How do you play the early game?

For large social games such as Survivor where the primary mechanic is social interaction.
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How do you play the early game?

Post Post #0 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 1:37 am

Post by Klick »

There is a long-standing trend of a decent chunk of new players signing up for a game, not quite knowing what to expect, and getting voted out in the first three rounds before they get a chance to get the hang of things. Raw experience and site meta are definitely extrinsic factors in this, but I suspect it would help to have an open discussion here about how to approach LSGs from the get-go.

The biggest piece of advice I can think of is to read the room, get to know everyone on a basic level before the first challenge ends, and figure out how to make yourself important to the people on your tribe. Someone has to be voted out first/second, and you need to do something to convince enough people that that shouldn't be you. This is something that comes naturally after you do it a few times (to the point that I think some people would read the title of this thread and answer 'just be social, it's not that hard'), but if you've never played a game like this before it can be hard to know to have that mindset from the start.

I'll post other thoughts when I have them. What do you all think?
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Post Post #1 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:47 am

Post by Malkon05 »

There are two things I would add to this:

1. Know now going in that you will probably not win your first game. There are exceptions to this rule, but ultimately it's probably not going to happen. Does that mean you shouldn't still try? No. You should absolutely try as it has been done before. Just don't expect to. The first game is usually your way to get introduced to the community and learn about playstyles. It's way more freeing to know that the first game is usually the learning experience that you can use to figure out what went wrong and improve for the next time you play.

2. Spectators can be harsh. Most people who are liked by spectators are so because they are entertaining characters who provide thoughtful narration into the events of the game. If the spectators love you, it can be a very positive experience to re-read what they say and may often give you encouragement. If they don't love you, it can be a very negative experience to re-read what they say and may cause you to lose heart in how you feel. My recommendation on this is if you decide to re-read a spectators lounge/comments when the boards are opened up at the end of the game, you do so with the knowledge that they could be your champions, or they could shit all over how you played. Read at your own caution and you are under NO obligation to have to re-read anything post game. That is up to you, just be mentally prepared either way.
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Post Post #2 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 5:19 am

Post by xRECKONERx »

Talk to everyone. If someone hasn't messaged you early, message them. The early game (at least back when I played) was all about just light conversation and figuring out who you really like and want to work with. Also note: if you're head over heels for someone, it's likely a lot of other people are too. Keep your eye on them. If you're talking to people and everyone mentions X's name as someone they like, that's a threat you'll want to target later. USUALLY, there are pretty simple consensus votes early that can keep you afloat -- there are obviously exceptions to this rule, and there are times it can pay to rock the boat early. But USUALLY... unless you can think of a specific strategic reason it would help you, it's a good idea not to paint a target too early.
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Post Post #3 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:38 am

Post by Awoo »

My go-to strategy in the early game is talking to everyone, then aggressively asking for some 1 on 1 alliances with the people that I like.

Getting three 1 on 1 allies is pretty much always enough to guarantee your safety on the first tribe even if you're not in the majority alliance. Sometimes just one is enough, if they have the right connections. (throwback to mewtwo)
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Post Post #4 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:20 am

Post by Haschel Cedricson »

One of the biggest traps new players can fall into is the mindset of "We are all on the same tribe, therefore we are all on the same team!" Yes it sucks to vote somebody out but it's inevitable, and I guarantee everyone else on the tribe has been thinking about who their vote preference is before the challenge results are revealed. You need to be doing the same. It's fine to like everybody, but you should know which subset of tribemates you want to work with longterm.
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Post Post #5 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:37 pm

Post by hiplop »

speak in a made up character gimmick and be as annoying as possible while still talking some strategy so people reluctantly trust you but dont take you seriously. promise final 2 with 1 or 2 people day 2
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Post Post #6 (ISO) » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:47 pm

Post by VashtaNeurotic »

In post 5, hiplop wrote:speak in a made up character gimmick and be as annoying as possible while still talking some strategy so people reluctantly trust you but dont take you seriously. promise final 2 with 1 or 2 people day 2
This but also draw pictures
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Post Post #7 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:17 pm

Post by CreativeMod1 »

Take every elimination as a learning step, see what you did wrong and then work on it for next time, don't let it bring you down. It might hurt but read other players confessionals on the round you were eliminated and see what people say about you, see when and why they turned on you.
Try to reach out and get to know everyone on your tribe, don't leave any messages unanswered, in the early game all it takes is for 1 player to throw your name out because they haven't heard from you to get the ball rolling, some players will be happy to follow just to make sure the first boot isn't them.

Also have fun, like don't take the games too seriously.
In post 3, Awoo wrote:My go-to strategy in the early game is talking to everyone, then aggressively asking for some 1 on 1 alliances with the people that I like.

Getting three 1 on 1 allies is pretty much always enough to guarantee your safety on the first tribe even if you're not in the majority alliance. Sometimes just one is enough, if they have the right connections. (throwback to mewtwo)
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Post Post #8 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 4:54 pm

Post by Cephrir »

Usually I just try to make everyone like me so they see me as an alliance option. I want to be one of their most frequent conversation partners. Eventually it becomes clear to me which players I'm clicking with, and I start strategizing with those players.

It helps that I sincerely have a need to be liked by everyone i meet.

Alternatively, recently i tried being quiet yet amusing and making it extremely obvious that a slightly bigger player than me is running me and owns my vote. You can have shields in premerge too friends! But I probably would not recommend this to a new player.
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Post Post #9 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 4:59 pm

Post by hiplop »

In post 8, Cephrir wrote:Alternatively, recently i tried being quiet yet amusing and making it extremely obvious that a slightly bigger player than me is running me and owns my vote. You can have shields in premerge too friends! But I probably would not recommend this to a new player.
yea if you lump with the best player and make it clear you don't have any thoughts it protects u
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Post Post #10 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:04 pm

Post by Cephrir »

Honestly surviving the first 1-2 votes is just talk as much as you can and be a reasonably stable person
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Post Post #11 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 5:12 pm

Post by Malkon05 »

In post 10, Cephrir wrote:Honestly surviving the first 1-2 votes is just talk as much as you can and be a reasonably stable person
Flim Flam would disagree tbh.
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Post Post #12 (ISO) » Sat Feb 01, 2020 9:57 pm

Post by DeasVail »

Endearingly unstable works well too
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Post Post #13 (ISO) » Sun Feb 02, 2020 8:51 am

Post by Aronis »

I play the early game differently every time, bc it's more fun that way. But the general strategy is to talk obsessively with a couple people you like, ignore everyone else, never do challenges, and get voted out after a couple rounds. But on the rare occasions where you obsess over the right people you can get carried to top 7/8 or better without having to do anything though.
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Post Post #14 (ISO) » Mon Feb 03, 2020 2:57 pm

Post by Elsa Jay »

In post 12, DeasVail wrote:Endearingly unstable works well too
I tried this, but that gets me spectator cheers, not so much trustful allies.

Hide your insanity until the later rounds.
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Post Post #15 (ISO) » Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:03 pm

Post by Nicholas1024 »

So, I've actually got a bunch to say on this.

Let me start by prefacing that this is not the only way to play Survivor. The way I go about it is fun, it ensures you're a central figure in your tribe and the game, it cements you as a big name and a power player... but in some ways, that makes merge more difficult. It also takes a ton of time and effort to pull off well. That said, I think it's perhaps the single most reliable way to make merge. So without further ado,

How I play survivor, early-midgame edition:

One of the beautiful things about survivor is how difficult merge gameplay is. In your average Survivor merge, figuring out who you can trust is extremely difficult, and this is because the game ends with a jury vote. That means, for you to win, everyone who will beat you in a jury vote must die. But this is a double-edged sword, because if you're a strong social player, you become a jury threat by default, and (almost) inevitably, at least a couple of your allies will realize they can't let you live to F2/F3. This means long term alliances can break down, blindsides happen, and the game becomes a frantic struggle to survive just one more round.

However, these are all worries for the merge. The good news is, tribes are so much easier to navigate! Anyway, just a quick note on the structure here; Rule 0 is the single most important point I have to offer, Rules 1x focus on early game (pre tribe-swap) play, and Rules (2x) focus on midgame (post tribe-swap, pre-merge) play. Finally, you'll note there's nothing in here about how to play a UTR (under the radar) style game, and that's because I can't pull that off to save my life.

Rule 0: Talk to everyone as much as possible.

If there's a single thing I could hammer into every new survivor player's brain, it's this. Without talking to people, you can't form bonds, you can't make allies, and you practically volunteer yourself as an easy elimination. If someone isn't talking to you, there is zero chance they are on your side. (Quick note, the reverse is NOT true. It's very possible to talk to someone a ton while plotting their downfall.) And by the same token, if you don't talk to someone, they'll realize you aren't interested in working with them, and they'll be perfectly willing to eliminate you when the chance comes.

As for what counts as good PM'ing... each person has their own style. Personally, I favor walls of information; it's the easiest way to have a big, important conversation if you can't be online 24/7 to reply quickly. Other people would rather send a bunch of smaller messages, for fast response and because quantity can be a quality all its own. However, I'd say you should aim to trade at least one decent size (at least a couple paragraphs) PM per player, per day. If for some reason you won't be around for a day or more, make sure you let everyone know (allies and otherwise) ahead of time!

Rule 1a: Talk to everyone as soon as possible.

This starts right at the very beginning of the game. As soon as possible, send PM's to everyone you're allowed to contact. It's nice to make them clever, or add flavor, or what have you, but the important thing is to send them. Let your tribe mates know that you're there, active, and ready to talk. In the very early game, there won't be much to talk about, but make do with what you can. Anything from the game's flavor to discussing the challenge to flat out copying an icebreaker could work. Just get the conversation started, then be yourself.

Rule 1b: Make the shift to game discussion as appropriate

This isn't really hard and fast, but at some point early on, people will start talking more about the game. It often starts with general, innocent, "What do you think of the rest of our tribe?" style questions, but this is the groundwork from which alliances are made. This is the point where people start figuring out who they think is a good ally, someone they can stick with through the tribe and into merge. And you should be doing the same! I'd say by the end of the first challenge, if you're communicating with everyone, you should have a good sense of which players are strong PM'ers, which ones are okay at it, and which are borderline inactive. Once you've got that list, feel free to share the general gist of it with the other players. Survivor players love getting that kind of info, just to check that their read on people is accurate and that they haven't missed anything important. And once this sort of thing starts, that's when the game discussion really opens up. The moment someone mentions an alliance is when the game really begins.

Rule 1c: Get on that majority alliance.

Assume that at some point your tribe will go to tribal council. (There's an outside chance it doesn't happen, but you should always be preparing for the next TC.) In order to be safe, you want to be included in whatever the majority alliance is. This is the first concern of just about everyone in the early game. This is the end to which all of the "So, what do you think of the tribe?" style questioning is actually directed. If you're in a seven man tribe, then what everyone is secretly thinking is "What other three people do I want with me in the majority?". If you're on a twelve man tribe, they're looking for a seven or eight man alliance. (In larger tribes, it's not uncommon to grab an extra person for the majority just in case.)
And if you're on a twenty-four man tribe, please message Xofelf and tell her to cut out the shipwreck phases.
The good news is, if you've been properly responding to your PM's, you've got a very good chance of being on that desirable ally list just by default.

In addition, due to that desire to be on the majority alliance, it is extremely rare for people to turn down early game alliance requests. (I've had it happen exactly once in the dozen or so games I've played on this site.) Don't spam them mindlessly, but if you're having a good conversation with someone, and you ask them to ally, they'll probably reciprocate. In addition, if you keep in mind who has a good opinion of whom, it's not too hard to guide the majority alliance into shape. If you know Player X likes Player Y and you like them both, something along the lines of "Hey X, I've also enjoyed talking to Y, do you think we should try to work with them?" often leads to a three-way alliance between you, X, and Y. Rinse and repeat until the desired majority has been reached.

Rule 1d: Don't force things.

In the tribes phase, I strongly recommend not to rock the boat too much. Survivor is a long game, and any enemies you make or deals you break have a lot of time to come back to haunt you. (Sometimes literally, depending on the game's twists.) In particular, you don't know when a tribe swap might happen. That guy who's sort of on the edge of the alliance but not really part of the core group? He might be the only tribe mate you have with you after a surprise swap. The player who was the best ally of the guy you backstabbed to seize power? They might decide the tribe swap is the perfect time to get a little revenge. In your starting tribe, the correct play is almost always the least controversial one. Because of that, the first boot (and potentially the first few boots) of a tribe are typically the inactives. People that don't PM much are players that nobody cares about, and that nobody will get upset over leaving. As long as that's not you, this is a good thing.

Rule 1e: Personal connections are more important than alliance agreements.

People play to win the game. This means that they'll do what's best for themselves over what's best for the alliance. (There are exceptions, but finding someone who will hurt their game for your sake is rare and should not be counted on.) Alliance agreements are still an important tool, don't get me wrong. But don't expect people to just blindly follow them, especially if the situation changes significantly. Something like a tribe swap or a surprise blindside can shatter a large alliance just because the numbers don't work any more. Personal connections, on the other hand, tend to endure better. If someone likes you and wants to work with you, they'll usually try to keep you around, even if they can't openly be on your side. Being able to maintain these is extremely important, because it keeps you from being the target. Winning every TC is extremely difficult, but if you can avoid being the one that gets voted out, you have a chance to regain power, or stall for a twist to keep you alive.

Rule 2a: In a tribe swap, value your original allies, and look for new ones.

So, you've been tribe swapped. Hopefully you have at least some of your original allies still around, but there's also a bunch of new people you haven't talked before. Now what? Start by talking to everyone. Just like the beginning of the game, say hello to everyone, and make sure they know you'll be active. Unlike the beginning of the game, you don't have a ton of time to icebreak with flavor talk. Serious discussion needs to happen right away, because there's immediately important things to talk about. Your goal for this phase of the game should be not just to survive, but also to come out of it in a better position than you went in. This means finding new allies. Being able to make cross-tribal alliances in a game of Survivor is an extremely important skill. However, don't neglect your original allies! They're still on your side, at least in theory. There are times where you just can't make it work and you have to give them up, but if you can, you should try to keep them alive.

Rule 2b: Tribes are a tool. They are not the be-all end-all

Breakdowns along tribal lines are an easy place to start, and an easy thing to throw around. In games with multiple tribe swaps, or more than two tribes, this gives you even more to work with. After all, people who were on the same tribe before at least know each other, and there's a reasonable chance they're allied. However, this is only a starting point. In practice, you'll find that tribal councils form fractures. Maybe that three man group from the other tribe is a really close pair and a third wheel only tangentially aligned. Or maybe the "majority" group from the other tribe is actually two good players and two inactives, and they have no interest in sticking together. There's almost always more underneath the surface if you know where to look. Use the tribe-level analysis as a starting point, a conversation piece, and even an argument for why they should vote the guy you want out, but never be content to just stop there.

Rule 2c: Pagongs are dangerous. They can and do happen, but a sustained pagong requires bad play.

Suppose after our tribe swap, we have a seven man tribe: three people from tribe A, and four people from tribe B. As the four people from tribe B have majority on their own, they could just team up to wipe out tribe A, guaranteeing them safety through three votes and probably the whole phase. This is the tactic known as a pagong, and while more infamous in the merge, it can happen in the tribe swap as well. People hate pagongs. They're boring and offer very little counterplay for the minority. But are they good strategy?

I would argue a pagong is almost always a bad plan. First off, by locking out tribe A, those four players from tribe B have burned their bridges. Any members of tribe A that survive (both those on the tribe and off it) will almost certainly work against them in the future. Secondly, there's a good chance at least one member of tribe B would benefit from jumping ship. A single defector would be enough for tribe A to take control, and if one of those tribe B members was on the outside of the original tribe, getting three good allies from tribe A could be well worth bailing on his poor position from his original tribe.

In general, for a pagong to happen for any length of time, it usually means someone in the majority thinks they're way higher on the totem pole than they actually are. If someone thinks they're on the outside of the majority, they should (and usually do) flip to get a better position.

Rule 2d: First-ally advantage is important, but not the only factor.

When it comes to cross-tribal allies, one thing you need to ask yourself is what sort of alliances they might already have. (This is important pretty much all the time, but particularly now.) And this is because if everything else is equal, most players will value a pre-existing alliance over a new one. But that doesn't always have to be the case. Particularly if you get a longstanding cross-tribal alliance, those bonds have a chance to shift. Generally speaking, if you can make someone feel close to you (by talking with them a bunch over PM's, detailed strategy and the like), they might move to protect you over an earlier ally they don't care as much about. This doesn't work very well with new alliances, but it's something to think about for the long term, and a reason not to slack on communicating with your original tribe-mates!

Rule 2e: If you aren't part of the majority, look for openings in it.

Sometimes things just don't go your way. Maybe your alliance made a bad play. Maybe you were betrayed. Maybe they had a hidden immunity idol. And maybe it was just a really terrible tribe swap. Regardless, all else has failed, and you're on the minority. Now what? Look for cracks. This is more of an art than a science, but it all comes back to the whole establishing connections principle. If you make yourself seem like a possible asset to whoever's on top, maybe they'll keep you around a couple more votes, just in case. If you can buddy up to the people on the edge of the majority, maybe they aren't actually that close and they'll be willing to flip. Maybe your best play is to straight up go on your knees to the group and offer to be their extra vote in exchange for safety.

Rule 2f: Never burn bridges.

Anything can happen in survivor. Anything. Even if you've worked against someone for just about the whole game, it's possible that the exact right twist of fate puts you on the same side of a TC down the road. Up until you see someone's name on the eliminated list, you should keep an open mind about the possibility of working with them, because there's a real chance it could happen.

Rule 2g: Be prepared to spend all night planning the TC

Early TC's on your first tribe can be easy. But once you get to a tribal council where everyone is active, things can explode. Figuring out who the best play is can take a long time and a lot of careful negotiation, and can change several times over the course of a night. You want to be a part of this decision making process until the plan is confirmed and everyone is onboard. Sometimes RL intervenes, and missing part of the discussion is unavoidable, but that can be a game-ending problem. (In my last game, I went from being a potential winner candidate to dead man walking during the span of my normal workday.)

Rule 2h: If someone suddenly stops talking to you (while still talking to others), they're planning something.

Most survivor players will have a lot of difficulty keeping up an in-depth strategic conversation with you if they're planning to vote you off. Part of it's that people only have so much time, and part of it is that lying in detail like that is difficult. Regardless, it's an effective early warning signal if someone has decided to move against you, or even just that you aren't part of their long term plans. And if everyone suddenly stops responding halfway through the tribal council, you're probably doomed. If you have a desperation play available, go for it, because now is the time.
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Post Post #16 (ISO) » Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:24 pm

Post by xofelf »

Oh Nich, I've *missed* you.

I had some advice, but I think most of what i was gonna say has been said already.

Mostly, talk as much as you can to everybody you can, and not burn bridges. And never forget the cardinal rule of Survivor: everybody talks to everybody about everything. Leaks happen all the time. Expect that to happen. Most of the time other players will be comparing notes, you're better to play under the assumption that they will be. So expect things you say or do to get out. You are best off keeping info to yourself if you can, you can accidentally screw over your allies if you say more than you should. So make sure your stories are the same or are kept quiet if they should be. Information is your most important tool, collecting and trading it can open so many doors, but be careful that you don't give out more than you should. Always be giving something, don't just take and not exchange.
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Post Post #17 (ISO) » Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:58 pm

Post by het »

In post 15, Nicholas1024 wrote:The way I go about it is fun, it ensures you're a central figure in your tribe and the game, it cements you as a big name and a power player... but in some ways, that makes merge more difficult.
Agreed on all points and I can confirm the caveat.

One thing I'd add is that the easiest way to seem trustworthy is to tell the truth. It sounds obvious or tautological, but speaking your mind about the game and the people in it (within reason) goes a long way in terms of people seeing you as someone to work with.

Also, "What do you think about the tribe" is a fine opener but actually expressing affirmative opinions one way or the other can be very beneficial, especially if it's an observation you might expect others to make, like "Oh X seems assertive" or "Y seems kind of nuts".

One other addendum to that would be to identify things that seem like you're opening up but that are safe to reveal, e.g. if you know X is targeting Y and X has told other people that, you can often reveal that to some third party and just the fact that you're looping them in makes them feel like you're a useful ally at a minimum. This has limited utility on its own but if you've built the foundation for a personal relationship, this is a good way to elevate a relationship from "oh, we like each other" to "we like each other and can work together".
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Post Post #18 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:39 am

Post by AcRv »

Oh boy.

I only played one game (two if you count the weird Colosseum arena one) but it honestly stuck with me for so long even after I kinda forgot this site existed and I feel pretty confident in being able to break down exactly what screw ups I did make/what things were not too bad. Though the meta may have changed since then. But also I kinda had a lot of luck in terms of how things opened. I got taken out in thirteenth place (merge was at ten) so like I'm gonna be the first to say that I'm not sure I had the best game at all, but it was fun. Given my early game was about the only thing I did well, I'll focus on that. My ultimate downfall was also because of a mistake I made in the early game, but it was because of how I intended to play around a particular twist unique to that game. That makes it hard to recount and give decent advice from so I won't, but I'll sum up what I learnt from it.

The first thing for me was that choosing a character was part of my strategy. I wanted to be able to have an archetype to play into off the bat. In the Colosseum I was Zubat and played into the meme of "Zubat just wants to make friends" and typed in lower case being annoying 90% of the time. But then I picked one person and was like "Y'know what, I'm getting sick of typing like that all the time can I just talk normally to you?" The idea behind the decision was to try and have something special with each person I was talking to. This person sees that to them I've got a unique thing of speaking not like an idiot. Then other people I would try to quickly find a running gag of some sort that would be unique to them. It's something everybody could remember the conversations by, but not something like a promise so it can't get around that "Oh, this guy's promised final three to seven people... hmm....".

In Eon (the game I played that was actually properly Survivor back in 2016) the idea didn't look exactly the same (as I was now Spooky Scary Shuppet instead), but I was still trying to establish an in-joke with people, or identify common links between my character and someone else's. There's a Gastly on my tribe? I'm a ghost type too, I've got an excuse to talk to you, let's be spooky together. There's a Zorua? "Man, shapeshifting is spookier than being a ghost, I'm just a hovering bed sheet to be honest." Something short and snappy that connects our characters in some way. Immediately our conversation is going to be about how we relate to each other and work together in this abstract fictional world. But that is then very easy to translate into how we work in the game. Within the first 24 hours I had both Zorua as my number one and Gastly as my number one. I think that this is one of the few things I actually had right about my game. And knowing the source material was a pretty big advantage there. I'd suggest researching at least briefly who everyone on your tribe is to see if you can build connections that way. In my case it was nice and simple because it was four tribes of six to begin. In having two number ones immediately I couldn't be voted out pre-swap because I knew three of the six of us weren't voting for me, and I doubted someone would tie the first vote at our first TC. With a smaller tribe I wanted to be in first and have two bonds immediately. I could change my allies as it went on, but at least at first I needed that insurance. Larger games I don't have a lot to go on there but similar principles.

Second thing for me that I think worked well was apparently being transparent. During the first or second challenge I found a piece of a treasure map that was a clue to the idol and everyone knew. Holding onto it for myself would be pointless. But... I kinda didn't want everyone in the tribe to know it. Being one of many pieces, Gastly had shown me a different piece that was hidden elsewhere. I showed everyone Gastly's map piece, as I knew that his piece was publicly available (although hidden), and so what I was telling them wasn't anything that they couldn't have already known. Then the people who I actually trusted I privately showed them my real piece. Having information nobody else has is important, but if they know you have it you can't hide it. But you can pretend to hide it. I tried to use secrets that aren't actually secrets and present them as secrets to build trust. Because, like how the in-jokes and commonality in our fictional personas build bonds, game information builds bonds just as easily. And if the game information isn't even real (or could have been found by half the cast already), then that's doubly good. Though if you really wanna work with someone just give them the true info.

And the final thing that helped me was (and this probably sounds like common sense), but don't tell someone that they're going out if you're part of that plan to get them out. You build bonds with people and it's sad to see them go sometimes. But... if they catch a whiff of it they'll drop an idol or quickly scurry out of it. The first vote I was at was blindsiding Gastly because I realised the way they wanted to play was not the way I wanted to play. But we had someone else not show up to a live challenge. So I just sat there talking like we had been making dumb jokes and filled them in that "of course everyone's going for them, they didn't even show up to the challenge." I could've just stayed quiet, but for me I wanted to know that I was actually capable of pulling a blindside. Because I hadn't played before and if down the line I would have to do that out of necessity then I wanted to be able to do it when it didn't matter. This was pre-jury, so I'm not sure how different that would be late game, but early game they're not gonna tell the jury what happened so it doesn't matter. If the only person who can tarnish your name isn't around to do it, your game hasn't been tarnished. It was just everything else I did that did that. Basically the early game for me was figuring out what I could and couldn't get away with in that particular group. It was easier for me because I was confident five of the six votes were on Gastly, so I could try it out, but if you want to get used to how you might blindside someone that's a good time to practice before it becomes life-or-death.

Those were the only three things that I feel I can look back on and go "Yeah, I (think I) got that right." My downfall was based on what I did with these connections and the Eon Link twist that was in play. The short version is that I was playing a strategy that realistically never would have worked despite having set myself up quite solidly initially. I did a pretty massive screw-up going in with a flawed fundamental game plan. But the takeaway from it was "Figure out what you can influence, or what you know must occur, and plan to that. Don't bank on something happening that you cannot guarantee, or are very very sure, will happen."

If I wasn't so busy now I totally would take a second shot. Instead I'll just hope that my failures help someone who's keen to play.

Oh, and I'll never forget this gem that came up after my elimination, I have it saved on my computer to this day:
Spoiler:
Image


Though funnily enough that is true. I never have returned to a game since.
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Post Post #19 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 7:48 am

Post by xofelf »

Baneeeetteee <3 you did do really well in both, yes.
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Post Post #20 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 9:05 am

Post by D3f3nd3r »

Friendbat lives :O
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Post Post #21 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 12:53 pm

Post by AcRv »

Zorua!!!! <3 You were the one who then came second while nobody else on our tribe made merge =P so I think if anyone was doing really well it wasn't me! Your early game advice is probably much more valuable. But I'll take (some of) the praise, I at least got to the swap against experienced players.

And Machop!! Forever destined to end up working together and failing together.
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Post Post #22 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:33 pm

Post by Cephrir »

You can tell me it was all cynical and I will still love friendbat
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Post Post #23 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:41 pm

Post by Save The Dragons »

this thread is now a shrine to friendbat

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Post Post #24 (ISO) » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:50 pm

Post by AcRv »

I mean it wasn't cynical, just more calculated than it appeared. I had a ball as Friendbat, which certainly made it easier to maintain all the relationships I had (still stand by "I am here to make friends, and then I'll win because of my friendships" is a better strategy than "I'm here to win, not to make friends"). I did so bad at The Colosseum because I sucked at challenges in a game that was 90% challenges. But I don't think I saw my name thrown out once, I just got rolled into the arena because I was in the bottom performing group for a round. Though I was probably being carried for an easy beat at the end precisely BECAUSE of my challenge performance.

Though more seriously, I'm genuinely surprised to see such a reaction to my post? I'm flattered, don't get me wrong, but it's been like four years =P and Smeargle was the one with the drawing tablet that game!
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