[Standard] Survivor: Know Your Enemies (Summer wins!)

For large social games such as Survivor where the primary mechanic is social interaction.
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Post Post #100 (ISO) » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:07 am

Post by zoraster »

Haschel was voted out and is our 6th juror.
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Post Post #101 (ISO) » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:07 am

Post by zoraster »

Challenge #19, Number Grid
Challenge Number:
19
Challenge Name:
Number Grid
Contact First for Questions:
Monty
Rules for Discussing with Others on Tribe:
You may not discuss this challenge with any other players.
Link to Form:
This is a link to the form.
Winner Determined by:
The fastest to submit a screenshot of their completed puzzle will win.
What needs to be submitted to win:
A screenshot of the completed puzzle.
Time limit or Max Time if Applicable:
Ninety minutes is the maximum time.
Description:
This is a simple and fun challenge that I am sure you will enjoy wholeheartedly. You will receive a grid with numbers around the exterior. Every cell in the grid also has a number. In order to succeed, you must just highlight/cross out/blacken out cells so that the only cells NOT crossed out add up to the numbers in the respective rows or columns. If a row or column is blank, it can have as many/few numbers crossed out as suits the puzzle. The fastest person to correctly solve the puzzle wins immunity. If no one correctly solves the puzzle within ninety minutes, no one will win immunity.


Deadline: October 12 @ 18:00 EDT
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Post Post #102 (ISO) » Mon Oct 12, 2020 10:55 am

Post by PrivateI »

Posting early bc I'm about to walk in the hospital sorry.

Everyone tried the challenge.

No one wins immunity.

The answer will be posted in an image here later.

Like normal, you have 24 hours, until 18:00 EDT.

Good luck.
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Post Post #103 (ISO) » Tue Oct 13, 2020 11:05 am

Post by zoraster »

SleepyKrew was voted out and is our seventh juror.
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Post Post #104 (ISO) » Tue Oct 13, 2020 11:07 am

Post by zoraster »

Challenge #20, Final Challenge Quiz!
Challenge Number:
20
Challenge Name:
Final Challenge Quiz
Contact First for Questions:
Zoraster
Rules for Discussing with Others on Tribe:
Do not discuss this with other people.
Link to Form:
This is the form.
Winner Determined by:
The person who answers the most correctly wins. The tie-breaker will be whoever answered the questions in the fastest time.
What needs to be submitted to win:
The answer submission form.
Time limit or Max Time if Applicable:
None
Description:
Take a 20 question quiz about the game! Get the questions right, and do it as quickly as you can. The winner gets to go to Final Tribal Council!

Fair warning, these are tough questions. There are a mix of multiple choice questions and freeform response questions.

It all comes down to this. You get one attempt at this challenge. Best of luck.


Deadline: October 14th @ 18:00 EDT
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Post Post #105 (ISO) » Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:00 am

Post by PrivateI »

Players, it all comes down to this.

One person won immunity and a spot at the Final Tribal Council.

The rest of you will have to fight for it.

As the players discovered, these questions were...somewhat personal. Therefore the results of specific questions will not be revealed here.

In alphabetical order, here are the results.

Spoiler: Aristophanes
Out of twenty questions, Ari got...eleven correct.


Spoiler: Malkon
Out of twenty questions, Malkon got...nine correct.

Ari is in the lead, and Malkon is out of it.


Spoiler: Summerinwonderland
Out of twenty questions, Summer got...fourteen correct.

That means Summer is in the lead. It. All. Comes. Down. To. Tris.


Spoiler: Tris
Tris got...twelve correct.

That means SUMMER! Wins Final Immunity!


For the rest of you (well, and also Summer), you have until 18:00 EDT to cast your last votes to eliminate. Best of luck.
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Post Post #106 (ISO) » Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:20 am

Post by zoraster »

Malkon was voted out and is our eighth and final member of the jury.

Congratulations to our Final 3! Summer, Aristophanes and tris will battle it out!

Schedule:

Friday, October 16th @ 18:00 Deadline for Torchwalks. Jury Ponderosa LOCKS.
Saturday, October 17th @
Noon
Deadline for Opening Statements (you might consider writing this while you do your torchwalks). Opening statements will be posted when I get home from the vet. At this point, Jurors will have 3 posts to ask questions, etc.
Monday, October 19th @ 18:00 Deadline for Jury Votes
Monday, October 19th @
21:30
Sia's Favorite, Musical Performance, Live Reading of the Votes!
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Post Post #107 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:27 am

Post by zoraster »

FINAL TRIBAL COUNCIL

Opening Statements
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Post Post #108 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:28 am

Post by zoraster »

Su(preme Overlord) ummer's Opening Statement


My main goal coming into this game was proving to myself I could still play a dominant game. I came in with a lot of nerves because I do have a huge reputation as a player, and I thought that might be used as an excuse to take me out early. I haven’t been on the site in a long time, and so I didn't have many connections to make up for that either. That said, I think I accomplished my goal.
This game for me was about building extremely strong relationships. I focused on making strong bonds during the first half of the game. I knew if I made strong enough connections I could have a ton of power in the merge because people would be willing to help me when I inevitably became a threat.

I made sure at every phase of this game I was able to get myself into a strong position by the end. Just surviving wasn’t enough, I wanted to be able to have control on every single tribe I was on. I swapped by myself, and I knew I had to put my head down and work on infiltrating the majority so that I had control - and by the end of that tribe I had strong allies in Pine, Malkon, Tris and Espe willing to go to bat for me. I used my connections to advance my own agenda: I knew there were certain people who I needed out, and I pushed my alliances into taking them out at the earliest opportunity. For example with Vash and Ani I knew they would become a liability for me at the merge, and so the moment I was able to I took them out without hesitation.

A big part of my game is picking good allies- but also ensuring I am their best and only option. I was at the core of most alliances and relationships I had in the game. I like having control, and I always make sure it would be very difficult for my people to flip on me. I had my core, but I also made sure I had good game relationships with the entire merge. This was so I could plant seeds for what path I wanted the merge to go. For example I loved Pine, but I knew he would be a threat to my personal game, and so I constantly made sure from Florence onwards that I was planting seeds to raise his threat level and make him vulnerable.

I tried to make it so my closest allies were the ones in the game and they didn’t have too many options to take me out. I wanted my people to rely on me, and they did. I took out people who were threats to their loyalty: I knew, for example, Awoo was very close to Aristophanes and had a good bond with him. This is the one of the reasons I knew Awoo had to go fairly early on. I knew Awoo was the centre of attention, and a huge star that would be voted out before me. He played hard, and I made sure I positioned myself behind him. It was a delicate act taking out Awoo and keeping Ari’s loyalty, but I did it and he was entirely loyal to me from that point onward. There are many examples of me deciding to take someone out to benefit my position and keeping my closest people loyal: Ani, Mist, etc all fit this pattern.
I was able to obtain a few advantages. I do think it shows how strong of a game I played with both my idol and nullifier. I used them at the last possible moment as backup. The rounds I was worried about an idol being played I had planned split votes- DK, Pine or a blindside in Awoo. Can never be too careful! (also 4-3-2s are sexy)

While I was very publicly close to Espe I had just as strong relationships with others. All game people were going after Espe then finally to take a shot at me, and I knew at some point he was going to pay the tax for my control in the game. He was a shield for me. People kept trying to vote him out! I think there is a ton of value in having an Obvious Alliance if they are the one who will leave before you, while having a sophisticated set of side-alliances. This is just one example of the strength of focusing on good positioning.

I won 5 individual immunities this game. I proved myself to be a huge challenge threat. Even after I was called out for “winning if I make the end” I thought my ONLY path to the end would have been winning out. At final 5 I proved that I didn’t even need them to win and when I was considered the biggest threat left in the game I received only one vote. I received one vote throughout the entire game and that was at the final 5. (thanks skrew for ruining it :P ) I think that speaks to my social game. I was able to convince Tris that it was best to take me to finals. I combined physical game in my challenge and advantage wins, social game in nurturing these powerful alliances and strategy by taking out anyone who was a threat to my position in the game.

I had a large role in setting up the merge environments, the blindsides. I positioned myself to be at the center. Not everything this game went according to plan, but I was able to adapt and when under pressure I succeeded in making the necessary moves that it took for me to get here. When my back was against the wall, I thrived. For the entirety of the game I had to position myself knowing I was viewed as a threat, I don’t think I took my foot off of the gas for the entire game. I was almost always in the driver's seat, and moments where I couldn’t be I put in so much effort to be able to be aware and informed on the situation of the gamestate.

When I wanted to protect someone, I put my all in to make the vote go the way I wanted. I made the moves I felt necessary to get my own game ahead, I did have a lot of people trusting me and I betrayed that trust a lot of the time but it was always with my own game in mind I made these moves. I was always thinking multiple rounds ahead, and thinking “if I vote out this person, where do these people’s loyalties go to, where will that leave me, what moves could I make after”. This line of thinking was the key to my game. My strategic game is based on what social bonds I have available at the time and how I'm able to use them to get my strategic ends. I am proud to be a strategist, but its because of my strong social game that I'm able to pull off my plans.

This game meant more to me than I think any here realizes for me as a player. I lost a lot of confidence previously in these games for a lot of reasons. A lot of the times I play too hard and obviously I get caught for being a threat but I also mismanage relationships where people end up thinking I am a villain and root against me. I can say here I am honestly very proud of what I accomplished. I came in as a winner with a huge reputation behind me, and I was absolutely terrified I wouldn’t have a shot of being here today to speak to the jury. And I did that by playing hard, giving this my all and trying to have control. I didn’t hide or play scared - I played at 100% every single round and I am still here to tell the story.

________________________________________________________________________
I have had an extremely busy last few days with school so I didn’t get to go into significant detail of certain moves so I do hope people ask me questions about specific rounds! I would love to go more in depth about my game. I am very excited for y’all’s questions and am open to whatever anyone wants clarification on.

Not to be a demanding finalist but pretty please if you have big or important questions for me- ask me early on. I have an insanely busy next few days and I want to make sure I am able to answer all questions and manage my time well <3 thank you friends.
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Post Post #109 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:28 am

Post by zoraster »

Aristophanes' Opening Statement




Introductory Statements


Hello, Greetings, Welcome everyone!

I am so excited to be here, you have no idea! I know some of you are familiar, but for those who are unaware, this is only my third ever LSG on MafiaScum and other than a surprise first round swap in one game this is my first time getting to a Swap, nevermind a Merge! To have made it to the Final 3 was inconceivable for me when this game began, but here we are.
Now, is typical Aristophanes style I have to take this moment to first and foremost thank each and every one of you for playing in this game! It has been fantastic getting to know you all, and I wish it could have been longer. But that's not the nature of the game, and I could not have gotten here without the likes of all of you! So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being here, for having made the time to play in this game, for sticking around after you were voted out, and for just being awesome people, every one of you.

I suppose I should just jump into it. Why would you ever want to give me, Aristophanes, your vote? Why wouldn't you give it to Tris, the ultimate floater? Why wouldn't you give it to Jess, the challenge Beast? Why me?
Well, I may not be the challenge beast. I may have been called a Goat publicly. I may not have floated by. But I had the most impressive social game of Survivor KYE, and that is why I am here. That is why I deserve your votes.

It's time for me to go into a long and probably convoluted tirade about
me
and I am no more comfortable with this than you are, so strap in and enjoy the ride.


Alexandria


Let's start with Alexandria, since, well, it all started with Alexandria.

In the first few days of that tribe, I made some important alliances. I joined forces with T-Bone, CM1, Awoo, and Summer.
If you look at every play I made this game, it was in order to further the goals of this group of individuals.
Now, at the start of the game my social sway was not yet developed, and I lost T-Bone in the first vote of the game. But I never turned on him, nor did I give up on him. I offered every possible solution to save him, but did not yet have the sway to do anything about it. But interestingly, I did have the sway already to be informed of it, and the trust of those close to me that I would not tell him. And I stayed true to both my ally, T-Bone, as well as my living allies who decided to vote him out, which was not an easy spot to be in off the hop, but one which I managed to walk with precision. Keep an ear open for this in particular, as the tightrope I walked this game is a thread which runs throughout the entirety of my play, and I believe is one of the most impressive features of my gameplay.
Anyway, the rest of us took that tribe by storm! And we had to. We went to every single TC there was to attend. But we survived, we persisted, we became stronger.
There was a challenge where the Tribe threw in order to get kdowns eliminated. I knew of the plan, and I by no means went as quickly as I could on that challenge (not that it would have mattered with my challenge record). But I also did not throw the challenge as I simply could not bring myself to throw away an opportunity at safety in order to eliminate someone who probably wasn't even a threat.


El Paso


We then go to the first Swap.

Summer to Delhi while the rest of us remained together on El Paso. I cannot speak to her experience there, but I do know that El Paso was no cakewalk despite our numbers.
We got the first couple TCs off, which was an amazing break from the chaos that was Alexandria. But when it came to the next vote we were at, CM1 decided to threaten DK in order to scare him into using his Idol. I was fairly certain I had a good relationship with DK at that point and that it was not required, but it was done regardless. Because of this Idol catastrophe, Awoo lost his Class B and CM1 went home. It was a devastating blow!
But we were not done yet. The final TC on that tribe was a battle to stay. I was down an ally but shifted that momentum, with the help of Awoo and Aronis, to get rid what should have been the easiest target of the game, but considering tribe dynamics was not so easy. I was told directly that I was assumed to be the vote when Cheery Dog left us, but that the crowds were not in favour of that. It took a lot of work to win that favour there. That was the tribe that would have ended me, where I was most vulnerable. But I held on. I made many bonds that helped me throughout the game when on El Paso. So many of us made it to the end, and it was a very impressive tribe.
One of the most important moves I took on that tribe was my relationship with DK. He was such an interesting person there, as he seemed to know so much yet be afraid of everything. Being on him good side was integral to staying in the game for me there.[/quote]


Florence


Florence was by far the best tribal experience I had in this game. I adored everyone there, and getting to play in such a positive tribe was amazing!

Florence was where I learned how important it can be to lie through your teeth and be ready for the fallout, and this is how I played the game from that point on. Making a move, ensuring the right thing happened for
me
and for
my alliances
, and being able to take the results of that vote in stride, shifting the anger and sadness into dependence upon me. That is what I did from this point on, and that is where I can make a real argument for myself. Now I know this is likely to be a raw spot for me to argue when we come to that point, and for that I apologize. But I was in this game to play, to get to the end, and to win. This method was extremely successful, else I would not be here.

The Vash vote was set to be on someone who was not an ally, and it was used as a foundation for things to come. Awoo and I were the deciding factors there as we could have swung a vote onto either Malkon or Vash. I chose to keep Malkon and he chose to be a loyal ally to the end. It was not intentional that I slowly whittled away his allies until dependence was necessitated, but it is what happened. My first personal management project was SilverClaw, who was the next elimination, but still. I played really hard to regain his confidence after he was left out of the vote, and learned a lot of important info in doing so. I learned of a Communication device that was in play *and* a Class B Idol Detector! I know that the information about both were plays to argue they should be kept as a reliable informant and an anti-pagonger. It was an amazing plea that I wanted to take, but it would not have worked in my end goal and thus, SilverClaw had to go.
Aronis was one of the easier of votes for me, but only because they were the person left in our alliance that I trusted least. I made that choice, I made it happen. I got him out of Awoo's protection and had thrown the right shade at the right times to plant the seeds, and he was eliminated as a threat to my alliance with Awoo. With his purpose served, he was cut.

Each of these votes happened without the victim being wise to it, and while most shied away from talking to them in the time leading up to the votes, I was not afraid to get every last bit of info out of them I could before they were sent away.


Merge Tribe


Merge was a blessing for me! It was finally a chance to take the bonds that I had made, the strategies I had learned, and the innate social abilities I possess to the real playing field. In Merge, it is cut throat and you can have a fantastic majority and all of the power and still be cut down, as we learned. I was very careful to play a smart, strategic, alliance based game of manipulation in order to get here. As I say, this is what most of you have experienced when you encountered me, and I dare say, is one of the main reasons I am here and you are there. But consider that it was honest Ari that did all of this, consider how much playing it took to orchestrate all of this, and consider why that makes my gameplay worthy of your votes here. Because it's not about personal grudges. It's about gameplay. And mine was simply the best of those who remain.

I'm going to split this into portions for you as it is both an easier read and helps with the structuring of thoughts and ideas.

#FlorenceStrong


This was an ideal that many from Florence came into the Merge with and it was one we had worked hard to create. It was so important that we worked together for the initial stages of the Merge. We came in being the weakest tribe, and those from Alexandria came in the weakest subtribe within the weakest tribe. We used our strength to our advantage and it undoubtedly went unnoticed. Pine was quick to sidle up to us for safety but I cannot say I ever fully trusted his intentions there. However I chose not to look a gift tree in the sap and took the advantages of the numbers. Florence contained all of my original alliance which remained and I had to do everything in my power to keep is on the top without looking too strong.

Mist's Elimination


Now, this elimination owes its credit to so many people in so many ways, but here's the gist of how I saw events progress.
We had a solid 6 people and brought in as many as we needed to avoid an idol catastrophe. By that I mean that Espe was the Alt vote, so we had to ensure the numbers went properly in order to to ensure we did not lose an ally if Mist played their Idol. There was a very good chance of it happening there and I had seen first hand how improper prep in the face of an Idol could be devastating. So we hatched a plan to get the votes allocated properly. Espe of course, as the one at risk if this failed, spearheaded a lot of it, but I did my fair share, once again in reassuring DK and gaining his trust. I really did want to work with him despite the uncertainties that presented themselves on that front.
I was integral, in my opinion, to making the votes happen how they did. I took the reins among Florence and assigned some votes to people (which I know got Espe riled up, but I was making strong suggestions in order to
keep you here
! Your push back against it left a bad taste in my mouth that lasted far too long and was a part of why I voted you when that fateful day came. But I digress). We were 5 people who orchestrated 9 votes in our favour including an anti-Idol maneuver.

The organizing of this was key and the social role I played in assuring this happened was huge! We chose a few people we could trust and were honest with them in choosing what info had to be shared, and being able to trust Skrew and Haschel, being honest with them and trusting them, was a huge risk with a high reward. When confronted by D3f in order to be convinced on a vote for Espe this round, I played ball so hard. D3f, I'm sorry about that. I know you had no clue what hit you, and I did my best to reassure you that you were fine for the next rounds where you hung on by a thread. This is the first of many in the
Duped > Reassured > Eliminated
cycle of play that really defines my gameplay here.

I should mention that Awoo was given credit among my allies for convincing D3f that the vote was going to be in favour of Mist despite the way the votes went. While Awoo played spectacularly in the social aspect of this game and does deserve praise here, I laid the groundwork work that interaction having already convinced D3f that my vote was with him. Awoo merely had to come in and support that "fact". I was not bitter that they got the credit, it made the target shift off of my back and downplayed my involvement in things. However in this setting, in the seats we are now in, I feel it is time to own that and make the point that it was
my
social interactions that convinced D3f and Mist that we had their backs first and foremost. Even after the vote, when D3f approached me, I downplayed my knowledge of what happened. I told him I did not know where the DK votes had come from. I played coy in order to placate him until we could eliminate him at a later date. That was all intentional.

DK's Elimination


I am not really sure what to say here. It looked a little touch and go for a bit on the vote, and the Idol possibility was real, but it ended up a unanimous vote. My biggest regret was being busy at work meaning I didn't get a chance to say a final farewell to you. I'm sure it would have been nice for you personally, even if it had changed nothing game-wise. You were someone I really enjoyed, and I had a White Claw in your honour after that elimination was announced.

D3f3nd3r's Elimination


Well, this was another one that was bittersweet, and I think the only vote where it was clear my bullshit was properly seen through. I do not believe that was a failure on my part, however. You were tipped off by everyone in the tribe apparently so I had little I could do there. But I think it speaks to my play in this game that you were willing to go out giving me advice. You were not the only one to do so, and I appreciated all of it. Even if I did not take it to the game, I took it to heart.

Pine's Elimination


Pine, this was one of my crowning achievements in this game. It was a moment where I outshone those I am up against here. It was an integral moment in the game and it was a huge flex of my abilities. Pine, you were a threat from the start. You came into the Florence alliance looking set to work with us, all the while instilling seeds of doubt into people's heads. You did that in every alliance and every interaction I was a part of with you, and man is it impressive!

Awoo and I decided that you needed to go this round. It was a huge undertaking, as it meant excluding an ally, Malkon, potentially straining that alliance. It meant finding a way to turn the tides and the votes against you, the best social competition I had in this game at the time. It meant the creation of an alliance tailored to filling you with false hope. It meant the penultimate splitting of votes.

When Haschel suggested an alliance with Myself, Awoo, Skrew, himself, and an unknown 5th spot, I had to seize the moment. I played it coy and cool, but even before this was suggested we had out sights set on you. It was the perfect time to strike! So I had to play Haschel into trusting that I wanted you in the alliance. It meant having a sub-alliance within the alliance with Awoo and Skrew which formed the basis of the Pine vote along with most of Florence. I had to keep Malkon in the dark and convince him I was with him. It meant making sure all those involved would keep it out of the ears of those who would try to stop it. I made the play to put Pine into that alliance without any input from Awoo. I made the social cogs work in this vote. This was an Aristophanes maneuver and I am proud of it! This play meant orchestrating every vote in the game and it was hugely dependent upon my social prowess and deviousness here. This was
my move
. And I think I played it perfectly.

Awoo's Elimination


This was a tragic moment in the game for me. D3f had put the spotlight onto Awoo and there was only a matter of time until it burned him. I had considered Espeonage a threat prior to this based on knowledge thatthey were butting heads with Awoo, but there was no action taken as they were still a great member of the tribe to keep around. I will admit that I found out about this vote before deadline. I tried to think of every single possibility that would have kept Awoo here, but the table was set and I could only sit there. It was much like T-Bone's early departure from the game and was a moment where I sat back and stuck with my ally, no matter the cost, because allies are integral to this game and without them, why are we even playing? I wish I could have told you. I wish I could have saved you. I'm sorry.

This was the moment, however, when the game became solely mine to play. I was no longer "Awoo's Goat". I was no longer the puppeteer hiding behind a shield. I now had to make my own way without that protection. I had already been a driving force behind the game's events, but now I was also a bigger target.

Espeonage's Elimination


Okay, now this is where it comes to be kind of funny. It was during this round that Haschel approached Tris and I with a truce. Skrew had been feeling me out to see if I would turn on Jess and Haschel was obviously working closely with him, as they had been all game. The aptly named
Goat Brigade
set out to define ourselves and our games and make it to an F3 where we had a mutually even chance of success. It was fantastic on Paper, and is actually the longest side-alliance I was a part of. It lasted an entire round and a half before it had to be disbanded by my hand. We stuck together under the guise of taking out Jess, and the best we could do was a support pillar. It was Malkon or Espe, and I pushed it onto Espe for 2 reasons. The first being their part in the Awoo vote. The second being my alliance with Malkon. I had worked with him every round until the Pine/Awoo split, and this was a chance to regain that ally I had lost. With the support of the new alliance, we took out one of the bigger threats to my survival. Espeonage could have easily replaced me at Summer's side at any point, and I could not let that happen. We were Original Tribe allies, Summer, Awoo, and I. I intended to keep both of them until the end, but being able to sit here with at least one is amazing. But back to what I did this round: I stayed with an alliance I knew was doomed to fail in order to further my goals and hold influence over the votes.

Once again, my regret here was not checking in prior to deadline with Summer. I hurt a friend by making this play, but I could not risk an idol play. I knew I could not say anything for my game was at stake if I did, but patching that relationship was one of the most important things I did this game. Patching that with Malkon was a close second, and actually played into this vote as well.

In this TC, I was approached by Malkon with the idea that Summer had gotten too powerful and that one of Tris or Espe had to be the vote in order to keep her at bay. I had already allied with the remaining tribe at the time and I already knew who it had to be, so after a lot of talking and coaxing, I convinced Malkon to drop Tris and focus on Espe, having him go as far as to suggest the vote to Skrew and Haschel himself as a new idea and win them over. It was such an important piece of social manipulation within this game and I'm sorry I had to do it on a friend. But making Malkon think he had made this move all himself rekindled bonds between us and reinvigorated the game. I knew what was coming next and had to set up the best alliances in order to pull it off.

It was around this point in the game that I realized that I was going to FTC, by the way. Everyone thought I was a Goat, including the other Goats. Everyone thought I was an easy player to beat, one who would just roll over and let them waltz to victory. Everyone figured I was the floater with no game. But everything I did before this point was done to get my allies to FTC, and everything from this point on was done to get me there with them. I said in my Confessional my predictions for how the game would play out from here, and I was almost entirely spot on, because I made it happen.

Haschel Cedricson's Elimination


Haschel's elimination was another bit of genius I crafted. I'm sure you've noticed a recent theme of taking advantage of every situation that presented itself and if memory serves, it was Haschel himself that told me never to turn down an offer of alliance. This was the second time Haschel had offered me one and the third time he had worked heavily with me, all since merge. This, however, completed one of the most convoluted of the patented
Duped > Reassured > Eliminated
cycle of play. I convinced the Goat Brigade that we were voting my man Malkon out, but I could not let that happen. I mobilized the rest of the tribe and turned the tables hard on Haschel. I had never intended on going to the end with him and I had never intended on working against Jess after that one vote. I would not capitulate on a Malkon vote and I knew that if the Goat Brigade had followed through and made final 3, Haschel would have walked away with the victory way too easily. This was the tipping point for majority and this was the vote that targeted one of my closest allies in the game. It was doomed to fail as soon as I decided it was. But the Goats never heard a whiff of it and my interactions were flawless in convincing them of it.

SleepyKrew's Elimination


Man oh man on man! I said earlier that Pine's Elimination was the Penultimate in vote-splitting. This was the Ultimate vote split and was my crowning achievement. Skrew was another player who would have taken the Jury by storm, and it looked like there was nothing I could do about it. Malkon, Tris, and Skrew were all set on a Jess vote and I was hitting walls everywhere. Then, all at once, Tris and Malkon changed their minds. I was about ready to give up on my ally who I had worked so hard to keep in the game. It was the one time where she was vulnerable, the one time she could be taken out, and I could not let that happen. In talking to Malkon, I realized my misstep. I hadn't considered Tris as a viable option because I was focused on the 1v1 between 2 threats. I suggested it and he agreed. Tris had shown some doubt earlier in the day as to where they were voting, and landed on an agreement to work with me and save summer, but wanted to vote Malkon, not Skrew. So Summer and I had a choice to make, Malkon or Tris. We discussed it long and hard and agreed Malkon had to go. We would have such a hard time beating him in an FTC, but Tris could be taken on. So the votes were locked, I knew where every vote was, and I was set for a bitter betrayal of a friend and ally. Then a thought sparked, and I realized we could eliminate the real threat which remained! I told Summer and she agreed, begrudgingly, to vote Skrew, scared that we were being played but excited nonetheless. I literally danced around when I thought of this! Skrew would have been the toughest person of those 5 to be here against, and with my social prowess I had just saved not one but 2 allies and set every vote where it needed to be to make the most crazy move I could ever have thought of! No it was not intentional, well, until it was. But had I not been situated as I was in the game, I never could have crafted that vote.

Malkon's Elimination


I don't know what to say here. My intentions were to be sitting here with Summer and Malkon. I saved Malkon from being eliminated in the Skrew vote. I saved him from being eliminated in the Haschel vote. Heck, I saved him from being the main name on the table in the Espe vote even. Not telling him about the Pine vote may have saved his social game. Getting Malkon here was a goal.

Winning against Malkon and Summer would have been impossible though. Either one I can take on, but both would have ended my FTC chances.

Malkon, I wanted to be here with you. I could have tied the vote and I'm sure you would have beat Tris in the Firemaking challenge points. But I could not, from a gameplay standpoint, be here next to you. I had picked Summer on D1 to be here with me, and I made that happen. I ensured that you got as far as you did because I wanted to keep the dream alive. You were an amazing ally. But in the end I chose to give myself the best chances at victory that I could muster, and this was the result.


Closing Remarks


Well, just like the long trek through the game, you've made it through my post. I apologize for its length, but this was by far the best way to split up my thoughts and display my influence on this game.

In every vote that occurred throughout the game on every tribe I was a part of, I knew where virtually every vote was being placed through my social abilities and my networking skills. I used this knowledge to craft vote counts, to adapt my playstyle each round, and to put on the proper face in every conversation in order to convince people to do what I needed them to do. I played such a good social game that I was underrated and used that to my distinct advantage while taking out those who got too big. I was the player who made the biggest moves in this game, hands down. And I am here to tell you all that it is why I am the ultimate Survivor.

Not once did I rely on challenge prowess or idols or any other mechanism in order to get here.
This was all on me.

I could not be here without the alliances I made, without the people I betrayed, or the social game I played.

If you respect a game that was molded by the players, designed from within in order to reach an end goal that came to fruition almost perfectly, then there is no doubt that I deserve your vote.

Thank you for your time, both in reading this and in-game.
You all made this possible.
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Post Post #110 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:29 am

Post by zoraster »

tris' opening statement


Disclaimer: I know that there are some places where I might be wrong about what happened. Feel free to correct me if so.


here's my pitch: i was never in danger in any danger as far as i know except for possibly at F5 which i will talk about later. i did this by maintaining lots of potential bonds, but i did not go too far with that. otherwise i could have been exposed as being false, and people would not have wanted to work with me. a key element here is my sincerity. i generally was being genuine when i initially tried to be friends with someone. it wouldn't be until later that i might choose to abandon them. I also believe that i generally came off as non-threatening. i played in such an open way sometimes that i think some may have under-estimated me.

here are some important moments and themes:

my break with haschel

at the beginning of the merge, i made it clear to haschel that we were, in the short term at least, not aligned, BUT also i did not close the door on resuming a relationship in the future. it was not the time yet to repair that. i had learned by that point, that it is important not to be too spread out with your commitments, so i kept haschel at a distance.

the mist vote

this is one of the most important moments in my game. had i stuck with mist, i would have been on the outside. going into the merge i had two opposed relationships: mist and co. and the Summer Tris Espe Malkon(STEM) alliance. this one of many examples where i had choice of which relationships i wanted to prioritize. i decided that even though i really enjoyed being with mist, STEM was a more solid way forward. first, i figured that they were close to the other florencers, ari and awoo. second, i was to closely linked to mist, and severing that link would prove my commitment to STEM. third, espe was someone who drew the spotlight to himself, and i wanted to avoid the spotlight.

reconciliation with haschel

after the pine vote, both me and haschel saw an opportunity. i immediately reached out to him on the basis of both of us having been out of the loop on that vote (i was not entirely, but i will touch on that in a later section). as it turns out, he also wanted to wanted to reach out to me. i considered this to be a golden opportunity because he would be greatly reliant on me going forward, and this leads to the next section

the awoo vote

so, at the beginning of the merge, i tried cozying up to awoo and ari because as i said before, i figured that they were close to the STEM people because they were the core that remained of florence. also, i learned that they were close to skrew who was someone i was trying to be friends with. and besides that, awoo was a great person to talk to. but, at this point, it came down to them vs haschel. it was too early to break with STEM, and i valued my friendship with skrew highly. i decided that haschel was better to keep around. i feared that awoo was too connected. while haschel was more reliably close with me at this point based on the conversations we had had. awoo had previously tried to offer a closer alliance with me, but i declined to take that step at that time because i did not want to make too many commitments. even so, i believe that i benefited from the fact that many people saw me as someone they could potentially get on their side (i guess you all should tell me if that's true lol), so i wasn't a target.

summer and me

so, what about my relationship with summer? we connected early on in dehli. it was complicated by the the division between mist and espe, but after i voted for espe in the second vote there, i decided to admit that i had done so to her. and i thought we established a relationship where we would be very honest with each other. summer is therefor a fourth reason that i chose to go with STEM. but then! but then, i learned from haschel and ari, that summer had not been honest with me. she had not told me that the DK votes at F12 ultimately where merely meant as a vote split rather than an attempt to divert the vote from mist. this next part is disputed by her, but i can learn what is true now. she apparently was part of organizing the vote on pine. (i will say that she did “predict” what the votes were after i suspected that espe was actually voting for pine, but what we decided was to pretend that we had not known.) most importantly, she was generally acting like she wasn't as in the know and connected to others and influencing events as she really was. so, i felt betrayed, and this brings us to

the goat brigade

this is where keeping haschel around paid off. the reason haschel and ari told me what they knew about summer was that haschel was trying to bring together a secret alliance of him, me, and ari. he believed that everyone else left in the game would beat the three of us. having learned what i had learned about summer, i agreed with this assesment (mostly more on that in a sec). summer could just say that she had been the one really driving events, and that i got here because of her. i was aware that haschel might beat me because he was the one who came up with this idea, but i could argue that he had to do that as his only option, while i had the luxury to choose to join him. summer was however immune this round, so we targeted espe as a proxy. however, this fell apart the next round when ari abandoned ship.

why i chose this

what i had felt was my best chance at winning was now gone. i felt a bit helpless and adrift. i flip flopped a bunch on what my best option was. ultimately, i settled on this configuration. i will admit that part of it was because the feelings of closeness with summer were still there. but, i also came up with an angle i could take against summer here which is that had summer not been immune at F7, she would have been the likely vote. by contrast, i had been safe all game. even when the “goat brigade” collapsed, i was not seen as a threat that needed to be taken down like summer, malkon, or skrew.

concerning skrew

i loved you skrew! but, this is not the torchwalk so, anyway. me and skrew were close because we gelled really well in our off-topic conversations. however, we kept seeming to be not quite aligned during votes even when we were voting for the same person. even so, i believe that we both saw each other as a close connection. so, this was another valuable connection that wanted to keep me around. i did actually consider ditching haschel in favor of skrew, but i realized that skrew had played way to good of a game and was the biggest threat left. up to that point, he was always on the right side of the vote, and was never anywhere near danger.

F5

i might learn that things happened here that i was not aware of, but the story from ari and summer is that the switch from malkon to skrew was a last minute change. however, i do see the possibility that they were originally considering whether to vote for me with malkon, and decided not to when summer was satisfied that i was not voting for her. if that is the case, i may have been gone if i had not chosen to go with summer. however, in that case, i would have made it clearer to malkon that i am on his side and that i saw skrew as a big threat. so, i believe that i truly had options in this F5. but, this is hard to comment on not knowing what the truth is. but, my belief is that summer needed ari to break with haschel, and then further needed me to chose to keep her. which puts me in a stronger position against her than i would have had if i had simply followed her to the end the whole time.

so, basically i made lots of friends who didn't want to target me, and i broke free from summer putting her in a vulnerable position only returning to her because i chose to. because i felt it was my best shot at this.
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Post Post #111 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:31 am

Post by zoraster »

FTC Info:


1. Jurors get three POSTS. Use them how you'd like. You may have multiple questions, etc. Do not exceed three posts
2. FTC Members get as many posts as they want.
3. There are no official closing statements, so if you want to, make them whenever.
4. Jury, cast your votes by 10/19 @ 18:00 EDT in your Discord's decision booth
5. Show up if you can for a live reading of the votes and extra goodies on 10/19 @ 21:30 EDT

Good luck to the participants, and thank you for playing this game!

This thread is now unlocked. FTC starts NOW
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Post Post #112 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:40 am

Post by Haschel Cedricson »

Congrats, everyone, on making FTC. That is a big accomplishment and you all should be proud.

Making FTC is completely different from WINNING FTC, though, as two of you are about to find out. And more specifically, I mean "as Ari and Tris are about to find out." Normally I would tell you two that you're playing for second, but that would require either of you to peel off a single vote and even that feat is probably going to be an uphill battle.

Ari, when I said an FTC of you/me/Tris was the only one that any of us three had a chance of winning, that wasn't part of some scheme. That was the truth. So your speech explains
what
you did but is laughably short on answers for
why
those moves were good ideas that benefited you.

Tris, you played a decent game. It was also a flawed game, though, and Jess played the closest thing to a perfect game we've seen in a long time. I'm sorry Ari ruined your chances at having a shot of victory; you didn't deserve that.

I have no questions at this time. Congrats on your victory, Jess.
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Post Post #113 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:57 am

Post by tris »

ok
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Post Post #114 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:40 am

Post by D3f3nd3r »

Hey you three,

While my vote is likely decided coming into FTC, I do have a question I'd like to ask Tris and Ari, who are both in fairly similar positions in terms of their experience playing Survivor on here. And I suppose Jess should probably answer too!

I'm in the unique position of having been involved in all three of your first games. Tris, my vote was all you had against you when I idoled you out in PD. Ari, on the other hand, I was the only person
not
to write your name down at your first and only tribal in Civ. Jess, we played Medevac together but I don't really have any sort of fun anecdote about how you and our tribe voted me out unanimously at our first tribal.

The question is this: What did you do differently between this game and the first game you played? I would ideally like for you to hit on all three sides of Haschel's notorious FTC Triangle: strategic, social, and structural aspects to your game. (Please see the opening post of each thread in this subforum if you're unsure of what exactly these categories mean.)

I strongly suggest that you do not rehash your opening statement. Old Zetaboards forums are still technically accessible (dig through your messages for the forum link, then go to the forum, click Login, then click the orange text for "Proceed to legacy forum account login here", and enter your login information), so you should consider looking at your respective source material before trying to answer!
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Post Post #115 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:14 am

Post by tris »

strategic: initially, i tried to be more laid back, not stressing about making alliances happen like i did when i formed one with mist and kdowns in PD. although when the swap happened and i was away from the people i most wanted to work with from casablanca, i was went back to that kind of behavior, albeit with a greater understanding of what survivor games are like. i think i ended up playing a similar sort of strategy as i did in PD just with more knowledge.

social: discord automatically makes the social game different. being able to have rapid conversation and not feel as pressured to make longer posts changes things. one thing i learned was to mix the non-game talk and the game talk. in PD i had trouble with talking about anything other than the tribal council when that was happening. also, i allowed myself to be weirder in here which i can be more comfortable with.

structural: ehh, i feel like i don't give this aspect of the game enough attention sometimes. i can't really think of any differences. it's not like i did the challenges differently.
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Post Post #116 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:26 am

Post by Awoo »

I am!
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Post Post #117 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:26 am

Post by Awoo »

Voting for!
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Post Post #118 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:26 am

Post by Awoo »

Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post Post #119 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:35 am

Post by SleepyKrew »

I've got a few questions but they're highly unlikely to affect my vote.
To be clear: quack
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Post Post #120 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 9:55 am

Post by Malkon05 »

https://vocaroo.com/19406hh0jb1E

Listen to the intro, make sure you are in a good headspace before listening to my questions.

Tris' question begins at 00:50

Ari's questioning begins at 01:58

Summer's questioning begins at 15:10


Little Ending that starts at 20:36

Might have used the wrong word. I meant to say that I was going to vote fairly rather than "objectively" I think that's an incorrect use of a word, so this is me correcting that.

Interested to hear your responses.
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Post Post #121 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:37 am

Post by Malkon05 »

https://vocaroo.com/1cBzhwoFX6mh

This is for everyone and it's more meant to be a little personal, less like...negative approach to questioning.
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Post Post #122 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:10 am

Post by tris »

In post 120, Malkon05 wrote:https://vocaroo.com/19406hh0jb1E

Listen to the intro, make sure you are in a good headspace before listening to my questions.

Tris' question begins at 00:50

Ari's questioning begins at 01:58

Summer's questioning begins at 15:10


Little Ending that starts at 20:36

Might have used the wrong word. I meant to say that I was going to vote fairly rather than "objectively" I think that's an incorrect use of a word, so this is me correcting that.

Interested to hear your responses.
a goat is someone you bring to the end to beat. and i could try to argue for myself, but i see the writing on the wall here. i am a goat here. sorry, i can't really muster the energy to try to push a different perspective. congrats summer.
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Post Post #123 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:47 am

Post by Aristophanes »

I have read what is here thus far but have not checked any links and while I have some thoughts formulated they will have to wait for a the next chance I get to sit down and respond properly.

But I feel like, unlike Tris, I have not yet lost this and will continue to go out swinging.

I honestly believe that I outplayed Summer in this game. It was my plays that kept her here in the round where she was vulnerable. It was due in large part to my social crafting that I had the moments to seize, it was those moments that let me advance and allowed me to pull a friend and ally to FTC.

Unlike what Summer stated in her opening statements, I do not believe I was at all dependent upon her. We worked as allies, but it was never her that saved me but I who saved her.

I will be addressing everytone who posts here, and if you have questions, even onees you do not believe will change your final vote, I would still be happy to answer them.
*Looks in Skrew's Direction*

Anyway, that is all for now.
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Post Post #124 (ISO) » Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:00 pm

Post by Haschel Cedricson »

In post 122, tris wrote: a goat is someone you bring to the end to beat. and i could try to argue for myself, but i see the writing on the wall here. i am a goat here. sorry, i can't really muster the energy to try to push a different perspective. congrats summer.
Gonna use the second of my three posts to say you shouldn't feel bad about this outcome. You played a good social game and had a lot of people enjoy your company. And when the writing was on the wall you made an effort to change it up; it's not your fault you didn't predict that Ari was literally acting as an extension of Summer's playerslot. When F5 happened I'm not gonna pretend I didn't understand at the time why you voted for Malkon instead of Jess, but after hearing from Ari and Malkon it seems that vote wasn't on the table. You were dealt crappy cards but you did your best at playing them; in this FTC it is not a winning game but don't let anybody tell you it wasn't a respectable game.

Preview Edit: Ari, saving Jess is only a credit to your game if you explain why it was better than your other options. As it stands, it looks like you saved Jess because she fooled you into thinking that advanced your game and not hers.

For the most part the jury is not salty with you at all, Ari. We are
extremely
confused by your play, though. In Ponderosa we had a serious discussion about whether or not you were breaking the second rule of the game by obviously not playing to win yourself but to help a friend win. We had this discussion because
literally none of us thought there was any reasonable way you thought your game was better than Summer's.
When Malkon came and joined us and told us you actually thought this, it kind of broke our brains a little. So I guess my question is, why did you not see what everybody on the jury saw?
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