User blog:Sonasaurus/Survival of the Fittest, 2017

(*waves at everyone*) Hello! Did you guys miss me? Wait, what do you mean "who are you supposed to be"? Whatever, I'm going to stop with the lame jokes and get to the point.

As the title suggests, I have an idea for the next season of Survival of the Fittest. Now before you run away screaming in horror, no, this will not be like season 5. If anything, my proposal for season 7 will be on a smaller scale than even the current season; as Brodie informs me that he intends to focus on other projects before returning to host more in 2018, I may be able to give this another try next year. All I need first are your opinions, and if they are favourable, a few lab rats for a beta run (which you can also donate as you please).

So, my idea. Instead of a massive, multi-terrained map where a large number of characters have to find each other and then proceed to kill each other without pause, what if there was just one location where a small number of characters have to blend in with their surroundings and use strategy to identify, confront, and eliminate each other? This probably sounds pretty unorthodox for something like SotF, but I have some details. Hear me out.

As an example, let's say the setting is a village in the mountains. Your character must blend in with the locals with the familiar objective: be the last one standing. And from there it will be up to you because the objectives offered to you will have numerous possibilities. Is your character a silver-tongued schemer? It should be no problem for them to charm the locals and get what they want. Do they prefer to send a message that they are not to be trifled with? Try intimidating the locals and getting information through brute force. What makes it fun is that the reputation your character develops with the locals may tip the scales in the favour of other characters or against them; if the locals like you, they may cover for you, whereas they may sell you out if they hate you.

Which brings us to weapons. I will set up a list of available weapons (sold by an in-universe villager and all) that is accessible to all participants, but you are also welcome to equip them as you see fit at the start (and later, in supply drops seeing as how well-received they are). But bear in mind that discretion is important in a survival match won through strategy. Translation: You can send your character enough C-12 to blow apart the entire village if you so desire, just understand that your character will be targeted by everyone and their mothers if you do. And now, I will pre-emptively answer a few questions you may have.

Q: Will season 5's stat-based system carry over here? A: That's a resounding hell no. I don't think I need to convince anyone that season 5's system did not translate well from paper into practice, and all I'm really keeping are a small-scale weapons market and objectives which will also be as simple as "do you want to do this?". I may or may not include currency but either way it will not be needlessly complicated.

Q: How many characters do you need? A: No set number yet, and it'll depend on the number of sign-ups, but I'm going to tenatively say about 5 for the beta, 12 to 16 for the actual thing. These fights will play out relatively more slowly than previous seasons, with more build-up and hopefully character and/or story development involved.

Q: Will this system be permanent? A: Not as far as I'm concerned. I intend for this to be a one-off, but if it catches on in popularity I wouldn't be opposed to bringing it back in later years. I just think it'd be fun to try something different.

So, that's all I can think of laying out for the time being. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.