Bondt007, I have been one of the biggest critics of Redemption Island but I do understand what you are saying. I'll tell you why I think RI isn't survivor:Challenges on Survivor are extremely random. Every once in a while, you get lilly pads. That means that production has been extremely lucky for their first season to have a likable guy go on a winning streak. We could have had a procession of nobodies winning one week, losing the next until someone builds the highest house of cards. Building a house of cards, from my POV, has nothing to do with the game of Survivor.
RI adds a factor of randomness and there is already enough luck involved in winning. The HII can reward someone with a million dollars just for digging in the right spot. The F3 made it easier to get to the end: Fabio won last season because his winning streak enabled him to get to the F3 without getting blood on his hands. If only he had been on a F2 season, he would have had to eliminate one person directly to make it. RI will once again offer that opportunity: The only way the returning player wins is if he wins the last ICs after getting back to camp. How will the jury vote, asks this thread. Easy: They will vote for the guy that didn't vote them out but beat them fair and square in a challenge.
I am not a fan of the meaningless little games that Burnett offers as distraction for both the players and the audience. Shoot a ball and break a tile??? What does that have to do with what was introduced as a social experiment.
Maybe it's because I have played a half a dozen or so on-line games where you only get to the end by making alliances and by using strategy that I like the game of Survivor so much. I like to see the human interactions, the tribal dynamics, the strategy, the cut-throat aspect of the game. That is Survivor.