Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
Gear's FTC
Topic Started: Mar 15 2018, 02:54 PM (418 Views)
Tom Colicchio
Member Avatar

This thread is for Gear's FTC. Gear has from 17:30 EDT until 18:30 EDT on March 15th to post an opening statement. At this time, the Jury will have access to the thread and be able to ask questions.

The thread will close again at 18:30 EDT on Friday, March 16th.

The Jury have until 18:00 EDT on Saturday, March 17th to vote.
Edited by Tom Colicchio, Mar 15 2018, 02:55 PM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tom Colicchio
Member Avatar

You now may post your opening statement. Please do not post more than your opening statement, and don't edit it other than to correct grammar or problematic tags.

At 18:30 EDT jurors will gain access and may begin to ask questions. Do not post in your other finalist's threads, but you may quote and refer to answers from the other threads in your own.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

Alright, here's an icebreaker for y'all:

Unfortunately, there is one of you who I will NOT be voting for. Who is that person, and why not?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Martin Melin
Member Avatar

Do post your opening speech at some point lmao.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tom Colicchio
Member Avatar

I believe because of the timer mix up, Gear thought the deadline wasn't for a while. He is currently readying his opening statement, so hold off on questions for now.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

Haha, so this won't the opening statement I was hoping to be able to make because I did in fact misread the deadline and thought I had quite a lot more time. So please forgive me for the unpolished rough and rushed version that you're getting today.

Why do we all play Survivor? We're not winning some sort of actual prize. We spend months and endless amounts of effort in these games. What are we getting out of all this time that we've spent? For some people what they value out of here is the friendships that they make. But I think for most of us, it's for the stories that we're here. We want to come out of a game with experiences that we can talk about for a long time, and we want to feel like all the effort that we spent mattered and we want the winner of the game to reflect the best of what happened in the game. I'd like to prove to you, the jury, that I am that person.

I played hard. I built alliances and friendships to help me progress here to the end. You all knew who I was and that I was a threat. Most of you were close to me at various points throughout the game as well. I did misplay the idol that I found, but once the entire game knew about it, it didn't exactly have the same power it would have held if no one knew about it. I bounced back from that and didn't stop being any less of a threat even though I was just as votable as the rest of you. I made myself necessary to other people's games. I made sure I had other options if things fell through. And the fact that I'm still here at the end is a testament to how hard I played at the social game. When it came to card strategy, I played high a lot. I wanted to keep any tiebreakers on my side as much as possible. It never came up, but I was prepared where I could be.

I could walk you through a step-by-step process of what I did in this game and why, but because I messed up deadlines, I think I am better off letting you all get to your questions and addressing anything I miss in my closing. And no one actually reads those anyways. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your questions.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

Hey Gear! I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked the other two:

Unfortunately, there is one of you who I will NOT be voting for. Who is that person, and why not?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Chumlee
Member Avatar

Hey Gear, congratulations on reaching the final tribal council! My question for you is, what aspects of the game did you play better than your fellow finalists and how?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Martin Melin
Member Avatar

Quote:
 
Why do we all play Survivor? We're not winning some sort of actual prize. We spend months and endless amounts of effort in these games. What are we getting out of all this time that we've spent? For some people what they value out of here is the friendships that they make. But I think for most of us, it's for the stories that we're here


This is almost a direct quote from one of my PMs lol
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

Martin Melin
Mar 15 2018, 06:28 PM
Quote:
 
Why do we all play Survivor? We're not winning some sort of actual prize. We spend months and endless amounts of effort in these games. What are we getting out of all this time that we've spent? For some people what they value out of here is the friendships that they make. But I think for most of us, it's for the stories that we're here


This is almost a direct quote from one of my PMs lol


Dude, I saved that PM on my desktop and would go back and read it over and over again. It was so ballsy and well worded. It had been rattling around my head ever since and even if I was going to to be up against you in the end, I was going to use it. Hope you don't mind!

Matthew Van Melikian
Mar 15 2018, 06:23 PM
Hey Gear! I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked the other two:

Unfortunately, there is one of you who I will NOT be voting for. Who is that person, and why not?


It's Paul. You and Paul did not get along, though you tried so often to get close to him. He just didn't give you the time of day. He found you to be boring or a complete hassle and just about every day "God, when can we get rid of Matt? He's awful." He'd tell me why he was off doing shit, and you'd feel particularly slighted that he didn't just say it publically or at least tell you about it. Jared voted for you, but I think you understood it from a gameplay perspective. And you and I had talked about our plans for the rest of the game, so even if I had been on the vote that sent you home, you already knew where I stood. I don't think you ever really knew with Paul.

Chumlee
Mar 15 2018, 06:26 PM
Hey Gear, congratulations on reaching the final tribal council! My question for you is, what aspects of the game did you play better than your fellow finalists and how?

Socially for sure. Paul pissed a whole lot of you off. Whether he didn't respond to your PMs for days at a time, or only shot you one-liners and a gif or two, most of you had complaints about Paul and how he was with people. Jared too was someone I would hear weird reactions about. He was odd but at least he wasn't Paul. But also both of them would only stay around for deadline and then they'd leave for the night. I was online a lot. Even if it wasn't TC, I was talking to people and it wasn't purely game talk either. I will admit I didn't do well about talking with PG. Our online times didn't mesh up super well, but also I think we both kind of knew that we may work together on a vote someday(which we did), but we just didn't have the same sort of relationship. Jenn was also difficult to talk to but I think that was also due to not being around so much, we did talk a little bit.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

Okay, flips card, here's the next question:

Out of the F6, who are part of your ideal F3? Why? And if it's not the current F3, then why aren't you sitting next to them right now?

Don't worry, I'm going to ask more personal questions (i.e. about me) soon. But I want to know where you stood in this game in general. Especially the last days, since I wasn't there to see it unfold.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

Matthew Van Melikian
Mar 15 2018, 06:48 PM
Okay, flips card, here's the next question:

Out of the F6, who are part of your ideal F3? Why? And if it's not the current F3, then why aren't you sitting next to them right now?

Don't worry, I'm going to ask more personal questions (i.e. about me) soon. But I want to know where you stood in this game in general. Especially the last days, since I wasn't there to see it unfold.
Actually, this is my F3. While I think Paul is awesome and enjoy his slightly abrasive, brash, and loud personality, I know that most of the game does not. Even if he played hard, which he did, his personality was rubbing people the wrong way all game. And then Jared was always in someone's shadow. He may be able to sell what he did, and he did do it well, but it's rare that super UTR players win these games.

Chum is one of the most charming people I've ever met in a game, and no way in hell can I outcharm him. Courtney is outrageously strategic, not just in card play, but also in looking at the numbers and juggling people. I am not as strong a strategy player as she is. You were very good at getting people to group together and form majorities. You're a leader. PG is flippy and a threat sniper. If she's not in the right place with numbers, she turns shit around and actually makes it happen. I'm more of a gentle nudge kind of guy. Martin is a guy who can make the right friendships at the right time and very convincing. The PM I borrowed from was the reason I worked as closely with him as I did. He's the guy who flushed my idol and yet I wasn't even mad at him because of how good at convincing he is. Not going to go up against that. Jenn I just didn't have much of a relationship with so I had no sense of what she had accomplished this game and what I would have to argue against.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Martin Melin
Member Avatar

You would be one of the worst types of survivor winners, someone who is social (but not overly social or loved by anyone) and did almost nothing strategically, while getting incorrectly taken to the end by other people.

Discuss the above.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

Alright, I think that is a pretty good answer. Now, here's a toughie:

In the case of a tied vote, who of the other two F3 members will you vote and why?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

Martin Melin
Mar 15 2018, 07:05 PM
You would be one of the worst types of survivor winners, someone who is social (but not overly social or loved by anyone) and did almost nothing strategically, while getting incorrectly taken to the end by other people.

Discuss the above.


No, that's fair. I know most people prefer the type of winner who made really good strategic plays and made the big moves and had the big plans that worked. That's not really my strong suit as a player by any means. But that doesn't mean I didn't still play hard and that I shouldn't win. Getting people to take you to the end when they really shouldn't is still an accomplishment. Being loved by people is awesome, but that can send you home. If they like you and trust you that's enough. You're overplaying if everyone loves you and people know that everyone loves you. I didn't have big strategic plays, but that doesn't mean I wasn't strategic. My plays were just a lot more subtle and extended over a few rounds. If you push too hard and too fast in a round you can go home for it because people know that you will pull that kind of move. It's what happened to Courtney, as well as the fact I'd been pushing her the round before, and before that had subtly selling that she was someone to worry about. Everything I've done and said is what got me here. Big moves and big plans are great and flashy, but solid and consistent gameplay is also a valid way to win the game. If that's not the kind of game that you like, then don't vote for me. Your vote is to do with whatever you desire. I would love to have your vote, but if I don't, then I don't.

Matthew Van Melikian
Mar 15 2018, 07:05 PM
Alright, I think that is a pretty good answer. Now, here's a toughie:

In the case of a tied vote, who of the other two F3 members will you vote and why?


Jared. Paul has had some flops when it's come to how he played this game. You can't win an FTC if people don't like you. Loyalty is great and all, but that's not what I'd base my vote off of. Jared did a lot of watching and waiting this game and I respect that kind of play. Finding the opportune moment to make your move is tough, and even if all of the moves didn't work out for him, he still tried.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

I am not sure how I feel about how you describe what your gameplay was to Martin, I will have to ruminate about that. Speaking about Courtney, would you have wanted to have her gone at F8 instead of F7? You were not all that subtle about wanting to vote there eventually, but when?

And here's a question just for you. No one plays a perfect game, we all know that. If someone could do that, Survivor would be a bit boring, wouldn't it? Now, here's the question: What are your biggest regrets in this game?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Martin Melin
Member Avatar

OK so the thing is, right. I'm not a Probstian lackey kneeling at the altar of big moves. But at the same time, a social game like the one you played is often an innate characteristic of a person. There are lots of people (I am not one of them) who can just be natural and talk to people and have everyone like them well enough. That doesn't require much conscious thought about the game. What I want from someone who I vote for from the jury is someone who thought about their own position in the game and tried to improve it. What I see from you is better than what I see from Paul because you don't actively make people dislike you by your mere presence, but I don't see that thought. What I see from you is someone who just talks to everyone as best they can naturally and gets taken. Every time you had to make a decision: about cards, about idols, whatever, you made a bad decision. So I feel like, unless you can convince me that there was that thought there, I've kinda gotta vote for Jared.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

I'm going to go eat some dinner guys, I'll answer some more questions later.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Martin Melin
Member Avatar

I mean, I want to vote for you. I never liked Jared that much, in this game. I liked you a lot. But Jared's come in here and he's given a great final speech that really outlines what he did in the game, with cards, strategically otherwise. And you, despite being considered a massive threat, have come in preaching the gospel of "oh I might not have done much but I promise I was making small moves!". That's something I've heard before and will hear again, from losing finalists. If your game wasn't filled with strategy and big moves, you at least need to be convincing that your actions led to you staying here, in what is the optimal f3 for you. I mean, you were saved at f5 and the f7 vote was another pivotal moment that helped you, right? But from my perspective it wasn't you that convinced me at f5 and Chumlee and PG were behind the f7. You just got lucky.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

Gear
Mar 15 2018, 07:46 PM
I'm going to go eat some dinner guys, I'll answer some more questions later.
Alright. As you know, I am always gone at around this time, so I will see you tomorrow and hope you have a good answer to my question.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Jenn Lyon
Member Avatar

Same questions for all three of you (this is such a dumb way to do FTC):

1) If this game had ended as God and Mark Burnett intended, which is to say, with a final 2, which of the other two finalists would you have taken to the end and why?

2) What is the worst possible ending for this game?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Courtney Act
Member Avatar

My question is simple: Read all the jurors. In case you don't know what reading is, here's an example:

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Gear
Member Avatar

Matthew Van Melikian
Mar 15 2018, 07:37 PM
I am not sure how I feel about how you describe what your gameplay was to Martin, I will have to ruminate about that. Speaking about Courtney, would you have wanted to have her gone at F8 instead of F7? You were not all that subtle about wanting to vote there eventually, but when?

And here's a question just for you. No one plays a perfect game, we all know that. If someone could do that, Survivor would be a bit boring, wouldn't it? Now, here's the question: What are your biggest regrets in this game?

During the F8 round I did legitimately want her to go and I pushed it at people that were't you. It was only after we found out that she had told PG about the idol that I pushed it at you like I did. You didn't feel comfortable doing it, and I dropped it. She was always the first Blue I wanted to drop in merge. You were the second, but I think you knew that.

I regret playing the idol, but I also wish that I wasn't in a position where I had to tell anyone else about it. You kind of took that option from me when you went ahead and told everyone in our group. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew.
Also I regret not fighting to keep Evan. I was going through some stuff that I just didn't want to bring into the game, so I let that be decided for me when I didn't really have to. I did that more often than I should have.

Martin Melin
Mar 15 2018, 07:42 PM
OK so the thing is, right. I'm not a Probstian lackey kneeling at the altar of big moves. But at the same time, a social game like the one you played is often an innate characteristic of a person. There are lots of people (I am not one of them) who can just be natural and talk to people and have everyone like them well enough. That doesn't require much conscious thought about the game. What I want from someone who I vote for from the jury is someone who thought about their own position in the game and tried to improve it. What I see from you is better than what I see from Paul because you don't actively make people dislike you by your mere presence, but I don't see that thought. What I see from you is someone who just talks to everyone as best they can naturally and gets taken. Every time you had to make a decision: about cards, about idols, whatever, you made a bad decision. So I feel like, unless you can convince me that there was that thought there, I've kinda gotta vote for Jared.

I do find it easy to talk to people, that is true. But that's not all that I did. As I was talking to people I was paying attention to who had connections to whom, who doesn't like certain people, who can be nudged in certain ways and who can't. I wasn't just be friends with all the people and just be inoffensive and that'll do me just fine. I talked with everyone because you can't make any sort of move suddenly if that's the first time you're talking to somebody. I also didn't talk to same way to everybody either. I adapted how I brought up information or asked about information on a case to case basis. Like Jared isn't a guy that I could go to and every day be really excited about what kind of breakfast food I just had and make a bar that only serves breakfast and also alcohol, but Paul was that guy. Much like being serious and more formal isn't how I would talk to Paul, but it's how I talked to Courtney. I may have relied on my ability to communicate easily, but who I talked to and how often and what I said I thought about a lot. I thought about timing on when to bring up game strategy talks and how to bring them up. With some of the longer PMs with people I didn't answer right away until I had thought about how to say things and how to respond.

Martin Melin
Mar 15 2018, 07:49 PM
I mean, I want to vote for you. I never liked Jared that much, in this game. I liked you a lot. But Jared's come in here and he's given a great final speech that really outlines what he did in the game, with cards, strategically otherwise. And you, despite being considered a massive threat, have come in preaching the gospel of "oh I might not have done much but I promise I was making small moves!". That's something I've heard before and will hear again, from losing finalists. If your game wasn't filled with strategy and big moves, you at least need to be convincing that your actions led to you staying here, in what is the optimal f3 for you. I mean, you were saved at f5 and the f7 vote was another pivotal moment that helped you, right? But from my perspective it wasn't you that convinced me at f5 and Chumlee and PG were behind the f7. You just got lucky.

My opening speech not being at the same level is very much my bad. I thought that I had a lot more time than I did, so you got what I could put together and organize in half an hour after everyone else had a speech done. F5 I understand that I did get lucky that two of you decided to keep me instead of PG and it wasn't entirely on my own merits. From my own perspective I did do a lot to make F7 happen. The seed for a Courtney vote had already been planted during the previous round. Matt was the obstacle to it happening the round before and he was gone, so I was still going to do it. I didn't just sit on my hands and do nothing that round and just go along with the majority. I was actively a part of it. I talked about it a lot with Chum and you, and also PG that round. It's the vote that I wanted and it's the vote that happened. I did have a strategy with my card-playing, it was a very risky one, especially considering that it turned out that how the F4 game was going to play out was not something I read correctly. I played higher cards often to make my vote count more should there be a tie. Did it come up, no, but I played that way on purpose. I was always thinking not just about immunity in a round but of the numbers any vote could possibly get. I did paint myself as someone who was more passive and willing to just go with what other people wanted, but that wasn't all who I was. The one time the vote didn't go where I wanted it to go, it went to someone that I was going to vote out later anyways. I didn't have a set bootlist where people had to go in certain rounds or else, but there was always a list of people that would be great to go out in these rounds and would be one step closer to the final for me. If thinking that way and choosing the people I worked with closely is just luck, then boy I should go play the lottery with those odds.

Jenn Lyon
Mar 15 2018, 08:49 PM
Same questions for all three of you (this is such a dumb way to do FTC):

1) If this game had ended as God and Mark Burnett intended, which is to say, with a final 2, which of the other two finalists would you have taken to the end and why?

2) What is the worst possible ending for this game?


1) Paul. Throughout this whole game Jared has been sending me these mini-story character concepts, and the way he can paint a picture is really something. He also played a game that wasn't as nearly tied to mine as I think Paul's is. Paul always saw us together at the end, but Jared didn't. And Jared's game was always really good, but the way he's selling it now, I'd vote for him easily.

2) Surprise! You three are now the jury, and you must choose a winner from the first 3 eliminated players.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Matthew Van Melikian
Member Avatar

I told everyone on our tribe about the idol, because I kind of felt like it was "our" idol, not "your" idol. Was it a mistake in hindsight? Maybe. I think the biggest mistake there was me telling you about where you should look exactly instead of just searching those pages myself. But that's hindsight talking, of course.

As you know, I'm a bit of a narcissist. I am featured prominently in Jared and Paul's opening speeches, but not in yours. I am curious how you saw our relationship throughout the game, especially in the premerge. You also mentioned that you talked to specific people in specific ways, and I wonder in what way you chose to talk to me.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
JURY MEMBER: Jenn Lyon
Member Avatar

I'm looking for a serious answer to #2. Which of the three of you winning is the worst-case scenario and why?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Final Tribal Council · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1