[ayy_lmao]

And everything crumble down when I've stood my ground against "we have other motivated candidates" and my backup alternatives turned out to be a complete mess upon further inspection, started back pedaling on previously agreed terms (written but not signed), and just simply ghosted me.

Oh well.

[hoppla]

I would assume the interview was over if they mentioned other motivated candidates

[ayy_lmao]

Maybe a cultural difference considering I'm in Asia but in roughly 1/3 of the follow up interview I've experienced, the HR / manager mentioned there were other motivated candidates. Most of the times it came after I expressed I was hesitant after being low balled hard in term of income.

[hoppla]

Could be a cultural difference, but still think it sounds like they signal that something is non negotiable, either you accept it or leave.

[ghaff]

Assuming they've actually made an offer, I agree that it sounds like something they're firm on and, probably, while they might indeed be willing to hire you, they're perfectly fine with their fallbacks.