OMFG SCRUFF IS VOTING INTO JAKE'S IDOL

Okay so it is Merge, didn't do this for a long time but now everything comes together, so.

11. Pikachu: Pikachu wouldn't be here even an hour ago, but it looks like their plan to oust Jake has backfired due to Poirot leaking the idea and Jake having an idol. As is customary they are going out this round.
Grade: B
Pikachu has had a wild ride this game and I'm not sure how I'd assess it on the whole, as it seems that this elimination was inevitable, but props to them from going from the target of one alliance, to flipping the vote on the dominant player, to being the target of the other major alliance in the game. If them and Penelope were better at keeping talking to Jake the grade would be higher, though the result the same.

10. Lucifer Morningstar: Lucy has the issue of being the main squeeze of one player, Grouch, and if Grouch was the one running things or in a power position, that'd be great, but in the meantime that means that Lucy is someone who almost everyone else in their alliance is willing to see let go. IN fact they probably would have been the vote if not for the desire to vote out Pikachu for them aggressively going after Jake.
Grade: C
Lucifer has one real path to the end and that is hope everyone else is more of a target than them and use that to keep moving through the game. Still that will be a problem in the end. I'm also confused because while it is clear that a lot of people don't care for Lucifer, I have no idea why, cause the Lucifer we get in confessionals is honestly great and no one seems to make a post of a complete takedown of them, so maybe it will be enough to just not be the person people want gone most.

9. Leon Kennedy: Leon seems to be the other sides answer to Lucifer. Someone who seems to be the outside member with little influence who becomes the "safe vote" in a proxy war. It appears they handled the Grouch situation poorly as well, which only makes their survival harder.
Grade: C-
Same position as Lucifer but at least the whole Grouch betrayal has an easily discernable reason for them being on the outs, that isn't how you make up with someone, not to mention not informing on the Cheddar vote was something that could have easily been fixed. We'll see whether his allies can keep him safe, since I don't think Leon has the experience to do it himself.

8. Jake Peralta: I mean clearly has targets on them and with the idol play, I'm not sure how much even those close to Jake will feel. Not being in the know on your allies' idol is not a good time, at least when they know they're playing it. Jake's target will just be too big and while that is good for a lot of people not Jake, that's very bad for Jake.
Grade: C-
Good job sensing the vote and having someone tell them about it. But also they have overplayed in a way that makes them both unlikely to survive and get jury votes at the end, acting in a way that made Pikachu turn on them. But might be able to bulldoze back into a strong position in the game and maybe people will respect that?

7. Judy Hopps: Perennial loose cannon in the game, has been though of of a cut by their allies, but is currently likeable enough by enough people that time is a bit off. Judy will have a hard time avoiding that time, but for now everything is good.
Grade: B-
Not afraid to try something, which is good, and certainly has the social game down, but their allies consider them a liability due to a chaotic nature. That's not good, but maybe something bigger will come up and they can hippity hop their way to the end. After all if a likable but transparently untrustworthy player makes the end, they still have a good chance to win if they show awareness of that.

6. Penelope Garcia: Well liked by most, has found the right allies, but Jake is going to be mad at them about the whole banding with Pikachu thing. Still if Jake goes first, Penelope should be able to last a while, even have a good winner chance. I don't she's anyone's number 1, but definitely in the top 5 of a good amount of people.
Grade: B+
Mostly what I said above, she has a decent chance at the end but getting there will certainly require someone to throw away their current top ally, or have them die, and she doesn't seem to be "driving" things to just get what she wants at the end. Still she's making smart decisions and has no major flaws outside of Jake happening to have an idol and not quite selling that Jake wasn't their vote.

5. Grouch Cop: Yeah...I'm surprised Grouch is in the top half of rankings. Like at the start of this round I expected them to be DEAD, but alas, other people seem to have played the merge and they decided to sit back, and if they hadn't they would be dead. Knowing when not to move is just as important as knowing when to move. They still have to deal with Leon and Scruff existing, so they aren't in a dominant position, but have very good survival odds for a bit.
Grade: A-
Still having to deal with the fallout of the Cheddar vote is the only mark on their grade and they've handled that as well as they can. The main issue is they weren't psychic enough to know Scruff and Leon had people they trusted more than them so it's barely their fault. Definitely a winner candidate but has a few people who are much scarier at FTC than them and they probably can't beat.

4. Rust Cohle: Pikachu is Rust's ally and that's why they are fourth. No one really wants Rust gone and they have the awareness to know they will need to flip in the future but now is not the time. If their ally wasn't the one paying the price well, then they'd be in an amazing position but instead their ally is going so I have to adjust rankings accordingly
Grade: A
Still their detached gameplay has payed dividends and Pikachu going is not really Rust's fault so *shrug*.

3. Scruff: Still has enemies but being out of the spotlight on the Merge vote really helps them out. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the vote instead of Jake barring that immunity win, but alas, Scruff is not and doesn't seem to be the most likely target for the immediate future.
Grade: B
Still could be playing a lot better and have fewer people who are willing to stab them in the the face.

2. Poirot: By far the most entertaining character and having a good feel on the game. Poirot is definitely a favorite this game and for good reason. While I certainly think the idea of being "too big a character to let live" is very true for them, I honestly believe they may be able to skate around enough. Pikachu going isn't exactly bad for them, in fact it might be the best vote for them this round, but I'm still nervous about whether they'll just get gunned down at final 4.
Grade: A-
Haven't made their threat level dissapear, but is very cognizant of that fact and is trying to keep around shields and play the middle.


1. Lennie: Lennie just, no one has issues with. Literally everyone likes Lennie and they seem to have enough sway that they can do stuff if they want to, all without actually making anyone nervous. Like Lennie is probably the most likely winner of this game as is, since they can survive the destruction of either alliance due to their connections to Scruff and Poirot.
Grade: A+
Honestly I don't think there has been any time Lennie has completely misplayed this game, they've been in a very secure spot and while they weren't top dog before I see it hard not to consider them that right now.

And people are bad at hiding the wagon...fun.

Quote

Not only that, but if I voted out Cheddar, the only person I would have a chance of 'burning' would be Grouch-- but on the other hand, if I voted out Pikachu, it would alienate Rust (Who's close to Pika), Jake (Who's close to Rust and Pika), and Nick (Viewed Pika as his closest ally)

Worrisome! Red alert, red alert, red alert!

We need M. Pikachu, M. Rust, M. Peralta, M. McGruff, or M. Kennedy to go 'ome zis round. Any other vote ees a mistake. If we don't get one of zem out, our fate will be in ze 'ands of M. Peralta, and 'e would 'ave no qualms about sending me 'ome if zat ees what 'ad to 'appen. Eet will be a betrayal for 'im no matter what.

So 'ere ees ze thing. Zey want me to let M. Lucifer go, which ees not great, but not ze end of ze world. Eet ees a weak move, but eet ees a publicly weak move, and I think all eyes will be on 27 going forward, which ees ze main benefit.

M. Pikachu/M. Cohle/M. Grouch/M. Lucifer are kind of trying to band together as ze people on ze bottom/outcasts and zey potentially want me and Mlle Hopps to join zem. Ze problem I see with zat ees zat if I do zat, I don't think zat ees a group I see longterm success with. I stand out like a sore thumb, whereas with M. Briscoe and M. Peralta I 'ave more similar players to 'ide behind. I'm also burning a lot of allies and voting at least one out, since I don't even know who ze countertarget ees, but eet would 'ave to be M. Briscoe, M. Peralta, or M. Kennedy, and all of zem I think trust me and more importantly I think at zis point zey will be targets before me because 27 ees seen as a tight group.

HERCULE WHAT HAPPENED TO ANY OTHER VOTE IS A MISTAKE?

It's too bad they seem to be shifting towards the only player who still has an idol.

I mean just because someone has an idol doesn't mean they'll play it

The "bot" in gamebot certainly is meant to convey a robotic nature, in other words a one-track mind perhaps lacking in human emotions.  If we can agree on that, what do we then mean with the prefix "game"?  I think that the gamebot sees everything as game: their human opponents as game pieces and their human interactions as game moves.  Altogether, not a flattering term. 

This is what I feel gamebot means. Being strategically minded isn't necessarily enough for the term to hit, since well, everyone has to talk strategy and I've even had entire games with people where conversations were almost entirely game talk and I wouldn't consider them gamebots. I think it's meant to refer to someone who just views people as chess pieces and the like, or at least that's how you think they perceive the game.

The question of whether that 2 dimensionalizes a 3D person is interesting though. Less in that I think it definitely does do that and more in the way that in order to get across ideas quickly in the game reducing people to less nuanced personality traits is often likely, especially when we only have so many in game interactions with them and rarely enough time to see all the different facets of a person. Like is there a way around that?

Meanwhile Grouch with a ridiculous score for indefinite interrogation. Hopefully that holds up so we can an interesting first round.

I'm surprised Nick isn't just admitting he doesn't have the idol with that response, but I guess that only makes sense if he KNOWS Jake has the idol and Jake also happens to want Lennie out.