unforum

[Mikeyj]

[Event] Post-event discussion

[jojojojo]

Re: [Event] Post-event discussion

[Mikeyj]

Re: [Event] Post-event discussion

[Sophiecat]

I agree with Poozle UKVer2.0 and Mikey J.

I was really looking forward to this all day and for the previous few days since we found out it was going to happen, however I frankly found it disappointing.

I got sick of trying to answer the same question over and over again and not knowing which questions had already been answered.

I tried to keep up with the thread on unfiction but couldn't cope with juggling all the open windows.

As someone new to ARGs I was put off the IRC thing due to not knowing much about it, and from the comments of people at the Borders Launch it seems to be an exclusive club where novices are not welcomed. That may not be the case but it is the impression that many of us newbies have.

I appreciate the fact that MC did try to provide something for us and hope they will do so again, I also hope that the more positive comments made by others will be taken on board if something like this is tried again in the future.

Now to the serious business of finding the cube!

[poozle]

Ok, novices are accepted in IRC (I think you may have got the views partially off of me but I have reently been in #syzygy a LOT (every day for the past week almost) and they are VERY friendly) I was logged into the IRC yesterday but didn't use it, I used the teamspeak instead.

The sort of things I expected from the puzzles was that we would get maybe 4 or 5 puzzles each taking a while to solve, or more interactive puzzles (flash based maybe) which gave us a code word once complete.

[Ifurita]

we (live players) had a very good time. Here are some relevant Live Journal entries

http://mkan.livejournal.com/#item6997 <-- Pre-event
http://mkan.livejournal.com/#item7172 <-- Live Event
http://mkan.livejournal.com/#item7643 <-- Pictures
http://mkan.livejournal.com/#item7779 <-- Reflections

Another fine day of puzzle solving

We started out the day around 9:00 with breakfast at the ever popular IHOP on Lombard. Nothing like stack of blueberry waffles to get yourself stuffed for a day of running around and reckless driving. People gradually trickled in until we had 12 at our table.

The general puzzle format was interesting. People broke out into teams (the Gamescape Brian Cell broke up into 3 x 4 person teams) and scrambled to pick up envelopes of themed puzzles (faith, plaques, movies, codes, etc), plan attack strategies, and then hit the road. Over the course of the day, our group hit Grace Cathedral to walk the maze, then across the street to identify the other city which has the original version of the Fountain of the Tortoises, headed back to the Palace of Fine Arts to enter solves (we were the first group to post answers), and pick up new puzzles. Next, we headed out to Funston and Lincoln to find the bear then back to the Palace to decode the binary puzzle Yoshi solved while on the road. My day ended with Victoria and I madly rushing out to the Civic Center to get in a last solve before the deadline, to find the verb on the pedestal at Pioneer Monument - which turns out to be James Lick - then back to the Palace of Fine Arts, just in time to see everyone running out of the auditorium and watching the helicopters flying overhead.

Our teams did a fair amount of running around the city (Golden Gate Park, Financial District, Civic Center, and all spots in between). All I can say is that I'm glad we weren't running, biking, or roller blading it.

Overall, I think Adrian Hon said they had approximately 350 live participants and one spectator (Aliendial). Not sure how many people participated on-line. I didn't get a chance to play in the RFID game, so if anyone has and stories to relate, I'd like to hear about them.

Highlights
- Being the first team (Gamescape Brain Cell) to post answers for the off-line group
- Victoria climbing onto the roof of the church to identify the type of bird
- Yoshi climbing the telephone pole to find 'the bear'
- Hearing Victoria's friend victoriously declare vindication at having brought his compass, then immediately running off in the wrong direction (to a lot of head scratching by Yoshi and myself)
- Numerous traffic violations
- Counting corners on the maze at Grace Cathedral while everyone else was trying to walk
- Handing LHall a stack of blacks
- Cracking the puzzle to generate the question as the team came back with the answer (had gotten the question from another team)
- Post even drinks at the Marina Sport Bar and Grill (meeting the MC team, E Ngyma, rlp6028, dig35, among others)
- Realizing we had half of the top 10 American players at the table

[catherwood]

I had an overall positive experience being at the event. In some ways, there was too much to do, too many things to choose from, and not enough time to do them all, let alone take time out for lunch along the way.

We were given a packet of puzzles somewhat at random. Although we were told we could request puzzle sets by specialty or type, they were really grouped by answer theme. (One of our sets was all food and drink, for example, but a mixture of word search grid and trivia scavenger hunt.) Other puzzles were grouped by how much or little transportation around the city would be needed to solve them. However, we bypassed a few trips by using research instead of physically travelling to the locations; I had brought a city tourist guide book, and we also had brief access to the internet to look up descriptions of landmarks.

Early in the day was good for the scavenger hunt style questions. It was really fun looking all around for signs and plaques and places where a riddle answer could be hiding. But after a few hours of that without food, and pressed for time nearing the end of the event, we settled for research, and imagined what it would have looked like had we really gone to see the statue or hotel or whatever.

There was no penalty for submitting a wrong answer, so we also were happy to take educated guesses at answers. For the most part, the simplest answer worked anyway, and there was no need to do extreme research or overthink the riddle. One disappointing aspect was that teams did get overlapping puzzles. The puzzle sets weren't duplicates, but multiple teams were sent to solve the same tasks. That's when it felt like we were exhausting ourselves for no reason other than the fun of the task itself.

The RFID game? What RFID game? Apparently there was something going on in the theater for people to watch who stayed behind. For those of us out driving the roads, we missed that portion entirely. Truely a disappointment there.

I'm sorry, but the helicopters didn't impress me very much, but I'm not immersed in the ARG story at all. The more dramatic and amusing bit came *before* that, when we were sitting in the theater watching the transmission when the link was reestablished. Cell phones started ringing in the audience, then those people just stood up and ran out of the theater! That was more of a what-the-heck moment than helicopters. (My team had just seen police helicopters over the city earlier in the day, as there was a political demonstration going on.) Granted, these two helicopters did fly pretty low and close to the beautiful dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, and they circled and chased for awhile, and there was some drama in that.

Anything else? Oh, they had a table of wooden puzzles which was a fun distraction, a way to occupy time between activities, and something for non-card-collectors like myself to do. I should have spent much more time meeting more people and socializing, but it was hard to know who I knew, you know, without knowing them first, you know? Big crowd of people, dim lighting, and no name tags.

Overall, one has to approach a live puzzling event for more than just puzzles. I've had much better pure puzzle challenges online, but riddles and trivia and scavenger hunts are better suited to getting people out and seeing the sites of the city.

[poozle]

I just wondered, did the people at the event in SF get anything like a special leitmark, promo card, etc. Or was there just merchandise to buy?

[Ifurita]

nope, nothing special

[DanAmrich]

[Geist]

I think the game is a victim of its own sucess. Likely the most of the time was in planning and setting up the live game. However they set up the online part for all of us that cant be in sf.

But how do you have puzzles thats suit over 200 people? There would have even been more players than those in mirc. If the puzzles were too simple and they they get answered too quickly. More difficult ones and it might be too much for the a lot of the players and they feel left out. So the questions last night could be answered by most and plenty for everyone. Agreed it not the most exciting but better than nothing.

Way back at the start when there was a live event at Abbey road in London there was maybe about 20 people in chat watching a webcam and perhaps same number at the event.

Look at the numbers from last night. The game has grown so much now that i think it is going to be a problem to have something for everyone. Some people might find having to ROT letters new while others its the first thing they think of when they see a code. The next meetup there could be 300 or 400 people playing online. Perhaps if they had something like the live game where there are number of section of puzzles and you sign up and can only do one section might mean people can work on challenging level and in more manageable groups.

As jojojojo said I think there will be more things for us to do and im sure points said here will be picked up on. However I dont imagine it will be that easy for them.

[poozle]

I think part of the problem is that perplex city has taken off MUCH faster than mind candy imagined (and infact most of us). I think last night they should have put a couple of puzzles, maybe in a seperate group or a special section in a group, which were longer problems requiring groups to solve, it would have kept us interested during the "we're getting sick of the same questions now".

[UKver2.0]

Warning: UKver2.0 opinion to follow...

[filmguy1013]

My 2 cents, having played since project syzygy, was that while the event wasn't as challenging as it could have been, the event was still a big success and loads of fun. We were required to work in small teams, and for us, we had a question that overlapped with 2 other groups, but the puzzle was so challenging it took all 3 groups working together to figure it out. I personally brought 3noobs with me, and this event was a perfect way to introduce them to the world of PXC. They had such a blast that its all they've been able to talk about since yesterday and they are all hooked now, solving all the puzzle cards they bought.

In fact, I could've gone for a longer day with more puzzles to be handed out, and meeting and interacting with over 300 players was wonderful! My props to MC and everyone who participated.

[rose]

live event