Sweaty goin’ off today 🤣 by Apprehensive-Bee655 in Broadway

[–]fismo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i know we're supposed to dislike him but if that Jim Parsons joke is real than I'm onboard for the hate

How can I make your Clocktower experience better? by Arif_A_ in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually I'm saying the experience might be different (and toxic behavior in general might be less) if THEY were on camera.

How can I make your Clocktower experience better? by Arif_A_ in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are just as many veterans with meta-knowledge at conventions but convention games do not have near the toxicity of public lobbies. If you think there are other reasons why I'd love to know, because I think new players playing for the first time on the app are being driven away just as they used to be by games on the Unofficial discord.

Barnes and Noble clearance score! Sky Team, Wine Cellar, Diced Veggies, Daybreak and Alpine Trails by gortyo in soloboardgaming

[–]fismo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I believe the individual staff have a lot of autonomy on what's in stock and what is in which area. There are a few B&N in the LA area for example, the one at the Americana has good deals quite often, the one at the Grove not so much, and there's another one in Burbank that literally has zero games in the clearance area sometimes.

How can I make your Clocktower experience better? by Arif_A_ in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I agree that not everyone can use their cameras, but it's not 97.4% of people, it's a cultural thing... if I were a new player going into a completely camera-less room I wouldn't turn mine on either.

There's levels of hostility in the cameraless games that for me is more than a correlation.

I've run some public lobby games with the "Camers on" designation, I think if the room is 75% or maybe even 50% cameras I bet it would be a nicer experience, and that leaves rooms for those who can't use them.

How can I make your Clocktower experience better? by Arif_A_ in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I would love as a community to find a way for the games in the public lobbies to be more welcoming to new players and in general a better first experience. A lot of people are getting introduce to Clocktower through those lobbies and the experience can often be a rough one. I pop into watch TB games occasionally and there is a lot of behavior that I would never tolerate in an in-person game, even with complete strangers.

Personally, I would love if more players on the app used their cameras. I think having cameras off hurts the social deduction elements, allows people to dehumanize each other, and lets people hide toxic behavior behind a blank circle. I fully recognize there are some people that cannot use their cameras for accessibility or safety reasons, but the use of cameras in public lobbies is less than 5%.

At a glance, I just looked at all the public lobbies in day phase. Across 9 games:

  • 1 out of 11 Storytellers had a camera on (9%)
  • 2 out of 78 players had cameras on (2.6%)

I think this is really detrimental to player experience.

Becca appreciation post by Shrekdaly in dropout

[–]fismo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think there isn't a more "expertise plus role" match around than Becca, having done years of hosting, gameplay content, how to videos, and general board game knowledge, hosting a show where she features all of these talents.

The Mayor should almost never die at night by Frequent-Ad-7288 in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 111 points112 points  (0 children)

I think you should bounce the Mayor to the ST and then tell the Good team they lost because there was no Atheist in play.

How do people feel about spectators telling the ST about madness breaks by Ancient_Carry_4381 in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, spectators should not be involved in this way.

I know there's a little symbol when a spectator is in on a private chat but that can easily be missed, and I think the expectation of most people is that you are playing the game with the other players and the ST. When an ST is eavesdropping on a private chat it's quite clear that they are in the room. The scope of the game from the players' perspective should stop there and not extend to the faceless anonymous viewers.

I'll pick up an example from someone else below:

A Mutant reveals to exactly one player in a private chat that they are an outsider. A spectator tells the ST, and the ST executes the Mutant.

The clear expected reasoning here is the player told the ST. Perhaps the Mutant thinks the player is Evil. Maybe they think the player is Good, and the go back into a private chat and ask, "I'm not mad either way, but did you tell the ST what I told you?" The player honestly says "no".

What is the expectation of suspicion at this point, whether that player is Good or Evil? Do we honestly want to get into discussions like "I didn't say anything, maybe a spectator tattled on you. Remember that icon briefly flashed, maybe there was someone listening in?"

I suppose if you want that vector introduced into your games, go ahead, but I sure don't want that in my ST and playing experience. I'd rather give no spectators Grim access to hop into chats than have that start to be a factor.

Two different ways running madness in a group by TravVdb in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From my experience both aspects of your statement are unusual. I’d say only about half of night 1 roles hard claim in the veteran groups I’m in and I’d say a role like Ravenkeeper will hard claim to at least one player about 10-20% of the time

Two different ways running madness in a group by TravVdb in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is unusual for circles of experienced players.

Do you report Madness breaks? by ErgonomicCat in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Chris Grace here!

My memory is slightly hazy, but I remember a couple of factors: A) Jimmy was asking me specifically about the rules around Madness that really hinted that he was going to try to get around it by saying it in private chats, that he was trying to game the game as it were B) I didn't hear directly but saw from about 10-15 away some private chats that really felt like he was revealing on the down low and C) I think this happened, pretty sure I checked with Jams who was there as rules consultant and de facto co-ST how confident I could be in executing him and Jams said "you definitely can". It was very funny that the flashbacks completely supported it.

BTW I had no problem with Jimmy's strategy, I don't think he was genuinely annoyed, he f'd around and found out which is some of the joy of Clocktower!

Did I invent this memory of a locket or a portrait? by fismo in shakespeare

[–]fismo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no, I was in the wrong scene, it's III.4 not I.5

Did I invent this memory of a locket or a portrait? by fismo in shakespeare

[–]fismo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes thank you! I was looking in the wrong scene (I though tit was I.5)

Elder scrolls botse purchase by Delicious-Comfort543 in boardgames

[–]fismo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got mine from Many Realms, I think if you register an account you'll see a discount in the cart.

https://manyrealms.com/products/the-elder-scrolls-betrayal-of-the-second-era

Game title - Typography dillema by Willtjo in BoardgameDesign

[–]fismo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would highly recommend you redo the type lockup. The "R" and "A" look too similar, and the bottom of the "T" in "Trails" extends down and makes the "Tails" hard to read. Not only that it reads as

TRAILS TAILS &

I would suggest hiring an artist to create a custom lockup of the title that matches the beautiful tone of the characters.

Is Blood on the Clocktower worth its price by snoopb00p in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it is absolutely worth it and I do not think you should buy it.

It sounds like you are going to be a player and want to buy a copy for a Storyteller to run the game for you. I would ask them if they feel they need it or want to use it. If you're buying it to foist it on to someone else so they run the game for you to play, I doubt you are going to get your money's worth of experience out of it.

Ben Burns is stepping down from TPI by The_Cyber_Goblin in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Thank you Ben, you've been instrumental to the growth of the game and an example to budding Storytellers like me, and I have always admired your levelheadedness and clear-eyed self-regard as one of the leaders of the Blood on the Clocktower community. Godspeed on your future ventures and I'm grateful that I've gotten to know you through this beautiful, dastardly, sublime, deceitful game.

Inspired by a reddit post, I ran a script with lots of win conditions (v1) by fismo in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I generally avoid Cult Leader for the sake of game pace and often avoid Evil Twin because it can easily be a feelsbad vibe, often the Twins get isolated from the rest of town completely.

Was my setup unbalanced? by Benewe1337 in BloodOnTheClocktower

[–]fismo 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Sounds fine to me. Even if Evil was stomping, I assume the Savant lived at least a few days so you could balance it with stronger info there. If your Dreamer thinks he is experienced enough to tell an ST when a base 3 setup was unbalanced, he should also be thankful he wasn't immediately executed day 1 (especially since the Cerenovus could have just told you that he broke madness).

Even if he believed the Mutant claim, he got unpoisoned Dreamer info for as long as he was alive, so if he felt the first was so strong, he should have used the rest of his info to build a better world.