S-FM (Simple Forum Mafia) Game

Introduction

S-FMs (Simple Forum Mafia Games) are the smallest and simplest of the three Forum Mafia Game Types. That said, many players enjoy them more than M-FMs or FMs because of their small size, which allows the players to get to know each other well and progress into the game more quickly. In addition, the hosting / playing requirements for S-FMs are very low, which makes them very approachable for newcomers. Setups, signups, and the S-FM games themselves are hosted in the S-FM subsection of the SC2Mafia.com forum.

S-FMs may range anywhere from 3 to 13 players, though it is extremely rare for an S-FM to have less than 8 or 9 players as that would typically require a very experimental type of setup to be a viable game (such as no night kills, etc.). Games with more than 13 players are required to be hosted as M-FMs.

Playing S-FMs

S-FMs are a great experience overall and newcomers are encouraged to get involved with them. Below is some information about how to sign up for an S-FM and what you should expect in terms of game duration.

Signup Requirements

None! This makes S-FMs the best way for newcomers to get involved in the Forum Mafia community. However, prior to signing up for their first game, it is somewhat recommended that newcomers flip through some of the pages of current / past S-FMs in order to familiarize themselves with how S-FMs work and progress on our site. There can be at least a little bit of a learning curve, and having a little bit of preparation prior to the game is always a good thing.

You can sign up to participate in an S-FM game in the Signups section of the S-FM forum. New games are posted based on the Setup Queue, which is a list maintained by the FM Liaison. Per the Setup Queue, two different S-FMs are hosted at the same time -- a Smaller S-FM with 10 players or less, and a Larger S-FM with 11-13 players. As ongoing games are completed, the FM Liaison will allow signups for new games to be posted.

Game Duration / Time Commitment

Hosts have compete discretion to design S-FMs however they choose. However, for illustrative purposes, a typical S-FM has game days lasting either 24 or 48 hours (i.e. 1 or 2 days) and nights lasting 24 hours (1 day). Most S-FMs last anywhere from 5 to 7 game days, so generally speaking, you should expect that a typical S-FM would last anywhere from a week to two weeks in real world time. Depending on how the host has set up his game, there may be severe outliers in each direction of course (some S-FMs have lasted only 3-4 days and others have lasted over 2 weeks).

Use of Anonymous Accounts

Anonymous Accounts are OPTIONAL in S-FMs and are at the discretion of the game host who may allow players to use their normal SC2Mafia.com accounts in games or who may require them instead. In the current meta, most S-FM hosts have not required Anonymous Accounts given the additional administrative overhead required and chance of COM slips (i.e. players accidentally posting from their main account instead of their Anonymous Account).

Hosting S-FMs

Now that you've played some other players' S-FM game, why not host one yourself? Perhaps you have a fun theme or interesting mechanic for a game? Hosting can be a bit overwhelming to start, but many players find it to be very rewarding in terms of seeing their vision of a game come to life. Here is a little more information about hosting.

Requirements

In order to host an S-FM, you must have previously played in a Forum Mafia game (S-FM, M-FM, or FM) to completion (i.e. not have been replaced out or modkilled due to a rules violation). This is a very low bar as well, intended to make sure hosts have a baseline familiarity with playing in a Forum Mafia game before hosting one.

Process

Once you have satisfied the Hosting Requirements, you are able to post proposed setups to the Setup Workshop part of the S-FM forum. New hosts in particular, are encouraged to consult a hosting guide for information on which elements are required to be included in every setup (a role list, a rules list, an order of operations, etc.)

Once you have posted your setup to the Setup Workshop, other players will review it and post questions / comments (usually in green), which you should answer and use to make clarifying / balance revisions to your setup (if necessary). The Forum Mafia Liaison, Orpz, will also review the setup and may provide questions / comments of his own for you to address. Once the FM Liaison is satisfied with your setup, he will approve it and add your game to the Setup Queue, which is a thread that lists the order in which games will be hosted.

When is your game's turn to be hosted, the FM Liaison will notify you and you will have the opportunity to create a signup post for your game in the Signups section of the S-FM forum. Once signups for your game have filled up, the FM Liaison will then authorize you to begin your game. Good luck with hosting!

Accolades / Achievements

MVP Award

At the end of each S-FM game, an MVP is selected based on everyone's opinion of the player who performed the best during the game.

In the first two seasons of the S-FM Ladder, the game host and players were able to vote on the game's MVP (the player who has performed the best during the game). In the event of a tie, the host's vote served as a tiebreaker. Only players who participated in a particular game (along with the host) were able to vote for the MVP of a game.

As of Season 3 of the S-FM Ladder, the MVP selection criteria is currently in the process of being revised and there will likely be a new system involving host nominations and player voting. See the following post by the S-FM Liaison for more details.

In addition, voting takes place in the game thread after the game has concluded and is typically performed in the same way as voting a player (using the [vote] command).

S-FM Ladder

In addition, the FM Liaison maintains an S-FM Ladder, which is a ranking of all players who have participated in S-FMs during a particular "season" (series of 12 S-FM games). The rankings are based on a points system which rewards players with points for winning S-FM games, receiving the MVP award in an S-FM game, hosting S-FM games, and achieving certain streaks (such as win streaks or MVP streaks). There are prizes associated with finishing within the top three of the S-FM Ladder each season.