CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing
Yep, you're 100% correct: it's because of the way the math is set up. Downvotes carry twice the weight of upvotes, so three detractors can undo the work of six supporters. This is necessary in order to make the contest end after a reasonable amount of time, but it is definitely not a measure of an option's quality or popularity. The winners of Survivor contests tend to be more middle-of-the-road, the ones that don't cause any fuss or call too much attention to themselves. There are exceptions every now and then, but more often than not? The path to victory is to not be seen.Sadly, in a certain sense, these "survivor" threads tend to favor the lowest common denominator. The initial few days of votes clear out the things that are either not generally liked at all, or super controversial. Once these easy pickings are removed, you see consolidation around two camps: the effective, and the traditional, for highly subjective definitions of both of those things. And, generally speaking, tradition will win out. It's why PHB options--when there are PHB options--are almost universally favored over non-PHB options. It's rare for a PHB option to be a true stinker (looking at you, Beast Master), but a lot of them are very "safe."
Essentially, because dislikes are 2x as powerful as likes, anything that is even mildly disliked, no matter what the reason or even for no reason, will evaporate in a puff of smoke. Anything that is blandly inoffensive is much more likely to survive to the final round, at which point all the stuff people felt strongly about will already be gone. And don't get me wrong, I get why dislikes have to be stronger than likes, we need the voting to end eventually. But the format essentially guarantees that anything novel or distinctive will get ground into the dust.
And that's why I love them. Everyone loves to talk about the Superstar Quarterback, and we all love to complain about those Rotten Referees...but how often does the Quiet Everyman get the spotlight?