I have often posted about Survivor here; being a huge fan, why not? I hope to go on the show someday, and I have applied to be on the show. So this post might not look great for me if I ever were to get on Survivor. However, I would hope if anyone from CBS/Survivor sees this, they'd use this as constructive criticism and a way to improve their show.
Don't get me wrong, I love the show, but I nitpicked to find ten things I would change about the show. These ten things aren't in any order, although I will count down from #10. Here they are:
10. Avoid "team reward" challenges, especially when there are an odd number of players
I hate it when, after the merge, Jeff splits the individual players into two teams for a reward challenge. It's as if the crew is saying they don't have enough individual challenge ideas and need to save them for immunity. I could live with these "team reward" challenges, so long as they only happen when there are an even number of players in the game. When they do these types of reward challenges when there are an odd number of players, it leaves one person out with no shot at even competing for reward. Everyone should have a shot. Also, when a single individual wins reward and they pick 1-3 players to go with them, it can have a ripple effect on the game, which adds a layer of complexity in the social game.
9. Go back to the original final tribal council format
One of my favorite parts of each Survivor season is when the jury questions the Final 2 or 3. But with the new "open forum" Final Tribal Council format, it's not as entertaining. It's not as organized, and it can leave a few jurors with little or nothing to say. I would often look forward to the old format to see if certain players would hold a grudge and lash out at the Final 2 or 3. I mean, think about the most entertaining or memorable jury speeches of all time. Have any happened since this change? Nope. Also, I liked how each member of the Final 2 or 3 got to have an opening and closing statement. At some point, they got rid of the closing statements, and then in "Worlds Apart" Season 30, they got rid of opening statements as well. Bring those back!
8. Less advantages
In more recent seasons, there has been an almost crazy amount of advantages. It's to the point where even the most dedicated fans and viewers have a tough time keeping track. I do like immunity idols and the occasional advantage, but when there are so many, the value of them diminishes. Fire Tokens aren't a terrible idea, but the casual viewer cannot be expected to keep track of everyone's Fire Token count. If they absolutely must keep Fire Tokens and a large number of advantages, perhaps display an overlay of advantages/Fire Tokens at certain parts in the show, such as when someone earns Fire Tokens or an advantage, or during the booted person's final confessional.
7. Show a little more of the "survival" aspect
I miss when Survivor showed the players fishing, foraging for food, or building the shelter. They still show a little bit, but I know most fans would like to see more. If anything someone does earns them respect around camp, I feel like we as viewers have a right to see it, even if it's mundane as fishing. For example, Wendell may have won Ghost Island because he did a great job at building shelters, but we never really got to see that. I know they have a lot of other things to fit in, such as challenges, strategy talk, and whatnot, but seeing a bit more of the survival aspect would definitely balance out the show a bit.
6. Film somewhere else besides Fiji
I understand the financial benefits of filming in Fiji for every season, but doing that is becoming extremely repetitive. Survivor filming locations should be like Super Bowl locations: it's okay to use the same location, just not twice (or more) in a row. As I understand, they film two seasons back-to-back, so one idea is that they could film two seasons in Fiji, then next year film two seasons in Nicaragua or somewhere else, then go back to Fiji the following year. If Survivor stays in Fiji, it will die in Fiji.
5. Bring back the auction
One thing I miss is the Survivor auction! I think they stopped it because too many players would sit on their money waiting for an advantage (thanks, cast of Worlds Apart). There are ways around this. They could include hidden advantages at random with different food items. They could have Jeff announce there will not be any advantages and there will be only food. Or if they use Fire Tokens again, they could have a "Fire Tokens Only" auction where you bid on items with Fire Tokens. Just bring back the auction!
4. For the love of God, no more Edge of Extinction
I know they have only used it for two seasons, but the Edge of Extinction has allowed two early boots to make it to the Final Tribal Council, and one of them to win. A huge majority of Survivor fans do not like this twist. In fact, basically any twist that allows a player to return to the game after being voted out is generally not well-received, especially when the earlier boots have an equal or better chance of getting back in to the game. I don't know what their fascination is with bringing back voted out players, but it needs to stop. In my opinion (and a majority of Survivor fans opinions as well), the Edge of Extinction twist really put a damper on "Winners at War".
3. Jeff needs to calm down a bit at challenges
If anyone remembers, Jeff's commentary at challenges was way toned down in earlier seasons compared to what it's been in recent seasons. In fact, in season one, it was non-existent. I enjoy Jeff's commentary at challenges--in doses. I may be in the minority on this one, but I feel like Jeff's commentary has been a bit over the top in recent seasons. I do like when he berates players for struggling as it's pretty funny. But when he says things like "That's how you do it on Survivor!", it makes me roll my eyes. This is something I am honestly really nitpicking at; Jeff is definitely one of the highlights of the show. But Jeff was at his peak with his commentary in seasons 10-20, I'd say.
2. Bring back more physical challenges
I know there are safety risks involved with them, but they are the most entertaining challenges in Survivor history. "Sumo at Sea" is my favorite. But we haven't seen it used since "San Juan Del Sur". I also like "By Any Means Necessary", but we haven't seen the beach/sand version since "Heroes vs. Villains". These challenges are wildly entertaining, and I'd love to see at least "Sumo at Sea" brought back. And maybe come up with new challenge ideas which are fairly physical (but safe).
1. Cast more Survivor fans and "recruit" less players that aren't fans
I love when we see hardcore Survivor fans on the show. They play the game hard and well. When various players are recruited, to either fit a theme or because of their looks, they become cannon fodder, basically. Players that are recruited don't really play the game; they just go along with the flow. And when these players make it to the end, they never have a shot at winning. I'd love to see a season of ONLY hard core fans and perhaps even only fans that have applied multiple times. That would be interesting to see.
If CBS/Survivor even makes a handful of these changes, it will benefit the show in the long run and allow it to continue for many more years. If not, we could see the beginning of the end of one of my favorite television programs of all time. I'd rather the show go out on top than be forced to cancel because of a decline in viewership/production value.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
My Thoughts on the Jamal Adams Trade
The Seahawks recently acquired safety Jamal Adams from the Jets in exchange for two first round picks, a third round pick, and Bradley McDougald. I have very mixed thoughts on this trade, with my gut telling me we will regret this trade down the line. I hate that the Hawks basically mortgaged their future just to upgrade at a position, and a position that's not even one of the most important, like quarterback, offensive line, or pass rusher.
Most consider Jamal Adams the best safety in the NFL. But you know how often there is a new best player at a position? About every 2 or 3 years on average. Some safeties, I will say, have long and lengthy careers that lead them to the Hall of Fame. Guys like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu played well into their 30s. The only way this trade works in the Hawks favor is if Jamal Adams has a career like those guys, and leads the Hawks to at least one Super Bowl. I wouldn't say the odds of that happening are high.
There is a huge underlying problem with the Hawks which has caused this team to be top-heavy in talent and have a lot of holes on its roster. John Schneider, Pete Carroll, and the rest of the Seahawks management and scouts can no longer draft well. They can't. They have drafted just two players who made the Pro Bowl with the Hawks since 2013, and both (Lockett and Dickson) made it for special teams. Guys like Germain Ifedi, Malik McDowell, and Ethan Pocic (all first or second round picks) did not pan out. And there are a ton of doubts with Rashaad Penny and LJ Collier.
It's because of this lack of ability to find talent in the draft which has forced the Hawks to spend money; to keep their star QB, middle linebacker, and wide receiver. It's forced them to make these kinds of trades that don't help the team in the long run. Remember the Percy Harvin trade? The Hawks did not win a Super Bowl because of that, they won in spite of that. The Jimmy Graham trade was the start of the dismantling of the offensive line, as Max Unger was traded away. And then Jadeveon Clowney was acquired for a third round pick (and a couple players), and it's looking like may only get one (injury-plagued) season out of him.
This trade for Jamal Adams is another transaction in a series of moves that reek of desperation. The Hawks are still criticized for having one of the worst (if not the worst) combinations of offensive and defensive lines in the NFL. Pete and John hope that the stellar play of their QB, receivers, running backs, linebackers, and secondary can make up for the struggles the lines will undoubtedly have. But as the saying goes, "the game is won in the trenches". And without competent line play, we may just get a lot more of the same thing we've seen the last five years: 9-10 win teams that rely on Russell Wilson magic too much and get knocked out of the playoffs early.
Most consider Jamal Adams the best safety in the NFL. But you know how often there is a new best player at a position? About every 2 or 3 years on average. Some safeties, I will say, have long and lengthy careers that lead them to the Hall of Fame. Guys like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu played well into their 30s. The only way this trade works in the Hawks favor is if Jamal Adams has a career like those guys, and leads the Hawks to at least one Super Bowl. I wouldn't say the odds of that happening are high.
There is a huge underlying problem with the Hawks which has caused this team to be top-heavy in talent and have a lot of holes on its roster. John Schneider, Pete Carroll, and the rest of the Seahawks management and scouts can no longer draft well. They can't. They have drafted just two players who made the Pro Bowl with the Hawks since 2013, and both (Lockett and Dickson) made it for special teams. Guys like Germain Ifedi, Malik McDowell, and Ethan Pocic (all first or second round picks) did not pan out. And there are a ton of doubts with Rashaad Penny and LJ Collier.
It's because of this lack of ability to find talent in the draft which has forced the Hawks to spend money; to keep their star QB, middle linebacker, and wide receiver. It's forced them to make these kinds of trades that don't help the team in the long run. Remember the Percy Harvin trade? The Hawks did not win a Super Bowl because of that, they won in spite of that. The Jimmy Graham trade was the start of the dismantling of the offensive line, as Max Unger was traded away. And then Jadeveon Clowney was acquired for a third round pick (and a couple players), and it's looking like may only get one (injury-plagued) season out of him.
This trade for Jamal Adams is another transaction in a series of moves that reek of desperation. The Hawks are still criticized for having one of the worst (if not the worst) combinations of offensive and defensive lines in the NFL. Pete and John hope that the stellar play of their QB, receivers, running backs, linebackers, and secondary can make up for the struggles the lines will undoubtedly have. But as the saying goes, "the game is won in the trenches". And without competent line play, we may just get a lot more of the same thing we've seen the last five years: 9-10 win teams that rely on Russell Wilson magic too much and get knocked out of the playoffs early.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Comparing Survivor Legends to NFL Quarterbacks
As a fan of both the TV show "Survivor" and NFL Football, I thought it would be fun to compare some of the more famous faces of each show and who are the closest counterparts between each. Some are a perfect match, while I'll admit some are a bit of a stretch. I'll provide four reasons why they are each other's counterpart.
Boston Rob is Tom Brady
- New England ties (duh)
- Considered the GOAT
- Does whatever it takes to win
- Plays into his 40s and his game has shown a bit of a decline
Tony Vlachos is Patrick Mahomes
- Newer age player
- The "new" GOAT
- Crazy style of play that somehow works
- Others know they have to be stopped but they never can
Parvati Shallow is Aaron Rodgers
- Is considered one of the best all time, but not perhaps THE best
- Southern California, good-looking
- Perhaps plays better when upset
- Didn't make a big name for themselves right away, took a season or two
Sandra Diaz-Twine is Russell Wilson
- Perpetually underrated
- Proves that appearances can be deceiving
- PNW ties (Sandra once lived near Fort Lewis, WA)
- Doesn't always win pretty, but they win nonetheless
Cirie Fields is Drew Brees
- Universally loved, basically no haters
- Gotten screwed by late twists in games
- Family-oriented
- Persistent and seemingly will continue trying to win it all despite being up there in age
Ozzy Lusth is Michael Vick
- Athletic freak
- Never could win it all, but best chance was early in career
- At least a small amount of controversy
- People wonder what could have been with them
Natalie Anderson is Lamar Jackson
- As athletic as they come
- New school player who thrived despite the odds
- Still has doubters
- Succeeds in unique ways
Ben Driebergen is Carson Wentz
- New age player with interesting style
- Doesn't get a ton of credit for winning it all
- Good ol' American country boy from a small state
- Family-oriented
Russell Hantz is Jay Cutler
- Amazing potential and talented enough to win, but retired with wasted potential
- Never could win it all
- Other players have called them hard to work with
- Commentated about the game they played after retiring (Russell's YouTube channel, Jay was an analyst)
Coach Ben Wade is Ben Roethlisberger
- Cocky and arrogant
- Gotten far a few times
- Their fans love them, others despise them
- Both have had near-death experiences (Coach Wade stranded in jungle/Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident)
Rupert Boneham is Phillip Rivers
- Universally liked
- Competitive as they come, absolutely hates to lose and they show it
- Ties to Indianapolis (Rivers QB of Colts now)
- Family-oriented, known for being fatherly
John Cochran is Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Often called the smartest player
- Harvard Educated
- Lasted a long time
- Very personable
Michele Fitzgerald is Jimmy Garoppolo
- Gotten far twice, won once
- Not given a lot of credit for one win
- Still underrated despite getting far on their own accord
- Dark haired, good-looking
Joe Anglim is Deshaun Watson
- Relies on athleticism to get far
- Can never get enough help to win it all
- Newer age player that most think will never win it all
Boston Rob is Tom Brady
- New England ties (duh)
- Considered the GOAT
- Does whatever it takes to win
- Plays into his 40s and his game has shown a bit of a decline
Tony Vlachos is Patrick Mahomes
- Newer age player
- The "new" GOAT
- Crazy style of play that somehow works
- Others know they have to be stopped but they never can
Parvati Shallow is Aaron Rodgers
- Is considered one of the best all time, but not perhaps THE best
- Southern California, good-looking
- Perhaps plays better when upset
- Didn't make a big name for themselves right away, took a season or two
Sandra Diaz-Twine is Russell Wilson
- Perpetually underrated
- Proves that appearances can be deceiving
- PNW ties (Sandra once lived near Fort Lewis, WA)
- Doesn't always win pretty, but they win nonetheless
Cirie Fields is Drew Brees
- Universally loved, basically no haters
- Gotten screwed by late twists in games
- Family-oriented
- Persistent and seemingly will continue trying to win it all despite being up there in age
Ozzy Lusth is Michael Vick
- Athletic freak
- Never could win it all, but best chance was early in career
- At least a small amount of controversy
- People wonder what could have been with them
Natalie Anderson is Lamar Jackson
- As athletic as they come
- New school player who thrived despite the odds
- Still has doubters
- Succeeds in unique ways
Ben Driebergen is Carson Wentz
- New age player with interesting style
- Doesn't get a ton of credit for winning it all
- Good ol' American country boy from a small state
- Family-oriented
Russell Hantz is Jay Cutler
- Amazing potential and talented enough to win, but retired with wasted potential
- Never could win it all
- Other players have called them hard to work with
- Commentated about the game they played after retiring (Russell's YouTube channel, Jay was an analyst)
Coach Ben Wade is Ben Roethlisberger
- Cocky and arrogant
- Gotten far a few times
- Their fans love them, others despise them
- Both have had near-death experiences (Coach Wade stranded in jungle/Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident)
Rupert Boneham is Phillip Rivers
- Universally liked
- Competitive as they come, absolutely hates to lose and they show it
- Ties to Indianapolis (Rivers QB of Colts now)
- Family-oriented, known for being fatherly
John Cochran is Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Often called the smartest player
- Harvard Educated
- Lasted a long time
- Very personable
Michele Fitzgerald is Jimmy Garoppolo
- Gotten far twice, won once
- Not given a lot of credit for one win
- Still underrated despite getting far on their own accord
- Dark haired, good-looking
Joe Anglim is Deshaun Watson
- Relies on athleticism to get far
- Can never get enough help to win it all
- Newer age player that most think will never win it all
- Large amount of controversy that has come up in the past year or two
Colby Donaldson is Peyton Manning
- Iconic player, if asked to name one player from their game most people would name them
- Southern ties (Colby-Texas, Peyton-Louisiana/Tennesssee)
- Very good in front of a camera, goes on to do other things also in front of a camera
- Extremely dominant early on in career, setting records that have since been tied or broken
Jerri Manthey is Eli Manning
- Linked to above player/have a rivalry
- Did just as well placement-wise as above player despite not being considered as good of a player
- Aloof and not the most personable player
- Went against the GOAT multiple times (1st player on this list)
- Iconic player, if asked to name one player from their game most people would name them
- Southern ties (Colby-Texas, Peyton-Louisiana/Tennesssee)
- Very good in front of a camera, goes on to do other things also in front of a camera
- Extremely dominant early on in career, setting records that have since been tied or broken
Jerri Manthey is Eli Manning
- Linked to above player/have a rivalry
- Did just as well placement-wise as above player despite not being considered as good of a player
- Aloof and not the most personable player
- Went against the GOAT multiple times (1st player on this list)
Rob Cesternino is Tony Romo
- Came out of nowhere to become one of the game's best (when they played)
- Most known for talking about game now (RHAP, Tony being lead analyst for CBS)
- Made a mistake that people will never forget (Rob betraying Jenna and Heidi, Tony fumbling the snap on a field goal attempt)
- Never could win it all, but people will always consider them as good enough to do so (Just couldn't get the cards to fall right for them)
Jesse Lopez is Josh Allen
- All the talent in the world to win, but has come up short
- Had a friend that they worked with for a while until they no longer did (Cody, Diggs)
- Not given a ton of chances when they were younger, but they fought hard and finally got to a respectable place in life (Jesse graduating college and starting a family, Josh going to Wyoming of all places and getting drafted 1st round)
- Can get emotional in defeat and you feel nothing but sympathy for them.
Mike Gabler is Matthew Stafford
- Older guy that won it all despite the odds
- Laid low for a while (Alligabler, Stafford in Detroit) until their moment came
- Good under pressure (Gabler at fire, Stafford in playoffs with Rams)
- Likable winner, perhaps not surrounded by most likable players (Gabler on 43, Stafford on Rams)
Owen Knight is Joe Burrow
- Went on a run out of nowhere to get to the end, only to lose to the guy above
- Good-looking guy who's hard to dislike
- Didn't always get the best help but kept on going and surviving
- Worked with a young kid to help further their game (Sami, Jamarr Chase)
Charlie Davis is Brock Purdy
- Good looking guy with a goofy smile that's hard to hate
- Came so close to winning, but came up short, and a lot think they deserved to win over their competition.
- Indirect ties to Taylor Swift (Charlie a fan, Purdy went against her boyfriend in the Super Bowl)
- Came out of nowhere to become one of the game's best (when they played)
- Most known for talking about game now (RHAP, Tony being lead analyst for CBS)
- Made a mistake that people will never forget (Rob betraying Jenna and Heidi, Tony fumbling the snap on a field goal attempt)
- Never could win it all, but people will always consider them as good enough to do so (Just couldn't get the cards to fall right for them)
Jesse Lopez is Josh Allen
- All the talent in the world to win, but has come up short
- Had a friend that they worked with for a while until they no longer did (Cody, Diggs)
- Not given a ton of chances when they were younger, but they fought hard and finally got to a respectable place in life (Jesse graduating college and starting a family, Josh going to Wyoming of all places and getting drafted 1st round)
- Can get emotional in defeat and you feel nothing but sympathy for them.
Mike Gabler is Matthew Stafford
- Older guy that won it all despite the odds
- Laid low for a while (Alligabler, Stafford in Detroit) until their moment came
- Good under pressure (Gabler at fire, Stafford in playoffs with Rams)
- Likable winner, perhaps not surrounded by most likable players (Gabler on 43, Stafford on Rams)
Owen Knight is Joe Burrow
- Went on a run out of nowhere to get to the end, only to lose to the guy above
- Good-looking guy who's hard to dislike
- Didn't always get the best help but kept on going and surviving
- Worked with a young kid to help further their game (Sami, Jamarr Chase)
Charlie Davis is Brock Purdy
- Good looking guy with a goofy smile that's hard to hate
- Came so close to winning, but came up short, and a lot think they deserved to win over their competition.
- Indirect ties to Taylor Swift (Charlie a fan, Purdy went against her boyfriend in the Super Bowl)
- Surrounded by talented players
Kaleb Gebrewold is Dak Prescott
- Personable guy with leadership qualities
- Will likely never even get to the end to have a chance to win it all
- They are sometimes put in a terrible spot with little chance of success
- But sometimes they do something that makes your jaw drop (Kaleb's Shot in the Dark, Dak's throws).
That's all I have for now, if I think of any others, I'll add them here! And I have indeed added some, they appear in red.
Kaleb Gebrewold is Dak Prescott
- Personable guy with leadership qualities
- Will likely never even get to the end to have a chance to win it all
- They are sometimes put in a terrible spot with little chance of success
- But sometimes they do something that makes your jaw drop (Kaleb's Shot in the Dark, Dak's throws).
That's all I have for now, if I think of any others, I'll add them here! And I have indeed added some, they appear in red.
Friday, July 10, 2020
Ten Things Wrong with the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
After having a lot of time to digest the final film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, I have realized the trilogy is not perfect. In fact, it's far from it. I've come to realize it is actually a fairly big disappointment. It had so much potential. It had the potential for people to argue for eons on which trilogy is better: the original or the sequel. Nobody will ever legitimately think the prequel trilogy is better than the original trilogy, and now nobody will ever think the sequel trilogy is better. I have ten reasons why this is the case; ten ways Disney, JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson, and Kathleen Kennedy screwed up. These are in no particular order:
1. Rey is too much of a Mary Sue
You knew I was going to mention this. She executes flying maneuvers you'd expect only out of a very experienced pilot. She fixes the Millennium Falcon with ease. She uses a Jedi Mind trick without practice. She wields a lightsaber with competency against someone who's trained their entire life (although he was wounded). Kylo should have easily been able to handle her in TFA. It's hard to relate to a character that is so good at everything she does. More on Rey later.
2. The back and forth between JJ and Rian
The sequel trilogy suffered from the inconsistency of directors. Rian undid some of what JJ did, and then JJ undid some of what Rian did. It left the trilogy feeling more like three separate barely connected films. There's very little connecting the three films other than the characters. One example is JJ hyping up Luke's lightsaber, only for Rian to have Luke toss it over his shoulder.
3. No good romance story
Something prevalent in the first two trilogies is a romance sub-plot. In the prequels, we had Anakin and Padme. In the original trilogy, we had Han and Leia. In the sequels, we have nothing even close. We had a kiss between Finn and Rose in The Last Jedi, but that romance was forgotten about in the next film. We then had a kiss between Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey, but there was very little to zero romantic build up. He had just barely turned to her side. The kiss felt forced and out of place. If they had started building up the romance in The Last Jedi (or TFA) then it would have made a bit more sense.
4. Force Powers introduced that add plot holes, ruin integrity of Star Wars
I'd say one of the things that bothers me most about the sequel trilogy are some of the force powers introduced in it. I'm ok with the mind extraction power Kylo used on Poe (although why didn't Vader learn this power?). But what I don't like are the dyad, force heal, and new force ghost powers. The dyad allows matter to be transported thousands if not millions of miles. This means people could be transported, right? They basically introduced teleportation in Star Wars, which belongs more in Star Trek. Force Heal means no one has to die, and makes us wonder why no Jedi ever learned it before. I like how JK Rowling said that once a character dies in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, they're dead. That is no longer the case in Star Wars. And the last thing that really bothered me was Force Ghosts and their new "powers". Apparently now they can cause lightning strikes, use the force to lift objects, and even hold solid objects (Luke holding the lightsaber). Why don't they help out the living world more often, then? What rules are there?
5. Missed opportunity at the end of The Rise of Skywalker
When Rey is laying down and the Jedi are speaking to her, we hear Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Anakin, Mace Windu, and even Kanan Jarrus I think. It would have been a million times more awesome to see them as Force Ghosts. To see all of those characters rally behind Rey and help her would have redeemed TROS and even the entire trilogy, more or less. It would have been a way to tie all the films (as well as a couple TV shows) together and probably would have instantly become a Top 5 Star Wars moment. But instead, all we get is their voices and it has nowhere near the impact it could have.
6. The handling of the original trilogy characters
I feel like Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando all could have been handled better. Even R2D2 and C3PO were mere afterthoughts, although I understand wanting to focus on BB-8 (and sell merch). But there were so many things I wish we had seen with the four human characters. I wanted to see a Han and Luke reunion, a Han and Lando reunion, and maybe even a Lando and Leia reunion. The only "reunions" we got were Han and Leia who were "separated" (don't agree with that), and Luke projecting himself to Leia. Meh. And the way they all were killed off... did they even have to be killed off? Why can't they just live out their last days in peace? At least perhaps Lando does. Han dies so violently at the hands of his son? That's an awful fate for a fan favorite. Luke dying from overprojecting? Ok...
7. Rey's lineage is a massive head-shaker
My absolute preferred lineage for Rey would have been to have her somehow descended from Obi-Wan, perhaps a (great) niece. What Rian Johnson did in TLJ was have her parents be nobody, which I definitely would have preferred over her being a Palpatine. At least as a nobody, that teaches kids (mostly girls) that even if your parents are nobodies and not that successful, that doesn't mean you can't be. Instead, it shows that there has to be some lineage in your family tree in order to make a name for yourself. And knowing the main "hero" of the ST be descended from ultimate evil is just an unsettling feeling.
8. There is no clear villain throughout the trilogy
In the prequel trilogy, the main villain was Palpatine AKA Darth Sidious. In the original trilogy, it was Darth Vader and then the Emperor. In the sequel trilogy, there is no consistency. It goes from Kylo/Snoke to Snoke dying leaving just Kylo to Palpatine and then Kylo turns. There is no clear number one villain in the trilogy. It's not Snoke, he was only in a film and a half. It's not Palpatine, he was only in one film. And it's not Kylo, because he turns and betrays his own "master". There's no one clear villain for the audience to root against.
9. Side characters that are discarded or boring
The sequel trilogy introduced a lot of side characters: Captain Phasma, Rose, Finn, Poe, General Hux, and Zorii Bliss. Captain Phasma was built up with a bunch of hype but dies in a lame fashion in TLJ. Rose was basically forgotten about in TROS. Finn was possibly force-sensitive but we get no resolution on it. Poe was an ace pilot and former smuggler... but what else? His character had no substance. General Hux was a villain who turned for a petty reason. Zorii Bliss was someone from Poe's past who no one cared for. There was very little to no depth for the secondary characters in the ST.
10. Missing an epic lightsaber fight scene
There was no epic lightsaber fight scene in the ST. The closest we got was in TLJ when Rey and Kylo teamed up to take out Snoke's guards, but that fight had flaws and wasn't exactly a fair fight. There was no fight scene with the magnitude of any of the OT fight scenes. There was no fight scene that left us thinking how awesome it was after it finished. This is just my opinion, but I think it's an opinion generally agreed upon by the Star Wars fanbase.
The sequel trilogy was not entirely awful. I only pointed out its flaws. It had its strengths, too. Kylo Ren had more depth than Anakin did in the PT, and Adam Driver killed it in the role. The visual effects and music were all top-notch, with the visual effects the best Star Wars has seen so far. They blended practical and visual effects better than the PT ever did. The acting, even outside of Driver, was pretty good for the most part. But it just pains me as a huge Star Wars fan to know that the ST could have been so much more. I think someday we will get a Star Wars trilogy or movie series that people will universally regard as magnificent, but the sequel trilogy is unfortunately not that trilogy.
1. Rey is too much of a Mary Sue
You knew I was going to mention this. She executes flying maneuvers you'd expect only out of a very experienced pilot. She fixes the Millennium Falcon with ease. She uses a Jedi Mind trick without practice. She wields a lightsaber with competency against someone who's trained their entire life (although he was wounded). Kylo should have easily been able to handle her in TFA. It's hard to relate to a character that is so good at everything she does. More on Rey later.
2. The back and forth between JJ and Rian
The sequel trilogy suffered from the inconsistency of directors. Rian undid some of what JJ did, and then JJ undid some of what Rian did. It left the trilogy feeling more like three separate barely connected films. There's very little connecting the three films other than the characters. One example is JJ hyping up Luke's lightsaber, only for Rian to have Luke toss it over his shoulder.
3. No good romance story
Something prevalent in the first two trilogies is a romance sub-plot. In the prequels, we had Anakin and Padme. In the original trilogy, we had Han and Leia. In the sequels, we have nothing even close. We had a kiss between Finn and Rose in The Last Jedi, but that romance was forgotten about in the next film. We then had a kiss between Kylo Ren/Ben Solo and Rey, but there was very little to zero romantic build up. He had just barely turned to her side. The kiss felt forced and out of place. If they had started building up the romance in The Last Jedi (or TFA) then it would have made a bit more sense.
4. Force Powers introduced that add plot holes, ruin integrity of Star Wars
I'd say one of the things that bothers me most about the sequel trilogy are some of the force powers introduced in it. I'm ok with the mind extraction power Kylo used on Poe (although why didn't Vader learn this power?). But what I don't like are the dyad, force heal, and new force ghost powers. The dyad allows matter to be transported thousands if not millions of miles. This means people could be transported, right? They basically introduced teleportation in Star Wars, which belongs more in Star Trek. Force Heal means no one has to die, and makes us wonder why no Jedi ever learned it before. I like how JK Rowling said that once a character dies in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, they're dead. That is no longer the case in Star Wars. And the last thing that really bothered me was Force Ghosts and their new "powers". Apparently now they can cause lightning strikes, use the force to lift objects, and even hold solid objects (Luke holding the lightsaber). Why don't they help out the living world more often, then? What rules are there?
5. Missed opportunity at the end of The Rise of Skywalker
When Rey is laying down and the Jedi are speaking to her, we hear Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Anakin, Mace Windu, and even Kanan Jarrus I think. It would have been a million times more awesome to see them as Force Ghosts. To see all of those characters rally behind Rey and help her would have redeemed TROS and even the entire trilogy, more or less. It would have been a way to tie all the films (as well as a couple TV shows) together and probably would have instantly become a Top 5 Star Wars moment. But instead, all we get is their voices and it has nowhere near the impact it could have.
6. The handling of the original trilogy characters
I feel like Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando all could have been handled better. Even R2D2 and C3PO were mere afterthoughts, although I understand wanting to focus on BB-8 (and sell merch). But there were so many things I wish we had seen with the four human characters. I wanted to see a Han and Luke reunion, a Han and Lando reunion, and maybe even a Lando and Leia reunion. The only "reunions" we got were Han and Leia who were "separated" (don't agree with that), and Luke projecting himself to Leia. Meh. And the way they all were killed off... did they even have to be killed off? Why can't they just live out their last days in peace? At least perhaps Lando does. Han dies so violently at the hands of his son? That's an awful fate for a fan favorite. Luke dying from overprojecting? Ok...
7. Rey's lineage is a massive head-shaker
My absolute preferred lineage for Rey would have been to have her somehow descended from Obi-Wan, perhaps a (great) niece. What Rian Johnson did in TLJ was have her parents be nobody, which I definitely would have preferred over her being a Palpatine. At least as a nobody, that teaches kids (mostly girls) that even if your parents are nobodies and not that successful, that doesn't mean you can't be. Instead, it shows that there has to be some lineage in your family tree in order to make a name for yourself. And knowing the main "hero" of the ST be descended from ultimate evil is just an unsettling feeling.
8. There is no clear villain throughout the trilogy
In the prequel trilogy, the main villain was Palpatine AKA Darth Sidious. In the original trilogy, it was Darth Vader and then the Emperor. In the sequel trilogy, there is no consistency. It goes from Kylo/Snoke to Snoke dying leaving just Kylo to Palpatine and then Kylo turns. There is no clear number one villain in the trilogy. It's not Snoke, he was only in a film and a half. It's not Palpatine, he was only in one film. And it's not Kylo, because he turns and betrays his own "master". There's no one clear villain for the audience to root against.
9. Side characters that are discarded or boring
The sequel trilogy introduced a lot of side characters: Captain Phasma, Rose, Finn, Poe, General Hux, and Zorii Bliss. Captain Phasma was built up with a bunch of hype but dies in a lame fashion in TLJ. Rose was basically forgotten about in TROS. Finn was possibly force-sensitive but we get no resolution on it. Poe was an ace pilot and former smuggler... but what else? His character had no substance. General Hux was a villain who turned for a petty reason. Zorii Bliss was someone from Poe's past who no one cared for. There was very little to no depth for the secondary characters in the ST.
10. Missing an epic lightsaber fight scene
There was no epic lightsaber fight scene in the ST. The closest we got was in TLJ when Rey and Kylo teamed up to take out Snoke's guards, but that fight had flaws and wasn't exactly a fair fight. There was no fight scene with the magnitude of any of the OT fight scenes. There was no fight scene that left us thinking how awesome it was after it finished. This is just my opinion, but I think it's an opinion generally agreed upon by the Star Wars fanbase.
The sequel trilogy was not entirely awful. I only pointed out its flaws. It had its strengths, too. Kylo Ren had more depth than Anakin did in the PT, and Adam Driver killed it in the role. The visual effects and music were all top-notch, with the visual effects the best Star Wars has seen so far. They blended practical and visual effects better than the PT ever did. The acting, even outside of Driver, was pretty good for the most part. But it just pains me as a huge Star Wars fan to know that the ST could have been so much more. I think someday we will get a Star Wars trilogy or movie series that people will universally regard as magnificent, but the sequel trilogy is unfortunately not that trilogy.
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Apps on my phone and what I use them for
You can tell a lot about a person by what apps they have installed on their phone. You can figure out where they shop, what games they like, how they connect with people, and how they entertain themselves. So I thought I would share the apps on my phone and what I use them for. This isn't every single app, as I'm not counting ones that were already on my phone when I got it. These are in alphabetical order:
ActiveBuilding - This is for our apartment lease and to check on things with our complex. I can post and read bulletins and access messages from our leasing managers. I usually just go on my computer to do these things, but when I'm out and about and I need to check something, I can.
Disney+ - An entertainment viewing app. I love watching things on my phone. I've watched a few movies on here as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Door Dash - My favorite restaurant delivery app. They have a lot of restaurant partners that offer free delivery. I haven't had a problem with them yet (although my girlfriend has). I'd say I use this once or twice a month.
Drive Safe - My auto insurance, State Farm, offers this program as a way to earn a discount for safe driving. Combined with a beacon I keep in my car, I can use this app to check my trips to see how safe (or unsafe) I drove. It tracks my car through GPS so I can see exact routes I have taken, if I happen to drive on unfamiliar roads.
DVD Netflix - Netflix originally started out as a DVD through the mail subscription service. I still to this day to subscribe to this service, as they offer more content this way. They just came out with an app in the past year so that I can add movies to my queue on the go.
Fandango - The main service I use to purchase movie tickets. With reserved seating more common than ever, buying tickets in advance is now the way to go. When I have to do that, I use the Fandango app.
Harry Potter - Officially called "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery", this app came out in April of 2018. It's a Harry Potter role-playing game. I've put quite a bit of time into this game as it's the mobile game I have played most the last two years for sure. I am currently taking a break from it (because of lack of content), but I will get back to it someday.
Hulu - I use this to watch various TV shows, mostly. It's one of three streaming apps I have on my phone.
iHeartRadio - A music streaming app I like, although I don't use it that much at all. May remove some day.
IMDb - As a long time user of this site (since 2005, I believe), I love going on IMDb and checking movie and TV show casts. Whenever I see an actor I recognize in a TV show or movie, I go on here to check what else I may have seen them in.
Imgur - I use this to upload images and memes so that I can share them with others, either directly or on social media.
Instagram - Social media picture app. If I take an interesting picture, I'll generally put it on my Instagram profile using this.
Layout - I use this fairly rarely to make a photo collage for an Instagram post. They can make a collage of up to 9 photos in one, which I've used to celebrate different occasions.
LivexLive - This formerly was "Slacker Radio", and yes I believe it came on my phone, but I do have the option to remove it, if I so choose. But I don't because I really like it. I use this to listen to music fairly often. My favorite are the countdowns (or "count-ups") they do.
Meme Generator - I use this to create memes, obviously. I usually do that for people's birthdays to post on their social medias.
Mercari - This is an app I installed recently. It's like eBay, but a little more user friendly. You can either buy or sell basically anything. I have posted a few items to sell that haven't sold yet, but hopefully will some day.
Messenger - Officially "Facebook Messenger", this is the app I use to communicate with others most often.
MLB - The official MLB app. I use it to check the scores of Mariners games and get updates on their games, for example scoring changes and final scores.
Netflix - The third of my streaming apps. I use this to watch various movies or TV shows when I'm not by my TV.
NFL - The official NFL app. I use this to check on NFL scores and news, but also to watch NFL games through the NFL Game Pass.
Pedometer - This is the best pedometer app to see how much you walk each day. It will keep track of all your days and give you charts and reports on your step totals and distance covered.
Reddit - Perhaps the app I spend the most time on now. Reddit is good for checking up on the latest news and memes. There's a subreddit for literally everything, so if you have an interest, others do too and you can share posts and comment on them with others.
Rocketbook - Another newer app I got. I recently purchased a Rocketbook after seeing their pitch on "Shark Tank". It's basically a reusable notebook that you can very quickly upload scans of to your computer, Google Drive, email, etc. I used this app to take a scan of my rough draft list for this very post.
Roku - I have a Roku on my TV in the bedroom. I use the Roku app primarily to turn my phone into a remote, usually when I can't find my actual remote. Works pretty darn well.
Safeway - My most often shopped grocery store, so I use this app to get coupons, discounts, and to see what's on sale.
Seahawks - As a huge Seahawks fan, I have to have their app. I often have this app open during games to check stats, and I also use it to watch post game press conferences. The app will also send me Seahawks news when it's official.
Smith Bros - A bit over a year ago, my girlfriend and I signed up for Smith Bros Dairy delivery, which is a dairy company that delivers dairy products and other food items to your home on a weekly basis. They recently came out with an app so we can check our orders, add items, all from our phone.
State Farm - As a State Farm Insurance customer, I have to have this, right? I don't use it much, but I like how they have our insurance cards on here in case I ever need to provide proof of insurance and I can't find my paper card.
Tasty - The app I most use to find new recipes. I love how there are videos for every recipe, which really helps with cooking. I use this whenever I am having trouble deciding what to make for dinner. You can of course save recipes to make later or to make again.
Venmo - I use this to send and receive money between friends. Not much else to it.
Wells Fargo - My banking app. I use it to check on my recent transactions, my account balance, and to transfer money.
Xbox - I use this to check my Xbox achievements, generally. Or to see who is online. Don't use it much.
YouTube - The app I spend on most (besides Reddit) would be YouTube. I most often watch YouTube videos on my phone rather than my TV.
YT Music - My main music app. I like how they track what you listen to and give you those songs again, so a personalized playlist. And you can look ahead at the playlist they generate for you and if there's a song coming up you don't want to listen to, you can remove it.
Well, that's all the apps I have on my phone. If I install any others, I'll try to remember to add them here.
ActiveBuilding - This is for our apartment lease and to check on things with our complex. I can post and read bulletins and access messages from our leasing managers. I usually just go on my computer to do these things, but when I'm out and about and I need to check something, I can.
Disney+ - An entertainment viewing app. I love watching things on my phone. I've watched a few movies on here as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Door Dash - My favorite restaurant delivery app. They have a lot of restaurant partners that offer free delivery. I haven't had a problem with them yet (although my girlfriend has). I'd say I use this once or twice a month.
Drive Safe - My auto insurance, State Farm, offers this program as a way to earn a discount for safe driving. Combined with a beacon I keep in my car, I can use this app to check my trips to see how safe (or unsafe) I drove. It tracks my car through GPS so I can see exact routes I have taken, if I happen to drive on unfamiliar roads.
DVD Netflix - Netflix originally started out as a DVD through the mail subscription service. I still to this day to subscribe to this service, as they offer more content this way. They just came out with an app in the past year so that I can add movies to my queue on the go.
Fandango - The main service I use to purchase movie tickets. With reserved seating more common than ever, buying tickets in advance is now the way to go. When I have to do that, I use the Fandango app.
Harry Potter - Officially called "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery", this app came out in April of 2018. It's a Harry Potter role-playing game. I've put quite a bit of time into this game as it's the mobile game I have played most the last two years for sure. I am currently taking a break from it (because of lack of content), but I will get back to it someday.
Hulu - I use this to watch various TV shows, mostly. It's one of three streaming apps I have on my phone.
iHeartRadio - A music streaming app I like, although I don't use it that much at all. May remove some day.
IMDb - As a long time user of this site (since 2005, I believe), I love going on IMDb and checking movie and TV show casts. Whenever I see an actor I recognize in a TV show or movie, I go on here to check what else I may have seen them in.
Imgur - I use this to upload images and memes so that I can share them with others, either directly or on social media.
Instagram - Social media picture app. If I take an interesting picture, I'll generally put it on my Instagram profile using this.
Layout - I use this fairly rarely to make a photo collage for an Instagram post. They can make a collage of up to 9 photos in one, which I've used to celebrate different occasions.
LivexLive - This formerly was "Slacker Radio", and yes I believe it came on my phone, but I do have the option to remove it, if I so choose. But I don't because I really like it. I use this to listen to music fairly often. My favorite are the countdowns (or "count-ups") they do.
Meme Generator - I use this to create memes, obviously. I usually do that for people's birthdays to post on their social medias.
Mercari - This is an app I installed recently. It's like eBay, but a little more user friendly. You can either buy or sell basically anything. I have posted a few items to sell that haven't sold yet, but hopefully will some day.
Messenger - Officially "Facebook Messenger", this is the app I use to communicate with others most often.
MLB - The official MLB app. I use it to check the scores of Mariners games and get updates on their games, for example scoring changes and final scores.
Netflix - The third of my streaming apps. I use this to watch various movies or TV shows when I'm not by my TV.
NFL - The official NFL app. I use this to check on NFL scores and news, but also to watch NFL games through the NFL Game Pass.
Pedometer - This is the best pedometer app to see how much you walk each day. It will keep track of all your days and give you charts and reports on your step totals and distance covered.
Reddit - Perhaps the app I spend the most time on now. Reddit is good for checking up on the latest news and memes. There's a subreddit for literally everything, so if you have an interest, others do too and you can share posts and comment on them with others.
Rocketbook - Another newer app I got. I recently purchased a Rocketbook after seeing their pitch on "Shark Tank". It's basically a reusable notebook that you can very quickly upload scans of to your computer, Google Drive, email, etc. I used this app to take a scan of my rough draft list for this very post.
Roku - I have a Roku on my TV in the bedroom. I use the Roku app primarily to turn my phone into a remote, usually when I can't find my actual remote. Works pretty darn well.
Safeway - My most often shopped grocery store, so I use this app to get coupons, discounts, and to see what's on sale.
Seahawks - As a huge Seahawks fan, I have to have their app. I often have this app open during games to check stats, and I also use it to watch post game press conferences. The app will also send me Seahawks news when it's official.
Smith Bros - A bit over a year ago, my girlfriend and I signed up for Smith Bros Dairy delivery, which is a dairy company that delivers dairy products and other food items to your home on a weekly basis. They recently came out with an app so we can check our orders, add items, all from our phone.
State Farm - As a State Farm Insurance customer, I have to have this, right? I don't use it much, but I like how they have our insurance cards on here in case I ever need to provide proof of insurance and I can't find my paper card.
Tasty - The app I most use to find new recipes. I love how there are videos for every recipe, which really helps with cooking. I use this whenever I am having trouble deciding what to make for dinner. You can of course save recipes to make later or to make again.
Venmo - I use this to send and receive money between friends. Not much else to it.
Wells Fargo - My banking app. I use it to check on my recent transactions, my account balance, and to transfer money.
Xbox - I use this to check my Xbox achievements, generally. Or to see who is online. Don't use it much.
YouTube - The app I spend on most (besides Reddit) would be YouTube. I most often watch YouTube videos on my phone rather than my TV.
YT Music - My main music app. I like how they track what you listen to and give you those songs again, so a personalized playlist. And you can look ahead at the playlist they generate for you and if there's a song coming up you don't want to listen to, you can remove it.
Well, that's all the apps I have on my phone. If I install any others, I'll try to remember to add them here.
Friday, July 3, 2020
Top 20 Survivor Players who (still) deserve a second shot
Survivor is my all time favorite reality show. They've now gone on for 40 seasons and 20 years. There have been 487 different players in Survivor's 20 year run. 103 have played multiple seasons. Of the remaining 384, there are certainly some who deserve a second shot. Some are interesting characters and some are actual good players. I have come up with 20 players who deserved a second shot. I even went to the trouble to make it 10 men and 10 women, with some diversity as well, as if this could be a future season of Survivor. And to make it even more interesting, I divided them into two tribes: Characters and Players.
The ten on the character tribe are known more for their interesting personalities than being good players. This certainly would be an interesting and fun to watch tribe. Would they struggle? Probably. But it would be so much fun to watch.
Characters:
Shane Powers (Exile Island/Panama)
I believe Shane was in the running to be a Villain on "Heroes vs. Villains", but was a last minute cut, probably for Russell Hantz. Who knows if he even is on good terms with CBS, but it still would be interesting to see Shane return. He might be on the cusp of being too old, but we've seen older returning players.
Nate Gonzalez (Cook Islands)
Nate was sure fun to watch and I liked his personality. He also gave us some of the best jury member reactions we've still ever seen. I would love to see Nate brought back, if just for his reactions as a jury member.
Erik Cardona (Samoa)
Erik would definitely be a "villain" type of player. He did, however, do his best to persuade the jury to vote for Natalie to win over Russell, which may have resulted in Natalie's victory. He would have been a great player that could have potentially stopped Russell Hantz had he not been blindsided when he was.
Dave Ball (Samoa)
Yet another male player from Samoa, and they were on the same tribe, too. Dave was an interesting character, and he had some great one-liners. My favorite was "He [Erik] got clotheslined... by the clothesline!" They should bring Dave Ball back. Mostly because Jeff often used his full name.
Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water)
Hayden finished with the 2nd best position of any "loved one" on Blood vs. Water, yet he has never been brought back. He played a hard game and even managed to sway Ciera to his side to force a rock draw. I loved his banter with Tyson about "russelling feathers". He would be an interesting character to bring back.
Heidi Strobel (Amazon)
I'm surprised they brought back Jenna but never Heidi. Heidi was just as interesting of a character, if not more so. I still think Heidi could come back, but instead of being the hot, ditzy blonde she's the hot, ditzy mom. She stays active as can be gathered from her posts on Instagram. Her being married to a famous baseball player (Cole Hamels) would probably work against her, though.
Michelle Yi (Fiji)
Fiji actually had a pretty good cast, despite only one player (Yau Man) ever returning to play again so far. There's only a small handful that could work in bringing them back, and one of them is Michelle. Michelle was screwed over by a twist in the game, which was an impromptu tribal council with a group of random players in which she was on the wrong side of the numbers. She was adorable and also started fire with basically nothing, so she would be awesome to have back.
Natalie Bolton (Micronesia)
Natalie was definitely a villainess on her season, which didn't really show until after the merge and the Black Widow alliance formed. She was the one who got the immunity necklace from Erik. She also gave some confessionals to show her true colors. I'm a bit surprised she was never brought back. I'd love to see her back.
Alicia Rosa (One World)
Sure, Alicia said some mean things and didn't seem like a good person, but she still made for an entertaining villain. She went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy in the past few years, which probably made her appreciate the smaller things in life more. I'd love to see her given a second chance.
J'Tia Taylor (Cagayan)
She may have dumped out her tribe's rice, but I'm sure she's matured since then. She has since gotten married. Perhaps with a second shot, her tribe would do better? Probably not, but it would be interesting to see her again.
Players:
Jonas Otsuji (One World)
Jonas was well-liked, which ultimately was the reason for his demise. The guy reminded me of a good-natured Boston Rob. I always thought he deserved a second shot. He gave some pretty funny confessionals, too.
Ian Rosenberger (Palau)
I think Ian is someone CBS has definitely wanted back, and he was asked back for Cambodia: Second Chance but he declined. He's still fairly young and could come back if he changes his mind.
Rafe Judkins (Guatemala)
I thought Rafe was playing the best game of his season, and I'm a bit surprised he never played again. He's a television writer now, so it's unlikely he'd ever leave that comfortable job to play Survivor again. But Rafe seems like someone intelligent enough to adapt to the faster-paced game.
Kenny Hoang (Gabon)
Kenny was undoubtedly playing the best strategic game in Gabon. He tried to make Bob out to the be the bad guy, but it backfired. I would love to see him given a second shot. I could see him controlling a game if he was brought back.
Reynold Toepfer (Caramoan)
Reynold was a huge part of the Three Amigos alliance. He became a force in challenges as well. He just got on the wrong side of the numbers. He seemed like a strong and vocal player who was in hot water the entire game. Yet he made it a lot further than people were expecting. It might be hard to bring him back as Reynold has settled down and started a family.
Darrah Johnson (Pearl Islands)
I loved Darrah on Pearl Islands. She wasn't a very vocal or strategic player, but she went on immunity run semi-late into the game, which once it ended, resulted in her being voted out. She's still under the age of 40. She also was the Morgan tribe member that got the furthest in the game before being voted out for the first time.
Sherea Lloyd (China)
I remember Sherea being the strongest female of her struggling Zhan Hu tribe. When the tribes had to pick the other tribe's two strongest players they'd like, Sherea was chosen. Yet, she has never returned to play again. I think she could still be a force.
Ashley Underwood (Redemption Island)
Of the two girls under Boston Rob's wing, Ashley was definitely the stronger player, which resulted in Natalie making it to the end and not her. She started being a huge force in challenges late in the game. If she had somehow managed to take out Boston Rob and went to the end with Natalie and Phillip, I think she wins. I would like to see her given a second shot.
Chelsea Meissner (One World)
I think Chelsea played a pretty darn good game. It's just that Kim Spradlin was controlling everything and was playing an even better game. I'd love to see Chelsea given a second shot if she wanted. I think she would learn to be more vocal and more aggressive.
RC Saint-Amour (Philippines)
The funny thing is, RC was supposed to be on "Blood vs. Water" with her dad, but he had a medical issue and they couldn't go and were replaced by Candice and John. So CBS has definitely wanted her back, yet she still has yet to come back. She's still fairly young, so why not?
The ten on the character tribe are known more for their interesting personalities than being good players. This certainly would be an interesting and fun to watch tribe. Would they struggle? Probably. But it would be so much fun to watch.
Characters:
Shane Powers (Exile Island/Panama)
I believe Shane was in the running to be a Villain on "Heroes vs. Villains", but was a last minute cut, probably for Russell Hantz. Who knows if he even is on good terms with CBS, but it still would be interesting to see Shane return. He might be on the cusp of being too old, but we've seen older returning players.
Nate Gonzalez (Cook Islands)
Nate was sure fun to watch and I liked his personality. He also gave us some of the best jury member reactions we've still ever seen. I would love to see Nate brought back, if just for his reactions as a jury member.
Erik Cardona (Samoa)
Erik would definitely be a "villain" type of player. He did, however, do his best to persuade the jury to vote for Natalie to win over Russell, which may have resulted in Natalie's victory. He would have been a great player that could have potentially stopped Russell Hantz had he not been blindsided when he was.
Dave Ball (Samoa)
Yet another male player from Samoa, and they were on the same tribe, too. Dave was an interesting character, and he had some great one-liners. My favorite was "He [Erik] got clotheslined... by the clothesline!" They should bring Dave Ball back. Mostly because Jeff often used his full name.
Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water)
Hayden finished with the 2nd best position of any "loved one" on Blood vs. Water, yet he has never been brought back. He played a hard game and even managed to sway Ciera to his side to force a rock draw. I loved his banter with Tyson about "russelling feathers". He would be an interesting character to bring back.
Heidi Strobel (Amazon)
I'm surprised they brought back Jenna but never Heidi. Heidi was just as interesting of a character, if not more so. I still think Heidi could come back, but instead of being the hot, ditzy blonde she's the hot, ditzy mom. She stays active as can be gathered from her posts on Instagram. Her being married to a famous baseball player (Cole Hamels) would probably work against her, though.
Michelle Yi (Fiji)
Fiji actually had a pretty good cast, despite only one player (Yau Man) ever returning to play again so far. There's only a small handful that could work in bringing them back, and one of them is Michelle. Michelle was screwed over by a twist in the game, which was an impromptu tribal council with a group of random players in which she was on the wrong side of the numbers. She was adorable and also started fire with basically nothing, so she would be awesome to have back.
Natalie Bolton (Micronesia)
Natalie was definitely a villainess on her season, which didn't really show until after the merge and the Black Widow alliance formed. She was the one who got the immunity necklace from Erik. She also gave some confessionals to show her true colors. I'm a bit surprised she was never brought back. I'd love to see her back.
Alicia Rosa (One World)
Sure, Alicia said some mean things and didn't seem like a good person, but she still made for an entertaining villain. She went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy in the past few years, which probably made her appreciate the smaller things in life more. I'd love to see her given a second chance.
J'Tia Taylor (Cagayan)
She may have dumped out her tribe's rice, but I'm sure she's matured since then. She has since gotten married. Perhaps with a second shot, her tribe would do better? Probably not, but it would be interesting to see her again.
Players:
Jonas Otsuji (One World)
Jonas was well-liked, which ultimately was the reason for his demise. The guy reminded me of a good-natured Boston Rob. I always thought he deserved a second shot. He gave some pretty funny confessionals, too.
Ian Rosenberger (Palau)
I think Ian is someone CBS has definitely wanted back, and he was asked back for Cambodia: Second Chance but he declined. He's still fairly young and could come back if he changes his mind.
Rafe Judkins (Guatemala)
I thought Rafe was playing the best game of his season, and I'm a bit surprised he never played again. He's a television writer now, so it's unlikely he'd ever leave that comfortable job to play Survivor again. But Rafe seems like someone intelligent enough to adapt to the faster-paced game.
Kenny Hoang (Gabon)
Kenny was undoubtedly playing the best strategic game in Gabon. He tried to make Bob out to the be the bad guy, but it backfired. I would love to see him given a second shot. I could see him controlling a game if he was brought back.
Reynold Toepfer (Caramoan)
Reynold was a huge part of the Three Amigos alliance. He became a force in challenges as well. He just got on the wrong side of the numbers. He seemed like a strong and vocal player who was in hot water the entire game. Yet he made it a lot further than people were expecting. It might be hard to bring him back as Reynold has settled down and started a family.
Darrah Johnson (Pearl Islands)
I loved Darrah on Pearl Islands. She wasn't a very vocal or strategic player, but she went on immunity run semi-late into the game, which once it ended, resulted in her being voted out. She's still under the age of 40. She also was the Morgan tribe member that got the furthest in the game before being voted out for the first time.
Sherea Lloyd (China)
I remember Sherea being the strongest female of her struggling Zhan Hu tribe. When the tribes had to pick the other tribe's two strongest players they'd like, Sherea was chosen. Yet, she has never returned to play again. I think she could still be a force.
Ashley Underwood (Redemption Island)
Of the two girls under Boston Rob's wing, Ashley was definitely the stronger player, which resulted in Natalie making it to the end and not her. She started being a huge force in challenges late in the game. If she had somehow managed to take out Boston Rob and went to the end with Natalie and Phillip, I think she wins. I would like to see her given a second shot.
Chelsea Meissner (One World)
I think Chelsea played a pretty darn good game. It's just that Kim Spradlin was controlling everything and was playing an even better game. I'd love to see Chelsea given a second shot if she wanted. I think she would learn to be more vocal and more aggressive.
RC Saint-Amour (Philippines)
The funny thing is, RC was supposed to be on "Blood vs. Water" with her dad, but he had a medical issue and they couldn't go and were replaced by Candice and John. So CBS has definitely wanted her back, yet she still has yet to come back. She's still fairly young, so why not?
Saturday, June 27, 2020
Good and Bad Things about Fortnite Season 3
Just a week ago, Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 3 premiered and with it came many (mostly welcome) changes. It's the most the game has changed in almost a calendar year, so many players, myself included, are still getting used to all the changes. I'm going to go over most of the changes and whether they are good or bad.
This time, we'll start with the good:
- Increased mobility
This is something that has plagued Chapter 2 since its release. In season 1 of this chapter, there were literally no mobility items, the only being a trap-slot item in launch pads. The only vehicle at the time was boats, and they didn't do well on land (especially going up hills). In season 2, this was improved upon with the introduction of helicopters and crash pads. But still, mobility was fairly limited. Now with season 3, we have new zip lines, sharks that can be ridden, and whirlpools. Two of the mythic bosses even have mythic mobility items (grappler and impulse grenade launcher). Not to mention the game still has both boats and helicopters as well as crash pads. Lachlan, an Australian Fortnite player on YouTube, even joked that there is too much mobility.
- Significant map changes
I'm not going to comment specifically on the map changes themselves (that will be below), but I'm glad there were significant map changes period. The map was starting to get stale and old. When I first started playing in season 3, I was amazed at the amount of changes to the map. It almost doesn't look like the same map.
- Sticking with Mythic bosses
One of the best parts of season 2 was the mythic bosses. Epic Games realized this and at least kept us with three mythic bosses (as opposed to 5/6 last season). They nerfed the weapons so that none of them are too overpowered. In season 2, in certain games if someone else got the mythic weapons, it felt vastly unfair. Now it doesn't feel that unfair.
- Sharks
I have thalassophobia (fear of the deep sea and its creatures), so sharks at first were not a welcome addition for me. Having gotten used to them now, I like them. They can be used to get loot from, ride on (as mentioned earlier), and even use to attack enemies and their builds. I hope this leads to Epic Games including other living things we can interact with. Maybe giant birds we can ride on? Maybe horses?
- The right amount of new weapons/items and unvaulting
Epic Games unvaulted the hunting rifle, bolt action sniper, P90 SMG and Chug Splashes, as well as introducing the new charge shotgun and fireflies. They also have two mythic items for bosses that were either unvaulted (Chug Jug) or new (Impulse Launcher). This is exactly what they should do every season. Come up with new weapons and items while unvaulting a few popular ones as well. They obviously listened to us because many of us (myself included) wanted the hunting rifle and chug splashes brought back.
- More healing items
One problem the early part of this chapter had was not enough healing items. Even with the introduction of fishing, healing was a bit tough to do at times. In season 3, we now have fruits and vegetables that 1) can be placed into the inventory instead of having to be consumed and 2) are a wider variety. There are apples, corn, cabbages, shield and slurp mushrooms, and chili peppers (although those are for speed). So someone in desperate need of health or shield can grab some of these.
All right, now onto the bad things. This season is definitely an improvement, but it is not without its faults.
- Too much water
As I mentioned earlier, I'm glad the map changed a lot, but I wish they hadn't added this much water. A lot of old landmarks and locations are completely submerged now. If they had added a feature which allowed us to dive underwater, I would be ok with this amount, but too much is simply "unexplorable" right now.
- Not enough material options
With all of the water on the map, there are far less ways to get a significant amount of materials. Weeping Woods is submerged, so forget that. It is clearly much harder to build up materials quickly. The new things that popped up on the map (The Fortilla and Rickety Rig) do not have enough material options.
- Too many things vaulted, especially ones needed for challenges
The pump shotgun, heavy sniper, C4 remote explosives, and proximity mines all got vaulted. RPG's are now only available by killing and taking them from Marauders on the map, so they are no longer available at all in Team Rumble play. There have been these "quick challenges" which include getting explosive damage or eliminations. The only way to do that now in Team Rumble is by using grenades. Either Epic realized this and didn't care, or they failed to realize all the explosive weapons they vaulted while keeping explosive challenges.
- Quick challenges are more work for not much more XP
Daily challenges have been replaced by quick challenges. There would be a new daily challenge every new day you played. These challenges only needed one thing accomplished and gave 55,000 XP. Now, there are five that generate each day. They start out at 1,400 XP and after a day become 14,000 XP. Even if you complete all 5 of those challenges, that is 70,000 XP. Basically, it's four more challenges to complete for just a bit more XP. They do keep regenerating after completing, but are only 1,400 XP for each challenge unless you wait a day. It's a clever technique by Epic Games to get us to play a bit longer, but I am not a big fan of this change.
All in all, this season is definitely an upgrade from the previous season. I do have one major recommendation if Epic Games wants. As I said above, all of this water on the map would have been made better if there was a new mechanic to dive down underwater. Our characters could hold their breath for 20 seconds before losing health (10 health per second after that). There could be oxygen tanks which would allow our players to go for about a minute underwater before running out. One problem I do see with this, however, is players trapping others underwater, but hey, if you can't shoot your way out, oh well. That's the risk you take for going underwater. This would be cool to see if they wanted to implement it next season.
This time, we'll start with the good:
- Increased mobility
This is something that has plagued Chapter 2 since its release. In season 1 of this chapter, there were literally no mobility items, the only being a trap-slot item in launch pads. The only vehicle at the time was boats, and they didn't do well on land (especially going up hills). In season 2, this was improved upon with the introduction of helicopters and crash pads. But still, mobility was fairly limited. Now with season 3, we have new zip lines, sharks that can be ridden, and whirlpools. Two of the mythic bosses even have mythic mobility items (grappler and impulse grenade launcher). Not to mention the game still has both boats and helicopters as well as crash pads. Lachlan, an Australian Fortnite player on YouTube, even joked that there is too much mobility.
- Significant map changes
I'm not going to comment specifically on the map changes themselves (that will be below), but I'm glad there were significant map changes period. The map was starting to get stale and old. When I first started playing in season 3, I was amazed at the amount of changes to the map. It almost doesn't look like the same map.
- Sticking with Mythic bosses
One of the best parts of season 2 was the mythic bosses. Epic Games realized this and at least kept us with three mythic bosses (as opposed to 5/6 last season). They nerfed the weapons so that none of them are too overpowered. In season 2, in certain games if someone else got the mythic weapons, it felt vastly unfair. Now it doesn't feel that unfair.
- Sharks
I have thalassophobia (fear of the deep sea and its creatures), so sharks at first were not a welcome addition for me. Having gotten used to them now, I like them. They can be used to get loot from, ride on (as mentioned earlier), and even use to attack enemies and their builds. I hope this leads to Epic Games including other living things we can interact with. Maybe giant birds we can ride on? Maybe horses?
- The right amount of new weapons/items and unvaulting
Epic Games unvaulted the hunting rifle, bolt action sniper, P90 SMG and Chug Splashes, as well as introducing the new charge shotgun and fireflies. They also have two mythic items for bosses that were either unvaulted (Chug Jug) or new (Impulse Launcher). This is exactly what they should do every season. Come up with new weapons and items while unvaulting a few popular ones as well. They obviously listened to us because many of us (myself included) wanted the hunting rifle and chug splashes brought back.
- More healing items
One problem the early part of this chapter had was not enough healing items. Even with the introduction of fishing, healing was a bit tough to do at times. In season 3, we now have fruits and vegetables that 1) can be placed into the inventory instead of having to be consumed and 2) are a wider variety. There are apples, corn, cabbages, shield and slurp mushrooms, and chili peppers (although those are for speed). So someone in desperate need of health or shield can grab some of these.
All right, now onto the bad things. This season is definitely an improvement, but it is not without its faults.
- Too much water
As I mentioned earlier, I'm glad the map changed a lot, but I wish they hadn't added this much water. A lot of old landmarks and locations are completely submerged now. If they had added a feature which allowed us to dive underwater, I would be ok with this amount, but too much is simply "unexplorable" right now.
- Not enough material options
With all of the water on the map, there are far less ways to get a significant amount of materials. Weeping Woods is submerged, so forget that. It is clearly much harder to build up materials quickly. The new things that popped up on the map (The Fortilla and Rickety Rig) do not have enough material options.
- Too many things vaulted, especially ones needed for challenges
The pump shotgun, heavy sniper, C4 remote explosives, and proximity mines all got vaulted. RPG's are now only available by killing and taking them from Marauders on the map, so they are no longer available at all in Team Rumble play. There have been these "quick challenges" which include getting explosive damage or eliminations. The only way to do that now in Team Rumble is by using grenades. Either Epic realized this and didn't care, or they failed to realize all the explosive weapons they vaulted while keeping explosive challenges.
- Quick challenges are more work for not much more XP
Daily challenges have been replaced by quick challenges. There would be a new daily challenge every new day you played. These challenges only needed one thing accomplished and gave 55,000 XP. Now, there are five that generate each day. They start out at 1,400 XP and after a day become 14,000 XP. Even if you complete all 5 of those challenges, that is 70,000 XP. Basically, it's four more challenges to complete for just a bit more XP. They do keep regenerating after completing, but are only 1,400 XP for each challenge unless you wait a day. It's a clever technique by Epic Games to get us to play a bit longer, but I am not a big fan of this change.
All in all, this season is definitely an upgrade from the previous season. I do have one major recommendation if Epic Games wants. As I said above, all of this water on the map would have been made better if there was a new mechanic to dive down underwater. Our characters could hold their breath for 20 seconds before losing health (10 health per second after that). There could be oxygen tanks which would allow our players to go for about a minute underwater before running out. One problem I do see with this, however, is players trapping others underwater, but hey, if you can't shoot your way out, oh well. That's the risk you take for going underwater. This would be cool to see if they wanted to implement it next season.
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