Left Out 2015 - Grand Finale! Winner Revealed!

[JDodge]

11 players...

1 winner...

Together, they must once again forge alliances and friendships to guarantee their safety in the house. Each round, they will be saved from elimination by their peers, one-by-one, until one person is...

Left Out!

We're back with the original format, ready to go. Who's ready to get LEFT OUT!

In The House:

3. BBM
8. scot

Left Out:

3rd - PEG
4th - Feirei
5th - Reck
6th - D3f3nd3r
7th - Blackberry
8th - xofelf
9th - Cay
10th - JDGA
11th - McMenno

The Rules

1a. At the beginning of the first round, there will be a vote - the person who wins the vote will hold the first key to the house during the elimination ceremony.
1b. For all subsequent rounds, the person who was the last saved during the elimination ceremony will hold the first key during the next ceremony.
2. This game will be fast-paced; deadlines will be 24 hours for all decisions, so get them in quickly.
3. At the elimination ceremony, the person who holds the first key will select another player to recieve the second key. That person will select the player who will recieve the third key, and so on until one player is Left Out.
3b. The player who is Left Out will have to leave the house immediately, and will become a member of the Council of 9 whom will decide the winner of the game.
4. The process for determining the winner from the final 2 will be kept secret until the finale.

[JDodge]

Welcome, esteemed guests. The 11 of you are here to play a very, very simple game. A game that will test your ability to befriend one another and build trust in one another. Fail to do so, and you'll probably just find yourself

Left Out

.

Before the first elimination ceremony can begin, we must select the first keyholder. Remember that not only is the person you choose completely and 100% safe from elimination, they also hold your fate in their hands as they will hand off the first key in the elimination ceremony. The selection process is very, very simple - a public vote. You may change your vote at any time, but you only have 24 hours to choose. You may not vote for yourself, and failure to vote if we reach a deadline may have very severe consequences.

Without further ado, let's start the vote!

[JDodge]

Halfway through voting and only four people have managed to cast a ballot. Remember that there is a penalty for not voting, and please do your civic duty, guests.

[JDodge]

A decision has been reached!

Scot

will be the first keyholder for the first elimination ceremony, which begins immediately.

Elimination Ceremony #1

Safe

8. scot

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
9. JDGA
10. McMenno
11. Feirei


Scot, please choose who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #1

Safe

8. scot
2. PEG

Waiting

1. Reck
3. BBM
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
9. JDGA
10. McMenno
11. Feirei

Peg, please decide who to give the second key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #1

Safe

8. scot
2. PEG
4. xofelf

Waiting

1. Reck
3. BBM
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
9. JDGA
10. McMenno
11. Feirei

Xof, please decide who to give the third key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #1

Safe

8. scot
2. PEG
4. xofelf
3. BBM

Waiting

1. Reck
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
9. JDGA
10. McMenno
11. Feirei

BBM, please decide who to give the fourth key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #1

Safe

8. scot
2. PEG
4. xofelf
3. BBM
9. JDGA
11. Feirei
7. Cay

Waiting

1. Reck
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
10. McMenno

Cay, please decide who to give the seventh key to.

[JDodge]

McMenno, you were one of the only two people to vote for and believe in Blackberry, but it seems he did not believe in you. You have been

Left...

OUT.

Please stick around for the remainder of the game, as you are the first member of the Council of Nine who will decide the winner.

It seems our bloodthirsty competitors are already hurrying to rush another out of the house, much as I would prefer next time they let things be formalized first, so let us continue with...

Elimination Ceremony #2

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
1. Reck
2. PEG

Waiting

3. BBM
4. xofelf
7. Cay
8. scot
9. JDGA
11. Feirei

PEG, please decide who to give the fourth key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #2

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
1. Reck
2. PEG
8. scot

Waiting

3. BBM
4. xofelf
7. Cay
9. JDGA
11. Feirei

Scot, please decide who to give the fifth key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #2

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
1. Reck
2. PEG
8. scot
4. xofelf

Waiting

3. BBM
7. Cay
9. JDGA
11. Feirei

Xof, please decide who to give the sixth key to.

[JDodge]

@mod: Is the peanut gallery allowed to heckle the players?

Part of the joys of a live studio audience is the unpredictability - just remember that you are an audience member, not the star of the show, and attempting to BE the star of the show will lead to you not being a part of our audience.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #2

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
1. Reck
2. PEG
8. scot
4. xofelf
7. Cay

Waiting

3. BBM
9. JDGA
11. Feirei

Cay, please decide who to give the seventh key to.

[JDodge]

It's a very complex decision for Cay, isn't it?

You have BBM, who brought her into the game AND who she voted for in the opening round, but who didn't give her a key in the first ceremony. You have JDGA, who she hasn't really had any interactions with either way and is the sort of "neutral" choice. And you have Feirei, who gave Cay a key in the first ceremony - will the favor be returned?

Either way, this is likely to be one of the most important decisions of the game.

[JDodge]

Good news everyone, we have a shiny new wiki page!

[JDodge]

Despite some people's somewhat violent, angry pleas (people who could have, as a note, saved him themselves), JDGA, it seems you're the second (and last) in a string of victims that voted for Blackberry in the opener. Unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

Please stick around until the end of the game, as member #2 of the Council of Nine.

We're going to take a little break from the action now to do something we call

Getting to Know You

. We wanted to do this after the first round as well, but people decided that patience was not a virtue they were interested in possessing. Right now, we've lost two people, but there are still nine of you. I'd like each of you to take a moment and

say one thing, positive or negative, about another houseguest.

This isn't mandatory, although not doing it will make everyone think you're boring. Plus, this is a good chance to bond and make friends with one another - invaluable in this game. This will last a little bit over 24 hours since we won't be able to start the next round right at 5 tomorrow (will probably start closer to 7), unless everyone answers early.

[JDodge]

Getting to Know You #1

Said their piece:

2. PEG
3. BBM
8. scot
11. Feirei

Not yet talked:

1. Reck
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay

[JDodge]

Lots of negativity and hostility tonight, it seems. I'm glad we're having this talk now, it's good to get these things in the open air so that hopefully we can all move past them together. Or let them stew and eat away at each other. Your choice!

[JDodge]

Getting to Know You #1

Said their piece:

2. PEG
3. BBM
5. D3f3nd3r
8. scot
11. Feirei

Not yet talked:

1. Reck
4. xofelf
6. Blackberry
7. Cay

The claws seem to be out for Blackberry tonight. What will the response be?

[JDodge]

Getting to Know You #1

Said their piece:

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
5. D3f3nd3r
8. scot
11. Feirei

Not yet talked:

4. xofelf
6. Blackberry
7. Cay

You know, it really strikes me that every single comment so far has been negative. There's a lot of anger and hostility in this house, isn't there? Must be terribly stressful for everyone, but I guess it's terribly good for our television ratings so really I shouldn't complain since your complaints sign my paychecks.

[JDodge]

Getting to Know You #1

Said their piece:

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
5. D3f3nd3r
7. Cay
8. scot
11. Feirei

Not yet talked:

4. xofelf
6. Blackberry

Won't someone please stop the hostility? You're scaring the little girl.

[JDodge]

Only xofelf left now to say her part.

[JDodge]

It's time for...

Elimination Ceremony #3

Safe

3. BBM

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
8. scot
11. Feirei

BBM, please decide who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #3

Safe

3. BBM
11. Feirei

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
8. scot

Feirei, please decide who to give the second key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #3

Safe

3. BBM
11. Feirei
1. Reck
5. D3f3nd3r

Waiting

2. PEG
4. xofelf
6. Blackberry
7. Cay
8. scot

D3f3nd3r, please decide who to give the fourth key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #3

Safe

3. BBM
11. Feirei
1. Reck
5. D3f3nd3r
4. xofelf
8. scot
2. PEG

Waiting

6. Blackberry
7. Cay

PEG, please decide who to give the final key to.

[JDodge]

In a somewhat surprising twist, house pariah Blackberry has received the final key. Cay, you played a good game, but you always received a late key, and now unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

I'd like to spend some time getting to know you houseguests more, but there's just so many of you. So let's go ahead with....

Elimination Ceremony #4

Safe

6. Blackberry

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
8. scot
11. Feirei

Blackberry, please decide who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #4

Safe

6. Blackberry
2. PEG
3. BBM

Waiting

1. Reck
4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
8. scot
11. Feirei

BBM, please decide who to give the third key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #4

Safe

6. Blackberry
2. PEG
3. BBM
1. Reck
8. scot

Waiting

4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r
11. Feirei

Scot, please decide who to give the fifth key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #4

Safe

6. Blackberry
2. PEG
3. BBM
1. Reck
8. scot
11. Feirei

Waiting

4. xofelf
5. D3f3nd3r

Feirei, please decide who to give the final key to.

[JDodge]

D3f3nd3r recieves the final key and is safe from elimination. This leaves xofelf - you were embroiled in the biggest battle in the game, but it seems in the end team BBM has come across victorious. Unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

It's now time for

Getting to Know You #2

. This time, I'd like to hear you talk about yourselves. Feel free to talk or not talk, as usual. We'll continue either once 24 hours has passed or everyone has said their part.

[JDodge]

Just waiting now on Reck and Feirei for the second and final Getting to Know You; after this, the gauntlet to the finale begins.

And just so everyone knows, while the next two Elimination Ceremonies will be standard, once we're down to 5 players the last eliminated player decides the first keyholder for the next round, instead of it defaulting to the person who received the last key in the previous round. Something to keep in mind - you may need the help of the people you get rid of beyond their help in deciding the winner as the Council of Nine.

[JDodge]

you may need the help of the people you get rid of beyond their help in deciding the winner as the Council of Nine.

I'll need all the help I can get.

You've gotten this far. Both people who voted you for first keyholder were the first two left out, and in the first Getting to Know You it seemed everyone was gunning for you - there's more than luck to that. Perhaps being seemingly unliked can be as much of a benefit as being everyone's friend?

[JDodge]

It's now time for

Elimination Ceremony #5

.

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
6. Blackberry
8. scot
11. Feirei

D3f3nd3r, please decide who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #5

.

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
11. Feirei
3. BBM

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
6. Blackberry
8. scot

BBM, please decide who to give the third key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #5

.

Safe

5. D3f3nd3r
11. Feirei
3. BBM
2. PEG
8. scot

Waiting

1. Reck
6. Blackberry

Scot, please decide who to give the final key to.

[JDodge]

Reck, you're safe and will be starting the next round, so let me be the first to congratulate you on making it to the final 5. Blackberry, you fought a very good fight against seemingly overwhelming odds stacked up against you. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite enough, and you have been

Left...

OUT.

We'll be immediately entering

Elimination Ceremony #6

.

Safe

1. Reck

Waiting

2. PEG
3. BBM
5. D3f3nd3r
8. scot
11. Feirei

Reck, please decide who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #6

Safe

1. Reck
8. scot
3. BBM

Waiting

2. PEG
5. D3f3nd3r
11. Feirei

BBM, please decide who to give the third key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #6

Safe

1. Reck
8. scot
3. BBM
2. PEG

Waiting

5. D3f3nd3r
11. Feirei

PEG, please decide who to give the final key to.

[JDodge]

Feirei, you are safe by the skin of your teeth yet again. D3f3nder, it seems your luck in the matter has run out. Unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

D3f3nd3r, since we are now in the final six, please decide who to give the first key to for the next Elimination Ceremony and thus determine the first member of the final four.

[JDodge]

Nevermind I can read, going to take D3f's post as passing the first key to Feirei.

Elimination Ceremony #7

Safe

11. Feirei

Waiting

1. Reck
2. PEG
3. BBM
8. scot

Feirei, please decide who to give the first key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #7

Safe

11. Feirei
2. PEG

Waiting

1. Reck
3. BBM
8. scot

PEG, please decide who to give the second key to.

[JDodge]

Elimination Ceremony #7

Safe

11. Feirei
2. PEG
3. BBM

Waiting

1. Reck
8. scot

BBM, please decide who to give the final key to.

[JDodge]

Scot, welcome to the final four. Reck, you played a very good game, but you couldn't quite break past the 5th place. Unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

You must now decide the first keyholder for the next Elimination Ceremony, and thus the first member of the final 3.

[JDodge]

Clock is ticking, only 7 hours to make the decision or the key will default to the last person to receive a key in the last round.

[JDodge]

if scot's gone can it just be me instead

You have 2 and a half hours to pick.

[JDodge]

24 hours have passed, and Reck has failed to pass along the first key. Because of this, we will default to rule 1b, which states that for all subsequent rounds following the first, the person who was the last saved during the elimination ceremony will hold the first key during the next ceremony. Because of this, that means that Scot is our first keyholder for Elimination Ceremony #8, and is the first member of the final 3.

Elimination Ceremony #8

Safe

8. scot

Waiting

2. PEG
3. BBM
11. Feirei

Scot, please decide who to give the first key to.

*Keep in mind I may be slow updating over the next day or so, as I will be in Orlando until Wednesday.*

[JDodge]

Feirei, you played a very great game. You were under near constant threat of elimination the entire time and still manage to last until the final four. Unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

As BBM has been given the key, he is the first member of the final two. He must now decide who of PEG or Scot to bring along with him to that final two, where they will face the Council of Nine to decide the winner.

[JDodge]

Hey everyone, it's time for FINAL 3 FUN FACTS!

Out of the final 3, scot and BBM have an average placement per round of 3.625, while PEG has an average of 3.375.

Since the infamous 2nd round where BBM received the last key, and the subsequent 3rd round where he started the round, he has been placed 3rd in every single round!

With the exception of round 3 where he placed 7th, PEG has placed 2nd or 4th in every single round in the game!

Scot on the other hand has been less consistent - he was voted the first keyholder, but since then has placed middle or late in almost every round.

Scot and BBM have both started two rounds - once by nomination (scot in the first round, BBM currently), and once by being the last to recieve a key (BBM in the 2nd/3rd rounds, Scot in the 7th/8th rounds due to the default). PEG has not started any.

Scot's most frequent pass of the key was to PEG, doing so 3 times. PEG's most frequent key pass was to BBM, also 3 times. BBM's most frequent pass was to PEG as well, but he only did so twice (although it was in a row) - in fact, it was his only repeat, as he chose a different person every single round he could. (JDGA, Feirei, Reck, Scot).

Scot's most frequent saviors were Reck and PEG, relieving the key twice from each. PEG was saved by the other members of the final three in 5 out of 8 rounds - the three where he wasn't he was saved by Feirei, Blackberry, and Reck. BBM was saved by PEG 3 times.

[JDodge]

Because I'll be out most of the day tomorrow, the deadline is extended to "when I get home from work" which should be roughly around 7 PM. If a decision has not been reached by then, I'll have to decide what the appropriate course of action to take is.

[JDodge]

Update + finale will happen when I return from work.

[JDodge]

Scot, BBM, welcome to the final two. PEG, this was the only time since round 3 where you weren't either 2nd or 4th in the round. But this time, coming 3rd means you've become the last member of the Council of Nine who will decide the outcome of the game, because unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

Next post will contain the method for determining the winner in addition to other instructions to our Council of Nine.

[JDodge]

Council of Nine

Welcome to our two finalists, BBM and Scot, to the Council of Nine. A panel made up of all of your fallen comrades throughout the course of the game - friends, enemies, friends who became enemies, and enemies who became friends. Last time around, we did a reverse of a standard Elimination Ceremony, leaving SensFan to decide the winner. This time, things are getting a bit more democratic. The Council of Nine will be voting for which of the two finalists they'd like to win - but remember, not all voices are created equal, and in the Left Out house, very rarely things are not quite as simple as they seem.

The following is the composition of the Council of Nine:

11th place,

McMenno

.

10th place,

JDGA

.

9th place,

Cay

.

8th place,

xofelf

.

7th place,

Blackberry

.

6th place,

D3f3nd3r

.

5th place,

Reck

.

4th place,

Feirei

.

And 3rd place,

PEG

.

It is now time to begin the vote for the winner. Council of Nine, please cast your ballots via PM. You have 24 hours.

Council of Nine Vote

3. BBM
8. Scot

[JDodge]

No questioning?

You can question whatever you want on your own time, but honestly, running a full TV show is expensive and if we check out of this rental house a day earlier it's a LOT cheaper. And do you even WANT to know how expensive it was to rent studio lights on Memorial Day weekend? Not to mention the union throwing a fit because we didn't give our staff a holiday off and insist they work literally around the clock. It's not my fault they're not as pretty as me so they can't get their own hosting gig, I was sleeping just fine in my trailer until there was practically a goddamn riot outside. This is why I keep saying we should try to market ourselves to CBS instead.

[JDodge]

Angelfire had better damn well be paying for advertising space for that.

[JDodge]

Damn straight. How else am I supposed to fund the vacation I won to Space Camp by putting the 3 piece monkey statue together that we had sitting in storage that no one could figure out?

[JDodge]

Can we start selling tickets for PEG vs Scot's cat, the sequel to BBM vs xofelf?

[JDodge]

A decision has been reached. The finale will come sometime tonight.

[JDodge]

No it hasn't. I haven't voted yet.

Do you have any clue how expensive those fancy voting ballots were for the dramatic reveal, AND how much it cost to rent these TV screens from the Biggest Loser? Either deal with the fact that a decision is up or get on the scale, because I'm not paying for this.

[JDodge]

Finale

With 7 of 9 votes in from the Council of Nine, a majority has been reached and the game is about to end. One person is about to become our winner, and one person is about to be the final person Left Out.

We stated that not all voices are created equal - this is for a very simple reason. It takes 23 of the 45 votes on the Council of Nine in order to achieve victory. 11th place has 1 vote, 10th place has 2, all the way up to 3rd place, which has 9. Theoretically, a player can win with just 3 out of 9 votes - the stronger voice is the reward for lasting longer in the game. So with that in mind, let's begin. The votes will be read in a completely random order. The two whose votes were not necessary to reach a majority were Blackberry and McMenno - as such, we obviously won't reveal their unknown decision. Let's begin.

The first vote to be revealed belongs to

Feirei

, our 4th place finisher. She has delegated her 8 votes to BBM. 8-0.

The second vote belongs to 3rd place finisher

PEG

. He has delegated his 9 votes also to BBM. 17-0.

The third vote will come from our 9th place finisher,

Cay

. She has delegated her 3 votes to BBM as well, making it 20-0. BBM needs just 3 more votes to win.

Vote number four comes from 10th place finisher

JDGA

. He has opted to give his 2 votes to Scot. It is now 20-2.

The fifth vote belongs to 6th place finisher

D3f3nd3r

. His 6 votes could've made BBM the winner, but he instead elected to vote for Scot. 20-8.

Vote number six is from 5th place

Reck

. Remember that a clean sweep of the big 3 votes (PEG, Feirei, and Reck) would make BBM the winner.

Reck's 7 votes belong to...










BBM. The vote is now 27-8, meaning BBM is your winner of Left Out 2015!

The last vote, belonging to 8th place

xofelf

, was also for BBM, making the final tally 31-8. The remaining 6 votes wouldn't have even made it close.

BBM, congratulations on winning. You overcame what everyone felt was certain doom in round 2 by turning things on their head and creating an interesting storyline and reason to keep you around. You then managed to settle into a spot where you let the legend and #teambbm speak for themselves, before in the end your friendship forged with Feirei allowed you to take control over the final 2. Very well played.

Scot, you also played an amazing game, winning the popular vote in round 1 without ever really being in danger for the entire game. In the end though, it just wasn't enough, and unfortunately, you have been

Left...

OUT.

With the game finished and in the history books, so closes another chapter in Left Out. We'll be back later in the year with another installment. For now, please check out Murder in Small Town N, the part-game part-murder mystery that got a budget way above what we get here.

With that being said, thank you to everyone who watched along the entire time, and a special thanks to the 11 players who made these past 13 days in the Left Out house some of the most memorable and interesting we've ever seen. With that in mind, remember - be good to each other, because otherwise, you may be

LEFT OUT

. Goodnight everybody!

[JDodge]

i call mod cahoots boooo

What's funny is I was actually expecting someone to legitimately do so even though everything in the game is done completely and 100% open aside from the finale.

[JDodge]

Scot survived a PEG/BBM alliance. 'Nuff said, he should have won for that.

The alliance was pretty obviously PEG/BBM/Scot, actually. If you look at the interactions (as in key passing) to infer alliance info, PEG/Scot had as many interactions as PEG/BBM. From what I know of what happened, in fact, BBM distanced himself from the other two and then later rejoined forces - if anything, it was BBM surviving a PEG/Scot alliance, not the other way around, especially with what happened in the 2nd round where BBM almost got eliminated (if there was such a solid PEG/BBM alliance, don't you think PEG would have given the key to BBM and not to Scot?). It's fascinating because I never actually expected an alliance to work in this game (its very nature is an anti-alliance mechanic - if someone spots the alliance and everyone works together to counter it, you lose an alliance member either every round or every other round), but all three of them (maybe not as much PEG, who took a very, very low-key role in the game - he only really got to work his craft once) were extremely adept at manipulating the results to benefit them.

In fact, from the final 6 onwards, I correctly predicted the majority of events in the game - I predicted that D3f would give the key to Feirei, who I thought would give it to BBM but gave it to PEG to give to BBM instead, eliminating Reck. I didn't expect Reck to time out, but I predicted that he would give the key to Scot anyways, who would then pass to the other two and knock out Feirei. I expected Feirei (as honestly a sort of 4th alliance member solely due to her interactions with BBM) to give the key to BBM, and BBM to think Scot was the easier final 2 over PEG if not solely because it'd become a referendum of "BBM or Not BBM" due to the quiet way in which PEG played the game, and I didn't think he'd expect to win it (although my thoughts were that BBM would win any final 2, and that Scot/PEG was a coinflip).

[JDodge]

Had I been around, I would've given it to Feirei to bust up the obvious alliance.

Which probably would have lead to the same outcome anyways - Feirei would likely hand off to BBM, who would probably take Scot as a better F2 pick, PEG would hand to one or the other and they'd be final 2.

[JDodge]

Scot survived a PEG/BBM alliance. 'Nuff said, he should have won for that.

It was more of everyone else ignoring the obvious PEG/BBM/Scot alliance for some reason

I feel it was half ignoring and half people saying "I'll hand you the key if you hand me the key" and wanting to keep their word. For instance, if you look at rounds 2, 4, 5, and 6, you could almost infer that Reck was practically part of the alliance - same for Feirei due to her BBM loyalty.

I know, but BBM/PEG happens almost every game they both play.

Of course, and if I'm in the game as well (back when I used to play things) I'm usually in that same alliance. Being friends for the entire time we've all been on site (hence my worry about people thinking I somehow rigged the outcome, especially when I made the decision that if Reck timed out it'd default, since I really didn't have a plan pre-game for missed deadlines but felt falling back on that was the most intelligent interpretation of the game rules) tends to do that, unfortunately - but Scot is another very good friend in our sort of group as well, so it's not surprising that there was a 3-way alliance.