unforum

[VQ.Wavecrest]

I call dibs on second copy!

So if finances hadn't been such an issue, would the game have continued? Or was it always going to be a "one-year" game?

[albrackin]

[WolfHawk]

[albrackin]

[taureanfreak]

Sadly, I kinda wish you would have jumped on one time under an alias. There was a great conversation a couple of months back that revolved around ordering pizza. I don't know how possible it is, but it would be great if we could all get together somewhere. It'd be interesting to interact with everyone face to face. Oh, the hilarity that would ensue!!!

[albrackin]

[TGI Fridays]

1) What was your favorite aspect of DC? Explain.

As many have already mentioned, player and pm interaction was the main highlight of the game. I was greatly impressed by the level of effort put into the design of the 'interface'. ARGs rarely go beyond message boards or chat interaction – a log-in page, the ads, credits, etc. helped add to the immersive experience. Although I never had the pleasure of taking part in a folio hunt, the real world connections in the game helped blur the line between reality and the ARG.

The competitive nature of the game was also a wonderful concept. Karma and credits should have been exploited more, but it was a great start.

Perhaps the best part for me was playing multiple characters. I'm sure pms must have a better time with this than me, but I really enjoyed being able to be a schizophrenic. Asserting different aspects of my personality through different characters is kind of liberating.


2) What was your least favorite aspect of DC? Explain.

We've all commented on interaction, no need to beat and torture a poor suffering horse. Other than that, clarity of purpose was missing sometimes. A tv show can have a few "filler" episodes with no plot progression, but if the show becomes filler episodes it's on it's way to cancellation. Apply comparison as needed…

The only other flaw – I had no idea if bringing more players in was a good idea. I didn't want to try to encourage participation if the game was going to end, but if it was going to continue I wanted to try to get as many involved as possible.

3) What would you like to see change in a future similar project?

More competition. More player control over direction. Cookies sent in the mail?

4) Did DC push the current boundaries of ARG/CF? Explain.

Sure. See "favorite aspect" – generally these aspects are unique to DC.

5) Was the "one year time line" successful? (11-11-06 to 11-11-07)

Only been involved for 5 months, so can't really answer.

6) How did you find out about DC? (specify IG/OOG and/or trailhead)

Another player – it's a shame, but can't remember who…

7) How does DC's structure compare to the commonly accepted 4orty 2wo entertainment model of player interaction? http://www.42entertainment.com/see_images/triangle.jpg

I really think 'level 2' was missing. There seemed to be many casual players that drifted in and out and then a group of core level three players.

How does your interaction compare to the 4orty 2wo entertainment model of player interaction?

As with most people responding to this survey, I was most likely a level 3, although my interaction was limited to a small number of players and it tended to decline over time.


9) What do you see as the future of ARG/CF?

More engrossing, more immersive, more competitive. It's only a matter of time before mmorpgs and args merge.


10) Would you play/avoid a "grass-roots" low budget ARG/CF (such as DC) versus a big-budget "Commercial" ARG/CF?

grassroots all the way. Save my husband gave me $4.11, but turned me off of applebee's for life. Product placement should be limited in ARGs to imaginary products.

11) Rank the following "ARG/CF elements" from most to least important: Design (website, graphics, pics), Story (writing), Puzzles (tasks), Player Interaction (forums, IM, etc), Real-world elements (non-internet), Videos (acting, sets, youtube, etc), Other (specify)

Interaction
Design
Real-world elements
Story
Videos

12) In what ways was DC "broken" or a "failure"?

non-interaction.



Questions -

1. My girlfriend yelled at me numerous times for wasting time on an imaginary game (I can't help but sympathize with her as I tend to dive in to anything I find interesting), how did you guys manage to find ladies tolerant of your careers/hobbies? How do you balance the time you devote to the ARG with the time you have to devote to the rest of your life?

2. Religion is obviously an important part of many of your lives. How have your experiences with your faiths shaped the game? Religion seemed to come out as a villain in the end – was this because it was a "corruption" of the faiths, because it was simply duped, what do you think it says about your feelings towards God to choose to represent religion the way you did?

3. Don't suppose we could ever get a look behind deuscity.com/stats? I'm curious to see what the backend observation room looked like.

4. Were there any plans to develop the holyfaithunited web page or defensecorp page? If so, what was going to be there?

Anyway, great game guys. You've got something here. I hope you keep going with it.

[cfreak]

Wow! First of all, great questions!

[albrackin]

[TGI Fridays]

Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions, it's nice to learn a little about the planning/ideology behind dc. Should you guys ever need help from yet another US Baptist raised in a missionary community abroad (aboriginal Australia) count me in...

[albrackin]

 Dr. Brackin's PhD Dissertation

[KGBrAm]

Gratz on successfully completing DC and BIG gratz on your 'Dr.' status!