On Being Heard

Original Lecture: On being heard

In general? I don't advocate getting "louder". If you look at my play in games, for instance, I am decently-charismatic and am generally listened to...but I'm not loud. Not in the sense I think of being the word "loud", anyway. That word brings up connotations of the Fate school of thought, and CAPS LOCK ALLIANCE. If your playstyle is naturally aggressive, sure! That can work for ya. It works for people like kuribo and all that.

But if you're generally a more "reserved" player? Heck no, that's not you. Don't try to make it you. If you did, then you're probably going to get lynched for fakerage regardless of your alignment. :P Because it's not you. It's not your style. Don't try to force it to be your style. Instead, you should focus not on being loud, but on having your voice be heard. Being loud is one method OF making your voice be heard--but it is not the only one!

Often-times, it's not the person with the best arguments who wins. Often-times, it's also not the "loudest" player who wins. (At least, not in the long-term. I call these tactics strong-arming. They'll work for a while, as people get pushed into obedience. But eventually, they'll rebel, and bite back hard.) It's the player in-between the two that gets it. By which, I mean...it's the player who works with the others. They're not off in their own world randomly posting things which are insightful but completely out-of-touch with the game. They're not shoving their reads down others' throats. They're people who, when talking to other people, come across as being reasonable individuals and want to work together with them.

Thus, the solution to your problem isn't that you need to shout more. It's that you need to talk more, to the players rather than AT them. As town, you work as a team. As town, you need to collaborate in order to win. As town, you need to trust other town players. So as town, you need to work on gaining that common ground and working together to lynch the scum. (And as scum, you need to be able to fake having done the same!) Appealing to specific players is a great way to build that corroboration, and make your standing in the town be much higher.

Basically, there will be players who are timid and don't interact with others. Interact with them! Try to see where they're coming from, explain where you're coming from, and see if you can work together. There will be players who're trying to force others to obey them. Don't obey nor disobey them. Talk to them, ask where they're coming from, explain where you're coming from, and try to work towards having that common ground. They might not listen, but here's the key part--your effort at trying will look good, if not to the loud player, than to the other players, who see you trying to work with a person who normally can't be worked with.

I think you can see where a lot of this is going. It builds off of my lesson on "appearing to be town". Basically, overall, the best way to get a strong standing in a town is to actually treat the other players reasonably and to treat them as equals, who you're working with. Try and make it so that you're a team, or as scum, make it look like you are a team. You'll quickly find you have a long list of allies, if done right. People don't like lynching people that are friendly, nice people. It's one reason why Mastin mislynches are far and few between. I don't not get lynched because I'm an excellent player. I avoid getting lynched because I'm a player who treats others with respect.

In showing that respect, in showing that cooperation, in showing that friendship, that bond, I build a sense of kinship with the town, working with them to get scum lynched. It's not a perfect method, obviously. But it's a method that works remarkably well. People like being treated as a person. So if you do so, if you treat everyone as the person they are, and respect that they have skills as a player...you'll be able to get them to do the same for you. It's as simple as that! Treat others as you expect to be treated.

And in this case... If you want others to listen to your reads...listen to theirs!

That's really all it takes.