Commentary: Season Nine, Project Three

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long to get up. I'm not really going to have much of an introduction this time around, I just want to jump in and talk about the project itself. Early on in the sign-up stages of the game, there was a bit of a demand for a ThatGuyWithTheGlasses themed project. At first, I didn't really know what to make of it. I was like "what...a Nostalgia Critic ride??" Then, I realized that doing a "Theme Park Critic" concept could open the door to a lot of new areas in the game that have previously gone unexplored. For starters, it was the first time the contestants were really allowed to let their inner "theme park nerd" show through and start complaining about the not-so-great parts of theme parks as a focal point of the project. I also really enjoyed the crossover appeal that this sort of thing had, and the results were fairly impressive. I really have to give props to Disneyson1 this project for coming up with that killer audio clip. I'm loving the way the game is evolving into a more multi-media driven format. While written projects are still what make up the majority of the finished products, I think it's really cool when people think outside the box like the audio clip or the PDF file Team Coats presented in Project Two. Not going to say much about Season Ten right away (there will be a few MAJOR announcements about that at the end of this season...) but I'll tell you right now Season Ten will push these boundaries in even greater directions. Season Ten is going to be incredibly interactive, but I don't want to give away too much too fast, so we'll just leave it at that.

I think I'd like to address the players on a team by team basis. I'll start with the winning team this round, Team Baxter. I had some reservations about the project itself, but the way it was handled and presented, and the way the team interacted together, really made me proud. I think this project really proved that Monkey4057 is indeed a big power player. He's not the loudest player in the game, but he really knows how to drive home an idea, and he plays off of his strengths incredibly well. Imagineer2017 is also really crafty. He kind of employed the whole "throw a project" thing last project in order to secure getting Monkey transfered over to his team...sneaky, sneaky. Really interesting especially considering in my infamous "Mastermind Speech" I specifically mentioned that throwing a project was the one strategic move I personally regretted. But hey, I'm not going to condemn him at this point. He got exactly what he wanted, and now Team Baxter is kind of on a roll. Meanwhile you have CostaFreak, who is just all over the place this season. Like always, CF has the habit of vanishing for days at a time, but this season, whenever he DOES show up (and it's a considerable enough amount of times...) he usually contributes either awesome material, or at least very valuable words of wisdom. Everyone knows CostaFreak is this game's chief senior member, so he's got a lot of respect going for him this time around. Overall, the three of them really do make a likable underdog team.

Meanwhile, we have Team Davinson. This team took a hit right at the start of the project when MickeyMania forfeited for personal reasons. MickeyMania was one of THE star players of the season, and him and Disneyson made a noticeably good team. Loosing MickeyMania, perhaps I think sent Disneyson a little out of his element this time around. The communication at Team Davinson simply wasn't as strong. Thrill is definitely a "wild card" at this point, I'll give him that much. He sent StarWarsGeek to Outcast Island via Walt's Vault, and now he's been sent to Outcast Island himself. He's not the most active person, but he did manage to get second place on Festival of Imagination, so he's proved that he can last in a competitive environment. But So, You Want to be an Imagineer is a lot tougher of a landscape than Festival of Imagination, so Thrill might be in some trouble, especially if he doesn't get back from WDW soon. DWorld, on the other hand, is another question mark. Again, one of the most worthy new players to appear in Festival of Imagination, DWorld hasn't really done anything noteworthy yet. He contributes to the brainstorming and all that, but in terms of storyline or major contributions, he is kind of a player who is just..."There". No disrespect to him, of course. I understand how time consuming this game can be and we can't all have huge storylines and jaw-dropping projects. I think DWorld has a lot of potential, right now it just kind of feels like he's in a sort of hibernation.

And lastly, we have the almighty Team Coats. I really wish Futureimagineer would have been around for Fans Vs. Favorite to start out with, because he is definitely the biggest FAN of this game I've ever seen. On top of that, the kid really does have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He's a known strategist, and he also is one of the most active brainstormers in the entire game, as well as being the person behind this team's 10/10 scoring PDF file last project. Then you have ManEatingWreath. MEW is not really the Team Leader we all thought he'd be, but I think that's a good thing. Throughout the course of the first few projects this season, MEW has shown a real vulnerability. First he was in the famous 3D or not 3D debate on the first project, in the loosing side. His team pumped out an excellent project last season, but they kind of faltered a little here. I think it came mostly down to the fact that his team kind of fell apart at the last minute due to everyone's personal schedules conflicting. A case of bad timing, really. That's all it boils down to. In spite of this though, I do think it's interesting that MEW has displayed a notable lack of self confidence as a Team Leader. His team's still on the top of the scoreboard, and don't get me wrong, he's doing a great job. I think think it's a interesting tidbit that he's not playing super-confident like I was. Lastly on Team Coats we have Hack, who I can only describe as a "hero". I mean, I was truly moved by his huge display of being a great team player this project. Hack might not exactly be the absolute best creative player in this game, though he does have a lot of really good ideas. I think the interesting thing about Hack is that really, he's more of a social player. He's just an all around likable, good guy. His claim to fame is being eliminated before his time, so I really think he's on a personal journey this season to prove he can go the distance. I'm excited to see how far his journey will take him. He's definitely one of the more unique personalities we've seen in our nine seasons.

Meanwhile, on Outcast Island...StarWarsGeek continues to display a lack of proper social skills. Sorry SWG, you're a great kid and a big fan of the game, but you are a little too confrontational and in-your-face, and that's a serious game flaw. I still think StarWarsGeek will be around for a while (hopefully he'll resurface soon...) but his character's stock definitely went down this project due to his back and forth bickering with AdvBlueDude and his lapses in activity. While were on the subject of AdvBlueDude, at this point it would surprise me if he WASN'T the person voted back into the main game. This guy has put up with a lot of crap, especially considering he came *this close* to the finals...TWICE, only to WIN Festival of Imagination, JUST to be the first person sent to Outcast Island before the game even started. He's been biding his time, mostly. I'm pretty bummed he never presented a project the past couple rounds, but I understand his predicament. Team Bluth NEEDS to start producing projects though, I'm serious. Be sure to have something in for Project Four.

And lastly, I want to talk about the new team division. DWorld has gone to Team Coats, but I think the three way team of MEW, Hack, and Futureimagineer is too strong to break, and if Coats ends up loosing, DWorld will be the next one headed to Outcast Island. Disneyson going to Team Baxter is the biggie. With him on their team, they seem almost unstoppable. Project Two was a big project for Team Coats, and that 10/10 is a big reason they're still ahead in the leaderboards. They're going to have to really hustle if they want to stay ahead. Disneyson is a huge threat no matter how you look at it. Interestingly enough, this is going to be the first time we've seen Disneyson not in a Team Leader position. To me I think it'll play out more like KingMickey going to the Fans in Season Seven though. He's really going to push Team Baxter over the edge and into greatness. Team Coats has a lot of work on their hands.

One thing I have to say is that I'm really enjoying how my expectations are shifting on a project-to-project basis. We already lost Basketbuddy and MickeyMania, the two most talked about players pre season. Last blog I called StarWarsGeek THE main character of the season, and now he's a mere footnote in the grand scheme of things. Things are shifting and turning each and every project, and I'm loving it. I have no idea WHO is going to win at this point, I just know that Disneyson is probably everyone's main competition. I've got to say, I'm kind of hoping for another PL7764 style winner. Those are always the most fun. At any rate, I'll be on the edge of my seat whatever happens. You guys are doing an amazing job, and I think the next couple projects are really going to dramatically shift the core structure of the game even more. Keep your seatbelts fastened, kids!