unforum

[skilletaudio]

Winning for Unfiction? Private group incoming.

[GWing_02]

Sounds good.

[Kizmet]

I dont get it, what is the problem with continuing our work here? Why is a private forum even nessesary? Havent we all been in this from the beginning? It seems unnessasary to me. Isn't that why the open forum was invented in the first place? So that gamers like us could expand and share in each other's ideas? or did something seriously wrong happen in my absence that i'm not aware of that breeds this sort of mistrust in the group...?

[skilletaudio]

No, Kizmet, you are absolutely right, and I would really like to have as many people working on this together, openly as possibly.

But I've been thinking about the spirit of this game. It is, in its nature, competetive with the premise of reward. Some people were discussing this balancing act of competition for reward, and our natural inclination to work together to solve these things. I suggested that we pool together and make a pact to work together, as usual, for the love of the game itself, and if we obtain this prize, if it really exists, donate it to Unfiction as a thank you.

And I am not excluding anybody at all from joining in the group. Its just that I want to draw a line in the sand and say "If you step over this line, you agree to the pact of solving this for the benefit of unfiction." And essentially waiving any personal claim to the prize.

Merely as a method of shaking off anybody who might want to coast along as we belt out ideas and solutions, and make the last dash for the goodies. I want to win this as a sign of support to the site here, and I want to work on it with the community spirit as we like to do. I just fear that someone may take advantage of this in the fact that this puzzle is short-term, limited and linear in scope, and with incentive to be the "first to solve".

I hope you see my viewpoint better, and hope to see you come along. I will not be asking anybody NOT to post their thoughts to the forums...I'm just asking the people who come with me not to post outright hints, solves, or pathways to the answers.

But i appreciate your thoughts. It kinda makes me unhappy to feel I should do this, I want to foster the open community spirit, but I have created a bit of a meta-goal within this puzzle, and I feel it demands its own corner in which to whisper.

[Caterpillar]

What's to stop someone from joining your group and renegging once it's solved or close to solved?

[skilletaudio]

Absolutely nothing, but their name would be up in lights as the person who agreed to abide by the charitable cause, and then did not.

I am not a police officer, I'm not here to stop anybody from doing anything. Again, only two draw a line in the sand, so to speak.

[dashcat]

I understand the desire to win the prize for UF but I'd rather play this game as if there were no prize. Let's just solve the puzzles. That's the best reward.

I have absolutely no objection to anyone playing it otherwise though.

[skilletaudio]

I have no qualms about that, certainly. Best of luck to everyone, and have fun, you know?
Who knows, the group may decide that we really dont gain that much from sequestering, and would rather go back on the good faith contingent in the future. No problem there either.

Fairs fair?

[OmegaX]

I completely agree with dashcat. We shold just try to solve the buzzles, as though there were no prize. I mean, ARG. Are we forgetting the basic elements of that term? Alternate Reality Game. Not 'race to see who gets to the end first'. Even when we thought ilovebees was going to give the most active members some prize, we didn't shove each other out of the way, we worked together; even us outside the US who couldn't enhottenate. Why should this be any different? Just because we 'know' there's a prize? The prize/reward could be in this 'alternate reality' too, for all we know.

EDIT: My bees are showing again Left the error intact, for all to see. I meant 'Puzzles'.

[skilletaudio]

I'm sorry guys, I fail to see where I am shoving anybody.

[OmegaX]

My post was more in reference to how you seem to percieve the players will act, not to your idea itself.

[dashcat]

OmegaX I didn't even notice the buzzles booch but I was wondering about "enhottenate". Was that an ILB term?

skilletaudio, I don't think anyone is accusing you of pushing or nudging. You brought up a good idea that will appeal to some people but it also invites dissension and opinion. I don't think you should take it personaly.

[OmegaX]

Yeah, enhottenate was what we called answering those payphones Melissa was calling, back in the day. Daaamn.... I feel like an old man....

[Caterpillar]

I suppose it's an individual choice, I'm sure there are already private groups working on this in other arenas.

But in my opinion, it seems sort of contradictory to take the discussion of Virtucube elsewhere to win for Unfiction, when Unfiction itself was created in the spirit of a collaborative haven.

I don't think OmegaX was saying you were shoving anyone, only that it could still be worked on here at Unfiction without someone claiming the prize for themselves.

I understand your concerns about an Unf. group working on this and then having an individual from outside this collective just swoop in and scoop up all your hard work, and it's been the discussion of many a debate - prizes and how they affect the genre that is.

In the end people will still discuss it here regardless of what other groups are doing, and I suppose it's what you feel most comfortable with.

[The Watcher]

I think that anyone who does solve this using information from these forums would donate the winnings to unfiction.

It's the least we can do for this site.