Post by Robb Zbacnik on Jan 7, 2009 1:30:43 GMT -5
THIS IS MY OFFICIAL ENTRY FOR THE GAME REVIEW TASK THAT YOU GAVE US
I don't care how strategically adept you are, how charming, how strong, you are fortunate if you make it as far as the final three, because there is so much that is completely beyond your realm of control, particularly in the early stages of the game. For example, I was lucky enough to have never had to go to tribal council, throughout the entirity of the tribal phase of the game. Not only was I never in danger of being eliminated from the game, but its a monumental advantage once the merge does come. Naturally, because I had never faced an elimination, the people I had been on tribes with had faced few or no tribal councils, and therefore, I had several strong relationships at my disposal once the merge came.
Although I worked hard to win those immunities, its impossible to win every single one by yourself. And as I said above, it was pure luck that I ended up on such fantastic teams every single time that we were shuffled up. My tribes were stacked full of people who not only matched my intensity in immunity challenges, but actually drove me to try harder. And so, through one part my own work, and two parts the work of others, I made the merge untouched.
The one thing I was sad about in the early part of the game was Sherea getting voted out. She was my one buddy for the first few weeks, and I would've liked to brought her to the end with me, because I would've been able to stay loyal to someone and still beat them when it came down to it.
Even though I had won every immunity before the merge, and with how many times tribes were shifted, I was shocked by how few people I knew at the merge. I had never spoken to 4 out of the 10 people on the new tribe with me. And the group of people I did know was a conglomeration of several of my previous tribes, so it wasn't as if they were all one solidified unit. Plus, I didn't feel like I had a good relationship with Tina, so I thought it might be an uphill climb for me. But Amber had donne me the huge favor of making herself an enormous target for everyone to shoot at immediately. I wasn't the only one who wanted to vote her out, but without question I was one of the driving forces behind the vote. Then, Matty acted up, and made himself a second easy vote. At that point I couldn't believe how lucky I had been - I won every tribal immunity, and then the first two people out after the merge meant nothing to me. I was feeling good.
But, at the final nine, nobody stepped up and made themselves an easy target. So, I finally thought the day of reckoning was upon us, and the sovereign alliance would be exposed. I wanted to be that alliance, obviously, and I went after my number one rival at the time: Tina. I thought it could happen - she was a strong competitor, and I had five other people that I had a fair amount of confidence in. However, Kathy and Rudy ended up deciding to go the other way, and they ended up voting out Eliza instead.
I was devastated. I thought that it was done - Kathy and Rudy had sided with Tina, and Gary and I would be the next two to go. I was angry at Kathy's wishy-washiness, and I was tempted to just go off on her. But I managed to control myself, let go of that anger, and instead rebuild those bridges instead of burning them down. Which ended up being my saving grace. After Dan K.'s self-requested removal from the game, I revved up my engines again and took another shot at Tina. I needed Kathy and Rudy on my side to make it work. And this time, it worked.
The smartest realization I had, however, was when I decided that I needed to find a new ally. I had confidence in Gary's loyalty, but I knew I couldn't win a jury vote against him. Even after I patched things up with Kathy and Rudy, I knew that they weren't my key to winning. Kathy was more loyal to both Gary and Rudy than me, and them to her. So I needed someone else. I saw my opportunity during the final eight immunity challenge - the challenge where you gave money to your tribemates. When I saw the format of the challenge - particularly that one of your bills was worth half of your money to give away - I knew it was my opportunity to send a message. So, I shot it over to Boston Rob. He and I had had a few good conversations, and I could tell he was an intelligent kid, so I thought he might jump on it. And he did. After the challenge he told me that if there was anything he could do to help me out, to let him know. I don't think he neccessarily meant it, but the important part was to open that line of communication.
After Tina's demise, Keith and Boston Rob were predictibly in scramble mode. And I was a good person to scramble to, because I had my heart set on getting rid of Gary sooner rather than later. So when Keith came to me and asked me to consider voting out Gary, I was tempted. But, I thought to myself, to vote out Gary this round, we need me, Keith, Rudy, and Rob. To vote him out next round, we need me, Rudy, and Rob: the same people, except that Keith would have already been dealt with. And thus, I sent Keith a-steppin'.
The final five was where it got really fun for me. I thought both Rob and Rudy would be on board for voting out Gary, but Rob was more angry with Rudy and Kathy, and was trying to team up with myself and Gary against them. And that's when the thought first entered into my mind about getting rid of Kathy. How I didn't see before that she was the real threat is beyond me. The problem was, it seemed like it was too late. Kathy had both Gary and Rudy on her side. How would it be possible to vote her out? Easy. I get those three to split their votes, and then Rob and I vote for Kathy. Without question, that tribal council had the biggest impact on the game, and I take full credit for it. I still can't believe that it worked. I told so many lies in such a short period of time that I could barely keep them all straight myself. Half the time I didn't even know what the truth really was. But that's what made it so successful. I would have conversations with Gary in which I was half-believing that I actually did want to vote Rudy out. Which made my stories and ideas so much more convincing. I don't think there was an ounce of difference in the way I spoke to Rob about voting out Kathy (the truth) and the way I spoke to Rudy, Gary, or Kathy about voting out Gary, Rudy, or Rob, respectively (all ploys).
At the final four, I thought my game might be over. Rob was acting too enthusiastic, too loyal. He wouldn't stop talking about how great I was, how he just wanted second place (both total BS), and beware the snake that hisses praises in your ear. And I also thought that Rudy and Gary were likely pissed that I made them all look really dumb at the last tribal council. So I thought that the gig was finally up, and my dream had come to an end. But, I'll never know what would have happened, because I fell face-first into immunity. The question then became, Gary or Rob? For a while, I was actually leaning toward keeping Gary around, because nobody in their right mind would take Gary with them to the final two. My ideal situation was actually voting Rudy out, because I trusted Rob's immunity skills a lot more than Rudy's. However, Gary flatly refused. Had Gary agreed to that suggestion, we might have walked by Rudy's torch today instead of Gary's. But it was his stubborness, combined with the possibility of a final three facing the jury, that ultimately led to me voting him out.
There isn't a doubt in my mind that if I lose the last immunity challenge, I will finish this game in third place. If I can manage to win it, though, I think I have as good a shot as anyone to win the game. I do believe that I've played the best game out of the final three, but I don't have confidence in the jury siding with me. I have a feeling that there might be a lot of anger directed at me, and for whatever reason, I haven't gotten any respect as a player all season long. But all I can focus on right now is securing that final immunity. Without that, all is lost. This next immunity is everything.
I don't care how strategically adept you are, how charming, how strong, you are fortunate if you make it as far as the final three, because there is so much that is completely beyond your realm of control, particularly in the early stages of the game. For example, I was lucky enough to have never had to go to tribal council, throughout the entirity of the tribal phase of the game. Not only was I never in danger of being eliminated from the game, but its a monumental advantage once the merge does come. Naturally, because I had never faced an elimination, the people I had been on tribes with had faced few or no tribal councils, and therefore, I had several strong relationships at my disposal once the merge came.
Although I worked hard to win those immunities, its impossible to win every single one by yourself. And as I said above, it was pure luck that I ended up on such fantastic teams every single time that we were shuffled up. My tribes were stacked full of people who not only matched my intensity in immunity challenges, but actually drove me to try harder. And so, through one part my own work, and two parts the work of others, I made the merge untouched.
The one thing I was sad about in the early part of the game was Sherea getting voted out. She was my one buddy for the first few weeks, and I would've liked to brought her to the end with me, because I would've been able to stay loyal to someone and still beat them when it came down to it.
Even though I had won every immunity before the merge, and with how many times tribes were shifted, I was shocked by how few people I knew at the merge. I had never spoken to 4 out of the 10 people on the new tribe with me. And the group of people I did know was a conglomeration of several of my previous tribes, so it wasn't as if they were all one solidified unit. Plus, I didn't feel like I had a good relationship with Tina, so I thought it might be an uphill climb for me. But Amber had donne me the huge favor of making herself an enormous target for everyone to shoot at immediately. I wasn't the only one who wanted to vote her out, but without question I was one of the driving forces behind the vote. Then, Matty acted up, and made himself a second easy vote. At that point I couldn't believe how lucky I had been - I won every tribal immunity, and then the first two people out after the merge meant nothing to me. I was feeling good.
But, at the final nine, nobody stepped up and made themselves an easy target. So, I finally thought the day of reckoning was upon us, and the sovereign alliance would be exposed. I wanted to be that alliance, obviously, and I went after my number one rival at the time: Tina. I thought it could happen - she was a strong competitor, and I had five other people that I had a fair amount of confidence in. However, Kathy and Rudy ended up deciding to go the other way, and they ended up voting out Eliza instead.
I was devastated. I thought that it was done - Kathy and Rudy had sided with Tina, and Gary and I would be the next two to go. I was angry at Kathy's wishy-washiness, and I was tempted to just go off on her. But I managed to control myself, let go of that anger, and instead rebuild those bridges instead of burning them down. Which ended up being my saving grace. After Dan K.'s self-requested removal from the game, I revved up my engines again and took another shot at Tina. I needed Kathy and Rudy on my side to make it work. And this time, it worked.
The smartest realization I had, however, was when I decided that I needed to find a new ally. I had confidence in Gary's loyalty, but I knew I couldn't win a jury vote against him. Even after I patched things up with Kathy and Rudy, I knew that they weren't my key to winning. Kathy was more loyal to both Gary and Rudy than me, and them to her. So I needed someone else. I saw my opportunity during the final eight immunity challenge - the challenge where you gave money to your tribemates. When I saw the format of the challenge - particularly that one of your bills was worth half of your money to give away - I knew it was my opportunity to send a message. So, I shot it over to Boston Rob. He and I had had a few good conversations, and I could tell he was an intelligent kid, so I thought he might jump on it. And he did. After the challenge he told me that if there was anything he could do to help me out, to let him know. I don't think he neccessarily meant it, but the important part was to open that line of communication.
After Tina's demise, Keith and Boston Rob were predictibly in scramble mode. And I was a good person to scramble to, because I had my heart set on getting rid of Gary sooner rather than later. So when Keith came to me and asked me to consider voting out Gary, I was tempted. But, I thought to myself, to vote out Gary this round, we need me, Keith, Rudy, and Rob. To vote him out next round, we need me, Rudy, and Rob: the same people, except that Keith would have already been dealt with. And thus, I sent Keith a-steppin'.
The final five was where it got really fun for me. I thought both Rob and Rudy would be on board for voting out Gary, but Rob was more angry with Rudy and Kathy, and was trying to team up with myself and Gary against them. And that's when the thought first entered into my mind about getting rid of Kathy. How I didn't see before that she was the real threat is beyond me. The problem was, it seemed like it was too late. Kathy had both Gary and Rudy on her side. How would it be possible to vote her out? Easy. I get those three to split their votes, and then Rob and I vote for Kathy. Without question, that tribal council had the biggest impact on the game, and I take full credit for it. I still can't believe that it worked. I told so many lies in such a short period of time that I could barely keep them all straight myself. Half the time I didn't even know what the truth really was. But that's what made it so successful. I would have conversations with Gary in which I was half-believing that I actually did want to vote Rudy out. Which made my stories and ideas so much more convincing. I don't think there was an ounce of difference in the way I spoke to Rob about voting out Kathy (the truth) and the way I spoke to Rudy, Gary, or Kathy about voting out Gary, Rudy, or Rob, respectively (all ploys).
At the final four, I thought my game might be over. Rob was acting too enthusiastic, too loyal. He wouldn't stop talking about how great I was, how he just wanted second place (both total BS), and beware the snake that hisses praises in your ear. And I also thought that Rudy and Gary were likely pissed that I made them all look really dumb at the last tribal council. So I thought that the gig was finally up, and my dream had come to an end. But, I'll never know what would have happened, because I fell face-first into immunity. The question then became, Gary or Rob? For a while, I was actually leaning toward keeping Gary around, because nobody in their right mind would take Gary with them to the final two. My ideal situation was actually voting Rudy out, because I trusted Rob's immunity skills a lot more than Rudy's. However, Gary flatly refused. Had Gary agreed to that suggestion, we might have walked by Rudy's torch today instead of Gary's. But it was his stubborness, combined with the possibility of a final three facing the jury, that ultimately led to me voting him out.
There isn't a doubt in my mind that if I lose the last immunity challenge, I will finish this game in third place. If I can manage to win it, though, I think I have as good a shot as anyone to win the game. I do believe that I've played the best game out of the final three, but I don't have confidence in the jury siding with me. I have a feeling that there might be a lot of anger directed at me, and for whatever reason, I haven't gotten any respect as a player all season long. But all I can focus on right now is securing that final immunity. Without that, all is lost. This next immunity is everything.