Post by Lex van den Berghe on May 20, 2010 11:34:24 GMT -5
First off I have to thank Mr. Westman for running a great series. Thanks to the other players for making this a fun one as well.
My gameplay was quite a bit different than last season. I lost Mike, my 'other half' from Spratly, early in this game. I had the HII and could've given it to him, but the votes didn't pan out as I had expected. I tried like hell to get to the Graveyard as much as possible because I knew there might be a chance to bring him back, but that was not in the cards, so I had to play the game without him. Another thing different than my game in Spratly Islands is that I did have to rely on Hidden Idols and the 'secret prize' strategies to get myself to this point. I didn't have anything like that at all in Spratly, but I feel like I did a good job of using those items to their fullest extent in this game. The two times I used a Hidden Idol on myself were both rounds that I would have been voted out otherwise, so I feel like I did a good job of reading the other players and determining when and where to use the items.
Another difference from Spratly is that I really played most of this game with a 'team' mentality. I think those of you on the Heroes know that I genuinely tried my hardest to get our team to the merge with the numbers. I don't think I've ever been as frustrated in a game as I was during the merge round of this game. I spent the entire pre-merge trying to keep our tribe strong (which also gave a valid reason for keeping myself around, since I had been reliable in challenges), and we soon as we hit the merge, I've got tribe members talking to me about voting out one of our Heroes. That really just blew my mind, and we never recovered from it.
The night Tina left, and I received 5 votes that I had to block, was the night that the game turned into an individual game of Survival for me. I won the immunities I had to win, I played the Idols when I had to, and I tried like hell to get someone to crack but it just wasn't going to happen. I fought for my allies in this game, but again, when you don't have the numbers, you don't have the power in this game.
Another big difference from Spratly is that I talked to everyone in the game and I thought I did a better job of being a social player. Most of the time it didn't get me anywhere, but it at least gave me a better idea of where other people's heads were at. My PM Inbox from Spratly Islands has less than 100 messages in it - this season it's almost at 300.
As for what I did the same - I played hard in the challenges, I didn't tell any lies that I felt were unnecessary, and I feel like I treated everyone with respect. I didn't cross my allies. I was active and friendly, and I played with the cards I was dealt without being bitter.
As for my two fellow finalists, you girls do deserve to be here. You both played a great game and I had a lot of fun being the cockroach that you just couldn't kill.
And with that, let the questions begin. Good luck girls, and thanks again to everyone.
[/color]My gameplay was quite a bit different than last season. I lost Mike, my 'other half' from Spratly, early in this game. I had the HII and could've given it to him, but the votes didn't pan out as I had expected. I tried like hell to get to the Graveyard as much as possible because I knew there might be a chance to bring him back, but that was not in the cards, so I had to play the game without him. Another thing different than my game in Spratly Islands is that I did have to rely on Hidden Idols and the 'secret prize' strategies to get myself to this point. I didn't have anything like that at all in Spratly, but I feel like I did a good job of using those items to their fullest extent in this game. The two times I used a Hidden Idol on myself were both rounds that I would have been voted out otherwise, so I feel like I did a good job of reading the other players and determining when and where to use the items.
Another difference from Spratly is that I really played most of this game with a 'team' mentality. I think those of you on the Heroes know that I genuinely tried my hardest to get our team to the merge with the numbers. I don't think I've ever been as frustrated in a game as I was during the merge round of this game. I spent the entire pre-merge trying to keep our tribe strong (which also gave a valid reason for keeping myself around, since I had been reliable in challenges), and we soon as we hit the merge, I've got tribe members talking to me about voting out one of our Heroes. That really just blew my mind, and we never recovered from it.
The night Tina left, and I received 5 votes that I had to block, was the night that the game turned into an individual game of Survival for me. I won the immunities I had to win, I played the Idols when I had to, and I tried like hell to get someone to crack but it just wasn't going to happen. I fought for my allies in this game, but again, when you don't have the numbers, you don't have the power in this game.
Another big difference from Spratly is that I talked to everyone in the game and I thought I did a better job of being a social player. Most of the time it didn't get me anywhere, but it at least gave me a better idea of where other people's heads were at. My PM Inbox from Spratly Islands has less than 100 messages in it - this season it's almost at 300.
As for what I did the same - I played hard in the challenges, I didn't tell any lies that I felt were unnecessary, and I feel like I treated everyone with respect. I didn't cross my allies. I was active and friendly, and I played with the cards I was dealt without being bitter.
As for my two fellow finalists, you girls do deserve to be here. You both played a great game and I had a lot of fun being the cockroach that you just couldn't kill.
And with that, let the questions begin. Good luck girls, and thanks again to everyone.
