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Post by kurtis on Aug 10, 2013 15:37:44 GMT
And with that... John's gone! It was a few rounds coming, really. He is a sweet guy and I have nothing negative to say about his character but I'm so happy that he wont be able to play the poor, abused victim card to make others feel badly for him.
The vote went as scheduled with me, Joe, Billy, Rich, TJ, and Cody voting out John and John, Jacob, Sassy, and Bryan voting for Cody. What did NOT go as scheduled was Cody using his power/his pesos. I don't know if the guy was just feeling extra ballsy and decided to preserve his assets or if we did too good of a job making him feel safe, but he moved himself way up in my target list by not using his power.
It was almost scary how easy it was to ingrain myself back within Sassy and Jacob's good graces. We (and Bryan) talked for hours last night and decided on a four person alliance between us. Once again, Sassy and Jacob became so blinded by hatred (this time for Joe) that they failed to look at the bigger picture and spent most of the time bitching about Joe lying to them. I'm willing to stick with this foursome... I am still weary of Bryan, but I can totally appreciate his approach to the game, which is much more subtle and intelligent than the other two. Bryan also just used all of his pesos, so I would assume he wouldn't try anything shady for a while.
That is how you have to approach selecting allies: what are their options and are you their best option? If you limit the moves other players can make, it maximizes your ability to control what happens. After putting myself back in Jacob/Sassy's good graces, I again get so sit comfy in the middle between them and Joe and his blue group. The challenge for me this round will be uniting the groups in voting out Cody next round.
I am most concerned about a situation with Rich, actually. Apparently, Jacob told Rich about the fourway agreement with Joe, Sassy, myself and him, and Rich was astute enough to pick up on the fact that Joe and I have the ability to float between two groups. Someone with that kind of ticker really have to be dealt with. This puts Rich waaaay forward on the target list. Next round it will either be Cody or Rich leaving the game.
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Post by kurtis on Aug 10, 2013 19:40:41 GMT
I hope everyone gets a tribute!
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Post by kurtis on Aug 12, 2013 1:32:12 GMT
We’re knee deep into the bloodbath. Well really I’m just kind of lounging off to the side drinking a mai tai while Rich, Jacob, Sassy, Billy and Bryan hit each other with sticks and Zavi runs up to grab a health thing every so often. It will be interesting to see if anyone actually as the stones to throw a shot my way. I’ve told allies on both sides of the game (Jacob/Sassy/Bryan/TJ/Zavi and Rich/Joe) that they had the green light to throw punches at me to distract the world from my fantastic place in the game.
While Billy, Rich, Sassy and Jacob are using this time to bitch about each other I’m taking the opportunity to reestablish myself with both groups. Because this upcoming vote will be the first time I’m vulnerable at a tribal council in many, many moons, I need to ensure that I can remain in complete control while both sides of the game target who I want them to target. As a result of having ties to and tabs on everyone, I have a fairly solid idea of where they are coming from and am constantly reevaluating my game based on what folks are telling me. What Rich is telling me is only making me want to take him out more and more. It’s remarkable how paranoid some of these players are, particularly Rich, but it is even more insane how free they are with their paranoia. When Rich, Jacob, or Sassy has a thought it’s pretty much a guarantee that even villages of isolated pigmy people will hear about it. Unlike Jacob and Sassy, Rich’s paranoia is spot on. He is onto my game and realizes how dependent he is on me and Joe to vote with him. I’m trying to convince him that voting Cody and his switch vote out this time is the best move he can make, but unless he comes to that conclusion before it’s time to vote, I might just have to take him out first.
There are a couple players that are complete opposites of Rich. Bryan and TJ both have extremely strong poker faces. They are charming and witty and I’m positive they would have no problems lying to whoever they need to lie to while getting ahead. Basically, they’re good players. The problem with good players is that they pose a threat and need to be dealt with before they can deal with you. Sadly, I need to bank on both TJ and Bryan being too scared with numbers this large to make a move on their own. They have both engrained themselves in the Sassy/Jacob/Zavi/Kurtis amalgamation (aka the “hotbois”… dear fucking God) and should vote the way I want them to this time around. Cody really, really screwed himself over by failing to use his vote control last time, making him a target for even people he assumed were his allies (i.e. TJ).
The largest objective for me over the next day or so is to retain Joe as an ally while targeting his buddy Rich. That is basically a matter of making him convinced that taking one of them out is in his best interest. Joe talks logically on my level, but has a hard time seeing super clearly through a haze of “friendship,” so it’s easy to play off of those emotions.
It’s hilarious to me that the actual game of Survivor has evolved SO much, while the cyber version remains largely the same. In the physical Survivor, folks come into the game with the expectation to be blindsided, backstabbed, used, and tossed when they are of no value. For whatever reason, us dorks on the interwebz can’t make that transition and get so wrapped up in friendships that were never supposed to exist. When I started playing games (like 8 years ago… I’m fucking pathetic.) I was so wrapped up in the “playing nice” and the “friendships” that I didn’t start playing to my full potential until wayyyy later. After this game and playing with me, I hope these people are able to see that we sign up for these things for fun. Part of the fun is making friends, promising the world, and slitting throats while giggling.
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Post by kurtis on Aug 12, 2013 13:59:40 GMT
Rich and Cody are both scrambling... making it easy to target them but also unsettling my nerves.
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Post by kurtis on Aug 13, 2013 13:46:28 GMT
The Art of Backstabbing
You can't do it halfway. You can't be a Cody and tell your target's biggest ally that you're going to vote out their friend. You can't let the blindside-ee in on the plan at the last minute. You can't show any signs of wavering. You must lie directly. You have to do all of these things with gumption while at the same time endearing yourself to the people who will be left after the blindside and give yourself a couple holes to crawl through.
This round saw the game get more intense than it has ever been, and to the player's credit, everyone was on top of their shit. Where the easy plan to get Cody out fell to shit was with Bryan. We had it pretty good this week: Joe, Sassy, Jacob, Zavi, Bryan and myself were all voting Cody, all while convincing the group that Billy was the target. Everyone was on board with this all week until just after immunity: Bryan straight up admits that he isn't down to vote Cody and posts a vote for Billy. This, my friends, is NOT how you blindside. I understand that it is best for Bryan's game to keep Cody and an option for a Bryan/Cody/TJ alliance alive, but it's not best for his game to blatantly go back on his agreement with Jacob and Sassy. They don't trust him and I keep reminding myself that this is a positive development because it will make it easier to rally the troops to get Bryan out later.
Due to Bryan's switch, Jacob and Sassy flew into a whirlwind. They get distracted so easily and lose sight of the goal at hand. All the while Cody was causing chaos last night targeting people (including me) and making them nervous. Finally, I think I convinced Jacob and Sassy that we could still get Cody out this round. Because Bryan threw his vote to Billy so early, he become irrelevant. With 5 votes, Jacob, Sassy, myself, Zavi, and Joe should still be able to get Cody out of the game. Rich was promising me the moon that Sassy was the target from the other side, which I readily agreed to do as well, so she may recieve their votes (or I might, who knows), and TJ had Jacob and co. all promise we were voting Joe. There should be votes flying everywhere this round, but I should be able to walk away from the carnage smiling, Cody's lifeless body left behind.
Here's where the art of the blindside comes into play. I had to lie (and lie convincingly) to Rich, TJ, Bryan, and Billy. I don't even bother with Cody anymore because I can't stand him. Anyway, while lying to them I make sure to plant seeds that let them know that their plan is *not* what is best for me in the game. For instance, TJ tells me the vote is Joe, I say "I'm in to do whatever you want, but you know I'm nervous about you, Cody, and Bryan teaming up" and pretend to take one for the team. This seems to pacify people, they see you're thinking critically about the vote and tend to believe you more wholeheartedly. Same thing with Rich, he says the vote is Sassy I say "well, it sounds like I have to do it, so I'm in... but man I really don't trust Cody." Honestly, they can see it coming, but the small admission of truth is enough to recover after the vote and ensure you are still a workable player who is not stuck to a side.
If this works out, I will be so glad to see Cody go. I wanted to keep him around a lot longer because no one likes him, but his ability to cause disorder is astounding and I would be impressed if it were a strategy... sadly I think it's just him.
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