Nerf Masq

Officially used by staff on June 7th, 2020. The phrase "Nerf Masq" originated from a flame war between two MSDB parties. It has since been used both to mock the owner of the server for not listening to the players and to mock the players involved during the outcry of the now infamous Game 4.

The phrase has even adapted to "Buff Masq" which was created as a joke.

## The Masquerade Game

### When it Began

Although the exact date is unknown, it's assumed that Game 4 of Season 2 ended on May 27th. This is due to a suggestion by CodeFlare who was suggesting to nerf the masquerade. And also a message from SERVER on the 28th. The manner of this message implies that the controversy had already happened.

Assuming that each phase took 24-48 hours to conclude and knowing that Game 4 had four phases, the game is estimated to have begun between the 20th and the 24th of May.

### What Went Down

The game began with a roles list that would generally be considered too biased by current MSDB standards. This was due to the ratio between Network Moderators and Data Breachers being only 2:1. By current standards the ratio is 3:1 (sometimes 3.6:1). This also gets more complicated with the addition of Neutral Rogues sometimes dropping the number to 2.8:1. So by nature of ratios, the Data Breachers had higher chances of winning this game.

The roles list was as follows:

1. Random (Admin/Sleuth)
2. NM Investigative
3. NM Defensive
4. NM Kicking
5. Random NM
6. Random NM
7. Saboteur
8. Random DB
9. Random DB

The Data Breachers also had a good mix of roles in their arsenal. That being a Saboteur, Terminator, and a Masquerade. The Masquerade especially led to the success of the Data Breachers. This game was the Masquerade's first ever game and a majority of players were completely oblivious to its existence. This was also the first game for a player who used to go by the name *Eve 2* (a naming scheme for a whole other article). Their role was the Supporter (now called Reinviter) which had the ability to have players placed back into the game. But that will all be explained in due time.

#### Phase One

Nothing ever happens on the first phase. Moving on...

#### Phase Two

The second phase began with a Sleuth getting kicked by a Saboteur that was then disguised as a Moderator by the Masquerade. Already the Data Breachers were ahead by being able to claim Network Moderator Investigative roles without conflict from the roles list. Not only that but any Network Moderator Kicking claims were considerably more suspicious due to this information. The only weakness was the Moderator disguise. This would've immediately given away the existence of a Masquerade because of a lack of a Saboteur kick. But it slipped by.

Player 2 (who was the Security Insurance) used their ability on themselves. At the same time, they were cleared by the Terminator. This led to the confirmation of a Terminator's existence which began a witch hunt.

Player 5 (who was the Bomberator), without hesitation, placed a bomb on Player 1. This was purely informed by guessing or just picking the first player in the list. Either way, the bomb wasn't removable. Player 1 was a Terminator and later informed the Data Breachers that they would be detonated. Because of this, the Masquerade disguised Player 1 as an Analyst.

#### Phase Three

The Bomberator's bomb detonated Player 1. The Reinviter kicked Player 7 (the Tracker) and reinvited Player 8 (the Sleuth). Player 2 (the Security Insurance) was kicked by a Saboteur. Player 9 (the IP Locker) was kicked by trial.

Tensions began rising as the Network Moderators feared that the Data Breachers were already at a majority. Given the reinvited Sleuth, suspicion started going around that there was a mistake in the results. Even if there was a mention of a Masquerade, it wasn't enough to stop the Reinviter from reinviting Player 1. This was what ultimately led to the failure of the Network Moderators as the Data Breachers were now able to regain their numbers.

The Saboteur wound up with a bomb from the Bomberator (a second hella lucky guess) but the fate of the game was already set.

#### Phase Four

The Bomberator's bomb detonated Player 3. Player 5 (the Bomberator) was kicked by trial. Player 8 was kicked again by the Saboteur however the results were disguised as "kicked by a Moderator". By this point, the Reinviter was cornered between two Data Breachers and was kicked by trial.

### What Happened Afterwards?

The Data Breachers won! Eve 2 (now referring to as Ile) was initially accused of gamethrowing for reinviting a Data Breacher. However, Ile argued that there was no possible way they could've known that Player 1 was disguised by a Masquerade. The winners later rebutted by stating Ile should have noticed the clues (ie. the suspicious Moderator kicks). The discussion soon became toxic as players went back and forth between the cause of the failure.

    This toxicity later turned towards the staff for creating the Masquerade. The role was declared too powerful and requests to have it nerfed poured in.

The argument then centered between Ile, SERVER, and Carrot. And the whole situation became unnecessarily toxic.

### What's Happened Since?

     The entire situation became a server-wide meme. As it all seemed overly dramatic to have be having a flame war over a role that won. "Nerf Masq" was at first used as a legitimate petition to have the Masquerade nerfed but later became a joke on that request altogether. Even Ile uses "Nerf Masq" in this sarcastic manner.

     It became an even larger meme when players flipped the script entirely and started saying, "Buff Masq". Such requested buffs included:

* Keeping the Disguise Ability
* Gaining Kick Abilities
* Having Unnecessarily Powerful Nuker Mechanics
* Having the Ability to See Everyone's Roles
* (Rare) Being Able to Disguise as Many Players as the Masquerade damn well Pleases

The Masquerade has been on watch since this game but hasn't yet received any major nerfs (as of 11/28/2020). Some indirect nerfs relating to the Masquerade included:

* The Inability to Disguise Players on Trial. This was Done to Place 100% Confidence on Trial Results.
* The Inability for Reinviter to Reinvite Non-Network Moderators.