[Jeff Probst]

- Fri Oct 07, 2016 4:25:59 am #3295 First of all, Congratulations for making the merge on this All-stars season! It's a big accomplishment, you've outlasted 11 players, nearly half of the players in this game.

Here's where the real fun begins. Where legends are made and the real season is defined. I want to wish you the best of luck and I know I don't have to tell you this because you already know... Leave it all in the game, don't waste any opportunities because you may not get another chance to redo them.

So I have a lot of questions but I'll start with a few:

1. Now that the Merge is here and it has gone to an Individual game, how will your strategy change?

2. Are you worried about any alliances or groups in particular? Do you think that the previous tribal breakdowns will factor into this merge at all?

3. Are you concerned with any threats in the game, and if you are a threat... are you concerned with being targetted for being a threat?

4. Now that the merge is upon us, players begin to look towards the finals and WINNING the game. How do you plan on proving to your other players that you deserve to win amongst all of these all-stars?

5. Who would you ideally like to team up with and who do you want to see gone ASAP? Are you planning on stepping outside of your comfort zone and making new allies/friends in this merge?

[Jeff Varner]

- Fri Oct 07, 2016 6:55:16 pm #3348 Hi Sierra. Sorry to inundate you with more questions.

Now that we've reached the merge, how do you feel about your position in the game?

Also, could you please break the tribe down for me from your perspective. How would you rank your tribemates in terms of trust? maybe add on a rating of 1-10 as well if you don't mind.

[Sierra]

- Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:21:06 pm #3416 1. Now that the Merge is here and it has gone to an Individual game, how will your strategy change?

It won't, at least in the macro sense. Survive TCs, string together a consistent, strong and "votable" game as best as I can. So many moving parts right now and I'm still trying to play catch-up at the moment.

2. Are you worried about any alliances or groups in particular? Do you think that the previous tribal breakdowns will factor into this merge at all?

Yeah, they could. From the sounds of things, Dan is trying to get myself, Ozzy, Hayden with Drew, Sugar and Rocky (possibly also including Nate and maybe Val) to take out old Saipan, most likely beginning with Heidi? I'd rather Penner leave first but I could go along with this for a little while. I'm not sure yet though.

3. Are you concerned with any threats in the game, and if you are a threat... are you concerned with being targetted for being a threat?

I think I'm still definitely a capable player in streaks, maybe not as consistent as I once was years ago. I don't want a threaticide to happen where we wind up with a shitty ending (and I'm trying to pitch that to players who I think view themselves as threats, to make them trust me), but there's no single player who really scares me. I think Dan is all-time underrated as a game player, I know Tammy is highly dangerous... but I'm just not concerned for some reason.

4. Now that the merge is upon us, players begin to look towards the finals and WINNING the game. How do you plan on proving to your other players that you deserve to win amongst all of these all-stars?

Like I said before, consistency is everything. If I can demonstrate that I played a complete game where I had a defined plan (in this case, just staying off the radar as much as I possibly can, and influencing things where I can/see fit), then yeah I think I can grab a few votes if my social game is strong enough. Got some decent relationships on this tribe. Generally speaking, I like making my moves later in the game so I can generate an air of trustworthiness around me before anything, and that way it's fresher in the jury's mind, but I've done my best to this point to subtly position myself as well as I can to avoid being targeted. Since leaving original Pohnpei, I think my game has been maybe at B- or B level. Still maybe D+ overall, but I can gain steam. I think I'd articulate my case pretty well if I get there, also depending on who I'm at FTC with.

5. Who would you ideally like to team up with and who do you want to see gone ASAP? Are you planning on stepping outside of your comfort zone and making new allies/friends in this merge?

I want me and Dan to team up with Heidi and Tammy. I want that badly. But for many reasons, I don't think it's very feasible. I've thought that getting to F6 with the only other remaining pair, alongside two other people who will remain loyal to myself and Danimal over them... idk, it could be the ideal setup on paper. Boot Heidi at 6, grab the necklaces, do whatever the fuck we want at 5 to set us up as well as possible, cruise to the end. Sounds nice in theory but strategy is meaningless if it would require so much unrealistic effort to organize. I'd love to stave off a Heidi boot for as long as I can, just to keep the idea in play. The odds of me/Dan reaching F3 without something like this seems slim to me, but maybe it's better we go a different way since others may suspect we'd team up. I don't know man, I just thought that would be kind of cool, since we are two of the more loyal sets of allies out here (I think).

I'm beginning to have SOME doubts about Dan's undying loyalty to me, mainly because I know there is nothing binding him to me. He knows plenty of people here better than he knows me, so why would he stick true to me over them? Because the game is called "Allies"? I feel like I want to prove myself to him harder than ever, because I don't have the undying loyalty of anyone out here. I still won't scumbag Dan under any circumstances; I want to play a loyal game with him from beginning to end. I just don't know if he fully believes that I want that, and really there's nothing in my history that would lead him to believe I'd play with fully honesty... so I can't blame him. He knows Drew outside the game very well, according to him. Maybe we can use that to our advantage. If he plays me, so be it. Hope not though.

TRUSTWORTHINESS RANK:

Dan: 9/10
Nate: 7/10
Ozzy: 6/10
Heidi: 5/10
Tammy: 7/10
Sugar: 6/10
Drew: 5/10
Rocky: 4/10
Richard: 4/10
Penner: 3/10
Val: 1/10
Hayden: 6/10

[Kelly Wigles]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 1:11:25 am #3423 So Sierra, it sounds like you're willing to lay your own game down just to stay loyal to Dan. What about Dan that makes you want to stick by him?

[Sierra]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:42:37 am #3458 Tentatively speaking, I agree with that statement.

Alhough I will try to position myself to where I'd beat him, I'd rather accomplish that without betraying him. My read on him from last time is that he's the kind of guy that stays loyal to his word and would not scum me, though I don't believe he's as gung-ho about trying to make it happen where both of us get to F3/F2 together as I am. I plan on using it as part of my final pitch, so that's another element.

Dan has always been nothing but great to me, and I'm not even gonna lie. I felt kind of bad about the fact that I viewed him as just another opponent last time for most of the game, while he was talking about how much he liked me and things like that. Last time, he was more loyal to me than I was to him and it wasn't even close, so I don't mind being the "first line of defense" for him, which right now I think most people would say I am. More people here would prefer to separate me from Dan to get in better with Dan than the reverse. I know I've taken very few strides to try to move past Dan on certain pecking orders even though I've been presented with opportunities to do so.

To some people Dan will always be an asshole but I think he's a pretty nice guy who just wants to put on a show and doesn't mind saying the first thing that pops into his mind to make it happen. I think he means well. Now, was I thrilled to watch him knowingly put me in a bad spot at the last Tribal, knowing I could easily leave behind Mookie? Of course not. But that doesn't necessarily prove he's disloyal to me on its own, it just shows he won't put me ABOVE him. And why should he? We aren't real-life friends, and this is a game. If he scums me, of course I won't still blindly stay loyal and vote for him no matter what, but would I still consider it? Absolutely I would.

I will admit though, a lot of my loyalty is more about me than anyone else. Dan has been my favorite person in both seasons I've played, but it's mainly about showing myself I'm capable of actual in-game loyalty, a concept to me that's been so foreign in my ORG days. That's something I could win the game on, maybe. It's not completely unselfish motivation, but there are elements of all of these things for me.

So wait: PM screenshots. I didn't see a direct rule about them being banned, are they allowed?

[Sierra]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:44:26 am #3461 He better not fucking screw me. Just gave him so much information and thoughts that I have...

[Sierra]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:59:00 am #3462 Another question in addition to the screenshot thing.

The 5-minute idol/"immunity necklace" play window. Does that timer reset in any way if someone else plays an idol/necklace (to give the second person time to react to the other person), or are you shit outta luck?

[Jeff Probst]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:53:57 pm #3471 No, you are not allowed to PM screenshots. :)

You are shit out of luck unfortunately, the time window is firm. Some players may use it as strategy to wait until the last minute, etc...

[Sierra]

- Sun Oct 09, 2016 8:02:44 pm #3474 K thanks, that's what I thought.