New direction...

itsreallyreal · Post by **itsreallyreal** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:22 am

In the spirit of "Moving On"...

When the creators get a new person to run the/an ARG for LG15... What kinds of things would you like to see stay and what kind of improvements would you like to see???

- For me I would like to see the IRC chat go away comlpetely... a True ARG should be played out in a place EVERYONE can share and enjoy it... UNNOFICIAL IRC chats are fine but I hate the ID of NEEDING to chat in IRC to even participate...

- I would LOVE to see more tangent videos... Videos used solely as clues and not directly related to the story line or intended to cary it on further... (Ala the TLE ARG)

- I would love to have more group participation with puzzles that go from Clue---->Clue---->Clue---->answer as oppose to Clue--->Answer

- I really like having the forum here so I would love that to stay!

- I REALLY like the characters so far so Op and Bro and Tachy would need to stay I think!

So what else... Throw your 2 cents out here.. Maybe the person the creators get to run the (new) ARG will read all our thoughts before moving forward...

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:30 am

All sounds good. It's definitely time to spin things around and try to bring a positive out of all this. Especially since we are powerless on the other issue.

itsreallyreal · Post by **itsreallyreal** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:33 am

I would also LOVE to see the actual Characters involved in their "In Character" portion of this forum too!!! There is a HUGE opportunity to draw the viewers in by the use of the actual characters themselves...

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:34 am

Heck, I agree with that for ALL characters...as it is, only Bree responds to anything and that's not often.

chixor1 · Post by **chixor1** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:38 am

IRC chat is used in ARGs to allow brainstorming, however unlike other ARGS ive participated in, the problem with the OA chat is that instead of keeping the brainstorming and the "chatter" in IRC and posting all relevant information in the forums in an ordered fashion, both forums and IRC were a complete unorganized mess.

All IG forum threads should be kept to relevant information only and moderated properly to remove all chatter, if you wish to have an OOG thread then keep it seperate from "Story so far" and Clue/Drop threads.

As far as the relevant information staying in IRC and not making it to the forums, thats the responsibility of the admins/operators
to ensure any information/clues/solves discussed in IRC that is improtant to the game is then posted in the forums for those unable to access IRC.

The problem isnt really the use of IRC over the use of forums, its the improper use of both.

Killthesmiley · Post by **Killthesmiley** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:44 am

I think the issues with the IRC was the fact that a small portion of the regular members felt like the needed a private, passowrd protected chat. It kind of enforces the distaste that a lot of us have. Only a select few are allowed to go, so its a problem, as obviously the on goings of puzzle solving weren't kept in the two designated places that some of these few members clearly enforced. They were spread out all over, into places that not everyone can participate in.

I'm not saying all puzzles were like that, just a few.

I personally feel like the need for IRC is no longer there. We have a chat on the web site, glitchy as it is, it still serves its purpose. It's tere for us to use. But very few people choose to use it. I think that if puzzle solving could be at least kept on the main site (the forums and official chat) we would be fine.
I also agree with the statement that clue>clue>clue>answer puzzles would be AMAZING! I also feel like the incharacter areas of the forum are a huge waste of space, currently, and feel like we need to either get rid of them, or use them more.

Kasdeja · Post by **Kasdeja** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:47 am

Keeping everything here on the site sounds very good...for many reasons.

chixor1 · Post by **chixor1** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:52 am

Killthesmiley wrote:I think the issues with the IRC was the fact that a small portion of the regular members felt like the needed a private, passowrd protected chat. It kind of enforces the distaste that a lot of us have. Only a select few are allowed to go, so its a problem, as obviously the on goings of puzzle solving weren't kept in the two designated places that some of these few members clearly enforced. They were spread out all over, into places that not everyone can participate in.

Agreed absolutely.
As I have expressed a few times the idea of creating a group of "elite" players whether the players deemed themselves that, or the nature of the game did, is a big mistake.
The point of the game is for everyone to work together to solve the puzzles and get the next clues.
Granted some of it is limited in regards to drops etc, but we should be excited for those who are lucky enough to be in a drop location and support them completely.
However by shunning players because they are not part of the "in"crowd does not help the game, it stops people playing who were genuinly interested in playing the game, and reduces the number of people working on puzzles.
That person who was told to get lost for whatever reason may just be the one person who has the knowledge or tools or just brainstorms enough to crack that code.

Instead the game resorts to bartering for solves because not everyone is playing.

itsreallyreal · Post by **itsreallyreal** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 9:56 am

chixor1 wrote:IRC chat is used in ARGs to allow brainstorming, however unlike other ARGS ive participated in, the problem with the OA chat is that instead of keeping the brainstorming and the "chatter" in IRC and posting all relevant information in the forums in an ordered fashion, both forums and IRC were a complete unorganized mess.

All IG forum threads should be kept to relevant information only and moderated properly to remove all chatter, if you wish to have an OOG thread then keep it seperate from "Story so far" and Clue/Drop threads.

As far as the relevant information staying in IRC and not making it to the forums, thats the responsibility of the admins/operators
to ensure any information/clues/solves discussed in IRC that is improtant to the game is then posted in the forums for those unable to access IRC.

The problem isnt really the use of IRC over the use of forums, its the improper use of both.

As hot as your Avi is... I still don;t agree with you on this one

I have played MANY ARGS and none of them inviolved the NEED for IRC...

When you create a need like that you creat a separation in the community of ARGers... and then things like what we just experienced happen... As well as people getting clickey and also people feling left out... As has happened here...

There is no reason a forum can not be used to fecilitate the entire ARG... You have Threads for important info that is left clean... a section for the metta chat and a section for in game discussion of the current "goings-Ons" and stuff... It really works JUST fine... the only REAL difference is the format...

chixor1 · Post by **chixor1** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:00 am

itsreallyreal wrote:
There is no reason a forum can not be used to fecilitate the entire ARG... You have Threads for important info that is left clean... a section for the metta chat and a section for in game discussion of the current "goings-Ons" and stuff... It really works JUST fine... the only REAL difference is the format...

You are absolutely right.

There is no NEED for IRC chat, which is what I said in my post. I just explained why many ARGs use IRC Chat.
It just cuts down on the noise in the forums.

Killthesmiley · Post by **Killthesmiley** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:01 am

If there is ever a need for chat during this arg,
I believe it should be kept on site.
thats my personal opinion.

sc · Post by sc » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:04 am

Just remember that even the chat in question did not start out as official, and i don't think you can demand that players ONLY use official chats, whatnot. People get together on their own to discuss things, and, sometimes, more and more people accumulate at these places. While it can be annoying for these people to solve things then not fully explain themselves, it's still going to happen. Someone could solve something on their own, then post the solve and not explain how they did it. It's rude, but it happens.

chixor1 · Post by **chixor1** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:06 am

sc wrote:Someone could solve something on their own, then post the solve and not explain how they did it. It's rude, but it happens.

This is where the admins/mods/operators hell whatever they are called to then request that the solver explain how they came to the solution.

itsreallyreal · Post by **itsreallyreal** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:16 am

chixor1 wrote:
sc wrote:Someone could solve something on their own, then post the solve and not explain how they did it. It's rude, but it happens.
This is where the admins/mods/operators hell whatever they are called to then request that the solver explain how they came to the solution.

Yeah... CLEARLY people will have friends and groups on-line maybe even in IRC....

But I think that there should be nothing in the ARG itself that actually directs people there... And it should not be used as any kind of HUB at all...

That's all...

Jamidru · Post by **Jamidru** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:47 am

- I would LOVE to see more tangent videos... Videos used solely as clues and not directly related to the story line or intended to cary it on further... (Ala the TLE ARG)

- I would love to have more group participation with puzzles that go from Clue---->Clue---->Clue---->answer as oppose to Clue--->Answer

I would also LOVE to see the actual Characters involved in their "In Character" portion of this forum too!

I esp agree with IRR on these points.
( I like this thread, it's constructive.)