Mapmaker: OK!
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sidtheduck: Yoggy's here!
Mapmaker: So welcome everyone to the First Time-Unitly EE PM Chat
BrianC: we're doomed :)
Yog_Sothoth: Ayep.
catherwood: maybe the PMs could change their nicks to have an underscore in front?
jjason: hooray!
bunksteve: Eeek! Grab the Necronomicon!
*** Signoff: H (Quit: http://unfiction.com/chat/)
bunksteve: Yay!
Yog_Sothoth: (Holy crap, I didn't know the PM chat was going on, I'm right on time.)
Mapmaker: might be best, cath
*** NickoD is now known as: _NickoD
jjason: Lucky
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jjason: that's what happens when you're the gate & the key
Yog_Sothoth: (I will keep my stupidity to a minimum then~)
Mapmaker: so we're going to be relaxed about rules
bunksteve: Why bother, Yog? I'm not making the effort.
bunksteve: :)
Mapmaker: please keep comments to a minimum
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* bunksteve shuts his trap.
*** brooke is now known as: _brooke
Mapmaker: and PM me to get in line to ask questions
* jjason zips his lips
DavFlamerock: kk
*** BrianC is now known as: _BrianC
*** ScrappyDoo is now known as: _ScrappyDoo
Mapmaker: all right, so I guess we can introduce everyone
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WolfHawk: Is this better?
sidtheduck: yay!
DavFlamerock: aye
_BrianC: perfect, Wolf :)
* jjason gives the thumbs up
catherwood: bless you, WolfHawk, thanks
WolfHawk: no problwm
_ScrappyDoo: i added +c to the channel
Mapmaker: So _BrianC, for those of you who didn't guess, is Brian Clark of GMD Studios. Say hi!
_BrianC: Hey, folks :)
bunksteve: Heya!
DavFlamerock: HI!
_BrianC: I see Brooke and Nicko and Jackie here too.
sidtheduck: hi
jjason: Hello!
Six: Hi Brian :D
* Insane24Seven waves
WolfHawk: Hi
_BrianC: anyone else from the team lurking under strange names?
BlueKindo: Hi Brian
* _brooke waves
Mapmaker: Then we've got at two spaces above me _ScrappyDoo (Jackie Kerr)
_ScrappyDoo: heya :)
* biff sees only one space, spacebass
Mapmaker: and below me _brooke aka imbri aka Brooke Thompson aka The Cat Lady
bunksteve: Scrappy = Jackie?
bunksteve: Ohh..
bunksteve: Duh.
Insane24Seven: How do you do, Scrappy Doo?
bunksteve: Hello!
brooke: hey! cats aren't bad :)
brooke: and hi!
Mapmaker: and then somewhere is _NickoD, Mr. Nicko Demetero
bunksteve: lol
Yog_Sothoth: Hello. [/late]
_NickoD: No o at the end :p
_NickoD: Hello all! :)
bunksteve: Heya Nick!
_BrianC: he's a grain goddess!
jjason: ?
sidtheduck: heya all!
sinyx: haha
xnbomb: lol
Mapmaker: so would each of you like to give a brief overview of what each of you did?
_NickoD: lol indeed...although i prefer weather and agriculture
bunksteve: He's also legally insane. :)
_NickoD: ha!
_BrianC: Brooke, wanna start?
* Insane24Seven sneers
brooke: um, ok
_BrianC: Jackie should go last so that she doesn't make the rest of us look like slackers.
brooke: do i get to run away after i say this?
_BrianC: :)
Mapmaker: no
_ScrappyDoo: oh phbbt
Mapmaker: imbripole is firmly in the ground
brooke: I wrote Marie and, yeah, I wrote BA
brooke: and lived on craigslist for the past few months
Mapmaker: Nicko, you're up
_BrianC: :)
bunksteve: lol
DavFlamerock: lol
_NickoD: I wrote Bryce and loved every minute of it.
_NickoD: And yes, I went nuts. ;)
bunksteve: ha!
_BrianC: heh heh
tipsila: but now you're crazy
Mapmaker: Señor Clark?
_NickoD: Better than dead!
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bunksteve: true
missphinx: those poor, poor birds
Sam: Ok, now I'm here
tipsila: they can come back!
_BrianC: Jackie, tell them how overworked you were :)
_ScrappyDoo: heheh
_ScrappyDoo: So, uhm, I wrote Jen and Kevin and Stu and Alan and sat in here and watched all of you all the time
bunksteve: that's not creepy at all..
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_BrianC: :)
dante: Stu alone is creepy enough
DavFlamerock: ... <.<
sinyx: You got to die 4 times. Sweet.
_BrianC: and I guess from a writing end, you heard me most as Howard and Art and a few minor spooky characters
bunksteve: Death by pickle!
biff: so stu, do panini really give you the poops?
Mapmaker: OK, so we shall start with questions. The first is from Obtusitivity, who got in line two hours early.
Mapmaker: shhhhhhh! ;-)
DavFlamerock: ROFL!
Mapmaker: An easy one for you: Was Maera a player or a designed character in the prologue?
_BrianC: Nope, as far as we know she's a participant like you folks.
_ScrappyDoo: player
brooke: She was a character that was not created by us :)
DavFlamerock: lol
sidtheduck: nice
_BrianC: I think the parrot advice person is too!
dante: poor Huan
brooke: it was the only time that marie ever responded out of character to anyone
_BrianC: Ob, what did you think at the time?
brooke: the person behind it felt a bit nervous/guilty afterwards and messaged marie to apologize and see if he had done soemthing wrong
bunksteve: He's not here.
Mapmaker: Oh, ob isn't here, he's commuting
bunksteve: He's currently speeding home, trying to get here before it ends.
_BrianC: ah
Mapmaker: well
DavFlamerock: Funny, if you hadn't locked that thread I would have answered his question!
Mapmaker: next up is a comment from soneone
Mapmaker: and I think it'll spark some discussion
Mapmaker: bunksteve?
bunksteve: :)
bunksteve: Present.
Mapmaker: go ahead
bunksteve: I just wanted to thank the fine people at GMD for creating such great characters and letting us get attached to them...
bunksteve: Just so you could murder/institutionalize/disappear them!
bunksteve: BASTARDS!
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_BrianC: LOL
_NickoD: hahaha
WolfHawk: Attached - that's an understatement!
biff: beats the slasher flick alternative
bunksteve: True.
_BrianC: we didn't kill all of them off ... we left some you at least kinda like, right?
DavFlamerock: Yes, many of us became very attached... I was all depressed when Jen died
WolfHawk: Me too
jjason: I still miss Kevin
Yog_Sothoth: Ditto.
tipsila: me too
DavFlamerock: oh, like Art?
WolfHawk: and p*ss*d off!
bunksteve: I miss Stu.
bunksteve: :(
bunksteve: And Howard.
bunksteve: They were nice to me.
dante: and Alan.. he had a way with his Blackberry... even though we didn't know his last name
_BrianC: it was really fascinating watching everyone's reactions.
DavFlamerock: I can imagine
*** Signoff: H (Ping timeout)
Mapmaker: In that vein, from Konamouse: How much did the players influence the actual story (i.e. were the deaths planned or did our actions/inactions select the victims)?
_BrianC: And I mean that in a good way, we didn't want it to be like a classic horror where you actually felt the characters who died deserved it in some moralistic way.
_BrianC: Most of the deaths were planned out, but you got an extra I think.
_BrianC: Which is like overachieving, right?
_BrianC: Let's throw one more log on the fire, shall we?
_BrianC: *grin*
brooke: well, it made sense :)
DavFlamerock: who, Marie?
_BrianC: there were lots of things, though, that really got written in conjunction with the audience, that were very much you
biff: 4 for 3! bargain
bunksteve: Oh yeah?
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: like Providence the dog
DavFlamerock: Did someone submit him?
_BrianC: Brooke, how did that first get fleshed out?
_BrianC: I just remembered the "which character in dreams could be represent the players" discussion
brooke: Well, we knew we wanted something in the dreamscape to represent the players
brooke: and it was a nice balance to the cats to have a dog
brooke: and dogs are the guardian of the underworld in many myths
brooke: including egyptian
_BrianC: I think most of all, the story veers off in radical directions from here based upon the choices you've made and are still making, the picking of sides and who to trust will play out in important ways
brooke: not that that metaphor fits perfectly, but it was a nice balance
dante: oh we're not going to learn about 'E.F. Saint Canine' in book 2?
tipsila: lol
brooke: you're not?
_BrianC: LOL
_ScrappyDoo: Saint Bernard
brooke: wait, who told you about that?
biff: lol
* catherwood shoots dante for giving them ideas
DavFlamerock: lol
_BrianC: who' leaked?
sidtheduck: heh
* bunksteve looks down
_BrianC: did the Rockettes tell you that, Dante?
bunksteve: I just spilled my drink
_BrianC: I can give you another example: we didn't expect you to find the MUD.
bunksteve: LOL
_NickoD: OMG
DavFlamerock: is that why it went away so fast?
_BrianC: in fact, it was just a library used to develop the boils
_ScrappyDoo: dude.
_NickoD: The MUD
dante: ahh
WolfHawk: Cool!
_BrianC: Dreamhost squashed the first one :(
_BrianC: eventually
biff: strifey still holds a grudge over that
* _brooke listens for the screams
jjason: eek!
_ScrappyDoo: dreamhost, despite the awesome name, was not dreamy
* sidtheduck screams like a schoolgirl
dante: we had no idea what to make of the MUD
_BrianC: so once you found the ports, we found the need to make it meaningful
* sidtheduck seconds Scrappy's comment
bunksteve: I still have no idea what to make of it.
_BrianC: it was a quick way to build socket handling for the boil, as a start :)
brooke: honestly, i must say, i was really shocked by the mud at first
bunksteve: Reminded me of one of those old text adventure games.
bunksteve: But harder.
brooke: but then saw it as a really nice way to help you guys visualize the dreamscape
biff: so sayeth Exu
_BrianC: and on Kevin's MUD, you missed a brief chance to talk to Choraz
brooke: (obviously, i was constantly looking at the story and what you guys were doing and how it would relate to the dreams)
DavFlamerock: NO!
WolfHawk: dag!
_BrianC: and did anyone spend any time killing off supplicants in the final MUD?
sinyx: Aw man!
bunksteve: Are you kidding me, Brian?!!?
Lovek: soab
bunksteve: ARGHHH!
sidtheduck: WHAT!
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: or did Sapagoo make the time table go too fast for some of you to even see that mud?
_BrianC: nope, not kidding
WolfHawk: It wasn't up long enough, was it?
brooke: heh, brian, i don't think you should have told them that :)
dante: we *barely* saw that mud
missphinx: "talk to Choraz" aka DIE :)
WolfHawk: Oops, sorry
DavFlamerock: no, we saw it for about an hour
_BrianC: I was logged in sitting in that avatar for a bit:)
DavFlamerock: I didn't see it at all
_BrianC: don't worry ... any of you at ARGfest might remember me asking other PMs how often they write stuff only to see it not play out and does that make them sad :)
bunksteve: I couldn't find a large enough stick to poke Choraz with... so I stayed away.
rose: which people were the supplicants?
_BrianC: plus, nothing is wasted ... muwahahahahaha
sidtheduck: I didn't even get to log into the last MUD
Lovek: ditto
_BrianC: like a quick bigfoot sighting :)
bunksteve: cryptic..
Mapmaker: well, foreshadowing is dangerous
bunksteve: Freakylinks reference?
bunksteve: :)
Mapmaker: We should move on though
_BrianC: we'll see some of that again, I think
rose: what would Choraz have said to us? 'the hour is at hand"?
_BrianC: that last MUD that Andrew built could be seen some point in the future, I guess :)
dante: there was also the mud on Art's site
_BrianC: but second that Dreamhost was less than dreamy
Lovek: I just miss our hallway of rooms from the first MUD :)
sinyx: Choraz 2: Electric Boogaloo!
_BrianC: jeeze, Dante, you want a fun story.
_ScrappyDoo: "fun"
_BrianC: "put it on the GMD machine, that's fine, Andy"
_BrianC: famous last words :)
dante: oh?
_BrianC: "Has anyone port scanned Art's site" = "Has anyone port scanned the GMD mail and web machine today?"
biff: *grin*
Lovek: lol... oops
_BrianC: so there were actually quite a few things that ended up had to be locked down from being visible on that IP address on our machine
_BrianC: lest you think indiewire.com was in-game :)
bunksteve: lol
dante: well we did find indiewire :)
bunksteve: I think most of us would overlook that, Brian.
biff: but womanssextoys....hubba
_BrianC: Kevin's machine was in Andrew's house
Mapmaker: ALong those lines, Brian
Mapmaker: From Kona
_BrianC: biff, that one is SO strange
bunksteve: By that time, we were so invested, we could forgive much.
* bunksteve quiets down
_BrianC: :)
Mapmaker: Red circled words????
_BrianC: heh heh
_BrianC: oh, man
_BrianC: okay, mea culpa and explaination
bunksteve: yay
_BrianC: I totally see why some people had the reaction they did
_BrianC: but the intention was for the circles on words to help distinguish that pile away from the pages for the i-ching
_BrianC: rather than it making it look like a second puzzle
WolfHawk: LOL
Six: ha
_BrianC: shouldn't have used red ink the very least
DavFlamerock: so the actual words didn't mean anything?
sidtheduck: heheh
_BrianC: they were significant, mind you
dante: what?
catherwood: mood-setters
_BrianC: yes, meant something -- the specific stories in question are important in the overall storyline here
bunksteve: Maybe you should have used little tags that pointed at the words and said, "Not important."
bunksteve: :)
DavFlamerock: LOL
_BrianC: or circled the whole page, Bunk :)
bunksteve: There you go.
_BrianC: Brooke has explained to me
_BrianC: with lots of hot irons
brooke: :)
_BrianC: and painful stretching
brooke: and love :)
bunksteve: Kinky... I mean... horrible!
_BrianC: that one does not mix logical puzzle elements with lateral puzzle elements
_BrianC: unless the two specifically intertwine :)
dante: and "lateral" is a euphemism for.... obnoxious
_BrianC: so my apologies for the inadvertant red herring
Mapmaker: I maybe forgive you, Brian
_BrianC: we gave you a finger in apology
DavFlamerock: lol
tipsila: hehe
_BrianC: which wasn't in the original script :)
DavFlamerock: cool
* rose rolls her eyes
Mapmaker: ok
sidtheduck: don't worry about it. I've wasted more time than on the red-circled words :P
dante: give them the finger back, sinyx :)
_BrianC: eep!
catherwood: every ARG needs its "October 1st STOL" unpuzzle
bunksteve: I liked how the finger paid off..
sinyx: it'll hurt
_BrianC: TENTRYOUTPOST
Mapmaker: our next question is from Dav, Biff, and Insane together
Mapmaker: hahaha
bunksteve: wow
DavFlamerock: COMBINED QUESTION!!!!
_BrianC: we like to call them our eldritch errors :)
bunksteve: Group mentality.
Insane24Seven: And I didn't even know it :)
Mapmaker: Will Book 2 follow directly from Book 1? For instance, will we need lucky5 installed? How much of a hole will new players be in?
_NickoD: Good question!
_BrianC: we want it to not be much of a hole at all for new players
_NickoD: Next question.
_BrianC: but this is a serial, not a sequal
_NickoD: lol
* Insane24Seven high fives Dav and Biff
_BrianC: so it definitely builds and continues the same story
_BrianC: :)
_BrianC: of course, you don't have as many allies in the Sentries, but you've got a great crew
Addlepated: wait, you mean these circled words aren't a puzzle? what the heck have I been doing for the past 3 months then!?
Insane24Seven: So I gots me lots more reading to do lol
bunksteve: LOL Addle
_BrianC: LOL
bunksteve: Delayed reaction.
DavFlamerock: So we will start Book 2 with Marie gone and us trying to solve that puzzle?
_BrianC: the story of Eldritch is a bit like stacked Russian dolls
sinyx: At least you found out NOW and not in 2 years sorry, I'll be quiet now :)
_BrianC: and there are a few stories going on simultaneously
_BrianC: and each book will try to advance each of those stories
DavFlamerock: oh snap! COOL.
Insane24Seven: Gotcha
Yog_Sothoth: Schweeeeeeet.
bunksteve: Think of a Paul Thomas Anderson movie like "Magnolia" or "Boogie Nights".... only less pretentious.
sinyx: So we've just started to peel the layers of the onion off? Awesome!
Mapmaker: from Noyb, in that line: Do you have any plans about expanding the player base in future chapters?
DavFlamerock: My eyes hurt
_BrianC: absolutely on that
bunksteve: shh, Dav
bunksteve: :)
_BrianC: we wanted this first book to be smaller, to not have to work as hard for mass size audience
_BrianC: and build from there
_BrianC: that's the nice thing of no sponsor with immediate result expectations: you can let the soup simmer.
Sam: so, basically it's for nerds
* bunksteve nods
biff: not work as hard?
dante: we're just simmering soup? hrm.
DavFlamerock: better than boiling. That'd hurt
Mapmaker: ok
_BrianC: Biff, I think there's a predisposition among commercial args
_BrianC: to shove as many people in as quickly as possible
Mapmaker: So next up there's a general question to Brooke, I think
_BrianC: which turns into a "shove them in at the beginning before it becomes too complex"
* Mapmaker lets Brian finish :-)
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: sorry, that's it ... just wanted to clarify on what I meant on that :)
biff: dictated by the "sponsor" I suppose.
biff: proceed
* bunksteve pulls the soap box out from under Brian.
Mapmaker: So the vexing, vexing CraigsList
Mapmaker: A few questions about those
Mapmaker: From Noyb: What was your favorite dream submission?
brooke: wow, i hated that i read that earlier today
brooke: i've done nothing but think of favorite craigslists all day long :)
brooke: If I had to choose one favorite one, it would be the one where somebody sent BA to face Kevin.
brooke: oddly enough...
biff: dead kevin?
biff: (rope burns)
_ScrappyDoo: mine would be when the finger made it back to the dreamscape
_ScrappyDoo: i think that was dante
brooke: just that day brian and i were talking about changing the way we would wrap up some of ba's stuff and the craigslists
brooke: yeah, dead kevin
bunksteve: RIP
tipsila: poor kevin
* bunksteve pours a forty for him
brooke: and what we talked about was having BA walk by the asylum and up towards the mountains and pass kevin
bunksteve: oooh
brooke: until i got that dream, though, i didn't now how it would play out or how she would interact with him
brooke: i really would have loved to explore that more and had her go back to him regularly
Mapmaker: In an extension of that, jjason, ask?
jjason: I was wondering if you had a process for turning our submissions into BA's dreams.
jjason: Like if you looked for certain elements and worked them in different ways, like we tried to work out on the forums
*** catherwood is now known as: cather|logging
brooke: yes, there was a process :)
_BrianC: oy, jjason, it was like a 747 flight manual
dante: 1) take out all the useful nouns
_ScrappyDoo: longest document i've ever seen
brooke: it was fairly open and could be adjusted slightly, but there were specific things that would trigger a greater response
bunksteve: lol
rose: no wonder I couldn't figure it out.
dante: that document would be *great* for Schmeldritch
_BrianC: LOL
jjason: hint hint
DavFlamerock: *hint hint*
brooke: hahaha
_BrianC: there might be more interesting ways to reveal that for you :)
Mapmaker: ok
DavFlamerock: ooh cool
WolfHawk: Probably take up too much server space
Sam: neat
Mapmaker: so a complete change of pace
brooke: it may :)
_BrianC: on the dream theme, can I ask a question?
Mapmaker: oh
Mapmaker: Yes
_BrianC: there's a choice that makes us curious
bunksteve: PM's asking us questions!? Madness!
jjason: Sparta?
_BrianC: which was the Sinyx "force BA to use the finger on the casino" dream
Yog_Sothoth: [obvious sparta joke goes here]
DavFlamerock: Madness...? This! IS! SPa... oh hell
Yog_Sothoth: e; fb
_BrianC: which was very dark and very aggressively phrased
bunksteve: ...
* bunksteve glances over at sinyx
sinyx: Yeah, guess that was :D
_BrianC: there was a bit of frustration simmering there about BA, but how did the idea for that dream arise?
sinyx: We had been playing with the Lucky 5 =casino thing for a bit
Sam: uncomfortable silence...
sinyx: Haha
_BrianC: heh heh
bunksteve: I had a couple of suggestions of what BA could do with the finger... but I kept them to myself.
_BrianC: I guess what I found fascinating was the direct of the dream
_BrianC: what did you imagine would happen if BA did that?
_BrianC: and was what happened essentially that?
_BrianC: like "open sesame"?
Mapmaker: I think we weren't sure what the hell was up with the finger
sinyx: With the lovecraftian elements and the destruction of the overall dreamscape, it was easy too get wrapped up with trying to force anything, something to happen!
Mapmaker: we knew it was superspecial
Mapmaker: but its effects weren't clear to us
_BrianC: Brooke, the casino was a player introduced element as well, right?
brooke: kinda :)
bunksteve: I searched for hours of green statues missing their right index finger.
bunksteve: jerks..
brooke: dante mentioned it on the forums
_BrianC: that's what Brooke answers toe verything :)
rose: well, I think we knew the casino held computers and we knew that the finger was a transformational object, so why not test it on something we knew the answer to.
rose: if that makes sense.
dante: only as a joke.
_BrianC: absolutely :)
brooke: and that was right as we were talking about how to represent (x, y, and z) in the dreamscape
sinyx: And it worked, kind of testing a theory
_BrianC: that was a slightly unexpected choice from our perspective
brooke: and the casino was PERFECT!
rose: if it didn't show the machines as computers, then we would know that the finger did more than we thought it did.
brooke: and then he didn't send it in, so marie did :)
Mapmaker: heehee
_BrianC: and lead to you seeing the Orlando responses
_BrianC: which was something else we built around one of your choices
DavFlamerock: Yeah, what was up with those?
dante: how did it trigger Orlando responses?
sidtheduck: (which we thought were OOG at first ;) )
_BrianC: people who were used to seeing BA didn't see her for a while
_BrianC: which creates the narrative challenge of how you convey that
_BrianC: which meant some characters poked there heads out a book or two earlier than we thought
dante: i think we're still fuzzy on the whole B.A. -- cat -- dreamer relationship
DavFlamerock: oooohhhh COOL!
bunksteve: Oh?
Mapmaker: more foreshadowing
DavFlamerock: EPIC
rose: oh we did figure that out. that she hadn't posted and so they were worried
jjason: I want the character who lives close to me to show up again
brooke: right, because of what happened to her in the garage/storage facility
dante: but they weren't worried when she didnt' post for 10+ days?
Mapmaker: hehehe
_BrianC: didn't mean to derail, it was just my lingering question about the dreams
Mapmaker: well that sways into our next question
brooke: she couldn't very well post that the cats weren't seeing her
rose: no, this was different.
_BrianC: Dante, I don't think they were necessarily missing her on Craigslist
Mapmaker: let's put it this way - what, er, difficulties did you have during this production
_BrianC: the Eldritch Curse?
_BrianC: you mean?
bunksteve: LOL
WolfHawk: heh heh
Mapmaker: That might have led to the Great Lull of June/July
Sam: curse curse!
bunksteve: Cheap huckster psychics!
_BrianC: never have I seen a more consistent strain of bad luck
brooke: yeah, i don't know if it's "eldrtich" or "errors" but i'm never using either name in a game title again!
_BrianC: so in all seriousness
_NickoD: lol
dante: as above so below
_BrianC: it also explains why Jackie wrote so many characters
* biff smacks dante
_ScrappyDoo: heh
rose: her brilliant talent? :)
_BrianC: the first writer we lost because one of his family members was shot at Virginia Teh
bunksteve: aww
Sam: ohh...
DavFlamerock: O.O
sidtheduck: yeesh!
bunksteve: :(
dante: omg
WolfHawk: oh man, I'm sorry to hear that
sinyx: OMG
missphinx: ...
sinyx: So sorry :(
bunksteve: Tell him we all send our best.
_BrianC: the next one had some complications with a pregnancy that required taking bedrest
Sam: a curse indeed
Yog_Sothoth: Damn, we send our best, yeah.
bunksteve: ahhh!
DavFlamerock: wow
_BrianC: let's see, Brooke got hit by a car
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WolfHawk: yikes!
Obtusitivity: UNGH
bunksteve: Aww...
DavFlamerock: O_O
Sam: ouch
_ScrappyDoo: hee
Obtusitivity: base!
* bunksteve pats brooke on the shoulder
jjason: whoa
bunksteve: I can sympathize, brooke
_BrianC: at the begining, I was afraid we had too many writers
Insane24Seven: wow
missphinx: no kidding about the curse!
_BrianC: but they dropped like Sentries!
Obtusitivity:
brooke: (in the midst of writing craigslists, i might add - there was a 4-6 hour lull one series, that'd be why)
sinyx: Are you kidding?!? Are you all better?
Obtusitivity: I just sped 70 miles for you bastards.
Sam: Brian is typing with one hand?
_BrianC: Obtus!
sidtheduck: were you MasterCheesed, brooke? :P
_BrianC: :)
DavFlamerock: Welcome Obtus
sidtheduck: Obs!
WolfHawk: wb obs
_BrianC: and we got a call from Homeland Security
sinyx: Hey Obs
dante: tusi
jjason: We didn't even have to use the inane questions we had planned
WolfHawk: you DID?
_BrianC: that apparantly, oh, I don't know, tracks Craigslists that use Arabic phrases unexpectedly in them
DavFlamerock: That was one of our Qs!
bunksteve: What for, Brian?
bunksteve: LOL
WolfHawk: Wow!
Yog_Sothoth: o-o bahahaha
_BrianC: I'm sure they just added another "mostly harmless" to our files :)
WolfHawk: whew
bunksteve: "And what exactly is this... Cat... catchooloo? Is that like a hippie oil or something?"
Six: wow
sinyx: Maybe they're playing along now
Lovek: hehe, how man of THOSE do you get before you're not "mostly harmless" anymore
_BrianC: so that combination of stuff, among other production typical hiccups, certainly played havoc with our pacing
_BrianC: and we all felt that :(
bunksteve: But live and learn, right Brian?
bunksteve: :)
Yog_Sothoth: Oh God, someone from homeland security playing tha arg with us. Scary.
_BrianC: Great mount, a little sloppy on the horse, but nailed the dismount? Accurate description?
WolfHawk: s'ok, we stuck it out
Mapmaker: ok
Mapmaker: so a shift of pace
*** Signoff: Redbluefire (Connection reset by peer)
Mapmaker: everyone's favorite topic
Mapmaker: money
_BrianC: for moi?
Sam: Money!
bunksteve: I'll take some
* bunksteve holds his hand out
Insane24Seven: I love monkeys
Insane24Seven: oh
Insane24Seven: nevermind
Mapmaker: how has the self-sustaining part of this played out?
DavFlamerock: Is that my que?
Mapmaker: this comes from a number of people
_BrianC: heh heh
_BrianC: that part plays out later Map
Sam: Does money bring happiness? I think that was the question
_BrianC: seriously, there was never intended to be any revenue for the first book
Mapmaker: wanna drop any teasers, Brian?
bunksteve: You aren't going to have psychic hawk candles to us to keep the game going, are you?
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: we might begin to see some trickle in around Book 3
Lovek: BA knocking on our doors, asking for change?
DavFlamerock: LOL
_BrianC: I imagine the 1 year anniversary of launch will see a big announcement
_BrianC: and then some of the self-sustaining stuff will make more sense
DavFlamerock: oooohhhh cool
jjason: "we've been collecting your credit card numbers"
Sam: interesting
jjason: :)
WolfHawk: sounds intriguing
DavFlamerock: You'll get a cool thing in the mail from me in a few days
_BrianC: and then if the plans work out the way our evil brains concoct them
bunksteve: "Get your 'Cthulhu Killed My Internet Buddy' t-shirts right here!"
DavFlamerock: ROFL
_BrianC: there would be a bigger announcement than that at the end of next year
Mapmaker: more foreshadowing!
_BrianC: meanwhile, as indies, we're able to spend budget only where it most matters
tipsila: curioser and curiouser
_NickoD: Beer
Sam: hehehe
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: yup Eldritch Beer
WolfHawk: lol
Six: ha
sinyx: and nachos
Sam: I love Beer
_BrianC: ARG launched micro-brew
_BrianC: chaotic brewing
biff: head for the mountains...
sinyx: BA loves those
bunksteve: "So good... it'll suck out your soul!"
brooke: dude, i don't know that i'd be drinking eldritch beer
biff: oh...it's been used
Mapmaker: so
Lovek: yeah... more like coffee
_BrianC: the fishy tang is intended
bunksteve: lol
Mapmaker: to another end
bunksteve: eww
Yog_Sothoth: "Someone I love was one of the 1d6 investigators" merch. YES
Mapmaker: a few questions
Mapmaker: dante, ask?
dante: well was the handoff from the Elders to the NKOTB planned.. paving the way for Book 2?
_BrianC: yup
_BrianC: but to be honest
_BrianC: all of our plans
_BrianC: had at least two solutions
_BrianC: #1: they keep the Outpost
_BrianC: #2: they dump the outpost
DavFlamerock: lol
sidtheduck: wow, broad terms!
_BrianC: we didn't make an assumption on where the community would choose to play the most
WolfHawk: (NKOTB?)
sidtheduck: :D
_BrianC: we wanted that to come more naturally
_ScrappyDoo: (new kids on the block)
biff: new kids...
dante: well we can stiill dump it ;)
Lovek: (thanks Sid, for NKOTB)
WolfHawk: ah thanks
Obtusitivity: well you guys set it up really well.
sidtheduck: np!
_BrianC: it is yours now
_BrianC: paid up
_BrianC: will always be paid up
Obtusitivity: the gradual shift of ownership was rad.
* Insane24Seven refuses to acknowledge that he knows that abbreviation
biff: womanssextoys still available?
tipsila: hehe
_BrianC: Biff, that one seriously freaked me out
WolfHawk: neat!
sinyx: 10% discount
sidtheduck: dunno, where's sapagoo?
_BrianC: we've had that IP address for 8 years
* biff sets up a SO store
_BrianC: and someone has misconfigured their DNS for that long :)
biff: wow
WolfHawk: woh
Sam: creepy
Mapmaker: ok
sidtheduck: heheh
Lovek: funny
_BrianC: Curse
Mapmaker: moving on to a particular bit of choas
Mapmaker: chaos
bunksteve: They sell Hello Kitty sex toys... why not Lovecraft ones?
Mapmaker: Lucky5
_BrianC: rule 34
Mapmaker: When is the mac version coming out!!
biff: ducthulu
Mapmaker: but also
Lovek: ew... what's the cthulu sex toy? Never mind
DavFlamerock: LOL
_BrianC: ask Sid, Map.
_BrianC: :)
bunksteve: sid! Make a Mac one!
bunksteve: Right now!
Sam: Is it coming for the Wii?
_BrianC: LOL
Mapmaker: *sidtheduck* 1. Were we meant to find Lucky5 and just didn't ('cause we're retards?) and had to wait for StuR
Mapmaker: *sidtheduck* and 2. were we meant to deconstruct is as much as we did or were we supposed to acutally "use" the Lucky5 malware program to locate the next IPs.
sidtheduck: heheh, PHP is multi-OS friendly ;)
Mapmaker: that's the dirty way of asking it :-)
_ScrappyDoo: heh
_ScrappyDoo: no, you were not retards
*** Signoff: Insane24Seven (Quit: )
bunksteve: Speak for yourself..
_BrianC: We intended to have Stu find it for you, in part to point out how malware gets around
sidtheduck: yay! not retards!
* bunksteve grins stupidly.
_BrianC: so you didn't miss anything on that regard :)
_BrianC: and we did hope you'd deconstruct it
dante: well after BA mentioned lucky about 52 times
Lovek: there's a T-shirt "Sentry Outpost: We're NOT retards"
_BrianC: it was part of why we gave you the ports before the malware
_BrianC: there is a real story
_BrianC: that this is sort of based on
_BrianC: where Wayne Porter found a piece of malware
_BrianC: making money by installing bounty-paying software on machines
_BrianC: and traced the flow of data and money
_BrianC: to a terrorist cell in Beriut
bunksteve: !
sinyx: wow
Sam: sounds like 24
bunksteve: lol
DavFlamerock: oh snap
_BrianC: and passed it all off to national security because he was scared he had poked too far
bunksteve: Wayne Porter is... Jack Bauer.
Sam: hahaha
_BrianC: so Lucky 5 was meant to, in part, be a recreation of that ... of finding something horrible
bunksteve: Or at least Chloe.
dante: yea that EULA was horrible all right
_BrianC: LOL
Obtusitivity: yeah, thanks for that.
brooke: that eula was beautiful
_BrianC: it was inspired by a specific EULA
Obtusitivity: "where's the milestone doc, alex?"
sinyx: who wrote that? haha
_BrianC: from a piece of malware that was very controversial
Obtusitivity: "ummm... working on it now..."
_BrianC: that had terms in it, for example, saying you couldn't install the software if you were a law enforcement official
WolfHawk: lol
Mapmaker: do you feel like elaborating on what Lucky5 was supposed to do?
_BrianC: what malware busters do is very similar to waht ARGers do
_BrianC: oh, well
_BrianC: hmm
_BrianC: looks like a botnet of some sort doesn't it?
Mapmaker: and I think to a similar end
_BrianC: I imagine you'll face it again
Mapmaker: from biff: should we assume that magic exists in the EE world or look for a contemporary nemesis?
_BrianC: keep those Lucky 5s in your traybars, folks!
_BrianC: yes
_BrianC: next question?
WolfHawk: Hm, guess I'd better load it.
_BrianC: *grin*
Sam: haha
jjason: heh
_BrianC: both are true in this universe
tipsila: why does it encounter a problem and need to close on reboots?
_BrianC: but remember from Lovecraft
_BrianC: the old ones aren't gods, just aliens
_BrianC: and magic is just technology
bunksteve: and fire bad.
_BrianC: the two are always essentially interchangeable
* bunksteve cowers
DavFlamerock: ugly aliens
Six: ugly world ending aliens
Mapmaker: Kona writes, "What did the players do that surprised you the most?"
_BrianC: Tipsila: it is one of three things I wish I could fix with Lucky 5.
Sam: ugly god-like aliens
_BrianC: or that Don does
_BrianC: when you folks chugged through it so quick
_NickoD: At least our aliens are not allergic to water...*grumbles*
_BrianC: he sent me a recompiled version the next day with the note, "Give them this one instead it will be tougher"
bunksteve: LOL
_BrianC: at that point, he was still grappling with exactly what this ARG thing was :)
sidtheduck: heh
tipsila: thanks
_BrianC: he's used to killing old versions and releasing new ones! :)
_BrianC: Lucky 5.1
Mapmaker: haha
DavFlamerock: lol
sidtheduck: hahahaha
Sam: coming to Mac!
tipsila: so I should download a newer version
_BrianC: iLucky
Sam: hahaha
Mapmaker: was there anything else we did that surprised you?
bunksteve: Please and thank yu.
DavFlamerock: ROFL
bunksteve: you
_BrianC: every day was a surprise, Map
brooke: hmmm, there were a bunch of surprises
_BrianC: in a good way, I mean
bunksteve: and a gift, right?
bunksteve: :)
Sam: sneaking into GMD offices perhaps?
bunksteve: LOL
DavFlamerock: that'd surprise them :p
brooke: i think the biggest one, for me, was having BA abducted
_BrianC: We had Obtusivity tagged with an RF transmitter at the airport
_BrianC: he didn't even notice
Mapmaker: hahaha
Obtusitivity: heh
brooke: i totally did not see that coming
sinyx: Sorry
brooke: oh! i loved it :)
_BrianC: we liked the choice, sinyx
_BrianC: we could have ignored it if we didn't
Obtusitivity: yeah, you guys must've loved hanging out in Dr. Phillips hospital at 3:00am
dante: sinyx is my hero
sinyx: I couldn't think of an easier way to get her into the garage!
Obtusitivity: watching me cry at the nurse about my leg.
Mapmaker: ok, was there anything in particular that we did that made you laugh?
_BrianC: well, first off ... props to the return of foily
Mapmaker: (the tin-hatted emoticon on the boards)
DavFlamerock: I'll be AFK for a while - dinner calls.
tipsila: foily forever
sidtheduck: s00t!
_BrianC: first time Howard logged in to whine about Marie's death, I saw that foily and had to log off.
sidtheduck: or w00t!
_BrianC: couldn't be faux sad after seeing foily and squinty foily
sidtheduck: thanks to Biff for squinty foily!
_BrianC: and you folks would make a good white hat hacker army
tipsila: yeah, he posted in the spam thread
_BrianC: and I kept pushing Brooke to get CLs flagged, but you folks could get anything flagged you wanted!
brooke: heh
_BrianC: the CLs went all pear shaped there at the end with real people trying to figure out what was going on
brooke: i got 3 or 4 flagged :)
bunksteve: We are teh collective smart.
_NickoD: I definately second Brian's comment...it was awesome to see once again the diversity of people and their unique talents.
Sam: we are like CTU
_BrianC: thank god we had Nicko and Wayne
_BrianC: to give our geeky some mustard
_BrianC: the spicy kind
Mapmaker: so another question
Mapmaker: ok, Rose's question: how did they deal with the way we misinterpreted what they gave us?
cather|logging: someday i'll wield my mad macrame skilz
brooke: cried, repeatedly ;)
bunksteve: I can tie my shoes... that's my talent.
_BrianC: on the CLs?
dante: we never misinterpreted!
_ScrappyDoo: there was a lot of whining ;D
rose: no kidding.
_BrianC: some ambiguity was certainly intended, though
_ScrappyDoo: sometimes, tunafish is just tunafish. not a lovecraft metaphore
rose: but it is an interesting question, I think we got off-track a good deal of the time
_ScrappyDoo: -e
* sidtheduck tried not to whine too much and just make fancy web tools
rose: and getting back on wasn't simple.
* jjason tried not to whine too much and just make groundless speculations
_BrianC: Rose, I think that was one of the challenges of trying a Lovecraftian storyline
brooke: i think you guys thought you were off track more than you really were or are
_ScrappyDoo: i whined a lot :P i wasn't referring to you guys
_BrianC: where you want all the pieces to kind of make sense only after it is too late to save yourself :)
WolfHawk: I was just plain confused! lol
rose: dude, I still don't know what happened.
dante: LOL
rose: or what the stuff in the dreamscape meant
brooke: you have a much greater understanding for a lot of this stuff than you think you do because, like brian says, a lot of stuff clicks when it's too late
sinyx: that actually sounds pretty lovecraftian LOL
rose: the fountain, the wall, the coffee shop. :)
_BrianC: you say that, Rose, but I saw your posts at YS.com
rose: asking for help?
_BrianC: and then breaking it all down for them
_BrianC: like pointing out that the encrypted Lucky 5 bits were like being the gate and the key to the gate
rose: I don't know what BA was doing exactly, and I don't know why she picked certain cities.
rose: oh well brian - that was brilliant.
bunksteve: Pissing us off, rose.
bunksteve: Pissing us all off..
rose: that made me really happy .:)
_BrianC: sounds like good leads for the Sentry to pursue, Rose.
* dante throws tomatoes
_NickoD: Do not disregard the knowledge you all gained.
_BrianC: :)
biff: so then one-shot CLs are dead nodes? ;)
*** cather|logging is now known as: catherwood
Mapmaker: ok, so cather's up neeeeeext
rose: I don't have knowledge I have a bunch of random facts...
_BrianC: Rose, I think some of your questions are about motivation
_BrianC: which is certainly still murky and mysterious, especially for BA from the Sentry's perspective
catherwood: hi, team, i snuck out for dinner, but i was wondering about the LARP communities, whether you got any nibbles, or were disappointment so few seemed to join in?
dante: uh-huh
_BrianC: but much of the dreams are in fact about what you're doing in the physical world
_BrianC: so those things progress together, in a way
brooke: and, thinking of motivation, this might help you guys with the craiglists (i dunno, this might also be a BA-esque answer)
rose: well, I got that much figured out. :)
_BrianC: I think that is part of what we were trying to communicate with the dog
_NickoD: Little known fact: I actually do LARP
_BrianC: :)
brooke: try to put yourselves in BAs shoes. you know a bit about her
_NickoD: so I was at GenCon pimping the game
bunksteve: Dude... admitting that in an ARG chat is like admitting to doing Broadway musicals in gym class!
Obtusitivity: yeah dude.
Obtusitivity: lightning bolt.
Obtusitivity: lightning bolt.
* Obtusitivity shakes his head
catherwood: it just seemed from the Yahoo! list that they were all busy at live events this time of year
_NickoD: shh...I got boots of escaping
_BrianC: I love that video :)
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: Cath, I think the two main packages we sent to LARPers
_BrianC: were in part as a tip of the hat
_BrianC: because we realized that, from their perspective, it could look like we're getting up in their house :)
catherwood: nice, public relations there
bunksteve: "Fuck the elves. Come play with some REAL monsters!"
_BrianC: I think some of their stuff is really cool though
_BrianC: I'm a sucker of a nice prop :)
bunksteve: As seen by the altar.
Obtusitivity: no matter how much i buy into the fiction, the day i fall under "larper" i'm going to pull a kevin.
bunksteve: :)
catherwood: i tried to tempt them back with photos of the storage room, but only the one guy came back
Mapmaker: so back to BA
Mapmaker: How many calls did BA get in a week? Any from people thinking she was real and not part of EE? Did they ever get any interesting 'non gamer' responses to the craigslists?
_ScrappyDoo: BA was constantly solicited for evening activities
bunksteve: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
WolfHawk: LOL
Yog_Sothoth: *snrk*
sinyx: HAHAHAHA
Obtusitivity: yeah, sorry about that.
bunksteve: That's what you get for putting her under "Erotic Services"
_ScrappyDoo: heh :D
bunksteve: lol, Obs
_NickoD: Hence the finger.
_NickoD: Nahhhh! :)
dante: now *that* would be something else to compile for Schmeldritch :)
Yog_Sothoth: *rimshot*
bunksteve: "This catty psychic is just dying to give you 'the finger'. Mrowr!"
missphinx: I was just going to say that dante. laff riot
Obtusitivity: wait, bseeingu? i was looking for b
****ing you..
Obtusitivity: my bad
_BrianC: youch!
_ScrappyDoo: heh
_BrianC: lol
brooke: it varied by week
_ScrappyDoo: there were a lot of other interesting things
brooke: but there were hundreds of calls
_BrianC: Jim in our office has been working on a little audio montage of calls :)
_BrianC: we should post that this week
bunksteve: oh no..
WolfHawk: hundreds???!!!
bunksteve: lol
dante: oh noes
brooke: i know i have 500 or so in itunes
biff: yay!
Mapmaker: Were you impressed by the number of calls? The number of overseas calls?
_BrianC: you can't dance to it, but I give it a 7.5
Obtusitivity: will those include the marie voicemails? :)
brooke: and i didn't save all of them
jjason: ooo
sinyx: The poor soul who had to wade through them all...
brooke: oooo the overseas calls
brooke: i love accents :)
bunksteve: LOL
_ScrappyDoo: oh yeah. who was accent man?
biff: russian bride scams?
_ScrappyDoo: i've still got him in itunes
brooke: i could (and did) listen to james stones dreams a bunch
biff: nicko
_NickoD: hehehe
_NickoD: I am the token ARGNet accent dude
*** Balazar has joined: #stfeline
bunksteve: Just wait until you hear my cockney accent, Nicko.
brooke: and she got loads of great emails from random craigslisters
bunksteve: Yer' gonna lose yer shite, mate!
brooke: the one dream that sounded like a suicide note got a lot of interesting replies
Sam: haah
_NickoD: nice
brooke: she got poems and songs
WolfHawk: It would be nice to see some of thouse, too.
bunksteve: Shitty emo poetry?
brooke: some prose, some of it about as good as hers
bunksteve: lol
dante: ha
Mapmaker: ok, so a procedural question
_BrianC: I often wonder who reads those sections
_BrianC: of Craigslist
Mapmaker: from Sam
Obtusitivity: bored video game testers
_BrianC: kind of sad and lonely sometimes
Mapmaker: "How long were you developing the game before launch? How far ahead is the story arc planned?"
_ScrappyDoo: i'm still getting responses from melon day
bunksteve: You don't want to know, Brian.
Obtusitivity: i can vouch.
sinyx: BA must have hundreds of emo fanboys by now
brooke: ha! melon day!
_BrianC: well, we just re-registered the domain names
bunksteve: wow
brooke: if you guys go to the orlando missed connections, you'll see two posts about melons about 10 minutes apart
_BrianC: so we were well in production planning before ARGfest
_BrianC: I even handed out a few BA coins there
_BrianC: like it was my schwag for Cruel 2 B Kind
Sam: ohh, neat
_BrianC: but, that's also where we picked up Nicko :)
brooke: i had posted to CL HOURS before that and it didn't show up, so i had jackie and brian test it for me and suggest "i dunno, something about melons in a grocery store"
_BrianC: so the full team was still fleshing out around the beginning of the year
_NickoD: Yup. :)
brooke: that's when i learned ba was banned from craigslist :(
rose: can we make that a lifetime ban?
_BrianC: and we've got about 2 years of plotline roughed out
_NickoD: Brian hands me a coin with a cat and goes "I'll explain later".
_BrianC: that doesn't fully mine everything
* dante hifives rose
* sidtheduck reconfigures the Dreamcatcher for "melons"
DavFlamerock: back
_BrianC: yeah, don't expect CLs that heavily ever again
_BrianC: but I did love the ephemeral nature of it
_BrianC: that they would disappear
_BrianC: at different rates even
Mapmaker: so was the 2 year statement a hopeful minimum?
WolfHawk: They certainly made for interesting reading.
catherwood: i enjoyed posting the CLs to our OOG wiki -- for like the first 8 weeks of them :/
_BrianC: hey, if we make this work, we can keep doing Eldritch until Cthulhu returns
_BrianC: :)
WolfHawk: Awesome!
Mapmaker: ok, so from Noyb: Any puzzles/clues that we just completely ignored that you *can* tell us about now?
biff: oog wiki was blocked at my work, thank G for the SO wiki
DavFlamerock: OH SNAP
_BrianC: none that I can think of, Map
_BrianC: except some aspects of the MUD
_BrianC: but nothing criticial certainly
WolfHawk: That's because they kept disappearing on us!!
_BrianC: I know :(
Mapmaker: An adaptation from Dav: will we be seen puzzle-heavy parts in the future? More code everywhere?
_BrianC: never vetted the servers for them!
_BrianC: so question for all of you
_BrianC: what parts did you enjoy the most?
WolfHawk: It would be cool to have a permanent one - *missing my cave*
catherwood: was that "more code" or "morse code"? ;)
DavFlamerock: Not the Lucky5/boil/coding thing
Obtusitivity: can i get my joe montana and jerry rice fatheads back from kevin's mud please?
_BrianC: there will be some tighter game rhythms in future episodes
DavFlamerock: It's over my head
bunksteve: That's about 90% of the game for me, Dav.
WolfHawk: flirting
catherwood: ooo ooo, i remember the first day my monitor spewed yoggie prayer at me -- i wasn't expecting it, so it was really creepy and *personal*
* biff enjoyed the plot spec interaction
bunksteve: I like the character interactions the best..
sidtheduck: that was a good day in chat tho! Talking with Map and j5
DavFlamerock: LOL
bunksteve: always my favorite part of ARG's.
DavFlamerock: well, no one gets everything
_BrianC: so yeah, I'm not sure "puzzle heavy" is the right phrase, but some of that general direction
bunksteve: And thanks for the "toilet boil" thing, Brian!
jjason: I really liked reading the craigslists
catherwood: better than a phone call, for me
jjason: even if I didn't understand them
Sam: I enjoyed the part were you discover Jeanine Salla
bunksteve: It always makes me feel really good about myself to have my giant ass be the topic of discussion.
bunksteve: Fuck Art.
sinyx: Character stuff, I actually liked trying to figure out the crazy dream/CL symbolism
_NickoD: hahaha
WolfHawk: jk - Definitely the character interaction.
_BrianC: :)
bunksteve: I'm not still bitter about that, btw.
dante: i would have liked the character interaction more except that (IMO) several of the characters were unlikeable
_BrianC: we're enjoying it with you, seriously, however grumpy or nounless the character might be from moment to moment
Obtusitivity: The community is my favorite part, definately. it's a credit to you guys that you managed to knit us all together the way you have.
missphinx: I was/am rather fond of Exu, bless his tea-stained heart
WolfHawk: unlikeable = tension
WolfHawk: from a story pov
jjason: I also liked Exu a whole lot!
sinyx: i thought that made them realistic, not everyone's a nice guy
bunksteve: I thought Exu was a creep.
Sam: group hug!
Obtusitivity: im going to miss stu.
sinyx: I hope Exu comes around again too!
bunksteve: I got some bad ju-ju off of him.
bunksteve: Stu.....
* bunksteve boils
biff: *cough*ya'zabuuna*cough*
WolfHawk: (wants my girls back >:o\
DavFlamerock: Yeah, the Character Interaction was the best. I liked Jen and Exu and Marie probably the best
dante: art in particular... grrrr
_BrianC: biff :)
sidtheduck: yes . . . thank god for Biff!
Mapmaker: Which character was the most fun to write?
biff: you have to understand where art is coming from
_BrianC: Dante, you'll get your revenge, I imagine.
_NickoD: Mine.
_BrianC: :)
_NickoD: :p
sidtheduck: heh
missphinx: I hope we can resuscitate Bryce
catherwood: i miss photos, though, Tucker always had a few photos to show us during WiBS
_BrianC: I got the creepies whenever I sent Chorazos documents for editing.
* missphinx nods at Nicko
bunksteve: I enjoyed writing the part of "bunksteve". Oh sure he came off as a dumbass but... oh... wait... nevermind.
sinyx: haha
_BrianC: Cath, that's something you're going to see more of
_BrianC: the characters
sidtheduck: yay! More Photoshop!
dante: well thanks to EE I know now how to conjugate verbs in Arabic
biff: ducky!
bunksteve: lol
catherwood: sure, what's left of them ;)
Yog_Sothoth: I loved the character interaction too, very much so, just wish I could have gotten more of it, even if it was being told to close my cakehole. [/semilate]
_NickoD: Nothing is impossible
brooke: would you all kill me if i sad ba was my favorite to write?
missphinx: :)
_BrianC: ask Exu to bring back a zombie Marie
bunksteve: No we won't, Brooke.
Yog_Sothoth: No way, brooke, ba was cool.
missphinx: oh I can only PRAY that he will
bunksteve: We can't reach you through the computer.
biff: most creative outlet brooke
catherwood: brooke can write BA in her sleep [/bad pun]
WolfHawk: nope - I liked BAs dreaminess
rose: I like Exu :)
dante: BA was certainly the most...... wordy :)
biff: I for one did not hate BA at all
brooke: it was an amazingly fun challenge every CL
rose: sorry guys I have to leave...bye :)
biff: bye rise
bunksteve: bye rose
jjason: bye
WolfHawk: bye rose
biff: rose too
_BrianC: sleep well Rose
Sam: Bye Rose
dante: bye rose!
_ScrappyDoo: seeya rose
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brooke: i'd get X dreams and have to find ways to work them in
brooke: g'night rose :)
*** Signoff: rose (Quit: )
sidtheduck: I didn't get BA, but I didn't hate her
Yog_Sothoth: night roDAMN
missphinx: BA grew on you.
Mapmaker: so
sinyx: I feel bad for BA, she's cool.
missphinx: on tenterhooks at the end waiting to find out if she'd tell us what happened
Yog_Sothoth: Ja.
Mapmaker: From cissimace
dante: i do not in any way feel bad for BA
catherwood: for logging purposes, can i ask when the official chat will end?
WolfHawk: I thought it was interesting that you potrayed my blind dreamer with bloodied eyes.
bunksteve: shhh, everybody.
Sam: When we say CHEESE
bunksteve: new question time. :)
_BrianC: we can stop being useful now, Cath :)
Mapmaker: hehe
Mapmaker: well
Mapmaker: there are actually almost no questions left
Obtusitivity: thanks for watching my kids btw.
bunksteve: ahh.
_BrianC: woot!
Mapmaker: sort of related questions
* biff is still waiting for the cat clarification
_BrianC: cat clarification?
brooke: dude! i loved that you sent your kids in every week
Mapmaker: Have they experianced any weird experiences during their day to day life, linked with the game? (For example, I seem to remember someone mentioning al lot of cats suddenly appearing, and personally whenever I see a cat now, I start to wonder xD )
Sam: I have a question
brooke: but i was sort of troubled by that, too
bunksteve: I have a question.
Obtusitivity: heh
brooke: i mean why would you want your kids to be there?
Sam: Steve has a question
DavFlamerock: I have a finale
Obtusitivity: then i win. :)
biff: yes, what's up with those cats?
Obtusitivity: because they immediately pull at the heart strings. :) they're cure.
catherwood: i'm still waiting for my cricket invasion
Obtusitivity: er- cute.
bunksteve: We'll wait, Sam.
bunksteve: Take our turns.
bunksteve: :)
WolfHawk: * confused - kids??
* jjason is also confused
Mapmaker: oooh!
biff: obt dreamed of his kids
* bunksteve is always confused.
_ScrappyDoo: i discovered i share a birthday with lovecraft - I deemed myself safe from all eldritchy errors at that point
_BrianC: what?!?!
brooke: obs had a theme going on with the dreams he sent in - he was always looking for his kids
_BrianC: that's why the curse skipped you!
* _ScrappyDoo bows
sinyx: You sent your kids to the dreamland?
Obtusitivity: sorry, yeah. well. they're MY kids.
biff: she passed on the tape
Obtusitivity: i brought 'em in, and i can take 'em out.
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: LOL
WolfHawk: Oh yeah - I remember (was picturing Obs kids visiting GMD offices)
* Obtusitivity distracted by niners game
bunksteve: With your wife's permission.
Mapmaker: OK, so I think Brian will like this question
dante: the man on the corner. Obtusi's kids behind the fence.
* biff dreams obt kids to a foster home
Mapmaker: and I think this is the last Official Question
Sam: I love official questions
Mapmaker: well, there are two
_ScrappyDoo: maybe three
Mapmaker: Penultimate: Why give Art an AIM if he was never on :-P
_BrianC: they are spreading :)
_ScrappyDoo: DUDE
bunksteve: seven or eight, tops
_BrianC: nice!
_ScrappyDoo: that was another headthumper
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: I inherited Art from Steve Grant, who left because of his father getting shot
dante: but Art was on.. i saw him!
biff: art was initially a spammer, they made him IG
bunksteve: aww
_BrianC: didn't notice he had tucked that into a profile screen
_BrianC: and that IM address was already registered!
_ScrappyDoo: whoopsies!
catherwood: oops!
missphinx: well maybe he will use it...some day
dante: heh
Sam: he was on from 5 PM to 5:02 PM
DavFlamerock: *hint hint*
* bunksteve gives the PM's the big ole' winky eye of hinty-hint
_BrianC: I tried to get it :)
_BrianC: in order to lay out the Art/Jen conflict
brooke: heh, that was a fun morning
_BrianC: had to settle for mere substitutes
_ScrappyDoo: and then Jen came in with a magical new AIM name for Art
brooke: "what do you mean it's already registered?!"
_BrianC: :)
_ScrappyDoo: "shhh! no one will notice!"
_BrianC: "which one of you did this to me?!?!"
sidtheduck: lookit there
bunksteve: lol
Sam: internal conflicts...
_ScrappyDoo: I've got lab timers going off every five minutes
* sidtheduck points and switches his AIM
dante: so was jen's dirty little secret really just that she was in debt? how boring.
dante: we had her swinging from stripper poles.
_ScrappyDoo: heh!
bunksteve: Stupid college loans did her in.
brooke: is that her dirty little secret ;)
WolfHawk: LOL
_ScrappyDoo: i think there's more there
_BrianC: *whistles innocently*
Mapmaker: the last official question, after pornoJen
_BrianC: :)
bunksteve: LOL
DavFlamerock: no way is she coming back...???
Obtusitivity: i liked the nudist named jen in WA state that i emailed.
_ScrappyDoo: no, it's not *just debt*
sinyx: Nice!
WolfHawk: cool!
_ScrappyDoo: and the info is there already
_ScrappyDoo: with a couple small leaps
sinyx: debt paid off by stripping?
Sam: is this chat in-game?
* _ScrappyDoo shakes fist at brian
Mapmaker: no, sam
WolfHawk: maybe we picked up on it some
_ScrappyDoo: it was just a throw-away comment in AIM one day
_BrianC: LOL
dante: yea one small leap for a PM... 15 giant leaps for an ignorant player
bunksteve: Sounds like a Lifetime Made-for-TV movie.
catherwood: told in flashbacks, with those woowoowoo hand motions
bunksteve: No, Sam. It isn't.
_BrianC: spinoff arg: pornoJEN
_ScrappyDoo: "ha ha yeah, jen's an S&M fan yarharhar"
Sam: I know, I was kiddin
bunksteve: LOL
_ScrappyDoo: next thing i know "DIRTY LITTLE SECRET"
DavFlamerock: what was the next Q?
_ScrappyDoo:
Mapmaker: so the last Official Question is this: so far we've had some different media: photos and text, primarily; and two events, which ended up being one person each. What might we expect in the future in both media and events?
Sam: official Q!
_ScrappyDoo: orgies.
catherwood: "that would be telling"
bunksteve: SWEET!
_ScrappyDoo: oo oo and potluck dinners
DavFlamerock: O_O
_BrianC: well, I can answer in general
bunksteve: SWEETER!
WolfHawk: more mudwrestling!
dante: scones
_BrianC: of some of the things that get talked about
DavFlamerock: 0.0
biff: potgut orgies?
_ScrappyDoo: scones.
Mapmaker: go ahead, Brian :-P
_BrianC: we want you to meet some of the characters in person
bunksteve: I want to meet them too..
bunksteve: :)
DavFlamerock: TIGHT
_BrianC: in some of the places relevant to the story
WolfHawk: cool cool cool!!!!!
Yog_Sothoth: Ditto~
bunksteve: So I can kick Art in the nuts.
dante: trip to Lima!
DavFlamerock: I wanted to meet Marie in SF, but she vanished... :(
Mapmaker: ooh
Mapmaker: any spelunkers here?
Obtusitivity: "so this is ry'leh, it's nice...colder than i'd thought.."
missphinx: Harrisonburg, bseeingu!
_BrianC: and give you chances to choose sides among the shadowy parties
* _ScrappyDoo makes note to get Art protective gear
sinyx: Woohoo!
* jjason crosses his fingers for the guy from Minneapolis
bunksteve: lol, Scrappy.
_BrianC: which will help drive the later parts of the story
Yog_Sothoth: "Love the noneuclidian geometry. Very Martha Stewart."
DavFlamerock: wait, we get to pick sides? TIGHT
dante: 'shadowy parties' hrm
WolfHawk: Very awesome!
sinyx: Do we all pick the same side or split up?
bunksteve: Come to the dark side, Dav. We have a jacuzzi and frogurt bar.
* missphinx likes dancing in the dark
Obtusitivity: i call skins
DavFlamerock: YES
Yog_Sothoth: Oho, potential! Two sides, and then the third group of people who won't side with either! ~
bunksteve: I veto Obs call... just so he'll keep his shirt on.
Mapmaker: so
DavFlamerock: I'm joining Chorazos personally... jk
Mapmaker: before we really open the floor
_BrianC: things aren't ever as simple as white hat black hat are they?
DavFlamerock: Chor for teh win!
sinyx: Who has the better health plan?
DavFlamerock: lol
Mapmaker: I want to ask the PMs if they have any questions
jjason: I never liked local reality anyway
_BrianC: ROTFL
WolfHawk: continuous shades of gray
Yog_Sothoth: Nope. There's never only two sides. Such is life~
Mapmaker: so PMs: Any questions?
_BrianC: Jjason -- that's the t-shirt :)
jjason: sweet
_BrianC: Eldritch Errors: I never liked local reality anyway.
Sam: hahaha
Sam: cool
_BrianC: I think we snuck in our main questions :)
Sam: I have one...
_BrianC: I guess the question I'm surprised you didn't ask
_BrianC: was how long an interlude was
Mapmaker: haha
DavFlamerock: lol, we shouldn't know!
_BrianC: I had practiced my "not long" answer :)
WolfHawk: good point
jjason: September 16th?
Yog_Sothoth: ...I didn't even think to ask that *facepalm.jpg*
bunksteve: I thought about asking that... but figured we wouldn't get an answer.
Mapmaker: well, if you have it practiced
DavFlamerock: September 25th!
_BrianC: to be practical
Mapmaker: go ahead
Obtusitivity: shorter than may is all i ask.
_BrianC: we want to give 9/11 time to get past and out of people's lives
_BrianC: it is a difficult time when people get sensitive
DavFlamerock: I have a finale questione
_BrianC: especially New Yorkers I know :)
DavFlamerock: question
brooke: i'm thinking we should hold out a yar brian, what do you think?
brooke: year, even
Mapmaker: ok, first Sam then Dav
bunksteve: Everybody! Attack Brooke!
brooke: maybe come back next summer?
jjason: the time of the break was also good for everybody who's returning to college
_BrianC: yeah, a year ain't long :)
Sam: that means vacations?
sinyx: True, thanks for that
WolfHawk: better not!
bunksteve: She's spreading misinformation!
DavFlamerock: How about December?
bunksteve: STFU, DAV!
DavFlamerock: *cowers*
_BrianC: so what's our questions?
Yog_Sothoth: October is primo spookytime~
Mapmaker: Sam, go ahead
Mapmaker: quick!
Mapmaker: while the iron's hot!
catherwood: for me, the fall TV season starting up is killer on my free time
Sam: Is there any other Art of Heist coming in the future?
bunksteve: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
Yog_Sothoth: Get a TIVO, cather.
_BrianC: not that I've heard yet, Sam :)
_BrianC: Nisha would be fun to dust off again one day
Mapmaker: oh damn
Sam: yay!
bunksteve: That's really up to Audi though, right Brian?
catherwood: i still have to WATCH everything on the tivo
biff: badum chee
Mapmaker: moderator privilege
Mapmaker: my question
missphinx: I BET you would like to dust off Nisha :)
bunksteve: Or do they not own the rights to the characters?
_BrianC: yup, it could come back like velure
catherwood: valour?
missphinx: velour
Mapmaker: did you guys notice the Audi/GM crash I inserted into the first MUD? ;-)
WolfHawk: velour?
biff: voltron!
_ScrappyDoo: velour
Obtusitivity: what are some of the unique challenges in attacking a relatively new medium like args? and can we expect to hear from you guys in next years igda white paper? :)
brooke: no!
_BrianC: :)
brooke: omg!
brooke: that's brilliant map
_BrianC: I saw it :)
_BrianC: Obtus, that's a complex question.
Obtusitivity: heh
Obtusitivity: yeah, no kidding :)
_BrianC: I think part of what we're trying to do is play with the expectations.
bunksteve: You can just write an essay and submit it to us later.
_BrianC: Brooke and I had a rousing phone debate today
* _brooke cringes
bunksteve: lol
_BrianC: that ranged from intent to "what is gameness" :)
brooke: i was just thinking about that
catherwood: i missed a meta convo?!
_BrianC: P2P! OMG!
_BrianC: :)
Mapmaker: CRAP
brooke: that was a great convo - i almost wish i'd taken notes
Mapmaker: SPAM ON THE OUTPOST
Mapmaker: :-)
Yog_Sothoth: TO ARMS
* Mapmaker watches the flurry of mods
_BrianC: so I think there are some things to write about, Obtusitivity, I'm just not sure how to slice it off yet
biff: I have your phonetap logs brooke, I'll send them later
brooke: cool, thanks biff :)
Obtusitivity: and a quick follow-up:
_BrianC: worth deeper thoughts though, go for it :)
* sidtheduck kills spam
Obtusitivity: for someone who's very interested in the "industry" that's coming up with regards to args, how the hell does someone even transition into that sort of thing? :)
Sam: good question
_BrianC: well, I'm an indie advocate.
bunksteve: You have to be recruited by the Internet Gods, Obs.
dante: aww he's trying to get away from George L
_BrianC: roll up your sleeves and start playing, mostly.
Obtusitivity: I read the white paper, I've got "game" industry experience, but it doesn't really translate over :)
Obtusitivity: ah. good.
_BrianC: or wait for someone to give you permission
WolfHawk: *starts writing resume*
_BrianC: I tend not to ask permission if I don't have to and I thikn that is part of thrill
brooke: you'd be surprised obs, i think it will translate better than you think it does
bunksteve: I have a question: Are you the first to attempt an ARG of this size independently?
_BrianC: hardly, Bunk :)
catherwood: define "size"
_BrianC: Obtus: I think the other thing to keep in mind is none of us know if this stuff is going to work either.
bunksteve: 2 year arc?
Mapmaker: define "ARG" and "independently", too :-)
_BrianC: We get an adrenaline rush from that as well
catherwood: PxC ran for two years of storyline, right?
Six: ha Map, good luck :P
bunksteve: Independently = without sponsor
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biff: obt: start spam-cheeeeezzzzzz the ARG
Sam: Can you give out some rough numbers on how many people played EE?
catherwood: ahh, i never got to ask my funding question, how is this "self-sustaining"? where is the revenue?
*** Insane24Seven has joined: #stfeline
_BrianC: haven't crunched the numbers yet, need to Sam :)
brooke: cath - that was asked :)
catherwood: damn my need for dinner
_BrianC: funding is from the profit of other projects :)
Sam: the money question
bunksteve: Eleventy-seven billion, Sam... rough estimate.
brooke: it'll be in the logs
Six: cather: that'll become aparent with time aparnetly
Mapmaker: ok, so everyone!!!
brooke: an easy search will get you there
catherwood: i'll read the log, if we ever stop so i can save it
dante: what content/structure-wise would you change from book 1 if you could?
Mapmaker: before any more questions come up!!!
WolfHawk: LOL
bunksteve: too late, Map!
_BrianC: would have carved a month out of the pacing, dante
brooke: i'd play with the dreamscape and craigslist a bit differently
Mapmaker: it is time to clap!!!
_BrianC: made everything tighter
Obtusitivity: oooh oooh
Mapmaker: and thank!!!
* catherwood looks at the clock
DavFlamerock: Yes
_ScrappyDoo: better pacing, more active doing
* bunksteve stands up and applauds the PM for a job well done (So far)
brooke: and the pacing definitely!
jjason: hooray!
DavFlamerock: LAST Q
* jjason claps
DavFlamerock: Say three words related to the next Book to intrigue and interest me. (I like teasers.)
Obtusitivity: i have to give you guys a big thumbs up for the freakylinks stuff.
_BrianC: thanks so much for setting this up guys and for playing with us
Obtusitivity: kick-ass.
_BrianC: ooo
_BrianC: teaser
_BrianC: umm
Six: that's 3
* Sam claps the lovely GMD people
dante: be sure to circle the words in red
_ScrappyDoo: okra
* Yog_Sothoth claps~
_BrianC: some things are purposefully whispered
* sidtheduck starts a SLOW clap
bunksteve: okra? okrahoma?
* catherwood stomps and whistles in appreciation
_BrianC: and you guys
WolfHawk: I like okra
jjason: where the wind blows faintly through the trees?
_BrianC: make sure to send us envelopes :)
brooke: yeah, can we clap for mapmaker, too
Yog_Sothoth: Ugh, okra -_-
Obtusitivity: oh yeah, about that.
Yog_Sothoth: Oh crap
* missphinx cheers and stomps
Yog_Sothoth: I have to send out an envelope
sidtheduck: yay, Mapmaker!
DavFlamerock: lol, I actually mailed mine earlier today
bunksteve: Definitely for Map.
WolfHawk: I did you should have got it today!
brooke: he did an amazing job of keeping this chat moving :)
jjason: I sent my envelope today!
Obtusitivity: can i flot y'all a fiver andy'all buy your own envelope?
_BrianC: http://www.schmeldritch.com/2007/09/the-providence-prophecies-part.html
bunksteve: Great job moderating, Map!
Yog_Sothoth: bbl, robbiI MEAN GOING TO post office
brooke: with all sorts of chaos
* Sam takes picture with Brian and Brooke
_BrianC: thanks Map :)
* catherwood lights a Bic and sways
Obtusitivity: apparently george doesn't keep any in his copy rooms..
dante: yay
jjason: woohoo!
Mapmaker: eep
*** Signoff: Insane24Seven (Quit: )
* bunksteve gets Nicko's autograph.
DavFlamerock: *claps for everybody*
_NickoD: hehe
catherwood: my daughter needs the computer to do homework now
DavFlamerock: *especially Map and the GMD guys*
Yog_Sothoth: Peace, out.
biff: thanks all!
Obtusitivity: thanks maps.
WolfHawk: Thanks everyone
Obtusitivity: xoxo
_NickoD: Seriously guys, I want to thank you all. You guys made the game and make this community.
_BrianC: thanks, folks, off to sleep, looking forward to the next phase :)
_ScrappyDoo: thank you guys!
DavFlamerock: lol, I need the comp for homework >.<
_NickoD: The Awesome.
Yog_Sothoth: \o/
catherwood: stay healthy! all of you!
dante: thanks!
brooke: wooo!
_BrianC: night night
brooke: you all rock
*** Signoff: _BrianC (Quit: http://unfiction.com/chat/)
DavFlamerock: Dont get eaten by dream-creatures!
WolfHawk: night
Mapmaker: any PMs can stick around if they want to/can
Yog_Sothoth: Thank you all for putting it on. I geev you the best years of my life, I turned 18 in june, and I'm in for the haul.
sinyx: Thanks for giving us such an awesome story to play along with!
Sam: so... how long was that interlude again?
*** Signoff: Yog_Sothoth (Quit: Off to aquire postal stuff)
DavFlamerock: lol
bunksteve: Okay... I gotta go get some dinner and then do some work
DavFlamerock: night, thanks for all the fun!
bunksteve: Talk to you all later!
*** Signoff: DavFlamerock (Quit: )
WolfHawk: bye bunk
bunksteve: Nice meeting you all!
sinyx: night
*** _ScrappyDoo is now known as: ScrappyDoo
bunksteve: Sorry for calling you a dude, WolfHawk
sidtheduck: Thanks again!
*** _brooke is now known as: imbri
WolfHawk: no problem
WolfHawk: (when was I called a dude??!!)
_NickoD: peace out..looking forward to meeting some of you at ARGFest
jjason: bye
* catherwood closes the log