ARG: Township Heights (Virtuquest 6.5 Open)-Responses

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 05:30:18 +0000

What gave them the idea they had the right to use our real names rather than our chosen screen names in this game?

That made me very angry. And for this reason, I will not trust Virtuquest ever again.
They will not get my participation.

I am embarressed that I pointed others to this game. For that, I apologize.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:06:01 +0000

I'm sure i'm gonna get a right pop in the mouth for this, but....I think the ARG veterans had an advantage here. I mean, I don't think it was intentional at all. I'm just saying that most veterans have played ARGs that have much more going on, more complex puzzles, more interactive characters. They could probably have done this one in their sleep...blindfolded...one hand tied behind their back. So, I also think that added to the problem of newer people not being able to keep up.

Sorry to ramble...I'm probably completely in the wrong anyway...so I'll just stop there.

Not at all. It's a very valid point, and worthy of concern from both sides of the curtain.

I think that while it may be a design issue that PMs have to worry about, the "solve" is going to have to be mostly on the community side, since I'm not sure that short of tailoring and revealing individual puzzles to individual players, there's an easy way to PMs to compensate for it.

It's good to be reminded, however, that fair, inclusive play may not only involve sharing solves, but sharing participation in the solving process.

Unfotunately, the idea of, say, keeping quiet after you've solved a puzzle to let the newbies have a chance to solve it is sort of contrary to the "thou shalt not hoard solves" ethic, so it's not something that probably comes to mind immediately for a lot of veteran players.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:17:14 +0000

I dunno if this is the purported "memo" of discussion above, but I did find this in my research:
http://www.virtuquest.com/ce6-5/6-5.html

Including the following quote:

For those of you who choose (and are able) to participate, you will be, in a condensed timeline of several weeks, experiencing the journey of my good friend. What will you experience? What will you miss? Will you be lucky enough to, like my friend, survive the challenges and hurdles that come your way? Which of you will come out on top ? Only time will tell.

I also found this memo from JT, speaking of TH launching Jan 14:
http://www.virtuquest.com/jtmemo.html

The credits page for TH appears to be missing from the site now, however.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 03:18:04 +0000

Whew, I'm glad I wasn't the only one. Thanks for the post MF.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 03:09:41 +0000

I think that's a great point, WolfHawk. I was also a bit peeved when I received emails a full day after other people got them. I think that if they meant to make a newbie-friendly ARG, they might have slowed down the pace a bit. I was so far behind from the beginning that I never had a chance to get caught up. It seems like most of the puzzles were solved so quickly that once i was a day behind, that was it for me. The emails running a day late didn't help matters either. Seems to me like they were having trouble keeping up as well, and they were the ones in charge of the game!

I'm sure i'm gonna get a right pop in the mouth for this, but....I think the ARG veterans had an advantage here. I mean, I don't think it was intentional at all. I'm just saying that most veterans have played ARGs that have much more going on, more complex puzzles, more interactive characters. They could probably have done this one in their sleep...blindfolded...one hand tied behind their back. So, I also think that added to the problem of newer people not being able to keep up.

Sorry to ramble...I'm probably completely in the wrong anyway...so I'll just stop there.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:12:08 +0000

Well I am a new player. This the first ARG I was in on from beginning to end.

It was frustrating in some ways. First, much of the interactions happened when I could not be active due to family or work obligations. Live interaction I know can't be "scheduled" in order to maintain the reality aspects. However, I would come into this forum to catch up and find a discussion about an email received by everyone. Except me. I would get the same email a day or two later. That was extremely frustrating as the rest of the players would have already found the necessary information from the email and have moved on to next problem presented in it. I ended up spoilering my way through the play lest I fall so far behind it would be over before I got started.

Second, I don't see how this could actually introduce new players to the genre. Much of what we "new players" need to learn is how to identify specific puzzle types and explore the various ways of solving them. But there was so much interaction by experienced players that personally, I learned nothing. One of the veterans would look at a puzzle, know immediately what kind it was, how to solve it and do so. It made me think why bother trying to solve it myself.

Maybe some sort of scale should be implemented like at the ski slopes - easy, moderate, difficult, etc. That way experienced players can work on more difficult problems and we noobs could trundle along learning how to play. That would prevent a lot of frustration. Experienced players wouldn't be disappointed because the game was easy and new players could learn the ropes.

I'm sure some of you will think I'm being whiny or something. If so I apologize. My intentions for this post is not to gripe, it is to, hopefully, give ARG devs and players something that might make the experience more enjoyable for all.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:54:45 +0000

Another Question for the VQC folks:

Jacob responded to MountianGirl with:

In my 6.5 introductory memo, I tried to set the expectations for a short, not-to-difficult experience that would be ideal for new players. My
intention was to be as upfront as possible about not only the level and
length of play, but also the reasoning for the initial cost.

Why is that intro memo no longer available, even in cache from thier website? Why pull it if it would show that we didn't understand them from the beginning?

And this response:

Here at VQC we are extremely pleased with the response from new players and are very happy to have introduced these players to the ARG community.

What players did they introduce to the community? We have a list of the names & community members in the thread. Which ones are their contribution & which ones gave positive feedback?

edit for spelling

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 21:36:49 +0000

I received another email from Virtuquest/JacobT.

In my 6.5 introductory memo, I tried to set the expectations for a
short, not-to-difficult experience that would be ideal for new players. My
intention was to be as upfront as possible about not only the level and
length of play, but also the reasoning for the initial cost. If you believe I
glossed over any of these points please accept my deepest apology.

Strange, I never did understand why we had to pay for the game. I usually don't mind paying a bit for a good game, but in this case the reason seems to be a wish to give out prizes in the end - on basis of a point system which still seems unclear to me, and which had absolutely no influence on the gameplay. Then why the initial cost?

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 18:07:12 +0000

I received another email from Virtuquest/JacobT.

Hello

As painful as it may be, I want to thank you for both the feedback and the
voicing of your concerns. Personally, I hate to think that you were so
dissatisfied with ARG 6.5. In this world of faceless communication, much
of what we do is purely based on reputation, trust, and respect.

It hurts to think we have failed in any one of these areas. In my 6.5
introductory memo, I tried to set the expectations for a short,
not-to-difficult experience that would be ideal for new players. My
intention was to be as upfront as possible about not only the level and
length of play, but also the reasoning for the initial cost. If you
believe I glossed over any of these points please accept my deepest
apology.

Here at VQC we are extremely pleased with the response from new players
and are very happy to have introduced these players to the ARG community.
It is our hope that you reach out and encourage these players as new and
challenging games are revealed across the Internet.

While we have absolutely no intention to launch a TH sequel, I truly hope
that you understand that we do have the up most respect for the ARG
community and players. Some of the other concerns you mentioned in your
email will be addressed in the upcoming ARGN communication and my next VQC
memo.

Over the years VQC has covered a wide range of areas . . . half-day games,
6 - 12 week ARGS, 10-month puzzles, and other more corporate pursuits.

I do hope we have the opportunity to cross paths again and that you find
our next ARG more in line with your expectations.

Sincerely,
Jacob

My response:

Greetings Again Jacob,

I would also like to apologize if you took the critique as anything other than constructive. The questions listed are a summary of valid concerns from myself and the community of players. It was not an attempt to insult Virtuquest or the creators of ARG 6.5.

The introductory memo, now removed, did outline a game perfect for new players. I would hope that a game purporting as such would be a wonderful example of all the genre entails, rather than lead new players to think the storytelling aspects of ARGs are superficial and lack personalized interaction. I do not recollect length-of-play being outlined within the currently unavailable memo.

I am pro-active in my approach in encouraging those new to the genre to explore various games and become entrenched. I cannot, in good faith, steer them toward games that do not properly represent the genre as opined by experienced players within the community.

I would like to reiterate this is merely an attempt at constructive criticism, and not an attempt to offend.

Thank you for the response and debate of ideas/opinions.

Blessings Abound,
Mountain Girl

Am I the only one that sees the offensive and unprofressional nature of this statement ?

As painful as it may be , I want to thank you for both the feedback and the voicing of your concerns.

Just checking. :shock:

**Edited to fix format error**

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:34:27 +0000

I'd like to know the answer to all of the above....and...

Who are these guys?

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:05:50 +0000

I definitely agree about the real names. I would not have signed up for this if I'd have known. As it is, I used a paypal account for a family business that isn't in my name, but that of another member of my family. I definitely wouldn't use their name as my handle, so I couldn't interact in the chat at all, which was really disappointing.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:03:12 +0000

I would have to agree about the real names. Although I realize they would not be seen by a lot of people it still would have been nice to be given the option.

Did Township Heights run as expected? By this I mean, was there actually supposed to be more interaction/length/etc.? If so then what happened to the rest?

I have been following a couple of free ARGs which have had a TON of content and interaction. There is something new almost every day. One other ARG I followed was similar in that the ending was both a surprise in its' shortness and a let down. (That one may yet restart, though, because of references to a mini-series coming up this summer.)

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 19:38:52 +0000

One question I have for them is this:

What gave them the idea they had the right to use our real names rather than our chosen screen names in this game?

In this age of Identity theft, many of us are very careful with our online personas, ensuring that they don't reveal enough information about who we really are so as to make us a target of Identity theft.

We should have been given the option to a right to privacy. A simple, what name do you want to go by in this game question, would have been appreciated.

[EMAIL] Virtuquest

konamouse@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 19:05:27 +0000

Since your email was 24 hours in passing, I thought I would send you a
quick note to let you known that your questions and concerns regarding
ARG
6.5 will be addressed. As you can imagine we have received several in
the
last 24 hours, which I feel need to be answered in a meaningful way.

Sorry for the delay

Jacob

Excellent! :D

*Edit*
I noticed this in irc this morning,

" VQC has agreed to answer questions for an ARGNet article on the game. Do y'all have any others besides what MountainGirl outlined in her forum post that you'd like to have posed?"

Post 'em if ya got em. :D

[EMAIL] Mike Grabel

WolfHawk@forums.unfiction.com — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 18:52:05 +0000

This is only the second ARG I've finished. Heh, the first one had a pretty crappy ending, too (if it is indeed done). I hope the others I am taking part in do better!