Let's Study Games - Redemption Mechanics

[Cephrir]

Skelda's first post pretty much nailed my opinion. That said, there have been some returnees that have impacted the game, and I do think if we continue to do returnee twists one will eventually win, as Grogu was probably one immunity away. I also returned in Greece (easy to forget as I was not out for long) and like, probably had a chance at winning until I started talking at FTC, but I think juries didn't hate returnees as much back then.

I do think we've thoroughly explored the design space at this point and I think I am maybe not super interested in putting them in game designs myself anymore barring some new unique idea.

[Cephrir]

I'm prepared to be on the end that'll have to fight for this, but

defiantly no

, and for a few reasons:

1) Redemption Mechanics are a staple Survivor Mechanic from the actual show. Part of the mark of a good player is, in my eyes, being able to be ready for things like this.
2) Anyone who wants to find out will probably find out via looking at what roles the eliminated players have.
3) And even if they don't, you'll see eliminated players returning to the boards so often that you'll probably figure it out soon.

I would tend to lean towards informing people of the possibility just as a designer, although i wouldn't want to enforce that on other mods. I do want to put in some disagreement with this post anyway though!

1) I dont know if I'd call redemption mechanics a staple on the show, as most seasons do not have it. In addition, the version I feel is the most successful, redemption island, does inform the players not just that there is redemption but also who may come back to allow them to plan for it.

2 and 3 bother me because new players will not know to look for those things. So I feel like this option informs veterans only, which seems like the worst of both worlds.

[Cephrir]

Also, if you can expect someone to return early and a lot of early boots are inactive, that discourages early big moves since the target will probably come back

[Cephrir]

Returnees came back before merge so the endgame didn't get affected that much.

wow, spit on poison ivy's memory!

[Cephrir]

i guess i'm not as down on their chances. to me several players coming close is actually pretty good. i don't love return mechanics for game purity reasons but i feel like the evidence seems to indicate they have if anything a surprisingly good chance of winning

[Cephrir]

i don't really feel like doing the math to figure out how many games returnees should have been expected to win if their chances were equal to everyone else's -- which they obviously will never be given they were already voted out once for at least some reason and have missed some time to connect with the players -- but i bet it isn't more than the number who have been one vote away or real ftc contenders or one immunity away

[Cephrir]

it does, yes. but unless there's an idol or swap screw involved, usually a voted out player has made some sort of error that hurt their chances of winning, right

i'd like to think so at least