unforum

[Heiglot]

There are some thoughts on this subject over in Websnark.

(Edited because rereading it, this looks just like freaking comment spam. It's not. The Websnark essay is specifically about the Haunted Apiary and the recent shifts in playstyle.)

[Howdareyou]

At least you guys have the opportunity to contribute; I live in New Zealand. That basically speaks for itself. Quite apart from the fact that I'm often asleep when embedded text updates occur, due to timezone differences.

(edit: semicolon for colon)

[SuperJerms]

[thebruce]

[thebruce]

holy cow that was long! hope it's good reading though

[krystyn]

cancer, shmancer!

Life is too effing short, people.

Having said that, I understand, empathize, and sympathize with pretty much every single emotion I've seen played out here over the last week or so, but every single damn argish game I see has some sort of 'death knell' chanted over it in some fashion by some self-proclaimed gaming pundit, and I just don't buy it, not for one minute.

Politicize all you like, but part of what makes this format so alluring in the first place is some of the stuff you see happening right in front of you - new worlds opening up, surprising pieces of text grabbing your attention, a small sound snippet firing up your imaginations, and yes, perceived loyalties and strange roleplaying getting your hackles raised.

Just as we were being lulled into a weird, frustrated complacency with the tedium of endless axons, we were yanked forcefully out of it, into sharp emotional relief. Trust is hard at this point, but I dunno, I think there's some surprises yet in store. Most of this game has been about things not seeming to be what they are on the surface. We can't even identify what these entities really are! What they were two minutes ago! What they (were)are(will be) many years into the future! What makes you think that the status of 'crew members' is going to remain in any way what you think it is, in this particular block of time?

Lotsa curious symmetry, and it's not over yet. Oh, no.

There ain't no cancer here. Just a little sting. A pinch. If we're up to it, we'll get through it, and have ourselves a good time, I'll bet. That's the collective.

[thebruce]

preach it sister

[Alzheimers]

If the only way Melissa can communicate is via the phones, and she obviously hasn't found *this* site yet, then I'd assume it's safe to say that any "in-game roleplaying" would be insulated on these boards. Hence, there's no oath or promise that should keep players from sharing secrets here, as we're all a part of this game one way or another. There's a Fourth-Wall barrier at play here -- no matter how much the actors on stage cast asides to the audience, to break that boundry would ruin the immersion of whatever phantasy the PMs are trying to create.

We might as well just email the ladybee saying "GOT YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE JUST A WRITER TELLING US A STORY! NYEH NYEH!"

As it is, I'm tired of the pace of this game. Except for one good tuesday morning, the past month for me has been nothing but reading the transcripts on thebruce's site. I think the lack of anything interesting happening that involves the majority of the players was a real let-down, and hurts an already shaken audience morale even more. We're already at each other's throats -- now, they give us nothing to do but bitch at each other.

[SuperJerms]

Yeah, you're right. Cancer is probably the wrong word, it carries too negative a connotation. I'll change it wherever I used it to issue. Don't get me wrong here...I'm not signaling anyone's death-knell here.

Any way you slice it, the game is making a paradigm shift in ARGs. It's pitting ARG commandment 7 vs. 9--Help the characters vs. help eachother. How can that not create a stir?

That a game can evoke such feelings is a testament to the PM's creativity, and should be celebrated. Another clinically interesting thing is that so far, I have only noticed crew members taking issue with these discussions. Well anyway...I think I've said all that I have left to say about this issue. But I do urge you...don't confuse these posts with trolling.

[Nightmare Tony]

After reading that fun essay, my only comment is simple.

ARG is an ever evolving form.. to simply replay the Beast over and over again would become mighty tiring. The fantastic thing about I Love Bees, it already has the wonderfull community feeling of all of us working together. The call for the crewmembers is a new tactic, yet one that makes absolute sense in the story line.

there is a kind of luck. While in Canada, you may not get to an axon, I have several around me, was watching the Promenade and may very well have gotten Melissa live, EXCEPT that the phone volume was so super low that we could not carry on any sort of conversation. had it worked, I may have joined as a Technician.

We are going toward uncharted territory once again. The Beast is absolutely no guide to where we are going. Already, one cardinal rule was broken since the beginning. While most every other ARG is played across multiple websites, ILoveBess has stayed on the single website, and releases its new information on its own sweet time. Sort of like the classic Alfred Hitchcock movie REAR WINDOW, in which almost the entire movie is filmed from a single apartment. It is a taut and riveting movie.

so some players are now crewmembers. some will do their tasks as bidden. Some may betray Melissa. we may get more recruitments.

but we all do it together.

all of us.

Beekeepers.

[vortech]

Well, here's another crew dissent I guess.

When I decided to play this game I did it for one reason only: I wanted to be part of a cooperative game. I found the AI game almost at the end. I envied the community. I am the type of person who owns 3 gaming consoles primarily so I can watch my friends play adventure games and shout advice (is that a type?) When I got the the first Axon and there were ~15 of us there I was ecstatic. We tossed around wild spec for half an hour. Just before the call came Sapagoo was on his phone with people who had reports from other groups and suddenly it was like our team had doubled. And it was that interactive community that made the difference. we were too early in the morning to know what to say had it not happened.
After the clip played we bunched together and scattered. A bunch went to work, but one group went off to read the Halo novels, while another group went to drive down to Macon to pick up another axon, while Sapagoo another, and I went to a starbucks and heard war stories from The Beast while we downloaded the clip we just won.

So why don't I relinquish my crew status? Because I'm selfish? Sure. But something else: I have the same feeling I had after that first call when we ended up in smaller groups for a while. Separating didn't diminish what we had done together, it was merely a more efficient way to deal with an uncertain future.

Let me just say one more thing. The much maligned "Secret Task" is now totally out in the open. A delay of about 4 days. So lets say that Weephun did what people wanted, told the community immediately. We have seen that we can't come to a consensus on what should have been done. We don't have a clear loyalty to recommend. At best we would have had lots of fighting over what to do, and when that broke down, lots of unilateral emails simultaneously trying to achieve mutually exclusive goals. Half of the people blasting Weephun for sending an email also say they wanted a chance to warn the SP. Would that somehow be more collaborative? Does it help the game to have the people running it flooded with emails instead of working on the next part if it? People are complaining about the speed as it is.

I can't fault the game for being slow. Every one of my friends I have tried to convince to join up says the same thing: Looks like fun, if I had the time. Bungie is trying to advertise a game here, and if the nerds I hang out with think it is moving too fast how big would the player base be going faster?

(Wow, I was SURE I would be shorter than the other posts. . .)

[The Adam]

[HitsHerMark]

[DarkStorm]

True, true, and true, but still...

The coolest aspect of the whole thing, to me, is getting to interact with the in-game characters. And I've had none, despite, as I said, being here since the start.

So, yeah. Still feeling left out, at least until Melissa, the Flea, or the Princess respond to or acknowledge something I've sent or done.

-DS-

[AlexofMaceidon]

Well, personally I have my own cross to bare as far as being left out, I am a friggin high school student, I'm in band, Academic Decathelon, and enough advanced courses to choke a fair sized elephant.

I have no time to drive to downtown Dallas and pick up a pay phone, but I can sit here and analize data in between practiacing my horn and heading off to a day of AC DEC (can you tell I just got on and found out about this SP stuff like... 15 minutes ago?) but I'm still ok.

I actually was sent the SP capturing email, something I don't take lightly as I've really sent like 1 email to the SP and 1 to Dana, and they still saw fit to put me on the email list. Also I <3 SP, I just do, my major contribution to this whole site has been a theory involving her, and its that theory that makes me think I'm not wasting my time here.

What I think I'm driving at, or what I should be, is that whether you know it or not, you are contributing to this, whether its just the fact that your posts add to the mass here that impresses a newcomer into joining the bee keepers, or if it has real meaning in the storyline.

So don't quit on this, its too much fun.