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Poll

how do YOU feel about EDOC and Poor Richard?

awesome! i love it!
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
it's okay...nothing to get all fanatical about, but it's playable.
25%
 25%  [ 2 ]
dis.a.point.ing. i'm only playing because i've been playing.
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
i gave up on that piece of crap long ago.
75%
 75%  [ 6 ]

Total Votes : 8
 

 Forum index » Meta » General META Discussion
[POLL] EDOC a disappointment? Ideas on alternatives?
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medioxcore
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Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 80
Location: underyourbed

 		[POLL] EDOC a disappointment? Ideas on alternatives?
boooooooo EDOC. BOOOOOOOOO!
allow me to apologize beforehand- this could become lengthy. oh...and if this isn't the correct area for this, please feel free to move it Smile

let me just jump right into it. i first heard about ARGs right before EDOC launched. i thought it was a cool idea, and read up on ARGs as much as possible. i even played a couple homegrown games, all of which imploded a few days/weeks in, but i had fun nonetheless.

fast forward to the EDOC launch.

i was all sorts of ready to play. i bought a fifty dollar shirt and everything! but after awhile, the game became boring to me- nothing more than:

hangseperately puzzle>solve>repeat>new edoc line>solve>hangseperate puzzle and on and on and on.

and ontop of the monotony of repitition, the story never really managed to capture me. it was like, "okay...why do i care about these people?" stories become engrossing when you actually care about the charcters. i was just kind of thrown into the poor richard story without anything to make me like or dislike any of the cast. it was just like they tossed me a puzzle and said, "figure it out." my response eventually became, "why should i? i'm completely indifferent to the story." i love puzzles, but....i don't know. i think i was just expecting something much deeper than what it was. you know, with phone calls, and emails, and im's, and all of that. the myspace page was a nice touch, but it didn't go anywhere.

poor richard, to me, seems more like a way to sell a new line of commonplace, cut and paste, hipster clothes than it does a game. and i know a lot of big ARGs are just marketing, but they also (from what i've read) seem to be more game based and not just: buy a shirt>solve puzzle>watch video.

anyways, the point to all of this is that EDOC left a sour taste in my mouth for this genre as a whole. i stopped posting here. i stopped following the story and pretty much left this world behind. my question to you now; are there actual games that involve more than buying, solving, and watching videos? are there games where i would get a phone call at 3am from someone blabbering on about the world ending? are there games more engrossing than EDOC? can you point me to these games? i would love to get into the types of ARGs that were used to describe the world of ARGs to me in the first place. the description of them captured my heart. everything else, however, has thus far been a disappointment.

thank you for your time ^_^



[EDIT] Moved to a more relevant forum and clarified topic --Gisk

PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2007 6:18 pm
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notgordian
Unfictologist


Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Posts: 1383
Location: Philly

 		For a general look at what's going on, we seem to be putting a lot of general game synopsis in this thread. ARGNet posts general descriptions of running games, while the ARG Netcast will talk about them more in depth.

However to directly answer what you're looking for--it depends. As for games that are "more immersive" than others (that seems to be your aim), the following will hopefully help.

Year Zero - Conspiracy theory game set in the future that seems to include that "surprise" element you mentioned. Some clues were found on flash drives at NIN concerts, on the Year Zero CD itself, posters, etc. And with talk of a possible Year Zero movie it's definitely a major production. You probably want to actually like NIN music to go for this.

Eldritch Errors / B Seeing U - Lovecraftian hacker game set in a world like ours, this might be your best bet for actual contact that surprises you (so far via mailed packages, Craigslist posts, an online forum, and a MUD) although like many games it will seem tedious if it's not your cup of tea. Seems light on the character side, but it's still early.

Perplex City Season 2 - With all the VC this group picked up and the months spent developing a game engine to support them, I'd assume Perplex City could provide you with what you're looking for. The puzzles range from easy to incredibly mind numbingly hard, the characters are engaging, and there's a LOT of content (at least judging by Season 1). Like, go on 3 hours of sleep for months "lot".

World Without Oil - I'm not sure how far into its monthlong run the game is, but if you were looking for the community aspect and want a warm fuzzy feeling of helping make the world a better place this is the place for you. A strong focus here on player-created content, so you'll literally be making the experience you get out of it.

Sammeeeees Season 2 - I have no idea what's going on with this game (or even if that's what they're calling it), but the players of the first season are RABID fans, and I honestly haven't heard a negative thing about this game yet. Character development and interaction seemed to be popular.

Honestly, though, the best bet for finding something you'd like is browsing the forums/IRC and finding a story you consider gripping along with a medium of message delivery you enjoy. I've been enjoying Deus City, and fans of Bristol Goodman, The Human Pet, Sector Seven, and Odina Nova seem to be enjoying their respective games as well (as well as a bunch of new games I don't know much about yet like Love Nevr Dies and London Operations).

PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2007 7:42 pm
Last edited by notgordian on Sun May 20, 2007 9:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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medioxcore
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Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Posts: 80
Location: underyourbed

 		thank you so much. lol. i forgot how helpful these boards are. i've grown so used to the constant flaming and elitism found on most forums. getting an actual, helpful response...well its just amazing to me. lol. i actually decided to jump into Love Nvr Dies. i started reading a bit before lunch and thought i might give it a go, and now that i you've re-affirmed that people seem to like it...i guess it's time to get back into it. thanks again!

PostPosted: Sun May 20, 2007 7:55 pm
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