I have decided to rank each of the RSF Seasons I have hosted based off of what I remember and with each part of this blog series, add my thoughts on the following season.
1. Free Agents - All around this was a great season in the RSF Franchise. It had probably one of the most competitive casts in RSF History and ended with probably the strongest Final Four throughout all RSF Seasons. Throughout the seasons it became highly competitive with the fluid dynamics of the Free Agents format really seeing some competitors rise to the top, some familiar RSF faces but also some new faces who proved they could be strong competitors. Of the 24 eliminated, only 3 did not participate in their eliminations and even with that in mind nearly every elimination had a somewhat memorable moment or good battle between 2 people. It also included a strong group of Finalists who were baffled by a significant checkpoint in the Final requiring them to remember a small detail from the beginning of the season (order of all 28 players on the players list) which saw some fierce competitors struggle and ultimately resulted in an upset win. All around couldn't be happier with how this season turned out from a competitive standpoint as just watching it from a production standpoint.
2. Big Brother: The Mystery Room - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
3. The Castle - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
4. Survivor Worldwide - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
5. The Inferno - Throughout the RSF Franchise, The Inferno was a format I put off hosting as I didn't know how I wanted to do it. The eventual format I came up with involving the 2 stages turned out to be a great format and a good cast led to a great season. With each team having their own Deliberation Room (private group) that really amped up the drama within teams since votes were public. The format is something I was really happy with. Stage 1 had a slower pace and led to drama with players volunteering to be Inferno Nominees and the slower pace gave time for alliances to form within and across teams and essentially cut loose the weaker competitors. Stage 2 led to a much faster game pace and strong competition from Rookies and Veterans alike. The highlight of the season for me was how competitive the teams were with teams essentially winning the same number of missions before the Final (8-8), teams being whittled down to even numbers (4-4) and producing the closest Final Challenge finish in RSF History with mere minutes separating the 2 teams. Overall, it was a great season filled with close competition which is all you can hope for as a host.
6. I Love Money - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
*ADDED ENTRY* - 7. The Quest: All Stars - This season was advertised as the Final RSF Season as it was right before I chose to leave Tengaged. Thus, it was the 1st (and only at its time) invite-only season. While initially it was disappointing not being able to get some of the initial heavy hitters (BOBROCKS333 and Piddu) the cast was still an overall strong one and proved it throughout the season. Initially planned to be an original RSF Season, the Quest was format was instead incorporated due to what I believe is a strong format giving 2 chances at winning a challenge to earn safety before having to face a vote and incorporate social game. The season was a strong one for having a pretty even playing field with multiple players winning challenges and different strategies coming out. The strategy was also really interesting with a majority of the votes in the season coming down to 1 vote or being a tie as you could really see players fight to earn what was told to be the Final RSF Championship title. It culminated in a surprising end for production at least as 3 players (2 former champions that are low on this list and 1 non-champion) who had not been as strong throughout the Franchise really step up and play strong games to get to the end. Overall, this was a great way to end Generation 2 with a well-fought and pleasantly surprising season.
8. Endurance Bora Bora - This season was a good season of back and forth with strong teams rising when needed and good battles helping define the season. Despite 1 player dropping out to start, the Right to Stay cut the 3 least active players which was followed by a basic partner mission defined by 1 moment when ultimately the winning team was formed after 1 key move made. The season saw battles back and forth with different teams winning the Endurance Missions thus handing out the Samadhi to strong teams with clear lines drawn in the sand with Gray and Green on one side and Purple and Yellow on another with Red, Brown, Blue falling and Orange riding the middle. Ultimately though, despite multiple teams winning the Endurance Mission, only 1 team ever won a Temple Mission, the eventual winners, the Gray team, won every single Temple Mission even with a hindrance in the Samadhi in 2 occasions as well as a locked up spot in the Temple being reversed by winning at Final 5. Even in the end game saw the alliance of Gray/Green turn on each other with Orange continuing to play both sides. The Final saw a Pyramid Piece advantage of 9-5 in favor of Orange being turned around to ultimately crown the Champions. Overall, despite one team holding the power of sending teams to Temple, it was a good back and forth between the sides with some come from behind victories that made for an entertaining season.
9. Survivor Atlantis: The Lost Empire - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
10. Fresh Meat 2 - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
11. Fresh Meat - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
12. Cutthroat - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
13. Battle of the Seasons - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
14. Big Brother: The Mystery Room 2 - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
15. Cutthroat 2 - This season of Cutthroat was a strong one from a competitive standpoint. Each of the teams had stand out moments with Blue team initially deemed the underdogs due to having the worst draft order coming out strong winning the first 3 challenges then winning key challenges and eventually getting to the Final as the largest team with 4 people (the only team with multiple players). The Red Team after a slow start put a strong mid-game performance also winning 3 challenges in a row before being whittled down to 1 despite strong performances from its players. The Gray team was the team that was easily whittled down to 1 with the last player eventually proving to be one of the strongest and carrying the Gray Team surviving the last third of the season as a 1 person team and eventually pulling out the win. This season would have been higher if not for the fact that 6 of the 30 initial players dropped out pre-game and thus led to only 24 players which hurts a game of Cutthroat having less players and eventually teams whittled down with the Final having only 6 players (1 v 1 v 4). But overall, a good season of old RSF main stays as well as some new faces stepping up to give strong performances throughout the season.
16. Solitary - Solitary was a game that had a lot of hype going into it with high hopes from production. It started off strong with the first treatment testing players perceptiveness with a shock treatment they weren't aware was going on. The early portion was quick with double eliminations then settled into a good rhythm. The Tests were generally disappointing in that some players chose not to complete them due to high difficulty and no repercussions to losing them but those that competed did well. The Treatments were competitive with only 2 of 13 players eliminated due to not competing. Many tests were frustrating per Solitary standards but some did end up running flat with them following the general same format encouraging activeness throughout. There were some great moments such as a very close elimination (difference of 46 seconds) and a very close Final Treatment (2 posts) which led to exciting moments. Having competitors identities remain anonymous worked well as some RSF Rookies and Veterans performed well (some not so good) and were able to show off their abilities. Overall, an above average season with some good moments but some small tweaks that could have made it better.
17. The Mole 3: Vengeance is Sweet - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
18. Moolah Beach - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
19. Big Brother: The Mystery Room 3 - This season was a decent season of Big Brother in the RSF Franchise. The format of the season was probably the best in the themed weeks and the unique Mystery Room powers. However, there was not a lot of standout moments. There was never really clear sides throughout the game with the players who claimed power following individual agendas with the house generally coming to a consensus who to boot as the eviction loomed. One of the former RSF BB Champions was able to use their social game to implement them with key allies such as Gaiaphage (who saved him with his coup d'etat) and cfff (who was his clear Final 2 partner) and eventually bring his Final 2 partner to the end with a late game competition run with the jury ultimately favoring cfff for his inoffensive game and being the "lesser of two evils." Overall, it was a decent season but with not that many memorable moments.
20. The Mole: Return of the Traitor - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
21. The Gauntlet - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
22. A Coach's Game - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
23. The Amazing Race - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
24. Survivor East vs West - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
25. Opposite Worlds - This season had a unique concept that production was really excited about going in. With 3 teams and 3 different game formats (1 per team) it was hoping to lead to a variety of strategy. While it was interesting to watch, once again activity led to the season dropping not only in the game but in the Viewer's Lounge. The Viewer's Lounge was meant to have a lot of power in the game but with only a handful of people actually participating there, it made the game stagnant a bit. The 3-team phase (6 rounds) was interesting to watch and active with only 2 of 8 who went out not participating. But the game drops in the 2-team phase (3 rounds) with 1 mission never being played and ALL THREE eliminations being inactive. The game picks up again when its individual and barring one DQ in the season due to a permanent ban was still entertaining to watch. Overall it was a decent season but could have been better with more participation.
26. Pirate Master - The return of the RSF Franchise with the 2nd generation beginning was a disappointment. The main issue with the season was inactivity on the part of most of the contestants. Several challenges had only members of one crew show up thus having no need for a challenge which made some rounds boring. The use of randomly divided crews was interesting but uneventful and the use of the Ghost Crew was disappointing with no good incentive for eliminated players to continue participating. Most votes were either landslides to take out inactives/big threats or split. The format of the season could have been more interesting with more active participants but for the players that were in it to win and played it was a decent showing. A memorable moment was a production mistake in the Final which led to the runner up having a chance to catch up but ultimately did not pan out.
27. The Ruins - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
28. The Duel - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
29. The Mole - See Gen 1 finished blog (Seasons 1-20) linked above
30. Fresh Meat 3 - When this season began, the excitement was through the roof as format wise this was poised to be the best Fresh Meat season. The Fresh Meat trials were meant to "trim the fat" of the newbies and with the 3 different Exiles this season, a lot of work were put into the puzzles of it as well as some unique challenges never been done before. However, this cast honestly led to an absolute disappointment of the season. Overall, activity really just killed the season as rounds had to be cut out because NOT ONE ELIMINATION was ever finished by all those participating. This led to multiple teams having to be cut in a round since neither finished and was just overall so disappointing as a host. The most active the season reached was during the Final Challenge where at least the 4 Finalists competed for the win. Overall, this is easily considered the worst season based on activity and a disappointing way to end the Fresh Meat trilogy.
Post your name in the comments in order to be tagged in future blogs of this series.
JaBYE @ me not being mentioned. I am an ALLSTAR and I know you were upset when I declined the phone call and had to replace me with a SCRUB.