Episode 1 Blog: I'd Rather Pull Those Strings Myself

Spoilers in Summary!

Episode 1: “I’d Rather Pull Those Strings Myself.”

Kickoff Challenge: Counting Stars

Summary: Utilizing a Survivor Intro Shot album with 80 shots, teams must find all of the winners that are within this album, all of the returning players, and must select one shot from each of the 27 seasons. The two who get the most right win.

Kickoff Challenge Reward: Individual Immunity and Team Captain Status

Winners: NanTheDark and nin10mode

Voted Out: JSlayerXero (5-4-3-1-1-1-1)

Other recipients of votes: Brandobrawl (4), Peter (3), Emelia Kaylee and Raz (1) Yurimaster (Self-Vote)

Let’s Begin

On February 11, 2014, 15 Runouw Members from around the world checked in to begin the Forum Game of a lifetime. Specializing in different skills and interest, belonging to different circles of friends, of different ages, backgrounds, countries, and walks of life, these fifteen people would gather together in a friendly game of Survivor, a game which both relies on and defies those friendships. These fifteen people have never played Survivor, few have seen it, and none of them are committed fans. These are the fifteen most unlikely players ever to play Survivor, and that’s exactly why this ORG was created.

It took everyone a couple of days to check in, but even after most of them were checked in, we had our one outlier: Ridder, a mysterious jokester that rivaled brandobrawl for longest standing member of the site. Ridder sent in an application but never checked in, to the point where they surpassed the three day warning and were removed from the cast. I’d have loved for Ridder to be on the cast because of how complex they were but, alas, it was not to be, and they would become the Melissa McNulty of Survivor: Runouw.

Truth be told, I was perfectly fine with a 15 person cast. This is not going to be an insanely twist-heavy season, but I had a twist in mind that, with such a small cast unfamiliar with Survivor, would be perfect. Plus, the less people I have to manage, the better. After all, this is my first time running an ORG so I knew we would all be unfamiliar.

With a cast ready to go, and a few confessionals already set, losing one tribe member wasn’t the end of the world.

Pre-Game Chatter:

Just before the challenge but after the check-in, chatter had already commenced between people. NanTheDark in particular was surprisingly chatty, creating a thread titled “Let Us Wonder At The Possibilities” where he mused over potential challenges. A large amount of people were hoping that Steam games such as Team Fortress 2 would be utilized while others did not have computers that could handle it.

Things started getting good when the conversation turned to who people wanted on their tribe. NanTheDark mentioned seven other people who were part of an RPG he was doing, Into The Shadows: JSlayerXero, Harmless, 1018peter, MegaR, Yurimaster, ChaosYoshi, and Bomberman101. Already, if utilized right, NanTheDark could have a game-breaking alliance. However, since he is new to Survivor, he has already done a classic mistake that in any decent ORG would end up with his ass on the curb: revealing his potential alliance.

He definitely won’t be the only one.

The Twist

I announced the twist just after everyone checked in while I started the first challenge. As I’ve said, since these guys are generally new players, I do not anticipate the use of any truly shocking twists. However, with an uneven playing field numerically, I already knew I had to do something to get these people on their feet.

So, for one round only, I had the tribe stay together as one tribe of fifteen. They will all vote together, and the competition will be not only for individual immunity, but for the right to be team captain. The team captains will be entirely responsible for picking the members of their tribe.

Immediately, this brought forth the reactions that you’d predict. People have an idea of who they want on their tribe and how to get it. NanTheDark even outright stated it in a thread: “I hope I win the first challenge. I'd like to be on the same tribe with mah closest friends, I guess. ^_^ I dunno…”  And as I stated, he wouldn’t be the only one. Raz created a thread asking “Which Tribe do You Want to Be a Part Of?”

Again, this will be a common theme. Mistakes so clearly cardinal that would get someone shot in the face faster than Marvin in any other ORG will just go by unnoticed by friendly people in a friendly competition. I expect a lot of transparency in the coming rounds while people adapt to the game.

Here are some examples from that thread:

“I'd like to be with Xero, Mega, Magnen, Harmless, Bomberman101 and... I dunno.  Anyone else is cool.” ~NanTheDark

“1. Raz 2. Ridder 3. Ven 4. Brando 5. BY 6. Nin 7. Mega/MK

I strategically thought of all these based on how much I know the person. Bad idea but whatever.” ~Raz

“Pretty much the same as Raz mentioned above. It'd be an awesome team. : P” ~BY

“Nan, Xero, maybe Harmless....

That's pretty much all I can think of right now.” ~Magnen

“I honestly don't care, but would rather land on the more gamer-populated side of things.” ~Emelia Kaylee

Already, lines have been drawn. With MegaR as the middle man, Raz and NanTheDark have entirely different tribes in mind. Now, this could go awry very easily. If you have all your friends on your tribe… eventually those are the ones you’re gonna have to vote off. As an ORGer and Survivor fan, the game could easily be immediately on lockdown if those eight people tribe ideas were to split into two and dominate each tribe in a 4-to-3 split. However, that doesn’t look as if it will be the case.

It all depends on who the tribe captains will be. And that all depends on the challenge.

The Challenge

The challenge is simple, yet difficult.

Awhile back, I made THIS list, based off of my love of Survivor intros. There are 80 intro shots here, my 80 favorite of all time. (I could not narrow down worth a damn thing.) In here are 12 winners, 24 returning players, and at least one shot from every season. Their job was to identify the winners, the returning players, and to pick a shot from every season.

I did make one mistake, in that I missed three of the winners, but it made no real difference in the scoring as I just gave everyone the points to make up for it (and most of them only missed one of the 12.) Other than that, I have to say that this challenge went pretty damn good. The worst of it was that four did not participate and two were only able to do one list, but everyone who actively played got more than half of the 60 points, and I found that impressive.

For the first challenge, I really wanted to test my castmates’ dedication and gauge their knowledge of the game and/or their ability to research. This challenge was going to be a litmus test. It was going to be relatively hard, to test the endurance of the contestants. It was going to involve a lot of research, so that if they did not like it they could make other suggestions. It was also going to be a scheduling test, to see when people were available and how long they needed for challenges/Tribal Council.

Again, I’ve never done an ORG before. I am just as new to this as anyone else is. I’ve only played one ORG (Supacoowacky Land 6, yes, I was THAT guy), and this one’s format for Tribal Council, confessionals, etc., is very much modeled after that. The challenges will reflect the Runouwian culture much more after this one, so I imagine more people will be interested in it.

For now… cue the griping.

A lot of people complained about this challenge. They found it boring, time-consuming, and difficult, not at all like a game like they were expecting. Of course, that was half of the point of the challenge. A good chunk of it was research, but I did this first because it was essentially an endurance challenge in disguise. Some couldn’t quite finish their lists because they, of course, have a life. That’s perfectly understandable. The thing is, the other contestants are also sizing up their competition. How you do here will determine how people vote and how people select their tribesmates and alliancemates.

Case in point: one player, JSlayerXero, made a very bold claim right in the middle of the challenge thread: fuck you, I ain’t doing shit.

“I confess, I am not going to do squat about this challenge. Instead, I'm going to play chess with this lovely brick wall over here. She's pretty with that rainbow and hair tie.”
JSlayerXero

And there we have the first fatal mistake of the game. J deliberately sits out of the challenge whilst essentially telling me where I could shove it. In this beginning stage, with everyone only barely realizing the concept of alliances, people are voting based off of merit and have no real boundaries as to who they vote for aside from a set of friends. Slayer sitting out like that immediately set off other people, including Bomberman101, who left this confessional.

“A test about dedication, huh? I'm not going to complain like the rest. Instead, i'll just quietly sit by and win this. It's good to know that more than half will probably not finish the kickoff, and that's great news. I'm off to a great start. Go ahead JSlayerXero, keep playing chess.”

I am looking forward to how Bomberman does. Like Richard Hatch, he believes the hundred dollar check to be his, but he also knows that he has to keep his ego under wraps. My biggest concern for him is that his eagerness to blindside people will make people wary of him as an alliance mate or simply not want to vote him the million. Either way, he’s a strong player, whether that be in a Hatch way or a Hantz way.

Also not competing in this challenge were Brandobrawl, Emelia Kaylee, and MegaR. With MegaR, he provided a logical reason: he screwed up the time. It was smart of him to openly admit this mistake, because the other three people who dropped out of the challenge all got votes in the first Tribal Council.

Brandobrawl also played it relatively cool, at least keeping his complaints to himself.

““So the game kicked off, as the host put it, and we were informed of what the first challenge would be. After I finished listening to the rules, only one thought crossed my mind.

"There is no way in hell I am going through with this."

I was initially upset, I'll admit, because I had signed up for a game, and by definition games were supposed to be fun, not a chore. And that was all I could see the first challenge as, a tremendous drag.

But after that I knew where the host was coming from. I didn't understand it, because I was never the type for reality shows, but he had made this game out of his love for the show, even going so far as to put a cash prize on the line, something forum games had never seen before. He wanted to expose us to it as well.

Even so, he's got another thing coming if he thinks he can just make me care. It was time for the other contestants to see me for what I was. Someone who did what I wanted, whenever I wanted.

I was confident that even by completely skipping out on the first challenge, I'd stay in the game.

Why, you ask? Well, you'll just have to see in the upcoming days.”

Other people also complained, but at the very least either completed the challenge or kept it to confessionals.

““This first challenge really stressed me out, and eventually I realized I just didn't have to do it. So I stopped. I really wanted to be a leader, not for the leadership stuff but just to be with the people I'm closest with.” ~Raz, who would do the winner’s list and the first few of another list for 14/60 points.

“Wow this is exhausting. So many names and numbers and cross-references it hurts. I almost debated throwing this challenge (really didn't want to be a team-picker) until the immunity was brought up, then figured I might as well try.There's a lot missing still, but I'm relatively confident in my answers. Just going to call it a day and really hope that everyone else is feeling lazy. :p”

~Venexis, who would do pretty well for himself, getting 41/60 points.

“I HATE YOU MOD

...not really, but still, I HAVE SPENT HOURS DOING THIS THING SO FAR, and I have to go to bed now so I'll have to finish it tomorrow >_<

I just gotta say this thing really feels like a chore. It's not fun at all really... I hope future tests aren't like this…” NanTheDark, in the challenge thread, would complete the challenge.

Luckily, there were some good-spirited people about the whole thing. Our favorite Hatnz prototype, Bomberman101, almost entirely mimicked Richard Hatch’s line from the very first episode of Survivor. “Psh, that's all they want us to do? Easy! I'll be getting my $100 in no time. As for now, research. Lots of it.”

Unfortunately for Bomber, his work would all be in vain. While all of those who completed the list did well for themselves, better than they had any right to, three contenders would end up with having over 50 of the 60 available points. Due to my errors in the challenge, the winner would exceed the 60, getting 62.

Before we get to that, my fellow ORGing friends, let’s get to the blooper reel of this challenge. As die-hard Survivor fans, we could likely without even blinking get most, if not all of this done. What I was hoping was that some contestants would use the Survivor Wiki, or at least look through the intros to find individual shots. However, only a small handful would use these resources, and even then there were some mistakes that, for us superfans who know better, are rather comical.

This should give you an idea of the level of fandom these Runouwians had.

Outtakes

A) Lots and lots and lots of name confusion.

Magnen had Amy O’Hara as a returning player, confusing her with Ami Cuasck, and would also mix up all three Kellies in the “Shot from Every Season” portion: Kelly Sharbaugh would be the Borneo rep, Kelly Shinn the Samoa rep, and Kelly Wiglesworth would be the Nicaragua rep.

NanTheDark’s sole error would be to confuse Palau winner Tom Westman with lovable unintelligible goat farmer Tom Buchanan. The similarities are astounding.

According to Raz, Robb “Choking Clay and threatening to spit in his face” Zbacknik won Survivor at some point. Holy fuck I’d die to see that.

Literally everyone except for NanTheDark mistook Kathy Sleckman for Kathy Vavrick O’Brien. I mean, every single person who got to part two. Nan was the only exception.

B) The biggest mistake that almost everyone made was mistaking “get one shot from every season” with “get one person from every season.” Thus, the Rupert and Tina shots from Blood vs Water got more use than a cheap dime ho. Again, Nan was the only one not guilty of this; everyone else had at least one from the wrong season. It was what singlehandedly put several people out of the running.

C) Just general random errors.

Venexis thought the winner of Fiji was Dreamz, not Earl, who was in the shot after Dreamz.

Inexplicably, Bomberman thought that Janu from Palau was in the INTRO for Cagayan. For so many reasons, that makes no sense. Cagayan hasn’t even aired yet, so there’s no intro. He also thought James Clement won. Someone needs to tell him the various embarrassing ways James left the game.

BY thought that Mick, Matthew, Kimmi, wrong Kathy, Joe, Jessica, Jason, Holly, Debbie, Bob, and Ashley Underwood all played multiple times.

This, my friends, is simple lack of actual Survivor knowledge. This is proof that this is the cast we’re dealing with. As funny as we might think it is, it means that this game will never be as simple as it seems.

Keep that in mind when we get to the vote.

The Results

The score was actually really tight. As mentioned, JSlayerXero, Emelia Kaylee, Brandobrawl, and MegaR did not compete. Harmless and Raz only completed one list, and Yurimaster only completed two.

After that, the lowest score was from Venexis, a pretty damn impressive 38/60. After him, we get 41/60, 42/60, and 44/60 from Chaos Yoshi, BY, and Bomberman101, respectively.

The top 3, Magnen, NanTheDark, and nin10mode, all scored over 50. I have to say I’m very pleasantly surprised by Magnen’s work. She was not an active member, and she was very late to registering and checking in, so seeing her bust out a high score spoke volumes to her character and her skills.

However, it would be her who fell just short, scoring a 51/60.

Our two team captains, to be completely honest, couldn’t have gone any better. NanTheDark, who had already stated his allegiance, would go on to win with a 62/60, and nin10mode, part of Raz’s great big circle of friends, would utilize ace research to steal 54/60 points, placing just over Magnen.

NanTheDark being a leader is, regardless, to be expected, and since I was the one who appointed him a moderator I also saw great leadership potential in nin10mode. However, what impresses me about nin10mode is that he is very good at shutting the fuck up when need be. He knew not to share the Survivor Wiki resource with everyone, and didn’t butt in on the “Tribe Selection” thread Raz started, even when he was mentioned very high up. I look forward to seeing how pragmatically he addresses the Tribal Selection phase.

The Torches

When most people say to Grab a Torch in ORGs, they’re just paying homage to the show. In my ORG, I mean it. I started off with a photograb of the Vanuatu torch stock image, and then told everyone to go nuts decorating it, knowing that when someone’s voted out I will “snuff” it and then vacate their signature. Of course, some of these guys were very loose with having a “torch” in their signature.

Here’s the album of everyone’s torches. Keep in mind, Raz, Ven, and Bomberman left theirs unaltered whereas Brandobrawl, Peter and Chaos Yoshi have not implemented the torch yet.

Tribal Council

As a response to the tight challenge deadlines, the Tribal Council deadline spanned across three days. As it stands, I needed it, as the votes were very wide-spread as far as time goes. Two votes were on the last day, with one cutting it extremely close, by two mere hours. And even then, only 14 votes were cast, with Yurimaster self-voting because he didn’t make the deadline.

This is the second time Yurimaster not being completely involved changed the game dramatically in one round. Yurimaster got 31 points despite only doing the first two lists. Had he done the third he could have challenged nin10mode for second II winner. Furthermore, the vote spread was 5-4-3-1-1-Him. Had he voted for Brandobrawl, he could possibly have caused a tie, which would have really made this round even more dynamite.

Truth be told, the round’s voting was all over the place, not just in that there were five targets, but that there were cross-alliance votes, Teresa Cooper-esque throwaway votes, and really no boundaries. Most of the votes, just like the good old days of Pagong, were entirely merit-based. JSlayerXero got votes because of him blatantly skipping the challenge and being openly self-critical and mopey. Brandobrawl also got votes for skipping the challenge, 1018peter got votes for being unknown, Emelia Kaylee also got his one vote for skipping the challenge, and Raz got his sole vote from Nan in a very Sean-Kenniff decision: he didn’t want to choose someone to go home.

It would be the mistake that cost him an ally.

Had Nan voted for Brandobrawl by any chance, he’d have ended up causing a 5-5-3-1-1 tie, and the swing votes for Peter could have possibly saved Slayer. In fact, in a world where Yuri and Nan, already confirmed to be aligned, voted together for Brando, they’d have sent him home 6-4. If Nan wants to stay ahead, his head needs to be in the game and with his allies, or his naivete will sink him.

Here’s the voting breakdown:

JSlayerXero: 5 (BY, Raz, MegaR, Venexis, Harmless)

Brandobrawl: 4 (Bomberman101, nin10mode, JSlayerXero, Magnen)

1018peter: 3 (EmeliaKaylee, brandobrawl, ChaosYoshi)

EmeliaKaylee: 1 (1018peter)

Raz: 1 (NanTheDark)

Yurimaster: 1 (Yurimaster)

MegaR and Harmless, both affiliated with Nan’s alliance, voted for Slayer, integral in sending him home. On the flipside, nin10mode joined Magnen, Bomberman, and Slayer in voting for ally brandobrawl. Whereas MegaR and Harmless were put off by Slayer’s lackadaisical behavior, nin10mode saw his vote as more of a mercy killing.

“Vote: brandobrawl

Reason: I might have half-assed the first challenge, but at least I ass-ed it at all, heh. Honestly though, I think he's given up on the game already. I overheard him dismiss the challenge on the IRC, so I'm fairly certain he has no interest anymore.” ~nin10mode’s voting confessional

“Vote: JSlayerXero

Reason: Like he said himself, there's a chance he may not even be able to make it back in time, and considering his apathetic way of how he attempted last challenge, it wouldn't hurt to vote him off, right? (I know this may seem ironic but remember that I just flat out couldn't complete the challenge given the circumstances.)” ~Harmless’ confessional.

“Vote: JSlayerXero

Reason: He lacks confidence in everything and I feel like he's not even joking for the most part. It honestly seems like he doesn't want to take part and as a result of it he probably shouldn't be here.” ~MegaR

The third group thought votes come from three entirely random people: EmeliaKaylee, brandobrawl, and Chaos Yoshi. Either these three are secretly an alliance, or they predicted the majority would show up here when they clearly did not. Regardless, 1018peter being newer to the site worked against him (yet strangely did not work against Magnen.)

“Vote: 1018peter

Reason: Since judging people on how they did in the challenge would be hypocrisy to the max, on my part, the reason I'm voting for peter is simply, I don't know him. I'm not familiar with him, and am pretty sure that he's not a well known user, so he's not really bringing much to the table, in a contest of Runouw users. That's it.” ~brandobrawl’s voting confessional

Speaking of secret alliances, Raz had a very interesting claim: an alliance so secret, not even I could know about it.

“It sucks having to vote people off I have no quarry with so early in the game. But whatever. I'll get over it. In the meantime, I decided to form an alliance with two people that even the host himself can't know about. I'm not entirely sure if they'll keep the alliance, no matter how close they are to me. One of them seems really determined to win.” ~Raz

Judging by the voting breakdown, if that alliance succeeded, I’d guess that it’d involve Venexis and BY. However, I’m not supposed to know who it is (for whatever reason). I know Raz and MegaR share the same interests, so I’d not put it past them. However, considering how scattershot this alliance was, I’d not put it past him to have scouted people across voting and alliance lines. He’s a wildcard, but he’s savvier than most of the players.

Speaking of people who think they have alliances, this is Bomberman101’s voting confessional:

“Vote:

Brandobrawl. Emelia's on my good side…”

Keep in mind, Emelia voted for Peter.

Overall, this voting round was a tropical storm of disorganization. Potential alliances don’t form, the stars don’t align, and some voters had no idea whom they were going for was going home, or WASN’T going home.

Nevertheless, with 5/15 votes, JSlayerXero is the first to bite the bullet. With little faith in himself, an overbearing self-deprecating sense of humor, and deliberately avoiding the challenge, this guy hit all the wrong notes with his fellow cast-mates. In fact, 10 out of the 15 votes cast were for the three people who skipped the challenge, often for that very reason.

I never thought I’d see an idol-less vote where ten people would be blindsided by the outcome, but there ya go. That’s Survivor: Runouw.

And it’s off to a damn good start.

As will be tradition, after every Tribal Council I will give these newcomers a small Survivor story I feel will be relevant to their journey. It won't be in detail, and it won't tell them what to do, but it will be enough to think. Very fittingly, with a six-way vote that sent someone home even though it wasn't a majority, I went with the story of Gretchen being voted out by the Tagi 4.

Predictions

I actually got off to a good start with my predictions. JSlayer did in fact go home because of his self-deprecating tendencies that alienated everyone. To be fair to JSlayer, though, JSlayer also predicted this outcome.

As to who goes next, just judging by the reactions, I think Brandobrawl has a strong chance of alienating people. He and Emelia Kaylee started a fight immediately after the Tribal Council vote was announced that will be covered in more detail next episode. nin10mode and Blackyoshi had to step in and defuse the tension.

I definitely hope 1018peter can overcome his novice status and duck under the radar as bigger names fight over smaller matters. He’s an incredibly nice kid and I doubt he’ll get wrapped up in the drama. As long as he can prove himself to his future tribe, he’s got potential.

NanTheDark takes a sharp nosedive this week because while everyone is acting somewhat transparent, he is acting INSANELY transparent. On top of that, he can’t keep control of his potential alliance and hasn’t the balls yet to vote based off of what will benefit him. I have half a mind to switch around nin10mode and NanTheDark; I think Nan will get Gretchen’d and nin has a chance to win.

For nin to win, though, nin has to control his potential alliance and tribe. With Brando and EmKay already at each others’ throats, if he gets his way he will face complications. However, as an experienced moderator, I think he will be able to handle it well.

Magnen also has shown herself to be a star in the making. From succeeding at the challenge, attempting to establish a majority, and overall being very levelheaded in her dealings, Magnen shines in the ways her partner-in-crime Nan did not. I think she will at least be able to do better as a newbie than Peter, and could definitely excel over Nan.

Bomberman101 is not as smart as he thinks he is, but he is still smart. He’s incredibly good at keeping his head down and hiding his sinister side. Raz is thankfully very proactive and willing to take action without making waves. Venexis is by far the most likable, endearing member of the game, and definitely knows what he’s doing. As for Chaos, Harmless, and MegaR, they’re very under the radar, but not cunning enough to survive if everyone else starts getting their fangs out. Yurimaster needs to get in the game or he’s on a fast track out.

So for now, here are my ratings.

14. Yurimaster

13. Emelia Kaylee

12. Harmless

11. 1018peter

10. brandobrawl

9. NanTheDark

8. Chaos Yoshi

7. MegaR

6. Bomberman101

5. BY

4. Magnen

3. Venexis

2. Raz

1. nin10mode

Let me know what you think about this format! I'm still growing, and my blog will grow and adapt with it!

~Cameron/Host of Dreams