No Church In The Wild

[Jay Byars]

Well well well, look who we have here. Jonas, Alexis and Matt.

First things first, congrats on making it to the end, job well done, regardless of how you got there. You each played your own game, had your own positives and negatives and what not.

Since Carlos is an asshole, I can only ask 3 questions (and none of them can be essays sadly) so I will ask each of you 3. 1 will be the same for all of you. The other 2 will be different for each of you. Some are more serious and game-related, while others may be more lax and fun. Regardless of the nature of the questions I expect you to answer them honestly and with your best effort put into them (which I realize might be a challenge for some of you).

Also, feel free to respond to my statements, in fact, I encourage it. It might just help clear some things up, not just for me, but for the other jurors as well if applicable.

Alright, let's get to it.

First up we got Jonas.

Jonas we did not really talk much at all in this game, up until I was out really. However, I do commend you. You got dealt a shit end because of Matt and Danni coupling you with Brandon and JT and what not. I felt from our select conversations that you are a genuine, stand up guy and that is apparently very rare to find now-a-days. I will tell you, you will have to really blow some people away to get some jury votes, so be very convincing!

Jonas

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

2 - Replace the final 3 with 3 jurors and explain why you picked each juror.

3 - Let's say this was a final 2, and you were voted out. Between Alexis and Matt, who would you vote for to win and why? Briefly outline their gameplay in your view in your answer as well.

~

Alexis -

First off, from your opening statement. Do not believe everything you hear from people, especially when it is Danni. I DID want to get to the 5/6 with you, and with the way the game was going I would have sided with you even further. You can say what you want (voting RC out causing you to not trust me, etc) but let me remind you, you lied to me about the Abi vote first, so it was fair play. With the way things were unfolding, with people like Danni going for too much control and what not, I would have sided and had your back as much as I could, beyond final 5. So what I got off your opening statement is that while I was upfront and genuine with you, you were not. You were fake, and way too emotional at certain points of the game, too wishy-washy as other players had warned me you were, at least when it concerned me. I felt, that even out of the game you were genuine, but now I know I was dead wrong, and I'll be honest it sucks, but I guess that's my problem, being too friendly and personable and actually not wanting to turn on people I genuinely like. Glad to know you were disingenuous, well played.

Alexis

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

2 - All this wishy-washy, being overly emotional stuff. Is that just a schtick of yours you used this game to make people feel like "aww, poor Alexis actually felt bad about voting us out" or is it just some made up BS to try and get pity/sympathy votes from those jurors? How about the time I came to you the round I got idoled and asked you straight up if I was going and you flat out said nothing? It's not like I could have done anything considering it was literally 5 minutes before deadline.

3 - Who do you think out of the final 3 has the WORST opening statement (yourself included) and why? Please critique their opening, compare it to their game play and cite specific examples. I'm not looking for anything more then a paragraph but I would like you to give it some thought so you can show me and others that you were aware to everything around you in the game.

~

Matt

Where do I begin? First off, I'm gonna be straight up, once Danni got out and I found everything out, I was disgusted. Hell, I still am. I was nothing but genuine with you all game, and I had your back until the end, final 2. I would have NEVER written your name down so to find out that you had the role you did in getting me out, all I have to say is Fuck You. That being said, you still made the end, and as much as I hate your guts, your sitting opposite of me. I felt like you played worse then Russell Hantz, because at least Russell was LOYAL to his allies and a dick to others. You, it seems were just in this game to fuck over anybody with two legs. I don't think you even know what the word Loyalty means. Then, not to mention you telling Tina how to find the idol and all that crap, absolute BS.

Anyways

Matt

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

2 - Loyalty. I want you to define that word and cite your source. The definition you think fits the best for this game. Then, once you have done that I want you to give me examples from this game (as many as you can) where you could use a persons allegiance to their tribe, a person, whatever as an example in defining the term. Give me examples of people who were loyal, and to who and how you know that. I know it'll be hard for you, but do try and show us that you at least acknowledge the words existence and it's use in this game.

3 - The game of Survivor is long, physical and grueling. Getting to the end is only HALF the battle. The other half is won and lost based on how you treated the jury and how you respond in this Q and A. Knowing that, how much do you like your chances to win and why? I'd like to point out that while yes, you let it be known the jury may have hard feelings against you because of you how you played, you can't fault them or call them bitter. That's on you for treating people the way you did, it's called jury management, which you severely lacked. Did you not expect people to talk in jury? You could have approached your own game play in a totally different way (still doing what you did to get here, but handling the social aspect a little different) and be the favorite going in to win, but you didn't. So, tell me why I, or anyone you fucked over should vote for you? Don't tell me about your game but explain to us why you deserve our votes when most of us see you as an ever worse version of Russell Hantz, who I should remind you lost both times. Please also, on a scale of 1-10 (10 being very loyal) tell me how loyal you were to your most loyalist ally and who that lucky/unlucky individual was

My vote is up in the air, I have reasons to want to vote for all three of you, but at the same time, not for you at the same time. Jonas, you were a genuine guy, but it appears your game lacked in relation to the other two. Alexis, you seem to have played a somewhat middle game, you got your hands dirty but not as dirty as Matt, but you were also transparent. Matt, I don't think I need to explain why I don't want to vote for you, but you did play a good game to get here.

So with that being said, I encourage you to even reply to my comments, might clear some things up and it shows me you WANT to win this by clearing things up if I was wrong. Good Luck.

[Matt Elrod]

Feb 21, 2013 23:36:25 GMT -5 Jay Byars said:

Matt

Where do I begin? First off, I'm gonna be straight up, once Danni got out and I found everything out, I was disgusted. Hell, I still am. I was nothing but genuine with you all game, and I had your back until the end, final 2. I would have NEVER written your name down so to find out that you had the role you did in getting me out, all I have to say is Fuck You. That being said, you still made the end, and as much as I hate your guts, your sitting opposite of me. I felt like you played worse then Russell Hantz, because at least Russell was LOYAL to his allies and a dick to others. You, it seems were just in this game to fuck over anybody with two legs. I don't think you even know what the word Loyalty means. Then, not to mention you telling Tina how to find the idol and all that crap, absolute BS.

When you say "all that crap, absolute bs" what do you mean? Do you just mean you're disgusted by what I did, or do you feel like I've misrepresented myself? I tried writing that opening while going through my posts from each round in my confessional, and I feel like all of it represented what I was thinking at the time. I would begin and end each round discussing you, Danni, and the game's overall balance of power, etc. I appreciate how you really are looking closely at everything and giving us chances to clear up any misconceptions, and I want to use this opportunity to get EVERYTHING out there. So feel free to bring up anything I've left out.

I'll tell you about Tina now since it's something I did leave out. It was the 3rd round that she came to me saying that she and Tijuana were on the outs and that Alexis and Jonas were flip flopping during the votes. She said she was targetting Tyson and wanted him out. I thought helping her out was a great way to get potential support from the minority alliance on the other side, and Tyson looked like a strong arrogant personality which was not the kind of personality I wanted to deal with.

There was another reason why I helped Tina find the idol which I didn't mention to anyone, until I brought it up to Alexis on AIM a few days ago. I wanted to work with Malcolm, but I knew that Malcolm was aligned with Tyson. So I thought that by helping Tina get rid of Tyson, that it would allow me to have a better chance of having Malcolm be dependent upon me in the event of a swap or a merge. Malcolm and I talked for like four hours the night before we got tribes, and he revealed his identity to me at the end of the chat. I wanted to work with him. But he wasn't active enough and got voted out, so it didn't matter.

I'll get started on the rest of the questions tomorrow after I finish my homework.

[Jay Byars]

So what was your allegiance to me, did you ever intend to actually keep your end up of it or was it always in your plans to take me out with an idol and play it off like you had no part in it? Cause hell, when I finally managed to get to the jungle and found that we had to post 3 times, you were the first and only person I told to, only for me to later realize upon my own exit you had other intentions, which did disgust me because I was nothing but honest with you.

[Matt Elrod]

This is just addressing your last statement. I'll still answer the rest tomorrow if you're still willing to give me a chance.

I thought about being 100% loyal to you. You were by far the person who I spoke to the most and got along with best on a personal level. I think the key point when I decided I wasn't going to be fully loyal with you to the end was when I got back from the jungle and didn't tell you about ALL the clues I found or that I figured the idol out. I chose to go with the "be loyal only to yourself" strategy because I didn't want to backstabbed or hurt. So finding out you were going to be fully loyal to me now, it does make me feel bad. But in order to shield myself from being hurt in the game, I had no problem making moves and leading blindsides of any person any round. If you discard personal emotions while relating to gameplay, it gives you this freedom to make whatever move you have to. I would talk to everyone the same, literally not knowing if I'd be voting them out that round, the next one, or what. It's absolutely disgusting gameplay, but it's very effective. I feel like with Alexis's strategy, there were a few rounds where she used the same philosophy, but she had a little humanity left in her while I had none. I played the game like I was playing people in poker, and I wanted to leave everyone else weak and myself powerful. It was just a game to me, and that's how I played it. If someone made a move to get me out like Rory tried to do and he succeeded, I would've just grinned and shook my head, saying, "You got me."

On a personal level, I met so many people who I like and hope to run into again in the future. Our late night chats were great, and I loved how you liked LOST and science fiction shows as much as I did. Even with Jonas, I found he's a very nice guy who will come to you and tell you things like they are in most situations. Alexis and I had a few great chats over the past week and I like her a lot. I'd hope my gameplay and whatever happens next wouldn't have any effect on those relationships. Because it is a game that we're just playing for fun on the Internet. If either of the two of them win, which is likely to happen, I'll be happy for them. My life isn't dependent on this win. Even though I do really want it!

There's also a really sick part of me that was jealous of the amazing perception you had as well. Everyone pegged you as the person to win. I felt like my game was really, really good even before I started flipping alliances each round, but you had the kind of perception that I felt would have almost assured you a win in the finals. I didn't want to be seen as a follower or pawn. I wanted to be relevant, and I feel like regardless of what happens now, based on the way I played this game, I was. And that makes me feel good.

[Alexis Jones]

Feb 21, 2013 23:36:25 GMT -5 Jay Byars said:

Alexis -

First off, from your opening statement. Do not believe everything you hear from people, especially when it is Danni. I DID want to get to the 5/6 with you, and with the way the game was going I would have sided with you even further. You can say what you want (voting RC out causing you to not trust me, etc) but let me remind you, you lied to me about the Abi vote first, so it was fair play. With the way things were unfolding, with people like Danni going for too much control and what not, I would have sided and had your back as much as I could, beyond final 5. So what I got off your opening statement is that while I was upfront and genuine with you, you were not. You were fake, and way too emotional at certain points of the game, too wishy-washy as other players had warned me you were, at least when it concerned me. I felt, that even out of the game you were genuine, but now I know I was dead wrong, and I'll be honest it sucks, but I guess that's my problem, being too friendly and personable and actually not wanting to turn on people I genuinely like. Glad to know you were disingenuous, well played.

Alexis

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

2 - All this wishy-washy, being overly emotional stuff. Is that just a schtick of yours you used this game to make people feel like "aww, poor Alexis actually felt bad about voting us out" or is it just some made up BS to try and get pity/sympathy votes from those jurors? How about the time I came to you the round I got idoled and asked you straight up if I was going and you flat out said nothing? It's not like I could have done anything considering it was literally 5 minutes before deadline.

3 - Who do you think out of the final 3 has the WORST opening statement (yourself included) and why? Please critique their opening, compare it to their game play and cite specific examples. I'm not looking for anything more then a paragraph but I would like you to give it some thought so you can show me and others that you were aware to everything around you in the game.

I had believed Danni about you turning on me because other people also said you were not happy that I was hesitant with the JT vote. I was told not to tell you about the Abi vote/your departure and although it was rude of me not to comment to you before your departure, I knew had we started a conversation, I would end up telling you.

<<I felt, that even out of the game you were genuine, but now I know I was dead wrong, and I'll be honest it sucks, but I guess that's my problem, being too friendly and personable and actually not wanting to turn on people I genuinely like. Glad to know you were disingenuous, well played.>>

This statement really sucks. I don't know what was disingenuous of me out of the game. I love pokémon and superheroes and those conversations that we had were real and genuine. If you don't think those were genuine, then why did I put a (badly-attempted) Charizard on your vote? I like you as a person, but in the game, I didn't feel the trust vibe between us two. It was weird because I always felt that you were nice, but it was almost a sneaky nice and I didn't know where I actually stood with you in relation to other people. We never really spoke about final plans and yes the first round of the merge it's probably too early. I knew you were close to A LOT of people. You basically had good relationships with everyone except Tina and Tijuana. When groups of people can tell you F3 but you were only offering F6 plans, it was really in my best interest to side with the F3 groups. I'm sorry that you feel I was disingenuous, I was not playing you.

-----------

#1) (I have only seen seasons: Micronesia, Redemption Island, South Pacific, One World, and Philippines).

My pick:


~Carter Williams from Philippines~


This might not be a reason for others but jay byars and carter williams are both hott. So..... yeah, Moving onto game play

There is a slight dissonance between Jay/Carter in the fact that Carter wasn't shown making vote decisions. Other than that I feel like Jay and Carter are quite similar.

1) Challenge competitors. We all knew Jay was strong and he was consistently towards the top of the challegnes. Carter usually finished in the top and had a few wins himself.

2) Carter was booted because he would be a threat in the end because everyone loved him. He was good at challenges; he was great at social. Same goes with Jay except he also controlled some votes. I'm pretty sure everyone liked Jay or enjoying conversing with him.

3) Abs Oh shit, that's not game play...



#2) I am an emotional person. I usually play with my heart. I thought that I had stayed away from that this season but I guess not. Voting out JT was seriously the hardest vote all season. I don't know why you think I fake being sad. I also find it hard to vote people I like. JT was the only person to talk to me when I merged over to NuMenba. We had excellent conversations. I seriously had tried to get the vote off of him. When I realized that I could not, I had to vote him in order for me to stay.

Voting people out sucks. I hadn't spoke to you that round because I knew I'd feel bad and end up telling you that you would be going. I thought that Matt had given his idol to Tina. So I was afraid you blowing up would make Matt change his mind just like the Tijuana vote was supposed to be Lisa but in the last couple of hours it switched.


#3) I would have to say Matt's was the weakest.

To me, it seemed like he took credit for everything since the merge. He came off as overbearing and cocky.

I don't know how him telling Danni led to the JT boot because Jay to my knowledge orchestrated that boot; Danni wasn't even on our tribe.

Also, Matt couldn't vote with majority even though he knew what the majority was during Abi's vote off and Jay's vote off.

I also feel he took too much credit away from Rory. Who had wanted to vote Matt off way before then. Just because Matt fed information to Rory, so <that he'd tell Jonas> and that they <would both want to vote him off> doesn't seem to be all of Matt's idea to me. Ever since Matt had lied to Rory about 'accidentally' voting for Lisa because of his computer problems, Rory has been concerned about Matt. And when I wanted to make a F3 with Rory and Matt during Danni's boot, Rory was the one who was skeptical. Matt had a target from Rory long before his 'information' was fed to him.

To be honest, I was fine with Tina leaving, but not because she was a target. Yeah she had won many immunities, and yeah she had stuck true to her alliance. But her lack of a social game I think is a problem with most of the jurors. She also needed immunities more than any other juror. So, I was fine with Matt and Jonas needing Tina to be gone rather than say, myself.

[Matt Elrod]

Feb 22, 2013 2:10:25 GMT -5 Alexis Jones said:

I don't know how him telling Danni led to the JT boot because Jay to my knowledge orchestrated that boot; Danni wasn't even on our tribe.

Jay wasn't online during the vote when Danni almost left. I filled him in, and then I filled Danni in on what had happened. I told Danni more than Jay, and the two of them talked about it. I believe Jay said something to me about how he had talked more to Danni who brought up a few good points about how Brandon and JT needed to go. We also were going to coordinate throwing the challenge, and the round Brandon left, we did throw the challenge. What I said was "This helped set up the JT and Brandon boots" which I believe is accurate. Jay voted for JT and organized JT's boot knowing they'd win the next challenge and he'd be safe. During the vote, I was talking to Jay and hearing his progress most of the time.

Feb 22, 2013 2:10:25 GMT -5 Alexis Jones said:

Also, Matt couldn't vote with majority even though he knew what the majority was during Abi's vote off and Jay's vote off.

This was completely intentional so I could keep playing both sides. It was part of my strategy.

Feb 22, 2013 2:10:25 GMT -5 Alexis Jones said:

I also feel he took too much credit away from Rory. Who had wanted to vote Matt off way before then. Just because Matt fed information to Rory, so <that he'd tell Jonas> and that they <would both want to vote him off> doesn't seem to be all of Matt's idea to me. Ever since Matt had lied to Rory about 'accidentally' voting for Lisa because of his computer problems, Rory has been concerned about Matt. And when I wanted to make a F3 with Rory and Matt during Danni's boot, Rory was the one who was skeptical. Matt had a target from Rory long before his 'information' was fed to him.

You mentioned in your opening that a main reason you voted for Danni was because you crossed notes with me, so I think I have a lot to do with why Danni left and not just Rory. Granted, I do believe Rory was playing a strong strategic game at that point which is why I wanted him specifically gone over you, but him wanting me out after the Lisa vote was only 1 round before at the Final 6, and Rory targeted me at the Final 5. It wasn't "way before then." It was like 24 hours from the point I came and said my motherboard died until Danni left and it was Final 5.

Feb 22, 2013 2:10:25 GMT -5 Alexis Jones said:

To be honest, I was fine with Tina leaving, but not because she was a target. Yeah she had won many immunities, and yeah she had stuck true to her alliance. But her lack of a social game I think is a problem with most of the jurors. She also needed immunities more than any other juror. So, I was fine with Matt and Jonas needing Tina to be gone rather than say, myself.

Tina going was my originally plan to save myself as well if I didn't have immunity, which I mentioned. Even after I had immunity, I just went with it because these jury votes look like crap shoots to me. If anything, you and Jonas may cancel each other out with a few. I have no idea.

Sorry for interrupting, but I want to defend my opening.

[Jonas Otsuji]

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

I'm comparing you to Grant Mattos from Redemption Island. I feel your game was very similar to his on more then a few fronts. Grant had good ties with people most the game and had himself positioned in a really good alliance to stay safe and secure. He was a serious threat to win the game had he been fortunate to have made it to the end. You seemed to have several people you were on good terms with and had alliances to stay safe and secure most the game, until the idol was played against you. You were def one of the front runners that stuck out to win this game had you been able to be siting here right now. Grant also had a really good bond with Boston Rob during his season and remained loyal and committed to him where he wanted to duke it out with him at the final tribal council. I felt you had a similar bond with Matt during this game where you put a lot of trust and faith into him and there was a point in the game where he decided to cut you loose and not risk you getting to that final tribal council where you might have been a huge threat to him. Rob did the same thing to Grant when he felt he was too much of a threat, he voted him out to try and give himself that more of a shot at winning the game.


2 - Replace the final 3 with 3 jurors and explain why you picked each juror.

I will pick Jay, Danni, and Rory.

Jay - I think you played one great overall game and would have actually had a legit chance to be sitting in the final 3 had you not become victim of the idol. You socially were a strong player where I feel you connected with a lot of people and could use those skills to get what you wanted most the time. Then strategically you were always thinking who was the biggest threat and needed to be eliminated, always thinking one vote ahead and what needed to be done to move another step forward. Challenge wise you seemed strong where maybe you were not maybe the best but right there in contention where you contributed a lot. I thought you had little of everything in your game and would have been a deserving finalist.

Danni - I thought she played the game socially strong where she developed bonds with several different people and had people putting a lot of trust into her. She tried to make moves that would benefit herself most and had her hand involved in a lot of different ideas that ended up leading to people's elimination from the game. She played the game hard from the standpoint where she was in control at times and would have made herself a serious threat to win this game had she made it to the end, which is also a big reason why she needed to leave before she ever had a chance to get to that point.


Rory - I found him to be one of the most rational and level headed players in the game. He knew how to be social with people and develop good relationships and also be strategically sound knowing when he needed to make moves and do it in a matter that made him still well liked and respected. He was also one of the few people where I believe the jury was really in favor of him throughout most this game where he would have knocked out a jury vote really easily. He played an overall really great game where he tried to set himself not only for the finale, but where he had an excellent chance to win when he got there.

3 - Let's say this was a final 2, and you were voted out. Between Alexis and Matt, who would you vote for to win and why? Briefly outline their gameplay in your view in your answer as well.

This would actually be a tough vote where I would have to likely see their answers to questions as that could have made a huge difference. They both have certain reasons where I would want to vote for them and reasons where I wouldn't want to vote for them. They both played different games where they had certain flaws holding them back from getting my vote.

Matt played the game putting himself out there a lot and in the spotlight with nearly every vote knowing what was exactly going on at all times, as well as getting people to trust him and keeping the target off his back. The problem is he was very questionable with how we arrived at certain decisions and how we dealt with voting people out. A lot of this game comes down to how you treat people in the end with the jury voting for the winner. When you continually make questionable decisions and blindside people, then that does become a problem when you get to this point. I do think he played a really good game, it just backs yourself up in a corner at this point where you have most the jury mad at you when you're so wishy washy.

Alexis' played this game not as aggressive as Matt's where I feel she wasn't as vocal about what she wanted to do at certain times and almost was confused at times what to do. While Matt got his way more with the votes, she didn't betray and upset people most the time which is admireable. She stuck to her alliances and deals mainly and tried to not go our of her way to stab people in the game. There were times she did like on the Danni vote but other then that there wasn't really many other occasions where she went way out of her way to viciously get people's hopes up and turn around and write their name down instead. She played it cleaner but stayed out of the spotlight most the time.

They both performed about the same when it came to immunity challenges, they both won a couple did okay on other challenges but not overly outstanding where you wouldn't be able to give one of them an edge over the other.

If I had to pick who I would vote for, it would probably be Matt based on him discussing more things with me during the game we seemed to connect a lot better then I had with Alexis. Then again, Matt didn't betray me like many of you on the jury and if he did that could completely change my thought process here and I might then be more prone to voting for Alexis instead if that had happened.

[Matt Elrod]

1 - I know Carlos said no comparing questions... but he can SMD. I am not asking you to compare the jury, just me, myself to a contestant from Survivor you feel like I played like the most. All I ask is that you don't just give one short sentence or two. Do put some thought and effort into it and explain in detail. I'm not asking for an essay, but I also don't want just a half assed 2 sentence answer.

I'd say you were Ozzy in South Pacific. You had that whole team player mentality at the start, and you were willing to take one for the team if you had to. This can be compared to Ozzy sending himself to Redemption Island to help assure the tribe's numbers for the merge. Physically you were a huge threat. You were a big part of many tribal wins. You had a lot of potential at individual challenges, but none of them came up that were your type. Like Tina, I was expecting to see you go on a challenge run later in the game had you stayed. Perception-wise you were like Ozzy. He always became too big of a threat in his seasons and got targeted for it. That was like you. You were sometimes a little too believing and paid the price by being backstabbed. I feel like you were a little bit interested in flirting and romance, as you talked to me about it, and that can be compared to Ozzy's relationship with Amanda.

2 - Loyalty. I want you to define that word and cite your source. The definition you think fits the best for this game. Then, once you have done that I want you to give me examples from this game (as many as you can) where you could use a persons allegiance to their tribe, a person, whatever as an example in defining the term. Give me examples of people who were loyal, and to who and how you know that. I know it'll be hard for you, but do try and show us that you at least acknowledge the words existence and it's use in this game.

Here's the definition for "loyal" because "loyalty" keeps bringing up "the state of being loyal". So loyalty describes the follow state: Loyalty: characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.

Source: dictionary.reference.com/browse/loyal

Examples:
- You were loyal to me. You told me things you didn't tell anyone else like your jungle trips. How do I know? I suspected in the game you may be most loyal to me, but you just said it so now I know 100%.

- Danni was originally going to be loyal to a Menba alliance including you, me Lisa, and then JT. She told us about this alliance and supported it until she found out that it wasn't as loyal to her as she was to it. I know this just based on assumption and how she reacted when she found out that she was almost voted out.

- Abi was possibly the most loyal person who wanted an all Menba to the end group in the finals. She would go around exalting us all on the board. She would always want us to stick together first primarily in her strategic discussion. Again, some of us weren't as loyal to her as she was to us, so it didn't work out. I know this just from talking to her and observing her actions and conversations in the game.

- Jonas was loyal to the Menba alliance after the merge. He would tell everyone involved what he was doing, occasionally lie to others outside the alliance, and vote with how the alliance wanted. I know this because he said it in his final tribal council answers, and during the game, all of his actions went towards the greater cause of the alliance. He never wavered from it once he committed.

- Lisa was loyal to the Menba alliance and to Jonas who joined it. I personally would have been surprised to see her make a move against us. She had that motherly, extremely loyal vibe to her and supported us getting to the end.

- Danni, Tijuana, and Tina were loyal to each other. More than even with me, I felt like these three were never going to vote against each other. Maybe in end-game, there was a point where they would have to turn. But Danni fought tooth and nail to avoid Tijuana and Tina being on the chopping block. She was upset when they were voted out. And I don't think it was worth approaching Tijuana and Tina about voting for each other because I don't think they would have.

3 - The game of Survivor is long, physical and grueling. Getting to the end is only HALF the battle. The other half is won and lost based on how you treated the jury and how you respond in this Q and A. Knowing that, how much do you like your chances to win and why? I'd like to point out that while yes, you let it be known the jury may have hard feelings against you because of you how you played, you can't fault them or call them bitter. That's on you for treating people the way you did, it's called jury management, which you severely lacked. Did you not expect people to talk in jury? You could have approached your own game play in a totally different way (still doing what you did to get here, but handling the social aspect a little different) and be the favorite going in to win, but you didn't. So, tell me why I, or anyone you fucked over should vote for you? Don't tell me about your game but explain to us why you deserve our votes when most of us see you as an ever worse version of Russell Hantz, who I should remind you lost both times.

My philosophy is that at least 80% of the battle is getting to the end. Maybe more. Because if you're not at the end, you have a 0% chance of winning. If you are at the end, ANYTHING can happen based on jury questions and answers. I'd say my chances to win this game are about 10%. Am I the favorite? Absolutely not. But I feel like I can definitely still win. Until all the votes are in, I can still win. My best scenario would be a 3-3-2 tie, and I'm prepared to fight for all 3 of those votes. Why was I comfortable entering the finals like this? I'll give you a few reasons.

1) Psychologically, I do better with jury votes when I'm not expected to win. I've noticed in games where I enter final tribal councils the favorite, have set things up to expect to win, and then answer my jury questions trying to maintain this win, I just screw up and someone is more likely to come out and steals it from me with a great performance. I'd rather enter not expecting to win so I can just go fight for it and approach this with a "nothing to lose" philosophy. This strategy has sometimes won me games in the past, and they feel especially rewarding because I fought for it against the odds and won.

2) There are people in games who give you the full illusion they can be trusted, and then they backstab you. These people will play the game like I did, and there's no possible way in communicating with them to realize what they're doing. It sucks, but it's a reason why you should ultimately only 100% trust yourself. Which I did.

3) Jurors share different philosophy, and doing jury management can backfire in a lot of ways. A lot of times if you try to make peace with jurors on your way out, it will hurt you. Either people will start looking at you as a jury threat to win and you won't be as likely to make finals. There are times when you'll make finals, and your game was "too boring" or "too much like a game-bot" and they'll vote for the underdog. You also have jurors who when they leave, they'll be like, "Wow, this person is really sucking up to all of us. I'm going to vote for the other person for being more real at the end." Due to reasons like that, I felt better to leave the jury ignorant and somewhat backstabbed until I cleared everything up now.

4) I don't think that I could have handled the social aspect a little different and still did exactly what I did, and ended up here with a super chance to win. My strategy intentionally involved leaving the jurors clueless. Why? Because jurors like to influence the game during it. It's one of my biggest pet peeves in games because it makes them unrealistic like the show, but it can't be prevented. I don't like when the jury will try to influence the game after they're voted out. Danni for instance came to me and Alexis after she was ousted. She accused us of having a pre-game. She told Alexis I was a snake. It just annoys me because A) I didn't have any pre-games. The only two people whose identities I knew from past games were Abi and Malcolm, and I met them after the game had started. B) She's out of the game and still trying to turn people against me.

If I would have approached the boots and like apologized and warned targets and explained that I wasn't the loyal person I said I was, you would have been upset. The other jurors would have been upset. And some of you would have likely told my potential allies, and they would have realized I was playing multiple sides and not trusted me. So based on the angle of covering myself in every situation, I don't think I could have done the same thing and got here as a favorite. I would have had to play a loyal game to do that, and if I would, your game would have likely overshadowed mine in the finals.

5) I tried to counter the lack of jury management aspect by bringing along the two least likely people to have jurors supporting them. Will this backfire? I don't think so. If I would've played the game the way I did and brought you and Danni along with me as my two closest allies and two most deserving palyers, I would have been even less likely to win based on flipping back and forth I feel and the perception you had as a strong player and Danni's perception as a strategist. I felt like Alexis played a similar style game to how I played by trying not to put emotion into it. She didn't focus as much on jury management with many jurors, but her backstabs were a little less sharp than mine were. With Jonas, a few people disliked him for reasons that mostly occurred before I met him and I don't fully understand. But I wasn't expecting him to have a lot of the jurors be, "I'M SO HAPPY THEY'RE IN THE FINALS AND WANT THEM TO WIN." I expected this kind of reaction where all the jurors are like, "I don't know what to do. I really don't want to vote Matt, but maybe he was deserving? I don't know." vs. "WOW, THERE'S NO WAY I'M VOTING FOR MATT. JAY PLAYED THIS GAME SO STRONG AND MATT WAS STUPID NOT TO TAKE HIM OUT." or "SO MATT JUST BETRAYED ALL OF US TO GO WITH DANNI? WAS HE JUST HER PAWN THE WHOLE TIME? NO WAY I'LL VOTE FOR HIM NOW." I just want a fighting chance to prove this, and I believe that I have it. Not giving up, even if that's delusional of me right now.

6) I think the difference between me and Russell Hantz was that I was a lot more subtle and manipulative during the game. Russell, even in Samoa, had a social game that horrible with the people he wasn't working with. I was nice and respected everyone in our conversations. I'd say things about people's strategy to get them targeted and tell lies, etc, but I would never like insult someone on a personal level or bully someone into making a vote they didn't want to like he did. I simply let them do their own thing and adjusted my strategy to improvise. And even now, I still like all of you as people. I wouldn't let something like the way you voted influence that because I don't take this personally at all. I have so much respect for Alexis and Jonas, and for all of you.

7) I want this win badly. Is that not evident? I believe I've explained why I think my gameplay was more effective than my opponents. Even though a lot of you hold feelings of "UGH" towards me that largely stems from the sense of being backstabbed, I don't think you can deny the effectiveness of the strategic game and the knowledge I had towards what was going on and influence on the merge. I've gone through and justified my philosophy and why I reacted how I did with jury management. I may be going to lose, but what I have to do is go all out right now and make every effort to get your votes. I would never forgive myself if I just sat here giving a speech and providing weak answers to your questions, and lost.

After everything I've put into this, I will only feel good with myself if I put 100% into these questions. And then at the end of the day, I'll be content knowing I did everything I had to. I apologize if my emphasis this tribal council comes off as making me even more unappealing, but it's a sign of how much I'm trying to get this. Which is why I'll be quoting everything I disagree with, providing long-winded rants, etc.

Please also, on a scale of 1-10 (10 being very loyal) tell me how loyal you were to your most loyalist ally and who that lucky/unlucky individual was

I think you were often my most loyal ally, and then at other points it was Danni. I talked so much to you two about strategy, and I really wanted to return the trust back to you. I just didn't. I couldn't bring myself to fully trusting that you had that loyalty back to me, and I didn't want to go the end with you knowing you'd beat me. As far as how loyal I was to you, I'd have these moments where I said to you, "WE NEED TO GET DANNI OUT" and I felt them. I meant them. I thought that's what I wanted. Then an hour later, I'd be doing damage control to Danni and was like, "WE NEED TO GET JAY OUT NEXT". So my loyalty levels just bounced up and down. On average, I'd say I was about a "5" to you two just because I flipped between 0 and 10 and it kind of balances at a 5.

Thank you again for approaching this how you are, and I'd be glad to offer any follow-up answers.

[Jay Byars]

Alright, thanks for all your answers guys.

Alexis - I'm a little disappointed in your final tribal performance, I feel like you took the questions less seriously then the other two, and since I don't have anything else nice to say, I won't. Oh, and as for your comment about not being disingenuous, that's complete bull because if you were straight up with me, you would have told me when I asked you the round I left about what was going on, cause I knew something was up, I didn't have the time to do anything even if you did tell me, yet you chose to act like nothing was going on and lied to my face, soooooooo F off.

Jonas - The only thing against you is our lack of communication since I talked with the other two much more, but you also had the odds against your favor.

Matt - You know, I'd like to say I believe the words you've said here, and the other jurors but I don't buy it one bit. I don't buy that you feel bad about anything because it just seems fake. Not to mention this little tidbit.

Feb 22, 2013 13:19:51 GMT -5 Matt Elrod said:

It's one of my biggest pet peeves in games because it makes them unrealistic like the show

You said this about Danni's little outburst to you and Alexis after she left, which I agree with, is unrealistic. But to act like you want to play a clean, realistic game is bullshit and hypocritical of you. Why? Because hmmm, oh yeah. Isn't having cross-tribal communication unrealistic as well? Talking with Tina and telling her about the idol round 3? Well before the swap, and forming a relationship/bond with someone when your not on the same tribe as them? To me, that's just as unrealistic, yet you bash Danni for doing one thing that doesn't happen on the real survivor yet you did another. Granted Tina initiated it, but it was on you to continue it, keep the lines open, and for that, I don't even know what to say. Just that I, nor has any other juror, really bought what your selling because like you were in the game, your coming off as trying to play us for a fool by trying to patch things up with us once again, like you did all games before you stabbed us.

[Matt Elrod]

Feb 24, 2013 13:01:53 GMT -5 Jay Byars said:

You said this about Danni's little outburst to you and Alexis after she left, which I agree with, is unrealistic. But to act like you want to play a clean, realistic game is bullshit and hypocritical of you. Why? Because hmmm, oh yeah. Isn't having cross-tribal communication unrealistic as well? Talking with Tina and telling her about the idol round 3? Well before the swap, and forming a relationship/bond with someone when your not on the same tribe as them? To me, that's just as unrealistic, yet you bash Danni for doing one thing that doesn't happen on the real survivor yet you did another. Granted Tina initiated it, but it was on you to continue it, keep the lines open, and for that, I don't even know what to say. Just that I, nor has any other juror, really bought what your selling because like you were in the game, your coming off as trying to play us for a fool by trying to patch things up with us once again, like you did all games before you stabbed us.

I can see how cross-tribe communication is unrealistic. I don't think I initiated besides with you and once with Lisa when you requested help, but I would respond when someone IMed me and had the option not to.

Me helping Tina could have been like JT giving Russell the idol during the challenge when he thought he was on the outs, but then you could use that same analogy and say that Danni venting to me and Alexis was like a juror just going off on the remaining players on their walk to get their torch snuffed. So I see your point.

[Alexis Jones]

I'm sorry you feel that way Jay. I don't recall it being 5 min before results and I was told not to tell you anything since you got the Tijuana vote to flip from Lisa in a manner of minutes. I told you before that if I started talking to you I knew I'd let it slip but I guess nothing I say will make you change your mind. I still want to play in your pro boards game but understand if you don't want me anymore.

[Jay Byars]

Sadly, I don't think I'll be hosting anytime soon. My month of hell has just begun.

[Danni Boatwright]

Jay you host?

[Jonas Otsuji]

Feb 24, 2013 13:01:53 GMT -5 Jay Byars said:

Jonas - The only thing against you is our lack of communication since I talked with the other two much more, but you also had the odds against your favor.

We were only on the same tribe a few rounds and it's clear in that situation you'd have less contact with me then you would with both Matt and Alexis. You had been on a tribe with each of them pre merge while we never were. I tried to communicate you much as I could, I was the one who made first contact with you by pm and then on aim.

[Jay Byars]

Feb 25, 2013 2:23:16 GMT -5 Danni Boatwright said:

Jay you host?

I did when I last played a long time ago but it's been almost 2 years since I have. I wanted to again, but decided I'd rather not for the time being because of school, although I have like 4-5 games in mind haha