Confessional, Round 1

[Nita]

I'm glad to be back in the game. Spies 8, here I come!

The thing I'm grappling with right now, before I sign on AIM, is how my character talks. I named my character after my boyfriend's mother, who is quite a character. She's a little sarcastic, a sweetheart, to-the-point. She's smart but wit isn't her thing - she just comes out and says what she's thinking if you ask her. She's not complicated. She's blue-collar and has blue-collar sensibilities - more focused on family and friends than the world. She likes to dance, gamble, and have a good time.

My initial character biography has me as a Ph.D educated Hispanic woman. I'm wondering if I should change that before bios are posted to something more like the real Nita, or if I should incorporate characteristics of Nita into my character.

I think what I'm going to do is be a straight-shooter with some sarcasm. A lot of throwing my hands up in the air with "what is it with these people?" Be smart but strategic - good opinions but without calling attention to myself. It will most likely take a round for me to get in character and figure it out but maybe this is a good start.

[Nita]

Various character notes:

My sisters: Norma and Nerea
I'm the middle child
Nerea is spoiled and fat
All named N after our grandmother Natividad
I've been married 7 years


Look up Spanish proverbs
cogweb.ucla.edu/Discourse/Proverbs/Spanish-English.html
spanish.about.com/library/weekly/aa031901b.htm

Spanish exclamations
www.spanish-kit.net/grammar/422.html


Nicknames:
Miel - honey
Reina - Queen
Gata
Liona
Princesa
Carino
Mariposa - butterfly
Dulcesita - Sweetie
Gato


¡Qué! can be followed directly by an adjective.
¡Qué bonita! How pretty!
¡Qué hermoso! How lovely!
¡Qué interesante! How interesting!

¡Qué! can be followed by an adjective, adverb, or noun + verb.
¡Qué alto eres! How tall you are!
¡Qué rojo es! How red it is!
¡Qué bien trabaja! How well he works!
¡Qué lejos vives! How far away you live!
¡Qué prisa tiene! What a big hurry he's in!
¡Qué coche compraste! What a car you bought!

When ¡qué! is followed by a noun, there is no article. The noun may be preceded by an adjective.
¡Qué lástima! What a shame!
¡Qué lío! What a mess!
¡Qué asco! How awful!
¡Qué buena persona! What a good person!
¡Qué blanca nieve! What (such) white snow!

When the noun is followed by an adjective, the adjective must be preceded by tan or más.
¡Qué día más espléndido! What a beautiful day!
¡Qué mujer tan hermosa! What a lovely woman!
¡Qué niño tan fuerte! What a strong child!
¡Qué clase más interesante! What an interesting class!

¡Caramba!
My goodness!

¡Claro!
Of course!

¡Socorro!
Help!

¡Lo siento mucho!
I'm so sorry!

¡Qué barbaridad!
How aweful!

¡Qué lástima!
What a shame!

¡Qué lío!
What a mess!

Ay, dios mio

[Nita]

First impressions:


Isaac - My favorite so far

Mary - Fun

Dane - Bossy prick

Jenny - Annoying

Chance - Okay?

Lilith - Jury's still out. I like her, but can I work with her?

Savannah - So boring

Awohali - Nice


It figures nearly everyone I met yesterday, including the 3 players I wanted to be on a team with (Lilith, Isaac, Mary) are on the other team. Oh well, gotta meet everyone, right?

I'm having fun peppering my speech with Spanish. I never get to use it in Ohio, so this will be good practice.


I'm having a good time so far. Ready to start discussing the game though. Savannah, Jenny, and Dane didn't have anything game-related to talk about this morning. Maybe things will get going later today or tomorrow. If all else fails: Discuss basic mafia theory.

[Nita]

First strategy talk of the game: With Tina, about Alexei. I'm keeping my eye on him. Until I know my objective, I'm playing this like a Citizen.


(12:08:08 AM) spies8Tina: Up for a discussion on the whole Zek thing though?
(12:08:24 AM) spies8Nita: Por supesto. Of course.
(12:08:51 AM) spies8Tina: I personally still do not think its a good enough thing to exile on.
(12:09:11 AM) spies8Tina: It seems to mainly center around not knowing enough about AIM.
(12:09:22 AM) spies8Nita: What was the point? That the senor was busy playing video games not doin post alignment chat?
(12:09:34 AM) spies8Tina: Basically.
(12:09:59 AM) spies8Tina: A few people are up in arms saying that due to him thinking he logged out but didnt and being confusing on that means he is a spy.
(12:10:16 AM) spies8Tina: I would rather exile one of the people jumping all over that than him.
(12:10:26 AM) spies8Nita: Lo siento but I don't think that's evidence at all
(12:11:01 AM) spies8Tina: On Zek or those pushing him?
(12:11:32 AM) spies8Nita: On Zek
(12:11:41 AM) spies8Tina: I agree with that one.
(12:11:58 AM) spies8Tina: Much more interested in a move against someone like alexei.
(12:12:08 AM) spies8Tina: Mayyyyybe savannah.
(12:12:12 AM) spies8Nita: If the hombre went invisible and then started typing in the spies 8 chat then you might have somethin
(12:12:30 AM) spies8Nita: But something like did he or didn't he log out, no
(12:12:49 AM) spies8Tina: Right.
(12:12:54 AM) spies8Nita: You sayin you suspect Alexei or Savannah?
(12:13:15 AM) spies8Tina: Alexei is my current pick, but I have not had a chance to talk to him so its completely observational.
(12:13:36 AM) spies8Nita: That was the one thing that stuck out to me

[21:23] spies8Tina: Alexei, what is your thought on all this?
[21:24] spies8alexei: I think there is no reson for him not to talk, judging by what I heard

(12:13:43 AM) spies8jenny: The point of asking him in the first place was the fact that he was fairly active in the opening chat, and then right after roles went out, he didn't talk with anyone for a couple hours. It was possible he was simply busy, or maybe he was talking with spies and didn't want to bring that up. So I asked him about why he wasn't talking at the time, and things just got weird with his attempt at explaining it.
(12:13:50 AM) spies8Nita: That's what made me scroll up to see what I wasn't gettin
(12:13:54 AM) spies8Tina: Savannah seemed to do little memorable during the chat, but I admittedly didnt do much since I was talking to steph.
(12:14:02 AM) spies8Nita: I'd like to see how trigger happy the hombre is
(12:15:30 AM) spies8Tina: Well, that you pointed out matched with

spies8alexei (6:25:16 PM):either way, I think it's suspicious
spies8alexei (6:25:41 PM):I'm saying I believe him, but there is no reason not to talk to us

(12:15:50 AM) spies8Tina: That just kind of was a *twitch* type moment.
(12:15:59 AM) spies8Nita: Right, like he's looking for reasons to suspect someone
(12:16:07 AM) spies8Nita: From nothin
(12:16:16 AM) spies8Tina: While still setting himself up for jumping ship or joining it.
(12:16:35 AM) spies8Tina: Also he sure tried to pawn talking off his ideas fast.
(12:16:47 AM) spies8Nita: Pawn?
(12:16:56 AM) spies8Tina: Pass off.
(12:17:30 AM) spies8Nita: I'd agree and say he's worth keepin an eye on
(12:17:38 AM) spies8Tina: About 30 seconds after his inital response to me (which was very noncomittal) he tried to get others talking about it instead of him.
(12:17:54 AM) spies8Tina: Well, I just am waiting to talk to him when I get a chance.
(12:18:30 AM) spies8Tina: Also I think you missed the mini-sorta-pact of "we are not exiling an inactive"
(12:18:34 AM) spies8Nita: From what I see in the chat he's quiet, then asked his opinion, sees an opening, and then interrogates with "what ifs"
(12:18:44 AM) spies8Nita: Everyone's checked in, no?
(12:18:50 AM) spies8Tina: Kiara was the last to I think.
(12:19:09 AM) spies8Nita:

[21:33] spies8zedekiah: not busy, lazy
[21:34] spies8gabriel: ahuhhhh...
[21:34] spies8alexei: ...
[21:34] spies8savannah: has joined the chat
[21:34] spies8alexei: I'm not sure if that helped your case

(12:19:22 AM) spies8Nita: Calls it a case.
(12:19:37 AM) spies8Nita: Gives us somethin to talk about till Sunday
(12:19:43 AM) spies8Tina: Yes it does.
(12:19:41 AM) spies8Nita: Nice observations Tina
(12:20:04 AM) spies8Tina: I am going to just keep a running 'currently voting' in confessional, and it is him right now.
(12:20:28 AM) spies8Tina: That way if my computer decides it ever no longer wants to work again, it will be there.
(12:20:38 AM) spies8Nita: If I talk to him I'll message you or look for you online

[Nita]

Aaaaaah, Allen's so boring, I can't stand it. So is Kiara. I'm in a chat with both of them now. It's like watching paint dry.

Edit: And now we're fighting. He's both boring and stupid.



spies8Allan: i've scumhunted in my day, tho this is my first trip to these burbs
spies8Nita: What you good at?
spies8Allan: what do u mean?
spies8Nita: When playin mafia - what's your strengths?
spies8Allan: I think I bring some strong perspectives to the table, in observing people's interactions i think i'm good at assessing their intentions
spies8Nita: How you do that?
spies8Allan: i don't get your question again nita
spies8Nita: How do you, Allan, assess intentions?
spies8Allan: well i think its something that comes naturally... growing up in a home where people didn't express how they truely felt
spies8Allan: u had to pick up on the subtle
spies8Allan: that, plus experience

(That doesn’t answer the question at all. I also think that assessing intentions is the least effective method of scumhunting)

spies8Allan: for example, you have a character that allows you to hide behind fun broken-english and spanglish
spies8Allan: to be rememberable, without contributing anything

(Excuse me?)

spies8Nita: Why you say I'm hidin? I'm right here!
spies8Nita: Askin questions and makin posts
spies8Allan: you make a point to IM me, but never really say too much

(Excuse me? At this point in time, we’ve only seen each other once before – a 19 minute “Hi, how are you, what’s your character?” conversation)

spies8Nita: What you doin? Takin forever to answer questions
spies8Allan: makin waffles

(That’s why I said the chat was boring – he was taking forever to respond to anything. Also, this:
spies8Jenny: So Kiara, have you gotten a chance yet to look up what you missed?
spies8Nita: Allan too?
spies8Nita: Was the hombre in the chat last night?
spies8Allan: what did i miss?
spies8Nita: You in the chat or read the chat thread?
spies8Allan: yea
spies8Allan: i read what ya'all posted
spies8Nita: What you think?
spies8Allan: not quite sure... i think i need to talk to a couple of these guys myself
spies8Nita: Bout what? What sticks out at you?
spies8Allan: umm i don't know really haha.... that was my polite way of saying i've given in no thought

spies8Nita: That's dumb. We talk for maybe 15 minutes yesterday, first time we say hi ever, and you say I'm not sayin much
spies8Allan: no, its just observations
spies8Allan: i didn't make a conclusion
spies8Nita: Don't talk less you know what you talkin bout

(I like being sassy)

spies8Allan: well... u were the one who wanted to ask me what i know
spies8Allan: don't ask unless u want to hear the answers chica
spies8Allan: what makes u a good scum hunter nita?
spies8Nita: I asked you what you know bout playin mafia, what you good at
spies8Nita: And you say you make good observations but then go onto make the dumbest one I've heard all game. Looks like you ain't good at what you think you are
spies8Allan: and i'm asking u back
spies8Nita: The thing I'm best at is keepin up with a fast pace. I do facebook mafia and it doesn't take days like this one does
spies8Nita: So I'm tryin to work with it, go with it
spies8Nita: And scum huntin in this settin I don't know how I'm gonna do it, so I'm gonna ask questions, talk to people, look at chats
spies8Allan: no need to get upset nita, when people fight the mafia win
spies8Nita: You think I'm upset? You ain't seen me upset. I just think you're more stupid than a drunk chihuaua
spies8Allan: right, well if u r town i hope we can overcome our 'communication differences' to be productive and catch some spies
spies8Allan: i'm gonna go
spies8Allan: peace
spies8Allan: has left the chat
spies8Nita: Quien con ninos se acuesta, cagado se levanta.
spies8Nita: Tonto

(I’m calling him a dummy (to Jenny, who is also in the chat). He’s stupid for two reasons – starting a fight with me for no reason, and for assuming I’d work with him. Hooray for third party status)

[Nita]

My missions regarding exile (HUZZAH!):

- Exile a Citizen with a role (you must vote for them when they go)
- Get a Citizen Exiled with 80% or more of the vote. (there must be more than three people voting)
- Get a Spy Exiled without you voting for them in that round
- Post a detailed case on a Spy which directly leads to them being Exiled

What do I think could happen this round?

Right now I'm not really sure who's a Spy - I've been holding off on thinking about it until the end of round 1, when I have enough info that I can try my "magic" (aka reading burg posts). So getting a Spy will be difficult.

I also think this is going to be a very fractured vote, so getting someone 80% will be very difficult (15 voters * 0.8 = 12, so only the vote receiver and at most 2 others can deviate).

Exiling a role holder would be taking a shot in the dark. The best way to go about it this round would be create such a fractured vote that the role holder doesn't see it coming.

Unfortunately, none of these seem likely this round. But I can work on this next round once I have a better idea who the role holders and Spies are. And once a possible scapegoat is found if the Citizens fail this round.


Other missions:
- Go 3 consecutive Exiles without getting any votes
- Arrange a tie vote (it does not need to tie at the re-vote)
- Vote for someone and have them get the 2nd highest number of votes

I am optimistic about these 3 missions

I gotta get Allan to change his vote for me to begin on the first mission. I really doubt anyone else will vote for me unless I do something REALLY stupid. Last night after our fight no one seemed to think I was lurking (and I'm not!).

A tie vote could happen depending on where people are.

Voting for someone and having them get the second highest number of votes could also happen.


Yourself:
- Have someone use a role on you
- Survive Exile 8
- Get someone with a role to confide in you, before it is made public
- Receive a positive prize from a challenge or activity
- Make up a bribe and say you accepted it and get at least 3 others to believe it

The role thing could be tricky. I've had roles used on me just three times before, I think (Karl the Psychic saved me, Singe the Bodyguard protected me, and Leticia sent me a message). This all depends on what roles are out there and what they do, I guess. But knowing there's a Doctor, it could happen.

Survive exile 8: Check (unless I complete all my missions before then? LOL)

The role thing ... this could be the most fun part, especially if it's by a Spy. There could be a scenario where I need to confide in a Spy to save me from imprisonment, tell the Spies my mission, and get them to tell me a role as my last item to exit.

Receive a positive prize: Check (my challenge record is impeccable)

Make up a bribe: Check. Once I figure out how bribes work I will definitely do this - and use it to explain a weird vote. Like maybe I make a great case on a Spy, don't vote for them, and use the bribe to explain why ("it was going to be unanimous, so I took the cash too") - 3 missions in one fell swoop.

Time to go sign on and see what's up with the votes and suspicions. Maybe things will pick up today.

[Nita]

I definitely have enough on Alexei to make a case on him

- Dane's his top suspect, but he hasn't talked to him (I've asked Dane and Gabriel to let me know if this happens)

- Alexei didn't believe Zedekiah in the chat, believed him after talking to him even though nothing new was said

- Quick to accuse Zedekiah, call it a case

- Didn't ask Zedekiah about his suspects or spyhunting, just cleared him after Zedekiah continued to act confused


I would post it if I thought I could get 12 people to vote for him. Right now I have 3: Tina, myself, Gabriel. Dane possibly as a defense.

[Nita]

Put my case on Alexei up. Hopefully it will fulfill one or some of these:


- Exile a Citizen with a role (you must vote for them when they go)
- Get a Citizen Exiled with 80% or more of the vote. (there must be more than three people voting)
- Post a detailed case on a Spy which directly leads to them being Exiled
- Arrange a tie vote (it does not need to tie at the re-vote)
- Vote for someone and have them get the 2nd highest number of votes

[Nita]

I am like 80% sure right now that Alexei is a citizen.

Reason: Metagaming. Brian Goat is Rondak, Rondak did not mention anything wrong with my case against Alexei (and there were errors - I purposely didn't design it well so the Spies will think I'm not that great and not imprison me), and Rondak is still voting Alexei.

So that means, if I'm right, that Rondak is also a Spy.

Time to accuse.

[Nita]

Argh, looks like I'm not going to achieve a mission tonight except maybe getting 1/3 of the way to "no votes"

Vote tally now:

Allan - 1 vote
Zedekiah

Alexei - 8 votes
Dane
Gabriel
Hambone
Owen
Rondak
Allan
Nita
Kiara

Dane - 2 votes
Alexei
Stephanie

Zedekiah - 4 votes
Jenny
Savannah
Themba
Tina

This means that if Alexei is a roleless Citizen, I fail (not enough votes). If Alexei is a Spy, I win (not looking too good). If Alexei is a Citizen with a role (doubtful, or else he would not have quit), I win. If there's a tie (doesn't look like it), I win.

Frustrating. I want to win.

[Judge Sam]

Thanks so much for these detailed and frequent confessionals ~ I love coming here to read them! they are amazing!

What do you think the odds are of you achieving all 12 missions? It might be pretty good! haha. That tie one might be tough though.

[Nita]

Thank you for commenting Sam, and for hosting. I am very glad to be here and think this will be a great ending to the series.



The tie is a mission I'm going to have to complete before the Republicans are dissolved. It's a lot easier to keep track of 14 or 13 or 12 or 11 votes than 20+.

I don't have to achieve all 12 missions, right? You posted that I must complete 10 out of 12, giving me some wiggle room.

I think I have okay odds of achieving my objective. My main concern is imprisonment. I'm looking at past games, and players that were "confirmed" have lasted several rounds past their expiration dates. What they have in common was that most weren't leaders (spies7Chloe, spies6Ariel, spies7Irulan, spies3Taylor) or they were wrong (spies7Julia, spies6Jenya, spies3Anneliese) or they were the pets of Spies (spies5Otto). So I should probably try to put myself into one of these categories.

I hope to have my 10 missions achieved by exile 6. Ambitious, no? It won't work out that way, but that's the goal I'm setting for myself.

I hope that by the end of exile 2 I will have 3 missions complete (I already have 2)

I hope that by the end of exile 3 I will have 5 missions complete (one of the exile ones + not receiving any votes)

I hope that by the end of exile 4 I will have 7 missions complete (one of the exile ones + llying about a bribe or reward or someone uses a role on me)

I hope that by the end of exile 5 I will have 9 missions complete (one of the exile ones + lying about a bribe or a reward or someone uses a role on me)

I hope by the end of exile 6 I will have 10 missions complete and exit the game.

Boy, that would be fun. But things never turn out how you plan, so I'm keeping this flexible.

[Owen]

Jun 20, 2010 19:18:44 GMT -6 Nita said:

I am like 80% sure right now that Alexei is a citizen.

Holy shit.

Your suspicion of him seemed so legitimate to me. You should have been a spy.

[Nita]

I was being flippy floppy, kind of like you. It was like, I did think he was a Spy, but as the clock ticked down I was having doubts.

But I needed people to vote for Alexei either way, so I presented a solid front!

[Savannah]

Jun 17, 2010 10:15:46 GMT -6 Nita said:

First impressions:

Savannah - So boring

[Chance]

Chance - Okay?

And it all went downhill from there.

[Awohali]

Awesome confessional!! I love how hardcore you went into bringing the language element into your character. I think I whined about you misspelling "beinvenidos" in a post, but that was around the time you wanted No Exile and I was ready to send an army of whooping injuns after you.

[Themba]

Great read!

Love basing your character off your boyfriend's mother. I must remember that for the NEXT Spies game.

[Dane]

Dane - Bossy prick

-_-

[Themba]

Aug 25, 2010 19:53:54 GMT -6 Dane said:

Dane - Bossy prick

-_-

[Savannah]

Aug 25, 2010 19:53:54 GMT -6 Dane said:

Dane - Bossy prick

-_-

Perhaps the most accurate thing I've read all night.

[Nita]

Trey: Chance/Tanner pointed out the same thing at the finale but I do know how to spell "bienvenidos". Spanish is 100% phonetic. If I spelled that word incorrectly somewhere, it was a mere typo.

Kirstyn: I think I copied an idea about my character from Trey. Way back in Spies 2, he created this amazing character, Tiffany, and I asked how he did it. He said he modeled her after someone he knows in real life. It's been a long time since I've been in a Spies game, so as a crutch, I think I decided to base the character off of someone I knew instead of creating a new character from scratch.

My boyfriend's mother really is named Nita, and the personality traits, except for the determination to win and win challenges, were the same between her and the character. I learned from this game though that she and I are more alike than I previously realized. She doesn't speak Spanish though and she certainly isn't pregnant or newlywed. I did those for fun and to add another layer to the disguise and biography.

Tanner - For the second time, LOL, I don't dislike you. Never did. Just because I am critical of your gameplay doesn't mean I have any problems with you.

[Awohali]

Aug 25, 2010 21:13:21 GMT -6 Nita said:

Trey: Chance/Tanner pointed out the same thing at the finale but I do know how to spell "bienvenidos". Spanish is 100% phonetic. If I spelled that word incorrectly somewhere, it was a mere typo.

It's probably a bad habit from all of that INFURIATING DARLA FINGER PECK TYPING YOU DID!!

Kirstyn: I think I copied an idea about my character from Trey. Way back in Spies 2, he created this amazing character, Tiffany, and I asked how he did it. He said he modeled her after someone he knows in real life. It's been a long time since I've been in a Spies game, so as a crutch, I think I decided to base the character off of someone I knew instead of creating a new character from scratch.

My boyfriend's mother really is named Nita, and the personality traits, except for the determination to win and win challenges, were the same between her and the character. I learned from this game though that she and I are more alike than I previously realized. She doesn't speak Spanish though and she certainly isn't pregnant or newlywed. I did those for fun and to add another layer to the disguise and biography.

Tiffany still doesn't know that I played as her all those years ago... I don't talk to her often anymore though, these days. And my evil ex doesn't know that I played as her in the MMG test game, either!
Did you tell your boyfriend's stepmother that you were going to play her in this game!?!? I've always wondered what someone's reaction would be to that...

[Nita]

I did not tell the real Nita that I was playing in a game as her. I might someday!

I told my Mom I was playing a character on the internet who was a woman in her 40s and that I emulated her typing style as inspiration. She was not amused. But I think she thought it was a step up from my days of playing Chief Wanahumpum.

[Savannah]

If I told anyone about playing my spies characters I'd get:

followed by .

[Awohali]

Aug 26, 2010 20:30:15 GMT -6 Nita said:

I did not tell the real Nita that I was playing in a game as her. I might someday!

I told my Mom I was playing a character on the internet who was a woman in her 40s and that I emulated her typing style as inspiration. She was not amused. But I think she thought it was a step up from my days of playing Chief Wanahumpum.

You should do it!! If you do, I'll call Tiffany up and get her reaction, too ; D But the only proper way to do that would be to link them to the game forum for examples...

And I remember your Wannahumpum character... As a crippled Cherokee Janitor with a degree in science, I take retroactive offense to that!