Quote:
Originally Posted by Didace
I have questions for the crowd. I don't rewatch episodes, look at secret scenes or poderosa videos, or read anything other than this forum. So I may have missed something, or I'm just not that observant.
What exactly has Sash done to make everyone think he is so strategic? Formed an alliance early and convinced Marty to give up a HII. Anything else because that doesn't seem like much?
Why do we think Dan is in an alliance with Fabio and Benry? Fabio and Benry are together for sure but Dan seems to be just floating.
Why all the Sash hate, Probst?
I don't know if I'm qualified to answer this question because I end up getting really confused with all the talk regarding the difference between strategy and tactics. I could go look up the definitions, but I'm too lazy. And in any case, I feel some snarky half serious comments preparing to spill from my fingers.
I believe we here in the Survivor thread are somewhat prone to make claims that a person is strategic if 1. He/she shows rudimentary signs of intelligence--which Sash certainly has shown. 2. We like him/her. (I believe the converse of both is also true.) It is my opinion that we tend to overstate the strategic chops of players that we like and understate or completely disregard the chops of players that we don't like. Since Sash hasn't necessarily been a popular player, I'd say he probably falls under 1. Basically, in the illustrious 2+2 category of not-brain-dead.
My own personal definition of strategy is pretty broad and might be considered muddy by some. I probably use the terms plan and strategy kind of interchangably. If a player is thinking about the game in some fashion and has a plan for moving forward, then I credit them for employing a strategy. Obviously, I find some strategies to be stronger than others. (I think floating is a strategy.) I think treating people with civility is a component of a good plan/strategy. Sure it's common sense, Kos, but it's common sense you may have to work at while interacting with people whom you may not enjoy while being hungry, wet, cold, sleep deprived, etc.
Anyway, back to Sash and the things that I like about how he plays (whether it qualifies as strategic, I'll leave up to those wiser than myself): He thinks about the game. I think he evaluates the other players giving thought to who he should align with, how loyal and trustworthy his 'teammates' are to him and also to other players in the game. When he and Brenda were running things, I think he put some effort into making the other members of his alliance feel like they had a voice in what was going on. He played low key enough that Brenda got the axe before he did even though he was holding an immunity idol. He maintained working relationships with a lot of people...maybe too superficially???--time will tell. He appears to have an awareness of where he and others are at in the game. Does all this crap qualify as 'strategic'? I don't know. But he maintains a certain level of awareness and has a plan for himself. {shrug}
We think Dan is in an alliance with Fabio and Benry because they think he is. Granted, I will give you that those two haven't been the most aware players in the game.