Quote from Arsik;1200589:
Victory Road, unlike the Safari Zone, allows us to try as long as possible, and as many times as possible, to complete it. Going democracy was a necessary evil, considering that it is possible that the game would become unwinnable if we ran out of money before we got Surf and the Gold Teeth. And, considering we got those, the only real way we could possibly lose now is if we run out of money and release all of the Pokemon. This isn't a race to see how fast we can complete the game, but rather if we can complete the game with tens of thousands of people playing at the same time. That's what the creator wanted. That's what the staff at Twitch.tv wanted, and for the most part, that's what people watching/playing want, considering how rarely democracy gets voted in. They all follow the path of the Helix, for they know that is how things should be.
Praise be to the Helix.
There was never any danger to the Safari Zone, because the biggest drain on money was removed before they took their first steps in: the footstep/time limit. Barring the very real possibility that they could walk back out of the zone as soon as they walked in, they pretty much had all the time in the world to wander the safari, under a battle system with 0% possibility of wiping their party. Under those circumstances, the impossibility of the Safari Zone was actually an illusion.
Now, Victory Road. This will make the Team Rocket Maze look like a breeze. First, they have the world's longest ledge that they have to traverse before they get to the entrance to the road. Then, after walking through each badge-check room, including the one they'll have to surf and re-surf constantly as anarchy walks them in and out of the water, they'll actually make it into a cave where they need a Pokemon who has learned Strength (not sure if they've taught one yet). This is pretty simple so far, until you actually have to push the rocks around. The puzzles are simple, but unlike the Rocket maze, are VERY precise, and any attempts to retry will involve exiting the room, coming back in, and starting all over. To make matters worse, this is a labyrinth filled with a combination of fast rock types and combustible rock types. Once they run out of PP for Surf and take enough damage from explosions, they'll have to repeat the process all over again of just getting to Victory Road, and that's if they don't manage to use Dig while in the cave.
Everyone was worried about the Safari Zone for no reason, when they should have been gnawing their fingers off at the idea of what's to come for Victory Road. This, this right here? This is the real test. The rest of this run was the tutorial. Unless of course the game was once again hacked so all the rocks will always be in their solved puzzle state, which is far worse to the spirit of this run than anything democracy has done (and was far worse in the case of Safari Zone).
May the Dome deliver us from Helix the Usurper.