Couple more pieces of advice, that may seem contradictory, but really aren't.
1. Don't be afraid of dying, because you probably will. Lynch, night kill, whatever it is, your odds of surviving the entire game aren't super high. That's OK, though. Some people, (myself included,) will tell you that dying is the best part of Mafia, because you get to go to the Dead Thread, (which is hosted on Outer Gafia) and spectate the rest of the games with all the other dead players. This also (usually) means finding out who the scum team is, if you didn't know already. (Note: The mods usually won't spoil the game in the dead thread, but as the game goes on, either the players will figure it out, or a dead scum will reveal it.)
2. Fight to stay alive. There's a common problem in GAF Mafia that some people will see the tide turning against them, and then decide that they'll look scummy if they fight to stay alive, so they just go, "boy will you guys be sorry when I die." Don't do this. Fight! Your team, town or scum, is counting on you, whether they know it or not. If you really don't think that you can talk your way out of dying or redirect the threat to someone else, then at lest try to make your death worthwhile. Post your opinions on who is scum, if you're town. Let your team throw you under the bus if you're scum to make them look better. The only wrong choice when you're about to die is to do nothing.
3. Don't panic. Remember that you are playing a GAME. I talked earlier about fighting when you are about to die. One vote and a bunch of people talking about you does not mean that you are about to die. Stay calm. Some of our players are more aggressive than others. If Sorian, Squidy, or Darryl, (just to pull three totally random names out of nowhere) are coming after you hard, just take a deep breath, walk away from the computer if you need to, and then come back and react calmly. Again, Don't Panic.
4. Ask for help. If you are new, (or even if you aren't) you can always ask the moderators for help. We won't give you spoilers, but we probably will give you advice, as long as we can do it while still being fair to the other players.
5. Sign up for the Gafia Discord. We play Live Mafia and other live games together there, which can be good practice and also a good way to get to know other players so that you can read them better in the games. It's also usually the fastest way to reach a Gafia Mod.
Note - Discussing an ongoing Forum Mafia game with other players in that game over Discord is not permitted.
6. Let the Gafia mods know if there are any problems. The Mods are here to make sure that everyone has a good time, and that the games are run fairly (or as fairly as possible) for everyone. If you need to drop out of your game, we understand, life happens. PLEASE TALK TO US. We will help if we can, but even if we can't, it's a lot better for the mods to know that there's an issue than having to guess about it. I don't respond to PMs or Discord messages as fast as I used to, but my door is always open nevertheless.
