<u>THE PHILOSOPHY</u>
We designed
The Belgariad around the ideas of force and power. It was the first game to use multi-voters, secret voters, and vote-buyers. We also gave it a win-condition based on voting power, rather than on strict body-count.
Belgariad 2 will be designed to further explore the concepts and strategies of bringing force to bear, and most power characters will have multiple powers where they must choose which power they use on any given day.
Malloreon, in contrast, is centered around information. All werewolf-style games ultimately come down to information: an informed minority vs an uninformed majority (knowledge vs numbers). However, in Malloreon, we have purposely structured a game where there are many ways players can obtain information outside of the game thread. All 3 factions have seers. One good power role shields his target from peeks by Dark/Neutral. There is potential for a Light masonry, and for one-way private communication from Neutral to Light, Neutral to Dark, and Informed Dark to Uninformed Dark.
In Malloreon, Neutral is the ultimate Informed Minority. The neutral team is tiny, but starts with the most information, and has the most chances to acquire new information, and also the most ways to share that information privately.
Any player may at some point in the game inherit the mantel of Child of Dark/Child of Light. When that happens, they will also have the opportunity to receive communications from Neutral.
In contrast, Eriond and Geran constitute the ultimate Uninformed...at least until their primary counterparts die and they learn their true role.
Malloreon is designed to be won or lost based on: "who knows what about whom".
Of course, high-falutin' thoughts on game-design and expectations often tend to get thrown out the window on Day 1.
Thank you for playing Malloreon. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we enjoyed planning it.