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Post by Zoraster on May 13, 2022 12:49:48 GMT -5
Welcome to your confessional! You're free to make threads, but for now, this is a place where you can talk about the game and/or answer any questions from spectators! You can find your Decision Booth as well as the Cute Point Tracking thread in this forum too. Use those for their intended purposes only, please. Otherwise make this your home! This is the start of the game and you may begin to PM anyone else in your tribe. Just make sure to include ProductionBot on the PM! In addition, until the end of the first challenge, you may PM the Human Child |
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Post by Capybara on May 13, 2022 19:36:14 GMT -5
And we're off!
This first challenge is very interesting. Lots of chance, but we get a say in it. I laid out some strategy in my tribe chat so that in the event I am not able to participate I'd have at least contributed something. Well, I also like statistics. I'm not really a math person but I like working with probability and graphs and all that good stuff. I think I mostly understand this challenge, but there is a lot of things to consider.
I'm not quite sure how useful this flexibility we're given with these 25 extra points will be. Just spreading it evenly gives us a 7-8 arraignment on each taker, which is pretty good odds against a d10. But since each team can only earn up to 5 points, it may be worth maxing out the left and right kicks for a taker or two. The main problems with that though are we weaken the other takers, and the other tribe gets to see our point distribution in advance, so it isn't like we'd be pulling a fast one here. If we put 10-10 on a taker and ordered the keeper to defend center, we'd have an unbeatable defense if I understand the rules correctly. But we would be weakening our other takers, and I'm not sure if that is worth it.
I might be a total nerd and run a simulation of this challenge to find out for sure. I'd run a couple possible taker combinations against five random opponent attacks and see which has an overall success rate. I imagine there is some way out there to easily automate this process since this challenge is roughly based on real practice of penalty kicks. However, I have no idea how I would do that, so I would have to crunch it out myself using an RNG website, google sheets, and a cup of coffee.
Anyway, enough about the game. Let's talk about the players. I've talked with Elephant Shrew, Red Panda, Ermine, and Sand Cat so far. I'm really enjoying talking to Elephant Shrew so far. They're funny, and I like to think I'm funny, so it's a great match. Panda opened by calling our DM "Initial Greeting and Evil Plotting Session", which I am a big fan of. But hey, while I do enjoy a few jokes, I'm not trusting any of these people yet. For one, it is way too early for that, it is the first evening. Secondly, I'm actually very paranoid when it comes to playing social and strategy games. I tend to assume people are scheming against me just as much as I am scheming against them. Which I suppose is a healthy assumption in a game like this. Point is, it is going to take a while for me to figure out who I really trust in this game, but I'm keeping my door open.
I wonder who this mystery human child person is. I'll probably send them a message soon and ask how they're enjoying their glorious victory and bragging rights.
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Streele
Spectator
Alien Time Traveler
Posts: 4
Pronoun(s): Past/Present/Future
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Post by Streele on May 13, 2022 19:38:20 GMT -5
Greetings Earthling, they call me Streele the time traveler; how goes you?
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Post by Capybara on May 13, 2022 19:50:43 GMT -5
Greetings Earthling, they call me Streele the time traveler; how goes you? Well I just finished typing my little monologue there. Things have been going well, but it is getting late for me. I'm probably going to send a few more greeting messages out and call it a night. |
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Post by Capybara on May 13, 2022 19:52:08 GMT -5
And traveler, if you don't mind me asking, what time-traveling faction are you with? The Suliban?
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Post by xofelf on May 13, 2022 19:54:47 GMT -5
Xoffy's Corner
Hello, and welcome to your very first of possibly many confessional questionnaires. This is where I, xoffy, pop into your confessional and ask all the burning questions that are specific to you, yes you [insert player name here]! Only the most quality content scientifically and mathematically calculated to get the maximum enjoyment from you, [insert player name here] and for us the spectators at home. So let's just dive in, shall we?
1) It's been a few hours since the game started and I hope you've had a chance to talk to everyone. Is there anybody in particular who sticks out? Who do you like best? Who are you indifferent about? Do you have anybody you could gladly do without?
2) Everyone is such cute animals, aren't they? I just want to respectfully and affectionately pat every avatar there is. But, why do you think the animal that you are is the cutest? Is there any animal who you thought was cuter that you didn't get? Does your choice affect your strategy at all?
3) Much of this game has already been spelled out for you in advance, isn't that neat? Is there any mechanic you're most looking forward to? Any you're worried about? Do you have any specific plan going forward to best adapt to the upcoming twists and mechanics?
4) Everyone comes into a game with different skills or hopes and goals. What are some of yours? What are you looking to achieve? What skills are you bringing to the table?
5) If you had to describe your gameplay style as a weather phenomenon or natural disaster, which would you be and why?
That's all the time we have for you tonight. Stay tuned 'til the next time we pop by, [insert player name here], we're wishing you the best of luck.
~xoffy |
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Streele
Spectator
Alien Time Traveler
Posts: 4
Pronoun(s): Past/Present/Future
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Post by Streele on May 13, 2022 20:05:56 GMT -5
And traveler, if you don't mind me asking, what time-traveling faction are you with? The Suliban? I am an inventor, I am a loner of sorts. |
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Post by Capybara on May 13, 2022 21:33:05 GMT -5
Xoffy's Corner
Hello, and welcome to your very first of possibly many confessional questionnaires. This is where I, xoffy, pop into your confessional and ask all the burning questions that are specific to you, yes you [insert player name here]! Only the most quality content scientifically and mathematically calculated to get the maximum enjoyment from you, [insert player name here] and for us the spectators at home. So let's just dive in, shall we?
1) It's been a few hours since the game started and I hope you've had a chance to talk to everyone. Is there anybody in particular who sticks out? Who do you like best? Who are you indifferent about? Do you have anybody you could gladly do without?
2) Everyone is such cute animals, aren't they? I just want to respectfully and affectionately pat every avatar there is. But, why do you think the animal that you are is the cutest? Is there any animal who you thought was cuter that you didn't get? Does your choice affect your strategy at all?
3) Much of this game has already been spelled out for you in advance, isn't that neat? Is there any mechanic you're most looking forward to? Any you're worried about? Do you have any specific plan going forward to best adapt to the upcoming twists and mechanics?
4) Everyone comes into a game with different skills or hopes and goals. What are some of yours? What are you looking to achieve? What skills are you bringing to the table?
5) If you had to describe your gameplay style as a weather phenomenon or natural disaster, which would you be and why?
That's all the time we have for you tonight. Stay tuned 'til the next time we pop by, [insert player name here], we're wishing you the best of luck.
~xoffy1. Haven't talked to everyone just yet, but I'm definitely enjoying my conversation with Elephant Shrew and Red Panda. Not sure how I feel about anyone else just yet, only exchanged a handful of messages with them so far. 2. I dunno, the Capybara looks like a goofy mix between a groundhog and a guinea pig and it just works. Seems very worthy of pets. I'm happy with the Capybara, it was one of the animals I picked as a preference in the sign-up form. My other preferences were the Rabbit and the Elephant Shrew. 3. I'm interested to see how the cute points mechanic plays out. I think I will be finding myself gambling away trying to pick up an idol just to have it. I'll definitely be searching in secret though, don't want to draw any attention to myself. The 8 points in exchange for a 15% chance of finding the idol in secret seems like the best value. 4. Do better than last time. I was eliminated very early in my previous (and first) game because I didn't connect with the other players as well as I should have. My heart was in the strategy, but I didn't spend enough time on the pleasantries. I want to fix that this time around. I want to connect with my tribemates more, but I will still be strategizing through this every step of the way. Lower profile, but hopefully more connected. 5. Intriguing question, but I'm afraid it is too early to tell, especially since I don't have much experience with large social games like this. When I play other social/strategy games, sometimes I'll be the person rallying people together and be a loyal team player, while other times I will scheme my way to the top, crawl over the backs of others, and enjoy doing so. |
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Post by Capybara on May 13, 2022 22:03:01 GMT -5
Final thoughts for the night:
After talking to Ermine, I've realized I had a slight misunderstanding of the challenge rules. I thought the left kick and right kick points were a part of the defense, and not the offense. This changes things a bit. If we were to bulk up one of the takers to say 9-9 for example, the other tribe would know this in advance, and have no reason not to put their keeper on left or right to block the high-point shot. But if we were to have a taker 9-8, it becomes more interesting. The other tribe would be compelled to block the 9 because it has a greater chance of scoring than the 8. But we could be baiting them to block it so we can shoot with the 8, which is still a very high chance of scoring. Or we could just shoot for center. And then there's the fact that the other tribe refuse to play that guessing game and choose to hold back their goalkeeper and play a different guessing game instead.
So much to think about. I'm going to sleep on it.
Also, haven't gotten a response from the mysterious human player yet. Got some messages from more of my tribemates though.
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Post by Capybara on May 14, 2022 10:03:42 GMT -5
Great Morning. Just barely though. I slept in until 10:30 becuase after signing off here for the night I stayed up way too late watching The Sopranos.
Anyway, honorable tribemate Ermine crunched out the stats math for us while I was sleeping. Which is great becuase now I don't have to do it myself. It seems we're leaning towards doing a 7-8 split, but we still need to figure out general shooting strategy and who's actually going to partake in the challenge. I'm still not sure if I'm going to be able to yet, but I'll know by early tomorrow afternoon.
As of this morning, I think I've talked to every member of my tribe. Those who I didn't reach out to directly sent me a PM while I was sleeping, and the human child responded to the message I shot them yesterday. I'm liking Red Panda a lot now, as well as Pika, who's already suggested we make an alliance of rat critters and rat-adjacent critters. Not sure how serious they're being, but it's a fun conversation neverless.
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Post by Capybara on May 14, 2022 20:22:14 GMT -5
Alright, so we're deeper into the challenge now. I'll be participating as the fifth taker. Hopefully by the time it is my turn to kick, we'll be so far ahead my turn will just be a formality.
The other tribe chose to do a 9-6 configuration for each taker, which I don't find too surprising. I already talked about why that was advantageous in a previous confessional. It puts our keeper in a tough spot now because the keeper will have to choose between diving left to block that really strong kick, or wait and hope they were trying to sike us out and shoot for center or right. We're definitely going to have to think of a good strategy to counter this going in.
In other news, I started my Post-merge Idol timer while writing this. 9:04PM EDT. Incorporate it right into my nightly routine. Press the button, lay down in bed, and then watch TV. Now I won't be shooting for exactly 9:04PM each night, because that would likely result in me hitting the button a few seconds too early. So I'll be hitting the button at 9:06pm tomorrow. Two minutes later. I feel like that's a pretty competitive time, and gives me a good margin of error. Then the next day, I'll hit it at 9:08. I will repeat this for a total of five times, because that's the maximum number of counted attempts. So hopefully, for the cost of only five cute points, I'll have myself a very nice and shiny idol post-merge.
Assuming I make it that far.
Now why am I choosing to go for the post-merge idol this early? I'm getting it out of the way. I figure it will be best to just do five attempts in a row and then call it there. I'm not going to try and do this a million times to get the best possible score, because that would be a waste of cute points. Get it done, out of the way, and spend the remaining points on the Pre-Merge idols if I need to. I don't want to be spending points on both the pre-merge idol and the post-merge idol at the same time. That would drain my balance faster than the student loans I'm going to have to take out next year.
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Post by Capybara on May 15, 2022 7:06:54 GMT -5
Great morning.
After sleeping on it, I've come to the realization that my precious plan regarding the post-merge idol was kind of stupid. By delaying each button press by two minutes a day, I am making my times progressively worse, jeopardizing my overall score, just for the sake of being done with it faster. Why would I do that? Starting the idol this early gives me nothing but time.
The real answer to this idol problem was already given to me: "You can avoid wasting a submission by either trying 48 hours after your last submission". Since it's all about the start time, I'll just wait two days between presses so that I can land it on roughly 9:04 each time. Assuming I don't forget to press the button on time, this is a much better plan.
So far I've exchanged the most messages with Red Panda, which surprises me a little becuase I had really gone back a forth with Elephant Shrew day one. But after that first day, others have had a chance to equal the score. I've had plenty of messages with Sand Cat and Fennec Fox as well. Honestly, I could see myself working with all of them.
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Post by Capybara on May 15, 2022 17:52:36 GMT -5
Cheese and crackers! We lost the challenge. Can't wait to see just how fun tribal will be.
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Post by xofelf on May 16, 2022 2:05:06 GMT -5
Xoffy's Corner
Hey there, we're back again much earlier this time than I'm sure you(or frankly even I) expected! Maybe we'll make this an every round thing, we might have the budget for that. Either way, we very much appreciate your previous answers to our first questionnaire [insert player name here] and we've spent the time since thinking up even more personalized questions that are only just for you. Let's just dive in here, shall we?
1) You all put quite a lot of work into that first challenge, good work! But do you think that anybody in particular's performance has had any effect on how they're viewed in the tribe? Or does this not even enter into how you think about the game?
2) Animal Pen has entered their first tribal council, that sucks. How do you see the vote shaping up in this round? How safe do you feel at this TC? Do you feel that this vote will reveal anything about alliance lines and voting blocs, or do you think this vote will be more of a unanimous thing?
3) There are many different ways to play survivor, what sort of player are you? Are you the kind who plans out rounds in advance or are you the sort that takes each round as they come and figure it out then, or a mix of the two? Would you consider yourself to be more strategic or more social or something else entirely?
4) Music is often a thing that people find relatable and has a lot of meaning, pick a song that either represents you as a person or might be representative of how you plan to play this game.
Just 4 questions this time, the amount will vary according to many variables including the position of the moon and stars in conjunction with the state of the game and the amount of sleep I've had that day. Good luck with all of your endeavors here, insert player name here, we'll catch you again soon!
~xoffy |
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Post by Capybara on May 16, 2022 7:21:02 GMT -5
Xoffy's Corner
Hey there, we're back again much earlier this time than I'm sure you(or frankly even I) expected! Maybe we'll make this an every round thing, we might have the budget for that. Either way, we very much appreciate your previous answers to our first questionnaire [insert player name here] and we've spent the time since thinking up even more personalized questions that are only just for you. Let's just dive in here, shall we?
1) You all put quite a lot of work into that first challenge, good work! But do you think that anybody in particular's performance has had any effect on how they're viewed in the tribe? Or does this not even enter into how you think about the game?
2) Animal Pen has entered their first tribal council, that sucks. How do you see the vote shaping up in this round? How safe do you feel at this TC? Do you feel that this vote will reveal anything about alliance lines and voting blocs, or do you think this vote will be more of a unanimous thing?
3) There are many different ways to play survivor, what sort of player are you? Are you the kind who plans out rounds in advance or are you the sort that takes each round as they come and figure it out then, or a mix of the two? Would you consider yourself to be more strategic or more social or something else entirely?
4) Music is often a thing that people find relatable and has a lot of meaning, pick a song that either represents you as a person or might be representative of how you plan to play this game.
Just 4 questions this time, the amount will vary according to many variables including the position of the moon and stars in conjunction with the state of the game and the amount of sleep I've had that day. Good luck with all of your endeavors here, insert player name here, we'll catch you again soon!
~xoffy1. I don't think this first challenge will have any impact on this tribal or any future tribal becuase it was so chance based. 2. The only two names I've heard are Loris (which I partially suggested to Gecko) and Gecko, with Gecko being the clear favorite to go. Everyone I talked to had pretty much the same story, so I feel pretty safe. This vote should be pretty unanimous, and I imagine anyone who votes Loris will be seen as our of the loop. 3. Definitely a mix of the two. I like to plan ahead, but those plans quickly change based on what's happening during a round. Sometimes the first plan I make is shit and after sleeping on it I'll revise it extensively, which already happened with the post-merge idol lol. Right now I'm being more of a social player than a strategic one, I've really prioritized messaging everyone and continuing conversations during this first round. It also helps that there isn't too much to think about strategy wise right now anyway. But I'm sure this balance will change later in the game. 4. Hehe the potential for cheese with this question. I could say "The Final Countdown", becuase the goal is to get to the end of the game. I could say "Smoke on the Water" if I wanted a cool bad guy theme. Hmmm... I'm gonna go with The Final Countdown. Yeah, let's go with that. |
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