unforum

[kosmopol]

Yeah, Jane, this was wonderful time, very inrense, very fun. I also wink to all lurkers. And I hope our new friends since 10CfLn will remain here.

As already said somewhere, UnFiction became our second home.

[v37]

Video from ISS confirms Cloverfiled Lane monster...

[kosmopol]

Why it's so dark at ISS?
"Last one turn out the lights" kind of things???

[SychophanticDesign]

Wanted or not I think I'll be sticking around for awhile, Even if this has felt a little bit like hurry up and wait (It's probably just me though, since I've tried playing the game and... Yeah, I'll leave that to the pros).

Besides there's a marble hornets board, always a fun time.

[Pixiestix]

BUSY!
WORK!
DOES!
NOT!
SERVE!
YOUR!
PLAYERS!!!!!

Frak that nonsense.

[aromerogern22]

What's wrong?

Surely the Facebook post is a clue of some sort...

[Pixiestix]

a clue to help people play a frakking busy work game. it's ridiculous. Meta wise, it's annoying. IG wise, it makes no sense.

"You should be traveling here to safety, but first, play a video game! oh, and let me keep modifying it for you daughter! oh, and let me put in leaderboards, even though ONLY YOU have access to this stupid game i made to keep you busy while you are supposed to be traveling!!!"

That's what's wrong.

[wyokid]

[Pixiestix]

no, it is busy work. It doesn't make sense in the game universe, it really doesn't - no matter how many times Howard says it's for her sake because he contradicts himself 100% in telling her to sit in front of a computer and keep playing this game.

And no, it isn't that anyone sucks at it, because the modifications being made to the game appear to be planned - meaning every stage of the game, there isn't a "win point" - after some arbitrary time, they make a game modification and you play again.

It is just something to do for something to do sake, it is indeed called busy work. Time wasters. It would be the same thing if there was a random puzzle {albeit more fun} that didn't make any sense for the game. I've never been a fan of PM teams who use busy work, the best ones don't.

[gimlet]

I'm not as upset right now as Pixie is, but I agree that this is busy work I don't much care for.

This is in no way *our* fault. We don't suck at it. There are a few elite players who are actually masterful at it, though many of the rest of us have dwindling interest in it. But we have nothing else to do. That's bad design. There was no way to get a clear enough image out of the trailers to find the coordinates without doing things that are technically illegal. That's bad design.

If we *are* behind where we should be, it is a result of poor design. Period.

For those who aren't familar with the basics of usability design (whether that's game, arg, user interface, product, graphic or other) if you've designed your (whatever) in such a way that your user is not able to use it as intended, you've done a bad job, and that's your fault as the designer.

You never assume your user is stupid and wrong, you assume you weren't paying close enough attention to their needs. That is what usablity design is. It is thoughtfully planning out making things for human beings other than yourself. It requires empathy at bare minimum as well as and research and testing.

I actually very much like and respect that these PMs at least seem to be receptive to criticism and are adapting things on the fly (like the broken leader board system) even if a lot of this has been disapointingly reactive rather than premeditative. I've assumed that this sim part just isn't my thing (clearly it is others though). I just wish it weren't dragging on so long, or the rest of us had something more engaging to work on in the meantime.

[hinoai]

Agreed. While I like text-based games like that SIM, I had assumed that once we had a little while to play, we would move on. Trying the same thing over and over again for an ambiguous goal is tiring. I'm over it, waiting for the next update that involves a puzzle of some sort.

[ryanj64]

Maybe they are waiting until we are at our breaking points to launch additional items, effectively wearing us down to the point of say low morale. Only to release all of this tension in a flury of TIDO, SLUSHO, TAGRUATO, BOLD FUTURA, TEDDY HANSON, etc media that makes us have to come together in some sort of human centepedelike totem pole to grab a flag at the top of the pricesses castle.

[kelwhite01]

Also agreed, I'd like to see more about Howard's evidence gathering beyond just the .WAV file.
Secret military evidence stuff... that's fun to play with and research.

[wyokid]

I'm having a blast playing the sim and have been having a ton of fun with this ARG in general. My breaking point was when Mugen went and found the dead drop only for people to start complaining that he wasn't going fast enough and wasn't doing enough. The dude didn't have to go out and get it and if you wanted it done faster you should have gone out and got it yourself. Then people started hacking the sim and we were warned to stop. Clearly the sim wasn't as tight as it should have been and they're making adjustments to accommodate the players. Also I doubt Howard is THAT great with tech and all the typos he's making probably makes it hard for him to code as well. I'm just tired of people whining is all. It's an Alternate Reality GAME and we still have two weeks before the movie, either have fun with what you're getting or don't play. This is the reason I don't pay attention to sports or video games, people get way too into it. They don't have to put this whole thing together for us, we should be appreciative of what we're getting. /rant

[gimlet]

I agree that we are in no way entitled to this ARG, but disagree that this should free it from criticism. People presume criticism to be inheranlty negative, because it can be difficult, when it is in fact neutral, and pushes foward things to be better. In that way it acts overall as a positive force on any thing.

Also, as has been stated numerous times, some of the things the PMs were leading players towards could have ended badly, dangerously for various parties and that is something that certainly needs to be discussed and criticized.

Would you have preferred it that those inviolved in Professional sports never discussed, criticized or investigated the use of helmets and the prevalence of concussions? Because I am certain it is a better world now that this has come to light.

Also, it seems like the PMs have our ear, because the last FAPT message seems to be be reassuring us that we're about done with the SIM. Thank god.