Post by thiago on May 30, 2013 16:42:05 GMT -5
Well, here we are. I’m so grateful to have made it this far, but I’m also a little stunned. Given that by the time Dion left, the Fans were behind by 3 people, with a swap imminent… I could never have anticipated the game to end up the way it has. I’d say that the credit goes partially to strategy, but also partially to luck. I think it’s a myth to say that luck played no factor in any of us being up here, so there will be no “God complexitis” coming from me during this Final Judgment, I assure you.
I’d hate to give an opening that screams “tl;dr” so I will try to be as direct and concise as I can.
I came into the game with not a set strategy, but a flexible one. I always consider game logic: in a game full of followers, be a leader; in a game full of leaders, be a follower. I assumed that, given there was such a large cast—half of which were fighting to earn their spot in All Stars next season—that playing the role of a follower would be my best bet. However, I quickly learned that I would play both roles simultaneously, as I will explain.
While on Reliquum, I wanted to be social but not too social—to play a middle of the radar game. However, I quickly realized that when nearly the entire tribe wanted to work with me, that my strategy was working too well and I would have to adapt. I don’t think that I’m some amazingly loveable person, I simply think I was lucky enough to have the time to socialize and make a great first impression early on.
After the first Judgment, Bree/Starr/Julian offered me a place in their alliance named the “Culture4”; I accepted, naturally. However, Starr revealed to me that Julian had taken her and put her in another alliance of 4, swapping Bree and myself with Mark/Dion, and that I wasn’t supposed to know. At this point I realized that the “Culture4” was not an alliance based on trust, and had all the makings for early disaster. Instead, I started to bond more with folks outside my alliance in preparation for the Culture4’s failure. Mark had just barely survived Judgment, so I knew he was a great person who would be searching for an ally quickly, so I swooped in. Slowly, over the following rounds, I befriended Zac and Gabe. Later, near the end of the Reliquum days, I solidified a strong counter alliance with the 4 of us, that being myself/Mark/Zac/Gabe. At this stage I was juggling two alliances, playing the role of a follower in the Culture4, and playing the role of a leader with the Fan boys. I was able to successfully keep the targets on people who were somewhere in the middle (Pilar/Reese/Dion/Knox). I never intended to have any of my alliance members voted off, because I didn’t want to reveal my hand too soon. By picking a side, I would have to inevitably upset people, so I worked hard to direct the vote onto the 4 I was not aligned with.
Around the time for the sacrifice, I found 8/10 fish for the 2nd idol. I wasn’t able to figure out the last 2, so I gave the answers to Mark. I figured if he could find it, I could both keep track of where the idol was, and it could be used on me, and I also knew that this would solidify his trust in me completely. As seen all game, Mark was completely committed to me, giving me information constantly from conversations he had in the game. Furthermore, I took the final apple from the tree, which ended up being an idol, with the negative being I could not play on myself. This came in handy when Gloria told me the Favourites were voting for Mark, in which I quickly transferred my idol to him.
Because things went so well for me on Reliquum, I always made it a priority to keep the fans together. If the end game was all fans, I knew I had a guaranteed shot to make it to the end. I was able to use my middleman position to join Bree/Starr and Knox/Zac/Mark at the merge, and keep us together after some convincing. Of course, Knox had other plans, and I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity later to get into the details of that situation later.
I think I played a very balanced game, equally as defensive as it was aggressive: I was social enough to have people who wanted to work with me, strategic enough to endure the obstacles faced by the Fans, and strong enough to win challenges to prevent my competition from furthering themselves. I made some key moves at the merge to keep the Fan train going, and often motivated my two teams within the Fans to remind them that we can make it to the end. I was able to put off my decision of picking a side until the Final 4, which is why you see Bree sitting amongst you.
Having been out of the online gaming community for about 4 years now, it took some time adjusting to the emotions all over again: the nerves, which I’m still experiencing as I write this; the excitement, which rekindled my love for these games; and the heartache, which accompanied making strategic decisions over emotional ones, and being an emotional person by nature, this was certainly the most difficult task—balancing my head and my heart. I joined the game with the purpose of meeting new people and I was certainly not disappointed. Regardless of how the vote turns out, and once the pain subsides for some of you, I look forward to continuing the genuine relationships that were formed inside this crazy, crazy game.
I look forward to answering your questions, and I appreciate you taking the time, for us, to ask them. It’s been a pleasure playing with you all and I’ve brought my handy sewing kit to sew up the new one many of you may rip!
Cheers,
T
I’d hate to give an opening that screams “tl;dr” so I will try to be as direct and concise as I can.
I came into the game with not a set strategy, but a flexible one. I always consider game logic: in a game full of followers, be a leader; in a game full of leaders, be a follower. I assumed that, given there was such a large cast—half of which were fighting to earn their spot in All Stars next season—that playing the role of a follower would be my best bet. However, I quickly learned that I would play both roles simultaneously, as I will explain.
While on Reliquum, I wanted to be social but not too social—to play a middle of the radar game. However, I quickly realized that when nearly the entire tribe wanted to work with me, that my strategy was working too well and I would have to adapt. I don’t think that I’m some amazingly loveable person, I simply think I was lucky enough to have the time to socialize and make a great first impression early on.
After the first Judgment, Bree/Starr/Julian offered me a place in their alliance named the “Culture4”; I accepted, naturally. However, Starr revealed to me that Julian had taken her and put her in another alliance of 4, swapping Bree and myself with Mark/Dion, and that I wasn’t supposed to know. At this point I realized that the “Culture4” was not an alliance based on trust, and had all the makings for early disaster. Instead, I started to bond more with folks outside my alliance in preparation for the Culture4’s failure. Mark had just barely survived Judgment, so I knew he was a great person who would be searching for an ally quickly, so I swooped in. Slowly, over the following rounds, I befriended Zac and Gabe. Later, near the end of the Reliquum days, I solidified a strong counter alliance with the 4 of us, that being myself/Mark/Zac/Gabe. At this stage I was juggling two alliances, playing the role of a follower in the Culture4, and playing the role of a leader with the Fan boys. I was able to successfully keep the targets on people who were somewhere in the middle (Pilar/Reese/Dion/Knox). I never intended to have any of my alliance members voted off, because I didn’t want to reveal my hand too soon. By picking a side, I would have to inevitably upset people, so I worked hard to direct the vote onto the 4 I was not aligned with.
Around the time for the sacrifice, I found 8/10 fish for the 2nd idol. I wasn’t able to figure out the last 2, so I gave the answers to Mark. I figured if he could find it, I could both keep track of where the idol was, and it could be used on me, and I also knew that this would solidify his trust in me completely. As seen all game, Mark was completely committed to me, giving me information constantly from conversations he had in the game. Furthermore, I took the final apple from the tree, which ended up being an idol, with the negative being I could not play on myself. This came in handy when Gloria told me the Favourites were voting for Mark, in which I quickly transferred my idol to him.
Because things went so well for me on Reliquum, I always made it a priority to keep the fans together. If the end game was all fans, I knew I had a guaranteed shot to make it to the end. I was able to use my middleman position to join Bree/Starr and Knox/Zac/Mark at the merge, and keep us together after some convincing. Of course, Knox had other plans, and I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity later to get into the details of that situation later.
I think I played a very balanced game, equally as defensive as it was aggressive: I was social enough to have people who wanted to work with me, strategic enough to endure the obstacles faced by the Fans, and strong enough to win challenges to prevent my competition from furthering themselves. I made some key moves at the merge to keep the Fan train going, and often motivated my two teams within the Fans to remind them that we can make it to the end. I was able to put off my decision of picking a side until the Final 4, which is why you see Bree sitting amongst you.
Having been out of the online gaming community for about 4 years now, it took some time adjusting to the emotions all over again: the nerves, which I’m still experiencing as I write this; the excitement, which rekindled my love for these games; and the heartache, which accompanied making strategic decisions over emotional ones, and being an emotional person by nature, this was certainly the most difficult task—balancing my head and my heart. I joined the game with the purpose of meeting new people and I was certainly not disappointed. Regardless of how the vote turns out, and once the pain subsides for some of you, I look forward to continuing the genuine relationships that were formed inside this crazy, crazy game.
I look forward to answering your questions, and I appreciate you taking the time, for us, to ask them. It’s been a pleasure playing with you all and I’ve brought my handy sewing kit to sew up the new one many of you may rip!
Cheers,
T