lynched, or otherwise discombobulated. 
•Don't take the game too seriously; remember, it's all just for fun. 
•Days last as long as they need to.  If the game has obviously stagnated, or at people's request, I may set a timer on any particular day.  To be fair to people having a timer pop up on them, said timer will probably be at least 48 hours and certainly not less than 24. 
•Night will last at most 48 hours, or at least that's the plan. If you do not PM me with your night action, I may randomly decide it for you. 
•A person is considered lynched when there are votes against him or her that constitutes a majority of players (e.g. 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 6).  After that threshold is reached, the game is in Twilight until the mod ends the day and votes are no longer counted.  People, including the lynched player, can still talk in Twilight, until Night. 

Player conduct
•DO NOT QUOTE YOUR PM OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PRIVATE (NON-GAME-THREAD) COMMUNICATION.  You may allude or refer to it, e.g. "I am a cop" or "according to my role PM I am a cop" or "I am a cop and you are guilty".  Even after you are dead, do not post PMs until the game is over. 
•DO NOT EDIT YOUR POSTS.  Altering or deleting the text of your posts is the second biggest no-no in this game. 
•If you have a question about the game in general, you can post it in the thread (or PM me) and I will answer in the thread if I think it should be addressed.
•If you have a question or concern that pertains to your own role or is otherwise somehow sensitive, PM me. 
•Votes MUST be bolded and on a separate line: 

"Vote:  Joe" or "Vote Joe"

•When changing your vote, please unvote: 

"Unvote Joe
"Vote Jim"

•Do not use micro-text or things like that for secret messages.  Being able to argue that what you did wasn't technically "like that" will not save you from modly wrath. 
•A "dying" post is generally accepted.  Using it to transmit information (e.g. the dead cop saying "X is guilty") is NOT.  Do not abuse this privilege.
•Do not ruin the game.  If you are mafia and die, don't rat out the rest of them. 
•Do not ruin the game.  If the game is "flavored", that doesn't mean you need to or should try to exploit the flavor for a cheap win. 
•The fact that there isn't a rule against it in this list doesn't mean you can get away with it.  If you want to add something to the list, suggest it. 

Potential Punishments
I don't want to scare people, but I want them to have a clear idea of possible consequences.  We're not going to murder you for forgetting to bold a vote. 
1.  Mod Warning
2.  Modkilled for the game
3.  Modkilled for the game AND the next game
4.  Modkilled for the game AND the next game AND it is put to the VGC Mafia playing community that the offender be banned from X number of games or forever

IMPORTANT :  FORUM MAFIA IS A GAME THAT CAN TAKE A MONTH OR MORE and involves reading hundreds of posts and contributing dozens of posts yourself.  You will be expected to check the thread on a daily basis, although people understand that some people are busier than others and will make allowances.  Likewise, no one will be crucified for truly unexpected problems that stop them from participating for perhaps days at a time. 

Nevertheless, if you are not prepared to spend serious time on this, realize that signing up only to make hardly any posts and drop out after a week will SERIOUSLY HURT THE GAME.  If you are still willing to sign up, by all means please do, and welcome (or welcome back) to VGC Mafia! 

Signup List
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OMFG I went to unbelievable trouble copying in big text (I probably could have saved time looking up the HTML) and it didn't even post right? 

And obviously as you say the mod could alter some of the guidelines but I think that's pretty okay for spelling things out. 

[edit:  and it is NOT a mistake that "no PM-quoting" and "no post editing" are in there twice.] 

I'll agree with Final-Fan here and say VGC DESPERATELY needs a couple vanilla games. We've got ourselves a set a new regular players who joined during a string of themed overpowered games and it's gotten to the point where I don't recognize the game anymore.

Now are you two talking about a mafia game with regular roles ie roleblocker, cop. Or an actual just plain vanilla game? 

Actually either would be cool... I suggest shorter games next round. Two 10-12 player normal games. I'd be more then happy to mod a round. 

I also think Final Fans games is a step in a good direction and it was going really well till just recently

Without the exploiting of the vanilla townie's PMs Final-Fan's game would have been great.

BOTH. 

Agreed! 

There's a difference though. A vanilla game is just a cop, doctor, townies, and mafia. More or less a newbie game