Post by Mike on Dec 9, 2005 12:38:13 GMT -5
Well, it's definitely been a while. I'm defintely excited to be back after a long time away, but this game really needs someone from Andes, I've got the time to spare for now, and it just looks like a hell of a lot of fun.
On the mysterious storyline
I've always been a big fan of more storyline intensive, RPG-style Survivor games as opposed to simple "solve the puzze and vote people off" games. Hell, why else would I have continually subjected myself to Xylanic's games? The idea of truly being alone on uncharted lands is a great way to start a game. The only thing I am a bit worried about is being stuck with a dead-end tribe, but hopefully with All-Stars I won't need to worry.
On exploring the island
Now this is where the strategy is really going to start. How do we decide where to explore? Who will take a leadership role, and who's going to idle, not explore much, and make themselves a target?
As a supervisor at the store I work at, I have real-life experience in quarterbacking these kinds of situations, so I know I'll be tempted to take over. But especially in a game where I'm an unknown, that's a bad idea.
Not to say that I'll be keeping quiet though. It is true that you can win the game by being a rather useless third wheel, but you're more likely to be cast off halfway through by more active players, and in any case, that's just now how I play the game. I'm going to make myself known, but as a positive force and ally. I can't afford to keep quiet, or else I'm just going to be cast aside.
On the big question: Who are you?
Yes, I am probably an unknown to pretty much everyone here. That's deliberate. Going around telling everyone "I'm Mike/Amy from Andes and I was the best player and finished 2nd!!" before the game started wouldn't have brought any real notice upon me, and any notice it would have gotten wouldn't have been the kind I wanted.
It's true that there will probably be pre-existing alliances and friendships in the game (it IS All-Stars), and I'll miss out on those. But how solid do people expect these to be? There are just as many pre-existing enemies and people seeking revenge, and more important, most of the people in this game already know not to trust one another. They won't just trust me off the bat either, but I think I'll easily be able to work my way into the group, especially if someone else is either making themselves a target or making a target of another.
The unknown quality also works when the tribes will meet or switch. It's often easier to re-introduce yourself in a new situation when you aren't carrying the previous baggage the other players will.
The fact that no one else knows how Andes went down is also an advantage for me, as I can pretty much spin it any way I want. As for what other people will know about the game, Amy was a strong player throughout, but got voted out fourth when Lexie won immunity. Lance was the mastermind who got to final two, but lost to Samantha even though I voted for him. That sets me up as a strong player and loyal ally, but not someone who will randomly stab people in the back and thus should be voted out early.
Of course, what I'm guessing is that I'll be able to keep this story up. I think I will be, as even if there are one or two other Andes players in the game (which there might not be), they likely won't be in my tribe to start, and I won't be going aroung blabbing this story to everyone within earshot in any case. And if the worst does happen, I'll just have to adjust to the new situation.
On the death of an alias
I will admit, I'm disappointed that I won't get to play as Amy again. Survivor is infact a women's game, and I actually preferred roleplaying as the fairer sex when the opportunity arised. I just feel it makes it to get into an alliance, especially one with mostly guys, even if they knew you were only roleplaying.
On All-Stars
All-Stars doesn't have to be only the best players, but it's going to be tougher than any other game I've played because everyone is probably going to be active. There won't be any dead weight, and I could easily just never get my footing and be voted out early. If it happens, it happens, but I'll do everything to prevent that. My goal is, like Andes to make the final two. That means I've done everything I can.
And it won't just be that the players are strong and active. There are going to be a lot of tribes and a lot of players, and I'm guessing that Sam will want to thin it down a bit early. Which means I don't think there are going to be Immunity idols for every tribe except one. So being a mediocre tribe just isn't going to cut it here. And like I've done in the past, if I need to again take a more leader-ish role to make sure we can win as much as possible, that's a risk I'll have to take.
There's no way to know exactly what's going to happen. You just have to roll with the punches.
Well, I guess the plane is about to go down. I'll see you all on the island. May the best player win.
On the mysterious storyline
I've always been a big fan of more storyline intensive, RPG-style Survivor games as opposed to simple "solve the puzze and vote people off" games. Hell, why else would I have continually subjected myself to Xylanic's games? The idea of truly being alone on uncharted lands is a great way to start a game. The only thing I am a bit worried about is being stuck with a dead-end tribe, but hopefully with All-Stars I won't need to worry.
On exploring the island
Now this is where the strategy is really going to start. How do we decide where to explore? Who will take a leadership role, and who's going to idle, not explore much, and make themselves a target?
As a supervisor at the store I work at, I have real-life experience in quarterbacking these kinds of situations, so I know I'll be tempted to take over. But especially in a game where I'm an unknown, that's a bad idea.
Not to say that I'll be keeping quiet though. It is true that you can win the game by being a rather useless third wheel, but you're more likely to be cast off halfway through by more active players, and in any case, that's just now how I play the game. I'm going to make myself known, but as a positive force and ally. I can't afford to keep quiet, or else I'm just going to be cast aside.
On the big question: Who are you?
Yes, I am probably an unknown to pretty much everyone here. That's deliberate. Going around telling everyone "I'm Mike/Amy from Andes and I was the best player and finished 2nd!!" before the game started wouldn't have brought any real notice upon me, and any notice it would have gotten wouldn't have been the kind I wanted.
It's true that there will probably be pre-existing alliances and friendships in the game (it IS All-Stars), and I'll miss out on those. But how solid do people expect these to be? There are just as many pre-existing enemies and people seeking revenge, and more important, most of the people in this game already know not to trust one another. They won't just trust me off the bat either, but I think I'll easily be able to work my way into the group, especially if someone else is either making themselves a target or making a target of another.
The unknown quality also works when the tribes will meet or switch. It's often easier to re-introduce yourself in a new situation when you aren't carrying the previous baggage the other players will.
The fact that no one else knows how Andes went down is also an advantage for me, as I can pretty much spin it any way I want. As for what other people will know about the game, Amy was a strong player throughout, but got voted out fourth when Lexie won immunity. Lance was the mastermind who got to final two, but lost to Samantha even though I voted for him. That sets me up as a strong player and loyal ally, but not someone who will randomly stab people in the back and thus should be voted out early.
Of course, what I'm guessing is that I'll be able to keep this story up. I think I will be, as even if there are one or two other Andes players in the game (which there might not be), they likely won't be in my tribe to start, and I won't be going aroung blabbing this story to everyone within earshot in any case. And if the worst does happen, I'll just have to adjust to the new situation.
On the death of an alias
I will admit, I'm disappointed that I won't get to play as Amy again. Survivor is infact a women's game, and I actually preferred roleplaying as the fairer sex when the opportunity arised. I just feel it makes it to get into an alliance, especially one with mostly guys, even if they knew you were only roleplaying.
On All-Stars
All-Stars doesn't have to be only the best players, but it's going to be tougher than any other game I've played because everyone is probably going to be active. There won't be any dead weight, and I could easily just never get my footing and be voted out early. If it happens, it happens, but I'll do everything to prevent that. My goal is, like Andes to make the final two. That means I've done everything I can.
And it won't just be that the players are strong and active. There are going to be a lot of tribes and a lot of players, and I'm guessing that Sam will want to thin it down a bit early. Which means I don't think there are going to be Immunity idols for every tribe except one. So being a mediocre tribe just isn't going to cut it here. And like I've done in the past, if I need to again take a more leader-ish role to make sure we can win as much as possible, that's a risk I'll have to take.
There's no way to know exactly what's going to happen. You just have to roll with the punches.
Well, I guess the plane is about to go down. I'll see you all on the island. May the best player win.