Response to David's post

Fantastic post! Thank you for all your insight and explanations, they were very illuminating. You obviously know how the Mole game works and your observations were very astute.


There is so much I want to comment on this post, I’m afraid I’m going to forget to mention it all. First, I think it’s a little bit unfair that you were in contact with Ryan F during the whole game. He was the biggest mole suspect during the entire game for the players, and for you to rule him out due to talking with him gives you a gigantic advantage. Second, you knew how I played in omc3, which gave you and advantage along with Ryan F because I believe my gameplay was markedly different the second time around. I was very much afraid of this so I tried to explain that by creating “a new approach to the game” but it didn’t really pan out as I hoped.


Third, Travis remarked during the game that my conversations on AIM were a huge part of how I played the Mole. I really missed the live challenges because I think personal chats are a huge part of this social game. Thankfully, many challenges required multiple people on AIM at the same time which brought that aspect to the game. I think in the way I communicated with people I either led them to trust me or believe I was genuinely interested in playing the game. I tried to get on AIM as much as possible and form friendships built on trust with as many of the players as I could. I tried to avoid cliché Mole clues like pausing before I typed (preferring to just type random pseudo-theories instead). I feel that had we talked on AIM you may have been less suspicious of me (or maybe even moreso).


Fourthly, the nomination system helped me tremendously. I guess I positioned myself well within the social game because there was not a single episode that went by that I did not get the EXACT nominations I wanted. In fact, I would often get exactly what I wanted with the exemption nomination and the group nomination, that I had no idea what to do with my own nomination! Lots of times I had to use it somewhat randomly to try and throw people off my trail. Every nomination set was nearly exactly what I wanted, which is why I nominated myself twice. I was able to keep clueless suspects in the game and eliminate those people who were furthest from me.


Without mole points/nominations, Alan would have had the highest score on the first Quiz. Ryan F. would have been eliminated at that Quiz. Andy would have been gone really early, as well as Brian. Ryan L. would haven't stuck around either.


If you notice, every elimination is basically a linear path of who I was most distanced from to who I was closest with. If I was close with them, I could manipulate them which is what I wanted. I was never an option to be nominated by the group or by the exemption winner (although at some points I did wish I had been). Although most people did not tell me who they thought was the Mole in private confessionals, I was able to see where their suspicions lie through analysis of their quizzes. By seeing which answers they put down, I could tell who they were leaning towards. Using this information and the fact that the extra Mole points weighted things severely, I was usually able to predict who would be eliminated in each possible scenario of nomination sets. This would help me a great deal.


Fifthly, I created a very extensive “player Identity” for Sam which was extremely helpful. As a player, I had my mole suspects, my mole theories, my likes/dislikes, etc. I even went as far to change my mood differently when talking with people depending on my current mole suspicions. For example, at the Final Four after Andy was eliminated, I began to distance myself from Ryan F. because my player Identity was beginning to suspect him as the Mole. This player Identity was used in nearly every conversation I had. I would come up with somewhat obscure strategies as a player to get information or to manipulate things the way I wanted and adopt that tone in my conversations.


I wish I had them all documented, because I used many “player strategies” to act as a player and get the “information” my player Identity wanted from the game. One obvious example is that I tried to act as the fake Mole in Episode 8 (which players normally try and act as to throw off suspicion at the very end), as the fake Mole with the Deal or No Deal sabotage.


Finally, I want to point out that I was given VERY little information by Travis throughout the game. The only privileged information I received from him was challenge descriptions a day before the challenge was posted in a few of the chapters, and answers to the Google Earth challenge and the College challenge. That’s it. None of the code clues during the game, no other answers on any challenges, or tips, or tricks, or any future information about the game. However, by looking at players e-mails I was able to read their private confessionals (well, the ones that didn’t delete them right after sending), their quizzes, and their correspondence with other players. So I did have a lot of information from that.


There was a lot of other comments I wanted to make as I read through your post so let me go through them. I just want to say, for not playing the game 95% of your observations were accurate. Also I was able to explain away many of my sabotages and “mistakes” to the players via AIM, something I was not able to do to you.


“Alan is very experienced and capable though.”

I did not know that Alan nor Devon were experienced, nor that they had played in any mole games previously. I am actually quite surprised by that considering how poorly they played in omc4.


(Episode 1) “It looks as though he just wanted the exemption, but did he really?”

I literally did not know how to make my blog any prettier lol. I spent so much time as is getting that up I couldn’t do any better. Also, I played that damn toaster game for 10 minutes before I got stuck on a boss I could not beat. That was my highest score, and I didn’t know the other people’s scores so I was very surprised to see mine at the bottom. No one would help me against that boss in the game and I was stalled by Andy’s fake template post which caused me to waste an hour redoing my blog.


(pre ep2 quiz) “If he goes, which seems more likely considering his history and Alan / Ryan M's (both of which are seriously experienced Molers, and Alan's just won a hard game)”

Really? Alan was online on AIM all the time, but he never formed a relationship with anybody and didn’t talk to anyone. You can’t win the mole without talking to people. Likewise, Ryan M had disappeared off AIM and no one had heard from him. Both were at the very bottom of the pack of the game and both were way off the Mole (well, considering that was me maybe that’s not evidence to my favour haha)


“Brian remains a strong suspect simply because he HASN'T done anything too noteworthy.”

Exactly. This made him a strong suspect for me to point out up until around Episode 4. Then the fact that he never did ANYTHING to sabotage ever made him definitely not the mole.


“Sam, according to one of his compatriots, has been quiet.”

In omc3 I was anything but quiet. =) This may have been a clue.

“I thought he was the most likely person to be the Mole, after me, in the first two rounds of OMC3, which might be swaying my judgement. (I thought Lloyd was easily the least likely person, simply because of his good performance challenge-wise, but that didn't stop him incurring a lot of suspicion.)”


Thank you! Also, I put Lloyd down 75% on the quiz I lost. Thanks for rubbing it in. =)



“The 5x5 puzzle challenge last episode for example - if I were the Mole, I'd wait to make sure that at least one other person posted the wrong puzzle, and then post the right one myself, taking a bit of suspicion from me. That's exactly what Sam has done.”


I did not realize this at the time, but that is exactly what I did and I think it is suspicious. However, I honestly did not know that players who would post the real puzzle would get +4 mole points. I thought that was hilarious.


(before Ep. 5 quiz) “1) Ryan L and Brian were the biggest scorers. What an amazing surprise! Since they're the only two that seem to be bothering to win any money at all,”


Ryan L??? lol he was the absolute worst scorer. He did not even try in the majority of the challenges and was very little help to anyone. He posted the red pawn / fake clues and took every opportunity to take money from the pot. Brian was the only one who I feel tried to win the money at every turn. I agree it was very weird how nobody ever wanted to win the money or the challenges. I felt my gung-ho attitude towards winning made me stand out, something I didn’t expect, so in the future I stopped pretending to care about winning (something that wasn’t very difficult to do at all).


“What's the fun of being the mole if nobody is trying to win any money? It wouldn't surprise me if the mole deliberately kept Brian (star player by about fifty miles) around, just to have a bit of competition.”

I agree. I wanted Brian around very much at the beginning because he was both suspicious and put 100% Andy on his quiz, plus he was loyal to me and usually did what I wanted him to do at challenges and with nominations. However, he started to become less suspicious… then started putting me down as the Mole… and I couldn’t get rid of him lol. I was afraid he would put me down 100% on the Final Five quiz and get validation that he still survived, so I feared nominating him, preferring him to stay safe and not get his suspicions double checked. It worked!


“And I hope Sam's grateful for the way I didn't point out that his Mole Point entry made it crystal clear that he was the only one not interested in Mole Points, despite going up against only two players in what is traditionally the hardest elimination of any online mole game.”


I disagree with regards to Mole Points wholeheartedly. First, Andy didn’t even bother with any mole clues (which led to his elimination) and that wasn't a gigantic factor in him being suspected as far as I know, despite it being 5 times as more revealing as not trying hard on 2 challenges. On the contrary, I was usually at the top of the code list and tried very hard to crack each and every one. I spent so much time talking with players, either trading code clues or working together to solve them. This was a big factor in my gameplay. I think I spent more time on this than others. In addition, I spent an incredible amount of time on every one of the Mole point challenges except for two. The first would be impossible to win because Alan and Ryan M had such excellent blogs and I didn’t know how to copy that. The penultimate challenge I did not have time to make up a crazy theory and I wanted it to look like I was doing bad on purpose to fake being the Mole.


Every other challenge I spent a tremendous amount of time on and did very very well on. I think I scored better than Ryan M., despite him getting all the flack for performing so well. I was usually the only one to take the mole point challenges really seriously and did well on them, perhaps too well even. Far from being “the only one not interested” I felt I was way too over-interested.


I figured out all the clues by myself or with the help of others without Travis' help. Well... at the final four near the very end the clues started to get VERY difficult and I just couldn't solve them. So to keep up appearances I just copied the answers from Brian's email to get full points at the end lol. But EVERYTIME before that I figured them out, often at great expense of time.


(ep. 8) “The two Ryans are in the final together. I wonder if Sam can do a Me on either of them and convince one of them that he's not the Mole? I doubt he'll succeed with Ryan F”

There was an infintesmal possibilty with Ryan F, but a possibility none the less. He hadn’t taken an actual quiz the whole game without tons of bonus points or against inactives. He did think Ryan L may have been the mole (but that could have just been acting). Ryan L’s performances on all the challenges were terrible which made him a top suspect. Ryan F had a history of putting the wrong person on the Quiz down at the Final Three before. Besides I had convinced Ryan L and Brian off of me despite incredible odds, so maybe I could do it with him too. =) It was worth a shot, and I gave it my best (severely pissing Ryan F off in the process I think) and did everything I could to shake him without appearing too obvious, but it didn’t work.


(end thoughts) “I knew how certain players from OMC3 played the game, and what Travis thought of them. This is why I never considered Ryan F a suspect, and also why I thought Sam was a good possibility from the start.”

I agree… and Ryan F had that advantage as well. I mean after all, if Travis had to pick would he pick Sam who praised him 24/7 or Ryan L who insulted, cheated, and ignored his challenges most of the time? I guess in retrospect it’s pretty obvious.


“CLUE 1: SAM'S LOW SCORE IN THE FIRST "EXEMPTION" CHALLENGE.”

I explained this already. =) Everyone knew I couldn’t beat that one boss (I posted it publicly) and made a point to whine that I didn’t get any help from anyone.


“Alan had just won a difficult Mole game against some very tough competition. Most of the players in OMC4 probably knew this.”

I had no idea. It certainly wasn’t my impression that Alan was a threat. If anything he was completely harmless.

“Given that, if there is anybody in OMC4 that the players would not want to get an exemption, it would probably be Alan,”

True, but because we wanted him gone for not being a part of the group.


“For me, this meant that Sam was either pretending the Mole (which was not his game style in OMC3) or that he was the Mole.”

WHAT?!?! That’s insanity lol. That was my ENTIRE gameplan in omc3. All I did was (poorly) try and make people think I was the Mole. At the time I heard that people were shocked I was eliminated either because they thought I was the Mole or because they thought I was smarter than that. However before OMC4 I asked Travis whether he thought anybody suspected me in omc3 (because I thought I had been working so hard to be perceived as the Mole). He said that not a single person suspected me as the Mole and that if that was my intention, I had been doing a terrible job. This made me sad and excited me at the same time. The good part was that I could continue this same attitude and NOT be suspected (since it “worked so well” for me the first time.)


However, I felt I could not be as publicly outspoken as I was in omc3. In omc3 I was very much in the public eye, the center of attention, and constantly calling people “moles” and “hey mole!” As the Mole, I felt I could not do this because sometimes people instantly latch onto one suspect and continuously put them down on the quiz, regardless of future events. I knew this from Padraig and David. People are very attached to their mole suspects and tend to warp or bend new evidence that is presented to fit their pet theories. So as the Mole I had to stay low for the first two rounds. I still got some sabotage in but not much. If you notice, the pot win/loss totals in Episode 1 and 2/3 were about even, sometimes even winning more money than we lost! It’s insane if you consider the next 5 Episodes were we lost like 80% of the money. My goal was to get the pot to about 40% of the possible size, and I succeeded beyond my greatest hopes getting it to 34.74% If you do the math, you’ll notice that doesn’t add up. That’s because I did not add in the .45 cents “won” by Ryan L. at the World Cup prediction bonus challenge.


First, that challenge was added in as an extra, non-planned challenge just because the people were doing so bad. Second, Ryan M put .45 cents on one and Ryan L put .45 cents on the other. Travis managed to twist things around (completely unfairly in my opinion) that because Ryan M was eliminated three days after he posted his bet, that somehow nullified his bet and caused the team to conveniently win because Ryan M had bet on the wrong team?? Rubbish!


“CLUE 2: SAM'S BLOG.”

Explained.


“CLUE 3: MOLE IDOL GAME.
CLUE 4: COLLAGE GAME.
CLUE 5: COLOUR ME PUZZLED.
CLUE 6: DEAL OR NO DEAL GAME.”

That’s exactly what happened.


(deal/no deal sabotage) “My reading of it was that I thought Ryan L was beginning to suspect Sam.”

Nah, Ryan L is just poor at reading rules lol (one of the reasons I wanted him in). It was an honest mistake on his part and I made sure not to point it out to him.


“CLUE 8: SAM'S MISTAKE.”

After consideration, I admit that this is likely. But I really did spend SO SO much time on this game in a short time period. Not my fault if no one else did via trying to win the challenges or writing confessionals or talking on AIM. =)


“according to Ryan F, the players did not spend as much time on this game as Sam described.”

Not only did you have the #1 mole suspect personally crossed off your list, but you had the only person who both knew me in omc3 telling you his thoughts, AND you had the only person who suspected me the entire game! David, I think you may have had an incredibly unfair advantage in your perspective. Perhaps without all these massive things stacked in your favor you might have not been onto me so definitively. =)


CLUE 9: SAM'S NOMINATIONS.

Throughout the game there were hints to the identity of the Mole in the nominations process. In the very first nomination, the Mole chose Ryan F to face the quiz. It was a wise choice that would have borne fruit had Ty and Bartley appeared to take the quiz themselves. But who would have known better than Sam, who had played against Ryan in OMC3, that Ryan F was such a threat?

*****Nah. I knew Ty/Bartley were gone by the time I nominated. I knew my nomination didn’t matter. It was also the very start of the game so I didn’t have much information and honestly I hadn’t talked with too many people due to our conflicting AIM schedules. I didn’t really care who was nominated. I just looked at the names and picked randomly. There was really no intention behind it.

In Episode Two and Episode Six Sam, the Mole, self-nominated. Not coincidentally, these were the only two quizzes where Sam the player had an obvious and direct motive for wanting to get rid of the other two nominees.

******Hmm… maybe. I made sure though that my mole nominations were somewhat non-revealing. One Episode I had both an Exemption nomination and a Mole nomination. I made very sure that both were aimed in different directions and with different reasonings.


And, finally, there was the fact that Sam, who had gone out so early in OMC3 having never considered me a suspect, managed to survive so many eliminations for so long. Sam is a much better Mole than a player. Perhaps we will meet in another Mole game and he will surprise me.


******This is a huge clue and I agree with you 100%. It was one thing I was scared from the beginning. I had to watch myself never to tell anyone I was surprised I had made it this far or about my poor past history (other than omc3). Although it did slip out a bit at the end. I also made sure I had clear mole suspects for every quiz and would justify my survival in nominations by these mole suspects, hopefully leading others to believe that because I survived I was “right” on my suspects. I would always think to myself “I survived this quiz because I put Andy/Devon down equally” or “I survived this quiz because I put Ryan F down 100%” and would try and convey that non-obviously to my competitors.


Jesus this is long, but I had to get my two cents in there because this was a fantastic game. =) Even though ten people max will read it haha, Travis probably not included. I think he tired of my incredibly long-winded confessionals appearing every few days during the game. I wrote down all my thoughts and strategies. I’m not sure if Travis wants to save those or not to post in a future summary (like in omc3? That was so awesomely done), in the event that you are reading this, could you tell me Travis? However, those confessionals I wrote are quite harsh and I do not mince words on my feelings towards other players. I apologize in advance when you read those because I went over the top in my frankness sometimes.


Thank you everyone for playing, for hosting, and for watching and commentating, especially you David!


Finally, I want to be the first person to admit that as a player I knew absolutely nothing about the Mole game and how it is played. In fact I recall telling Travis multiple times during the game that I was ashamed at how badly I played omc3 and how ineffective and stupid my ideas and plots were. I clearly had no idea whatsoever on how to play the Mole game. Being the Mole has taught me so much about how the game works and given me a whole new perspective on the game.

After the game

DID YOU NOTICE? MOLE CLUE.


Look at my very first confessional. Read the first letter of every sentence.




QUIZ SUMMARY


Final 10: No one puts Sam as the mole on any question.
Final 8: No one puts Sam as the mole on any question. Ryan M splits between Devon and Ryan L. Ryan F divides equally, but manages to score a 1 on a random guess question. Brian puts straight Andy. Andy splits between Ryan F and Devon. Ryan L selects randomly.
Final 7: Ryan L puts me as the mole as an emotional response after I nominate him, is the first one to score very high (6 pts.) Brian goes straight Andy. Ryan M splits between Ryan L and Ryan F and scores 1 point. Andy goes straight Ryan F. Ryan F divides between three people, one of them Sam, and scores 5 points.
Final 6: Devon is the decoy.
Final 5: Both Brian and Ryan F put Sam 100% as the mole and score perfectly. Ryan L puts Ryan F 100% as mole. Andy puts Ryan F 100% as mole and loses due to bonuses.
Final 4: Brian switches from Sam to Ryan L 100% and loses. Ryan F puts 100% on Sam.
Final 3: Ryan L puts 100% on Ryan F after swaying back and forth. Ryan F puts 100% on Sam and wins.




SABOTAGE SUMMARY


1.1 BlogSphere - as this was my debut, I did not deliberately sabotage. However, I followed others mistakes including a messed up template that delayed me for an hour. I constantly complained of difficulty and took my sweet time setting things up. Before it was even known that Ty would not be here, I cut him out of the loop and did not sign online anywhere near the deadline.

1.2 Conversationalists - I did end up losing quite a bit of money, however it wasn't deliberate lol. I guess I'm just good at natural sabotage. =) I did not sign on my AIM account the whole time and ended up not having conversations with 4 people. This also helped me stay UTR.

1.3 Toast - deliberate sabotage getting the lowest score, forcing the team average down and losing the money.


2.1 Exemption Movie Review - no money involved

2.2 College - I did not make any incorrect guesses because my focus was elsewhere. However, I only submitted one correct answer, and tried to suggest fake answers many times to other players (none of which really caught, unfortunately)

2.3 16 Degrees - Unfortunately, the very first night of the challenge I was told by both andy and ryan l to post the upcoming link because I was the first one connected. I stalled for one day, telling them I wasn't sure what to post. Then I posted the one thing and managed to stall another day before they told me I had to post a second part. This stalling was not enough to mess up the challenge as everybody finished and connected everything.

3.1 Google Earth - submitted 5 correct answers, 3 of which i was coerced into posting by others. I was unable to find cities that looked anything like any of the cities posted as was suggested to sabotage. Spent an hour and nothing looked remotely similiar to "guess" on. Plus that wouldn't of deducted much money from the pot regardless due to no penalties for a wrong answer.

3.2 Mole Idol - deliberate sabotage after I gathered everybody together the very first day of the task to plan everything. I constantly stalled - trying to get the lyrics changed for a few days each time something was suggested. Then I proclaimed that I would refuse to sing Gloria Gaynor (this being like a day before the task was due). Then I decided to use a text to voice program to 'sing' for me, but I encoded it in a wierd .wav(ALF) file so it did not play correctly.

4.1 Color Puzzle - I did not even attempt to solve it. I stalled posting my piece until I knew someone posted a false one, then posted a real one. Sabotaged.

4.2 Web Crawler - I was told to go balls to the wall on this one. I did, I started out strong and with a presence like I usually like to do such that the others get the impression that I am a hard worker and active player. I was going to post some links, but decided not to give them that assistance. My next plan was to stall. I would be one of the last to post the 2nd item. If I was lucky, we wouldn't get the second dollar. We for sure wouldn't get the third dollar. However, I was stopped before any possible sabotage could take place by Devon's blatant sabotage, which I quickly condemned.

4.3 Exemption - I continually posted, though not obsessively. Both M and Andy posted more than me. I made sure to wait a few hours before upping it again, they did not. I posted a lot at the end. I raised it as high as I could then I formed part of the active team to stop it, perfectly crafting my player identity along with taking a good sized chunk out of the pot. Besides, they needed to win SOME money this round lol. It was luck that gave me the exemption. I was fully prepared to refuse to post STOP and tried to refuse to roll the dice twice in order to keep the game continuing. However it went on without me and how could I possibly refuse a free exemption? Obviously I couldn't and maintain my alliance and my perception =P It was simply not worth it to suck 3+ dollars out of the pot in around they had already been so horrible at. Actually maybe it would have been worth it. Then again I have gotten a tremendous amount of money out without being suspected at all. Then again, if I wasn't there how much MORE money would they have had?


5.1 The Sudoku Connection - was not a part of

5.2 Deal/No Deal - I had no plans to sabotage this challenge as I thought it was far too easy. However, Ryan L and I were working on it. I had been 'losing' for about an hour (actually I only played once or twice but told Ryan L I had been working on it forever with no luck). Finally I start getting high numbers after L has almost single-handedly won the challenge. Each step of the way I am talking with Ryan L about whether to deal or no deal. I have 3 cases left: 750,000, 500,000, and 75. Offer is 375,000. I really want to take it, but Ryan L says: "no! continue on!" Dutifully, I do so and end up with 500,000 and tell him. Ryan L gets all excited and says: "We won!" and urges me to post it really quick. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to have someone tell me to sabotage, so up it goes.

5.3 Poker - I really tried to help the group win this challenge. I spent at 2-3 hours that night trying out different strategies on winning. None of them worked and we hardly earned any money at all. I pushed a bunch of different strategies but no one seemed interested and the others kept making dumb moves or not paying attention. The next day, I discovered a way to transfer money from a new account to my real one. I doubled my money in about 10 minutes:




I kept this information to myself because I felt it was Devon's time to go and I didn't want to win the challenge but appear to really want to win.


6.1 Rock Around the Clock - I didn't understand the rules for exemption so it was too late for me to do anything to try and win it by the time Ryan quit. I was online for all the hours they were but let them carry the torch. Ryan F and I really wanted Brian to stop. It seemed a foregone conclusion that we would lose, so I made sure to remind them of that. At the end I could have stolen the challenge away from Ryan F after he went to sleep, but decided not to for a variety of reasons.


6.2 Spelling Bee - Simple challenge, not much money at stake, so I gave it my all.

6.3 Prisoner's Dilemma - The group had been losing a lot of money lately so I decided to help them out on this one and only said a few words to notify everyone I was sending in a blue pawn. This round was supposed to be a low-key round where I gave support (much like round 2)

7.1 The Challenge No One Did - Was surprised no one even tried. I was going to but I had learned from my past mistake of appearing too eager to win money (who would of thought?). So I didn't lift a finger and I got 4 bucks in my pocket!

7.2 Clue Boxes - This challenge was EXTREME. I didn't have the answer to the challenge, and my clue legitimately didn't come in the e-mail for hours. I desperately wanted Ryan L to win and getting him to win was an adventure in itself. I spent an hour in full-speed multi-task mode trying to get all the images (actually which I got a few minutes before they were posted via people's e-mails), put them together, solve the puzzle, talk with L and Brian, and do other stuff. Once I solved the code Ryan L didn't think that was the answer so I had to nag him to send it in. Then he sent it to the wrong e-mail so I logged in, checked it, and then casually mentioned if he sent it to the right place. Ryan L wanted to give the answer to who he thought was the mole - Ryan F - but that would have been disaster. I threatened Ryan L that I would turn it in if he didn't. Finally I got him to turn it in, and all was peaceful. Me and Ryan L were talking about who should win. L mentioned an upcoming vacation (one that had been planned by Travis a week in advance - perfect to hide my vacation which prompted travis' fake vacation notice) which would be perfect cover. In 'exchange' for letting him win he said he would pay to get Ryan F's square and would take the heat in future challenges. Good deal!

8.1 3 Questions - I put down random answers. I deliberately tried to post the wrong answers to my questions, but I ended up inadvertantly getting one right. =(

8.2 Maze - Spent the whole time working feverishly (and having fun) doing parts that were already solved. Must of spent 4 hours catching up to Ryan F (who had done it all the night before) hahaha. He helped me out on a lot I couldn't get. Then I played around with everyone in the chat (BEST CHAT EVER) to stall some more. Then I asked pointless, random questions just for fun. =)


I had a few direct sabotages. There was a lot of challenges where I just didn't help at all - but never did anything to ruin it. I scored poorly on a lot of the exemption challenges on accident. If I had planned on trying to win a challenge, I went totally gung ho and tried to lead the group to win doing everything I could. Like starting up AIM chats, I started up a few of those. If challenges were simple and not worth much money, I tried to win them gung ho, if they were worth a lot of money, I tried to make them lose if I could.



GAME CHANGING CONVERSATION, RIGHT AFTER ANDY'S EXECUTION


(09:28:49) omc4sam: actually
(09:29:09) omc4sam: the reason i was so surprised that i stayed
(09:29:14) omc4sam: is that i put all my answers on one person O_O
(09:29:18) omc4ryanl: who?
(09:29:20) omc4ryanl: i did too
(09:29:27) omc4sam: it wasn't you lol
(09:29:33) omc4sam: and you know i didnt think it was brian...
(09:29:41) omc4ryanl: RYAN F?!
(09:29:44) omc4sam: wait did you put it on ryan F too?
(09:29:46) omc4sam: omg omg
(09:29:51) omc4ryanl: yes
(09:29:52) omc4ryanl: i did
(09:29:53) omc4ryanl: lol
(09:29:55) omc4sam: holllllly
(09:29:58) omc4ryanl: so he must be the mole
(09:29:58) omc4sam: wow
(09:30:00) omc4ryanl: he must
(09:30:01) omc4ryanl: lol
(09:30:05) omc4ryanl: we so just figured it out
(09:30:08) omc4ryanl: muhahaha
(09:30:16) omc4ryanl: look like i won't be the last ryan standing :'(
(09:30:17) omc4sam: hes the mole
(09:30:21) omc4ryanl: cause the mole never leaves
(09:30:23) omc4sam: i knew it...
(09:30:24) omc4ryanl: muhahaha
(09:30:24) omc4sam: yeah =/
(09:30:26) omc4ryanl: we are so good
(09:30:30) omc4sam: wow its like wierd
(09:30:34) omc4sam: finally knowing who the mole is lol
(09:30:37) omc4sam: theres no other way




QUOTES FROM THE FINAL THREE THROUGHOUT THE GAME


Ryan F, Episode 1: “I'm being honest on my blog this time around, and I'm not going to pretend to be the mole. I want people to know I'm a player so I'm not nominated because people should want to get rid of plausible suspects.”

Ryan L, Episode 1: “Ok....so I am enjoying the game so far. It is sorta hard work, but I am ok with that. Right now I think that ANDY IS THE MOLE and DEVON OR BRIAN IS THE DECOY. I realize that it looks as if I am sabotaging at the moment, but that is just my own stupidity. Well I have formed an alliance, but I will see where it goes.”


Sam, Episode 1: “Let me talk about my first four conversations. Here's the one-sentence summary: Sam blows smoke up everybody's asses. Seriously, the only person who asked ME a question (my current question-asking tally is at about 15 as we speak) is Devon. I really like Devon. It's a shame I can't work with him because he's the decoy. Me and him really click.”


Sam, Episode 1: “So far only one person mentioned me in their private confessionals. They said I was (quote) "harmless." Words cannot express.”


Ryan L, Episode 2: “am sorry now that you're reading this....and I want to thank any of you who helped me. If any of you screwed me over...which I'm sure u did. I hate you. No not really, but yeah. So cool.

GOOD LUCK YALL! I hope Brian or Alan is the mole even though Ryan F is. So cool. It's probably Andy. And Devon is ok, but Sam is so screwing me.”


Ryan F, Episode 2: “Sam... I may be wrong, but I trust him too much. Honestly, if I was in the shoes of another player, I think either Sam or I would be a top two or top three mole candidate. So, this may be a risky move for me, but he and I are very similar, and we're both too open and talk too much, as well. I think that quality alone should eliminate him from my list, but it may just be a strategy.
-->The four most logical choices are Andy, Brian, Ryan M., and Devon.”


Ryan F, Episode 3: “-->Now, I also initiated an alliance. First, with Ryan L. Ryan L... sorry, but he is new, and he is VERY naive. I figured, I'll help him learn how to play this game and play it well. Bring him to final three, and own his sorry behind.”


Sam, Episode 3: “Okay so up to this point I had a few "alliances" with different people. Let's go through people one by one.


Devon: nothing with Devon. I'm actually glad I didn't have anything, because I was getting along with him well and do not want to be grouped up with or associated with him. Why? He will eventually be outed as the decoy, and when he does, people will start looking to those who *didn't* suspect him. In Week 4 I will probably begin the process of pointing the finger at him gently. People won't think I'm the mole if I point the finger at the decoy.

Ryan M.: I don't talk much with him. His loss. =) Is he the one that isn't even trying to be mole-ish? Actually I think that's Andy. Anyway, there are WAY too many people not even pretending to be the mole. Sucks for me.

Andy: I don't like Andy because he doesn't like me. 0=) But he's so easy to be manipulated. He basically spilled his guts to me after I fed him 2 lines about not trusting L. I could basically get him to tell me whatever I wanted, I think. I'm in a coalition with him and L but I don't think that's going anywhere. Andy doesn't think much of me at all, thinks I'm harmless, brainless, and ineffective. As mole I'm thrilled about that. =)

L: I'm in a coalition with L and Andy, and also L, RyanF, and Brian. We're stringing along L because "we know he's not the mole" plus he's easy to guide and will probably lose the second he's nominated. Now, as Mole, I don't want him around too long, but since I can nominate him at any time I don't think that will be a problem. =)


Alan: I have nothing on Alan. I'm avoiding him and I hope he goes bye bye. He's also like 0% of being the Mole because he's so boring.


Brian: I haven't talked with him much but he seems really laid back. Kinda just there. Because of this, he is my 'official' mole suspect. (my other suspects include Andy, Devon, and probably Ryan F later since he'll be around a bit). I'm in a coalition with L / him / RyanF and another with him / Ryan F and 'stringing L along.' Whatever.


Ryan F: Ryan F and I have a final 2 coalition. He came to me for it, which makes me giddy inside. I really don't think he thinks I'm the mole because he spilled his entire strategy to me. He basically entrusted me with, as far as I know, the majority of his strategic thought processes. Even if he's hiding things on me, I have enough dirt on him to cause all sorts of trouble. It's fantastic.”


Sam, Episode 3: “Oh players, I must admit that you've got me a little bit nervous at the moment. Darn you and you not revealing all in your private confessionals. The thing that got me the most nervous was reading Andy's e-mails that he sent out. He sent one to both Devon and Ryan F asking if "the plan was still the one that we agreed on a few days ago." What???? Ryan F has more alliances? If that's true, I have so much dirt on him I could bring to those two it's crazy.”


Sam, Episode 3: “Things turned out well with the nomination stuff. Nobody is nominating me! I wonder why lol. I'll just have to nominate myself then. I don't really care who is nominated by the players, if it's Ryan M or Alan or Andy. All three work for me. Ideally it'd be Alan, Ryan M, and Sam nominated.”


Sam, Episode 3: “With the google earth task, I decided not to sabotage and just give them correct answers. There was really no point in sabotaging, as getting one wrong didn't lose any money. Additionally, it was near impossible for me to find a city that 'looked' like the city in question but wasn't it. Either the coloring was wrong, or there was no river that looked the same... basically there was no way you could mistake anything I found for the real thing. And since they'd all double check it and see for themselves, I'd be screwed.


The mole one I caved in and submitted my file early. I almost sent it in as a .mp3 file but just before I uploaded I went back and saved it as some obscure file type... text 2 wav(ALF2CD). I have no idea what ALF is but I was hoping it'd mess it up. Looks like it did too. And I think I have some pretty good excuses. Thankfully I had some help, lots of people 'messed' it up: Ryan F., Ryan L., Ryan M, myself.”

Sam, Episode 3: “Ryan F: 1
Andy: 2
Brian: 2
Ryan M: 2
Alan: 3
Ryan L: hasn't submitted
Devon: hasn't submitted


That's insane lol. Especially considering the expected quiz value is 3.518. It's just atrocious so far. I attribute it to something cool: the correct answer (myself) is sometimes in the minority category, though actually the questions usually split the groups in 2 halves.

It's hilarious that Alan got the highest score but by my count would be eliminated. 3+1 for Alan and 2+2 for RyanM. Alan got 1 last round and RyanM got 4. If this were normal mole w/out bonus points and nominations, Ryan F would be gone! (I'll be sure to push that in his face after the game is over. ^^)”


Ryan F, Episode 4: “--> So, as I was talking with Andy, we came to an agreement that he, I, Devon, and Sam should align. This is making me quite happy. I have one alliance with Sam/Brian. Another deteriorating one with Ryan L.”


Ryan F, Episode 4: “Guess what? EVERYONE IS AGAINST RYAN M. Thanks to ME”


Ryan L, Episode 4: “Ok....so I have an alliance with 1. Sam and Andy 2. RyanM 3. Ryan F. So I am ok for now. I am just waiting to go with the one that will take me to the top. If they're reading this now....I am sorry and I am just playing the game. Well we are doing pretty good. I think it's Devon. Then others think it's Brian”


Ryan F, Episode 4: “Andy and I came to a decision that we would nominate Brian and Ryan M. I figured, at that point, that we should vote for Brian. They way, I could throw my vote elsewhere to not look as if I was screwing someone, and the exemption winner--hopefully Sam or I--wouldn't have to choose a side.
Now, I approached Sam with this, and he didn't like it. He wants to stay loyal to Brian. And after some discussion, I started to agree. Brian is a better person to keep around over the more suspicious entity that are Devon and Andy. The point of nominating Brian/M was so that the mole would be forced to nominate someone un-mole-y, such as Ryan L. This would keep the initial foursome safe. However, if L is the decoy, the mole wouldn't nominate him, and we all have a strong feeling that L is the decoy.”


Sam, Episode 4: “I'm sort of worried at how easy it is for me to lie. The lies just flow from my fingertips! It isn't even difficult lol. Sometimes it actually feels like I'm a player and I have to get the nasty mole or find the decoy or put money in the pot or take the quiz or mundane stuff like that.”


Sam, Episode 4: “Sam-RyanF: our main two person partnership. We tell each other EVERYTHING.
Sam-RyanF-Brian: our main three person partnership: The Good Guys. We are a team, we trust each other, we work together for our mutual benefit. It's the perfect alliance. Me and Brian talk a little but I'd bet he's closer to F than me. If this was Survivor, I'd be worried. Fine by me though!
Sam-RyanF-Brian-RyanL: L is sort of our pawn in cases where if we feel like asking him to do stuff we do.
Andy-Devon
RyanM: by himself. He is anti-social, much like Alan. Hope he goes because nobody suspects him.
Sam-RyanF-Andy-Devon: Apparently this is a 4 person alliance, but I don't give it much weight. F gives it more weight than I do. He expects me to follow along but I really don't care.

I'm sure other people have other alliances but if they do they aren't very effective because Ryan F controls everything and I am his second-in-command.”



Ryan F, Episode 5: “And, this makes me sad, but I'm starting to not trust Sam as much, and not share as much with him. First off, I'm going to be keeping some of the codes to myself now. I don't want him having an advantage over me in the final rounds. In addition, he might be the mole. He's looking more and more suspicious as the days go by. Maybe I haven't gotten nominated yet because Sam knows that I've been fooled? He'll save me for the end where I can look like a fool. Plus, Sam proved himself a strong competitor in OMC3. He'd be a safe bet for being the mole.”


Ryan L, Episode 5: “Well if Andy truly is the decoy, which I am now pretty sure you are...BASTARD! Cause you probably just ended my game. Well...neways...if ur not...I am sorry for doubting you. WEll Ryan M, one of my alliances, my first, was eliminated...sorry Ryan M! Also...my other one is on the rocks, ANdy and Sam. With two of us on the block and one a possible decoy...who knows. Then there is Ryan F...he is a criminal mastermind. I have no real stratedgy for taking quizzes....just randomly guessing...and it got me this far huh?”




Ryan F, Episode 5: “I've narrowed the mole down to two possible people. The third is fairly unlikely. And Brian is certainly not the mole. I have a very difficult decision to make for nominating someone via my exemption. The key is: I want Brian safe. The best way to make Brian safe is to leave him and Andy un-nominated and so the mole will pick the only person yet to take a quiz. However, that would require me to get the votes against Ryan L. or Sam meanwhile nominating the other. I can't bring myself to nominate Sam, and it's too late to get the votes against him, especially considering Brian doesn't want to screw him and I've already bitched at Ryan L. for four pages straight--all of which was deserved on his part, mind you, even though I am being a hypocrite. Notice that I said Brian didn't want to screw over Sam. On the other hand, Sam was willing to screw over Brian.”


Ryan L, Episode 6: “I now do not trust Ryan F anymore...he is most def a mole. And he lies to everyone about things to make them feel backstabbed. Well I'm not afraid to ask everyone if it's true and just guillable enough to believe anyones lies. LOL. So as far as I know my only alliance is Sam and Andy, but mainly SAM. I am going to do as little as I can and just get by. And stick with SAM. So now the key to my game is SAM! SAM SAM SAM. Who coincidently is probably the mole cause I am so unlucky!”


Sam, Episode 6: “Andy is like a mole's wet dream! He is so clueless lol. He is perfect: he doesn't really try in challenges, he has no idea I'm the mole, and everybody thinks he's the mole. 10/10. His confessional was awesome and true. I'm never going to nominate him because he is just so valuable to me. Then he said "Sam hasn't really done anything" which just made me fall out of my chair. You kidding me? The last three episodes I've been so over the top it's ridiculous. In Ep. 3 I had a blatant over-the-top refusal. In episode 4 I barely helped on any task and raised the exemption money as high as it was going to go. In episode 5 I did another brazen screwup on deal or no deal then scored only +$61 on the poker game. My record is pathetic.”


Sam, Episode 6: “I just thought of a genius idea. Basically, here's what would happen. Let's say Andy goes. I then 'confess' to Ryan L, my partner in crime, that I put down ALL of my answers towards one person. And I'm still alive. Maybe L will confess the same to me. Conspiratorially, I reveal that that person is Ryan F. This would almost solidify the fact in his mind that Ryan F is the mole, because Ryan L did the exact same thing and both of us are still in. This is a good thing but the important thing is somehow get him to leak it to Brian. I don't know how that would happen... I'd just have to pray and get them two talking and hope it comes out”


Brian, Episode 6: “It's strange because I added up the money that each person has lost for the team, and he's lost the most. But it doesn't seem like it anyone even notices it when he does lose money. It's so subtle. And if he is the mole, he's doing a perfect job at it.”



Sam, Episode 7: “how dare they not know I am from Kansas! I have mentioned it no less than five times. Massachusetts? Virginia? =P They could even find it on the spies 2 site!

ouch. *licks wounds* I apologize for sucking so much recently and getting everybody to turn on me. even with this last round where i didn't screw up one bit! *sighs* I tried my hardest but I guess I just didn't know what I was doing. oh well.”



Ryan F, Episode 7: “My objective is to be in the finals with Brian because he is the one person that I know is not the mole. Initially, I wanted to give him the exemption, vote 10/10 towards Sam, my top suspect on the quiz, and get rid of Ryan L. who is bonus-less. However, Ryan L. got the exemption. So, I have to battle against Brian who I believe also suspects Sam. Hopefully, I can out-score him.”


Ryan L, Episode 7: “WEll...I'm officially in the final three! The least likely to be. Well I now know for certain that Ryan F is the mole and so does my partner in the game from episode 1, SAM! So we are planning on making it to the final 3 together and it looks as if we shall succeed! To help me in the exemption challenge we told Brian that we were sending our blocks, but never did and fibbed that yahoo was just not working. sorry Brian...i still feel sorry for doing that. Also I sent the squares to Ryan F after I had already figured it out as a weak attempt to earn his trust back, even though I seriously didn't care that much. I also hopefully convinced Brian that Sam is the mole and Sam convinced him I was the mole....to take all suspicion off of Ryan F...because we need Brian gone on the quiz.

NOW 4 THE SECOND SEGMENT OF FU CORNER!
Alright so now we will probably make it into the final 3 F & U (ryan l and sam). He has been a great ally through the whole game....putting me up to show that we weren't alligned was great...even though I didn't trust it at first. WEll...that's all over because we both know who the mole is...RYAN F...he was one of my first allys in the game...third to Ryan M and SAM&ANDY alliances. Well that just goes to show...a little hard work and planning will pay off!”

Brian! ack I forgot to post for him.


Brian was cool. He's a laid back kind of guy. We got to talk a little but not too much, we didn't have many normal-life things in common. I think we are both like intelligent, reasonable, and friendly individuals though so we had that in common. =) I liked working with him, hearing his opinions, and figuring things out together. I have nothing bad to say about Brian because he was an ideal friend. He never lost us any money which I admire. I also admire his intensity, activity, and good common sense. I wish he could of made it to the finals too but I didn't get to catch up with him towards the end so mabye he was talking with other players and following other leads. I hope to see him at the reunion and talk more after the game!

Final Confessional

Well, I thought I was having a great time this last episode. The challenge was PHENOMENAL... all of you should really try it out. It's the best challenge I've ever seen. I'd give myself a week to do it if it was me, but Travis had us do it one *exhausting* day. The best part of the game was the chat room. What an excellent idea hahaha. We had a blast creating all sorts of different names and bringing them into the chat and having them say stuff. I'll never forget that.


But then today I log on and find out Ryan L hates me... and not just thinks I'm the mole, but truly hates me. I don't care about the former but I do care about the latter. I don't hate anybody in this game and I thought we were truly friends and having a good time. It sucks to think people think otherwise. Ryan L doesn't like that the Three Questions got mixed up and we didn't get any money there. The thing is Ryan L and I decided to put each other down for the top part of all the questions so we could win.


The thing was I was EXHAUSTED yesterday with the mega-maze-challenge. We got 24 hours to do it and I must have spent at LEAST six hours figuring out that maze. It was insane. By hour 4 I was like a babbling mess and by hour 6 I was totally out of it. And then after that I had to complete 3 questions? I couldn't even think straight at that point. I read the questions and went with my gut. If I had more time I would have been able to think it through but I didn't and that's my fault. I also admit that I did intend to sabotage a little with the 3 questions by not putting Ryan L down on all the answers like we agreed. I wanted people to think of me as the mole so I had a better chance at winning. Travis must have selected all the questions without Ryan L at the top because that's what was posted. I was also busy at that time but thinking back now I regret it. I can't help but think that there has been mole activity in the works with both of these challenges (just look at our pot)... surely now that everybody has their mole suspect firmly in place the mole is going a little stir-crazy. Everyone (including me) has their mole choice locked in by this point I'd think and it's only a matter of the final quiz.


Which I can't wait for to see how everything turns out. I also can't wait to see everybody at the Reunion/Reveal. If this is my last confessional, I'd like to thank everybody for reading and for being such awesome competitors and friends. Talk to you soon!