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Post by Bob on Jul 18, 2011 20:18:49 GMT -8
You make it SOUND amazing. Like a thousand...happy...birds. *shrug*
Hmm, but I DO need a new game. A cheap one. Hmm. If only Gamefly wasn't damn expensive...
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Post by countlieberkuhn on Jul 18, 2011 23:10:25 GMT -8
If you see Uncharted or Uncharted 2 going cheap I'd recommend those. They're good games that quite effectively mix platforming with cover-based shooting (which is handled excellently I might add, better than Gears of War), and feels like the logical successor to the Lara Croft franchise. Only a damn sight easier, as the platforming sections are a lot more forgiving. If there's a platform that is possible to reach, but your angle or timing wasn't 100% perfect, it'll know what you were trying to do and he'll make the jump. Compared to Lara Croft games it's easy, but really it just takes out a lot of unnecessary, annoying deaths.
The 2nd game is a little better thanks to a longer length and better balance between platforming and shooting (1st is a little heavy on the shooty bits, when the platformy bits are more fun imo) and they both have completely separate stories, so if you had a choice between the two I'd go for that one, since all you'll really miss out on are a couple of character introductions. I'd recommend playing both if you see them both cheap, but if I had to pick one it'd be Uncharted 2.
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Post by Bob on Jul 30, 2011 12:52:58 GMT -8
I AM CAPTIVATED! MUST KNOW MORE!
The votes didn't add up the last round, so SOMEBODY lied, and I'm itching to find out who lied! Harry, Angela, and Travis were supposed to vote Dahlia, Heather, Henry, and Alex were supposed to vote Claudia. But when it came down to it, There were three votes Dahlia, but only two for Claudia. So some of the votes didn't go as planned. Angela probably voted Travis, so either Heather, Henry, or Alex swapped to vote Dahlia or Angela voted as expected for Dahlia and Heather, Henry, or Alex voted for Travis. SUSPENSE!
Alchemilla:
Definite fallout for the often-losing team. The Heatherless women have formed an alliance and are masterminds behind this game. I am suspicious of many possibilities, like maybe Heather and Harry voting Travis and Mary voting Dahlia. I'm not sure, but I think Mary is still trying to pretend she's strong and wants Dahlia out. Can't wait for next episode to find out who voted how (unless it'll be hidden for a looong time, but Fleck would NEVER leave us hanging like that! ....RIGHT!? RIGHT!?!?!?)
Brookhaven:
I'm crossing my fingers for a Cybil/Douglas love session at some point. I like the idea of the cop and the dick teaming up. Not a whole lot to theorize with this team, since they're still barely unified based on the whole "winning" thing. A lot of them have paired off, but there hasn't been a reason for them to sever all ties just yet, so it's hard to say what'll happen, especially since no matter what happens, I don't think Walter will EVER vote for who he says he'll vote for. In fact, I think he'll vote randomly every time, just to fuck with people. Kaufmann is a threat, but he's a very vocal threat, so I think the first sign of danger and he'll be thrown to the wolves. Vincent is one of the biggest threats on this team because nobody has noticed him just yet, but he's mastermind behind a lot of acts.
Water Prison:
EDDIE WILL DOMINATE ANY COMPETITION! TRAVIS IS BONED! GO EDDIE!!!!!
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Post by Fleck on Jul 30, 2011 13:16:32 GMT -8
DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DMNA MDAMANMDNMANDMNAMNDNMDNAMDNMADNMANDMNADMNDMNA
Sorry, the votes are a mistake. When it comes to the vote breakdowns, I often have several sets of votes, usually one or two sets that show what Character X thinks is going to happen (so that I can analyze their logic and make sure their numbers add up), and one set of votes that shows how everyone actually voted. Travis thought there were going to be three votes Dahlia, so I must have been looking at his notes instead of the actual breakdown when I wrote that part. Damn damn damn.
THE ACTUAL BREAKDOWN IS AS FOLLOWS:
4 votes Travis 3 votes Claudia 2 votes Dahlia
The episode has been corrected accordingly. Really sorry about that, because the vote breakdown is really important to the game, so screwing that part up is a major problem on my end. Damn damn damn damn damn.
Edit: DAMN DAMN DAMN DMAN AGAIN. Now Travis' logic in his final interview doesn't make sense. I must have really screwed something up somewhere. Hold on... making corrections.
Edit: Edit: Okay, it's better now. At least it makes sense again. But yeah, something went horribly awry in my notes. The breakdown above is the actual vote breakdown, and Episode 2 Part 3 has been edited accordingly. Damn X infinity.
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Post by Bob on Jul 30, 2011 20:34:10 GMT -8
DAMN! THAT MAKES MORE SENSE!
I mean, it could still be some behind-the-scenes betrayal and such, but at least this fits more with the "Angela flip-flopped" theory. In that case, DAHLIA IS PWNING EVERYBODY!
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Post by countlieberkuhn on Jul 31, 2011 6:31:43 GMT -8
Fleck, if it helps, I only just got round to reading this episode, so I didn't see any of the mistakes you made originally XD
I'm liking how Alchemilla is working out. Dahlia's a very good character to have around. I've never seen Dahlia in a game (maybe in the film since you mentioned the burned daughter thingy) but she does seem like a character that is without any redeemable qualities. Part of me wants her gone, to see her schemes backfire just because she deserves it. But then on the other hand, she's the most interesting person on team Alchemilla by far thanks to her manipulation, so it'd be better for her to stick around a lot longer. Possibly until after the merge, so she has a new batch of people to fuck with.
I still like Vincent, and am rooting for him to win. He's arguably more dangerous than Dahlia, because he's smart enough to turn things his way, yet never draws any attention. Dahlia has considerably better powers of manipulation than him, but she's always walking on the edge of elimination. If she does survive to the merger, I think she'll become a considerably smaller threat, because Brookhaven is full of people who would be hard to manipulate. I don't see people like Cybil, Vincent or Walter being swayed by her at all. Cybil is too stubborn but smart with it, Vincent strikes me as too arrogant to let someone else dictate his voting strategy, and Walter is just Walter. As Bob says, he'll probably vote more or less randomly just to cause a bit of chaos.
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Post by Fleck on Jul 31, 2011 11:30:44 GMT -8
YOU WILL NOT MENTION THE FILM IN THIS THREAD!
Dahlia's been a lot of fun for me. When I first started writing this, I really thought that she'd be the first or second to go. After all, Harry, Heather, AND Travis all have met her and share varying levels of animosity towards her and she is weird and creepy. I figured it would be nearly impossible for me to save her, even with the best plans. But here it is, Episode 3, and she's still chugging along.
And I'm actually kinda hoping that Brookhaven will lose the next immunity challenge. I have an interesting way to resolve the "Walter has the idol and Vincent knows it" plotline I've got going on, and I'm eager to put it into motion. Then again, I also have a pretty good plan for what can happen if Alchemilla loses too, so I'm looking forward to this next episode.
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Post by countlieberkuhn on Jul 31, 2011 15:13:02 GMT -8
Do you not plan out how the challenges end then? Is it a coin flip, or do you just write and see what happens?
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Post by Fleck on Jul 31, 2011 16:00:23 GMT -8
I have stats I assign to each character, and dice. Each character has varying amounts of Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Endurance, and Accuracy. The exact method I use changes for each challenge, but there's typically a set number that the survivors are trying to reach. So for like, a running challenge, I'll have something like Agility + Endurance + Dice roll, and the first one to 20 or 30 wins. I might change a few details for the sake of the story, but in general, the challenges play out according to how the dice rolled. So as of right now, I have no more clue as to who's going to win Episode 3's immunity challenge than any of you do.
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Post by Bob on Jul 31, 2011 20:48:29 GMT -8
Very similar to how I do AFFR stuff. Sometimes, if the task is more luck-based, then I'll make their endurance the like, mod number. 1-X where X is the endurance, then random.org for 1 to X.
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Post by Bob on Aug 15, 2011 7:06:02 GMT -8
Episode 3 Results:
Alchemilla:
Favorites: Heather, Harry, Henry, kinda Dahlia, kinda Angela. I love the dynamic between Heather and Harry. Heather's kinda effing up by telling things to Mary, but Mary isn't a huge threat and seems fairly trustworthy. I like Mary, mostly for her team-winning attitude from episode one, but she falters a lot and hops loyalties. Henry is just fun and does what he thinks is right. Dahlia is tough and admirable (for a kooky evil woman). Angela I just kinda feel bad for. She's bad at life, but really might survive because of it.
Strong Players: Dahlia, Alex, Harry, Heather. Dahlia is smart, Alex is strong, and Heather and Harry are all-rounders.
Targets: Alex, Angela, Dahlia, Mary. Lucky for the 3 H's (Harry, Heather, Henry), Alex is their big target that Dahlia is going for. But Dahlia isn't stupid. If the H's let it known that Alex is their shield, she may try to sneak in an attack.
Next Out: Hard to say who will be the next gone, but I think we're going to have a shift in targets with the Immunity Idol. I don't trust Mary, but she IS validly wanting to win, so I don't think she wants Alex or the H's out. I'd say Dahlia, but I think she'll wear her Claudia-shield somehow, so I pick Claudia as the next Alchemilla ouster!
Brookhaven:
Favorites: Douglas, Vincent, James. Douglas is a nice guy.
Strong Players: Douglas, Cybil, Vincent. I'm gonna be a hypocrite here, but whatever. Douglas is doing well. He's strong and helping his team, but not drawing attention. He's being friendly to everybody and even though Kaufmann knows he's a threat, nobody else seems to think so. Cybil is a strong person for being smart and physical. She's WEAK for making herself a target in the Kaufmann vs Cybil stuff, but at least she's strong and not very annoying. Kaufmann WOULD be a strong player if he weren't a dick. This is where I'm a hypocrite since Kaufmann could've made the list, but he's just too dickish. He'll make enemies not only for losing tasks, but also just based on personality and annoyance. And Vincent, hooboy. When somebody figures him out, he's boned as hell. But for now, Vincent is golden. He's playing this game nicely. He just needs to make sure people know he's worth a damn when people get knocked out.
Targets: Kaufmann, Cybil, Walter. Kaufmann is a huge target since he just keeps blabbing. He needs to sit back to avoid being such a target, but at least he has Vincent, who plans to keep targets on the team. Same with Cybil. It's good that she sticks up for her team, but it's making her a huge target. And poor, poor Walter. He's a target just for being who he is: a serial killer with an Idol. It's good he found the Idol though. It might keep people from voting for him for a few rounds.
Next Out: Kaufmann. He's smart and can help a lot with puzzles, but damn he's annoying. He's that smart guy that just can't understand that he needs to shut the crap up. He's Brookhaven's equivalent of Eddie, only he has SOME use. But he'll whine about every loss and blame everybody else, so he's going to eventually make a team of enemies...except Vincent, who loves having a target bigger than himself. Also Walter, because Walter doesn't even know what's going on. His favorite part of the game seems to be the extermination sessions.
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Post by Fleck on Aug 15, 2011 11:17:37 GMT -8
Nice analysis. Glad you're into the series enough to write something that in-depth. You make a lot of valid points, and I'd like to see Count's rebuttal (if he has one). But for now, I think I'm going to explain the twisted world of Walter Logic.
Walter DOES know what's going on, and I'd say he's playing the game the best he can, given his circumstances. Walter revealing the idol right before Assembly was not a blunder on his part, but a strategy. Like Cybil said, even though they knew Walter had the idol, they couldn't do anything about it. Because Walter is essentially playing the game solo, he has no accomplices or allies alongside him. Normally, if someone revealed that they had the idol right before Assembly/Tribal Council, it would be a pretty simple matter to say "okay, we'll do five votes for you and three for your buddy" and that would force the idol AND take out the hypothetical accomplice.
But Walter has no such ally, so if they wanted to split the vote against him, they'd have to pick a second person from one of their own teams to ensure that Walter doesn't get the majority with his one vote. Since, at that time, it was essentially Team Cybil versus Team Kaufmann, it was impossible to decide who should offer up the sacrificial lamb, especially right before Assembly when everyone is standing there listening. If either Team K or Team C decided to split their OWN vote, then the other team would be able to take a cheap shot at them and blindside them. It's like the Prisoner's Dilemma. It's in the best interest for both prisoners to stay quiet, but because they cannot trust each other, they almost always end up with both talking.
Walter knew this and planned for the idol to be revealed then. If he had done a better job of hiding it and surprise, played it at Assembly (assuming that Lisa didn't quit), then the very next round he'd be the serial killer without an idol and he'd be easy pickings at the next Assembly. However, this maneuver bought him another round, because no one could vote for him that round, and he still has the idol. If he didn't take the idol at all, then he risked being voted off right then and there. Of course, Lisa quitting muddled up the whole thing, but Walter is smart, not psychic, so he could only plan for what he knew. He knew that there was a strong chance that people were going to vote for him and he did what he had to do to protect himself.
Walter is in a unique position and I'm having a lot of fun playing with his strategy. In Alchemilla, you can attack Dahlia by going after Claudia or Angela or Mary. But in Brookhaven, the only way to attack Walter is to actually attack Walter. I've never actually seen this scenario play out in the real Survivor and it's been a lot of fun for me watching it go. Almost always, people with the idol look to find accomplices to help them vote other people out, but Walter is totally content to lone wolf this whole thing. This may be a bad long-term strategy, but so far he's kicking a fair amount of ace.
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Post by Bob on Aug 15, 2011 19:59:34 GMT -8
I didn't know if Walter planned that or not, but I definitely noticed that it would be the result, hence why I put Kaufmann as the next Brookhaven ouster, not Walter. Walter has more enemies, but his enemies have sub-enemies that aren't in any way related to Walter. Voting for Walter would be suicide, leaving Walter in a kick-ass position.
I enjoy Walter just because of this though. Is it dumb luck, or is he planning? He doesn't talk to anybody and he doesn't do interviews, so he's a very questionable dude. I like it. The only thing I don't love about Walter is that I feel Brookhaven has a security blanket since Walter just clobbers all the enemies (most of them anyway). I'm almost thinking he'll be cut at some point to rid Brookhaven of the security blanket, but his unique situation makes it difficult to take him down, so I think he'll be there for awhile.
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Post by countlieberkuhn on Aug 21, 2011 16:40:54 GMT -8
Finally caught up and read them all! With Walter and Vincent being my two favourites, I'm glad that they're both getting a chance to shine at the moment. Vincent's in a fantastic position at the moment, as he's probably the smartest on the team when it comes to both strategy and actual logic puzzles that will likely turn up in later rounds. His existence alone makes Kaufmann expendable, purely because he's a louder, more obnoxious version of Vincent. As far as everyone else is concerned (except Walter who probably doesn't care), Vincent's just a friendly, smart guy. He's also good at feigning surprise, as he managed to fool Cybil when she told him Walter was a serial killer.
Walter seems to be playing the game well, especially as he's smart enough to listen to Vincent when it comes down to it. Vincent loves causing chaos and dissension among the team, and Walter is best person to be at the centre of it. As for Walter, if Vincent can continue to keep him in the game and continue enabling him to carry on doing what he does best, then I think Walter will be more than happy to take his advice. It also helps that Vincent and Walter can probably trust eachother not to speak about their 'discussions' to anyone else. Walter doesn't like to speak, and Vincent likes to know more than anyone else around.
Also, James and Douglas are in strong positions too. They're both playing the game, more than pulling their weight but keeping their heads down at the same time. I almost forget that Douglas even exists in Brookhaven half the time, which is good for him.
As for Alchemilla, if Mary keeps to her word then I don't see Dahlia being able to maintain her strong standing in the team. She's outnumbered and without an idol, so unless she's capable of planting a particularly strong seed of discord among Triple H & co, then she may well be buggered. The fact that she's not even doing anything about it until their next elimination turns up puts more pressure on her to do so if and probably when it does happen.
Also: Brookhaven need to win a reward challenge soon. Eating nothing but rationed beef jerky must be taking its toll on their performance by now.
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Post by Fleck on Sept 9, 2011 21:05:35 GMT -8
Update. I know I normally put news in the other thread, but this thread has been feeling neglected, so I'm giving it some love.
So I had this pretty complicated plan for this episode, but then it turns out I overlooked something obvious. Literally, the flaw in my reasoning became apparent as I was writing the dialog. But I'd already written quite a bit and the plan seemed good at the time, so I basically kept the error in. I'm a little disappointed that my awesome plan didn't work out, but maybe this is for the best. Hopefully this episode is still enjoyable overall, despite my error.
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