The Amazing Race > RFF's Amazing Race: Design Challenge

The Amazing Race: Design Challenge VIII - Final Round Design Show on Page 50!

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gamerfan09:


Gamer's Judgments:



MikeDodgers - [Talladega, Alabama]

Show contentMike! Long time no hear from you. I will admit that I’m curious to see if you’ve improved after all these years. And I will feel bad for doing this comment right after your speech just now, but I typed this earlier, so please bear with me and hope you don't take this personally.

First off, I have to say, I think your presentation has “improved”. You used to just dump images with no formatting, so seeing this leg be properly formatted is a welcome change. One thing though - try to use the Img Width function. Your pictures just jump all over the place in size, which honestly hurt your presentation. Find a consistent size and stick to that.

Okay, on with your leg.

Your Roadblock is alright, but considering how you’re keeping up a Civil Rights theme, I’m not sure how teams dressing up as cotton farmers would really fly. You then go to the Hall of Heroes to have a simple camera task, which certainly adds history, so sure, that’s fine.

But your cryptic clue after… it doesn’t make any sense. I get the intent, but you were leaning on the Civil Rights theme and then suddenly the cryptic clue is all pop culture references that are unrelated. I really didn’t like this one.

We then go to a university for another Civil Rights task, and while again, I appreciate and like your theme, watching teams take a quiz is not exciting TV, nor is it fitting of a finale.

And then right after you throw your theme away by making teams go to Talladega. Then we have a final Roadblock…. which is honestly very very unfeasible. You say that you had an Intersection, but considering how modern TAR works, I’m not sure teams would actually truly know the Intersected pairs. I also really don’t think it’s a good idea making teams drive when it’s a memory task. It would force teams to go one at a time, which really makes the first team to get there have a big advantage.

Your final memory task is quite frankly, not very good. You would have been better off just making teams see flags of different things they encountered on the race and then do that. It’s a case of overcomplicating something, and even then, the potential first-come first-served basis with the Finish Line just there doesn’t sit very well with me. You also say that the decoys would be other TAR teams… but I’m very very sure teams would know who raced with them this season lol.

As a whole, I appreciate your efforts at doing a theme. It’s very relevant, and it’s not something I expected from you. But so much of your leg just doesn’t flow organically. There’s nothing that really sticks out to me reading it, and that was just very disappointing.

If you make it to the next round, best of luck, since there’s really no way else to go but up.
Grade:

Show contentD


Declive - [Key Biscayne & Key Largo, Florida]

Show contentFirst off, you were the first to submit. Congrats on that.

Let us begin.

Right off the gate, something seems off already. I understand having flight options, but there’s really no reason why you couldn’t have just bunched the Final 3. Sometimes less is more, and you really would have been better off just saying that all teams in the Finale are on the same flight to their final destination.

Your first Roadblock is an okay first task, but I think the problem here is that it doesn’t feel new - we had a variant of this on TAR18 and underwater tasks aren’t exactly the most telegenic tasks out there.

We then head off to a boat, then the turtle hospital, and this one is actually a solid task. It helps get animal advocacy out there while making teams actually make a difference.

And then we get another cryptic clue before your memory task and I will say that I do like the idea and the concept behind this memory task. It’s a great test of airports to see if the teams really were paying attention, rather than just countries. The only problem I have with it is that there’s really no more way for teams to potentially catch up after this - seeing teams literally fly to the Finish Line is cool, yes, but there’s no way to squeeze tension out of this once a team is done. If you finish first, you won, and that’s it. I would have honestly preferred if they got a final clue that was tickets and then they had a final cryptic clue to send them to a departure area to fly to the Finish Line - it would have forced teams to navigate one last time and also added more tension to that all-important final sprint.

Overall, this leg lost me, but there are good ideas in the package, and overall I can say this finale is solidly whelming. Not overwhelming, not underwhelming, just whelming. It just definitely could have used more work in the telegenic department.
Grade:

Show contentC+


David - [Knoxville, Tennessee]

(would suggest reading this after I post the comments for BourkieBoy's leg in a while)

Show contentDavid! Long time no see. Let’s see what you have in store for us.

First off, I like the concept behind your cryptic clue… but I’m not too sure about the difference being that obvious. It’s a fine segue into Dollywood, and I find it hilarious that Dolly Parton *would* cameo (since I think she’s at the point of her career where she actually might do it lmfao), but I’m not too sure about the album cover difference being easily noticeable.

We then get your Roadblock, and it’s an adventure task to kick it off. It’s fine enough this early in the leg, but I think the swimming and driving is a bit much. A simple dive and then clue would have sufficed.

And then we go camping. I gave Bourkie crap for doing this task, and I will unfortunately do the same here. However, your camping task is more excusable since there was an actual structure before it. Still not that big of a fan of camping as a task though.

Okay David, I’m actually a bit shocked here. Like Bourkie’s leg, you ALSO collect flags to the final task. I think your Final Memory Task is a little bit better, but my fundamental issue with your task is that by collecting the flags on the way to the final task, there’s already room for teams to talk and discuss beforehand, making the final task easier.

We then ride a tandem bike to the Finish Line.

David, if I had to sum up your leg, it’s that its an enhanced and improved version of Bourkie’s leg. There is a semblance of structure, I could see why tasks were in the place where they were, and I do think this is the superior version despite sharing some similarities. But as a whole, I’m not too sure about your leg :(

I felt that the cryptic clue might be too vague, the adventure task Roadblock had a little bit too much padding, the camping was eh, and the final task creative but not too hard since I assume teams would know placements a bit better by mere observation.

Honestly not your best work. But best of luck for the next rounds to come, and hopefully you do better then.
Grade:

Show contentD

redwings8831:

--- Quote from: gamerfan09 on July 12, 2020, 09:38:52 AM ---(this is instantly fixed by just saying that once teams finished it they’re approved for takeoff)

--- End quote ---

I did say that they have a hot air balloon guide with them who had to check everything before they left for the finish line and that the guide would be with them while flying and landing it on the dunes.

gamerfan09:


Gamer's Judgments:

The final batch for the Vets! Then it's all new blood from here on out. Good luck.



Bookworm - [Champlain Islands, Vermont]

Show contentWe begin with a drive to an island, then we make a broom. I get the reasoning behind this, but considering how teams just drove past beautiful sights, I’m not so sure a broom is fitting for a task. I will also say that I think the gamble part for the Detour is very unnecessary. I’m all for taking risks, but it just doesn’t feel right to have this on a Finale, you know? Twists have to stay twists, and I am a firm believer in the TAR finale pretty much sticking to one direct leg. I really do not like the idea of a Blind Detour in the Finale, since it’s pretty much something that robs teams of choices because of the very nature of a Detour.

Your Detour is also sadly not very strong. I do like the Cheese! I think it’s a great physical task that tests attention to detail and perception, but the Maple leaves… I don’t know, it just doesn’t inspire anything. I just don’t think teams running and looking at leaves makes for good TV.

Your next task however, is something I do like, and I sincerely wish you just cut the leaves and the Blind Detour element and used this as the other Detour. It’s a cool assembly task with a tie to local folklore, and it’s something that seems like it would take at least the same amount of time as the Cheese if this was your other Detour option. It would have also balanced out your Detour more. Both options are physical, but one has an attention to detail element while the other is about perception and relative endurance. But still, I did like this task.

Your final Roadblock is solid. I do think that it’s cute, but my main problem is that you were probably better off just including the flags outright. As is, plenty of people are horrible at flags (just look at TAR21 or Logan & Chris thinking the India flag was Oregon lmfao), there was really no need to further complicate it by just making it colors. What if there were locations on the Race with similar color schemes? Again, I get the intent, but it would have been a better task as a whole if you kept it simple by just keeping the flags on the birdhouses as is.

Teams then drive to the Finish Line, and honestly, this is not a complaint I do much, but I’m not too sure about your location. The picture you chose didn’t really do it any favors, and it looks like more of a Starting Line than a Finish Line.

As a whole, I’m relatively whelmed by this leg. It’s passable, it’s decent, and I appreciate the effort. But the mishandling of tasks (leaves were unnecessary and boring, Blind Detour isn’t it, neither is brooms) really makes this leg have a hard time standing out. There’s a wow factor that I need for finales, and I think that while this leg did get better as it went on, I just can’t get over the errors in the first half.

Still, Bookworm, the last time I remember seeing your legs in a DC, they were way way less impressive, and I outright did not like them. This time, I can sense that there really is an improvement, and I just hope you can nail it and get *there* in the rounds that follow.
Grade:

Show contentC


Jimmer - [New London & Old Lyme, Connecticut]

Show contentHi <3 Sorry for ignoring your Discord messages lol, I had to keep the guest judge spot under wraps.

Anyway, let’s begin!

We fly, then travel, then have your first Roadblock. This is a good opener. It’s a good safety training task that has the potential to become intense. It’s a stunt task that works well and has a good way of being both telegenic and challenging. I’m just not too sure about you using an actual person as the person to be rescued. Most TAR tasks that do this have dummies for safety reasons. You should have followed suit.

We then go, take a boat, and encounter a Detour. Report or Restore. I do like the Restore Detour since it’s physical and attention-to-detail based, but Report already unfortunately bores me just reading the description. It’s not very telegenic, and I can’t imagine any level of editing making this task seem exciting.

We then take a taxi and assemble a fairy house, and this is a good task! I just wish it wasn’t immediately after a Detour where one option was pretty much doing the same thing (restoring a shelter structure and making it look pretty).

Another cryptic clue, then your memory task. Your memory task is good enough. It honestly reminds me of TAR28’s Shenzhen Roadblock for some reason, but again, that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s a good enough task. Then we head to the Finish Line.

Jimmer, I honestly can say this leg is decent enough, but you really had to cut your Detour. If you cut that Detour off, and make the Fairy House a second Roadblock or the final task, I’d have definitely enjoyed this leg more. Your presentation is good, and your locations are there, and the tasks are also mostly there - I just wish that Detour was not in this. It honestly really hurt the leg, and even without it, it would have been a nice, solid, short and sweet finale.

Still, good enough attempt and not a bad finale leg.
Grade:

Show contentC+

gamerfan09:

--- Quote from: redwings8831 on July 12, 2020, 09:48:02 AM ---
--- Quote from: gamerfan09 on July 12, 2020, 09:38:52 AM ---(this is instantly fixed by just saying that once teams finished it they’re approved for takeoff)

--- End quote ---

I did say that they have a hot air balloon guide with them who had to check everything before they left for the finish line and that the guide would be with them while flying and landing it on the dunes.

--- End quote ---

I understand and I get that, but ultimately my main issue is that I don't see how teams can make something on-par as something that professionals made. Still like the task regardless though! Just a nitpick.

MikeDodgers:
I was starting with a Civil Rights theme, but then it kinda morphed into a look into the distant past with the first RB, the ARIs looked into the present with how far we still have to go in attaining equality for African-Americans in the US and the final RB would be a look ahead into the unknown future.

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