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Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2002 09:40:44 -0400
From: John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com>
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Subject: Re: [CONTENT] Puzzle fairness
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Joao Mendes wrote:
> Hey, :)
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> John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com> wrote in
> news:3D8C6A06.5000705@csi.com:
>>Actually, the response when you nab Michael's ID suggests that you're
>>not nearly so mundane as expected...
> Maybe. But then again, this is _after_ the breakin. My whole point centers
> around the breakin. The rest of the game seems acceptable either by
> comparison or by force of circumstance.

And, asking you the same question others have asked me, "why must you
know everything about the PC when the game starts?  Why can't the
text reveal these things to you as you go...?"

This seems a much more pleasant (and reliable) way of doing things
than:

] OPEN DOOR
Bah!  Why use the door when you can break in?

Show, rather than tell, as they say.  In fact, arguably, that the PC
doesn't notice any other way in is rather suggestive of her
personality, isn't it?

>>My point, though, was that, since my life tends toward the mundane,
>>answers as to "what would I do" are necessarily just guesses, made
>>without the stress of the actual event.
> Not only does your life tend towards the mundane, so does everyone else's,
> unless you're part of the crew of Wild Things. Thusly, if the PC in a game
> is a presumably normal person, and indeed _not_ 'In The Crew Of Wild
> Things'(tm), I expect her life to tend towards the mundane as well. As
> such, the breakin confused me...

Ah, but that's my entire point.  I don't have problems like this on a
regular basis.  I would imagine that neither the PC nor you do,
either.  That means that any hypothesis on what you (or I or the PC)
might do is simply that:  a guess.

>>I actually find that interesting.  I actually spent time agonizing
>>over whether to check out his pants and the contents of his wallet,
>>despite having illegally entered the office without giving it a
>>thought--even with the understanding that this was probably what I
>>"needed" to do.
> For reference, here was my thought process at the time: hey, pants, what's
> with them...

Heh.  I figured I already knew about Michael's pants.  Chances are,
the PC has been exposed to them, before.

> hey, a wallet, what's with that... hey, a library card, cool,
> now I can snoop on what Mikey didn't want me to read, hehe... let's swipe
> that and put everything back...

Damn sociopaths...

> er... well, the game does that for me...
> ok, I can live with that... :)

Especially since it pushed the story a lot harder (made it seem
creepy and an unconscious movement) than if the game had simply
waited for me to type ] PUT PANTS ON BED.

>>Joao Mendes wrote:
>>>John Colagioia <JColagioia@csi.com> wrote in
>>>news:3D835632.5020509@csi.com:
>>>>Basically, I count the entry (which was as much to get out of the
>>>>rain as anything else),
>>>Eh... no, it wasn't. Or rather, I can't think of a more obscure way
>>>of getting out of the rain than climbing a trash can, especially when
>>>there is an open pub nearby.
>>Where they're really not happy to see you?  Maybe it's because I've
>>been to a couple of towns with that atmosphere, but I'd rather take
>>my chances with the rain.
> Ok, but given the choice of three options, stay in the rain, go into an
> unfriednly pub, break into an office with the aid of a trash can, which do
> you think a (so far presumably mundane) person is likelier to do? :)

As I mention above, the fact that the PC doesn't seem to notice that
the pub is dryer (and, in fact, the pub's description seems less
"friendly" than the storm's) indicates to me that she's not as
mundane as you want her to be.

Again, show, don't tell.

>>But the church has very little to do with your survival.  It'd be
> Adrien Beau already addressed this. I subscribe his words.

While it may have been accurate in the story, I got no such
impression that it was a safe haven.  Honestly, I saw it as the
*next* place I could go, rather than the *only* place I could go.

>>It depends on the town ordinances.  Most places I've been, they'll at
>>least fine you heavily (and possibly arrest you) if you're in the
>>records room without either a permit or an escort.  Basically, you
> Heh... I assumed that those weren't the real 'records rooms', but rather, a
> place where one could consult a number of assorted details at will...

Bwah-ha-ha-ha!  No, that'd mean hiring someone to make extra copies,
and to maintain them and stuff...

> Access to copies, so to speak. In retrospect, I realize this is far-
> fetched, but it goes to show you how my mind is constantly striving for the
> mundane, even in the midst of mayhem... :/

Actually, these days (last five years, basically, which is when
Anchorhead is set, of course), it's even harder in some towns to get
at the records, because of the potential for identity theft.  I
direct you to the nearest book or website on "underground counter-
culture" or somesuch for the details...

>>>>>>a strange town where everyone apparently hates you on sight.  You
>>>>>'Everyone' here means a bunch of sorry dudes in a lousy pub.
>>>>also the creepy librarian.
>>>Those actually exist. ;)
>>This is true.  I even know some.  However, it doesn't make the town
>>seem any friendlier.
> No, it doesn't. But the librarian doesn't hate me on sight, she's just
> there... Or at least, we don't see any interaction between her and Michael,
> so I just assumed that's how she treated everybody. As for the other guys,
> pubs with closed off atmospheres are not that unusual, as you yourself
> pointed out. Yes, the weather is lousy, but all in all, I just don't feel
> there is enough motivation to climb a trash can amd break into an office.

Not for *you*.  But, as you've told me, the player isn't the PC, and
the PC is under no mandate to act as the player would...

>>Well, look at it this way:  What happens when it's time for the
>>library to close (plotwise, you now have hours fewer to save the
>>world, though you don't know this), and Michael asks the librarian to
>>keep the place open until his research is done?  He, being a Verlac,
>>and critical to the upcoming event, is granted his request.
>>Want to hang out until morning?  The next evening?  Wouldn't it be
>>nice to get some food?  Too bad every restaurant completely ignores
>>you when you ask for a table...
> If all this really happened, eventually, I'd make myself find a way into
> the office. And then, we wouldn't be having this discussion, as I would
> have felt the motivation was there. :)

The PC's motivation would've been well-established, but the player's
motivation would've been pretty much "nil" by that point...

> Btw, I'd like to remind folks that 'Anchorhead' stands so far as my second
> favorite game (after 'Worlds Apart'). But this conversation is being rather
> interesting and it may prove useful for other folks considering puzzle
> design for (presumably) mundane PCs. :)

Yes.  I actually consider this discussion to have almost nothing to
do with "Anchorhead," as such.  It just happens to be a very good
case study for the discussion.

