- Sun Jun 18, 2023 10:19:21 am
#76041
What a freakin first week it's been! I definitely feel like the game started very strong and since we've been constantly performing better than Kallpa in the challenges, we haven't really had to get our feet wet in terms of truly playing the strategic aspect of the game. We've all had conversations, I think we all feel like we know where we stand but we haven't had to prove it yet so that part of it is still a mystery, as far as I'm concerned. It's hard to know where loyalties truly lie when you haven't had to take a stand yet. So we'll see how that goes if / when it comes down to it.
1. In the wild world of Stranded, emotions can run high. How have your emotions influenced your strategic moves in the game this week?
Emotions definitely play a part in feeling comfortable with certain people and seeing other people as a potential liability going further into the game. Obviously it's easier to connect and build on that personal connection when people make an effort to get emotionally involved. Being that we haven't lost a challenge yet and simply booted Danny because it was the logical thing to do, I feel like the first week has been particularly easy emotionally but I know for a fact that it won't stay that way for long so I'm VERY curious to see how much of an impact emotions will have as we get deeper into the game.
2. The HetDensa challenge scrambled more than just letters and tested your teamwork. Did each of your tribe members contribute equally? Any major gaffes? How well did your tribe perform as a unit?
I feel like everyone played a part in that challenge but it was by far our messiest performance so far. I think that coming in with an advantage led to us sort of letting our guard down. I know that I was feeling a lot less stress going into the challenge and I think that might have been why we messed up on it. From Abe not posting in the right place to Shan making a mistake on the phrase and no one catching it until it was too late, there were definitely areas where we could have improved. Thank god Kallpa messed up by simply copying our answers.
In terms of my personal performance, I was really frazzled during that challenge for some reason and I definitely didn't get to perform the way I would have liked to. I don't know if it was lack of preparation or lack of a clear vision of where we were going during that challenge but I think we were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and it showed.
3. Surviving week one in Stranded requires social finesse, strategic prowess, and strong competition skills. Which of these skills was your strongest this week? How did you wield it to protect your spot in the game? Which area is your weakest? What will you do to overcome it?
I think socially, there's not much I could do better than what I've been doing right now. I adapt to whoever I'm talking to and make sure to come off as whatever I feel they resonate with. I'll just have to keep fostering those relationships and building on the foundations that I've built in the early game. For the time being, that's the area I'm least worried about as I honestly feel like I've got a good grasp on it.
Strategically speaking, since we haven't had to show our cards at any point yet due to the fact that we've won all the challenges, I'll say that I'm cautiously optimistic. I think that what I have in place is good and there are definitely a couple of different avenues that make sense stratetically. That being said, this is probably the thing that I'm most concerned about when it gets down to it because it's the one thing that feels like the unknown. I feel like we do a lot of assuming for now so I'm sure that that's gonna be a problem for some people at some point in the game.
In terms of challenge performance, I think that I'm in a weird spot. I had the easiest role in the first challenge and didn't really have to do much to make my performance a "success", only had a passive-ish role in the second challenge and besides coming up with a strategy to assign the sins, I was pretty clearly in the backseat on that one and had to rely on my tribe to figure it out. The last challenge, I didn't shine in at all.
So all things considered, challenge performance, I know I can work on. I can take a page out of Abe's book and look at more past seasons to strategize on the upcoming challenges and maybe get to practice some of them in the down time that we have so that I can come in better prepared.
That being said, I know it's no secret that I'm in a good place socially and I seem to be on everyone's "good side" so not standing out in the challenges, especially this early on, might not be a bad thing for me. At least that way people don't see me as someone they absolutely have to get rid of before the merge or anything like that. So it might be a good thing to keep doing for a few more rounds.
4. Please share an update (visually or in words) on your alliance situation or lack thereof.
The one thing I'm most confident about at the moment is the foursome of me, Abe, Xander and Evvie. For the time being though, keeping Sara close is also very good until we take care of the Heather situation and then that can be reevaluated (and it should be for sure).
