The Syndicate

In any case, I've got to go to bed now. I've advocated for my survival on past performance, planned loyalty, and unique thread perspective. I've been completely honest about the results of my idol search and my role ability. If you vote me off, you're shooting this tribe in the foot—and the people who support me won't forget it.

LoRab wrote:

Boomslang wrote:

LoRab wrote:Boom--work with me here. I'm thinking about moving my vote. Convince me it's worthwhile.

Wilgy is demonstrating, at best, incompetence with the mechanics of the game in not knowing he had to send a PM. That's assuming he's telling the truth. At worst, he's feigning ignorance to delay our progress, both in thread discussion and BTSC, for purposes I can only guess at. In either case, he's clearly not prepared to be an asset to the tribe at the same level as me.

But why is it worthwhile to keep you around?

I can only compare past performances. In Day 1, I contributed to the challenge using 2 energy compared to Wilgy's 1. In Day 2, I correctly advocated for the right strategy and didn't waver, compared to Wilgy wanting to cast a yellow rock due to perceived loyalty to someone on the other team. I've already established myself as objectively more helpful to the team than Wilgy. What else do you want from me?

LoRab wrote:Boom--work with me here. I'm thinking about moving my vote. Convince me it's worthwhile.

Wilgy is demonstrating, at best, incompetence with the mechanics of the game in not knowing he had to send a PM. That's assuming he's telling the truth. At worst, he's feigning ignorance to delay our progress, both in thread discussion and BTSC, for purposes I can only guess at. In either case, he's clearly not prepared to be an asset to the tribe at the same level as me.

LoRab wrote: Yes. Insulting the rest of the tribe by (inaccurately) calling us lemmings is definitely your best strategy.

Not a lemming.

LoRab wrote:I'm happy to do whatever for the challenge.

[quote="LoRab]I'm good with a tribal pact. I mean, we have the king and the queen, might as well make it a kingdom, right?{/quote]

LoRab wrote:I'm good with whatever the majority thinks is best on this one.

speedchuck wrote:I kinda don't like the challenging thing that Boom is doing toward DH, but in the end, nobody wants to be eliminated, so I get it.

It's weird that I can't scumhunt in this game.

Boomslang, do you have any role-related reasons to think you're essential to the team?

Well, I have a bonus towards nimbleness challenges, which I don't think anyone else has yet claimed. Now that we know that, we can assign me to fill challenge roles that no one else could fill quite as well.

Golden wrote:Wilgy has a very pointy nose.

^This times 10,000. Wilgy, a single post during the day phase, just saying you were busy and would catch up later, would have helped the tribe make a better decision. You didn't do that. I don't buy your excuse. You deliberately took advantage of the Syndicate's cultural tolerance of silence to let momentum build up against me. There's no scum in this game... but that's a hella scummy move.

Alright, I've got to go out for most of the night; I think poll ends at 1 am EST, so I should be back before then. For now, a direct appeal to our King:

I'm an asset to you unique among the tribe. You've got a lot of people who are nodding along, singing "Kumbaya," not sticking their necks out—and then there's me. I'm analyzing challenges, suggesting bold new directions, taking actions on courses you may not have considered. I give you possibilities to choose from, analysis to work with. I hold you accountable, but I'll hold others accountable too. And if you have my back this council, when push comes to shove, I'll promise I'll have yours with more fire and tenacity than Wilgy showed when not silenced.

Speedchuck, you've been pretty quiet throughout these deliberations. You said that you'd be ok with a Wilgy vote because he made you waste your BTSC shot. Are you willing to commit to that?

LoRab wrote:

Golden wrote:We've been remarkably open and honest as a group. If we have a silencer amongst us, there's no need to hold that back I think.

Having said that, it doesn't feel likely as a mechanic in this particular game.

Exile Island?

It's a possibility, but assuming this game follows real Survivor, the decision to exile would be at the tribal level, or as a punishment from the other tribe earned from winning. I sincerely doubt one person would be given the power to exile, and I would imagine exile would be publicly announced in the thread.

If Wilgy is in fact sick, he could struggle to the computer to make a post informing us of that fact. If he can't do that, causing us to bark down all these wrong trees, is he truly devoted to the tribe?

Golden wrote:We've been remarkably open and honest as a group. If we have a silencer amongst us, there's no need to hold that back I think.

Having said that, it doesn't feel likely as a mechanic in this particular game.

I agree. In a game where discussion is so vital, I doubt silencing would be present. I don't have that ability, and it doesn't seem particularly thematic for any of the roles. If we had a gangster or something, maybe, but I doubt it.

DharmaHelper wrote:You'll note that I've agreed with Golden's assessment.

I appreciate it. Just wanted to further my perspective a little more. In that case, are we feeling good about a Wilgy vote?

Linki: Quite possibly. It may be that the options need a certain threshold of actions before they give up their goods.

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:I have to go to work and will be back in the late afternoon. But one last point, DH: if this is really about choosing Day 2 actions, why haven't you said a word about the actions of Speedchuck or Golden? Both of them took walks outside of camp as well. In fact you even said this about Speedchuck: "I admire your ability to do the work that's necessary to keep this tribe on the winning side of things."

Because Golden and Speedchuck earned the right to take those walks by way of challenge one.

Speedchuck did literally the same thing I did in challenge one: the willpower option on leg four. You're applying your criteria inconsistently.

You're not understanding my criteria. Speedchuck was here and following the input of the tribe. You weren't here and picked that option essentially by default.

Your absence Day 1 is the least of my concerns, as I've said, its that despite that absence you feel entitled to idol hunt, lie about why, and pick a fight with the King.

And make no mistake as far as I'm concerned from Day 0 loyalty to the tribe is loyalty to me.

I didn't lie about why I was taking the walk, I merely pointed out that what I was doing was the same thing you were doing. I think you're more concerned with having a second strong voice on the tribe, or as you call it, me "picking a fight with the King."

Let's make this clear right off the bat: I have no intention of going after you. I think your leadership has motivated our tribe to work together and get good outcomes on our challenges so far. But I think you need another voice that's goading you and the tribe on the further greatness through tough love, harsh truths—a black rock for the yellow rock. A Fool for the King, as it were. I think the tribe can't yet afford to lose what I have to offer. "Fire," as Golden has said.

Elohcin wrote: Took walks outside of camp. Does this means these three may have gained info about the other tribe? I didn't even catch that til now. Golden, Chuck, Slang? Did you? If so...what was it?

This the result of my action, posted in full for your dissection: "As you walk among the rock crags, you see a rock in the woods that eerily resembles an old man’s face. But otherwise nothing out of the ordinary."

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:I have to go to work and will be back in the late afternoon. But one last point, DH: if this is really about choosing Day 2 actions, why haven't you said a word about the actions of Speedchuck or Golden? Both of them took walks outside of camp as well. In fact you even said this about Speedchuck: "I admire your ability to do the work that's necessary to keep this tribe on the winning side of things."

Because Golden and Speedchuck earned the right to take those walks by way of challenge one.

Speedchuck did literally the same thing I did in challenge one: the willpower option on leg four. You're applying your criteria inconsistently.

I have to go to work and will be back in the late afternoon. But one last point, DH: if this is really about choosing Day 2 actions, why haven't you said a word about the actions of Speedchuck or Golden? Both of them took walks outside of camp as well. In fact you even said this about Speedchuck: "I admire your ability to do the work that's necessary to keep this tribe on the winning side of things."

LoRab wrote:If we had lost the last challenge, we'd actually have exactly the same thing that we have now. The other tribe would just have more food, which is unclear how much of an advantage that is. I think you're overstating what risk a loss would have been.

And, if you were hunting for the sake of the tribe, you'll tell us then if you found the idol?

And I think you're understating it. The other tribe wouldn't just have more food—they'd also have fishing gear, which is an advantage they could press for the rest of the game. Additionally, more food for free isn't just more food. It's less time hunting and gathering to stay functional, which means they can spend more time building solid shelter, purifying water, and, yes, looking for idols. This was not challenge we could've afforded to lose.

I'd be happy to tell you if I found the idol. Unfortunately, I have not yet found it.

@DH

Yes, you did comment on your change. But you didn't comment on your previous choice or why fire/food was more important than your initial instinct. Posting the relevant quote below for interested parties:

DharmaHelper wrote:Seems like Fire/food are our priorities today. I'll tend the fire since my last fishing trip didn't go so well.

In terms of my first challenge performance—which, let me remind you, was delayed for out-of-thread reasons—I took the option that required more energy than Wilgy's option. In strictly quantitative terms, that's a greater commitment to the tribe.

I've shown that I'm willing to devote more of my limited resources to the good of the tribe, I haven't expressed sympathy for people outside of it, and I led us to the correct strategy on a very important challenge.

Most important, however, is this: "make the case to me why you would be more loyal to me than he would be." My loyalty is to the tribe. It's like loyalty to America versus loyalty to, say...

How depressingly predictable, DH. You call out the only one of us who had the guts to actually hold you, the self-proclaimed king, accountable for your previous statement about failing at the puzzle? You call asking you to explain this "starting beef?"

DharmaHelper wrote:I don't mean to harp on this but the puzzle thing is 100% not my fault I'll tell you all about it after the relay. I'm legitimately a little amped up :P

And your interpretation of my day action actually suggests that I have more of a spine than you do. If I had really wanted an excuse to choose that option, I would've changed my option as soon as you did, when I no longer had your cover. Instead, I stuck with it. And I'll tell you why: after the tribe merge, I want to keep this tribe as an alliance, and I want to be the most effective contributor to that alliance as I can. If our tribe finds immunity idols now, our future alliance will have one more advantage over the shattered remnants of the other tribe. Now, why did you initially choose the "idol hunt" option, only to change it without comment after I called you out yet again?

I also want to point out that your initial "urge" of us to all pick black rocks would've led us to complete, utter defeat. I was the first one to strongly advocate for the all black strategy, which turned out to be the correct call. If that's not a valuable contribution to the tribe, I don't know what is.

I think a better choice for tonight is Dr. Wilgy. You even noted the worrying element of his thoughts behind rock choice:

DrWilgy wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:

DrWilgy wrote:Hmmm... I don't wanna betray SVS, but I'll do it for the tribe.

What? SVS is my friend. Why would she ever trust me again if I give her a Black Rock?

I'm submitting my rock change now.

There are no friends on the other tribe. And his self-deprecating talk of being unlucky isn't a good vibe to have around the camp in any case.

That's the thing with the PD—over repeated iterations, it's best to pick the nice option, as it does benefit both parties over the long run once that trust is established.

But for a single instance, it gets more complicated. Especially when, over the long run, we want the other tribe to lose. I'll be picking black; I think it works for me in particular because I imagine Quin might try one yellow and one black.

Linki w/DH:
YELLOW
- Opt
- DharmaHelper
-
-

BLACK
- Boomslang
-
-
-
-

Linki w/speedchuck: Yeah, I'd wager MP would pick yellow? At least he'd be slightly more likely to do so.

I'll BTSC with you, Elo. You can tell me what's actually going on with Epi :P

Also, I see out glorious leader is idol-hunting. What kind of follower would I be if I didn't follow his lead?

Man... with no chance to talk to the other team, this gets very difficult very quickly. Consider the following: they're probably angry at us for winning immunity yesterday, and picking black rocks would be a way for them to get revenge. On the other hand, they have fewer people to gather food, and so may hope to boost their chances by getting food from the challenge.

We have the numbers advantage now; we need food handouts less than they do. If they go all black, and we pick even one yellow rock, we get nothing. Given the lack of ability to establish trust, I'd vote to go all black.

But wait: Scotty, are picks revealed one by one in thread?

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:Alright, excellent job all around! I may not have understood what was going on, but I do understand winning, and I do know how important momentum is to Survivor. Now that we have the advantage, we should press it—we'll have the opportunity to rest a player every day, so we should use the more energy-intensive options in future challenges.

Speaking of energy, voting sustenance in the poll. That's what you need to achieve anything else in life.

Hope you're ready to step up next challenge man.

Speaking of stepping up, how's about you explain what happened with the puzzle, like you said you were going to do several pages ago?

I'd be glad to. I was thinking we might go to tribal so I was saving it for that event, but Now that we're not, and you asked so politely:

I asked a question to get clarification on the parameters of the puzzle that was answered imprecisely, so I was working to solve a puzzle that I had incomplete information on, and as a result I got caught up in the wrong path.

Fortunately I had the good sense to pull back.

Lovely, thanks much for the clarity. Always nice to see the proper level of humility from those who would establish themselves as leaders.

DharmaHelper wrote:

Boomslang wrote:Alright, excellent job all around! I may not have understood what was going on, but I do understand winning, and I do know how important momentum is to Survivor. Now that we have the advantage, we should press it—we'll have the opportunity to rest a player every day, so we should use the more energy-intensive options in future challenges.

Speaking of energy, voting sustenance in the poll. That's what you need to achieve anything else in life.

Hope you're ready to step up next challenge man.

Speaking of stepping up, how's about you explain what happened with the puzzle, like you said you were going to do several pages ago?

Alright, excellent job all around! I may not have understood what was going on, but I do understand winning, and I do know how important momentum is to Survivor. Now that we have the advantage, we should press it—we'll have the opportunity to rest a player every day, so we should use the more energy-intensive options in future challenges.

Speaking of energy, voting sustenance in the poll. That's what you need to achieve anything else in life.

Golden wrote:

Boomslang wrote:Arrrrrgh, of course this is the kind of thing that blows up with massively complex interaction on the day my parents are here in the morning and I have a massive friggin' deadline at work in the afternoon. I'm here, trying to read and understand.

From what I can tell, I'm only able to do things on Leg 4? So I sign up for that, and I'll use willpower to support INH?

Yep, that's what you need to do. You need to bold it to be clear though.

Ok, duly noted. Jeff, I will do Leg 4, Willpower option in conjunction with INH.

Also, I'm in agreement with the thoughts on the poll options. Fishing will be inefficient until we get gear, and I'm willing to be confident on our team's chances to win fire. So I'll contribute to the shelter building.

Arrrrrgh, of course this is the kind of thing that blows up with massively complex interaction on the day my parents are here in the morning and I have a massive friggin' deadline at work in the afternoon. I'm here, trying to read and understand.

From what I can tell, I'm only able to do things on Leg 4? So I sign up for that, and I'll use willpower to support INH?