Welcome to UAQ With HighCarry: carrying you so high, you reach the top! AKA
Unfrequently Asked Questions with HighSpace and HardCarry!
Emile and I love talking about Survivor gameplay and we also feel like a lot of you may have questions about how we approach different aspects of the game so we decided to create this thread where we answer any questions you may have.
A good rule of thumb for asserting yourself into a power position is to try to position yourself in a way where it would be detrimental for other players to vote you out. It would also be nice to build up social connections so that you make it difficult for people to vote you out even if it may be the best strategic move for them to do so.
To get to that situation, I would probably analyze everyone's long-term and short-term goals and determine if they coincide with my own. If they don't for both of these questions, then I probably have no use for them and I'd try to vote them out. I would then try to fuckk up other people's plans which do not involve me so that they're forced to rely on me in order to make critical moves to stay in the game. You usually can tell through conversations with people if they have any plans for you going forward since they'll drop hints without realizing it. A lot of the time, I don't really operate on trust but more on necessity. I don't really need to trust someone per se, but I can trust that they'll stick with me if it's the best move for their game which is always the situation I aim for in games.
A word of caution that I would have is that a lot of new players tend to think that they need to be in power for the entire game in order to succeed when that's not necessarily the case. I would say you could get by through just ensuring that you're safe before slowly working your way up; you don't need to be in a position of power for the entire game and I'd argue that it's often harder to win a game like that.
how should you deal with wild-cards in games? aka. people that seem to not follow any sort of playstyle, have no strategic influences, and are rather unpredictable
I feel like these typers with over 120 wpm should learn how to play the piano actuallly.
Anyways quick typing is just a combination of nimble fingers and motor memory and neither can really be learned exactly. You can certainly improve the motor memory with practice - and even then with some people it takes a lot less practice than others - but your fingers are only ever going to be so dextrous.
It's really not all that different from physical challenges in Survivor, where athleticism is a talent thing for the most part, with some degree of fitness. It's the main reason why "physical" is never going to be taken quite as seriously in either ORGs or the real thing of Survivor, because it's too limited by who you are and your background and factors that are really out of your control.
like am i the only one who was taught typing in school growing up? i use all 10 fingers y'know (well really 9 because lets be honest i only use my right thumb for the space bar not the left one)
ok rob since you want to talk about yourself: what's the best way you (anyone, but since rob's a narcissist) can assert yourself into a power position for the long-run
Perhaps to elucidate this a bit more, I'll give an example of where a big move was wrong.
This is a bit messy and perhaps hard to understand bc of all the social connections but I think it can very instructive. In the same ORG, in Bang a Rang AllStars at Final 9: the social connections were like this:
Me, Wendy, Emma together (Emma also was with Alissa, but I'll omit that for clarity) We were loosely aligned with Nick and Linus who are together
Opposite Alliance: Sora, Alissa are together. They are also aligned with Sim and Dani. Sim and Dani also have connections with Linus.
So at final 9, Sora and Alissa were pushing to vote out Nick or Linus while Nick and Linus were pushing to vote out Alissa or Sora.
If I voted out Nick or Linus, then at Final 8 I would be against the voting block of Sora/Alissa/Sim/Dani which is scary.
If I voted out Sora or Alissa, then perhaps my alliance is seen as the biggest threat at Final 8. With Sora or Alissa gone, Sim and Dani could possibly go to their next closest allies Linus and Nick and form a new voting block of Linus/Nick/Sim/Dani which is just as scary as the previous voting block.
So the best move for me was to keep Sora/Alissa at Linus/Nick's throats and blindside Sim who had connections with BOTH Linus/Nick and Sora/Alissa, thus weakening both parties while still keeping the tension between them to keep the target off me.
The takeaway from this example is that even though Sim may not have been playing the best game, I shouldn't have voted out any of the biggest threats here because I would be vulnerable the vote afterwards.
I think that big moves are only necessary if you're going to be a bad position if you do not make that move at that specific time period. Timing is everything in Survivor. There is a huge difference between me flipping on an alliance at the right time and flipping 1 vote too early or 1 vote too late.
So let me give you an example: in Bang a Rang Allstars at merge, there were 13 players. A 7 person majority alliance was formed and I was in the 6 person minority. For some reason, the 7 person alliance decided to split the votes for that vote 5-2. We took advantage by using advantages such as vote steals to blindside a member of the 7 person majority alliance. If we had waited 1 move too late to do it, our fate in the game is no longer solely controlled by ourselves and it now rests in the hands of the majority alliance. In that scenario, a big move had to be made to flip the tables.
I guess a word of caution that I have with big moves is that players need to think of all the repercussions after a move is done. One of the biggest traps that new players fall into is they'll try to vote out the biggest threat and then find themselves vulnerable afterwards. Most players just think: oh big threat is gone, good for my game. Think deeper than that. Who's the biggest threat now? Are people on my side still going to stick with me now that the big threat is gone? Do we still have the same goals? How will the people in the minority of the big move react and respond? Asking these questions should help you determine if the big move really is the best move for you. It should also help you determine when the best time is to flip or make that move.
To make someone trust you, you need to respect two things:
1. Be candid with the person. If they feel like you trust them, they will reciprocate that feeling of trust.
2. Don't go doing things on your own that are for selfish interest. This includes leaking things, making side alliances, throwing others under the bus to advance yourself... If you're gonna do that, make sure people don't find out.
To tell people what they want to hear, you need to have a good idea of who they are already aligned with, and what their goals are. To get that information, you either have to ask them directly or ask around. In each game convo you have with people, it's amazing how many little hints and clues they give away without realizing. That's what you use to figure out their game and what they're likely to do next. Use that to give them the stories that make them feel comfortable with you
Trust is a 2-way street. In order for people to trust you, you also need to give something up yourself. For example, in ORGs, if you tell something very personal about yourself to other people or you talk a lot about who you are as a person, the other person is going to be much more likely to reciprocate. Similarly, if you give up some information or if you express your willingness to work with other people, then they're also going to be more willing to share info back and work with you too.
I think your actions are also really important. You want to spend the pre-merge aspect of the game really building up trust through your votes and through the information you tell other people. It's like gradually building up trust.
As for figuring out what people want to hear, this is basic but figure out what they want. For example, players who are on the outside are looking for an in to flip their position on the totem pole. Players on the opposite side of you are looking for somebody to keep the target off them from your side. Players who are bad at challenges in Big Brother are looking for somebody to make nominations for them. Ginga is probably looking for a new girlfriend, so just flirt with them. Ultimately, you want to find people whose goals align with yours. The best way to figure this out is to just ask what other people want and whether it's the same thing that you want.
