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[Crescent]

Ministry of argon - debrief

[Dagada]

I'll post a more detailed response later, but a big thanks to all involved. Really enjoyed it on many levels, so good work!!

[theclaw]

eeee!

[dawndilion]

Ah, Crescent.

First off, apologies to all for bailing in the past few weeks. I started a new job 2 months ago, hired a new girl, fired her recently, and have been training someone new. Plus working over 40 hours a week. FABULOUS!

Anyway, I've found with this ARG, like Vanessa Atalanta, if I missed a day or so, I felt completely lost and had no idea what was happening. I completely missed when Claire was being directed in the park and felt like I totally missed out on the fun stuff. I enjoyed having a "live" NPC as well, but again, due to time differences, I felt like even if I had the time, I couldn't really help with anything. I also agree with theclaw, so much of this information just went right over my head. Never been good at science (had to wait until my last semester of college to take bio 101, lmao!), so that kind of stuff just confused me.

[dreamerblue]

I enjoyed this one. I enjoyed the last one, too, but I felt this time that we were a little better at solving stuff (though we took forever on some things--dang Kitaoka password I can now spell without looking up, lol) & less frustrated. I think being familiar with your style this time around and some info from the previous game helped us, too.

I don't know if you noticed or not, but Claire and I had a lot of lengthy chats! Having her to interact with was a lot of fun. Hey, anyone who introduces me to a kind of chocolate I haven't had before & I end up liking has got to be good in my books . I've already sent the real Claire a friend request...but I promise not to keep her up until 2 a.m. your time anymore !

Too bad again that the player base was small, but I think it worked out OK in the end. It made for a more intimate connection among the players & the characters, though I'm sure it also limited some of the things you wanted to do (the treasure hunt and so on).

I also liked the variety of characters...sharp-eyed Poeas, whose motives we always had to question but seemed to be on our side in the end; sneaky but genteel Jason; Claire, who felt a lot like me in some ways; seemingly unsure Ancaeus; mysterious, ever-watching Orpheus; and Aethalides (I can't figure out how to describe him, but I liked him...maybe grandfatherly, in a way?). The Ministry felt more real for having that variety of characters already figured out, and that made it OK that most of the agents were "busy with Project Tiphys" . Carina was a good clue, but I didn't mind that we never met her.

As with the last game, I learned some things through this game. Knowing to expect consilience to come up a lot helped me not jump on every last piece of info as a lead, but look at it all as a multifaceted whole. I like the way Claire put it, when it came to the video that was on the CD: "To me though the whole video like a train of thought. A bit like when you're having a drunken conversation, and one thing leads to another. ... I'm not saying each part isn't important, far from it. I think that each image is at the forefront of V's brain. But they might not be clues or directions to something, more a clue to V's state of mind."

Questions I can think of for now:

Do you think Vladimir's character in this game was consistent with his character last game? I had a really hard time figuring out how much of a good guy/bad guy he was being because I had a certain mindset about him, I guess...though I know people can change as certain challenges and opportunities present themselves. Anyway, he is less in my good books now than after the last game, heh .

Was a bigger treasure hunt planned? Shame if one was and it didn't work out . Were we supposed to find the parts of the machine after all?

At the end of the last game, you basically said you were still going to stay quiet on what the giants were going to be about, as they were going to play into a later chapter...was the windmill/Don Quixote link what you were going for, or is there more info you intend(ed) to use (such as the 24 of them we discovered last time)?

Was Ancaeus after V at the very end there? Poeas' asking where he was as soon as I mentioned that Orpheus was missing was very interesting.

Can we have a look at the "alternate endings", so to speak ? It does seem like the Ministry was just being self-serving in trying to get us to kill Tiphys, yes?

ETA: I take it Christine Draper is your nan, not Aethalides'...anything you'd like to share about her?

Suggestions for next time:

I don't think I can handle another game that updates so frequently until August (when I'll be done teaching & taking my own course in July). The fast pace is exciting, and I did get right into it (hence all the discussions with Claire), but it's a good thing the game is now wrapping up so I can get caught up on my marking, heh . Having a game that updates so frequently isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the urgency of certain deadlines did mean, for example, that Claire had to go get the USB key rather than one of us. I don't know for sure, but maybe a game can run well with large-player-base-urgent-deadlines or small-player-base-looser-deadlines...but I've never tried running one. Or maybe daily updates for a week, and then a week off to catch up on real life, heh .

...um, that's about it. Like I said, I had a good time, & I can't think of any other suggestions (at least not at the moment)!

(& I've also talked quite enough already, methinks .)

[Sirannon]

I had a ton of fun with this one! Echoing Dreamer, I loved the various characters and their personalities. They definitely felt like real people, and it was pretty darn easy to forget that they weren't. I also really liked feeling like we (well, not me so much) were helping and getting things accomplished. In the last game, I often felt like we were just along for the ride, and things were going to happen with us or without us, and this time I was much more engaged.

I also thought that the speed of updates was a bit intimidating- especially given that I was stuck in the hospital/on bed rest sans computer for a while, it was hard to catch up after even two or three days of being unable to check in. That said, I think I'd prefer this kind of schedule to one where there were no updates for weeks and weeks.

Nice touch with the phone calls! I adore when a game brings the interactivity away from just the internet. Although I wasn't directly involved in it, it was exciting to hear about Claire being guided about, and everything like that. I thought that intermingling of the "real" world and the "game" world were absolutely fantastic!

I'm not quite as fond of Vlad as I was anymore! And I'm absolutely dying to know what the "alternate future" would have held- I'm a sucker for AUs.

Anyway, it was an awesome ride and I can't think of anything else to say for the moment...thanks so much!

[Crescent]

glad that people lke it

[Dagada]

Here's my tuppence:

I found this enormously involving - much easier to follow than the first part, but then I was in this from the start. I think the metaplot was much less abstract this time and developed well taking us through the mystery and allowing things to become clear at just the right points.

I know what some folk mean about finding it hard to catch up if you miss a few days, but I think that's the nature of an ARG.

(seemingly) being the only London-vicinity player, I did feel quite a bit of pressure from time to time. Especially when it came to some of the visual clues / hunts etc. But that all worked out ok - and I did enjoy the day out in Greenwich and meeting the lovely Vanessa and excessively hunky Orpheus.

Claire was great - a really good connection point, fun to chat to and holding just enough plot strings. In fact, all the characters were done very well, although Poeas abrasive manner maybe put some folk off contacting her more. But it wasn't hard to genuinely care for the characters. When Claire posted she was going to sleep at the end, and we weren't sure if she'd cease to exist, I felt quite moved.

And that was a nice thing - you managed to actually get us FEELING! And thinking. Especially in the latter portions of the game. The moral and philosophical choices we had to make were quite consuming, especially as our actions would have enormous ramifications for not only the characters but the world.

I really liked the role my player character took - it felt like I, we, actually had a hand in what was going on and could win trust through our words and actions. I liked the fact we spotted there was another choice at the end, and managed to guide the characters down it. It felt like we had control, in part, of the story. Were there any times when player actions surprised you, or altered how the story played out?

Above all, thanks to you, your team and all my fellow players for making this such a fun experience.

[Crescent]

Changing actions

[amandel]

Well, Paul, your epitaph to your nan and the final Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things) quote brought such a catch to my throat.

Since most of my questions/concerns have already been addressed I'd like to mention that you're a masterful scenario writer and create very vivid characters. This was a true gem 'tho my perception was that there was little room to maneuver during the climactic phase proceding swiftly after the Gaiman/Sandman clue.

More important, how you managed to accomplish this almost all on your own still amazes me. This world you, yourself, have created demands more travel to it. (Please ) Oh, and "contact-poisoning" Poeas, an intriguing IG, ultimately viewed through Claire's eyes as sharp tongued, spinster Miss Rennet holding Sunday lectures made me laugh out loud at the end.

Claire is pure magic and I feel honored that you introduced your friend to us. Her use of Beadwerkz was a stroke of reality genius. Maybe initially limiting contact with the other IGs by choosing conduits (which knowing you was meant to be positive/special) proved to be counter-productive and also daunting to newer players?

About the puzzles, imo they were unusual and well-timed. Was having a uF hiatus due to a RL family accident when I got the MOA trailhead email so my concentration on them lapsed occasionally. My bad, not yours, Paul. And with such beaut weather approaching am unwilling to fault you for MOA's duration feeling a tad compressed. Many thanks again!

[Crescent]

gosh - thanks amandel!
Well - on my own - yes mostly - though the initial creation stages - and idea sounding out were with a few friends [thanks toby and chris]
Claire was a god-send and, despite having RL issues as well, carried her role magnificently, not being told she was a mash up of vanessa and claire until the actual day!
as for visiting the world again - its this one... so there will be more - trying to work out how to do a ning thing again BUT which doesn't charge [from july ning are charging - can't afford outlay really..]
thanks once again - more questions please - won't give spoilers but will gladly sound things out NOT top show off but to see and interpret how people thought about the structure etc - helps me work out things for next one
Thanks once again
Paul

[dreamerblue]

Re: Changing actions

[Crescent]

17 - map
not designed to be easy - but was the old computer layout for an argon computer - make it white and do a tin eye on it...

[Dagada]

That's the thing with puzzles - once you get the logic, everything will fall into place quickly. I am lucky enough to be blessed with a truely Fortean brain and make the most obscure connections all the time. The Countdown one was great cos I made the connection straight away and then discounted it as I thought "there's no way such an esoteric and highbrow game will reference THAT", before realising it was - but as a door to something else. Nice.

The meetup clue, I think, was intended to be easier to decode to facilitate it all working and folks connecting in the right place at the right time. The only thing that confused me was when V was counting the start of the month from but I am just a crazy foo'.

Other puzzles I had no idea about, and I did end up chasing a few White rabbits with that CD, trying to decode secret messages in the titles and lyrics of the songs. I spent a whole day doing that - literally. My brain melted and I wailed and gnashed my teeth. It's not hard to forget that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I'm most grateful the PM reminded me of this.

But, Mr Paul, I found your work on this quite inspiring. You told an interesting, thought provoking and moving story in an effective way and made me want to try running something one day. What you acheived with limited time and funds is amazing.

What might I advise for future instalments? Culturally specific references can sometimes stump people - as the countdown clue did - but I guess you could say that about any puzzle etc.

It's sometimes hard to spot who's a vital cog and who's a red herring in the NPCs, and as players I think we latched on to a few "favourites" at the start and got too involved with their plots as time went on. You did a good job of hinting that maybe certain people had things to say when we ignored them, but, for some reason Poeas seemed to scare folks off after initial contact. This was the thing - I think at the start we were very unsure of who we could trust and what we could say within the ministry without getting ourselves cast into the outer darkness. But that's always hard to manage. Once players get their hooks into one character or another in any form of interactive fiction they tend to stick with them rather than investigate other options. Better the devil you know....

[Crescent]

its odd though - this idea of favorite characetrs - though fully understandable - last game people were generally divided among the characters - his time, it was stacked against poeas - which was intended - but what did poor old tom do huh huh???

thanks once again for praise - but constructive criticism is better...

as for songs and poems: people are too quick to go - 'found it', source it and not read around it.
EG: the titus andronicus referencing last game - whole section on burying hiddne treasure in a cave which was missed

in this game it was more abut the context of whole song - not just titles - the lyrics and mood of each song
westminster bridge was where doctor who new series started and linked to time travel nicely, about starting an adventure with an unknown man...

mooonlight was ref to ultra

cool wind blowing is just a beautiful song...