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[Crowfoot]

The Perfect Ending.

[Alzheimers]

Re: The Perfect Ending.

The short answer is: yes.

The long answer is, the best ending is the one that brings a satisfying conclusion to the story you're telling. It doesn't need to tie up all the plot lines, or let everyone live happily ever after. It doesn't need to include swag or gifts. It doesn't need to be wrapped in a "Boss" puzzle, although players will probably expect some kind of final challenge at the end.

What the perfect ending needs to accomplish is to allow players to feel closure with the main conflict of the story, and that you are done with the story you were telling. It doesn't hurt if your characters grow a little bit, or if you tie up some loose ends, but it doesn't all need to be wrapped in one big bow on the last day.

In fact, if you leave yourself some loose threads you can make the ending even more memorable by leaving those holes for players to continue to spec on and discuss well after you're done with the story.

[C_Brennan]

The best ending, in my opinion, ties in with what Alz just said. You want the ending to be your ending. When you're done with it all, you just want to sit back and say "Damn, that was a good story." If you want to put in a twist ending, then you can do that. If you want to tie up everything, or leave some loose ends hanging out, well you can do that too.

Basically, you just don't want to make a great story and then ruin it all by making a really boring ending.

Let's take Minority Report for example. That story could have ended at least 3 times by the end. Some people thought that it went on too long. In my personal opinion, I LOVED the ending to Minority Report. It kept me on the edge of my seat and made me say "Wow, this movie ROCKS!" which is what it should have done. And when it was all over, I sat back in my movie chair and said to myself, "That was such a ride."

It got to the end, tied up the main story, provided a twist, and brought a conclusion. It was a workable ending.

But there are plenty of endings that just hang with "And then their adventures continued..." and that's an ok feel too, especially if you're looking to provide a workable sequel or continuation. It's not a half bad idea to do that, even if you don't have a sequel in mind, because you still leave yourself the room and power to continue what you started and ended.

But, in conclusion to this long winded post about pretty much nothing, do what you think your ending should do. Each story is unique, and each ending should be just as unique to your story.

[MageSteff]

Re: The Perfect Ending.

[Diandra]

While there are many ideas about what constitutes a good ending, it comes down to personal opinion. You can't please everyone.

That said, I can add, for me, the best story endings are the ones that stick with me. The Sixth Sense blew me away because of the ending.

There was also an episode of The Twilight Zone that stands out in my mind. It was one of the color episodes, made in the 80s, that you catch in reruns now and then. I believe it was entitled Button, Button. It was apparently based on a short story that appeared in Playboy in the 70s. Recently, the director of Cabin Fever acquired the rights to it and is updating the script to make it into a full-length feature film tentatively titled The Box. He recently said, in an interview, that he saw the Twilight Zone episode as a kid and it just stayed with him all these years. I'm gonna put the basic premise of the story in a spoiler because I really don't want to ruin the film for anyone so far in advance of its release. Please, don't read it if you don't want the secret revealed. Just know that the entire story comes down to the very last line, which makes you say, "Woah."

[GuyP]

That is some creepy shizzle. Wow.

[Dorkmaster]

Personally, the perfect ARG ending for me would involve me getting really rich. And there would be some free pizza. In fact, it would probably be a pizza party! And um... there would be Foosball, (or maybe air hockey?) and I would become Mayor of Las Vegas.

(Someone had to do it. You're crazy to not suspect me of such action. )

[Crowfoot]

[GuyP]

Sure, the ending should fit the rest of the game in terms of plot and theme, but I think a really good ending should really kick it up a notch. A big dramatic third act would be great - the kind of thing that I'd stay up all night for. Updates every hour for the last 12, extra elements (adding a real world element, or text messages, or whatever you want) as the story races to a fantastic finish.

[Crowfoot]

[SarahK]

Getting left behind in a phenomenal finish absolutely sucks! If you're going to do some "every hour" update, please make sure to keep it up for, say, 48 hours... and only important updates every two hours...

Honestly, you potentially *ruin* your ARG for anyone who *can't* stand by their computer for several hours at a time... unless this is run by text messages on Saturdays, I'd nix it, though it *is* an exciting end for those who catch it.

[Crowfoot]

[MageSteff]

[GuyP]

Yeah, I was thinking there'd be some warning, you know, "This is it, I'm finally going to drive to California and confront the AI space alien super hero ghost that killed my hamster, I should get there on SUNDAY but I might need some help, so stay in touch"

[BenSerwa]

Yeah