|
|
|
|
PLEASE NOTE: The Reality TV World Message Boards are filled with desperate
attention-seekers pretending to be one big happy PG/PG13-rated family. Don't
be fooled. Trying to get everyone to agree with you is like herding cats,
but intolerance for other viewpoints is NOT welcome and respect for other
posters IS required at all times. Jump in and play, and you'll soon find out
how easy it is to fit in, but save your drama for your mama. All members are
encouraged to read the
complete guidelines.
As entertainment critic Roger
Ebert once said, "If you disagree with something I write, tell me so, argue
with me, correct me--but don't tell me to shut up. That's not the American way."
|
|
|
"Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times"
realitybites 1174 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Politically Incorrect Guest"
|
07-31-03, 03:46 PM (EST)
 
  |
|
"Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-01-03 AT 03:20 AM (EST)(Edited to polish the grammar and add the results of leg 10) I couldn't decide whether to put this in Fanatics or Bashers. The research behind it borders on fanatical, but the message is negative, so I decided to put it here. One thing I noticed about this group of racers is that almost all of them have departed their pit stops between midnight and 6 AM local time. Almost everywhere in the world, the vast majority of businesses are closed between those hours, which means to get anything done you have to wait. And waiting equals BUNCHING. I wondered, have they done this so blatantly in past races? So I did some research to see when each team departed from the pit stop in TAR2 and TAR3 as well as this race. I should thank Mary Russell and The Trades for making it easy for me. Anyway, this is what I came up with: TAR2
Teams departing between 12-6 AM: 32 (46%)
Teams departing at all other times: 38 (54%) TAR3
Teams departing between 12-6 AM: 55 (72%)
Teams departing at all other times: 21 (28%) TAR4 (through leg 10)
Teams departing between 12-6 AM: 60 (92%)
Teams departing at all other times: 5 (8%) BTW, the teams departing at the other times in this leg happen to be the three leaders who left Cortina (leg 2) at 11:52 pm, and Steve & Dave, who left Gmunden (leg 4) at 6:04 am. Also, Reichen & Chip left the nature resort (leg 10) at the non-standard time of 10:26 pm. The producers are kicking themselves for screwing that up. Curiously, the count for TAR2 through leg 9 was 20 (36%) in the dead hours and 36 (64%) in more normal hours. Perhaps the producers looked at the results of the last four legs of that edition and decided that they liked having all the teams arrive in the afternoon and leave early in the morning. For me, this is part of the feeling of deja vu that I feel for this edition - all the teams arrive at the pit stop relatively close to each other in the afternoon, then they all leave close to each other in the wee hours, where they bunch at their next destination/train station/airport. Then they do the detour & roadblock in the morning and early afternoon (which may or may not involve more bunching). And then they race to the pit stop later that afternoon. Lather, rinse, repeat. Sorry this has been so long and technical. Thanks for reading this far. You can go back to Tian's thread now.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
TeamJoisey 3558 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Thong Contest Judge"
|
07-31-03, 05:15 PM (EST)
|
|
1. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
Thanks for the fanaticism. Wish I still had that kind of passion for this increasingly lame show.This confirms my own feeling about the way the show has changed. Teams are no longer driven to finish first in any particular leg, it is all about not finishing last. Instead of one big race, it is a collection of daily races. Perhaps contestants in early versions of the show did not foresee the constant bunching. These players clearly anticipate the bunching, and it has affected game play. And, as your research points out, the producers have actually engineered the show to accentuate this flaw. Perhaps they miscalculated how quickly teams would complete tasks, but it happens each week so I think it goes beyond that. Now there seems to be more bunching than ever. Divergent thinking is not rewarded. Teams stick to each other in that "sprint to the finish" mentality Millie and Chuck expressed last week. There is a simple solution to this, if Bertram Van Munster is listening. No more mandatory 12-hour rest periods. Throw in a 24-hour rest period, and don't let anyone know when it is coming. Try an 18-hour rest period. If you really want to get radical, build in an 8-hour rest period. These changes will force changes in strategy, and can improve the game. We can bash Evil Mark Burnett for a lot of things, but once players began to anticipate things, he changed the game. And he continues to challenge expectations.
These reality show contestants need a reality check!
|
|
|
Top |
| |
 |
realitybites 1174 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Politically Incorrect Guest"
|
08-01-03, 09:23 AM (EST)
|
|
3. "Thoughts" |
Thanks for the comments and kind words. You really made me think about where the show has gone, where it is, and where it might be going.1) I think it's always been of primary importance to the racers to not finish last, and they've knew it - certainly on TAR2, and perhaps even midway through TAR Classic. But you're right, finishing first - regardless of the prizes they give out - has become less and less important as the editions roll on. Anything less than a 6 hour lead is irrelevant these days. And nobody's getting a 6 hour lead on this show. 2) I agree with your points on bunching, but slightly disagree with your statement that "ivergent thinking is not rewarded". The three most divergent thinkers ever on TAR, IMO, were Blake & Paige, Oswald & Danny, and Reichen & Chip. They all did pretty well.3) Your point on rest periods is noted, but I think a straight 24-hour stop every time would be even better. The teams could use the extra time to sightsee, shop (escorted of course), strategize, wash their clothes, have an extra meal, and/or get some more sleep. With 12 hours, there isn't a lot of time to do any of those things. This would have the extra benefit of helping the teams who are short on endurance for whatever reason. I'm sure it will never happen because one or two teams might get lucky and grab a large lead which TPTB can't swallow up right away.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
boateng 28 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge"
|
08-01-03, 11:15 AM (EST)
|
|
6. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
The above statistics are interesting and do suggest another form of bunching from the producers. Still, I don't mind too much. I think bunching - especially later in the game, with fewer teams left - is a necessary evil. It keeps the show suspenseful. Without some sort of bunching, it would be easy for one or two teams to get an insurmountable lead, making the show much less interesting. Even with bunching, it is still impressive that the producers are able to keep the teams as close together as they are. This must be a very difficult show to arrange because of all the unknown sorts of variables, especially related to transportation.
And I don't think the show has lost anything. I still love it, even if the teams this season are a little bit less interesting than in seasons past. The show last week, with Millie/Chuck and Kelly/John racing to the Pitstop was one of the most exciting episodes in a long time.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
managerr 1959 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Herbal Healing Drugs Endorser"
|
08-01-03, 11:24 AM (EST)
|
|
7. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
I believe that there are random 24 hour rest stops. It was something implemented last season. (Notice they don't always say 12 hours anymore) Producers were concerned about sleep deprivation towards the contestants so every few legs they get longer rest stops.I definitely think they had one before the India leg. Notice how refreshed Tian/Jaree were that leg after being so down and out the leg before it. A problem I have with this edition of the race is that they should use the non-elim points on the short legs instead of the long ones. Twice in a row now we've had the non-elimination points on longer legs and elim points on shorter legs where they hardly have to travel. That sucks, because shorter legs become one big bunch fest. This leg, leaving at night didn't matter since this was a leg that seemed to take multiple days with all the travel time.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
|
08-01-03, 08:43 AM (EST)
|
|
2. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
Excellent research!I've been wondering about this stuff, too, but I'm far too lazy to do this kind of research.  This is the first full series of TAR that I've watched start-to-finish, so I don't know what has happened with other series. But I did notice that everyone was leaving around 2am (give or take). My first observation is that it does little good to finish ahead because everyone just catches up at the (closed) bus station or the (closed) airport, etc. My second observation was when Reichen and Chip "accidentally" got the fast forward last week. They ended up leaving at 10:26 pm, well ahead of the other groups. The first task (the temple) allowed them to keep that lead... but at the airport everyone had caught up again. I can see the show doing this sometimes to keep the team arrival times from stretching out TOO much and accumulating as they progress through the race. But I agree that in TAR4, it's been ridiculous and leads to a lot of waiting around (which stresses me out as I watch this thing, one reason I never could stay with it in previous TARs). I think that on SOME occasions, let there be a first task in the morning hours (like that ski slide thing earlier in Leg 2 or so, and the Buddhist temple this time) that leaders can still keep SOME time advantage.
 
Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
|
|
|
Top |
| |
MsShel330 695 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Reality Show Commentator"
|
08-01-03, 07:34 PM (EST)
|
|
10. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
Great research, realitybites. Thank you.
I agree that the bunching has become excessive but I don't know if shortening the rest periods is the best way to handle it. Maybe not having one length of time throughout the race but tailoring the rest period to the length and difficulty of that particular leg? Say, an 8-10 hour rest for short legs or legs in less demanding locations, like Europe and a 12-24 hour rest for longer legs and more physically/mentally demanding places like India. I also think that the bunching should be limited to the first and middle parts of the race and eliminated (if possible) from the last stages. I wouldn't like to see a repeat of TAR 1 with the 3rd team 24 hours behind the first 2. A racing to the finish would be more exciting when the teams are really racing for the big prize.
However, I think that the problem with this season's teams not racing so hard is an internal problem. I've said before that these are the least competent racers (as a group) out of all the seasons and I think that they aren't very competitive.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
AMAI 1254 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Beef Jerky Spokesperson"
|
08-02-03, 03:56 PM (EST)
|
|
12. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-02-03 AT 03:58 PM (EST)Dajaki, that is a very intriguing idea. Kind of a Fast Forward in reverse. Would this mean that teams would be forced to take 12 or 14 hour pit stop, even if they didn't want to? Kudos realitybites on the research. I think the idea of generally having a longer pit stop, or varying it to fit the kind of leg it's been, is also a good one. This would reward more handsomely ingenuity. Of course, it would be interesting if they changed up the pit stops on occasion, so that bunching became something rarer and ironically more disruptive. If a team is leading for 4 eps' straight, and then hits a bunching, would that cause us all to yell or be happy? The comments about how Mark Burnett has kept Survivor changing (Team Joisey) are spot on. That is just part of why Survivor is going strong, while there are whispers on the wind that this is it for TAR. There isn't much one can do to avoid bunching, and not having it leads to a boring game. So it's a lose-lose situation.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
SurvivinDawg 6816 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Playboy Centerfold"
|
08-02-03, 09:21 PM (EST)
|
|
13. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
There isn't much one can do to avoid bunching, and not having it leads to a boring game. So it's a lose-lose situation.Disagree. First, we don't WANT to avoid bunching at some points... because a couple of teams might get such an overwhelming lead that the 2d half of the show would not be worthwhile to watch. But it can also be overdone... and lead to what we're seeing in TAR4. It's a happy medium that must be reached. My suggestion is 12 hour pit stops alternating with 24 hour pit stops, and for those 12 hour pit stops that start off between midnight and 6am, then make available transportation (like a car) at that time, or a challenge to take up those hours to lessen the bunching. Of course, fast fowards could throw things askew. I'd suggest that fast forwards only be available during the late portions of the leg of the race one is on. And, every 3d or 4th leg, plan for some deliberate bunching just in case one team gets a bit too far ahead. ANOTHER IDEA: A team too far in front is told "You get extra pit stop time, but you can leave for the next stop only one hour ahead of Group 2." That will keep the race to a certain tightness of schedule (and the producers really do need that), and they won't have to plan for bunching.
Contradictions don't exist. If you are faced with a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong. -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
TeamJoisey 3558 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Thong Contest Judge"
|
08-03-03, 04:16 AM (EST)
|
|
15. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
>While these are all interesting ideas,
>it's still just too figity
...
>
>Just keep it simple and everything
>will work out alright.
Simply put, things are not working out alright.
Ratings are weak and the show is about to die. CBS President Les Moonves has all but given it the last rites. If the quality of the show does not improve, the ratings will not improve. If the ratings do not improve, we may not get TAR5, and certainly will never see TAR6. Therefore, we are making suggestions that we feel will reduce the things that most irritate the fans and the casual viewers. The simple game has become too easy for folks who have seen four races run. Change can be good, and is probably essential. The producers have made changes this time around, and it has varied the game play. Contestants even commented on the different structure of some legs.
One change seems to be the increase in the bunching. That is hurting the game. As you noted, change can lead to problems. But at this point, change is necessary to stay on the air.
These reality show contestants need a reality check!
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
AMAI 1254 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Beef Jerky Spokesperson"
|
08-03-03, 03:12 PM (EST)
|
|
17. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
Well put, Joisey. I do think it's worth our while to put thought into it, since we've seen that other producers do listen to the fans. How many of us ranted & raved over Big Brother's power of veto rules? This year, they made the POV something that can be won & used by a nominee. I know I yelled out loud & long on various boards about it.So it's worth it to put ideas down, which the producers will like, or which will help them to think of something else that does implement a structural change. SurvivinDawg, I should have said "excessive" bunching. I do agree that some bunching is a good thing, but they've made it appear as if the choice were all or nothing. The amount of bunching, not to mention wasted hours standing around waiting for things to open, has to be hard on the teams. We don't see them standing around, but it must be bad for morale.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
Busco Man 14 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Got Milk? Spokesperson"
|
08-06-03, 07:43 PM (EST)
|
|
19. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
I respectfully disagree.While Les Mooves is not very happy with the ratings, there is no direct evidence that TAR is going to be cancelled. Having said that, writing a letter or two to CBS is a good idea (no matter what the status of the show is) and will help insure that TAR gets another season. Bunching, which everyone likes to b#tch about is the result of TAR's actions to keep the ultimate nightmare from happening, namely; One team getting an insurmountable lead. Let's face it, if one team somehow got a twelve hour lead it's all over. The ratings would plunge and TAR would rightfully be cancelled. So, how do you prevent such an occurance from happening without adding a lot of figity rules? Bunching my friends, bunching. I have yet to read anything along this thread that would reduce bunching and not increase the possibility of one team getting a bit lucky and gaining an insurmountable lead. What do you propose then? We hold that team back until the others catch up? That's far, far, far worse than bunching. Rules should be the same for every team in every situation. Bunching is the more acceptable, if not more likable alternative. As for other suggestions that "improve" TAR, I would recommend more diverse teams and a little more stories about thier backgrounds. For example, David & Jeff seem to be cast from the same mold as the winners of TAR1 & 2. But they are considerably older than those two teams (Jeff is 37). A fact that hasn't really hit home yet. I would also include more challenges that are less physical. If only to shut up all the people who complain that 'women can't do it' (which is not true, but still...). Busco Man (your bunching specialist)
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
realitybites 1174 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Politically Incorrect Guest"
|
08-07-03, 02:35 AM (EST)
|
|
22. "Bunching bunching" |
You make some good points, like this one:>Bunching, which everyone likes to b#tch about is the result of
>TAR's actions to keep the ultimate nightmare from happening,
>namely;
>
>
>One team getting an insurmountable lead. Exactly. I think the producers are SO afraid of a team getting a big lead that they're willing to go through extraordinary measures to keep them close together. I don't mind the airport bunching because I know it can be tough to get from one destination to another. But do they really have to space the route markers so that nobody can do anything until everyone catches up? Not as much as they have been. >Let's face it, if one team somehow got a twelve hour lead it's
>all over. The ratings would plunge and TAR would rightfully be
>cancelled. I mildly disagree on two fronts. First, with the airport and monument bunching (which would be reduced but not eliminated with any reasonable set of rules), a team would need a 24 hour lead to be completely safe. And second, it's uncertain how much the ratings would go down because no team has ever had anything like a 12 hour lead (well, F&M from TAR Classic came close, but that was only temporary). In traditional sports, some people leave or stop watching when they sense a team is better on that particular day, but not everyone. Why? Different reasons - some want to catch every moment from their favorite team or favorite player, some know that the best moments come when the result is no longer in doubt, and some hope against hope for a comeback. >I have yet to read anything along this thread that would reduce
>bunching and not increase the possibility of one team getting a
>bit lucky and gaining an insurmountable lead. It may be just me, but I'd rather risk having a team getting an insurmountable lead than having a race where leads mean nothing and teams can be eliminated because of a small mistake late in the leg. >As for other suggestions that "improve" TAR, I would recommend
>more diverse teams and a little more stories about thier
>backgrounds. (snip) >I would also include more challenges that are less physical. I agree with your recommendations. A cast of ordinary people placed under the extraordinary circumstances of TAR would be much better than what we've had in the past few races. And I've been whining about more mental challenges since TAR2, not that anyone in charge is listening.
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
Busco Man 14 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Got Milk? Spokesperson"
|
08-07-03, 11:13 PM (EST)
|
|
23. "RE: Bunching bunching" |
You make some good points, like this one:>Bunching, which everyone likes to b#tch about is the result of
>TAR's actions to keep the ultimate nightmare from happening,
>namely;
>
>
>One team getting an insurmountable lead. Exactly. I think the producers are SO afraid of a team getting a big lead that they're willing to go through extraordinary measures to keep them close together. I don't mind the airport bunching because I know it can be tough to get from one destination to another. But do they really have to space the route markers so that nobody can do anything until everyone catches up? Not as much as they have been. -Well, other than the ice dip in Korea I cannot think of another time where the lead team had to wait for everyone to catch up to them. >Let's face it, if one team somehow got a twelve hour lead it's
>all over. The ratings would plunge and TAR would rightfully be
>cancelled. I mildly disagree on two fronts. First, with the airport and monument bunching (which would be reduced but not eliminated with any reasonable set of rules), a team would need a 24 hour lead to be completely safe. -True, 24 hours would be safer than 12. But if we use the example from AR3, Terry & Ian almost got an insurmountable lead with far less time (the flight from Africa to Europe). Had they made it to the bobsled run before it closed for the evening, there's no way anyone could have caught them, barring a hooooge mistake. And second, it's uncertain how much the ratings would go down because no team has ever had anything like a 12 hour lead (well, F&M from TAR Classic came close, but that was only temporary). In traditional sports, some people leave or stop watching when they sense a team is better on that particular day, but not everyone. Why? Different reasons - some want to catch every moment from their favorite team or favorite player, some know that the best moments come when the result is no longer in doubt, and some hope against hope for a comeback. - If one team gained an insurmountable lead, the amount of b#tching on this site would be like a tidal wave. I know I would be far less interested in watching AR if one team was a shoe in two or three episodes in advance. >I have yet to read anything along this thread that would reduce
>bunching and not increase the possibility of one team getting a
>bit lucky and gaining an insurmountable lead. It may be just me, but I'd rather risk having a team getting an insurmountable lead than having a race where leads mean nothing and teams can be eliminated because of a small mistake late in the leg. -I just don't look at it that way. I'm far more interested in shows where everyone has a chance. >As for other suggestions that "improve" TAR, I would recommend
>more diverse teams and a little more stories about thier
>backgrounds. (snip) >I would also include more challenges that are less physical. I agree with your recommendations. A cast of ordinary people placed under the extraordinary circumstances of TAR would be much better than what we've had in the past few races. And I've been whining about more mental challenges since TAR2, not that anyone in charge is listening. -Maybe next season. Busco Man (whose Busco enough for everyone)
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
curveball 225 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Network TV Show Guest Star"
|
08-08-03, 03:32 PM (EST)
|
|
26. "eliminate the bunching" |
How about this:2 parts to the race. 1st part run traditionally, however, NO bunching. Allow teams to get way in front, and spread out. 1st 4 teams to arrive to Elim# 8 pitstop advance to finals. Throw in a couple non-elims if you want. Then start the final 4 teams all over again, in a race to the finish. Pros: The advantage to getting there 1st instead of 2nd, or 3rd...? Extra sleep. Maybe a staggered start on the final leg. But if you spread them out, they wouldn't know which place they were in, so they'd still race hard. Cons: edting would be harder, and harder for the veiwer to follow along, but keep the teams within the same legs, just allow them to spread out more... And for detours/roadblocks, I like the idea of going seperate ways, how about a detour that involves a flight choice? Of course make them similar in departure, with different tasks, later connecting to the pitstop city..."France or Sweden" for example...
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
Keyser 28 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Beauty Pageant Celebrity Judge"
|
08-03-03, 10:47 AM (EST)
|
|
16. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-03-03 AT 10:49 AM (EST)The problem with that suggestion is as follows: Lets say team A and team B finish 1-2 right after each other on the first leg of the race. Team A decides to use a 10 hour pitstop and Team B decides to use a 14 hour pitstop. In this scenario, either Team B would now be 4 hours behind Team A, or there would have to be individual clocks on each team such that at the end of the second leg, Team A might arrive at 10:00PM at the next pick stop and Team B arrives at 11:00PM, but team B would realy be 3 hours ahead. It would eliminate the excitement of teams racing right next to each other since their times would really be staggered. Besides, nothing stops a team from taking a longer pit stop than alloted. Just look at when Team 911 slept through their start time in TAR3. I do think there should be much less bunching. I think bunching ONCE every two or three legs would be better. Teams should be rewarded for good play, and it would be exciting to see a few lesser teams try to scramble to catch a better team and watch how a team ahead strategizes to keep their lead. Do they play it safe or take chances to increase their lead? This leads into another annoyance I have with TAR, which is the nature of the Detours. The detours should be two choices which are different yet are not obviously superior to one another. If every team picks the same detour, then it was not a well thought out detour. Im sick of the "Choice A is really scary but quick, while choice B is slow but tame" detours. Of course everyone will pick choice A, and watching Millie hyperventilate for the umpteenth time doesn't do it for me. All I have to say is that she better bring her albuterol when she finally chooses to go the Joe Friday-Connie Swail route (Dragnet movie reference). I have to give them credit as the last few detours have been good (karate vs. octopus, wheelbarrow vs. chop, fish vs. lobster). I think the ultimate problem with TAR which is why it will get cancelled is that the show hasn't changed at all. I love the show as much as anyone, but does every show have to have 1 roadblock, 1 detour, and 1 fast forward. Couldn't the producers come up with any other task types in 4 iterations of the show? How about a detour where the teams have to split up and each person complete one half of the detour and then meet up? How about a time trial where if you dont complete a task in a certain amount of time, you have to repeat it or sit in a penalty box for an hour? These are jut off the top of my head. Im done preaching
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
Edgeless Grass 93 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Hollywood Squares Square"
|
08-04-03, 04:02 AM (EST)
|
|
18. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
LAST EDITED ON 08-04-03 AT 04:31 AM (EST)Wow! Everyone do love TAR, and so do I. I will be really sad if there is not going to have TAR5..or 6... But some of the ideas are really confusing...specially the choosing of 10 hrs, 12 hrs or 14 hrs pitstop...I still can't figure that out how it work. Bunching - what is the aim of having this? To ensure that no team go too far off, should it be ahead or behind, right? It's necessary but it's painful and tired to watch. I have a simple suggestion here:
To fulfill the needs of bunching but yet release our eyes from watch them being bunched. Regardless what time a team come in, all of them leave with a fix gap between them. e.g. Team A come in first at 4:20pm
Team B come in 2nd at 4:40pm
Team C come in 3rd at 6:00pm
Team D come in 4th at 8:30pm...etc. The start of next race will be next morning at 5am. Team A leave at 5am
Team B leave at 5:30am
Team C leave at 6am
Team D leave at 6:30am. Advantage of this: 1) Achieve the bunching effect.
2) Last team still get eliminated, first team still win the prize. Advantage of first team is they get more rest than later team.
3) Don't need to bunch. Time of event become more preditable and everything else follow can be planned better.
4) Can have more innovative idea on how to do roadblock and detour or allow team to get lost in some road seaching.
5) The aim of half an hour in between is to allow first team in front to have more time to plan and buy tickets before team behind to ensure fair-ness. Also, this way, no team will 'follow' the next team and have to find their way themselve. If the first task is to drive themselve to somewhere, then team which are weak in navigating themselve will get lost. ---------------
Side track abit: I really agree with what Keyser said, the main problem with TAR4 is the detour and roadblock are too boring. I really really hate the roadblock or detour which only 1 team can do at 1 time. Like bungee jumping. There is no way team behind have a chance to catch up with team in front, what is the meaning of this so call 'road-block'? Still remember Leg 1 when Debra try to cross the rope bridge and got stuck there, Tian/Jaree have problem squeeze thru' her. Imagine if Debra really stuck and nobody can squeeze thru', and they happen to be the first team, what will happen to the other team? All sit and wait? That's sooooo boring. --------------------- Bye!! ^O^ -------------------
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
|
|
|
SnowBunny 79 desperate attention whore postings
DAW Level: "Hollywood Squares Square"
|
08-08-03, 02:15 PM (EST)
|
|
24. "RE: Manipulating the Race: Research into departure times" |
I really like the idea of the Pit Stop Vouchers -- 10 hour, 12 hour and 14 hour vouchers. Imagine the strategies at play. "Well, we would be leaving the Pit Stop at either 2am, 4am or 6am ... the airport and train station are an hour away and don't open until 6am, but we might be staying here for a leg and won't need the airport yet ... we can't use all of our shorter vouchers in the first few legs ... etc etc"I also agree with the point about Burnett making changes to production in order to almost penalize those who make assumptions about the Survivor game. Jon let Kelly play with the bow and arrow challenge, betting a million dollars on a non-elimination leg. (Does she even realize what an insult this was? I doubt it.) Yet this week, when she wanted to swim with the fishes, he insisted on doing the roadblock because of the possibility of elimination. If anything needs to change, this would be it. In Survivor, a team cannot sit the same person out two challenges in a row. Imagine if TAR forced the teams to alternate who performs the Roadblock? I love the idea of the Fork in the Road or what-not, forcing team members to perform a different task (therefore not learning from each other or providing guidance to each other) and meet up later. It might also add a little more variety, and it might be fun to hear them tell each other about their tasks. I also agree that when every team performs the same Detour, then it really isn't a Detour after all. Also, why have the exact number of envelopes in the boxes as there are teams? Why should teams know what place they are in along the way? I like to see the tension they feel when they have no idea where the other teams may be. I particularly liked the leg in the costume ball, not because it was more mentally challenging and easy to screw up if one is anxious but because those who failed had to go to the back of the line and lose a lot of time. Most of the time in this game, the big mistakes or losses come when teams misread clues or have incredibly bad luck beyond their control. There should be more opportunity to fail and have to start over. This might lead to more healthy/honest/game-driven bunching than produced bunching. Finally, one thing we have noted this season (until the final 4 or 5 teams) is that in almost every episode the team who came first the previous show came last or next to last in the next show. Perhaps this is due to incompetent teams taking a Fast Forward to stay in the game only to have their incompetence catch up with them the next leg. But, I suspect it has more to do with the prescribed bunching. Fast Forwards should be more effective than this, and used more strategically. Again, Jon was counting on how no other team would be using that Fast Forward when Reichen/Chip stumbled on it by mistake, because Fast Forwards are only used to avoid elimination this week and he knew no other team needed it. Why should Jon be able to assume this?
|
|
|
Top |
| |
|
|
|
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e - p l a c e h o l d e r t e x t g o e s h e r e -
|
|
Email this topic to a friend
Printer-friendly version of this topic
Bookmark this topic (Registered users only)
