Board Thread:Virtual Tribal Council/@comment-1294345-20160505073508/@comment-27638357-20160507184337

UltraBubbles wrote: Zypker124 wrote: I think you guys are discrediting Tai way too much. Keep in mind that these juries hardly ever take into account the way we take it into account. Gameplay isn't highly valued as much as we like to think it is, and a lot of other things factor in such as likability and personality. With Tai's move to vote out the bullies, I think you guys are convincing yourselves that Tai won't get any votes. To be fair, Tai needs the votes of, as you called them, the bullies, in order to win the game, just like everyone else. Also, with all due respect, I believe you are incorrect when you say that gameplay is not valued as much as likability and personality. Look back on the very first BvBvB: Tony beat Woo. Tony, who was not well liked by most of that jury who had been back-stabbed and betrayed by Tony's aggressive gameplay, beat WOO, who is almost the posterchild for the passive-yet-beloved character in that season. And it was not even close. Aubry, Michele, and even Cydney are going to have far more respect by people in that jury in regards to how they played the gae, Aubry especially. And I'm not saying that Tai won't receive any votes, I just don't think he will have enough respect from that jury to garner enough votes to beat someone like Aubry in the end.

To be fair, I think Tony was well-liked. I've looked at a couple of exit interviews, and no one explicitly says that they hated Tony. They were just bitter/mad at him for backstabbing them. However, you can still be mad at someone in terms of a player while liking them as a person. Woo wasn't really beloved by the jury, and I don't think much of the jury really thought of him as likable and personable; they just saw him as an invisible person on the season and a person who didn't do anything. And I don't think blowout votes are impressive as it was before, since with these bigger juries, there's often a consensus vote and peer pressure factoring into the game, especially with people talking to each other about who they want to win. I will contend that the jury will think that Audry, Michele and Cydney might have more respect in terms of gameplay, but as I said before, I don't think it has much weight as we all like to think it has. Think about it. You're in a tribe with Tai 24/7, and he has shown to be very compassionate and nice around camp, with a good work ethic and a love for nature. I discount Debbie's exit interview because, well, she's Debbie, so aside from her no one has said that Tai had put out the fire. Cydney was just talking about how Tai was so likable in the previous episode. Scot and Jason didn't react in a way that would suggest that their resentment of Tai voting them out would last until the FTC vote. I believe Neil could easily be a bitter jury member and vote against the A/C/M trio if any of them makes it to the end, based on the way he was eliminated and his tone on social media. The Scot elimination was credited as Tai's move by the other castaways, regardless of who we think it is. Even though Michele appears furious at Tai at this vote, the preview suggests they'll make an alliance, so it seems like they'll make amends.

Again, I think we're really factoring gameplay way too much. If you really pay attention to the edit, nowhere is it stated that anyone hates Tai as a person and would not vote for him. Though he has received some negative feedback, it's really been subtle if you think about it in the grand scheme of a 39-day adventure where I'd imagine Tai is actually really well liked at camp. Even if you want to say gameplay is factored more, Tai hasn't really been doing anything that's directly sabotaging his game. He made the correct move at the swap, and aside from this vote has pretty much always been in the correct voting alliance. Tai has been called a flipper, but not one has said that flipping is bad; it's supposedly making him untrustworthy, but this never comes into fruition, suggesting Tai's flips are working in the long run. And even with this vote, which should make Michele furious, we see in the preview that Michele wants to work with Tai, which suggests that Tai's likability is really playing into people's minds even though he as a player should be viewed as untrustworthy.

Again, this is my hot take, and it's my opinion with my subjective thinking, and it's my perspective on the matter. I can understand where you guys are coming from, but I just think that the edit is feeding us false information and we're being led to believe something that isn't going to happen.