And the fun continues. Yes I admit it. I am the mastermind behind the axis of evil.
Truth? I was just trying to have some fun while staying in the game. I originally set up the alliance of five so that I would have a half decent chance at not being randomly voted out early in the game and maybe having a better chance at hanging in after the merge. And my strategy was proved correct : the game should have totally changed at the merge seeing as my alliance had two non/self-votes(mxvladi and Maurog). If the former Mud members been just a bit organized we would now have a totally different final three. But there you go.
×@Dex : That comment was definitely tongue in cheek. I thought it was a way to compliment you without you thinking I was being disingenuous. Sorry I wasn't clear. I guess I need to use more emoticons. However, everything I wrote to you in PMs, along with my overall tone, was to give you the impression I was a "
loose cannon"
who might be willing to go along with alternate strategies. I guess that's politics, but for me it was part of the game. (But since I am an evil mastermind, this could all just be smoke and mirrors.
)
@kie : Though I am definitely guilty of false
hood (specifically in that last PM where I said I was "
still good with voting for TripleM"
) I made no false alliances. We said we'd stick together until final five and then "
the fun would begin."
(mxvladi was voted out earlier than that, but he wasn't playing anymore and we didn't want to keep him over someone who was still into the game.) TripleM was the only person whom I explicitly told I wouldn't vote off. I made that alliance before I made any others, and, having made that promise, I wasn't going to go back on it. I did agonize over having to vote you off and even set up the tie. Since RoboBob3000 had said in the earlier tribal that the
next tie would be unpleasant, I had hoped we'd go right to a "
rock of death"
tiebreaker and that the decision for who got eliminated (who yes, could have been me) would be out of my hands. That way I'd keep my word to TripleM, but let chance determine the final three. I proposed it to Dex in a way that made it sound like "
wouldn't it be fun..."
since I figured if I told him my true motivation he'd never go for it. And although we got the first tie, we didn't get the second. Totally understandable once Dex suspected he could be eliminated even with immunity. Anyway, I did have a lot of fun playing the game with you and am perfectly fine with you not voting for me.
I do hope you vote for TripleM though. He played a very good game, never lost interest, and if it wasn't for him, a lot more of us Tar Techs would have been voted off before the merge.
@Maurog: Backstabbing? Hmmm...
Aaanyway... you knew our strategy right from the beginning. You didn't have to participate, and, seeing how you felt, I don't know why you didn't organize the other team earlier. As I said above, the merge was the perfect time, but it could have been easily done at any of the next three tribals too. And it certainly would have been a lot more fun for everyone had things been shaken up. The most fun I had in the game was during my tie with larry. So it's a real shame you didn't get around to it until, coincidently I'm sure, you would have been in a relatively secure position had you succeeded in voting me off.
@Dischorran: TripleM was not being disingenuous. He's been a great competitor and has played the game as "
straight"
as one possibly can and stay in the game. I have to give him a big tip of the hat because if it wasn't for his skill and involvement, we probably never would have gotten so far. Also he has demonstrated loyalty and individual strength and is a very "
deserving"
player. He'd get my vote if I was on the jury.
@larrymurk/Dischorran: regarding Dex... there's no "
unsavory backstory."
He took a shot at forcing a tie breaker and when it was pointed out that his only chance to stay in the game was to change his vote -- and having been apprised of my PM speculating that in the event of a further tie anyone not involved in the tie could be randomly eliminated -- he did the only logical thing. We kept our word to him and voted for Maurog at the next vote instead of him. And then he wins immunity! Nice dark horse move.
@12th Archivist : the only person you could really say I "
backstabbed"
would be kie. I hated doing it, but as Dischorran pointed out, it'd be pretty much impossible to get this far in the game without some "
behind-the-scenes maneuvering"
-- a euphemism for "
backstabbing"
or lying. And since my only choice was to vote for her or TripleM, I had to "
backstab"
someone. Now when I voted for Maurog, I was 99% certain he had organized the earlier vote against me, thereby breaking any loyalty I might have given him. And my teammates can testify that I still flipflopped on voting him out : either I had to break my word to Dex that we would take him to final four for changing his vote, or I had to break my alliance with Maurog, even though I was certain he had done so first. (Maurog, if you were wondering what gave you away, there were a number of things, but it was the "
Yay"
in your PM to me after the tie breaking vote that was the clincher. Seemed out of character.
) And finally, mxvladi had stopped playing the game and so had technically dropped out of the alliance himself.
@et al : I had a blast playing the game, and, for me, a big part of that were the uncertainties, the behind-the-scenes finagaling and the trying to figure out "
what would happen if."
But to be honest, a part of me was hoping to get voted off before this final council because of all this. I watch the show. I know what happens.
And although I know, er,
I hope, that some of this is just in fun, to create drama, still... However, a bigger part of me is very competitive and I couldn't intentionally throw the game. And, as it turns out, this portion of the game has also been fun! (Though I hope everyone realizes that
deep down inside, I really am a nice person. Very competitive, but nice.
)
As to your voting : well since it looks like I don't have a hope (which I'm totally okay with, since it's true that all I was really interested in was competing in all the challenges) let me be totally honest. Sure Dex has shown some last minute shine, however, between him and TripleM, I believe that TripleM played a way better game overall. Dex just went where others guided him and then had a lucky break. TripleM played hard right from the start and never let up. He was a great competitor and, even had there been no "
policital"
side to the game, he would have been a strong contender for final three, and your final vote, no matter what.
That's all I've got to say, except... thanks for "
Truth? I was just trying to have some fun while staying in the game. I originally set up the alliance of five so that I would have a half decent chance at not being randomly voted out early in the game and maybe having a better chance at hanging in after the merge. And my strategy was proved correct : the game should have totally changed at the merge seeing as my alliance had two non/self-votes(mxvladi and Maurog). If the former Mud members been just a bit organized we would now have a totally different final three. But there you go.