ARG aspect

[covedweller]

forums need to be updated though.

not all of us have time to hang out in chat, and even lurkers can contribute occasionally to the forums if they know what is going on.

[Kasdeja]

I think some people posting here still missed the point, they are all defensive just like they were yesterday where I got nicely toasted with flames without hurling one insult, myself. Some people still post how helpful chat is. I never contested that. Please, read my words...dont' insinuate an intention that isnt' there. When I say you are misunderstanding me, please stop continuing on the same tangent. Some of these posts are the identical defensive posts I saw yesterday. I told you that you are missing my point, already, there's no need to hammer home what you are saying, nobody is contesting that. Please, this isnt' a damn forum vs. chat thing. This is a plea to make it easier for those who can't get into chat. It's that simple. NOT SAYING PEOPLE DON'T TRY TO KEEP THINGS UPDATED FOR US LOWLY FORUM GOERS. (or, people who's mommy can't afford a decent home computer, as some put it). People ARE doing their best, but there needs to be some better way. SOME way to make the forum area less confusing. There are 4 or 5 things going at once...and tons of threads on each. Sure, on page 5 it might say where in chat something was figured out...but when you are on page 15 you miss that, despite the amount of reading you do. Then, you get people saying...solved in chat already...solved in chat already.
To the person saying DO THE WORK. WE DO. It's just helpful if we can be sure we aren't doing work that HAS ALREADY BEEN FINISHED. get it? Please say someone will get this without hashing out AGAIN the forum vs. chat bull crap that I DID NOT START. That ISN NOT MY COMPLAINT. Should I say it once again to make that clear? If you feel offended by my complaint and have posted some chastising little beef on here, know that you are not getting the point. Please don't post it again. Please dont' rephrase it. THAT IS NO THE ISSUE. Now, I'd actually appreciate just a response from a mod or creator...and nothing chastising me AGAIN, thanks. Try to initiate a dialogue with me if you just don't get it, thanks. I'm not a child. I refuse to be talked to like one by people who are misunderstanding my intentions. Thank you.

[AutoPilate]

::misses the point, proceeds to vociferate moronically on a tangent::

[tigerlilylynn]

forums need to be updated though.

not all of us have time to hang out in chat, and even lurkers can contribute occasionally to the forums if they know what is going on.

[quote used as an example. Comment is not directed at you]

WE ARE

Look, there are 4 of us and sometimes, when no one is looking, we go to sleep. Weird, I know, but we're 2 east coasters, 1 mountain and 1 unknown. The PM is West coast. Puzzles can get posted when we're asleep, puzzles can get solved when we're asleep, people get flamed or ask questions or post the 15th "is Gemma teh evils?" thread when we're asleep. This cannot be avoided.

Panda said the other night that she wakes up at night worried about crazy stuff going down on the forums and that she is normally right. That right there, not the mods fault.

We've posted FAQ and Q&A threads out the wazzoo that people ignore. People do no look for a thread to already exist and assume they are first to notice that Bree seems a little insane as of late. Again, we're trying to trim it down, and merge when we can.

As for there being 5 puzzle threads, well, there are 5 puzzles. You'd hate it FAR more if it was one big puzzle thread that you had to slog through.

You say you want crisp solutions and need to know when things are solved. It's in there, twice. Individuals post their solve to the end of the thread and mods or OPs (original poster in this case) edit the TOP post of the thread with the solutions for just the very reasons you cite. We like order it's just hard to obtain/maintain when the board gets SOooo much traffic.

But here's the real question: If you guys aren't happy with the way the forum is, why does the IRC even enter into it?

Also, the offer still stands, you spot abuse, you PM me, I take care of it. Concrete answers for concrete complaints. I can't fix nebulous disdain in the ether.

[Kasdeja]

Just forget it.

Can we lock this?

[tiltingwindward]

Kasdeja, Tigerlily and romanceismusic are mods that have already answered you, but I'm going to try as well, very briefly. You have a good point. The forums are very confusing sometimes, especially when the answer on page 5 is surrounded by "OMG I didn't even SEE that there was a green monkey in that video!" and all you want to do is read through to page 15 so that you can start contributing. A couple of changes have been made recently to help deal with this issue. The forum mods have started amending the titles of puzzle threads to say SOLVED when the puzzle is solved, so that you don't have to read 15 pages just to find that the work is done. We are also maintaining summary posts in the first post in every thread, so that you can read that post to catch up quickly and know what has been solved and what hasn't. And I have recently been added as an additional forum mod to help deal with the traffic on the forums. I am on the West Coast, so I can be up usually to handle the forums during drop time, etc., when our East Coasters are asleep. I hope that these changes alleviate some of your concerns.

To stuart2004: I am actually kind of offended that you regard the chat and all who work within it as "a necessary evil." We work really hard, on our own, on the forums, and in the chat, and we sincerely just want to help solve the puzzles. Please recall as well that the Creators are not running either the OpA ARG or the IRC chat, so your appreciation for the Loveline puzzle should be directed at the OpA PMs.

[Kasdeja]

Thank you, tilting. This solves my concern and issue. Only one possible suggestion...add an area just for the Tachyon and Brother stuff? Then at least all the puzzles and such won't be in the same place, since many times several are going at once? That might help somewhat in the "mess".

[windsong]

The tachyon stuff and the opaphid stuff are so intertwined that I feel it would be a hassle to have separate tachyon and op pages. But that's just me. I really enjoy having everything in one spot, so that I only have to check one page and see if there are new updates or puzzles going on.

[tiltingwindward]

Thank you, tilting. This solves my concern and issue. Only one possible suggestion...add an area just for the Tachyon and Brother stuff? Then at least all the puzzles and such won't be in the same place, since many times several are going at once? That might help somewhat in the "mess".

We'll certainly look into it, but I think windsong has a good observation; Tach, Brother, and OpA are so intertwined that even if we had a separate section for them, I think the forum threads there would end up looking exactly the same as the ones we have now. If you're concerned that the forum section is labelled OpAphid (I don't know if this is your concer, just trying to clarify), remember that the name of the ARG itself is OpAphid. I'm glad I could help you out!

[Kasdeja]

No, I see what is being said about separating them. I'm not sure of any solution to the clogged up factor, there's just so much going on that it's probably just unavoidable. But, thank you for seeming to get what I was saying without getting defensive. I never meant to imply people aren't doing thier jobs, etc...was never my intention at all...as well as anything that would make the chatters defensive. Never anything against them...well, the ones that aren't rude, anyway. Hey, you have rudeness everywhere. But, thanks. I don't feel like slamming my head into my keyboard, anymore, at least.

I guess my only plea now is for those that get impatient with us non chatters...just...try to understand, not all of us can go there. We may have more questions or duplicate...just...don't be rude when pointing it out. Not all are...before anyone says that...but there have obviously been instances, or the issue wouldn't have came up. I'm not necessarily someone who stirs things up or complains on this forum a lot, so hopefully that means something...anyway. I think this is as resolved as it can be.

[sphinx]

The ARG aspect would be more fun if everyone could actually participate...instead of being condescendingly told something was already resolved in chat. Not everyone can participate in the chat the ARG people use OR the one on this site. It is bad enough that most of us are 'noobs' and don't get much involvement, but to limit your fans like this is pretty crappy, honestly.

Your original post.

In response, I have posted twice on how you CAN participate.

Being told something was already resolved "in chat" or otherwise (because believe it or not things HAVE been resolved by players not in the chat posting their solutions on the forums many times during this game up until now), is not condescending in the least. You are taking it that way for some reason.

Here is my question for you. You state you are "doing the work". When are you doing it? Are you staying up all night to do it? Are you losing sleep because of this ARG? Are you literally spending hours and sometimes days attempting to figure things out? This, my friend, is what some of the players are doing to work out solutions.

Everyone is on different schedules, plays at different times, lives in different time zones. The PM for the game lives on the West Coast. The majority of the clues and drops are given late at night. The majority of the answers are solved in the wee hours of the morning afterwards, by players that stay up while, for example, I personally am sleeping.

Since Saturday, there were 6 separate puzzles. I highly doubt that ANYONE was around for every single YT profile post of the puzzles. What exactly do you want? A set time every day when puzzles are introduced? And if this is the case, considering all of our various time zones, computer availability etc., just how does the PM chose the time when EVERYONE is available. They can't! And to remove the discovery aspect when it comes to the introduction of new clues would really take away from the excitement of this game.

There is a recap thread at the beginning of every puzzle thread. It is updated to reflect the most current solutions - with explanations of how the solutions were determined. If you are looking for what "we" (and I mean EVERYONE) as a group have "ALREADY FINISHED", there is no reason to read the entire threads. You don't need to go past page 1.

I have stated twice that chat is not mandatory to play this game, and I reiterate. When game related in topic chat is going on, depending on what you are working on, it can be helpful -- if only to bounce your ideas off of others who are doing the same thing, on the same wavelength. Some of us work better alone, some of us work better in a "hive" situation. Everyone is different. When I, and I'm sure many other "lurker players" can use the forums to read the profile updates and get the clues, and then proceed to work out answers for ourselves (or finally give up and easily find answers in the first post on the puzzle threads), literally hours and days after puzzles are posted, I have to wonder what is so difficult.

To play this ARG, you are going to have to accept that, unless you never sleep, never work, never go to school, never step away from the computer, it is inevitable that you will miss clues. It is inevitable that you will not be around when solutions are determined. It is inevitable that you will have to play catch up sometimes.

Solutions are updated on the first post of puzzle threads on the forum.
YouTube profile updates for the characters are updated on the appropriate threads on the forum.

The forum is not a place for a running stream of every thought or idea or guess to be posted. I could imagine the mess created if only MY ideas/thoughts/guesses were posted there.

And please, do not call me condescending or a flamer for this post or any of my previous posts. I have addressed your initial complaint post in each of them. Maybe you are misunderstanding my intentions.

[wintermute]

I suggest this thread be locked, as everything's already been resolved. Else you'll have someone else come along and not understand the original point... Again...

'mute

[sphinx]

Well, the original post seems to have been changed from the chat to the forums while I was writing my last post.

Glad to see that it's cleared up.