Session Start: Fri Mar 28 14:36:57 2008 Session Ident: #enitech 03[14:36] * Now talking in #enitech 03[14:36] * Topic is 'ANNA in da footure "I'm good!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l02iNTnrrg | http://enitechlabs.com/blog | wiki: http://tinyurl.com/369x9x' 03[14:36] * Set by thebruce on Wed Mar 12 01:30:00 [14:43] hello RK 01[14:44] Hey [14:45] I was beginning to worry that I might be the only person here. 01[14:45] Really, I should be sleeping but since I'm not... [14:46] I appreciate that... 01[14:47] *laughs* I'm checking if anyone is in the #uF room [14:47] thx 03[14:48] * L (L@chat-solu-547BE1DA.snfccasy.covad.net) has joined #enitech 03[14:48] * nawoR (c0232322@wonderweasels.org) has joined #enitech [14:49] hey L [14:49] Hey nawoR [14:50] hihi [14:52] all we need are a few more players and (at least) two PMs... [14:52] hey jl 01[14:52] Looks like nawoR was the only one I could find [14:52] blair's going to join us shortly [14:52] Ah. [14:52] cool. [14:52] i'm going to be multitasking ;) [14:52] he EL [14:52] hey... [14:52] so if i go quiet, just HOLLA [14:52] ;) [14:53] this is the smallest turn out for a pm chat that i've seen [14:54] We'll give it a few minutes longer. 03[14:54] * Blair (ctaeq@chat-solu-BB4F5EA5.dsl.pltn13.sbcglobal.net) has joined #enitech [14:54] Hello Blair. [14:54] heya 01[14:55] nawoR, not everyone can get on IRC at work 01[14:55] ;) [14:55] heh 2 PMs and 3 players [14:55] oh trust me - i know all about that [14:55] We're on standby to give a few others a chance to join us. [14:55] did we pick a bad time I wonder? 03[14:56] * catherwork (catherwork@chat-solu-F0D6519A.sfo1.dsl.speakeasy.net) has joined #enitech [14:56] usually they're held a bit later in the evening.. [14:57] when does this start? 01[14:57] 3 mintues? 01[14:57] *minutes... [14:57] (perhaps this channel should be put back onto the topic in #unfiction ) 01[14:57] Geez I need sleep 01[14:58] I announced in there... sorta 01[14:58] *it 01[14:58] wow... too many typos [14:58] heh 03[14:59] * Siege88 (a254e8aa@chat-solu-31FABA92.mibbit.com) has joined #enitech [14:59] Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 03[14:59] * Rorschach (inkblot@chat-solu-87213ECB.dia.static.qwest.net) has joined #enitech 03[14:59] * apcfreak (apcfreak@chat-solu-1507237B.albq.qwest.net) has joined #enitech 03[15:00] * Highwind (ifyouwanti@chat-solu-2544B198.ipt.aol.com) has joined #enitech 06[15:00] * Siege88 kicks Rorschach [15:00] wow everybody's finally here [15:00] :) 06[15:00] * Rorschach becomes stronger 01[15:00] No violence Dio.... [15:00] Yeah, Dio ya jerk 01[15:00] Siege... [15:00] let's give it a few more minutes [15:00] maybe until 1:10? 06[15:01] * Blair fires a gun at Rorschach [15:01] Sure. 06[15:01] * Siege88 settles down [15:01] I looks as if we'll have a mix of consistent players and those who were more lurkers in the game. [15:01] yeah 06[15:01] * Rorschach watches as nawoR takes the bullet for him. [15:01] where's ariock [15:02] whhich nicks are the PMs? [15:02] it's myself and L [15:02] L = Eliana [15:02] and is there really no ops for the channel? [15:02] he might be afk 06[15:02] * Siege88 gives cather ops [15:02] i can try to invite his nick here at least [15:02] sorry i didn't play the game, just lurked on rare bits, but i'm a sucker for postgame analysis [15:02] he doesnt have autojoin on...sorry [15:03] btw - is someone logging this? or do we need Rowan? [15:03] I started, then got sidetracked by my stupid growed-up responsibilities. [15:03] I'm with cather, I wasn't that 'with' the game but i do love a good postgame chat 01[15:03] I can log it [15:03] Same here [15:03] okay - then i wont invite myself here :) [15:04] alright so who's got questions? :) [15:04] Well, I'll start... [15:05] given your past work with MoU and creating marketing platforms in virtual worlds... [15:05] it's not too much of a jump to see you experimenting with ARGs. [15:05] How/Why did you decide on this particular project? [15:05] (aside from simply paying the bills?) [15:06] interesting question :) [15:06] well... [15:06] oh! millions of us! (i went to the virtual worlds expo and didn't make the connection) [15:06] yes indeed [15:06] in truth [15:06] we had already kind of played around with various "viral" spaces and concepts [15:06] our work (millions of us) focuses on creating engaging immersive experiences that happen to be branded [15:07] we did an interesting campaign for a client that involved creating a fake hacker attack on a major web forum [15:07] and it seemed like a good avenue to keep exploring since it was clear we had the most fun in creating dynamic stories that rolled with players on the experience 03[15:07] * MrToasty (CSJava3737@BF7788C7.B47D38A7.F36FDA69.IP) has joined #enitech [15:08] so when the opportunity came up I wrote the story as kind of a straight forward "okay let's try an ARG" approach [15:08] an arg merges the elements we really focus on as an agency - engagement, providing narrative-driven content, incorporating user-generated content, and access to a large online community [15:08] but really we pulled from a lot of our past experiences producing virtual world projects [15:08] exactly [15:09] I came into the game near the start, but was never quite sure where your trailhead started. [15:09] our trailhed was the first Enitech video [15:09] was it just a Youtube posting? [15:10] this is our first arg, but our experience in social online communities and creating interactive stories allowed us to play with the idea of creating an arg. and then it just took off from there [15:10] yes basically. We leaked it to a few places claiming to be a real research company [15:10] from the initial comments on the blog, people were trying to parse that "is it real, or is it fake?" line, which was nice to see. [15:11] absolutely [15:11] yeah though one thing I inisted on... [15:11] it was key [15:11] that we put the word "Cyberdyne" in the biography section of the site so that people who were really curious would find the answer and not feel confused [15:12] just because I hate when people go "oh you hoaxed us to make us look at your commercial" :) [15:12] this way they go "aha!" and can decide to play along or ignore us [15:12] the intention of an arg is to provide a story which feels real, so that you can become immersed in this alternate reality, really feel like you are part of the story... suspension of disbelief is key and establishing that was an important part of our initial efforts [15:13] peeking behind the curtain kind of question (since this is frowned on ever here), did you ever us UF user accounts to pass clues to us? [15:14] maybe it was coincidence, but I felt that there were people who would just pop in with the spot-on insight, who would then disappear forever. [15:14] nope [15:14] no [15:14] we watched you guys [15:14] whew! [15:14] and made video clues to help when ya got stuck [15:14] yeah, every day [15:14] and other online communities played in parallel? [15:14] yeah SA and a few others 06[15:14] * Rorschach returns gun to safety position. [15:14] we watched you guys as much as you watched us ;) [15:15] a lot of random individuals as well 06[15:15] * RoseKitty is thankfully they weren't watching the drop sites [15:15] hehe how do you know we werent? [15:15] can you talk a bit about the drop sites - logistics and such? [15:15] ah yes [15:15] that was a bit of an adventure [15:16] first things to explain... [15:16] Zoltan was a player. He did not work for us [15:16] just wanted to clear that up [15:16] heh, that was hilarious [15:16] what? [15:16] heh since there seemed to be some confusion about that [15:16] well, i knew that. no one else seemed to :) [15:16] Wasn't it "Bill" who gave him the camera? 01[15:17] it was figured out when someone pulled an actual address for the guy [15:17] one of the fun things about this campaign is that some of the players began to roleplay or even slightly game jack during drops and such [15:17] Zoltan claimed that a terminator looking character named "Bill" gave him the camera [15:18] logistics regarding the drops... we had friends in cities we could employ to bury the cameras [15:18] rather than questioning his claim, we decided it was easier and more fun to simply run with it and take it as true [15:18] ha! [15:18] the same happened with VPISteve [15:18] that one threw a few people for a loop. [15:18] he claimed we told him to photograph the bank from the show [15:18] poor steve [15:18] silly steve. [15:18] of course that bank is fictional [15:19] but he did a helluva job so we made sure we had art standing by for a nuclear bombed bank structure when he took the image :) [15:19] well, I think that that was some confusion on more than his part. [15:19] heh [15:19] We were trying figure out if the game was somehow "concurrent" with the show... [15:19] actually he was having fun with you guys. He specifically rewrote emails from the resistance to show you guys on the forums [15:20] really? [15:20] nice to know. [15:20] only he and we knew and neither of us had any understanding but it was fun for us to play along as well 06[15:20] * MrToasty makes note to not trust steve in the future [15:20] so when he claimed a bank (instead of a steel wall as we initially instructed) it was fun to change the story a bit [15:21] and we then were able to add 1 more "terminator was here" location to the BlueCom puzzle [15:21] I know you're saying it was fun now... [15:21] but when you first say what Zoltan and VPISteve were doing, what was your initial reaction? [15:21] speaking of resistance, any comments about the "outing" of players ratting on each other or exposing their loyalites? [15:22] (Or had you planned for this possibility?) [15:22] my reaction was seriously excitement [15:22] because I feel like when players are so engaged that they want ownership of part of the story 06[15:22] * catherwork may be confusing this with another game [15:22] i think we were both thinking "awesome!" [15:22] that on some level it's working well and firing imaginations [15:23] no you're not CW... that happened in this game. [15:23] catherwork: are you referring to players who were ratting each other out to SkyNet? [15:23] we wanted you guys to riff off of our story, be creative, etc [15:24] my feeling was "great!" I never felt that players should be locked into only helping the humans. Who roots for the machines? Who cries tears for the fallen terminators? ;) [15:24] so when players began ratting out others to SkyNet it added a great element of challenge to the experience. Now it wasn't just the machines, but also other humans [15:24] and it forced a few players to get creative (and paranoid) in figuring out who the rat was [15:25] and c'mon, it was comical! [15:25] Judgment Day is no laughing matter miss :( [15:25] yeah, I created a terminator-vision screenshot of myself after termination... [15:25] I didn't send it to you, though. [15:25] haha doh [15:25] it was good jlr :) [15:26] you should've! [15:26] yeah, send it and we'll post it [15:26] Just to set the record straight, there isn't any plans for another session of this game to go along with Season 2.... or is there? [15:26] errr I dont know if we can [15:26] everyone at Enitech is dead [15:26] haha [15:26] true. [15:26] jlr: can't say if there is or is not [15:26] no comment [15:26] ;) [15:26] mum's the word. [15:27] was the main goal to increase tv viewership? if so, did you succeed? [15:28] unfortunately we can't get into client specifics and stuff [15:28] our goal was to create an awesome experience for you guys [15:28] seriously [15:28] true indeed [15:28] And in fact... this story was one we had developed for quite some time. [15:29] outside of creating an engaging and interactive viral thriller, other goals were less of a priority [15:29] could you go more into that...? The development timeline? [15:29] development of concept or production pipeline? [15:29] both. [15:30] "years and years" or "manyears squished into a month"? ;) [15:30] can't really say when we started concepting [15:30] The concept was one we had thought about for a while... Production wise though, we worked fast and had very little time (less than a month) to create the full experience [15:31] but we began production literally about a week prior to launch of the first video [15:31] it was sort of like "this idea is awesome... now you have 2 weeks to make it reality" [15:31] maybe a week and a half [15:31] heh lots of fly by the seat of our pants [15:31] yeah, it was intense [15:31] wow [15:32] but that was kind of the intention of this arg [15:32] to make it almost improvisational [15:32] one thing that really made me smile was the centurion that appears when Anna, Frank, and Mike are killed. [15:32] yeah, you liked that? [15:32] that level of production value in only a few week's time is commendable. [15:33] heh it's funny... I didn't come up with the centurion ending till halfway through the campaign. Originally it was just going to be Anna attacked by a regular T-800 at the end [15:33] one thing that we, here, weren't sure about was where it came from... 01[15:33] I have a feeling many player would have been upset by that [15:33] then we got on the phone with our FX guy and were like "hey what do you think about a giant robot attack all done with a handheld camera and we need it in a week and a half" [15:33] you guys guessed it [15:34] some of us wondered if the DoD was responsible... [15:34] it was sitting next door disguised as a car wash [15:34] or was it really a flesh-covered centurion sent from the future... [15:34] Rose: yeah ultimately I realized the ending had to be Terminator action level huge and also satisfying to the players who wanted to know what happened to Anna. We came up with the idea of hiding the last episode towards the end [15:34] jlr1001: I would say simply that the Centurion wasn't from modern era [15:35] so it was flesh-covered... [15:35] or in your story did Skynet perfect a way to send non-flesh-based things back...? [15:36] can they even change facts like that from canon? [15:36] I would imagine that there are several methods. One most obvious one is the method they show of devices being constructed by agents from the future [15:36] data stored in the cpu of the skynet machines comes with them [15:36] they just need the parts to assemble or the data to export etc [15:37] so there were a group of Ts whose mission it was to build one of these things? [15:38] perhaps :) [15:39] Another question people had was about that Jacob pic... [15:39] ah yes [15:40] sure, what about the jacob pic [15:40] Is he really as tall as he looks? Yes. [15:40] next question? [15:40] :P [15:41] We think it was dated for April... [15:41] so he's definitely still alive right now [15:41] so he's still running around, right? [15:41] did we "save" him? [15:41] Yes [15:41] :) [15:42] He can be in the sequel [15:42] For the punchcard puzzle, did we have everything you were going to give us for clues, or was there more before the cipher was partially reverse engineered? [15:42] Ha! you admitted to the sequel. [15:43] got you. 01[15:43] That's an 'if' jlr1001... [15:43] MrToasty: which cipher? [15:43] he was being cheeky [15:43] the viginere with the guitar chords [15:43] I'm fun like that [15:43] oh right... [15:44] yeah you guys did a great job with the guitar chord puzzle. We gave everything but knew it was going to be very very hard [15:44] you guys had everything you needed [15:44] so we planned to give clues if needed [15:44] but.. yeah, exactly [15:44] as far as we could tell though you guys nailed that one pretty well [15:45] i have to say, i was so IMPRESSED with the players and their ability to crack these puzzles [15:45] they weren't trivial 03[15:45] * TimonyCrickets (NA@60105C58.3AF45843.2FC84619.IP) has joined #enitech [15:45] Shout out to Evan Jones for helping us come up with those mindblowing puzzles [15:45] he is a genius [15:45] he created puzzles that even I didn't understand [15:46] the best part was deciding on how to leak the puzzles and the clues [15:46] so that it meshed w/ the story [15:46] were they all tabs from Zepplin (iir) songs? [15:46] pink floyd [15:46] wasn't it pink floyed [15:46] yes [15:46] that's right. [15:47] I'm a huge floyd fan what can I say [15:47] Did the players ever "trip you up", or catch something you didn't want us to? [15:47] let me think [15:47] not that i can recall [15:47] I'd love to say "no! we're brilliant! We thought of everything!" but there was one or two things I think [15:48] yeah? [15:48] *ahem BlueCom (one, two, thre...) [15:48] yes... [15:48] haha BlueCom... see the thing there was that we knew people were going to reverse engineer it and planned for something... but it came out weird [15:48] I'd have to get my developer to explain that one [15:49] hrm [15:49] I'm trying to recall the exact process there... we were going to use it to leak the Enitech address [15:49] which would be one of the 6 locations [15:49] where Skynet machines were spotter [15:49] *spotted [15:49] redclear... [15:49] but I think users were not supposed to see the sequence [15:50] redclear? What about [15:50] was it about traffic lights? [15:50] oh also someone noticed that there was a piece of cardboard in one of the future photos that hand't moved in 3 years. haha forgot that one [15:50] that an rain drops on the newspaper stand. [15:50] and the paneling wasn't aligned the same way in the jacob photos [15:50] minor details ;) [15:51] L: the paneling was aligned... I took that photo myself! [15:51] I ask about traffic lights because that was the only real world reference to redclear I could find... [15:51] it was slightly off [15:51] take a look! ;) [15:51] Redclear was simply us thinking of a type of military protocol for "send something big to kill everyone" [15:51] I mentioned it here, but dismissed it as silly. [15:52] we decided it would be fun to give a nondescript name and let people guess what was coming [15:52] that's funny since traffic lights play a role near the end of the show's season. [15:52] nuke/terminator swarm/bio attack/etc [15:52] so I thought I might have been on to something with the traffic light/redclear thing. [15:52] hehe yeah [15:52] yeah, i can see that [15:52] one funny thing is [15:52] sometimes there would be little pieces that nobody picked up on but they focused on bigger stuff [15:53] Ibelieve our FX guy hid something in the newspaper shot that people didn't catch because they were too busy looking at the CDC headline (which was a Macguffin) [15:54] http://enitechlabs.com/blog/wp-content/v102b.jpg [15:54] the idea implying that the headline on the left is actually a clue to how the machines decided they didn't need humans [15:55] another thing... I think some one here found your audition announcement for the Frank Bently role... [15:55] but everyone got focused on the main headline [15:55] yeaaaah... [15:55] that was interesting [15:55] jlr: yeah that drove me up the wall... some of the people at our company were REAL new with the concept of ARGs haha [15:55] so they made a few newb mistakes 01[15:56] Just for my curiosity, who thought I was a guy? [15:56] Rose: that might've been me whoops sorry heh [15:56] it's the internet, we're all "guys" 01[15:56] *laughs* [15:56] I think there was a male name on the email account 01[15:56] Noel as in the Christmas song 01[15:56] :P [15:57] yah that's what it was [15:57] I was thinking of an old math prof named Noel heh 06[15:57] * catherwork thinks of male playwrite Noel Coward [15:58] given your experience with this game, would you make a push to continue developing ARGs or will is remain one platform of many in your stable? [15:58] we definitely are platform agnostic... 01[15:58] catherwork: It's a bit tiresome to type "Noël" all the time :P [15:58] I have a question for you guys. what was the most entertaining, interesting, compelling part of the arg? i'm sure it's difficult to parse that way, but just wondering, did you enjoy the videos the most? the puzzles?... [15:58] but Millions of Us is DEFINITELY interested in future Alternate Reality Games [15:59] was there something that could have been improved? [15:59] as for improvements... [15:59] hey guys... I have to run but I just wanted to say THANK YOU! You guys were a great team and wonderful audience and I can't wait to create more stuff for you guys in the future. Also if you want to check out a few fun behind the scenes snapshots, enjoy... http://www.flickr.com/photos/blairerickson/sets/72157604264425470/ :D I'll lurk here but be afk [15:59] thanks again! [16:00] some of the in-game improvising became confusing. [16:00] how so [16:00] i think i prefered the static pictures over the video, personally [16:01] L... sorry a bit of a late comer (and mostly quiet during the games). For being it's puzzles and a good story line. The video is fine, but I can watch TV ;). I liked the story a lot (and wished there was a whole lot more!) 01[16:01] I admit I was creeped out by a couple of the vids, but that's because I could only watch those at work in the dead of night [16:02] well, integrating some of the "gamejacks" was cool of you to do... but we never got a definitive nod whether something was in game or not... [16:02] (confusing response, I know). [16:02] ah, i see [16:02] puzzles definitley keep everyone interested. could have used one more near the end. [16:02] true... [16:02] players like boundaries, no matter how much they say they want to be confused whether or not it's "real" [16:02] so there was a lack of certainty when it came to figuring out if something was in-game or not [16:02] i understand [16:02] the puzzles seemed to die down... [16:03] with the videos, did you feel that it wasn't an effective medium in telling the story? [16:03] well, if you were going to accept Zoltan's "contribution" it would have helped if it became part of the narrative somehow... [16:03] it was distracting? or... [16:03] no, the vids were great. 01[16:04] the vids helped with the interaction and storytelling imo [16:04] one thing that I wondered/questioned/hoped for... [16:04] (but I understand why it might not have been the case given your short development cycle...) [16:04] I often found myself wishing that there were multiple points of interaction at one time... [16:05] ah, yes. we would have loved to provide that [16:05] If I wasn't engaged by the Bluecomm puzzle... that there would have been another task going on that I could have been engaged with. [16:05] it was partially the short development time. we were also short staffed [16:05] I guess that made the game feel "linear" at times... [16:05] we have about 4 people working on this project and not full time ;) [16:05] the whole on the rails thing. [16:06] believe me, I understand. [16:06] i agree. providing multiple tracks of interaction was important for us initially, but we realized it could easily become too difficult to manage given our timeline and resources [16:06] but well noted [16:07] thank you guys for the feedback [16:07] wow L... that really says something. I didn't realize the production team was so small. [16:07] as a producer, it will come in handy for next time 06[16:07] * catherwork volunteers for next short-staffed project -- i'm local! [16:07] blair and i worked full time on it, but we both had other concurrent projects [16:07] When is the next time? Since you brought it up... ;) [16:08] I'm not local, but I'd definitely volunteer to help out in any way. [16:08] and we also had the help of 2 others for the puzzles and the effects [16:08] very small intimate team! [16:08] well if i told you when it was, it wouldn't be a fun discovery would it? [16:08] ;) [16:09] ;P lol [16:09] If you are really who you say you are it wouldn't be :| ;) [16:10] thank you guys so much for this chat [16:10] it's been awesome both producing and playing along [16:10] and i look forward to many more of these [16:10] thank you for taking the time to produce the game and to speak with us. [16:10] my pleasure, really 03[16:11] * Siege88 (a254e8aa@chat-solu-31FABA92.mibbit.com) has left #enitech [16:11] taking off now, but keep your eyes open for the next one! 03[16:11] * catherwork is now known as catherFood [16:11] Thank you :) 03[16:14] * L (L@chat-solu-547BE1DA.snfccasy.covad.net) has left #enitech [16:15] well, thanks everyone for stopping by.