Post by Tim Dormer on Sept 26, 2016 23:55:20 GMT
Hi guys, I have been thinking about how I wanted to approach this statement for a couple weeks now, in the chance that I got to sit in one of these seats. I have comtemplated dissecting my game piece by piece and laying it out for everyone to see. I figured though, I would have to answer questions where I will need to do that anyway. So instead I want to go over my experience this season. As almost all of you know, this was my return to online reality games after a long hiatus. I was asked to participate in season one and immediately declined. The host identified a need for one more player for this season, and I dismissed it again. I had to think long and hard if I wanted to put myself into this situation again. Ultimately I figured I would agree to play and see if I still had what it takes to be a decent player, without being a total ass hat the entire time. I agreed to give it a try.
My journey started on Amsterdam. A tribe full of gamers and no inactives. I determined very early on that I was probably going to be seen as intelligent and I needed to minimize that. So, I decided to keep ears open and my mouth closed. I was going to intentionally play down my capabilities, and observation skills. This turned out to be a god sent on Amsterdam because no one could keep their damn mouths shut. Once someone knew something, the whole tribe knew in a short time span. I was going to make an alliance and stick to it. My goal was to not sacrifice myself as a person, and try to be a hero. (We all know how well that turned out) Despite what is now seen, I was successful at achieving this initially regardless of how short lived it was. Night one happened and the first person I really feel I connected with was Dustin. Dustin is someone who I identified as being a huge social threat, right from the beginning. He was someone I wanted to keep close so that he would remember when and assist me when I needed him. I also wound up talking a lot to Cody. I considered Cody a bit of a tribe leader, who everyone seemed to like. I wound up having an unspoken agreement with both of them. I was trying very hard not to give my word to anyone, so that I was not liable for something later. Tiffany came along, who I feel was the third person on the tribe I would consider playing a strong game right out of the gate. She came with sidekick Holly. I wound up being asked to be in an alliance with the two of them on day two. It was an alliance I was loyal to until each girl self-destructed their own game, having them sent out in back to back weeks. In the second week of the game, I got to exile where I met Burnie who gave me the idol clues for tribe idols. We discussed possibilities briefly and we went on our marry ways back to our respective camps. When I combined his two clues with the tribe clue waiting at camp, made it so that I was able to find the idol on my second attempt. I wanted the idol to be a backup in case I absolutely needed it. In that last round, I was almost sent out of the game by the majority alliance, so the swap could not have come at a better time for me.
With the swap, I could not have wound up on a better tribe. It was a new lease on life in the game. I decided it was time to step up my game up. I already was socially strong, but I was going to prove my worth in challenges and make sure I was well enough liked that people wanted me included in their plans. Dustin was the only person left from Amsterdam that I cared about and he was on my tribe. My goal at that time was to distance myself from him. I know he would warn me if people were coming for me and I planned on letting him know if someone wanted him out. The first key to my game came in week ficw. It came in form of a blonde country singer from Oklahoma. On my return from Exile Island for the second time, I had the tribal clues and was able to get into Bruxelles idol thread, only to find it gone. I had approached Carrie who had been to exile three times. My reasoning for approaching her and not Burnie was because I feel he would have clued me in if he had it. Turns out Carrie had found the idol not one day earlier then I would have. Carrie and I had connected on personal and strategic level. I let her know I had the idol after she confided her secret idol in me. At that point I wanted us to be at the end. I wanted the idols under my control and with Carrie and I continuing to become stronger allies, I felt like I had a much better footing in the game. Combining that with the possibility of being in a 6 person alliance consisting of Dorothy, Dustin, Julia, Burnie, Ian and myself, I figured I had set myself up in a decent position. My most important objective was no one finding out how closes Carrie and I were. As a result of that, I needed to put a lot of time into building other connections such as the strong relationships I had with Julia and Ian. That being said if something had happened to Carrie, I probably would have been happy being taken to the final 6 with that group of people. This group never came to fruition and ultimately started turning on each other before it even got off the ground. That didn't stop our tribe from making the merge entirely intact.
The merge happened and Natalie basically joined Bruxelles tribe. I was dreading having to play with Natalie again, as I had said some not very nice words about her on Bruxelle, on multiple occasions. It is the one time I allowed myself to go to a negative place and insult someone and it was not something I was very proud of. That was the one time I let my personal feelings affect my actions in the game. I made sure to apologize to her early on in the merge for my actions. Tribal dynamics for everyone at the merger was basically to take Kathy out and then let the bloodbath commence. My ability to keep peoples secrets and accumulate a lot of information started paying off. A round before the merge Julia came to me with information about Burnie and Dorothy identifying me as a threat and wanting me out early in the merge. It was at that point I determined that if I wanted to get to the end of this game, I was going to him to put myself in that chair. Everyone's attitudes started to shift as the game got to the point that we had to start cannibalizing our own. My social game had put me in a position that I could comfortably make moves in the game. My strategic game allowed me to continue to dictate the boot order of the merged tribe.
Sorry for the long winded intro, but I sit in this final two seat because of the evolution of my gameplay this season. Everyone who is on that jury that was part of the merge tribe is sitting there because of me. There are seven people with knives in their backs, with my name on them. I feel like over the season I have proven myself to be strong in challenges, exceptional socially and unmatched strategically. I made a lot of moves that were critical to my success in the game. (Since I know there will be a question coming up asking me to identify them, I am going to spare you all from having to read a list of them here) I have lied a lot, but I also have made some strong friendships. People will think I played the victim and that I “cried wolf” for feeling so bad about my actions. The fact of the matter is, despite how much I like the majority of you, I check my personal feelings at the door and made the best strategic play for myself and for Carrie. I don't live my life with regrets but I apologize for anyone I may have hurt personally over the course of this game. I look forward to being raked over the coals by many of you. To be perfectly honest, I deserve whatever you throw at me. Please say whatever you want, or ask me anything and I will give you an honest answer.
This was far too long of an opening statement, but hopefully I have given some initial insight into my game so you can prepare your questions/comments. I look forward to hearing them.