Fun game, but...

[Ze Monstah]

[radiospace]

A fair person knows what is cheating and what isn't.

Dance on the head of a pin all you want, if it makes you feel better about it.

If the intention is to cheat, then it's cheating.

I just played a 7 player game and was the Deputy. It was the best game I ever played in because it was extremely confusing who was who. So much so that the sheriff was literally just discarding cards on his turn most of the game, because he had no idea who was who. I didn't know either until it got down to the last 3 of us, and then it was me, the Sheriff, and the Renegade. I thought we'd kill the Renegade easily and be done with it then I realized that the Sheriff still didn't know which was which, and in fact there is no way he could know, because the Renegade and the Deputy would both try to kill each other and not shoot up the Sheriff, which is what we did, while the Sheriff just passed his turns. ("The Sheriff is passed out in the saloon" I wrote in chat).

Now at any time I could have said to the Sheriff, "Dude, I'm the Deputy, please just put an end to this", but I didn't, because I knew for example that the Renegade was Italian and barely spoke English and could not participate in "bluffing" that was going on in my language etc. I knew it was wrong to use my English skills to subvert the unusual situation that the Sheriff even at the end of the game didn't know who was who. I didn't need to consult the rules to know that it was wrong.

(I finally killed the Renegade by myself, then told the Sheriff "I expect a promotion").

[radiospace]

The best moment of that game was when I got the Renegade down to one hit point left and she wrote "Help!" in chat.

That was both hilarious and totally fair. It was role-playing at its finest. I didn't break character and start pleading with the Sheriff to finish her off because I was totally okay with winning or losing based on his judgement. (He didn't help her).

[Ze Monstah]

[Yorgad]

You'd be surprised how many players think chatting is NOT allowed and considered cheating no matter what you say or how you say it.
I guess they are not very familiar with the concept of a "bluff" game.

Now I understand some would rather play "silent" to make it somewhat harder but then it's a house rule and should be specified before playing to avoid any misunderstandings...

Thanks to Ze Monstah for the link to the F.A.Q. which I wasn't aware of.

Cheers,
Y.

[Ze Monstah]

[SquashEngineer]

Thanks to Ze Monstah for the link to the F.A.Q. which I wasn't aware of.

Is that an "official" F.A.Q. from Bang!? Q07 & Q23 seem to have grammar translation issues.

[Yorgad]

Is that an "official" F.A.Q. from Bang!? Q07 & Q23 seem to have grammar translation issues.

The F.A.Q. is available directly from the webpage of the game publisher of Bang! DV Giochi (who appears to be Italian hence maybe the grammar issues).
Looks official to me.

Cheers,
Y.

(note: I have added the F.A.Q. to the game rules available on BGA)

[etiennezouain]

Radiospace, I am appalled that you do not even care to read and reflect about what other people are sharing. You decided chatting is lying and that's it ...
Well I strongly encourage you to play a game of Bang in real life. Then tell us if you forbade everyone to speak (maybe put on a classical music CD for the background ?).
Of course not ! You will understand that everybody will be trying to bluff their way out, trying to convince the sheriff they are all the good guys and then some more deceit that they are the renegade ...
So please stop playing if you do not like it and let others enjoy the beauty of the bluff.

[Cullich]

I have never seen a single person state in chat that they were the Deputy and be bluffing.

If in fact people were generally chatting and bluffing about the role they are, then it wouldn't be cheating. I find it hard to believe, given the large number of games I have played of Bang! since introduction, and having never once seen somebody bluffing in chat about their role, that this is the common behavior you claim it is.

In person, it's common, yes. On here, I don't know because I've only played it here once, and with a group I knew (and would typically be playing with), and we were using Discord not the chat. It's always more weird to do stuff like that in chat with a bunch of strangers. In fact, I'm not even sure I'll continue to play it on here with strangers cause it's a social game meant to be played socially.

I agree that people with common sense should get the difference between what is lying/bluffing vs what is cheating. In a hidden role game, you're going to bluff and that typically includes lying sometimes. Revealing cards is generally not allowed in most games and tastes much more of cheating.