Post by parvati on Aug 17, 2015 8:17:09 GMT
So, quick and dirty thoughts on the game thus far.
We were put into three tribes, brain versus brawn versus beauty. I love this theme! It's a lot of fun to play and it makes for some really great dynamics. You have to think, oh, hmm, those brain people, they're all going to be out there thinking up strategies and trying to finagle their way to the end, and those brawn folks, they all wanna go on Immunity runs and powerhouse their way to the top, and those beauties, they're going to be amping up the charm and seduction. It's a lot of fun to see the different dynamics at play.
Ordinarily I love being on the Beauty side of things. It's a great fit for my playstyle. Beauty tribes are all about charm and flirting and getting other people to like you - and that's a strength of mine in the early game. Brawn tribe it's all about busting your ass in challenges, and Brain tribe is... I dunno, discussing the Federalist Papers or something. Don't get me wrong, I could totally fit into those team structures. I like werkin it in the challenges, and I can throw down about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff with the best of 'em. But there are a few reasons I like beauty.
The primary reason I like beauty is that it functions much differently from brawn or brains. With the other two, there's a sense of expectation. You are a brawn, so not only do you expect yourself to do great in challenges, but everybody else expects you to do great as well. You're a brain, so you expect to be great at puzzles, or to be great at strategy. Those are things that people are instantly going to be watching out for from you. We're going to be afraid that brawn players will go on challenge runs. We're going to be afraid that brain players will play smart sneaky strategic games. Beauty? You expect that we'll flirt a lot and be charming, and the funny thing about that is that when brawn and brain players live up to our expectations, we see that as a negative. When someone's flirty and charming? We're not so quick to dismiss it. Even if you know on some level that the other person is completely full of baloney, even if you know deep down that hot chick in the black bikini has a beard in real life, 99 times out of 100 you're still going to get warm fuzzy feelings in your stomach and other parts.
You still love it.
The other reason is that nobody expects much. Beauty's motto is, "Hey, we may not be smart or skilled, but at least we're sexy." I like that. I'd rather have people think that charm and charisma are my only talents, because then when I later unleash my full capabilities, they're going to be taken off guard. That's a really valuable asset to have for a player like me, because the stereotypical response to "I think that that might be Rob" is... well, it's usually "who's Rob?", I guess. Then once they figure it out, they go, "Oh, yes, THAT Rob. KILL IT WITH FIRE!", usually because they're jealous or because I jokingly said mean things in a confessional or I made fun of their habit of wandering into fights that don't involve them. Giving people less of a reason to earmark me as me until it's way too late for them to do anything about it is always a plus.
There's probably a third reason but I was too busy drawing a beard on that Parvati picture to remember it.
Anyway, those are all the reasons I love being a beauty, in theory. However, the immortal Yogi Berra once said that "In theory there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."
I'm more or less taking it as a given that Saluma is comprised of people who filled out their applications going "I'm going to be the charming one that everybody loves and wants to be in an alliance with." The problem is that the majority of people who say that say that because they don't see themselves as archetypically brainy or archetypically skilled in challenges, and since it doesn't really make sense to submit an application in which you describe yourself as being only marginally good at everything, they decide they must be good at the charm game by default.
There are two cruel realities here. The first is that almost nobody on the planet is nearly as charming as they think they are. That absolutely includes myself. Far as I'm concerned, I'm a delight and everything I say is uproariously entertaining. I think my confessionals are shamazing - but you horrible PWs didn't even give me a single like on the second half of my cast assessment. I got a like from Matty on the addendum, and that was it. The second cruel reality is that the charm game requires you to actually be around and talk to people, and these people can't.
Seriously. I'm lucky if I can reach one person on any given day.
This has created a really interesting power structure in Saluma, because literally everything comes down to, "I said this one thing to someone a week ago and nobody's heard anything different so I guess we're going with that." It's nearly impossible to play anything resembling Survivor with these people. You might as well try playing charades with the blind.
In theory I'm ruling the tribe, but the thing about that is that it's strangely unsatisfactory without an actual tribe to rule. It's literally just me lounging around on my velvet throne, enacting any and every cruel whim which strikes my fancy, but there's nobody around to oppress or levy taxes from. And without peasantry to crush beneath your heels, being Queen just means sitting around holding a fancy stick.
We were put into three tribes, brain versus brawn versus beauty. I love this theme! It's a lot of fun to play and it makes for some really great dynamics. You have to think, oh, hmm, those brain people, they're all going to be out there thinking up strategies and trying to finagle their way to the end, and those brawn folks, they all wanna go on Immunity runs and powerhouse their way to the top, and those beauties, they're going to be amping up the charm and seduction. It's a lot of fun to see the different dynamics at play.
Ordinarily I love being on the Beauty side of things. It's a great fit for my playstyle. Beauty tribes are all about charm and flirting and getting other people to like you - and that's a strength of mine in the early game. Brawn tribe it's all about busting your ass in challenges, and Brain tribe is... I dunno, discussing the Federalist Papers or something. Don't get me wrong, I could totally fit into those team structures. I like werkin it in the challenges, and I can throw down about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff with the best of 'em. But there are a few reasons I like beauty.
Well, y'know, besides the obvious ones.
The primary reason I like beauty is that it functions much differently from brawn or brains. With the other two, there's a sense of expectation. You are a brawn, so not only do you expect yourself to do great in challenges, but everybody else expects you to do great as well. You're a brain, so you expect to be great at puzzles, or to be great at strategy. Those are things that people are instantly going to be watching out for from you. We're going to be afraid that brawn players will go on challenge runs. We're going to be afraid that brain players will play smart sneaky strategic games. Beauty? You expect that we'll flirt a lot and be charming, and the funny thing about that is that when brawn and brain players live up to our expectations, we see that as a negative. When someone's flirty and charming? We're not so quick to dismiss it. Even if you know on some level that the other person is completely full of baloney, even if you know deep down that hot chick in the black bikini has a beard in real life, 99 times out of 100 you're still going to get warm fuzzy feelings in your stomach and other parts.
You still love it.
The other reason is that nobody expects much. Beauty's motto is, "Hey, we may not be smart or skilled, but at least we're sexy." I like that. I'd rather have people think that charm and charisma are my only talents, because then when I later unleash my full capabilities, they're going to be taken off guard. That's a really valuable asset to have for a player like me, because the stereotypical response to "I think that that might be Rob" is... well, it's usually "who's Rob?", I guess. Then once they figure it out, they go, "Oh, yes, THAT Rob. KILL IT WITH FIRE!", usually because they're jealous or because I jokingly said mean things in a confessional or I made fun of their habit of wandering into fights that don't involve them. Giving people less of a reason to earmark me as me until it's way too late for them to do anything about it is always a plus.
There's probably a third reason but I was too busy drawing a beard on that Parvati picture to remember it.
Anyway, those are all the reasons I love being a beauty, in theory. However, the immortal Yogi Berra once said that "In theory there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."
I'm more or less taking it as a given that Saluma is comprised of people who filled out their applications going "I'm going to be the charming one that everybody loves and wants to be in an alliance with." The problem is that the majority of people who say that say that because they don't see themselves as archetypically brainy or archetypically skilled in challenges, and since it doesn't really make sense to submit an application in which you describe yourself as being only marginally good at everything, they decide they must be good at the charm game by default.
There are two cruel realities here. The first is that almost nobody on the planet is nearly as charming as they think they are. That absolutely includes myself. Far as I'm concerned, I'm a delight and everything I say is uproariously entertaining. I think my confessionals are shamazing - but you horrible PWs didn't even give me a single like on the second half of my cast assessment. I got a like from Matty on the addendum, and that was it. The second cruel reality is that the charm game requires you to actually be around and talk to people, and these people can't.
Seriously. I'm lucky if I can reach one person on any given day.
This has created a really interesting power structure in Saluma, because literally everything comes down to, "I said this one thing to someone a week ago and nobody's heard anything different so I guess we're going with that." It's nearly impossible to play anything resembling Survivor with these people. You might as well try playing charades with the blind.
In theory I'm ruling the tribe, but the thing about that is that it's strangely unsatisfactory without an actual tribe to rule. It's literally just me lounging around on my velvet throne, enacting any and every cruel whim which strikes my fancy, but there's nobody around to oppress or levy taxes from. And without peasantry to crush beneath your heels, being Queen just means sitting around holding a fancy stick.