We've talked about how even-handed and dependable rule enforcement is something gamerunners need to pay more attention to.
Now, I'm not really advocating stricter rules, I'm advocating enough information for people to make informed decisions (without it being a contract-length rule sheet, or anything intimidating like that).
Put yourself into the shoes of various prospective mafia players, who read the concept of the game and are interested in playing:
Player A likes the idea of a game where players debate. Maybe they were even part of a debate club in school, and they like getting thick into a battle of wits - but they expect a moderator guiding the conversation and keeping things civil and fair.
Player B likes the idea of getting involved with an active, social community with a game attached. Maybe they aren't too interested in getting deep into it the games, or maybe they're more interested in some kind of leadership in the community (running games, being RetroMG, etc.) than playing; but generally, they're interested in making friends, not getting into fights.
Player C wants to rumble with other players; their idea of a good time is to get into the ring and get their aggression out with other likeminded hotheads.
Player D is pretty shy about online games, but thinks the game sounds fun and wants to learn it.
Player E welcomes every aspect of the game, but doesn't want needless conflict with other players in-game.
Player F showed up because there's some weird game on NeoGAF happening, with a theme they really like, and they just want in on whatever it is.
Player G..... and so on, and so forth.
You get the point. There's many different types of mafia players, who want to play for different reasons. What I'd want (and I think it's reasonable to expect) that people get to navigate themselves to a game that is going to be worth their time, worth their commitment, and gives them the social experience they want. It's a individual personalization thing that we probably aren't addressing by just randomly sorting people into games rated by "craziness".
So it's not about 'pandering' or making mafia about some 'agenda. It's trying to promise every player that they'll get what they want for the time and commitment GAFIA asks them to put in. Honestly, if the sharks in the community want a game to themselves where they can go for the jugular (within GAF's site rules, of course), I say "why not". I think the only reservation there is that they get enough players for it, and the animosity doesn't spill over into any other part of the community, and they can all truly walk it off in the end..
My bet is, we'll get a better-served community of players when people clearly know what we are about, what we're not about, and where you should go for a game that will get you pumped to come back again.
