Tonight at 7pm was the second of the Applied IRC Q & A chats, this time with Mind Candy!

The layout of the chats was the same as for the Rand0m interview yesterday, only it was a lot more crowded, as there were 7 Mind Candies talking! The Mind Candy people that dropped in were: Adrian, Andrea, Ben, David, Hannah, Jey and Naomi, along with ex Mind Candy’er, Mike.

As with the write up last night, this one has also been placed behind a more tag, due to the even LARGER length that this one ended up due the the tendency to waffle or go off topic every so often! Please click to continue reading!

To make it easier for the folks that aren’t too clued up on the Mind Candy folks, the chat started with a quick intro by each:

<Ollie> Welcome to the second in our series of Q&A chats marking the close of Season 1, tonight we’re talking with some of the Mind Candy Staff.
<Ollie> We’re going to start with a short intro by each of them to let you know who they are, what they do, and their favourite sort of pancake topping
<Ollie> Working alpha-ma-betically, we’ll start with Adrian
<Adrian[MCD]> SO that’s all we have time for tonight folks, bye!
<Naomi[MCD]> you’ve been a fantastic audience
<jojojojo> *snigger*
* duckie threatens Adrian with kick-ban…
<Adrian[MCD]> Hi, I’m the Director of Play at Mind Candy
<Adrian[MCD]> Which at the beginning on Season 1 meant doing everything from cards to stuffing envelopes to the story
<Adrian[MCD]> But now I concentrate on the ARG
<Adrian[MCD]> Pancakes: maple syrup or chocolate
<Ollie> Ah, a sweet tooth! Andrea?
<Andrea[MCD]> I’m the Ad Hoc Polymath, which was my job title from when I might be called on to do.. well… anything from placing ads and designing cards to writing Futures…
<Andrea[MCD]> I’ve written for the Sentinel and Anna, some Scarlett and the odd Violet, plus other things as they came up
<Andrea[MCD]> Pancakes: Today I think jam.
<Andrea[MCD]> Raspberry!
<Ollie> Fruity! Ben?
<Ben[MCD]> Well, I’m the ‘Senior Developer’ here at MC towers. Java stuff mostly, but often some other sundry tech as needed.
<Ben[MCD]> Oh, and Lyle’s Golden Syrup for me.
<Ollie> Fillings all round! David?
<David[MCD]> I’m a writer/hired assassin. i’ve worked in radio and made short films, so i’ve also been producing a lot of the audio and video stuff (with jey as the multimedia tech wizard who makes it all work. but now i’m encroaching on his intro). my first big piece of work here was the Death of Monica, and i’ve had a reputation as the Grim Character Reaper here ever since.
<David[MCD]> Pancakes: black cherry sauce and ice cream, a la Little Chef.
<Ollie> How very 80s, Hannah?
<Ollie> We’ll skip hannah for now. Jey?
<Adrian[MCD]> We’re just trying to drag this out so we won’t get around to S2
<Jey[MCD]> Sorry about Hannah, we have no excuse.
<Naomi[MCD]> Ah, like we did with S1?
<Adrian[MCD]> Burn!
<David[MCD]> stop it, you two
<Ollie> Less chance of you having to dodge questions this way
<Jey[MCD]> ANYWAY. Hey there, I’m the ARG developer on PXC, which includes working on everything interactive from live events to Flash games with an aside of audio, video, writing and whatever else is needed at the time.
<Jey[MCD]> Pancakes: KISS. Lemon and sugar all the way.
<duckie> Ah, a purist.
<skenmy> The Mind Candy Village Bicycle!
<Hannah[MCD}> Hi am Hannah i have a background in general design and have been working for Mindcandy for over a year via a bad tv show that was never shown
<Hannah[MCD}> corriander and black pepper
<Ollie> ooh, unusual. Naomi?
<Naomi[MCD]> Hey, I’m the Lead Writer which means, yes, I write about lead. Or on lead. Or with lead. Or possibly, while holding a lead. A long long time ago I planned out the whole story (hah!), including wacky concepts such as ‘maybe… Scarlett could get kidnapped.’ I write Violet and Scarlett, and Babel, and sundry other things. I am the handwriting of Violet. As a Jew, I scorn your pagan pancakes, but as a glutton I say: lemon juice and suga
<Naomi[MCD]> r. The old classics are the best. Although, sometimes I dally with… Marmite. Don’t look at me like that! I’m a human being, just like you!

And with the introductions finished, we moved onto the questions. Ollie started by asking a question from tanner.

<Ollie> Ok, now we should probably try and get some questions answered. We’ll start with a look back at season 1.
<Ollie> Tanner asks: “why there was a number missing (2 i believe) from the fibonacci series on the first syzygy page and wtf was the postcard number?”
<Naomi[MCD]> So, when do you guys set us some puzzles and tell us we have to help you find your way through a maze?
<Adrian[MCD]> Hmm, I can’t remember the fibonacci series thing
<Andrea[MCD]> The postcard number, you solved it
<Naomi[MCD]> Well, the postcard number was, of course, the key to the whole mystery.
<Adrian[MCD]> Probably just a mistake to be honest
<Jey[MCD]> Mistake? Adrian means side-quest.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next
<Adrian[MCD]> Please
* Yembles doesn’t recall us solving the postcard number
<Ollie> yessir
<Ollie> Mindez asks: “What was the london Morse Code message that we missed supposed to say?”
<David[MCD]> there was a message, but…
<Hannah[MCD}> erm...
<David[MCD]> you didn’t get it, so we decided to rework the story around it.
<David[MCD]> it will remain a meeestery
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<skenmy> I sense a lot of mysteries remaining tonight!
<Ollie> sledge asks: “How prepared where you, story wise, for when the cube was found? Did you worry that you would have a situation of having all these great story lines planned out for the future and then have someone stumble upon the cube whilst, for example, Scarlett was in Anjsbourg? Did you have to write up alternate endings depending upon when the cube was found or did you just have a set ending and knew you could adapt what you had to any given situat
<Adrian[MCD]> Yeah, that was something we worried about
<Naomi[MCD]> It was pretty much our nightmare scenario.
<Andrea[MCD]> Cold sweats lying in bed at night worrying
<David[MCD]> our jobs depended on it not happening
<Adrian[MCD]> We weren’t particularly concerned about people finding it, say, a year ago
<Naomi[MCD]> A couple of us died from worrying about it.
<Naomi[MCD]> The team used to be a lot bigger.
<Adrian[MCD]> But the timing was pretty crucial
<David[MCD]> remember des? he was great. now, dead.
<Naomi[MCD]> Des couldn’t take the heat.
<Jey[MCD]> Poor Des. Bless his soul.
<Ben[MCD]> Aah Des.
<Hannah[MCD}> i didn't like him anyway
<Adrian[MCD]> I’m not sure I want to synchronise a deep treasure hunt and a story in that way again
<Andrea[MCD]> Des made the best pumpkin muffins.
<Adrian[MCD]> We did have some contingency plans though
<Ollie> On a similar note, hawk asks: “Question for MC in general: were there any specific moments where you were screaming at us to just hurry up and find it already? can you tell us the most obvious thing we missed?
<Naomi[MCD]> Do you think his widow will ever forgive us?
<Adrian[MCD]> All the time!
<Andrea[MCD]> Rudon.
<Andrea[MCD]> That’s all I have to say.
<Adrian[MCD]> Yeah, there was that one
<duckie> Rudon?
<David[MCD]> you mean RUDON!
<Adrian[MCD]> But you know, puzzles are subjective things
<Naomi[MCD]> Yeah, I don’t think we were waiting for you to find the *cube* so much, but there were some puzzles where we were… surprised it took you so long.
<Andrea[MCD]> There was also the Library of Babel
<Jey[MCD]> What seemed obvious to us was at times incredibly baffling to you. It’s a hard thing to judge.
<Adrian[MCD]> I remember about halfway through there was a real issue with ’spoonfeeding’ and I think people stopped trying to solve puzzles so much
<David[MCD]> the libraryofbabel page was up for months before it was found
<Andrea[MCD]> Babel was waiting there since… February?
<jojojojo> :O
<Adrian[MCD]> Since the beginning of wave 4
<Naomi[MCD]> It was there for a long time.
<duckie> So basically, you were expecting us to be less stupid?
<Adrian[MCD]> Or even wave 3
<Naomi[MCD]> Yeah, basically.
<Adrian[MCD]> What makes it even more painful is that we can see every stage of your working, and so when people get close to the answer and then veer away, it’s frustrating
<Andrea[MCD]> So many times it’s happened
<Naomi[MCD]> Yeah, there were a few times where someone would suggest a correct idea, then someone else would shout them down.
<Yembles> Which time was the most painful?
<Andrea[MCD]> There was also the day Monica died and you very nearly didn’t save Sylvia
<David[MCD]> but you also get things quicker than we expect, so it balances out.
<Adrian[MCD]> The issue of community puzzle solving is interesting - I think that it can be very fast, but then again, good ideas can be shouted down very quickly
<Naomi[MCD]> We’d be in the office shouting “noooooooooo” at our screens.
<Andrea[MCD]> I was *so mad*
<Adrian[MCD]> Anyways
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Ollie> ixalon asks: “Did the plot of Season 1 have to change considerably to make up for our incredible inaptitude in cube-finding?”
<Adrian[MCD]> Not really
<Jey[MCD]> You weren’t *that* bad
<Adrian[MCD]> The main problem was that it was far more difficult to print the cards than we expected
<Adrian[MCD]> So a 9 month story turned into a 21 month story
<Andrea[MCD]> We added a lot as we went
<Adrian[MCD]> There were other business reasons as well
<Naomi[MCD]> It’s been… an interesting challenge, plotwise.
<Naomi[MCD]> So yes, the story changed a lot, but not because of you really.
<Adrian[MCD]> We knew from the start that the finding of the cube was going to be hard to predict
<David[MCD]> we just hope you didn’t see the stretched bits
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Andrea[MCD]> The story wound up being much deeper than we’d initially planned for. I think it came out a lot better
<Ollie> chippy asks: “How do you pronounce Babel? Is it “Bay-bel”? or Babble?”
<Adrian[MCD]> Bay-bel
<Naomi[MCD]> Bay-bel
<David[MCD]> bay-bel here too
<Jey[MCD]> Or bagel works fine too.
<Andrea[MCD]> I say “babble” and the British people say “Bay-bel”
<Adrian[MCD]> Unanimous!
<Naomi[MCD]> unless you want to say it in ancient Hebrew
<Andrea[MCD]> HAH
<David[MCD]> (this chat is sponsored by Next.)
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Naomi[MCD]> in which case you say Bah-Vel
<Ollie> Bookmore asks: “What did it take to convince Satoshi of being the target for a worldwide manhunt ?”
<Hannah[MCD}> I always get it wrong
<Adrian[MCD]> The babes
<Adrian[MCD]> He knew he’d get them
<Adrian[MCD]> Actually, I don’t know
<David[MCD]> he’s been swamped
<Adrian[MCD]> I’ve never met him
<Hannah[MCD}> a lotta love
<David[MCD]> the reason you can’t find him is he’s buried under a pile of abbes
<Jey[MCD]> Satoshi was surprisingly easy to convince. In fact I’d say he jumped at the chance. Wouldn’t you want to be famous (on the internet [sort of famous, not really])
<David[MCD]> babes. ahem
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Ollie> mj asks: “Which moment in Season 1 surprised you the most?”
<Adrian[MCD]> hmmmmm
<Andrea[MCD]> Hmmmmmmmm.
<Naomi[MCD]> (the amount Adrian and Andrea say hmmm often surprises me)
<Andrea[MCD]> It was a big surprise when they solved the postcard number
<duckie> A surprise to most of us too, we don’t recall it
<Adrian[MCD]> The cranes were surprising
<Adrian[MCD]> That was nice
<Naomi[MCD]> yes, we were touched
<Andrea[MCD]> Yeah
<_izzy_> glad you liked them
<Naomi[MCD]> I remember the meeting where we decided to kill Anna
<Yembles> We enjoyed making them
<David[MCD]> i still have one on my desk here. look.
<Jey[MCD]> But they don’t fly very well.
<Adrian[MCD]> Anna was always going to die though
<David[MCD]> the good die young.
<Adrian[MCD]> Curse that handsome Caine
<Naomi[MCD]> we hoped it’d have an impact, but we didn’t expect it to be that much
<David[MCD]> the bad die.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please

At this point Izzy took over from Ollie to ask the next set of questions.

<_izzy_> ok then im now taking over as question master
<Hannah[MCD}> dum dum dum
<Ben[MCD]> Actually - for me - ‘Being Hired’
<_izzy_> so staying with the S1 theme.. so i was wondering which character do you enjoy writing for the most?
<Adrian[MCD]> Well, we all wrote different characters
<Adrian[MCD]> I wrote Kurt, which I loved doing
<Adrian[MCD]> I think my writing changed an awful lot over the two years
<Naomi[MCD]> I wrote a Kurt once. He is fun to write.<David[MCD]> caine rocked. and still does.
<Hannah[MCD}> I wrote noone as i can't write
<Andrea[MCD]> I’m still high off Helena Frye, but honestly Madame Bianca was probably my most favorite.
<Naomi[MCD]> Writing Violet feels like home to me.
<Andrea[MCD]> I got to get away with the most
<David[MCD]> oistin. aaah, oistin.
<Andrea[MCD]> Oh, Oistin!
<_izzy_> Andrea[MCD] that leads nicely into a duckie question: So how much exactly *did* we miss in the futures?
<Naomi[MCD]> And I loved writing Babel. And the things Jey did with the words! Beautiful.
<Andrea[MCD]> If I’d had a boy I would have had to name him Oistin.
<David[MCD]> i think a few of us tried oistin.
<Andrea[MCD]> Well, there’s one thing you missed in the futures so I gave up trying…
<Naomi[MCD]> And Tippy’s great fun to write, even in just the odd email
<David[MCD]> the podcast gave me a chance to use the Voice of Doom.
<Andrea[MCD]> For a long time, the Apple-Thief poet and the proverb at the end were of the same nationality
<Jey[MCD]> Play on… my children.
<Andrea[MCD]> But it was hard to do and *nobody ever noticed* so I gave up.
<_izzy_> so its your voice on the podcast then david?
<David[MCD]> no. that is silas. you will encounter him.
<_izzy_> opps sorry we missed that andrea
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Andrea[MCD]> But for the most part, you all really read a bit too much into the futures. Except when we wanted you to, in which case you didn’t notice them *at all*
<Naomi[MCD]> Oh, the stuff you read into the eel and avocado rolls!
<Yembles> typical.
<_izzy_> chippy asks: “Mind Candy, what things were you expecting to come out of the player community, and what things did the player community suprise you with?”
<Andrea[MCD]> Oh, the love
<Naomi[MCD]> We were surprised by almost everything you did.
<Adrian[MCD]> The wiki, the map, trading, 3D map, incredible stuff
<Adrian[MCD]> Really incredible
<Adrian[MCD]> That’s what impresses people the most when I talk about PXC at conferences
<Andrea[MCD]> We love you guys
<Naomi[MCD]> We really do feel the love.
<jojojojo> We have big love indeed.
<Hannah[MCD}> well impressed
<David[MCD]> the book was amazing, but yeah, we kind of made you do that.
<Jey[MCD]> You guys do more than we could have imagined.
<Andrea[MCD]> The dedication and the real emotional involvement
<David[MCD]> oooh. 13th labour. good work!
<skenmy> Hell, i’m IN the community and i’m amazed at what we do!
<Adrian[MCD]> And the video stuff
<Andrea[MCD]> You should be proud
<Adrian[MCD]> For those people complaining in chat
<Naomi[MCD]> the amount of time and effort you’ve put into our game is… well it’s been a privilege to write for you
<David[MCD]> news covereage for billion2one, everything.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<_izzy_> Morbus asks: “do you plan to release any masterful “answer book” that contains all the details of everything? or would you rather the community build something like that?” - or is this our one chance to ask Qs
<Jey[MCD]> </love>
<Adrian[MCD]> No way
<Adrian[MCD]> That’d take way too long to write
<Adrian[MCD]> We are going to make a Season 1 Guide
(FleetwoodMike entered here - an ex Mind Candy person)
<David[MCD]> (hi mike)
<Adrian[MCD]> (Hi Mike!)
<Naomi[MCD]> (hey mike!)
<Jey[MCD]> (hey MIKE!)
<David[MCD]> (remember des?)
<Hannah[MCD}> hi mike
<_izzy_> that answers that one then
<Adrian[MCD]> But I think that the community and the wiki is the best for a comprehensive ‘answer book’
<Naomi[MCD]> Oh your wiki is a treasure.
<Andrea[MCD]> The wiki is just stellar.
<Jey[MCD]> Really, it would spoil the fun if we gave you *all* the answers
<_izzy_> mj asks a question a lot of the community wants to know: Those risk pieces - what on earth did /they/ mean?
<Adrian[MCD]> Yeah…
<Adrian[MCD]> I’m not going to talk about that one
<Adrian[MCD]> Maybe later
<David[MCD]> it’s too painful
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Andrea[MCD]> Someday, when he’s grey and full of regrets…
<Jey[MCD]> Adrian is crying.
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s not that bad
<Naomi[MCD]> Try getting him drunk at the party
<_izzy_> not even if we say pretty please?
<Hannah[MCD}> Oh God DES........
<David[MCD]> look what you did
<duckie> Aww, come on…
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s basically pretty obscure
<duckie> It’s been driving us bonkers since the day W4 was launched…
<Naomi[MCD]> Adrian, it’s going to be OK!
<Yembles> We like obscure.
<Adrian[MCD]> Good for you then
<Jey[MCD]> Solve away!
<Naomi[MCD]> Excellent
<Naomi[MCD]> Next?
<_izzy_> ok then
<duckie> More slippery than a tank full of eels.
<_izzy_> HerringHale asks: “do you notice any difference between UK and US and other nationality players? in terms of what they solve or participate in?”
<Adrian[MCD]> I think there’s a cultural difference, yes
<Andrea[MCD]> I’ve said before, I felt that American players were a little more aggressive
<David[MCD]> our lift engineer in the last live event made a distinction…
<David[MCD]> he said the americans demanded better service.
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s hard to generalise though
<David[MCD]> the english were very polite.
<jojojojo> Or persistent
<David[MCD]> those national sterotypes… hard to escape.
<Adrian[MCD]> Because, for example, before PXC there weren’t that many UK ARG players
<David[MCD]> (well done jo)
<jojojojo>
<Adrian[MCD]> So they were new to the gnre
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<_izzy_> chippy asks: “Did you, or one of your spies go to Wakerley, or Fineshade, and spy on us? I saw a very suspicious elderly couple using a clearly terrified Scottish Terrier as cover”
<Jey[MCD]> Yes.
<Naomi[MCD]> We all did.
<Naomi[MCD]> We were there.
<Jey[MCD]> Everyone you meet is a spy. Don’t trust *anyone*.
<Naomi[MCD]> We saw what you did.
<David[MCD]> we hired a birdwatching hut
<Adrian[MCD]> So, the answer is no
<Andrea[MCD]> Didn’t you notice the black helicopters hovering overhead?
<Adrian[MCD]> It would’ve been too risky
* Rand0m admits to having been very suspicious about a couple of grey squirrels with attitude
<Ollie> They had the cloaking on, didn’t they?
<David[MCD]> and chippy. you should be ashamed.
<Adrian[MCD]> No-one went back to the wood after we buried it
<_izzy_> chippy also wants to know if you want to buy his metal detector - one careful owner
<Naomi[MCD]> We thought we might get followed.
<Adrian[MCD]> Well, it won’t work ont he Cube, it being made of space age metal and all
<Adrian[MCD]> :p
<Naomi[MCD]> By someone dressed as an elderly person with a terrier.
<Jey[MCD]> Yes, metallic things are notoriously hard to find with metal detectors…
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<David[MCD]> (when did the space age start? 1960s, wasn’t it…?)
<Adrian[MCD]> (although as Random has noted, you didn’t need a metal detector to find it)
<_izzy_> a lot of people including jojojojo and dragonscales are asking what are your favorite cards and why?
<Adrian[MCD]> Probably the ones we made
<Andrea[MCD]> Yeah
<Adrian[MCD]> I liked Elucidate a lot
<Andrea[MCD]> My favorite is probably Homage in Glass, just because it’s pretty
<Naomi[MCD]> I love Andrea’s card: Forever Foe
<Jey[MCD]> Cow Cow Cow Cow Cow. Because we laughed for days. (or Billion to One, because you’ll never find him, never.)
<Andrea[MCD]> And because I was proud of it
<Naomi[MCD]> I still like Shuffled.
<Ollie> He’s dead, isn’t he?
<David[MCD]> the gold cube card for me, because i’m impressed by shiny things. and aromarama.
<Hannah[MCD}> 207 Huey Tecalli
<Andrea[MCD]> Mmm, Cow Cow Cow defiitely a favorite, too
<Adrian[MCD]> Speaking of Shuffled
<lhall> We’ll see about that…
<Naomi[MCD]> Primarily because I’m aware of the vast amounts of work that went into that one behind the scenes.
<Hannah[MCD}> total team effort
<Adrian[MCD]> We got an email from Bruce Schneier, inventor of the Solitaire Cipher
<Adrian[MCD]> I quite, in part:
<Jey[MCD]> *quote
<Adrian[MCD]> “My name is Bruce Schneier and I am a security specialist and professional
<Adrian[MCD]> cryptographer with BT Counterpane. I would like to let you know that your
<Adrian[MCD]> Perplex City internet game has thoroughly emasculated me and has been quite
<Adrian[MCD]> successful in causing me some headaches - mostly due to the aforementioned
<Adrian[MCD]> emasculation. For the past two years I have received literally hundreds of
<Adrian[MCD]> emails asking me to help solve a word puzzle based on a cryptography
<Adrian[MCD]> algorithm that I authored.”…
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<duckie> So we’ve irritated the Forestry Commission *and* a chap called Bruce? Awesome.

And on that note Izzy handed over to Yembles for the next few questions:

<_izzy_> thank you thats it from me, handing over to Yembles for the next set
<Andrea[MCD]> All in a day’s work, duckie!
<Yembles> chippy asks: “Is herbert still alive, and will he be at the party? Eh?”
<duckie> Heeerbeeert!
<Naomi[MCD]> Why don’t you ask about Des?
<Jey[MCD]> Herbert.. Herbert… oh Herbert. I remember you well. Occasionally, we get a postcard. Some far off country. Some wonderous adventure.
<jojojojo> Who was Des?
<Naomi[MCD]> No one cares that he gave his life for Perplex City!
<duckie> Ok. Who is Des? What is Des? Where is Des?
<Yembles> Is Des a sockpuppet?
<David[MCD]> i don’t like to talk about it
<Hannah[MCD}> he gave more to you then you will ever know
<Naomi[MCD]> Nor do I
<Andrea[MCD]> We’ll have a candle lit for Des at the party.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Yembles> idlemichael asks: “What should be the last song of the night on Saturday? (yeah, another DJ question!)”
<David[MCD]> hip to be square
<Ben[MCD]> ‘Return to sender’?
<Adrian[MCD]> Well…
<skenmy> Genius, that man.
<Adrian[MCD]> Proclaimers was traditional where I come from
<David[MCD]> not paradise city. you don’t want to know why.
<Jey[MCD]> or Under the Sea. Stop speaking, stop it.
<Hannah[MCD}> Under the sea
<Adrian[MCD]> Or Mr. Jovi’s ‘Living on a Prayer’
* lhall shall say nothing
<Naomi[MCD]> Anything we can sing karaoke to, basically.
* Adrian[MCD] just discovered that idlemichael *is* our DJ
<Jey[MCD]> Because we are teh awesome at karaoke.
<David[MCD]> oh lord. there are still living witnesses.
<Ben[MCD]> When Gin is involved
<Naomi[MCD]> not only that
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Naomi[MCD]> there’s *footage*
<Yembles> Will there be a karaoke machine at the party?
<lhall> I’m not sure ‘awesome’ is the right word…
<Adrian[MCD]> Silence!
<Andrea[MCD]> You know, there are a few advantages to being on another continent
<Jey[MCD]> why doesn’t /kick lhall work?
<Naomi[MCD]> Yes, Adrian
<Naomi[MCD]> Don’t hurt me again
<Jey[MCD]> NEXT!
<David[MCD]> [adrian will not get nekkid]
<Yembles> UKver2.0 asks: “Assuming CT and LOB were introduced to speed things up if needed, were there plans to give even more away had the cube hunters not been able to find it when they did? (Also: Shuffled is my favorite card!)”
<Adrian[MCD]> Yes
<Adrian[MCD]> I even had an extra clue written
<Adrian[MCD]> I’m very glad we didn’t have to use it
<Jey[MCD]> It was a big arrow.
<Naomi[MCD]> LOB was always going to be in there somewhere though
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s a very, very tricky thing
<Naomi[MCD]> but we weren’t sure whether it’d have to give clues
<Adrian[MCD]> We didn’t want to turn it into a unskilled race
<Naomi[MCD]> or would just tell the on-Earth part of the story
<Adrian[MCD]> In the end I think we got the balance right
<Jey[MCD]> The thing was we never knew what was going on behind the scenes. Someone could have solved anything we had put out there and we’d never know.
<Andrea[MCD]> I think it all worked out beautifully
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s a good pint
<Adrian[MCD]> point
<Adrian[MCD]> Normally we can see your working
<Adrian[MCD]> But not at the end
<Adrian[MCD]> When everyone was unaccountably going to Fineshade Wood
<Adrian[MCD]> You sneeky liars
<Naomi[MCD]> We did joke that we’d end up have to go round to your houses with shovels, drive you to the location and tell you to dig.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next please
<Andrea[MCD]> Paint a little X on the ground with spray paint..
<Naomi[MCD]> and then you’d try to anagram ’shovels’
<Hannah[MCD}> i liked the idea of an arrow on google earth
<David[MCD]> ssh love
<Yembles> Mindez asks: “Any big surprises planned for the partay in just over 333333 seconds time? :D”
<Hannah[MCD}> Party?
<Jey[MCD]> Big surprises? I don’t know what you mean. WHO HAVE YOU BEEN SPEAKING TO?
<Adrian[MCD]> Honestly
<Rand0m> I told them everything. They offered me eclairs
<Jey[MCD]> If it’s Des again, I’ll be soo angry….
<Adrian[MCD]> http://www.answers.com/surprise&r=67
<Andrea[MCD]> They’ve been working the Ouija boards…
<David[MCD]> (you can always trust a man who says ‘honestly…’.)
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Jey[MCD]> ..please?
<Yembles> What happened to the Third Power members who appeared on earth during the San Fran event? I think Rand0m is still waiting for a knock on the door…
<David[MCD]> he should be afraid
<Naomi[MCD]> we don’t know
<Naomi[MCD]> we work with the Academy
<skenmy> …very afraid?
<Adrian[MCD]> Naturally Mind Candy is very concerned about the 3P’s presence on Earth
<Andrea[MCD]> I’ve taken extra care to lock my doors and windows at night since then.
<Adrian[MCD]> And are liaising with the Academy about how to proceed
<Naomi[MCD]> we’re not allied with the Third Power, and can’t be expected to know anything about their evil schemes
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Yembles> mj asks: “Just to change the footing - would you like to ask the interviewers a question?”
<jojojojo> Interesting…
<Jey[MCD]> Hold on a second, we’re arguing.
<David[MCD]> 1. what do you want for the last tune of saturday night?
<Naomi[MCD]> Adrian has Jey in a headlock.
<skenmy> We demand photos.
<Ben[MCD]> I’m taking bets
<Adrian[MCD]> 2. you do not talk about Perplex City
<Jey[MCD]> Is a dress not enough?!
<Ollie> A dress is too much!
<lhall> Oh dear.
<Adrian[MCD]> Hmm
<Hannah[MCD}> I've had to close my eyes
<Naomi[MCD]> 3. What was *your* favourite bit of the story?
<Jey[MCD]> Go!
<Naomi[MCD]> I see. That good, eh?
<duckie> I think we’ll make a forum thread for that one, you can read it later
<Jey[MCD]> Yeah, good to know you care.
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> I’m going to say the Lancewood labs bit
<Naomi[MCD]> Oh that was such fun to write.
<David[MCD]> poor jake
<macmonkey> I liked the Miranda chase stuff
<Yembles> My favourite blog post was Kurt’s latest, but my favourite part of the story was probably the Miranda chase-and-kill (even if I’ll always have nightmares of booking trains online for the rest of my life…)
<_izzy_> im saying in the mines, o in the mines - its how i properlly discovered the community
<skenmy> I’m going to say the mines. That was good fun.
<_izzy_> *properly
<jojojojo> The chill down my spine after listening to the recording of Miranda’s death
<Naomi[MCD]> David is singing the mines song now.
<Naomi[MCD]> Seriously.
<David[MCD]> there is a tune
<lhall> Seconding the recording
<_izzy_> yays david!
<duckie> The recording… and the police.
<jojojojo> sounds like a goodun for karaoke…
<David[MCD]> darn this soundless chat room
<duckie> Drunken bears, flashers.. who could ask for anything more.
<Adrian[MCD]> I forgot about that site
<lhall> The police event was hilarious
<duckie> Except maybe Kurt nekkid
<Adrian[MCD]> Things are gettin gout of hand here!
<Adrian[MCD]> Next

And on that note duckie took over for a short bout of questioning:

<duckie> jojojojo asks: “Jey, how much persuading did you need to dress as a woman?”
<Hannah[MCD}> A lot
<David[MCD]> (i liked receda’s revenge 2. but don’t mind me.)
<Naomi[MCD]> That’s what he usually wears to the office.
<Hannah[MCD}> They all drawed straws though
<Jey[MCD]> Persuading? That was a pull out of a hat. And we did it twice. And I got it both times. Oh god.
<Naomi[MCD]> Yours was the only name in the hat, Jey.
<Jey[MCD]> I knew it!
<jojojojo> Teehee!
<David[MCD]> and it was your hat
<Hannah[MCD}> the balloons were great
<Jey[MCD]> It’s not my fault it *just* *looked* *good*
<Naomi[MCD]> and you did the drawing yourself, remember?
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Hannah[MCD}> ha ha ha ha

Here skenmy dragged the chat back into line, and gave the "chair" to lhall to ask the next few questions:

* skenmy drags the conversation back in line, and welcome lhall as the chair!
<lhall> Parasol asks: "Will there still be leitmarks awarded for Season 1 points, and are there any new leitmarks for Season 2?"
<Hannah[MCD}> unconfirmed
<Hannah[MCD}> Next
<Jey[MCD]> Efficient.
<skenmy> *headdesk*
<lhall> By popular demand…
<lhall> md1500 asks: “Will there be a new Starter Pack for this season? What about a new card binder? It seems weird to put Season 2 cards in a binder marked with “Lost. The Cube”? Thanks.”
<Hannah[MCD}> unconfirmed
<Hannah[MCD}> next
Adrian[MCD]> We won’t have a starter pack any time soon
<Jey[MCD]> this is going well!
<Naomi[MCD]> I’m still singing the mines song.
<David[MCD]> O John of Harve was burned by heat
<David[MCD]> In the mines
<David[MCD]> In the mines
<David[MCD]> He wore light boots and lost his feet
<David[MCD]> In the mines
<David[MCD]> O, in the mines.
<Jey[MCD]> if only you could see the dance…
<duckie> Can we get a performance of that on Saturday night?
<duckie> Please?
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s disgusting
<jojojojo> YES!!!
<lhall> a karaoke-style one, perhaps?
<Naomi[MCD]> Adrian, you’re such a prude.
<skenmy> I second that request
<Hannah[MCD}> WRONG
<Naomi[MCD]> How would you have survived in the mines?
<Adrian[MCD]> I’m the only person in this room with clothes on
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Naomi[MCD]> And they’re Hannah’s clothes.
<jojojojo> Oh dear…
<Yembles> oo er!
<Jey[MCD]> Next! Quick! Please!
<lhall> Datango asks: “This is MC’s first ARG venture. What is the most significant thing that you have learned?” -
<Adrian[MCD]> Good question
<Adrian[MCD]> Two big things for me
<Naomi[MCD]> Never let Adrian wear Hannah’s clothes.
<Adrian[MCD]> Firstly, we made the premise (cards + treasure hunt + ARG) too complicated. It was difficult to explain, and difficult to design
<Hannah[MCD}> how to grind my teeth when stressed
<Adrian[MCD]> Secondly, it was difficult for people to start playing, especially after the beginning of the game
<Andrea[MCD]> I’ve learned the power of subconscious and serendipity
<Adrian[MCD]> No-one’s ever made an ARG this long
<Naomi[MCD]> I learned how to build a modular story. Which has been a really fascinating process.
<David[MCD]> the most important phrase in the world is: It’s Like We Did It On Purpose.
<Adrian[MCD]> Season 2 will incorporate a lot of what we learned
<Naomi[MCD]> oh *yes*
<Naomi[MCD]> It’s Like We Did It On Purpose
<Andrea[MCD]> There are so many things you could swear we couldn’t have done except intentionally, that just… happened exactly perfectly right…
<Naomi[MCD]> this is our story team motto
<Adrian[MCD]> I think we worked very well as a team
<David[MCD]> except jey
<Adrian[MCD]> You should see what it’s like during live events
<Adrian[MCD]> Very cool
<Adrian[MCD]> Online live events, I mean
<Naomi[MCD]> because of the number of times you’ve found fantastic links that we… yeah… planned *all along* between things that we’ve written
<Adrian[MCD]> *Real* live events, we just get stressed out
<jojojojo> Nothing that a bit of alchymahols can’t cure though
<Naomi[MCD]> remember how the name Scarlet was spelled out in the personnel page of the Sentinel?
<Naomi[MCD]> We *did not do this on purpose*
<Andrea[MCD]> Oh god
<Adrian[MCD]> (Guy’s going to be at the party)
<Andrea[MCD]> No, that was an accident
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<lhall> chippy asks: “for the techies: What new technological developments are you excited about, and how can you see these being used in Perplex City?”
<Andrea[MCD]> I wrote a bunch of names for the masthead and broke them into departments… and then alphabetised them by last name…
<Naomi[MCD]> (and, to continue the ILWDIOP theme)
<Naomi[MCD]> (when I chose the year in PXC)
<Adrian[MCD]> “<dragonscales> The more Adrian says stuff like that… the more I think that… everything’s going to change… :(” - I hear that, but I really think that Season 2 is going to be much more fun to play than Season 1 - for everyone.
<Adrian[MCD]> About that question
<Adrian[MCD]> No comment
<Jey[MCD]> Well, if we told you that it’d spoil the surprise
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Naomi[MCD]> (I really did not know that year 0 corresponded to a year there’d been a syzygy on Earth)
<Naomi[MCD]> (really)
<lhall> mj asks: “To Naomi: What are the biggest challenges in writing for an ARG as opposed to more traditional fiction authoring?”
<Naomi[MCD]> damnit! more food’s just arrived, and they’ve all left me to answer this by myself!
<Naomi[MCD]> so, um
<Naomi[MCD]> the biggest challenge is probably the speed
<Andrea[MCD]> More food?!
<David[MCD]> and missing out on the food
<David[MCD]> although andrea gets that too
* Jey[MCD] gets food (finally)
<Naomi[MCD]> not the amphetamines, you understand, but the fact that there’s rarely time for several drafts
<Naomi[MCD]> however, I love that. Novels take *blooming ages*, and the speed of working on an ARG is exhilarating.
<Naomi[MCD]> having instant community response is similarly double-edged
<Adrian[MCD]> (btw, we don’t read the logs all the time - sometimes I go weeks without looking)
<David[MCD]> how many words did we reckon we’d banged out?
<Naomi[MCD]> I love it when you love it, and sometimes you make me cry, basically.
<Andrea[MCD]> I used to read forums and logs obsessively, but eventually backed off it
<Adrian[MCD]> I think there are 60,000 words in Kurt
<Adrian[MCD]> 50,000 words in Violet
<David[MCD]> okay - several novels’ worth in total.
<Adrian[MCD]> Probably over 100k in Sentinel
<Adrian[MCD]> etc
<duckie> (For those of you not up to speed with the astronomical career of the lovely Naomi, you should read her book “Disobedience”.)
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<lhall> macmonkey asks: “why is a Perplex City tretretretre so different from an extinct Earth tretretretre?”
<Jey[MCD]> (I read duckie as Naomi then…)
<Naomi[MCD]> (But only if you’re interested in Orthodox Jewish lesbians)
<Ollie> And make sure you buy it, don’t go all cheap and get it from a lie-berry
<duckie> (Hey, any lesbians are good…)
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Adrian[MCD]> Hah
<Adrian[MCD]> Well
<Adrian[MCD]> I thought that we made up the Tretretretre
<Andrea[MCD]> Much more adorable. And they smell better.
<Adrian[MCD]> It wasn’t until RR2 that I got told they were a real animal
<Naomi[MCD]> I kept trying to *tell* you
<Adrian[MCD]> Who would’ve thought?
<Adrian[MCD]> No you didn’t
<Jey[MCD]> But our version is *so* much better.
<Naomi[MCD]> Yes I did.
<lhall> Less fluffy, anyway.
<David[MCD]> it looks like an elephant. like so many things do.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Jey[MCD]> who wouldn’t want a <REDACTED> that could <REDACTED>?!
<skenmy> Does it also resemble a lightbulb?
<Hannah[MCD}> like everything tastes of chicken
<lhall> Bookmore asks: "Many players have pointed to how UK-centric Perplex City is. There have now been events on both sides of the ocean, but are there plans to export some of your games to other, non-English speaking countries ?"
<Naomi[MCD]> Only if they learn to speak English
<duckie> It should be pointed out that Book is our French representative
<Adrian[MCD]> We’ve been asked to translate PXC into other languages
<Adrian[MCD]> BTW, great work on the French translations!
<Naomi[MCD]> Oh yeah. that was awesome
<Adrian[MCD]> The problem is the quantity of words
<Adrian[MCD]> And also the fact that many of the puzzles are riddles, rhymes, etc, which can be very tricky to translate
<Adrian[MCD]> We don’t have any plans in the immediate future to translate it into other languages
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<lhall> HerringHale asks: “how many people applied for your job vacancies and sent in fab ARG ideas?”
<Adrian[MCD]> A lot of people have applied
<David[MCD]> bloody loads
<Adrian[MCD]> And obviously we’ve hired a number of you guys
<Jey[MCD]> well, you say “fab” ideas…
<Jey[MCD]> We can’t guarantee they were all that
<Jey[MCD]> but some were!
<Adrian[MCD]> The problem with applying for specifically ARG jobs is that it’s really difficult to get experience beyond starting your own
<Adrian[MCD]> I have an idea to help this process, but I’m not goign to share it now
<Adrian[MCD]> Anyways
<lhall> mj asks: “One of the main differences between Perplex City and more traditional ARGs is that the PMs actually have a role within the game. How do you feel this has been advantageous (or detrimental) to the game?”
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Adrian[MCD]> Hmmmm
<Adrian[MCD]> We intended to be in the game more than we actually were
<Adrian[MCD]> I think it became a real headache
<Jey[MCD]> (in version 0.1 Adrian stole the Cube)
<Andrea[MCD]> We thought we’d be characters, but it never became useful
<Adrian[MCD]> Especially with stuff like The Culture Show
<David[MCD]> thing is, we have no character of our own. none at all.
<Adrian[MCD]> I have mixed feelings about the concept of TINAG
<duckie> Do you think you’ll take it as far as Deus City and blur the reality:alt.reality lines more?
<Adrian[MCD]> No
<Naomi[MCD]> (a discussion has broken out about this now here)
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s a clever idea, but you’d need a controlled environment and a very good plan
<Hannah[MCD}> the girls are eatting
<Jey[MCD]> I think it poses some serious problems but we have sort of chosen to be in and out of game when it fits best.
<duckie> For those of you not in the know, Deus City, another ARG, is using its PMs as characters in their story. It’s come up for a lot of criticism.
<Andrea[MCD]> I think we evolved into our best possible stance
<Naomi[MCD]> I think it’s one of those things which suffered because of the length of the game as well.
<Andrea[MCD]> But it couldn’t work for every game
<Naomi[MCD]> It works better for a short, very controlled game I think.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<lhall> AgentLex asks: “Any plans for more PCAG goodness? I started playing after the first one :(”
<Adrian[MCD]> Yes
<Jey[MCD]> And that is all.
<Andrea[MCD]> Next!
<Adrian[MCD]> It was great fun running it
<skenmy> Awesome.
<Adrian[MCD]> Don’t hold your breath for too long though
<Yembles> Brilliant
<Jey[MCD]> Because that may cause problems.
<skenmy> PCAG was the London Live Event, for those of you who are new or otherwise unaware.
<Naomi[MCD]> Like it did for Des
<David[MCD]> it might be one of the challenges though
<Jey[MCD]> Oh Des…
<Hannah[MCD}> Des why did you leave us
<David[MCD]> des-eased.
* Ben[MCD] wipes away a tear
<Ollie> Des-earted
<Adrian[MCD]> You liar Ben, you never loved him
<duckie> Right… who is Des?
<Naomi[MCD]> Let’s all hold our breaths in memory of him.
* skenmy breathes in
<Jey[MCD]> Oh David, how flippant you can be!
<David[MCD]> duckie , i… i… no.
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<_izzy_> about des: Would you say the character of Jake was based on poor dear Des?”
<Yembles> Will it parellel the olympics and be in Summer next time?
<Adrian[MCD]> What?
<Yembles> the PCAG
<Naomi[MCD]> no no, Jake was a soldier, a fighter
<_izzy_> (a question from mindez)
<Jey[MCD]> Des, Des was…
<David[MCD]> des was a lover
<Naomi[MCD]> yes
<Adrian[MCD]> Hmm, we don’t have a confirmed date for the PCAG
<Hannah[MCD}> to some maybe
<Naomi[MCD]> to all of us
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Yembles> Summer would be nice - much better weather for running around London
<lhall> Ollie asks: ” The Receda Trail: What was meant to be at the beach, and how were we meant to find the school of music?”
<Adrian[MCD]> Dear Gyvann
<Andrea[MCD]> My goodness
<Andrea[MCD]> There was a little plastic box filled with business cards
<Adrian[MCD]> It’s probably still there
<Andrea[MCD]> it was hidden right at the edge of the flowerbed
<Andrea[MCD]> Yeah, unless the gardeners found it and threw it out
<David[MCD]> *stampede begins*
<Adrian[MCD]> Being a geocache, it was a little hidden
<Jey[MCD]> Lovely they were, lovely.
<Adrian[MCD]> We were very surprised it wasn’t found
<Andrea[MCD]> I still have a lot of those cards in a drawer in my desk
<Ollie> And those cards had the URL on them?
<Andrea[MCD]> Yeah, I believe so
<lhall> Ah, man…it’s great to know that. I’ve always wondered!
<Andrea[MCD]> I’ve not, you know, *looked* at them in ages
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!

Here the lovely Flabyo took over to ask questions:

<lhall> up next for questionage is the fantastic Flabyo!
<Flabyo> HerringHale asks: “how many of you took days to solve petals round the rose?”
<Naomi[MCD]> it took me about 8 hours
<Andrea[MCD]> I was in a few minutes
<Jey[MCD]> Well, because we’re all super intelligent, we’re pretty stumped still.
<Andrea[MCD]> But I’d seen that kind of puzzle before
<Jey[MCD]> I hear that’s how it worked. Of course, the solution database was a good hint.
<Adrian[MCD]> I think if you know it can be solved quickly, you’ll figure it out quickly
<Adrian[MCD]> If you’re told it’s tough, you’ll overanalyse it
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Andrea[MCD]> Yeah, I was told right away not to overthink it
<Flabyo> skemny wants to know about that hint for Shuffled…
<Adrian[MCD]> No hints
<skenmy> Gosh darn it.
<Rand0m> The one I said they said they’d never tell?
<Andrea[MCD]> No hints for you!
<jojojojo> Told you Sken, no chance!
<skenmy> We had to TRY
<Naomi[MCD]> We will take the secret to our graves
<duckie> Did Des take it to his?
<skenmy> …ouch
<Jey[MCD]> How do you know Des?
<Naomi[MCD]> If only he had a grave, Duckie….
<David[MCD]> des didn’t get the honour of a real burial
<Yembles> is Des the cube..?
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<David[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> on the new website, MasterCheese asks: “Seeing the lack of a link to the official forum on the new site, I was wondering if you would still be using it for Season 2 or not?”
<Andrea[MCD]> Next!
<Jey[MCD]> I’m sure we’ll have some sort of community features…
<Jey[MCD]> (too slow Andrea)
<Ben[MCD]> Sure - there will be a forum
<Ben[MCD]> Just, like, not yet.
<Adrian[MCD]> There are also better discussion features per card as well
<Jey[MCD]> It might even be pink.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<skenmy> Very Web 2.0
<Ben[MCD]> Pink?! Ludicrous.
<Andrea[MCD]> And sprakly!
<Andrea[MCD]> With ponies!
<Yembles> I heard it was light purple…
<Flabyo> dragonscales asks: “Show of hands, who shall be partaying on the 24th?
<Naomi[MCD]> I
<Jey[MCD]> I
<skenmy> I
<David[MCD]> I
<Ben[MCD]> I
<Adrian[MCD]> J
* Andrea[MCD] weeps bitterly
<Adrian[MCD]> (it’s K, Andrea)
<Jey[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> Macavity asks: “Will we ever get to talk to Helena Frye?”
<Adrian[MCD]> What, in person?
<Adrian[MCD]> I’m sure we’ll see her again
<Naomi[MCD]> She’s a tough cookie, though.
<Naomi[MCD]> She might not want to talk to you.
<Hannah[MCD}> I
<David[MCD]> you’ll only meet her if you’re on her list. and you don’t want to be on that.
<Hannah[MCD}> sorry getting wine
<Flabyo> macmonkey asks: "I love how Kite Way is on the back of the card "Instagator" I assume there are many more easter egg type clues hidden around?"
<Andrea[MCD]> ILWDIOP
<Adrian[MCD]> There are other clues
<Adrian[MCD]> From the start, we knew that Violet and Kurt did it
<Andrea[MCD]>
<Adrian[MCD]> So there are all sorts of pointers in the blog posts etc
<Naomi[MCD]> There are, I think, quite a few things in blogs that you haven’t picked up on yet.
<Naomi[MCD]> Ah yes
<Naomi[MCD]> what he said
<duckie> MC and the K-Dawg in a sekrit pact?
<Adrian[MCD]> Don’t know about that one
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> Jojojojo asks if you have a favourite player quote?
<jojojojo> Yes!!1
<skenmy> http://pxcbash.com/
<Jey[MCD]> The Kurt is Dead humour always amuses us
<Yembles> That was my first proper PXC experience, that night.
<Adrian[MCD]> Dear Gyvann, there’s a PXC bash?
<David[MCD]> i liked the whole escaped bear/bear hunt/stolen bear costume thing in the police event
<lhall> Fans of limericks, eh?
<skenmy> Oh yes. We have everything.
<Jey[MCD]> David has a thing for bears.
<duckie> We’ve got far too much if you ask me…
* duckie has SEEN some of it…
<skenmy> …No Comment
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> josiah asks: “Re season 2, does advertising perplex city stories as an ARG not take away the A and the R and just leave G to some extent?”
<Adrian[MCD]> We’ve always said in our publicity that PXC is an ARG
<Adrian[MCD]> Like I said, I think in many cases, TINAG is overrated
<David[MCD]> but we still aim to surpirse you
<Andrea[MCD]> I suppose some of that depends on what you’re calling an “ARG” and what you’re not, too
<Andrea[MCD]> The definition is famously nebulous in the first place
<Adrian[MCD]> I think an ARG is less about TINAG, and more about the gameplay and the interface
<Andrea[MCD]> I think making a fun experience is the important bit
<Adrian[MCD]> Right
<Andrea[MCD]> And what you’re calling it is secondary
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<duckie> One from me, I’m afraid: Do you think that the term ‘ARG’ is fixed, or is it up for interpretation.
<duckie> As in: are there RULES that you need to conform to?
<Adrian[MCD]> No
<Naomi[MCD]> If there are rules, I haven’t seen them.
<David[MCD]> universal no
<Jey[MCD]> An ARG is what you want it to be. Or .. something.
<Adrian[MCD]> There are some things that work well, and a lot of sacred cows
<Andrea[MCD]> The more and more I think about it, the less I’ve backed away from exclusive definitions
<Naomi[MCD]> In the same way that much of the internet is still in its infancy.
<Adrian[MCD]> I don’t even like the term ‘ARG’
<Andrea[MCD]> And frankly the less I’ve thought they even mattered
<David[MCD]> grr. arg.
<Naomi[MCD]> There may one day be framing conventions, as there are for a novel.
<Naomi[MCD]> Mmmm… Buffy.
<Yembles> Perplex City Musical [Episode]..?
<Naomi[MCD]> But for now, it’s changing every time someone comes up with something new, clever and interesting to do.
<Adrian[MCD]> And I know a lot of ARG companies don’t like the term either
<Adrian[MCD]> But the media has taken hold of it
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> mj asks: “What do you feel will be the Next Big Thing in ARGs?”
<Andrea[MCD]> Well, you know, hopefully Season 2?
<Jey[MCD]> Well, we’ve heard about this thing called PXC Stories… it’s shaping up to be pretty good I hear
<Jey[MCD]> What else do you expect us to say really?
<Adrian[MCD]> Original IP
<Adrian[MCD]> And ARGs that have a much lower barrier to entry
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Flabyo> Macavity wonders if you expect anyone will ever solve Riemann?
<David[MCD]> you’re a bright lot
<Naomi[MCD]> Anyone ever?
<Jey[MCD]> Wait, you haven’t solved it yet? Jeez.
<Naomi[MCD]> In the entire course of human history?
<Naomi[MCD]> Providing we don’t destroy the planet?
<Naomi[MCD]> Yes.
<Andrea[MCD]> We’ve got the solution
<David[MCD]> adrian will give you hints until you do.
<Andrea[MCD]> Des could’ve explained it
<jojojojo> It’ll make a nice reunion when we’re old and grey
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<Hannah[MCD}> i'd love it!
<Flabyo> Mindez asks: "In what ways will season 2 be different from and/or similar to season 1, in terms of the ARG and the cards? Things like.. will they be more seperate, will the cards be a more vital influence on the game, will the ARG become a lot smaller, etc."
<Adrian[MCD]> The ARG and cards will be more separated
<Adrian[MCD]> But there’ll still be some links
<Adrian[MCD]> The ARG isn’t getting any smaller at all
<Hannah[MCD}> fun and cool links
<Jey[MCD]> Bigger if anything, bigger *and* better!
<Adrian[MCD]> We had some real problems synchronising the release of cards with the story. If we could magically create cards instantly, we’d still have the links… but the lead times are massive

And here duckie took over again for the final set of questioning:

<duckie> Morbus asks: “how much will s2 overlap, if at all, with s1? will the s2 puzzles reveal secrets you may be unwilling to give up from s1 (ala those Risk pieces)? Will new players need a primer in S1 history to “get” S2?”
<Hannah[MCD}> lead times are long
<Naomi[MCD]> We’re very keen to make S2 instantly accessible
<Adrian[MCD]> I consider the Risk pieces thing just to be a puzzle, not part of the story
<Adrian[MCD]> But we’re not going to ignore what happened in S1 at all
<Naomi[MCD]> So that you can start playing without S1 knowledge
<Naomi[MCD]> But yes, there’ll be more to enjoy if you know about S1
<duckie> mj asks: “Is it true that the puzzles on the new site are named after sushi?”
<skenmy> I imagine that will be a hard balance to get.
<Naomi[MCD]> Yes. That is entirely true.
<Naomi[MCD]> The entire season is named after sushi.
<jojojojo> Yay for sushi!
<David[MCD]> mostly i made them up out of my own head
<Ben[MCD]> Or *is* it?!?
<Hannah[MCD}> gotta love it
<Adrian[MCD]> David is actually speaking the truth this time
<Jey[MCD]> Perplex City Cucumber Roll 2
<Naomi[MCD]> Don’t listen to Caine!
<Hannah[MCD}> erm with hints David
<Naomi[MCD]> He’s a mass-murdering psychopath!
<David[MCD]> ssshhh!
<Jey[MCD]> Now now, we’ve discussed “mass”
<Andrea[MCD]> And beware his cutting wit!
<David[MCD]> you know what happens to people wot blab
<duckie> Mima asks: “Did you panic when Violets seckret page was accessed and there was no phone call?” I think that a lot of us would be interested to know: when you saw the photo of the hole that chippy took, did you *know* it had been found?
<David[MCD]> *know* is a strong word
<Adrian[MCD]> I knew it’d been found when Chippy drew that map
<Naomi[MCD]> It was a very exciting time.
<duckie> Sorry, Hawk’s photo.
* duckie slaps wrists
<Naomi[MCD]> Yeah, when we saw the map, we knew.
<Adrian[MCD]> We didn’t panic too much
<David[MCD]> i was planning a whole new ‘lost: the cube’ campaign
<Andrea[MCD]> There was some nail-biting
<Andrea[MCD]> But the whole time was nail-biting
<Naomi[MCD]> We felt like we were slightly getting a taste of our own medicine
<David[MCD]> much refreshing of mailboxes
<Andrea[MCD]> Waking up in the morning and checkign first thing to see if there was progress, or to see if somebody dug the thing up overnight
<duckie> Will there be the same sort of a grand prize in S2?
* Rand0m apologises if he was responsible for ulcers
<Naomi[MCD]> yeah, for a few days there it really was my first thought every morning
<Adrian[MCD]> There are no plans for a big grand prize
<Naomi[MCD]> “did they find the Cube yet? did they?”
<jojojojo> How long did it take you to phone Rand0m?!
<Andrea[MCD]> “What if they’re digging *right now*?”
<Rand0m> Well, we emailed first
<Adrian[MCD]> It was a big headline grabber, and it was a good focus for the game, but we want to do different things
<Rand0m> That took a day and a half I think
<Rand0m> Then a day to phone
<Adrian[MCD]> Having a big prize constrains game design quite a lot
<Hannah[MCD}> and costs
<Adrian[MCD]> And I would like to think that most people play because they enjoy the game and the story, not because of the prize
<jojojojo> I think we all agree on that one
<duckie> You’ve got that right.
<duckie> From the sublime to the ridiculous: Coxtin asks: “Will season 2 involve a person who can change into a spider?”
<Adrian[MCD]> Yes
<Naomi[MCD]> Who told you that?!
<David[MCD]> how did they find out?
<Jey[MCD]> *turns over the sekrit document*
<Hannah[MCD}> leaks in the company
<David[MCD]> jey!
<jojojojo> It was in a dream he had
<duckie> And to a more sensible question from Chimera: There was some concern in the community, particularly from those who collect the cards more for the collection’s sake, that the distribution of Wave 4 rare cards left a little to be desired. Have any lessons been learned from this?
<Hannah[MCD}> yes we have learned things and we are trying never to do it again
<duckie> Penultimate question then... Bookmore asks: "If you had one piece of advice to give to the community for season 2, what would it bee ?"
<Adrian[MCD]> Things change, but give them a chance
<Ben[MCD]> Check for cobwebs
<Jey[MCD]> It’s good to work together, and often it helps a great deal, but you should never be afraid to go it alone and work on something. And after all, you can’t be shouted at for trying!
<Adrian[MCD]> Something controversial here: We are thinking about having sponsored episodes in Season 2
<Adrian[MCD]> Do not be alarmed
<duckie> ’sponsored’?
<Naomi[MCD]> like a sponsored swim
* Yembles is alarmed
* duckie chucks in a ficer
<Adrian[MCD]> The last thing we want is for this to affect the story negatively
* skenmy silences the alarm
<Yembles> thankyou skenmy
<duckie> Like a Cathy’s Book deal?
<_izzy_> care to explain further Adrian?
<Adrian[MCD]> Not quite
<Adrian[MCD]> We get a *lot* of requests from companies to make standalone ARGs for them
<Adrian[MCD]> But we prefer to stay on PXC
<Yembles> interesting…
<duckie> For those of you out of the loop: Cathy’s Book came in for a bit of a bashing over carrying sponsorship ads from a cosmetics company.
<Adrian[MCD]> However, I think there are some partnerships that can work out very well
<Naomi[MCD]> advice for S2: we probably didn’t do it on purpose but we’re pleased you thought so anyway
<Adrian[MCD]> And I think you’ll actually be pleased when you see it
<Yembles> that’s sounds potentially quite exciting
<Adrian[MCD]> I don’t think we do anything quite like the cosmetics thing
<Jey[MCD]> Always remember: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/92/384049930_f1efd362e1_b.jpg
<Hannah[MCD}> adrian doesn't look good in lippy
<Adrian[MCD]> There will be no Sublymonal
<Naomi[MCD]> yeah, there’s not going to be any ‘Violet writes a note using her Chanel Sable eyeliner’
<Adrian[MCD]> And no cheesy product placement
<jojojojo> I dunno, Tippy would be a good spokesperson for nail varnish and nail files…
<David[MCD]> (i still sob at some of the projects we’ve had to turn away. *sniff*)
<duckie> Here’s the sneeky not-quite-final question that’s just been buzzed to me: Time-based points? What’s that all about? Have we got the wrong end of the stick?
<Yembles> chanel sable eyeliner?
<Yembles> ah, Studio 60 ref.
<Hannah[MCD}> To my knowledge there will be no time based points and never have been
<duckie> This is based on the back of the promo cards saying something that looks suspiciously like "extra points for fast/first solves'
<_izzy_> "The quicker you solve, the more points you earn"?
<_izzy_> (ty Mindez)
<Hannah[MCD}> i think you guys may have got the wrong end of the stick but i will check over things to confirm, but not in the near future
<Flabyo> it says "the sooner you solve. the more you score"
<Adrian[MCD]> Yeah
<Adrian[MCD]> We didn’t mean that
* duckie lets Hannah off of the hook
<Jey[MCD]> This is in the girlfriend/boyfriend sense.
<duckie> Hah!
<Naomi[MCD]> We often say things we don’t mean.
<lhall> Oh dear…
<Andrea[MCD]> it’s true.
<Hannah[MCD}> duckie i love you
<Andrea[MCD]> We’re a bunch of cads.
<Adrian[MCD]> Next!
<duckie> And now the final question…
<duckie> What question haven’t we asked, and what is the answer?
<Andrea[MCD]> Hmmmmmmmmm.
<Naomi[MCD]> You haven’t asked who actually buried the Cube.
<jojojojo> Yes! Who did?
<Naomi[MCD]> And it was me, Adrian and Michael. Well, I watched while they dug.
<Andrea[MCD]> Or who knew!
<duckie> You said that you did in an article, Naomi, so nyah
<Naomi[MCD]> (no one *ever* believes me when I say I was there)
<David[MCD]> my orginial answer to that, from my application was - Q: ‘Is it true about you and Sanndra Bullock? A: ‘Who have you been talking to?’
<_izzy_> (btw thats a Q from chippy)
<Jey[MCD]> What was our favourite part of the game? Personally, nothing can beat Receda’s Revenge, except maybe Receda’s Revenge 2… except maybe Rece… …
<macmonkey> :O
<David[MCD]> RR2 was ace.
<Flabyo> ah, coders always love what they coded themselves (I know I always do)
<Andrea[MCD]> Receda’s Revenge: *so fun to do*
<David[MCD]> improv writing, in general, has been a joy
<Naomi[MCD]> Yeah.
<David[MCD]> (like now)
* Yembles thoroughly enjoyed RR2
<Adrian[MCD]> Yep
<Naomi[MCD]> Who knew there *was* such a thing as improv writing?
<Hannah[MCD}> how funny was it taking the pic's of jey in a dress? VERY!!!!!!
<Yembles> the drawing aspect was brilliant.

And here the questioning was drawn to a close, and the final parts were thank yous to the Mind Candy folks for giving up their precious time to do the interview!

<duckie> Aaaaaand as the clock strikes 9, that's it from us. Thanks very, very much to MC for taking part tonight, we look forwards to seeing you all at the party on the 24th
<David[MCD]> “LOL, eh, Lola?” *sigh*
<Andrea[MCD]> Just. Thank you to all of you.
<Jey[MCD]> O M F G.
<Adrian[MCD]> Thank you everyone!
<jojojojo> Brilliant stuff
<Adrian[MCD]> You were a great audience
<duckie> And to you. We play it, you write it.
<Ben[MCD]> Q: How difficult is it to break a mirror. A: More difficult than you’d imagine …
<Naomi[MCD]> Thank you for playing.
<Adrian[MCD]> And thanks to everyone from Mind Candy and the story team
<skenmy> And you were a great “panel”!
* lhall applauds all
<David[MCD]> see you next season (or saturday)
<Hannah[MCD}> cheers guys (i have a large glass in hand)
<Andrea[MCD]> Thank you for watching us play, more like
<Yembles> Thanks very much Mind Candies
<Jey[MCD]> Everyone, come to the party! Seriously, and speak to us, we’re friendly!
* _izzy_ joins in the applause - thanks guys
<Naomi[MCD]> And thank you for your relentless enthusiasm.
<macmonkey> Very much appreciated guys
<Rand0m> Thanks guys
<duckie> Oh… and… there’s a couple of answers here already, Naomi… http://perplexorum.com/showthread.php?t=1181
<David[MCD]> come and say hi. especuially if you’re hot.
<David[MCD]> (adrian made me say that.)
<Adrian[MCD]> Damn you!
<Hannah[MCD}> oh yeah and thanks to the guy who found the cube
* Yembles laughs
<jojojojo> Here is to Saturday, drunkedness, o in the mines karaoke and Squeeeing
<Yembles> To saturday!
<Andrea[MCD]> And hey, if anyone wants to hang out of a celebratory weekend afternoon in NYC, I guess drop me an email
<Flabyo> the people in #perplexorum extend an invite, if any of you fancy something more freeform and anarchic
<Jey[MCD]> Good night folks, it’s been good.
<Adrian[MCD]> Night all
<David[MCD]> night
<Ben[MCD]> Night
<Adrian[MCD]> I will hang around in perplexocrum for a few minutes

And lo, that was the end of the chat. Thanks to all for a fantastic night (I know I said I was bored, but I lied, it was brilliant). Thank you very much to Mind Candy for giving up their time. Thank you to the brilliant ops for asking the questions and interviewing brilliantly, and thank you to the Applied IRC staff for making the chat possible with the QBot and everything!

It was very informative and I had a good giggle while editing and reading through the logs to write this up! I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Full logs are here, and further information and the topic in which you can answer the Mind Candy question can be found on this forum. Take a look!

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