Hello folks. I think today were going to take a bit of a break from the drama of trying to cast season seven (all I can do is cross my fingers that we get as many people as possible at this point.) because the final three projects are really something special. I think in various ways, they have come to define the game as we know it and how it has come to be played. All three of these are EASILY some of the finest pieces of online Imagineering I've ever seen, and I've been around the community a long time. In regards to season seven, like I said, currently there is some drama regarding rather or not we'll get a large number of people cast. Let me get you guys up to date. So far, we have the two team leaders, the Favorite Project Write Up Contest winner, and two applicants. and I believe two people currently confirmed to be working on applications. This brings our total number of confirmed contestants up to seven. On the bright side, this means that anyone who comes after that will rise it above the status quot so far in the game, which is seven (four seasons of seven people, two seasons of eleven and twelve people, respectively) In this respect, no matter what happens, me and MEW will work hard to try and make this season as fresh and exciting as possible, in spite of a possibly limited cast. Make no mistake, no matter how many people we get, season seven WILL happen. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the countdown, already!
Number Three: Disney's Twin Peaks Wilderness Adventure Park. PL7764, Season Six, Final Project
This is one for the record books. In all my years of being a part of the online Imagineering community, I've never seen a prospect quiet so original. The remaining two projects on the countdown are just a slight bit better in sheer "wow" factor (Trust me, they're worth it), but this truly is probably the best I've seen based purely on originality.
Season Six is probably my all time favorite season for this reason alone. It was great storytelling. The story kind of played itself out to really turn out to be something really interesting. Basically, it's a story of underdogs. Those underdogs being Team Yensid. Early on in the game, Team Ansem, who had more returning players, was dominating. Before the tribe swap, Team Yensid dissolved into three players. The underdog Fantasmic!, the leader HereWeGo (who took up leadership after initial Team Leader Romanarms' schedule got the better of him) and of course, the wild card PL7764. They were outnumbered eight to three in the final eight. (Evams123 had been eliminated in a double elimination where the two teams worked together to create a new attraction for Universal Studios) Disneyland DHI got swapped over to Team Yensid to even out the numbers, and the rest is history. The remaining three members of Team Yensid went on to outlast all five Team Ansem members. MaterA113, the season's projected "One to Beat", was ousted at final four in what I still to this day consider the toughest decision I've ever had to make in six seasons of the game, choosing PL7764 over him as the third person to take to the final three. (HereWeGo had won PoMVP at final six, and Mater, the merged team's Team Leader, gave Fantasmic! PoMVP that project.) I knew I was taking a risk, as at that point PL7764 was STILL very much a wild card, but when it came down to it, I saw PL7764 come up with a huge amount of interesting ideas at final five, where I basically saw Mater run around like a chicken with his head caught off. (Haha, sorry Cody. You know it's true ;) )
My hunch paid off. The final project was interesting for a lot of reasons. It was the most open ended, do whatever you want project we had ever done. (Basically, pitch SOMETHING for the patch of land Disney owns on Katalina) In addition to this, it also had the distinction of being the first final project to have a final three, not two. Just to clarify this right now, in the future, it will ALWAYS be a surprise rather or not the final project is a final two or three. While Fantasmic! and HereWeGo both contributed interesting ideas, let's face it, PL7764's unique vision towered over everything in the finals.
Basically, the concept was, well, a huge adventure park. With lots of trails, waterfalls, redwoods, a lake, basically everything any good national park would have, except Disney-fied, which basically means, epically themed. While it might not be a 100 percent natural environment, I could really see Disney pulling this off. Look how natural all of Animal Kingdom looks for the most part. If they concentrated all their budget on trails and such, I could really see this being something special. PL outlines all this perfectly, and I especially like the nice touch of the (honestly rather predictable) mickey shaped lake to not be a perfect Mickey, but instead have a natural feel to it in the helpful images he provided. All in all, like I said, I don't think I've ever seen something quiet so unique be pulled off so well in this game. Serious props to PL, who is high on my pedestal when it comes to the top winners. He basically came out of nowhere to become one of the most imaginative players we've ever seen.
Alright folks. Like I said, the next two are probably the most famous projects ever to come out of the game, so be prepared for some top quality. In the meantime, I have a couple short announcements. One, I will be taking PL's advice and putting together an epic, all there is to know about the game thread. This thread will cover all the seasons, all the projects, all the rules, twists, characters, and storylines. It might take me a couple days to type out all the information, but once I get it all together, it will be a really convenient source for everything you need to know off the top of your head about the game. Expect that sometime soon. I'm not going to give an exact date, as I don't work well under deadlines and usually end up blowing them anyways. The second announcement I have to make is at this point, we are absolutely accepting ANYONE who wants to be in Season Seven. Send me an application, you're automatically in. No questions asked. So returning players and All Stars, don't hesitate to send in your applications. Alright folks, I hope you are still enjoying the countdown. The next blog post will be an epic write up of the top two projects. Stay tuned...
-Tiki
No comments:
Post a Comment