Messages

Yeah, non-cool people wouldn't understand...

Right with you.  I hate Nick Cage.  I had a dream about lighting his head on fire and I though it was pretty cool, but then I found out that he was going to play Ghost Rider in the upcoming movie.  Very not cool.

But the important thing here in this relatively pointless thread: Kinoko, does this mean that you finally got internet hook up in your apartment?

Gorram Japan, denying this Browncoat his long-awaited treat.

Kinoko is partially right.  Unfortunately, she's also partially wrong.

Sorry Vince, but taste is subjective. You can like whatever you want and you can never be wrong in any way.

I'm sorry Nik, but that's just ignorant.  All opinions are wrong unless they coincide with mine.  It's just a fact of life.  Some people are dumb, and they are the ones that disagree with me.

By the way, I'm being sarcastic here.  As I was above.  As was Kinoko.  Don't get worked up about people making cracks at someone else's music tastes on an online board.  We're all friends here and we all understand that music preferences differ.  It's just more fun to make broad generalisations like "All of that crap you listen to is crap," than it is to say "Excuse me, but might I politely disagree with your contention that John Vanderslice is, and I quote: 'da bomb'."

No matter how much someone identifies with their music, they should never get angry about someone else not liking it, because then everyone in the world would be angry.

And by the way, Nik.  Your music sucks.

Then tell me how much you love Maroon 5.

Kinoko is partially right.  Unfortunately, she's also partially wrong.

The Darkness is good... until it gets old.

And LGM's taste is not entirely bad.  The Postal Service is one of the most delightful listens you'll ever have.  I've got to side with LGM on this one... Postal Service is highly recommended to anyone who isn't Mr_Threepwood.

Mr. T, if you're looking for something outside of that dreary genre selection that you've named, try out Postal Service.  It's feel good music.  Except for that one song that's a bit of a downer... (still a good song though)

I'll just throw out one band that has stood on top of my list for about two years.  Check out the Decemberists.  They don't sing songs, they sing stories.  And one of the songs stories on their latest album is actually a sea shanty!  You can't beat that shit.  Although again, not really your taste, Mr. T.  Sorry.

These puzzles are pretty good for the most part.  The ones that I get stuck on are quite logical, I just get lost by one of the many red herrings.  I'm on level 13 and I'm pretty sure I know what to do, I just don't have time to do it.  I'll take another crack tomorrow.

Pretty fun.

I'm about to be smacked by a LONGWANG!!!

Sorry, I really just wanted to say that.

It's time for our weekly typhoon here in Okinawa, and I was checking the latest forecasts and noticed that this week's typhoon is named "Longwang."  I don't know what system they use to name them 'round here, but it's definitely better than the Hurricane naming system.

You can see live sattelite imagery of me being smacked by the Longwang here. Just check under the West Pacific section.

I got quickly to level 5, but I'm stuck now...

Kinoko, I'm starting to notice that you and I like and play all of the same games.  SOA was brilliant, beautiful, heartfelt, and fun.  The only problem was the insane frequency of random battles while you were exploring the huge world map.  (Though I heard they severely lowered it for the Gamecube version.  I played the original Dreamcast version.)  One thing that game wasn't, though, was short.

I'd also like to jump into the same boat as Helm.  I'm at a point in my life where I just need fun games and don't have time for endless filler.  I want a good story and good gameplay and I don't want it to take up too much of my time or else I may get bored and move on to the next game before I finish.

I DON'T want games to become shorter for budget reasons or because of a rush to get it out when the publisher says so.  But I do want games that are designed specifically to be shorter to target people short on time and with lowered attention spans, like me.

In short: (pun intended) (and with lots of over generalization)

Long games usually are that way because of bad filler.

Short games usually are that way because of budget/publisher issues.

Neither of these options appeal to me.

my body just doesn't work in that way; I don't get truly addicted to anything

The first stage of Inspiration is Denial.

Animal Crossing is a dangerous game.  There I was, a 20 year old college student, supposed to be out drinking and partying (or whatever college students are supposed to do... I'm not really sure) but what was I doing?  Fishing in the river of my Animal Crossing town trying to raise enough bells (money) to buy some cool new wallpaper for my fake house... 

I played that game way to much for about three months until I finally quit cold turkey.  My roommate, his girlfriend, and our other friend, who lived in my fake town with me, all played much longer.

The DS version is more than just a remake, though.  It has a lot of new features as well as internet connectivity.  So, even though my ex-roommate and I live on opposite sides of the world now, we could still play AC in the same town...

I will resist...

EDIT:

I suppose I should respond to the thread's actual topic...

As Kinoko said, most of my favorite games have sequels. (Nowadays, what game doesn't?)  So, I'm just going to dig up fond gaming memories from years ago.

One game that I always wanted to see the sequel of was Inherit the Earth.  I loved that game.  It had great characters, a great world, and an interesting story.  It also ended on a bit of a cliffhanger and I think may have even ended with a "to be continued..." message.  But of course, it was not to be.

I wouldn't really change much.  The game was great, except for the maze puzzle of course, but other than that, I just always wanted to see more of the great world depicted in that game.  So really, I'd just like to continue the story...

My other choice would be "The Space Bar."  I just flat out loved that game.

Since I'm better at asking questions than coming up with solutions:

1)Is this just an endless trail of clues that people follow just for the thrill of puzzle solving, or is there some end to the trail? 

2)What's at the end of the trail (if there is one)?

3)What happens if someone just randomly stumbles upon the penultimate clue?  (In other words, how do you get them to start at the beginning?)

I do think that having it connect to a website would be excellent.  If each new clue gives you a unique website to go to, you could monitor progress that way.  For example, if someone stumbles onto the page for clue 4, you know that you have to go out and replace clue 4.

I'd say that the answer to my above question 3 would be to make these clues impossible to interpret without having seen the previous one.  Maybe each clue contains a hint at the location of the next clue as well as a key to deciphering or understanding it.  This way people have to start at the beginning. 

As for the beginning, you'll want to put it in a very public spot.  Perhaps take out an ad in the newspaper with some cryptic clue, or possibly just a website address with no explanation as to its purpose.  That'll get a number of curious people started... the question is, how many people will continue?  (I know I would!)

One other suggestion: Work a story into it.

Well, there was DIY, which I loved mainly for Josef Purdez and his Independent Adventuring column, but it seems to be dead.  Poor thing.  I really hope Josef gets picked up by adventuregamers or somewhere else so he can continue that great column of his.

Before planning such a game (which I think would be really cool and fun to play, by the way) you need to decide (and maybe you already have) a few things:

-How are you going to recruit/attract players?  Will they sign up somewhere, or will they just stumble upon a clue and hopefully be intrigued enough to start playing along?

-How are you going to motivate them to play?  Will there be a promise of a prize?  Or will you be counting on the curiosity of the players?

With these in mind, we can probably help you better.  Also, knowing where you live would help us think of clues, because relating the clues to physical locations will probably be important.

Again, great idea!  I'd love to play!

Be that a threat, ye kilted lad?

Yarr.  Thanks be to God that Commodore Nipper be here to make sure we all follow the rules...  :
Avast ye, Commodore.

(And yes, the guy with the steering wheel in his pants has a beard.  His whole face is covered in hair.  Weird, I know.  I was messing around in a style that I have no familiarity or skill in.)

Yarrr.  Why this be only on one day?  Me mates and I talk like this all the time, as his noodleness commands.

Yaaaarrrr!

In a tangent to the ongoing "cliché" discussion, I love it when someone starts out with a cliché'd concept like waking up in a jail cell with amnesia and takes it in a completely new direction all the while adding their own style to the tale. 

Well done.  I'm looking forward to this.

Yarrr!