TheOriginalTiki
Well-Known Member
My pitch...
Let's give it up to PerGron once again for a truly spectacular hosting effort! It amazes me time and time again that this community still finds the time to come together for these things, and I'm going to savor that for as long as it lasts.
Yea, this is a real Sophie's Choice that PerGron has found himself in. Everyone in the final eight has played a fantastic game, but alas four need to be cut. I'm not going to sugarcoat it, I haven't had a perfect game. I was particularly messy during the speed rounds where I had several very public crash outs due to mental health issues.
That being said, I feel like even during my crash out rounds I managed to crack out some strong stuff, and have made a bit of a comeback in the third act of the game.
The first couple rounds I was mostly dipping my toes in the water, taking on the Snoopy strategy of making small but meaningful contributions to the projects. That all changed at the roller coaster round. I don't want to blow too much smoke right away, but I truly think my work on Pinball Blizzard was a masterclass in team leadership and the finished product serves as one of my absolute all time proudest achievements.
In spite of my crash outs and legitimately wanting to quit a couple times, I preserved through the speed round and managed to come out stronger on the other side. The speed rounds had the lowest lows of the game but also some big highs. First off, I can proudly say that I was the guy who pitched what would ultimately turn out to be the WORST project I ever completed in the form of Scary Restaurant, which is an achievement in its own right.
The two big highlights of the speed rounds for me were the Wings of Wonder exhibit and the Link Hogthrob meet n' greet. For Wings of Wonder I'd like to throw that out as a singular achievement on my end, and I really think I went out of my way to respect PerGron's love of animals and the authenticity of what a zoo experience should be and went literally inch by inch improving a park I know like my own backyard. We didn't win because of the lack of participation from the rest of the team, but I'm still super proud of my solo effort.
With Link Hogthrob, I loved turning an obscure podcast meme into a legitimately effective meet n greet. I think the character fits the over the top method role the encounter calls for and I really like the different Muppet cameos I threw in. I'm also super proud of the meta Peacemaker and Vigilante meet n' greet at Magic Mountain's abandoned fortress of solitude from the same round.
Finally getting into the third act, I really went full stop trying to do some of the biggest highlights in each of the rounds. While the James Bond land and Hollywood Hotel were tremendous group efforts, I really think I went all out with the Austin Powers ride and Great Movie Mini Golf. Going back to my early strategy, these weren't the main components of the projects, but I went out of my way to make them major highlights that the projects would feel incomplete without even though both of them I approached as Vanity passion projects. I also went out of my way with the presentation here, doing voice clips for Austin Powers and layout sketches of all 36 holes across my mini golf project.
I'm THE original Tiki. I'm the Godfather of these games. I might not always be the most active and I'm certainly a tech boomer when it comes to website design and other presentation elements, but I always, from day one of my Armchair Imagineering career, have strived to think outside of the box and come up with ideas that you can tell right away are MY concepts.
I feel like I've contributed some of the most memorable stand alone elements of the season, had a personal growth arc coming out stronger on the other side of wanting to quit, and have the legacy behind my name to earn my spot in the finals. I'm not going to lie, this is the first time all season I've felt legitimately NERVOUS about getting eliminated, but my god the field of competition is insane and if it is my time to go I'll happily take the free time I've been desperately craving and cheer on the final four from the sidelines.
That being said, I feel like even during my crash out rounds I managed to crack out some strong stuff, and have made a bit of a comeback in the third act of the game.
The first couple rounds I was mostly dipping my toes in the water, taking on the Snoopy strategy of making small but meaningful contributions to the projects. That all changed at the roller coaster round. I don't want to blow too much smoke right away, but I truly think my work on Pinball Blizzard was a masterclass in team leadership and the finished product serves as one of my absolute all time proudest achievements.
In spite of my crash outs and legitimately wanting to quit a couple times, I preserved through the speed round and managed to come out stronger on the other side. The speed rounds had the lowest lows of the game but also some big highs. First off, I can proudly say that I was the guy who pitched what would ultimately turn out to be the WORST project I ever completed in the form of Scary Restaurant, which is an achievement in its own right.
The two big highlights of the speed rounds for me were the Wings of Wonder exhibit and the Link Hogthrob meet n' greet. For Wings of Wonder I'd like to throw that out as a singular achievement on my end, and I really think I went out of my way to respect PerGron's love of animals and the authenticity of what a zoo experience should be and went literally inch by inch improving a park I know like my own backyard. We didn't win because of the lack of participation from the rest of the team, but I'm still super proud of my solo effort.
With Link Hogthrob, I loved turning an obscure podcast meme into a legitimately effective meet n greet. I think the character fits the over the top method role the encounter calls for and I really like the different Muppet cameos I threw in. I'm also super proud of the meta Peacemaker and Vigilante meet n' greet at Magic Mountain's abandoned fortress of solitude from the same round.
Finally getting into the third act, I really went full stop trying to do some of the biggest highlights in each of the rounds. While the James Bond land and Hollywood Hotel were tremendous group efforts, I really think I went all out with the Austin Powers ride and Great Movie Mini Golf. Going back to my early strategy, these weren't the main components of the projects, but I went out of my way to make them major highlights that the projects would feel incomplete without even though both of them I approached as Vanity passion projects. I also went out of my way with the presentation here, doing voice clips for Austin Powers and layout sketches of all 36 holes across my mini golf project.
I'm THE original Tiki. I'm the Godfather of these games. I might not always be the most active and I'm certainly a tech boomer when it comes to website design and other presentation elements, but I always, from day one of my Armchair Imagineering career, have strived to think outside of the box and come up with ideas that you can tell right away are MY concepts.
I feel like I've contributed some of the most memorable stand alone elements of the season, had a personal growth arc coming out stronger on the other side of wanting to quit, and have the legacy behind my name to earn my spot in the finals. I'm not going to lie, this is the first time all season I've felt legitimately NERVOUS about getting eliminated, but my god the field of competition is insane and if it is my time to go I'll happily take the free time I've been desperately craving and cheer on the final four from the sidelines.
Let's give it up to PerGron once again for a truly spectacular hosting effort! It amazes me time and time again that this community still finds the time to come together for these things, and I'm going to savor that for as long as it lasts.
