The Future of Wolf Games

What is the future of Wolf Games on GWF?

  • We need more time to desire the games again from an entertainment perspective

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • We do not start again, the time has come and it has gone

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • We do not start again, the problems will continue and only get worse

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • We do not start again, I have no problems with the game but have lost interest over time

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • There are existential problems with how wolf is played that can't be resolved (i.e. deception, lies)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    15
So it's no surprise to any forum regular that the Wolf games (and derivatives) have pretty much fallen off. I am glad to see the DnD games holding steady and being engaging for those involved, but I can't help but wonder in the back of my mind when the next wolf game will be. A few of my thoughts going forward:

  1. Player Issues & Responsibility :: We have encountered issues both minor and major involving these games. Some petty nonsense, but other times, true, emotional, psychological infliction. This has caused a significant chunk of the player base to either stop playing games or leave the forums entirely. While some of us, myself included, had thought that the majority of the problems were talked out/worked out, it is only more clear in retrospect how this is not true. I don't mean to open any closed wounds, but I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong about the severity of the consequences of some of these games, and the mental toll it had on others. A few forum posts back and forth do not solve an underlying issue as many others have said. I acknowledge this more now after not playing for so long, but also can admit that I was wrong for thinking "everything was fine". I think I must have been confusing "everything is fine" with "I am fine so why isn't everyone else?" That's not fair, and after not playing for so long, I am genuinely saddened we could not come to some type of resolution to continue playing. Perhaps there is no resolution, and the game of wolf is deceptive and involves deceiving our friends to an uncomfortable degree - game or not. This might be a roadblock we can't get around. I acknowledge this too, but wanted to open the conversation up again after some time has passed.
  2. Frequency & Timing :: We probably played too many games in such a short succession that we started burning people out without (or with) realizing, only for these compounding efforts to ultimately lead to the demise of the game. At one point we had three different versions of the same wolf/mafia style game going at once. I think if we start to play again, we should make it into some type of planned event, rather than randomly posting a sign-up thread and seeing who's interested. However, those sign-up threads allow us to actually gauge interest in the game. If we continue, maybe we should limit the amount of wolf games played to once every month or even two months, just to give people time to decompress after a game.
  3. Hosting :: I have endless appreciation for the GMs that have stepped up to run games. At this point, if I knew how to get started or what to do, I would likely give it a try, but I admit I have no idea what the fuck to do behind the scenes. I am fortunate enough to not have been psychologically impacted in a negative way from these games (besides that day I couldn't eat lol) so I think I have the will and aptitude to run one of these games. However, I'd much prefer someone with experience (cough @Zell 17 @Kat ) to continue doing an excellent job being the primary GM. That being said, if someone were to teach me, I would happily take on a GM role for wolf games if there is interest.
  4. Activity Level :: My activity on GWF kind of fell off with the wolf games. It seems the games brought me to the forum each day, which led me to other discussions quite frequently. For the past month, I've still been checking daily, but my interest has waned. I think that wolf games encourage activity not only in FOG, but the forum as a whole. With that knowledge, I think it's really important to keep something like this going - limited amounts if necessary, but something nonetheless. I'm not saying GWF will fail without a wolf game by any means - this place ain't going anywhere - but I do certainly believe activity overall picks up during wolf games, inside and out.
I could go way more in depth about number one and the impact I think it had on games and forum members overall, but I would be beating a dead horse and potentially bringing up shitty memories for people who are trying to move past them. Out of respect for that, I limited my feedback to the way some of the games have gone to that paragraph, but I encourage anyone to speak up about how they truly feel about wolf games going forward. If we're all still not really warmed up to the idea of wolf games, then I fully accept that and won't press the issue. DnD games have proven we can play games without being emotionally hurtful towards others, but as we all know, the nature of wolf games in general is deceptive, which will ultimately lead to some type of issue no matter what kind of prevention methods we take.

So what say you all? Do we get back on the horse? Do we need some more time to "want" to play again? Or have we moved on? I welcome you all to share you most direct feedback possible. I miss playing with you all, and miss the closeness I was starting to feel with some of you. If the parade has passed, that's totally cool, but would love to be marching on with y'all again.
 
I somehow have even less free time now than when we were playing the wolf games constantly?! I'm doing this all wrong. :giggle

For my part I've never stopped signing up, nor retired, outside of taking clearly advertised breaks when needed to unwind/catch up elsewhere. I just didn't want to continue doing sub-16 player games with 16-player balance considerations. If y'all hit 15 I'll join in to make it 16, and participate in whatever capacity I'm able. I still check in with GWF multiple times a day, I'm just not necessarily posting or PMing. Reading here, responding there, doing the usual weekly/monthly threads. Which, incidentally, show how much or how little I'm overextending at any given time. đź‘€

Seeing more experimental stuff would('ve) probably been good, too. But, aye, hosting is very demanding and that's not really something I've found the time for.
 

rktaker

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obviously I'm new here and wasn't here for when the Wolf games were really popular but just from past experience I know how personally people can take these games. but I would like to see these games return even if not now but in the future. something I have seen done in the past and this kind of goes with putting a limit on amount of games but isn't monthly or bi-monthly or whatever is that basically have a sign up thread for people who want to host wolf/mafia games (if they have a the for the game or if it’s just wolf/mafia) kind of like a waiting list and we do say 2 games(or even just one or whatever we think would workk) at a time maybe one big game and one smaller game. then once one of the games are done the next person on the list goes. if they don't think they're ready or have the time or whatever it goes to the next person on the list. idk if that would work here but I just thought I'd throw it out here
 
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@Zell 17 if god revealed themselves to me to exist, and then said i could only save one gamewinners persons life besides my own, you would at least immediately make the conversation, and likely serve as a default winner. especially if god also put me in some sort of physical challenge where i lost track of things, and then had to suddenly pick a gw member to leave alive. i wouldn't just remember you from hosting wolf 15 times in my recent life, i'd remember you helping me achieve one of my first poker cashes on absolute poker, when i got 3rd in that free roll and won like $5 when i was like 14. xoxo love you zell. have a good thread everyone and thanks for the wolves awoooooooooooooo

@Dean come play wolf
 

Jawneh

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I'm one of the ones more on the sidelines in terms of all our wolf drama. I understand the reasons for most of it as we did pretty well to cover it all afterwards. Me personally never took anything to heart thanks to being a very laid back person so none of it affected me really. I just come and play some wolf. I have my fun with it and hopefully others like what my fun is too.

Beyond the above, I'll be playing whenever I feel like it. Which probably is most of the time. Maybe we'll be able to entice some of Crystal's friends from the myriad forums to come check out wolf. It'd kind of be neat if a few joined who already have rapport with themselves, but not with us yet. We'd have a different dynamic potentially happening then.

But idk. I like fun things and wolf is fun. Hope other people think wolf is fun too still, and new people come check out how fun wolf is.
 

TD

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For starters - for me, there is no "future of wolf games". I'm done and it's untenable, I've tried to help the community get there for months and was ultimately only to my own detriment.

At the end of the day, the community needs to find a way to play that does not result in people continually needing to walk away from the game and/or forums if this is going to continue.

I'm not going to go on any more long rants because they've pretty much all fallen on mostly deaf ears because of the whole "I'm not gonna read" bullshit - but really, at the end of the day... treat each other with respect and be mindful of boundaries.

- Don't bring real life things into a game and manipulate people over it, keep it to within the confines of the games.
- Have some damn sportsmanship. Enough with the whining about who won, just congratulate the winner(s) and move on, none of this "they won cause I fucked up", or "they didn't deserve to win", or "x played like shit so y won". Just be a community and don't turn it into a pissing match.
- If someone is criticizing your play, it's likely out of a place where they want to see you get better - not to attack you. The game is better when people are better at it.
 
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For starters - for me, there is no "future of wolf games". I'm done and it's untenable, I've tried to help the community get there for months and was ultimately only to my own detriment.

At the end of the day, the community needs to find a way to play that does not result in people continually needing to walk away from the game and/or forums if this is going to continue.

I'm not going to go on any more long rants because they've pretty much all fallen on mostly deaf ears because of the whole "I'm not gonna read" bullshit - but really, at the end of the day... treat each other with respect and be mindful of boundaries.

- Don't bring real life things into a game and manipulate people over it, keep it to within the confines of the games.
- Have some damn sportsmanship. Enough with the whining about who won, just congratulate the winner(s) and move on, none of this "they won cause I fucked up", or "they didn't deserve to win", or "x played like shit so y won". Just be a community and don't turn it into a pissing match.
- If someone is criticizing your play, it's likely out of a place where they want to see you get better - not to attack you. The game is better when people are better at it.
As long as you provide commentary in the dead thread
 
won like $5
My takeaway is that getting revived by the resident Necromancer is/was actually pretty cheap and nobody realized! :giggle

Maybe we'll be able to entice some of Crystal's friends from the myriad forums to come check out wolf. It'd kind of be neat if a few joined who already have rapport with themselves, but not with us yet. We'd have a different dynamic potentially happening then.
Something like that would fun, indeed. Like, obviously, some amount of the chafing can be boiled down to most of us being known quantities to one another - it limits how, uh, unique each game can truly be. Plus it makes it hard for new(er) people to get involved. So if a decent chunk of the players in a game were (relatively) unknown, and had their own history together? Yeah that would be fun to watch play out.

Realistic? I'unno. :chuckle
 

rktaker

Senior Member
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well there's already a few of us from Crystal's myriad of forums here so getting more wouldn't be difficult :p, whether or not they would want to play Wolf/Mafia is another thing
 
none of this "they won cause I fucked up"
I think self reflection and taking accountability is fine. Especially when you use it to improved.

[Seriously] Pointing fingers though, is toxic shit.

I never had an issue with the instigator win and how it was played. It was well played and a well deserved win. Can't blame the players for playing the roles they were given.

I think we definitely need to remove Cupid and Instigator. I don't know why it keeps being an issue in a game about deception and lying, but it is and we should get rid of those roles.

Every month or every other month works. Avoid burnout.

Or just never play another game and I get to go out on top.

The real question is, will @VashTheStampede host another Mafia game with the fun tells?
 

VashTheStampede

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The real question is, will @VashTheStampede host another Mafia game with the fun tells?
I definitely want to do it again at some point (I've got one last rule twist to roll out) but I don't see it happening in the very near future. I've been so preoccupied with health stuff and work stuff the last few weeks that I haven't been able to keep up with the D&D games (which I feel horrible about) and those are a higher priority for me at the moment.

I'm definitely down for playing wolf, just don't have the capacity for DMing my particular brand at the moment.
 
I think self reflection and taking accountability is fine. Especially when you use it to improved.
While I do agree, I think it's important to note that it (seems to) add an extra layer of weight that really shouldn't be there.

Like I've definitely seen a couple of instances where "it's my fault" is the person ultimately being the last block in a domino chain, but thinking/acting/feeling like they messed up and the loss is their fault. When, in reality, it's always a combination of things that has led to that point and not truly any one person.

Obviously that has the weight on the person. But, and I think this is also important to note, it can add anxiety to others as well by seeing them in that situation. Like "Oh man, they must feel so bad. I hope I never find myself in that position" or something. Y'know? So that's the kind of thing we need to avoid - and that is, as per usual, more about how something is said more than what is being said. :)
 

rktaker

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While I do agree, I think it's important to note that it (seems to) add an extra layer of weight that really shouldn't be there.

Like I've definitely seen a couple of instances where "it's my fault" is the person ultimately being the last block in a domino chain, but thinking/acting/feeling like they messed up and the loss is their fault. When, in reality, it's always a combination of things that has led to that point and not truly any one person.

Obviously that has the weight on the person. But, and I think this is also important to note, it can add anxiety to others as well by seeing them in that situation. Like "Oh man, they must feel so bad. I hope I never find myself in that position" or something. Y'know? So that's the kind of thing we need to avoid - and that is, as per usual, more about how something is said more than what is being said. :)
while I agree that a lot of times that it's not just one person that will result in one result over the other but I know that there were times when I played that I know I could have done something differently that if maybe not have still won the game but lasted a bit longer. and while it is just a game sometimes realizing making a mistake could make you better so you don't make the mistake again or at least try not to just like anything else.

that being said when things get accusatory and like you said the way people say things where people can take offense to it even if you are trying to help. but also sometimes people need to decompress after the games so it's really a double edged sword
 

Kat

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Lol, Tommy, you think I have some kind of GM expertise? I just referenced Zell's rulebook and past threads.

I'm happy to play again whenever, either with changes or not. I don't personally think any role needs to be removed, but I'm not going to object to it either if that's what has to happen for other people to enjoy it.

I also don't have any issues with people making up real life stuff to manipulate others. I do think sometimes people can get too pushy or aggressive, which I don't like, but if you want to make up that you spent the night in the ER and that's why you couldn't use your ability last night, I don't care. I think if we want to ban lying in non-game talk, then we'd have to ban non-game talk entirely.
 
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I think we definitely need to remove Cupid and Instigator. I don't know why it keeps being an issue in a game about deception and lying, but it is and we should get rid of those roles.
Because as a wolf, needing to deceive a dozen villagers is hard/stressful enough. That when you're Cupid or Investigator, you're now being asked to not only deceive "foes" but "friendlies" as well.

Being a wolf is an emotionally tiring and cumbersome process for some people. It weighs heavily and keeping up a facade for that long is VERY difficult. It's why I've stopped. I was one that jumped in every game. Wanted to start a new one right when another ended. But I was a wolf 75% of the time. And it was just too much.

Add that to what I can only perceive as some people communicating outside the confines of the game and I just wasn't having fun anymore. Altering some roles is absolutely needed as we go. But not doing anything about the ones CLEARLY causing issues is another animal. There can't be resistance to that. Gotta take control and say "this role has been a problem for 5 games now. Time for it to go." Additionally, roles like the Fool, while systemically fine, make the game incredibly unfun. Since I stopped playing, the fool has won most of the games by day 2. It, too, is a problem. Have to be able to make the changes that are hard. Be creative.

Unlike TD, I'm out, but I'm not gonna say I'm out forever. But I'm not coming back till these issues are resolved. The ones I've mentioned, the ones TD has mentioned and the ones Tommy mentioned.

Also, need some magic RNG to make me STOP BEING A FUCKING WOLF.

EDIT - This is not to say I wasn't affected by other factors. I was. I just didn't feel the need to rehash them when others have covered them.
 
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obviously I'm new here and wasn't here for when the Wolf games were really popular but just from past experience I know how personally people can take these games. but I would like to see these games return even if not now but in the future. something I have seen done in the past and this kind of goes with putting a limit on amount of games but isn't monthly or bi-monthly or whatever is that basically have a sign up thread for people who want to host wolf/mafia games (if they have a the for the game or if it’s just wolf/mafia) kind of like a waiting list and we do say 2 games(or even just one or whatever we think would workk) at a time maybe one big game and one smaller game. then once one of the games are done the next person on the list goes. if they don't think they're ready or have the time or whatever it goes to the next person on the list. idk if that would work here but I just thought I'd throw it out here
I echo the same sentiment as rk here, just recently joining the site and having been a part of these games on another forum. We had the exact same issues as you folks did. People were taking the games too personally and more often than not, it resulted in many people getting into heated arguments with one another. Eventually, I found myself walking away from those games altogether. It made the game more exhausting than fun.

I don't know if I'll ever participate. Due to my awful experiences in the past, it's gonna take a lot for me to get back into it, but like Jon, I won't rule it out under the right circumstances.
 
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I echo the same sentiment as rk here, just recently joining the site and having been a part of these games on another forum. We had the exact same issues as you folks did. People were taking the games too personally and more often than not, it resulted in many people getting into heated arguments with one another. Eventually, I found myself walking away from those games altogether. It made the game more exhausting than fun.

I don't know if I'll ever participate. Due to my awful experiences in the past, it's gonna take a lot for me to get back into it, but like Jon, I won't rule it out under the right circumstances.
I am sorry you've dealt with it, but I am glad to hear other forums have had the same issues. It means that we are not unique to what appears to be more inherent issues with the games themselves, than with anything we are or are not doing.
 
What I think hurts these forum Wolf games as opposed to video game types like Amogus is that these games take multiple days to finish. You get killed early in Amogus, you wait like 30 minutes and try again. People also don't seem to get too upset over roles like Lovers and the Jester for the same reason. You play a game, fuck around, maybe you win, maybe you don't, and the start another one up right after.

From what I've seen from well established groups, people quit more because of the fact that they've just been playing so much that it becomes tedious and repetitive (especially if you're trying to make content for YT vids), or a player seems to die a LOT early and feels like the collective has chosen them as a bully target (which is likely not the case).
 
Additionally, roles like the Fool, while systemically fine, make the game incredibly unfun. Since I stopped playing, the fool has won most of the games by day 2.
It's... kind of a function of the town not being safe anymore? Like I haven't kept up with the latest happenings, but that's sort of what the Fool is. It's there specifically to make the town be more cautious and wary, to slow them down, so that the wolves actually have an outside chance at winning. If there's no Fool (or chance of Fool), it's an order of magnitude less likely the wolves can win.

This is only really a consideration or problem for the Wolfsville/Zell Wolf variant and things that use that as a base, though. If we ran more vanilla wolf games, it'd be a different matter. Or if people find the time and the resources necessary to build something up from scratch, or to fully rewrite Wolfsville with our very specific wants and needs in mind. But, again, that's a lot of time - and at this point, perhaps, not worth it to even consider.

What I think hurts these forum Wolf games as opposed to video game types like Amogus is that these games take multiple days to finish.
This absolutely is a factor too, yes. Different scales, different expectations, different time commitments.

Only a small selection of players keep tabs on what happens after they're dead, because it's just a lot of reading for no real reason. I imagine that would be different if the games were like 20~30 minutes and people could have idle banter on the side as the game finishes unwinding.
 

Kat

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Additionally, roles like the Fool, while systemically fine, make the game incredibly unfun. Since I stopped playing, the fool has won most of the games by day 2. It, too, is a problem. Have to be able to make the changes that are hard. Be creative.
Well, that's really our fault, isn't it? We stopped being cautious and started lynching indiscriminately, and wolves haven't really been using it to prevent lynches. Maybe if fool or HH was guaranteed to be in the game, it'd be better? Then it'd be more useful to the wolves and we won't feel like we're avoiding lynching for a role that's probably not even in the game.

What I think hurts these forum Wolf games as opposed to video game types like Amogus is that these games take multiple days to finish. You get killed early in Amogus, you wait like 30 minutes and try again. People also don't seem to get too upset over roles like Lovers and the Jester for the same reason. You play a game, fuck around, maybe you win, maybe you don't, and the start another one up right after.
I've had similar thoughts. Obviously not everyone can be active at the same time, but maybe we can find a block of a few hours that works for enough people to do a "live" game with short days.

Or if people find the time and the resources necessary to build something up from scratch, or to fully rewrite Wolfsville with our very specific wants and needs in mind. But, again, that's a lot of time - and at this point, perhaps, not worth it to even consider.
I don't think that's necessary. There are plenty of tweaks we could make to rebalance the game more in favor of the wolves.

Only a small selection of players keep tabs on what happens after they're dead, because it's just a lot of reading for no real reason
Wait, is this true? I've always thought everybody kept following the game until the end. Maybe not reading every single post every single game, but that's true of people still playing, too. I feel like people at least generally follow it though.
 
I don't think that's necessary. There are plenty of tweaks we could make to rebalance the game more in favor of the wolves.
Well, that's specifically within the context of getting more variety and experimenting. Like if the Fool is seen as a problem or unnecessary deterrent to fun, then the simpler answer is to have a different game type/variant that doesn't require the threat of Fool that we could run between Wolfsville/Zell games.

Wait, is this true? I've always thought everybody kept following the game until the end. Maybe not reading every single post every single game, but that's true of people still playing, too. I feel like people at least generally follow it though.
I feel like every dead thread has multiple comments from people about not following along anymore, or knowing what's going on. And I've spent a looot of time dead, and didn't always follow afterwards either. :chuckle
 

rktaker

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i think it depends how I'm eliminated too, if I'm eliminated by the wolves I'm more likely to see how things go down rather than if I get voted out during the day and had a big argument before hand, then I won't care as much, but that's just me
 
I echo the same sentiment as rk here, just recently joining the site and having been a part of these games on another forum. We had the exact same issues as you folks did. People were taking the games too personally and more often than not, it resulted in many people getting into heated arguments with one another. Eventually, I found myself walking away from those games altogether. It made the game more exhausting than fun.
I really appreciate this insight and feedback. Knowing it's not an us problem exclusively helps narrow it down to what has been said by others in the past - it is an unfortunate byproduct of the game. I hope we can figure out some sort of terms or circumstances to avoid conflict as much as possible when we eventually give another game a try.
I don't know if I'll ever participate. Due to my awful experiences in the past, it's gonna take a lot for me to get back into it, but like Jon, I won't rule it out under the right circumstances.
It's all good; if you ever decide to play, I look forward to it. 🍻
 
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I really appreciate this insight and feedback. Knowing it's not an us problem exclusively helps narrow it down to what has been said by others in the past - it is an unfortunate byproduct of the game. I hope we can figure out some sort of terms or circumstances to avoid conflict as much as possible when we eventually give another game a try.
So do I. It's nice to see everyone acknowledging that it's a problem, actively working together to come up with potential solutions. It shows how tight-knit this community is and that's what makes it stand out imo. Whenever we tried addressing these issues on other forums, we had too many problems getting people to agree upon a solution. Like the games, it turned into senseless arguing.
 

Holly

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I haven't participated in a few months, and admittedly playing Wolf drove a lot of my clicks to the forums. Y'all also introduced me to Wolvesville, which is the only mobile game on my phone.

I'm not great at deception. Never have been. So I'm a pretty obvious non-townie when I get such roles. And, as a bearer of the tofu badge, I was so inactive during one game that I won (?) without a single post. That is to say, I'm not a great player although I do have a good time. I just got burned out on so many games back-to-back-to-back.

I'd play again. Forum Wolf has a different vibe from WOV with games lasting days rather than minutes. And even in WOV there's plenty of toxicity, I think any game that relies on social engineering/manipulation it goes hand in hand. What's important is to remember we're all adults, we're playing a game, don't take the game personally, and don't attack people outside of the game.
 
I'd play again. Forum Wolf has a different vibe from WOV with games lasting days rather than minutes. And even in WOV there's plenty of toxicity, I think any game that relies on social engineering/manipulation it goes hand in hand. What's important is to remember we're all adults, we're playing a game, don't take the game personally, and don't attack people outside of the game.

Wolvesville is the most hilariously toxic game I've ever played. It got to the point where half of the english language has been censored because people found more and more creative ways to insult each other.

But yeah I can see how people might be bothered getting told that they should die in a fire or whatever
 
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Wolvesville is the most hilariously toxic game I've ever played. It got to the point where half of the english language has been censored because people found more and more creative ways to insult each other.

But yeah I can see how people might be bothered getting told that they should die in a fire or whatever
What type of fire?
 
I would obviously jump back to play wolf or mafia again when available. I'm hoping we can eventually get to a point where there's not so many hard feelings, but losing is never fun, and some people just happen to take it harder than others...and that's not saying they're in the wrong for that, it's just how some people are.

I started to do it in the last game, but it only lasted a day, but I think to ease up on the "serious business" of it, I plan on being more loose with kill roles if I end up getting them. Who cares if I get it wrong? I got to get it wrong in spectacular fashion!


epic fail GIF
 
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