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[Chetta34]

well wat did barrys note mean ive been staring blankly at it for days

[DeformedUncleLouie]

Ok there was a bunch of stuff that I tried that just did not work out so let me just give you a run down real quick.

1st off this was a sequel to the 1st room of doom I did about 2 years ago. The problem I faced was that while the 1st one had some hardcore fans, but there was not many. So I had to find a way to inform you about the first time with out a lame recap.The big clue was the date on the tombstone, that is the date that I was on ARGN. I thought someone would catch it, but no.

Now here is the big thing I wanted to do. I wanted to give you more then one way to play. There were 4 ways to play the game that would be considered succeeding. Now please understand that I am not saying you played the game wrong by missing these things, this is just what I was trying.

Pre-launch/ before they were in the room you could have talked to our killer as much as you wanted. I was shocked that I got limited messages. The first way to play would be to be very nice to our killer to the point that she (yes she) would have told you that what she wasdoing was for a noble cause. By playing this way your goal would have been to keep her alive till the end and thus make everyone else die. Playing the game like this would have lead the the next game Mary VS the Stronghold. (Yaeh it was Mary FYI)

Another way to play was per-launch but the opposite. Be mean to the point where she would crack and go nuts in the room. Playing this way would cause Mary to freak out and abandon the room and lead to the next game, the hunt for Mary.

The obvious way to play would be to try to figure out who the killer way and get them killed. Here is the part that bothered me the most. It was written over and over that I was rail roading the group. That I was just leading you by the hand though a story I already had set. HELL NO. To create this story all I did was character development and what devices would show up in the room. Everything else was in your hands. Your big choices was telling Barry that would would keep the listing to yourself. Then you gave the listing to the most hostile person in the room. Then when asked if you game the listing to barry, you said no. You kinda sold barry up shit creak by then so yes everyone did want to kill him. Playing the game like this would have lead to the next game, "to trust the messenger" and would have driven deep into his past.

Now here is the big thing about the messenger. When he was made up by me 2 years ago his job was to launch game. Then there would be a large game about who he really was. He is meant to be mysterious. So when I brought him back, I wanted to get to his story soon. So to see if there was interest his "mother" gave you a taste of his back round and asked you to find out more. In doing so anything he told you would be recived by the stronghold and thus give the location of the room. If you had played that way the stronghold would have came in and killed everyone but jane, and would have lead to the next game The Stronghold VS Unfiction where they would try to shut you down.

So that was the plan. In writing this I don't blame you guys for not getting into the game, because it is my job to make sure you are having a good time. But I want to show that I was not rail roading and to just show that I as a grass roots PM had a plan in mind. You see that is the main reason I did this. I read in a few forms people saying things like "I'm not sure if I am in for this, it looks grass roots" I then wanted to stand-up and show that grass roots games can be good. Yes I know I failed, but I just want to say give the grass roots guys a shot. Because while the big corporate games have you staring at a countdown for 3 days, the grass roots PM is writing a response to every e-mail.

Also don't be discouraged if you want to PM but the best you can do is grass roots. The 1st room of Doom witch did work out used less then I did for this one. Grass roots can be done and done well and I just tried to point out that grass roots should not be seen as a dirty word.

So that was the game in a nutshell and my motive, any other questions?

P.S. other then the 1st room of doom, the other thing I am know for on this board is my long semi- inspirational speeches. Sorry for sounding preachy.


EDIT: BARRY'S NOTE! Remember that it said "Barry," before the code part? It did because Barry was the key in this Vigenère cipher. Also the fact that he had the hardest message to figure out was a small clue that he was the expert.

[Gregoriev]

It was a well thought out game, it just wasn't executed too well.

[DeformedUncleLouie]

Yeah I kinda rushed it as well, I thought the talking to the killer interaction would hold attention longer, but when people lost interest I launched early and here we are.

[Chetta34]

well i was into it just because it was my first real arg and while im sad we couldnt firgure it out more im glad you explained what your thought process was cause i never knew how games like these are really thought up


anyway thanks it helped me at least

[stratagos]

I think part of the problem is you chose a poor time to launch - with ARGFest followed almost immediately by Comic Con, *everything* had launched recently. You didn't have the luxury of allowing things to progress slowly - and I think requiring people to use IM (which locks them into your schedule) also detracted from people being interested in playing.

I will freely admit to being the first person to make noises about the storyline being on rails. The problem was, there was such a limited way to interact with the roomies that I can see a million ways that the conversations can be led that allow a PM to do what they wanted to do anyway.

I don't think anyone faulted you for being a grass-roots ARG - I certainly don't. I would have had the same critiques if this was run by Microsoft. And it's a hell of lot easier to toss stones when you haven't stepped up and done the job yourself.

I wouldn't count it as a failure. I'd count it as lessons learned for the next time you try.

[Chetta34]

@stratagos

where in the suburbs do u live im bucks county

[DeformedUncleLouie]

Yeah, I don't know why I picked now to launch during lost and resistance but I did. Bad planning.

You know the 1st one I did I had tons of ways to talk, and people lost track so I thought organizing it to e-mail, AIM and myspace was a good plan. Turns out most people hate myspace. Who knew?

And lastly might I add, w00t Philly!

[stratagos]

[Gregoriev]

[Chetta34]

haha i was at south street last nite atually

i didnt mind myspace i thought it was the only way you could get stuff out given their computers time restrictions email would be too much touch and go you needed some sort of blog

[Gregoriev]

[Chetta34]

well like i said im new so i thought it worked...ive never heard of blogspot when i think of blogs at my age i think of myspace