unforum

[European Chris]

As the game became more mainstream, since about Christmas last year, so have the players. The game is still charming and well designed but the players have generally become less erudite, thinner skinned and a lot more queeny.

So yes, more people, more diverse, more perspectives.

More idiots, more stupidity and more rubbish ideas badly explained. If people had a crap idea when I started playing people said it was stupid, now they tend to masturbate in those ideas for a few days before it gets forgotten, ignored and a new stupid idea gets pushed into the forefront of our diverse minds.

[BrianEnigma]

[Rand0m]

Personally, I don't think the game's jumped the shark, I'm still getting as much from it as I ever was. I do think there are one or two structural weaknesses that are getting a bit more noticeable as the pace quickens towards the end, but that's not the same thing as suggesting that maybe Mind Candy have gone off the boil.

However, there's a factor that might be causing some players to get a bit 'ho-hum' about the game and Duckie's put her finger on it in her second post - though I don't think she fully realises in what way. It's not so much that she, and some others, have got involved in the organising of the game. It's actually a thing that is a risk for all online communities and is not unique to PXC: people have started meeting up offline and becoming friends.

I discovered this from my time as part of a Buffy fansite a few years ago. When people from an online community start meeting up in real-life it can damage the community because the focus shifts from the originial interaction (be it playing a game or participating in fandom or whatever) and moves to who said what to whom when the vodka started flowing. What brought them together becomes less important than the fact they are together. Which is fine - just different is all.

I think this may be happening a bit here, too.

[mac_monkey]

[Ashin]

Issues, Concerns, Possible Solutions: Jump the Shark Part 2

[duckiemonster]

Well, I do move for a mergy merge of this with the other thread... I think the points you've made here are pretty much what the other thread is all about. I also hope that you've written all of this in an email to Mind Candy; it's the sort of feedback that they'll be looking for and will value.

[ChalcoDoror]

My 2 cents? (or pennys)

I don't think the game has jumped the shark. I originally heard about the game through a friend, and bought some cards when I was around town (they were shiny packets).

At that point I had heard there was a backstory but had been more than happy to just solve cards. Then I solved Bar None, and got my first website... I also got frustrated with not being able to find out if I had something right and started looking for a place where I could check them, and found Unforums (you great people).

Now I'm hopelessly entrenched in the game, have travelled 26 hours to go to live events (I must admit, spending just 40 hours, maybe 41, in San Francisco may not have been the best idea, I might spend longer next time, some of which may even include sleep), traded a heck of a lot of cards, given away a lot more, spent countless hours on IRC which I never used to before, met some great people and had fun without skating... So I say thank you Perplex City.

I personally think that this is a first step from Adrian Hon et al at Mind Candy. Sure it would be great for them to have lots of events/story, but we have to understand that while this may have been planned before the game started, implementation can be a tricky thing in practice. This is also their first such game on this scale. I would expect wave 2 and even *gasp* wave 3 to be a much more involving. Just think of yourselves as pioneers, taking part in the first game. I for one don't blame them for having most of their events etc on UK time, there pretty much needs to be technical support for anything done and you try keeping staff in the office outside of normal working hours...

Now if you excuse me, I'm going to attempt to solve Riemann again...

[mac_monkey]

[Muffin]

Re: long timer views

[doublecross]

Duckie, what have you unleashed?!

I don't think that Perplexcity has 'jumped the shark', instead what has happened is that things have stagnated somewhat. MC is probably regrouping for the end of season 1 and thinking about season 2, with a bit of not being able to do several things at once due to lack of resources thrown in. If there was more to do, there'd be less time for 'reflection' by the players. Things can easily get back on track.

I confess to being a tiny bit competitive, and so enjoy the challenge of the leaderboard despite being fully aware of its ultimate pointlessness. But don't you worry, I'm going to find the cube as well. I don't mind the extra points, but I think they should be continually available to all rather than confined to particular events. Well I would say that, wouldn't I?

I'm not a great veteran of ARGs, but something that hasn't been mentioned is the lack of 'curtain' in this one, which unsettles me. I can't quite put it into words, but I think there is too much crossing the line between players and puppetmasters.

MC has had some great ideas, and needs to build on these as the game gets larger. I accept the need for 'learning experiences', but it can't all be 'learning experiences', or else we are just being used.

[number9dream]

It seems to me that most of the series that are being held up as having 'jumped the shark' did so well after the first season, which was often just to generate enough interest for the tv networks to invest in a second season (see Buffy, sopranos, most other you could name). The disadvantage for the producers of these series is that they get less budget to invest than they would in the second season, as it is possible that a second will never be made or even that the first will be cancelled half-way though (firefly).

I think Perplex City will have been run on exactly similar lines, a modest investment on the speculative first season and once this has shown a return, a much greater investment in the second and (dare i say it?) the third (one only has to look at the recent expansion of the Mind Candy staff to see the increasing investment levels). This should mean we have bigger resources to give us bigger events and storylines in the future.

There is a distinction, to my mind at least, between the supposed disenchantment of the 'long-term' players related perhaps to the perceived lack of exclusivity of the game in recent months, and a deterioration in the quality of the game and story, (implied by the term 'jumping the shark').

If players feel somehow let down that the game has been overtaken by new players then that is a shame as the expansion of the game (and hence it's success and continuation) has been something which we have all wanted to bring about and have contributed to through stickering, card drops, street team etc.

I think the end of the first season is far too early to make a claim about deterioration of story or game. As mentioned above Mind Candy are still feeling their way in terms of running a game on this magnitude, something which has required a certain amount of learning as they go along, I'm sure. I look forward to participating in the forthcoming seasons which, i'm sure will be even better than this one has been.

[GasparLewis]

Personally, as a very short add-on, I'll say this:

The quality of action and interaction has clearly lowered as Mind Candy has had the necessity to spread Perplex City to more and more players, but, whatever the case, I haven't felt, at anything I might have considered a misstep, that it was so crucial that I wouldn't consider playing the next season.

It's better than nothing, it's fun, it makes my brain work, and it's free (since I don't buy cards).
No reason to quit in my book.

[The following message is all strictly IMHO. Thank you, and good day.]

[krystyn]

I admit I am pretty mystified that the SF Event participants received no points for their attendance.

I've been solving cards since I received a bunch at ARGfest-O-Con this year, and even got a binder (and some Wave 4 cards), and integrated the pre-release cards yanka gave me over a year ago, but I am not sure how much more I could invest monetarily, as I am sure I will never top the leaderboard.

But yeah, the no points for SF thing bugs me.

[spugmeistress]

i dont think PXC has jumped the shark, or got worse than the good old days or anything. If anything has got worse/changed/evolved whatever - it's the community, but the game itself seems to be the same as ever.

i disagree with the attitude that this is a CCG with story added on - i think it only seems that way if you got into it because it had cards, and you come from that type of background. personally i remember when the cards didnt even exist, through to us getting the prototypes, and then the full releases - perhaps as a result i'm not really that arsed about the leaderboard, or collecting them all, i buy them a) because they are pretty, and fun and b) because it supports the game which i like. if anything, this has actually forced me to become more TINAG in my attitudes towards the story, not sure why though.

i also disagree with the idea that the community has changed because people have started meeting up. for a start - we've had meet ups and RL friendships on the boards and in the chat room since the start. i've met up with a lot of people from here and made good friends, but the geeks that we are, we still end up talking bout the game when we meet up ;) the only ones of us who have lost interest in the game, are ones who would have lost interest anyway and have only stuck around for the social stuff - some of them have even stuck around long enough to regain that same interest. plus, meeting each other IRL has probably quelled more arguments in chat than it has caused them imo.

the community has definitely changed - and grown and got more mainstream/less hardcore with it - which i guess is part of the jumping the shark idiom - in my opinion alot of people start to thinking something is less cool at coincidentally the same time as alot of new people start liking it ;) but newbies are always welcome, we need the fresh ideas, and all of us were newbies once. personally some of the newer CCG-ers tend to annoy me with their attitudes but hey, we all play the same game for different reasons, its that far reaching, and i'm sure we all annoy each other for focussing on our specialised area at times ;) tis all about recognising each others strengths and working together.

also, i'm quite glad the community and the game is growing so much - the possibilities for spin offs and new ideas excite and inspire me and the more people and the bigger the game gets, the more chance they'll have to expand. either way, i'm still having fun or i wouldn't be here :)

rach =)

[e_nygma]