Game Design Committee - I thought I’d toss out an idea for your future consideration regarding the alliance selection process. There have been grumblings about the process, and that it can lead to some unsportsmanlike conduct. One basic complaint is that a team cannot decline an alliance invite (unless they are already an alliance captain, or believe they will get bumped up into the top 8 and be a captain themselves).
What about giving teams the chance to decline ONE invite, but ONLY in a given round of selection? That is, if captain #2 invites me as their first pick, I can decline and then be chosen by captains #3-8 in the first round. I am NOT eligible to be chosen in the second round BY ANYONE if I decline captain #2’s offer. This setup would prevent teams from ditching the #7 and #8 captains, who would have a very difficult time choosing a first partner if people were allowed to decline. This decline-once-in-your-round option would give teams some chance to control their own destiny, while at the same time preventing them from, say, declining captain #7 so that they could be chosen as the 3rd alliance partner for captain #1 or #2.
Just a thought. Thank you for your consideration.