I definitely agree with all your points.
I'm pretty sure soda jew was there to be able to improve stuff on the fly, and I don't know if he's suited to a reality house setting, but having SOMEONE like that on staff is a must.
I'm pretty sure he said he's a "writer" and a few people have said there's a "writer's room" now.
I don't know how necessary that would be for a house setting because they aren't going to pack the house with tons of NPCs with scripted backstories but at least having a guy on staff whose job it is to remember who fucks with each other and who doesn't and what kinds of bits would actually work on a guy instead of falling flat would be great to have. Like to avoid sending ben up to go, idk, "today can you write a play for everyone to perform" and the guy goes "i just write poetry though" (ben &tj in s2)
would also help with longform things like the cult or the host so that whatever the next Goldstriker character is he's not yet another bossy asshole with a silly accent
- For the love of god, monetize something other than smokes. Sitting a round for an hour and half while People are reading Superchats in names, getting cigarettes they don't want, fucking sucks.
definitely agreed. people only buy cigs for shout-outs anyway. i keep saying they need to swap out the quest system and the clan bank system for crowdfunding individual fishtoys ex. donating 50 ft to a goal of 800 ft for "loot crate for bob" until people manage to fund. it has been a great idea since s1 that hasn't been implemented.
- No gaslighting the Fish, no trying to make drama by telling them to fuck with each other
they can still do this they just can't do it the way they have been which is pull people aside and say "fuck this guy over because he's your competition and that should be reason enough" when people already have cemented alliances that that would step on.
just say, "look. i know you miss your girlfriend back home. what
we need is for bob to take the fall in the next challenge. if you can fuck him over you get to call your girlfriend, deal?"
that way "production told me to" doesn't mean anything. they had a choice. they need to have had a choice or else it sucks. when bob sees his opponent standing around on the phone with his gf after tripping him in a challenge he'll know he got sold out and for what and there won't be an excuse. and it doesn't have to be money (they only ever lied in s1 about paying people to get each other out anyway) or game currency (not an organic motivator).
they did this really well in 2.5, people were constantly selling the team out in the short term because they weren't thinking of how it would impact the team long term or they didn't care that it would.