joe
Joe
Posts: 252 
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Joe
Oct 18, 2013 11:25:10 GMT -5
Post by joe on Oct 18, 2013 11:25:10 GMT -5
Hey, guys!
I have a habit of being able to basically write novels out of these things, so I’ll try to keep my opening statement fairly short and sweet. I know that reading a mountain of text isn’t anyone’s ideal scenario. I also don’t really want to detail and outline my entire game for you just yet, as I assume y’all will try to ask about it with questions. Otherwise, the grand summary will come with my closing statement.
I knew coming into this game that I was going to have a target on my back. I wasn’t sure how big the target would be, and how easy it would be dissuade people from coming after me, but I knew that a spotlight or two might be on me. In Bali, I played a much more aggressive, very obvious game. I was the one to beat for a large majority of it, yet I managed to wheel and deal my way to the end. There were lots of positive things (and some negative) that were said about it in Rob’s introductory write-up for me, as well as on my Wiki page. So, I knew, coming into this, that I couldn’t really play that way again. While it might have seemed more impressive to do so by you guys, I had to take a realistic approach to this game and know that I could not be that same player. I did have to rely on making the right relationships with the right people, collecting information, and withholding a lot of it. Just as importantly, I knew I could not give it my all in challenges, and I knew that this not being a tribal game entirely, that wasn’t going to necessarily hurt me. I won’t lie; I did try in some challenges more than others, but for the most part, I knew I could not be a challenge threat. I like to think that worked, as I know how important challenge prowess was to people; it was probably one of the larger contributing factors to me voting out Woods. The two obvious exceptions for this would be the first challenge, to give myself time to ingratiate myself with you guys a little more, and the last challenge, because there was really no point in hiding anymore. Simply put, I wanted to show that I could make it to the end of this game without being a challenge beast. I think I proved that.
Much like in Bali, I never went into a round without being “in the know.” The only time in the game where I was on the losing end of a vote was when Fei was voted out, but, I knew that was coming from pretty much a mile away due to a conversation I had with Ricky, and it was probably a moment in the game that actually benefited me quite strongly. I was allowed to act defeated and weak, and as much as I love Fei and Greg, a great service was done to me in eliminating them. I definitely agree with you, Ricky, they were way too threatening, and I was happy I actually didn’t have to do anything about it myself in the long run.
Overall, my main strategy in this game was to watch things from afar. Observe. And building relationships with the right people allowed me to be aware of many situations going forward. I think I built successful relationships with people in this game, because I had people looking out for me, and what more could you ask for in a game that requires people to not want to vote you out? Some may say it’s riding coattails, but I say that it’s using your resources. I definitely don’t ride coattails. I don’t allow myself to be dragged to the end. I make the decisions that are best for me, and unfortunately, some of those decisions were pretty damn hard. I also know that some of my relationships with some people in the game were not up to snuff, and it pretty much worked out due to a lack of chemistry, or I knew there was no way we were gonna work together, or it was mostly consistently poor timing. I did the best I could. But hey, communication is a two-way street, right? I may not have always controlled the information flow exactly, but, the information always flowed to me, and that was all I needed. I did also tell the right people things when I felt was necessary, and I withheld thoughts and knowledge from people when I also knew it was necessary. One of the more key moments I can think of involving using my knowledge to my benefit was telling Animal about the plan to vote out Woods, which I knew Jermaine had neglected to do (although I had to pretend I didn’t). It caused Animal to distrust Jermaine less, and me more. Meanwhile, Jermaine still trusted me.
In the end, I am actually the only one sitting here that has voted each and every one of you into the jury. I had my reasons for voting out each of you, and I’m sure you guys know that it was never personal… unless one of you was Brookie, which none of you are, so, hooray for that. I think there’s something to be said for this. As hard as my decision to vote for some of you may have been (and it was), I made them with my game in mind.
I look forward to your guys’ questions. I hope they’re thoughtful. I hope y’all are open-minded. I hope you’re… gentle! I won’t hold back. I never do. And I want to show you guys why I should be not only iSurv1vor: India’s winner, but iSurv1vor’s first ever two-time winner. See y’all soon.
Also just a heads up: I think I will be gone this evening (I THINK I’ll be back at some point, though) and I will be working 8:30-5:00 tomorrow so if you’re wondering why this jerk isn’t responding fast enough, that’s why. ;-)
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joe
Joe
Posts: 252
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Joe
Oct 22, 2013 18:56:32 GMT -5
Post by joe on Oct 22, 2013 18:56:32 GMT -5
[My apologies for the length of this, but I would rather end this game knowing that I've said all there is to say than to know there was anything left unsaid. At the end is a little comment for each of you, so, if you'd rather not read what I have to say before that, feel free to go there. I'll hide most of this behind spoiler tags so that the length seems less intimidating. Heh.]
CLOSING STATEMENT
Bam. Here it is. The end of the road. The last time I can address you guys before you decide who to cast your vote for.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: I’m in a unique position in this final three. I am the only one here to have previously played an iSurv1vor game. Not only that, I’ve won this game before. I know how it’s played. My philosophy with ORGs is that you can never rely on one single type of strategy from game to game. I adapt. I adapt to my surroundings. Perhaps it’s unfair to use this in why I am the worthiest winner, but I can’t escape what is true. I proved that I can play this game, this series, with two separate strategies. In Bali, I was the leader, I was out in the frontlines of battle, I insisted on getting what I wanted and I usually did. I fought hard in challenges and narrowly tied an iSurv1vor record. In India, I knew that this strategy was not my best route. If you can say that I would be sitting here right now even having done that, then what does that say about me that I could apparently have gotten here no matter what? Think about that. I think that is much more of a positive attribute of mine than it is a negative. In fact, I don’t think it’s a negative at all.
Animal can take my game and say how Boston Rob never needed to do this in Redemption Island to make it to the end. However, there are large differences between Boston Rob and I: he’s a freaking celebrity (well, sorta), and it took him four tries to win the game, and on his fourth attempt, he was cast with a group of zombie lemming morons. I wouldn’t really say that any of you fit that criteria. Maybe if I wanted to be iSurv1vor’s version of Boston Rob, I would have come out guns blazing, but that is not even kind of the case. So, I would discourage anyone from factoring that comparison into their reasoning for not voting for me to win this game.
Again, maybe I did not have to go the UTR route. But that’s the route I chose, because I felt early on in the game that it would be the best course of action for me, and I think I proved that. I don’t even know that I was necessarily that UTR, considering I was highly visible. But you guys seem to be aware that I played the game with my cards close to my chest. Even Jermaine, who was sort of my number one in the game, could not get a proper read on me. Evidently, more people distrusted me than they really let on, yet no one sought to do anything about it. People distrusted Ricky, Nicole, Nax, and so on, and we did something about it. I believe that I had, in spite of what has been said, the strategic and interpersonal skills to keep the target off of me.
Of the final three, I am the only one that has voted everyone into the jury. Contrary to anything that might have been said, I did what I did of my own volition. Two cases where this seems to be of the biggest issue are the round where Woods went and the round where Jermaine went. I have explained already that my vote for Woods was entirely strategic. Yes, Jermaine was voting for him out of sheer paranoia about the upcoming rounds, and at that point, the vote was pretty much guaranteed 4 for Woods, 3 for Ricky, and me still debating what was the best path to take. I used this round to my advantage. I told Animal about the vote for Woods. There was some ambiguity, but as I’ve shown, it was still very obvious that the vote was falling on Woods. I told Animal about it to further gain his trust, while being able to create a fissure between him and Jermaine. I voted for Woods because, should the Untouchables twist not occur and people start to look for paths elsewhere in the game, I felt that I could go to Ricky, Nax, and Jedda and have them as numbers on my side. It was a move of self-preservation. I think one of the worst things you can do is be on the losing end of the vote.
The other moment that people take particular issue with is the vote for Jermaine. At the very beginning of the round, Jermaine approached me saying that Animal needed to go. I agreed, because I knew that doing otherwise would likely set off huge warning signals. And I will admit that I entertained the idea. For me, however, this round was played particularly low-key and I didn’t reveal what information I had to anyone, and I was going to see what would happen later in that round with Jermaine. I knew that he would probably get credit for voting out Animal if this were to happen, and while I did feel our alliance was mutually beneficial, I started to see warning signs that he was wanting it his way. When he refused to eliminate Jedda at the final four, this was sort of my last straw. I had been considering approaching Animal and saying, “Hey, Jermaine wants to vote you out.” However, I wanted to wait and see what Animal and Brenda were considering before I made any moves. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until an hour or less before the vote where anything became particularly apparent, and it was at this point that Animal and Brenda expressed wanting to vote out Jermaine, whereas Jermaine and Jedda expected it to be Animal. I did play both sides of this. The only thing I wish I hadn’t done was prolong the voting process by allowing it to go to a tie, but I did need a couple more seconds to make up my mind as to who I felt posed a bigger threat, and I truly believe the bigger threat was Jermaine, as I felt he has done a lot more than Animal or anyone else in the game. I don’t believe Animal when he says he wanted Brenda to win this immunity challenge in order to ensure Brenda’s safety because she was never, at any point, in danger, and ensuring her safety really did nothing for anyone. If Jermaine was going to go, the only thing that had to happen was he not be immune. If Animal was confident he had my vote, it wouldn’t have mattered if she was safe or not. Would I have voted out Jermaine over Brenda? Yes, considering I wanted Brenda in my final three for a long while. The point I am trying to make with these two explanations is that people seem to believe I was led around on a leash and told what to do. I never do anything in a game without considering its advantages and disadvantages to a game. I will tie a damn vote if I need to to prove a point, much as I did in Bali at the final four vote. I knew Kieran was going regardless of what I did there, but I tied the damn thing anyway because it was what I wanted.
One of the key parts of my game, and my UTR strategy, was to, as I’ve said, keep my cards close, all the while having people look out for me. I do not think that you need to be in the frontlines to be a great player, or a great winner. I think it’s quite possibly even more respectable to be able to convince people to want to protect you. To do this, I built relationships and deals with Ricky, Nax, Nicole, Jedda, Animal, Jermaine, Fei, Greg, Aaron, Woods, Zack, and even BK. That’s over half the damn cast. I was very privy to pertinent information throughout a lot of the game. I knew about the large alliances and sub-alliances. In the third round, I knew Fei was pretty much toast and chose to let her be eliminated instead of forcing a tie vote by throwing my vote to BK or Jordan. I had Ricky trying to look out for me in this round when he approached me about the idea of voting out Fei. What happened in this round was no secret to me, even though it may have been for some others.
In the fourth round, Woods told me how he had his alliance, AnimalHouse, looking out for me. The next round, Ricky used his relationship with Jedda to keep me even longer. I used this to my advantage and started to form a relationship with Jedda, by letting him know of the round prior where Woods had wanted to vote him out, but I shut it down. I considered eliminating Jedda at this point, but, with the fact that things were still rocky and I was waiting for more stability in the game to be able to acquire a strong group to combat Ricky/Nax/Nicole, I knew it was best to remain patient and hold off for longer. I played my cards right when I ended up in Vaishya with Jedda and Animal, and Jedda informed me of an impending plan to eliminate me from the game. At this point, I pushed for and got a Quanz vote, wanting to be sure that there would be no idols played that would send me packing.
I would like to say right now that I have never, not even once viewed this game as Animal versus Ricky. While Animal was indeed an important part of my game, I never considered Animal my leader, or our alliance’s leader. I don’t see a point where he called any of the shots, since if he had had it his way, Nax probably would have gone before Nicole or Ricky. If anything, this game was very much so Ricky/Nax/Nicole versus everyone else. I just had to bide my time, waiting for the right moment. As soon as Woods came back into the game, I told him everything from my perspective in the game that I had withheld (which I’ll get into next paragraph) in order to gain his trust. Apparently, Woods didn’t trust me, but he was open enough with me about the fact that Ricky was approaching him about an alliance. I stood my ground and told him he couldn’t believe it, and that if we let Ricky/Nax/Nicole get any footing in this merge, we would pretty much have to kiss our games goodbye. For me, I was waiting a long time to finally take Ricky down, as I truly felt he would win this game if he made it to the end. He and his alliance called all the shots (that sixth round challenge could not have made it more apparent) in that pre-merge, especially after Fei/Greg were gone. I did my best to push for the Nicole vote (which Animal has even credited me for). And yes, I am aware that it might not have happened if you guys didn’t trust Animal, but I still think that is only a small part for which he is getting too much credit. In my eyes, this was something I was using to my advantage to get what I wanted, and if the alliance you guys had was so real on his part, then, perhaps some credit should be given to me for having convinced him to backstab it. Regardless, I got what I wanted out of this round, and that was Nicole going. As much as I enjoyed her, she had to go, as she posed too much of a threat with the double vote power and the ability to read a vote. I also did my best to convince Ricky that her vote-reading power would have been useless, given that it was a live TC, even though I thought it was fairly apparent that she would have been able to use it, since giving her a power she couldn’t use would have been a weird dick move on Sandy’s part. Heh.
Anyway, I also wanted to address a minor conspiracy theory of sorts that I developed. Ricky and Nax, one of the reasons I never fully trusted either of you was that I felt like you both had what I referred to as a “divide and conquer strategy.” I sort of devised this idea based off the second episode title on the Wiki, as well as how you both interacted with me. I knew you were two were close, but both of you would come at me from both sides, shit talking the other constantly. I always assumed that the point of this was to make me feel like I could trust both of you in different ways. By talking shit about the other, you would make me trust you, making me think that if I stuck with your group, I would have my pick of which of the two of you to proceed further with. This was something I picked up on very early in the game (and shared with a couple of other people). Perhaps I was wrong, but if my intuition was right then, well, I deserve a pat on the back for that one. This is also what would have contributed to my apparent feelings of unease towards you guys for a bit. I never really forced the idea, but it was in the back of my mind for quite some time.
Anyway, I know I’ve said a lot here, and I’ve got a bit more to come, but it’s person-specific after this. I want to just take the moment to summarize why I should win. I proved in this game, as not only a returning player, but a returning winner, that I am perfectly capable of adapting to my surroundings. Having sensed that this game would have much more heavy-handed strategists (which Bali did not), I knew that I could not try to be one of my own. I had to lay back, gather intel, and get people to trust me. I made deals with several people and never committed to one particular group, calculating where I could go each round based on what opportunities were available to me. I used and exploited my relationships, and the relationships people had with others, to my advantage. I had individual people, and alliances, looking out for me. I was unimmune for a large portion of the game and was only ever the target once, and in that round, I was the one who got their way. No one came at me before or after that. I had my name written down technically the least amount of times of this F3. I laid low, and tried to exploit the idea that “just because I’m a winner doesn’t mean I’m a threat.” Obviously, I did that successfully and also proved it was a lie, because people allowed me to get back to this point, a feat which has not been achieved before. I wanted people to overlook me. I wanted to creep right on into this point, and I did so by forming the proper relationships. I was never anyone’s bitch. No one ever convinced me to eliminate anyone. I got what I wanted and what I needed. Round after round. I truly do not believe that Animal can actually make that claim.
I have lived and breathed this game for the past 39 days. I have cried from this game. God knows, I’ve probably bled and sweat for this game. I want the win so bad, and I did what I had to do to get here. I had the passion, the drive, the determination. It would mean everything to me if you gave me your vote to win iSurv1vor: India. It would mean it was all worth it. Thank you for your consideration. I want to congratulate Animal and Brenda, both of whom have been worthy competitors in this game, and I want to congratulate the rest of you as well, as you certainly did not make it as easy as it was in Bali. (Next, just some comments for each of you. Enjoy!) Quanz: I wish that you and I had more of a chance to really talk in this game. After that first round, in the iS Live interview we had on that first day, you completely killed what trust I thought I could have with you. You were a difficult person to read, and I could never entirely gauge where you stood, but I did feel like you would remain more closely affiliated with Ricky/Nax/Nicole/Jedda than you ever would with me. It was those reasons (plus idol paranoia) that I chose to push the vote onto you in that round. I’m glad that Brookie quit so you got a chance to be on the jury. I will respect what you do with your vote, but I sure hope you cast it for the returning winner! Heh.
Nicole: At the start of this game, I thought, “Wow, what a sweetie!” You had this cute, saccharine voice. I was pretty surprised when you came out guns blazing in the Basecamp chat. While I do wish we could have engaged more in Skype calls (if this was something truly important to you), I’m almost glad I didn’t, because I think I could have easily been taken in by your very sweet demeanor. I did enjoy the chats we had, and I wanted to get to know you better, and I wish we had had more time to speak. But you’re a pretty cool chick, and I hope your journal is full of trash-talking, because I wanna read that… even if any of it’s about me!
Woods: Ya know, I’m sorry I hurt you, and I’ve already said that. I won’t apologize for having made a move to advance my own game, though. I’m just sorry that I did deceive you in not saying you were done for, but, a lot of my game was playing with my cards close to my chest and while, yes, maybe it might have been more respectable to tell you that you were done for, I never want to open up any opportunities. And, as I’ve said, with four votes locked in for you, you were toast. Maybe I could have sacrificed my game to have made you less mad at me, but I was thinking with the long-term in mind. I’m sorry it hurt you, and I hope we continue our friendship after this game. You and I had deeply personal conversations early into our relationship, and I don’t take those lightly. I hope you don’t, either.
Ricky: Of this entire FTC process, I think what surprises me and disappoints me the most is that you seem to feel as though our relationship was less genuine because you could not attach a voice to what I was saying to you. Ricky, you and I also had deeply personal conversations. I am not a very talkative person (despite what this long ass write-up and my rambling video responses may suggest), and I’m very shy in person, and it takes me a bit to open up. For me, the conversations we had, I felt came much more naturally to me when I was able to type them. I don’t know that I would have been able to open up in the same way to you about my weight and self-image issues if we were in a Skype call. The one time I rejected a Skype call with you was at the final eight, and that was entirely because I didn’t want to be lured into a voice conversation with you where I would likely feel more intimidated and just way more prone to lie to you to get you to hear what you wanted. Without being in the skype call, I was at least able to be more honest with you about where I felt we stood. So, refusing that skype call was largely strategic. Heh. Otherwise, I really don’t know of many group chats that I was invited to that I refused. If I did, it was probably because I had other commitments (school work) going on, otherwise I’m actually pretty quick to enter a group chat. Anyway, I feel as though I’ve probably lost your vote, and I’ll respect whatever way you go, but I would still very much so appreciate your vote, and I hope that you did consider the conversations you and I had, and the friendship we built, to be a legitimate one.
Nax: You crazy guy. Heh. One of the things you said on a few occasions that I thought was always an admirable mindset to have was that, even if you are biologically older, you are still young at heart. And ya know, you actually were really funny and easy to relate to, especially in the main chat. There was never a blatant age disparity. However, I always felt a bit guarded with you because, in my opinion, with experience comes wisdom. I know you’re not an idiot. I always felt I had to distance myself from you more than other people because I really believe that you could have done a lot with a little information. You and I also had conversations about how I wasn’t a big fan of skype calls sometimes. I hope that knowing I was never a huge fan of them isn’t a deterrent in you voting for me to win the game, but, to each his own.
Jermaine: Even though I knew it was the best move for my game, voting you out will always remain my darkest moment of the game, and the one that really showed me that I had to win in order for it to be worth it. I cried like a stupid bitch after I voted you out. I mean, I wasn’t in major hysterics and I did a half-decent job at holding it together, but still. I was an emotional mess. I wanted to talk to you so badly after I voted you out, but, I wasn’t sure how you felt. Thank God you approached me. Heh. Ideally, you and I would be sitting here as the potential last two people standing, because it would have been hilarious. But strategically, it just didn’t make sense for me to go through with it. So yeah. Sorry I had to hog all the glory, bitch.
Jedda: I pretty much said what I needed to say to you in my video. You were a fun, hilarious guy, and Australian accents are a weakness of mine. You were a major threat to win this game, and I truly believe you had about two or three votes in your favour if you were gonna be sitting here instead of Animal. I’m really glad I started speaking with you when I did, as I was always kinda disappointed that you and I never seemed to be around at the same time near the beginning portion of this game. I also wanna thank you for kinda bringing me out of my comfort zone with that task. When I first saw it, I felt like you were Brenda and I was Dawn, and you were asking me to remove my teeth (something I probz wouldn’t mind actually doing since my teeth are terrible). But I opened up… and had fun with it. Even if my accent was terrible. But it was hilarious. So, really, thanks for that! Good luck with your vote. Oh, and also, you need to tell me/us what the name of the show you’re going to be on is, because I feel like this is something I’ll need to watch. Also, for the record, I was the only one to stick with the “Australian” accent all the way through their video! ;-) That is all! Sorry for all of this. But I had a lot that needed to be said. Thanks for a great game. I look forward to seeing who will take the win home. |
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