Hello everyone. Sorry I've been so late to getting this blog out. I'm not going to have much of an introduction, just jump to my thoughts on each of the Final Five. I'll start with the two people currently on Outcast Island.
Thrill: Thrill has been a really interesting presence this season. Most of the things he's memorable for have nothing to do with creative gameplay. He's been sent to Outcast Island twice, and he was also involved in the demise of early villain StarWarsGeek. He made a really good solo project last round, and is now competing against the most powerful person in the game for a chance to get into the Final Three. I hate to say it, but I really can't see how Thrill can survive this next round. Disneyson is just TOO good of a competitor, and he's been heavily researching Lost more than anyone this season. Sadly, I think Thrill will end up finishing in fifth place this season. Even at fifth place, that's still a pretty good standing for someone's first season against a ton of huge competitors. Thrill's a scrappy personality who I could definitely see having a more powerful game in a future season.
Disneyson: Disneyson is like the Brenchal of So, You Want to be an Imagineer (if anyone else is familiar with Big Brother) he's just a perfect storm of a player that the entire rest of the cast revolves their attention around. The moment that everyone was waiting to happen finally happened last project, and Disneyson was sent to Outcast Island when Futureimagineer, AdvBlueDude, and Imagineer teamed up to vote him out. Now that he's there, however, he actually has an easier road to get to the finals than he would have otherwise. It seems that every seemingly bad thing that's happened to Disneyson this season has ended up working towards his benefit. Team Davinson gets dissolved, and the end result is Disneyson getting his hands on the Golden Power of MVP, something that couldn't have happened had he been in his previous Team Leader position. The thing about Disneyson is that he's coasted to the finals...but has he really DONE anything? I mean, of course he's got a very good creative game, but as this season proves, this game is more than just being creative. I think after the Portal project, Disneyson tried his hardest to steer clear of his potential "Napoleon Complex", but even still, he WAS sent to Outcast Island, and when Adv and Imagineer came back, he was barely even in a Team Leader position. I think Disneyson winning or being a runner up depends on how good of an argument he can come up with for the components of his gameplay beyond just doing good projects.
And now I'll address the people still in the main game...
AdvBlueDude: No matter what happens this season, I think AdvBlueDude has earned his right as a "Superstar" of the game. If you throw him into a season, he WILL make the semi-finals. What can I say about him? He's just a really consistent, high quality player, who is as good with getting along with other players as he is with his own creative energy. The question of course is...will he finally make the finals this time, or will he suffer some absurd, Shakespearean bout of irony and get eliminated RIGHT before the finals for the third season in a row. Either way, he's a huge character in the game that has been built up over the past three seasons, and whatever result this season brings, I don't think he's going to go away any time soon. He's been through it all this season. He was the first victim of Outcast Island, got back into the main game, got sent back to Outcast Island almost immediately, and then finally got back into the main game for a second time. A lot of his gameplay this season has been him reacting to the twists more than anything else. Obviously he has a strong creative game going on, but given the circumstances I think he hasn't been able to use that nearly as much as he would have liked to. If he makes the Final Three, he's got a strong argument in his favor just because he's managed to navigate all these twists and still get to the end.
Hack2112: When it comes down to it, I think Hack is just about THE most interesting person to play this season. Everyone should know his story by now. He was eliminated in 8th place in Fans vs. Favorites only to come back into the game and get eliminated again by KingMickey, Trevor, and Mater. (And...rather or not that was a strategic move or not...STILL up for debate...) He could have been a major contender in Season Eight if not for a personal crisis, and now in Season Nine, while he hasn't really been what I would describe as a "power player", he's perhaps the most consistent player of the season. He's now the last man standing on Team Coats, who had the highest score at the end of the first round of team play. Throughout the season, he's managed to never get sent to Outcast Island (though he would have been sent there with Disneyson this past round had Futureimagineer not dropped out, which is why Future gets the title of the only person to never get sent to Outcast Island this season...) and he's been a consistently good team player. Having said that, the interesting thing about Hack is that he is definitely an opinionated player, and when those opinions don't jive with that of his team, he usually goes on the offense side of things. During the first project, he refused to participate in the giant mes of a brainstorming session. Similarly, during the movie project last time around, he stated his case against the Alien Encounter movie, but after it was shot down, he pretty much went into hiding. Hack is someone who plans out every action in this game, and for that reason I think that if he makes the Final Three he's going to be a VERY dangerous player. I think in terms of sheer creativity, Disneyson has him beat by a slim margin, but in terms of social and strategic dynamics, I'm pretty sure Hack can make better arguments for the way he played. Either way, Hack is a rebel of a contestant and I'm very much rooting for him.
Imagineer2017: Even outside of So, You Want to be an Imagineer, he's a great personality and I feel really lucky that he happened to stroll through our parts one day. Imagineer is like a new model of AdvBlueDude. Just a player who is REALLY consistent, both in terms of being a good (if outspoken) team player, and in terms of coming up with great ideas. Outside of that, he co-hosts the D-History Podcast with Strat, a partnership that also co-runs Festival of Imagination. In less than a year on the board, Imagineer has become one of So, You Want to be an Imagineer's most valued resources. Imagineer's storyline this season mostly revolves around how he was in a really good position before getting sent to Outcast Island. Well..he's STILL in a good position. The thing is, he's competing against Hack and AdvBlueDude, and both of these guys want to make the finals REALLY bad. I'm sure Imagineer wants to make the finals just as much, but the other two just have more motivation. I think Hack's really out to WIN this time around. (Remember back in my Cast Assessment..."no returning player has ever had more to prove than Hack does right here...right now."?) and I think AdvBlueDude wants to make the finals by any means necessary, perhaps more than anyone in the history of the semi-finals. What do I think will happen? Based on what Hack's already told me about his Lost project, I honestly think he has this one in the bag. This means, it's going to be a showdown between friends and game allies AdvBlueDude and Imagineer to get that last slot. One thing I know for sure is it's going to be a REALLY close call, and I'm going to seriously hate eliminating either one of them.
Well, that's it for now. I really think you guys when all is said and done, even though the format might be a bit controversial, will be rather pleased with what I'm asking for from the Final Project. There's going to be a creative element to it that's going to go a long way towards spicing up the overall material. There's also going to be an entirely new grading criteria strictly for the final project. Also, I know I haven't talked about it much on the blogs, but I REALLY hope you guys are all following Strat's Outcast Island audio series. I think Strat's come a long way with these things this season. They started out as just silly little vignettes, but now they've evolved to fully produced, well acted, fully scripted radio dramas. The addition of Raine as Alias I think REALLY gave the series an identity. The Alias character is going to be CRUCIAL to the rest of the So, You Want to be an Imagineer storyline. (As is Frankensmith and Duke Ellington...) The season finale, "A Tale of Three Cities" is an artistic endeavor that I'm REALLY plunging myself into. Either it's going to be a huge, bloated mess...or you guys are going to be completely blown away. As a teaser, here is the first part of the script, which is a flashback to Alias pre-Outcast Island...
Audio journal entry. May 23rd, 2010. Tonight...is the end. The end in a lot of different senses of the word. Lost is over. It's airing right now, as we speak. So why am I not in my room right now, nerding it up for those precious two and a half ours the series has left? Well...quiet frankly Season Six has been kind of a drag, and I've got more important things on my mind...believe it or not.
For the past six months, I've been investigating the legend of Mr. One Way. If there's one thing I love more than Lost, it's Disneyland, and if there's one thing I love more than Disneyland, it's ghost hunting. So naturally, the legend of Mr. One Way kind of fits hand in hand with my oh-so-eccentric personality. Now, if you don't know, Mr. One Way is supossedly the ghost who haunts Space Mountain. He's not just any ghost though. This is a ghost that will talk and interact with you. As a matter of fact, his whole act is that he bumps into you at the loading station, posing as a tourist. Bad Hawaiian shirt, balding scalp, beer gut, sunburn and all. He'll lure you into riding with him, that's why he only goes after single riders, and then, as the legend goes, he disappears from your car as soon as the flash picture is taken. I've been going to the park for months now investigating this. I've had many conversations with One Way. In fact, it's gotten to the point where I can call him One Way to his face, and he'll just smile knowingly. He KNOWS he's a ghost, and if people catch on to him, he'll congratulate them for being all the more clever. He told me to be on the last ride of the night tonight, so here I am. I'll save Lost for DVR, this is life...or...afterlife were talking about. It's not every night you get a personal meeting with a famous ghost.
I promise you, this finale will blow......MINDS!!! In the meantime, good luck to all people in the semi-finals and sorry again for taking so long with this blog.
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