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Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: The Carer

[PM CHAT] Questions for tonight's chat.

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SteveC
Unfettered

Joined: 05 May 2005
Posts: 381

[PM CHAT] Questions for tonight's chat.

I won't be around for the chat tonight I'm afraid, so if someone wouldn't mind asking the following questions on my behalf?

1/ Why so many ancillary characters that didn't appear to have much to say? Wilson, Ascott and most puzzlingly Abhu had either tiny snippets of useless information, or were unwilling to give out other things. For instance although appearing to want to help, Abhu declined to tell me the location of the HQ Smile

2/ You going to do another ARG? Do you play them, and what made you do one?

3/ Did you find the PMing of this to be enjoyable and fun? What was the best bit for you?

4/ Did you originally intend it to be a game that could be won/drawn or lost, or did that just flow a bit? Personally I quite like the design that allows for people not solving the push of puzzles and as a result, losing!

5/ Oh, and if we had called #1 on time, would he have stopped it? Smile

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:35 pm

Nik_Doof
Unfettered

Joined: 09 Oct 2004
Posts: 494
Location: Liverpool, UK

Depends if the real start is 8pm GMT or 8pm BST....as its the diffrence of me being home or just leaving work Smile

If i'm not alive then please ask these questions:

1. Was the Dennison meet a last second change or planned from the start?

2. What was your reaction to the (un-anounced) security leak on your blog? (The anonymous posters were me and Beano).

3. Is there anything major you would of changed about the game now its been played? say if you had a chance to do it all again from the beginning.

4. How did you find managing so many in-game communications at the same time? Alot of people mentioned that we'd get a storm of emails from time to time, especially noticable for people who emailed several characters at the same time, only to get responses pritty much the same time...

4b. Do you think this broke the flow of the game?

_________________
Nik_Doof
No you cant have my 333 Letimark Very Happy

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 3:05 pm

JebJoya
Unfettered

Joined: 13 Apr 2005
Posts: 679
Location: UK

Just FYI, the PM Chatlog in full:

Quote:

[19:58] * Iain[TheCarer] has joined #carer
[19:58] <Nik_At_Work> Sad

[19:58] <Nik_At_Work> its only 7pm GMT! Smile

[19:58] <Nik_At_Work> meh...i gotta go home
[19:59] <Iain[TheCarer]> Hi chaps
[19:59] <Onionring> Hi
[19:59] <flutesalad> hellooo!
[19:59] * Nik_At_Work has quit IRC (Quit: CGI:IRC)
[19:59] <chippy> hello flutesalad, Iain[TheCarer]
[19:59] * Lewis[TheCarer] has joined #carer
[20:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Hey
[20:00] <flutesalad> hi
[20:00] <chippy> hello
[20:00] <Onionring> Hi
[20:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We'll just wait a few minutes I guess, see if anyone else arrives
[20:00] <Iain[TheCarer]> It was good to meet you Chippy and Flutesalad...even if it was brief!
[20:00] <chippy> Smile

yes. very fun! and scary too!
[20:00] <flutesalad> we were...umm...charmed!
[20:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe
[20:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> How are we doing this? We can do an open chat or people can PM me the questions and we'll work through them like that
[20:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> up to you guys
[20:01] <chippy> luckily, fluesalad arrived in the nick of time, otherwise i would have screamed
[20:01] <Iain[TheCarer]> Shady character from Eastenderes eh!
[20:01] * Nik_Doof is now known as Jo
[20:01] <flutesalad> ooops
[20:01] * strifey has joined #carer
[20:01] <flutesalad> hoped you wouldn't see that... Very Happy

[20:01] <Iain[TheCarer]> I'm, very nice really.
[20:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> ahem
[20:01] * nawoR has joined #carer
[20:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:01] <flutesalad> I thought you were going to kidnap us
[20:01] <flutesalad> Very Happy

[20:01] <Jo> you do realise its only 7pm gmt
[20:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> in his nonexistant red van, eh?
[20:01] <flutesalad> heh
[20:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We had the GMT problem before.
[20:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ark.
[20:02] <Iain[TheCarer]> It went as planned...exactly !
[20:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Um, do you think loads of people will turn up at 9 then?
[20:02] <Jo> americans might
[20:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It's my mistake, I completely forgot about BST, see.
[20:02] <flutesalad> i think we guessed before the deadline that that was the case...
[20:03] <flutesalad> so I spect most folks will show for 8
[20:03] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah. sorry about all that.
[20:03] <Lewis[TheCarer]> My fault entirely
[20:03] <Lewis[TheCarer]> we'll give it 2 minutes then start
[20:03] <Iain[TheCarer]> Chippy, I knew as soon as I saw you that you were the man.
[20:03] <Bill> i'm headed out, but I hope you don't mind if I log and post it to Deaddrop
[20:03] <chippy> hehe
[20:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> fine by me
[20:04] <chippy> i was wondering around, looking nervous
[20:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> What made you go to ARGFest from Leeds, by the way? How many UK folk were over there?
[20:04] <chippy> about 3
[20:04] <chippy> maybe 4
[20:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> cool
[20:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> have fun?
[20:04] <flutesalad> did you take the mag with you?
[20:04] <chippy> the mindcandy team, wishi and me
[20:04] <chippy> lol
[20:04] <chippy> nope Sad

[20:04] <Iain[TheCarer]> You're keen aren't you?
[20:05] <chippy> i was over there for 10 days
[20:05] <chippy> had a full holiday. was great
[20:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Cool Smile

[20:05] <chippy> what a crazy city. really nice there
[20:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> right, are we doing an open chat, or do people want to private message me the questions and we'll go through them one by one?
[20:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Up to you lot
[20:05] * jamesi has joined #carer
[20:05] <flutesalad> open chat sounds good
[20:06] <Lewis[TheCarer]> nice
[20:06] <Lewis[TheCarer]> well,. someone fire away then
[20:06] * Denounced has joined #carer
[20:06] <Onionring> How long did it take you to come up with the idea for "The Carer"?
[20:07] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Not that long actually. Initial plans were made around three weeks before launch.
[20:07] <flutesalad> wow
[20:07] <Lewis[TheCarer]> it was all very rushed, which in retrospect was a mistake.
[20:07] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Plans had to be changed a hell of a lot during the game
[20:07] <Lewis[TheCarer]> which was awkward...
[20:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Having said that, the intention from the start was to have something that players could interact with and play the story out as they wanted.
[20:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> So we couldn't plan for all that.
[20:08] <Iain[TheCarer]> The game was changed around your resonses to clues etc
[20:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Funnily enough, it was almost entirely a solo effort until launch day, when Iain got involved
[20:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'd kept the whole thing pretty quiet - just me setting it all up, James sorting out some websites, and Steph and Roger doing some posing for the camera
[20:08] <Iain[TheCarer]> I just helped with clues...and acting!
[20:09] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Hehe.
[20:09] <Lewis[TheCarer]> So, yeah, 3 weeks or so
[20:09] * dno has joined #carer
[20:09] <chippy> ive a question from nik, whos commuting now: What was your reaction to the (un-anounced) security leak on your blog? (The anonymous posters were me and Beano).
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> To shout at you a lot, basically.
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Was that the Gorillaz thing?
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Oh!
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> no
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> sorry
[20:10] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I see what you mean now, the Livejournal thing?
[20:10] <chippy> yes
[20:10] <SteveC> dunno if anyone's asked the Qs I had on the forum, but if not, can you, gotta fly, tahnks for the game guys...
[20:11] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ta, Steve
[20:11] <chippy> will do steve
[20:11] <Lewis[TheCarer]> right, the LJ thing
[20:11] <chippy> hey posted to the blog, and then you found it
[20:11] <Lewis[TheCarer]> That was another mistake on my part, because when I posted about launching I hadn't intended writing that article for notanarg
[20:11] <chippy> <Nik_At_Work> posting on the 1st of July saying "yay we've launched", beano anonymously commented with "do you care by any chance"....then within 24hrs it was editied and removed Smile

[20:11] <chippy> hehe
[20:11] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I tried to keep it as hushed as possible, basically. I took down the offending post and asked people to keep quiet *shrugs*
[20:12] * jamesi has left #carer
[20:12] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It didn't have much effect to be honest.
[20:12] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We faced far bigger problems :p
[20:12] <chippy> heh
[20:12] <chippy> was the discovery of jrg marketing planned?
[20:13] <chippy> (i rang you up)
[20:13] <Iain[TheCarer]> I remember
[20:13] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Again: bad planning.
[20:13] <Lewis[TheCarer]> That's the thing about a first time game.
[20:13] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We're both relatively new to the medium, so we didn't think about possibilities of whois and stuff like that.
[20:13] <Lewis[TheCarer]> The plan was that if anybody else phoned afterwards, we would say that JRG had moved offices, for credibility's sake
[20:14] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Alas, no-one did after that
[20:14] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Again, something to keep in mind for the future
[20:14] <chippy> i was close to coming round and knocking on the door!
[20:14] <Iain[TheCarer]> I'd like to thank the bloody Post Office for nearly ruining our game!
[20:14] <Onionring> hehe
[20:14] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Oh, god, the Balance packages
[20:15] <Lewis[TheCarer]> basically, sorry about that wait
[20:15] <Lewis[TheCarer]> they basically turned up nearly a week late, due to the post office being crap.
[20:15] <Denounced> I'm not sure, did anyone ask about your player numbers yet? I mean estimates of course...being that lurkers are hard to track, etc.
[20:15] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We had 30 or so regular, dedicated players, we thought
[20:15] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Which we were quite pleased with, given that it was a very small and low-key affair
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> in fact, the whole thing ballooned a lot more than we expected.
[20:16] <Denounced> Wow 30 people is alot of work. /me applauds
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Cheers
[20:16] <flutesalad> you kept on top of all the email interaction pretty well
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It was weird though: all the new Grassroots games were getting 10 or so players
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and little threads
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> within three days The Carer had its own section at Unfiction
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and 30-odd players
[20:16] <Lewis[TheCarer]> which was more than we ever hoped for
[20:17] <Iain[TheCarer]> Were they odd?
[20:17] <chippy> yeah, there was something enigmatic about it
[20:17] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Iain: lol
[20:17] <Lewis[TheCarer]> i think we were stranger Very Happy

[20:17] <Iain[TheCarer]> Roger Dennison was
[20:17] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Wonder if he's livin' it up in Rio...
[20:18] <chippy> ok ive another q from the forums
[20:18] <Lewis[TheCarer]> go for it
[20:18] <chippy> question from SteveC: You going to do another ARG? Do you play them, and what made you do one?
[20:19] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Already thinking about the next one, yeah, though it's not likely to launch for a good few months this time
[20:19] <flutesalad> great stuff
[20:19] <Onionring> Nice
[20:19] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I play, yeah. Iain kinda follows them vaguely...
[20:19] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I decided to do one simply because I was amazed at how fiction could be played out in this way
[20:20] <Lewis[TheCarer]> About how a bit of mystery could lead people on an enormous trail
[20:20] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Our game only lasted a month due to, well, me buggering off to Cambridge music festival... but I'd have liked to do something on a far grander scale
[20:20] <Lewis[TheCarer]> which is my intention for the next one
[20:20] <flutesalad> ahh, that's something that was bothering me...
[20:20] <Lewis[TheCarer]> what, the timescale?
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> or the music festival?
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Wink

[20:21] <flutesalad> why it was so rushed towards the end, but it makes sense now
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah, it's a shame
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but it was unavoidable really
[20:21] <Onionring> Where did you get the ideas for "The Carer" from?
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Saw, basically
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> heh
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Actually
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> there were a few influences
[20:21] * sexyboy has joined #carer
[20:21] <chippy> oh no
[20:21] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I saw a play a few months ago about a crazy weirdo that kept a group of women in a room and tortured them because he disagreed with their lifestyle
[20:22] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I liked it and originally intended to do a webcomic based on the story
[20:22] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but it never really kicked off.
[20:22] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Then the idea of doing it as an ARG came to mind
[20:22] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Started writing the script and the plans and it all sort of evolved from there
[20:22] <flutesalad> good choice, it worked well
[20:22] <Onionring> Cool
[20:22] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Cheers
[20:22] <chippy> did you like the name "the carer"? did you have your own name for it?
[20:22] <sexyboy> sup yall
[20:23] <Lewis[TheCarer]> To be honest, that was the working name as well so that was fine
[20:23] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Hey sexyboy../
[20:23] <chippy> cool
[20:23] <Lewis[TheCarer]> (I never thought I would say that in a chatroom)
[20:23] <sexyboy> hey
[20:23] <Onionring> hehe
[20:23] <sexyboy> why you say that
[20:23] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hah, never mind
[20:23] <Lewis[TheCarer]> anyway, yeah
[20:24] <Iain[TheCarer]> Couldn't beleive you were stuck on the 'Building' clue
[20:24] <flutesalad> the one we're all dying to know......what was/were the alternative ending(s)?
[20:24] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Haha, the alternate endings
[20:24] <chippy> Smile

[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Well... live, die, save 1, save 5, basically
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> All were achievable
[20:25] <chippy> but how!?
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Well the obvious one was the response to the ultimatum.
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> You could choose to save Amanda, and she'd have lived.
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> You could choose to save the rest, and they'd live
[20:25] <Iain[TheCarer]> Tell 'em aboput the missed clue
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> To save them all... you missed a couple of clues
[20:25] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah
[20:26] <Lewis[TheCarer]> www.the-balance.org.uk had one I'm surprised you didn't get
[20:26] <Lewis[TheCarer]> the main image was split in two
[20:26] <sexyboy> any girls here
[20:26] <flutesalad> i noticed that early on but couldn't fathom why
[20:26] <Lewis[TheCarer]> take the right hand image
[20:26] <Lewis[TheCarer]> mess around with the levels and suchlike
[20:26] <Lewis[TheCarer]> you get a message saying "get in touch on MSN" or something
[20:26] <sexyboy> lewis
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> The Balance's email was registered to all 3 main messaging programs
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> if you got in touch on any of those, you would have essentially talked The Balance into letting them live
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Sexyboy: what is it?
[20:27] <sexyboy> any girls here man
[20:27] <flutesalad> gah
[20:27] * Samantha sets mode: +b *!~ShadyJava@4b89d8f.f8171.ip.alltel.net
[20:27] * sexyboy was kicked by Samantha (Enough for today rookie 12�4712�)
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Yeah, fuck off Sexyboy
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:27] <chippy> lol
[20:27] <flutesalad> thank you
[20:27] <Samantha> np
[20:27] <chippy> thanks Samantha
[20:27] <Lewis[TheCarer]> cheers
[20:27] <Onionring> ta
[20:28] * Samantha sets mode: +aa chippy Lewis[TheCarer]
[20:28] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ta.
[20:28] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Hopefully won't need to use my newfound powers :p
[20:28] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Anyway yeah, 4 endings, all possible
[20:28] <chippy> gosh. i could have sworn i did the levels thing
[20:28] <chippy> gah!
[20:29] <flutesalad> what about dubois?
[20:29] <flutesalad> if we'd gotten in touch with him?
[20:29] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Well there was the phone as well
[20:29] <Lewis[TheCarer]> If you'd have left a message...
[20:29] <Lewis[TheCarer]> no-one did, bizarrely.
[20:29] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Though it was very funny listening to people's banter on the first phone puzzle
[20:29] <Lewis[TheCarer]> brilliant argument caught on the message between two people
[20:30] <Denounced> ooh! whatsa craziest theory you got from a player during the game?
[20:30] <Lewis[TheCarer]> 3 messages in a row... "What's the number" "Dunno, didn't get it..." "Oh, for god's sake, ring again"
[20:30] <Lewis[TheCarer]> etc
[20:30] <chippy> lol
[20:30] <Iain[TheCarer]> I was great following everyone's thoughts on the Forums
[20:30] <Lewis[TheCarer]> theories
[20:30] <Lewis[TheCarer]> we got some far out ones, didn't we
[20:30] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Building was hilarious to watch
[20:30] <Iain[TheCarer]> The clue you were all stuck on was thought of and created in about 20 seconds...we had to get it in the post
[20:30] <flutesalad> heheh
[20:31] <Lewis[TheCarer]> My personal fave theory
[20:31] <Lewis[TheCarer]> was when someone suggested that "The Carer" was an anagram of "Trace Her" and thought that was very important to the story
[20:31] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:31] <Denounced> BWAH nice random anagram Smile

[20:31] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah
[20:31] <Denounced> had you guys anagrammed that one before?
[20:31] <flutesalad> you can never look too deeply.... Very Happy

[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Hehe
[20:32] <Denounced> or the players suprised you with it Smile

[20:32] <Iain[TheCarer]> Woops...the idenby thing which was left on the CD by mistake!
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Yeah, we should apologise to that
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> *for that
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Was a complete red herring, and one that should have been avoided
[20:32] <chippy> ahhh
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Last post was basically in about 10 minutes and we were still sorting the CDs out
[20:32] <Iain[TheCarer]> We were just using that to try out *offset*
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> so it was all rushed
[20:32] <Lewis[TheCarer]> mistakes were made
[20:33] <Lewis[TheCarer]> You didn't do the Polar clue right! lol
[20:33] <Lewis[TheCarer]> that was supposed to be a Photoshop-based one
[20:33] <Jo> ok this is a loooong copy n paste from doof:
[20:33] <Jo> Depends if the real start is 8pm GMT or 8pm BST....as its the diffrence of me being home or just leaving work Smile
[20:33] <Jo> If i'm not alive then please ask these questions:
[20:33] <Jo> 1. Was the Dennison meet a last second change or planned from the start?
[20:33] <Jo> 2. What was your reaction to the (un-anounced) security leak on your blog? (The anonymous posters were me and Beano).
[20:33] <Jo> 3. Is there anything major you would of changed about the game now its been played? say if you had a chance to do it all again from the beginning.
[20:33] <Jo> 4. How did you find managing so many in-game communications at the same time? Alot of people mentioned that we'd get a storm of emails from time to time, especially noticable for people who emailed several characters at the same time, only to get responses pritty much the same time...
[20:33] <Jo> 4b. Do you think this broke the flow of the game?
[20:33] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Woah.
[20:33] <Lewis[TheCarer]> ok, we'll go through in order
[20:33] <Lewis[TheCarer]> 1)
[20:34] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Pieced in when we found out we had players fairly locally, basically
[20:34] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'd wanted to do real-world but didn't think it's be possible
[20:34] <flutesalad> thank you thank you for doing it!
[20:34] <Lewis[TheCarer]> so we were really pleased to find out Chippy and Rachel were based in Leeds
[20:34] <Lewis[TheCarer]> our pleasure
[20:34] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We were pleased with how it went
[20:34] <Iain[TheCarer]> I'd have love to stay and chat with you guys in Leeds
[20:34] <chippy> yes!
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'm sure we'll all meet again...
[20:35] <chippy> it was nice even having a british arg
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> 2, already answered
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> 3)
[20:35] <flutesalad> would have been great, but might have spoilt the plot...
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> 3... lots of things
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'd have taken more time over the planning
[20:35] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'd have been more careful... and I'd have made the story better, I suppose
[20:36] <flutesalad> yeah, looking back I can see sooo much potential for developing the plot
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I like to think of myself as a bit of a writer and, in all honesty, I wasn't insanely pleased with the story
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I've written better stuff, fiction-wise - the whole thing came across as a *bit* of a clich�
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Though it wasn't as bad as some games
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hopefully what I have lined up at the moment will be more unique and original
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> maybe not *shrugs*
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Iain, anything you'd have done differently/
[20:36] <Lewis[TheCarer]> ?
[20:37] <Iain[TheCarer]> Dunno, but if you need anymore shady charaters...I'm your man!
[20:37] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:37] <chippy> lol
[20:37] <Onionring> hehe
[20:38] <Onionring> How much did it cost to make the carer?
[20:38] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Errm... not too much. I think we totallyed around �40 in total
[20:38] <Lewis[TheCarer]> thanks mainly to James Willock, for providing us with free web hosting from the company he works for
[20:38] <chippy> thats nice
[20:38] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah
[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> What was Doof's 4th one?
[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> *reads*
[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ah, interaction
[20:39] * Jo is just making sure she cant get shouted at for not asking them
[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Emails were tricky
[20:39] <Lewis[TheCarer]> essentially, I did the whole script so i was firing off the emails
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I was doing maybe 2 to 3 hours work a day on the game, in total, so I was basically responding when I got the chance
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hence all the emails flowing at once.
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> However, one thing I hate about games is when you go days without any sign of life
[20:40] <Jo> did you do all the msn conversations too?
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I made a conscious decision to make an update of some sort every single day
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yep, all of them
[20:40] <Lewis[TheCarer]> heh
[20:41] <Lewis[TheCarer]> MSN ones were really fun actually
[20:42] * Lumberja1k has joined #carer
[20:42] <Lewis[TheCarer]> a bit of a challenge to do loads of improv stuff like that
[20:42] * OrlandO has joined #carer
[20:42] <Denounced> Yeah do you want to expound on your technique for that?
[20:42] <Denounced> IE did you have a sorta pseudoscript?
[20:42] <Denounced> Or perhaps outlines for how certain topics would be handled?
[20:42] <Lewis[TheCarer]> No, just a story overview
[20:42] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I had a huge plan written up of the whole story
[20:42] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and updated as I went along
[20:43] <Lewis[TheCarer]> so I had a knowledge of everything that was happening
[20:43] * Lumberjack has quit IRC (Ping timeout: 180 seconds)
[20:43] <Lewis[TheCarer]> all the actual conversation stuff was handled on the spot
[20:43] <Denounced> ty Smile

[20:44] <chippy> ive a q from stevec
[20:44] <chippy> 1/ Why so many ancillary characters that didn't appear to have much to say? Wilson, Ascott and most puzzlingly Abhu had either tiny snippets of useless information, or were unwilling to give out other things. For instance although appearing to want to help, Abhu declined to tell me the location of the HQ
[20:44] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Credibility's sake, basically
[20:44] <Lewis[TheCarer]> in real life, not everyone you meet has something useful to ay
[20:44] <Lewis[TheCarer]> *say
[20:44] * Denounced concurs
[20:44] <Lewis[TheCarer]> it was a bit of a risk, I suppose, but at the same time it was completely intentional
[20:45] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ascott... that was mainly to play a bit of a guilt trip on you should you choose to save Amanda :d
[20:45] <Lewis[TheCarer]> * Very Happy

[20:45] <chippy> quite true
[20:46] <chippy> another q:
[20:46] <chippy> 4/ Did you originally intend it to be a game that could be won/drawn or lost, or did that just flow a bit? Personally I quite like the design that allows for people not solving the push of puzzles and as a result, losing!
[20:46] <chippy> 5/ Oh, and if we had called #1 on time, would he have stopped it?
[20:46] <chippy> i guess from the begining, was it planned?
[20:46] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I wanted to write a game that players could interact with
[20:46] <Lewis[TheCarer]> If I could use the example of a game running at the same time as us:
[20:46] <Lewis[TheCarer]> ARGTalk
[20:46] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I played that through, loved it, but one thing annoyed me throughout
[20:47] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I didn't feel like I could change anything
[20:47] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It was like I was solving the clues to read the next bit of the story, as opposed to shaping it
[20:47] <Lewis[TheCarer]> What I wanted to do with The Carer was create a story that was essentially written by its players
[20:47] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Obviously you have to use linearity to an extent
[20:47] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but wherever possible - and especially with the ending - I always wanted to have something that the players could alter
[20:48] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and think "Yeah, it was because of ME that that happenned."
[20:48] * chippy looks at flutesalad
[20:48] <Denounced> Did players gravitate toward the chars and elements you expected? Certainly there were elements that were more popular than you planned on that you may have expanded based on player reaction. Tell about one of those?
[20:48] <Jo> so i guess dennison wasnt always going to go to brazil Wink

[20:48] <flutesalad> shhh!
[20:48] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe that's right Jo
[20:48] <Lewis[TheCarer]> he was gonna bugger off
[20:48] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but not necessarily Brazil
[20:48] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ben Abhu... he was more popular than intended
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> incidentally, Dennison too.
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> He was going to be written out of the story a long time before
[20:49] <Denounced> Did you expand their roles in response?
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I expected people to hate him
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but instead, seemed to take pity
[20:49] <Jo> i felt sorry for dennison
[20:49] <chippy> he did seem harrassed
[20:49] <flutesalad> ahhh, that's us, we're not two-dimensional, we all have a heart
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> so yeah, I expanded on the character, we hastily wrote-up the idea of the Dennison meet in Mixing Tin (for those Leeds people who know it) one night..
[20:49] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and yeah, it went from there.
[20:50] <Denounced> sweeeeettt Smile

[20:50] <Iain[TheCarer]> I was cool underneath
[20:50] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe
[20:50] <flutesalad> surprising really, it was so hot...
[20:50] <Lewis[TheCarer]> was a well warm day, yeah
[20:51] <chippy> mixing tin is underground too!
[20:51] <Lewis[TheCarer]> haha Very Happy

[20:51] <Lewis[TheCarer]> incidentally, i have a question for Chippy and Flutesalad
[20:51] <chippy> yep
[20:51] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Do either of you ever go to Carpe Diem?
[20:51] <flutesalad> ooh
[20:51] <chippy> neverheardofit Smile

[20:51] <flutesalad> nah, tend not to go out much round leeds
[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> heh. It's quite a popular city centre bar on Millennium square
[20:52] <Iain[TheCarer]> Near where you met Roger
[20:52] <flutesalad> ahh
[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I ask because I left an absolute truckload of trailhead letters there
[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> was wondering if any Leeds people saw them
[20:52] <chippy> hahah
[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> never mind, eh
[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> heh
[20:52] <flutesalad> hahaha
[20:52] <chippy> did you get any weird repsonses?
[20:52] <Jo> gotta say you freaked the hell outta me with the letter
[20:52] <flutesalad> try the bus station or the library next time Razz

[20:52] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Strangely, Jo, you freaked us out with your response to it
[20:52] <Jo> lol
[20:53] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We thought you were for real with the whole "I've no idea what's going on. Who are you" attitude
[20:53] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Then we worked out you were with Nik
[20:53] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and it all fell into place
[20:53] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Were worried the police would knock on our door at one point though
[20:53] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe
[20:53] <Denounced> ahhhh yes which raises another one I wanted to ask...
[20:53] <Denounced> ...did you get any extremely lost noobs?
[20:53] <Denounced> the ones that get hostile? Razz

[20:53] <Jo> well we did check that the names of the missing weren't actually missing first Wink

[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> not that i know of... which is nice
[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe
[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> We had someone expecting an autoresponder
[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> an email came in saying "just emailing this since it's probably essential for the game."
[20:54] <Denounced> oh - heh - writing random stuff to you Smile

[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> that was fun to respond to
[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> difficult to know what to say in that situation
[20:54] <Lewis[TheCarer]> in that case we were the ones playing the "no idea what you're on about" card
[20:55] <Jo> did you get our address from the DNS info for the perplex city wiki?
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I checked the memberlist on Unfiction for UK people with an active part in the community
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> searched for their websites and whoised them
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> so, um, yeah, probably
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I don't remember, to be honest
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> you were the recipients of one of 8 letters
[20:55] <Lewis[TheCarer]> only you guys picked up on it
[20:56] <Jo> hehe because this house isn't the business one so we knew something strange was going on when we got the letter to Blueshift Media
[20:56] <Lewis[TheCarer]> heh
[20:56] <Jo> brb phone
[20:56] <Lewis[TheCarer]> say hi from me
[20:57] <Iain[TheCarer]> Maybe its Roger from Rio
[20:57] <Onionring> Can we have any clues about your next project?
[20:57] <Lewis[TheCarer]> No.
[20:57] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Very Happy

[20:57] <Lewis[TheCarer]> To be honest
[20:57] <flutesalad> ooh, mea!
[20:57] <Onionring> hehe
[20:57] <flutesalad> *mean
[20:57] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It's still too early to say anything
[20:57] <Lewis[TheCarer]> even I don't have any clues about it
[20:58] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I have an idea for the scenario
[20:58] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but it's literally only a concept at the moment.
[20:58] <chippy> ive a question from steve, and i guess from all of us : Did you find the PMing of this to be enjoyable and fun? What was the best bit / moment for you?
[20:58] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I loved it.
[20:58] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Iain?
[20:59] <Iain[TheCarer]> I enjoyed watching you all discuss it on the Forums...you were way off with some of it !
[20:59] <Iain[TheCarer]> The real meet was great too
[21:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> it's so rewarding when you find people playing your game, but not just *playing*... actually getting involved, letting it take over their life
[21:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> that's a fantastic feeling.
[21:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Well worth doing, yeah, and very much looking forward to next time.
[21:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It's hard work
[21:00] <flutesalad> you did a good job though
[21:00] <Lewis[TheCarer]> and I had half my friends frowning when I was saying "Can't come out tonight, sorry, got to talk to a... um... person.... as a fictional character."
[21:01] <flutesalad> heheh
[21:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> but yeah, great fun.
[21:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> any more before we round this all up until next game?
[21:01] <chippy> 1 more
[21:01] <Lewis[TheCarer]> go for it
[21:01] <chippy> at least
[21:02] <Iain[TheCarer]> go on
[21:02] <chippy> was there any characters who were minor, and who became bigger as the game went on, and vice versa
[21:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Dennison, I suppose, he was hardly in it originally
[21:02] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Ben Abhu... didn't exist until you made him exist, really
[21:03] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Erm, that was about it, I suppose.
[21:03] <Lewis[TheCarer]> But those two, definitely
[21:03] <Onionring> How many people knew that you where PM'ing the game? Did you ever tell anyone that you where doing an ARG?
[21:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Yeah, most people who know me knew I was doing it
[21:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Kept it quiet before launch
[21:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> the thing is, no-one else I know plays them
[21:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> So it wasn't a concern to keep it quiet, to be honest
[21:04] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Iain, how about you?
[21:04] <Iain[TheCarer]> Just my wife!
[21:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> haha Very Happy

[21:05] * Lewis[TheCarer] waves at Alice
[21:05] <chippy> do you have forum names? or are these top-secrit?
[21:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Nah, not secret at all. Iain's not on Unfiction
[21:05] <Iain[TheCarer]> Ye, but not on this
[21:05] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I'm Lewis The Second
[21:06] <chippy> Smile

[21:06] <Lewis[TheCarer]> dunno if you've come across me...
[21:06] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Smile

[21:06] <flutesalad> think so...
[21:06] <Iain[TheCarer]> Have Flutesalad and Chipy met since Roger?
[21:07] <flutesalad> nah
[21:07] <Lewis[TheCarer]> before?
[21:07] <chippy> nope
[21:07] <flutesalad> nope, although I did used to know someone called chippy and I half expected you to be an old schoolfriend when i turned up!
[21:07] <chippy> *chuckles*
[21:08] <chippy> theres a few of us about
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Wow, The Carer helped people make friends Very Happy

[21:08] <chippy> he does care after all!
[21:08] <Iain[TheCarer]> Ok, I'm off for a cuppa. Good to nspeak with you all and maybe we will meet in person sometime. See ye
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> yeah
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Thanks very much for all playing
[21:08] <chippy> thats for the good game
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> It's been a pleasure.
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> Happy ARGing Very Happy

[21:08] <Onionring> Cheers for a Great game
[21:08] * chippy can look at red vans now without fear
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> thanks very much Smile

[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> hehe
[21:08] <flutesalad> thanks for all the fun!
[21:08] <chippy> thank you!
[21:08] <Lewis[TheCarer]> the red van never existed
[21:09] <flutesalad> all the best with the next one
[21:09] <Lewis[TheCarer]> I liked how you looked for it in Leeds Very Happy

[21:09] <Jo> cheers ears Smile

[21:09] <chippy> Smile

[21:09] <flutesalad> hehe,
[21:09] <Lewis[TheCarer]> See you later guys
[21:09] <flutesalad> bye bye
[21:09] * Lewis[TheCarer] has quit IRC (Quit: http://unfiction.com/chat/)
[21:09] <chippy> see ya
[21:09] * Iain[TheCarer] has quit IRC (Quit: http://unfiction.com/chat/)

Color Legend:
Iain, bold red
Lewis, bold blue

Jeb

_________________
Jeb's ARG coming Autumn 2007...
Last FM Smile

Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 6:50 pm

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