It's already 1PM on Saturday and not even two games are done. Valve's trick to get moneys totally worked.
Rather disingenuous of you to say, considering that one game is done, and another will be done within about 47 minutes, by current estimation.
Also, effort is - since there isn't much of an organized way going about this, apart from some potatofoolsday ARG players - being distributed across most games, not single games. I'm surprised it's going as well as it is - and don't forget, getting potatoes helps too.
But of course, you're in for it, till you suffer one slight setback of a few wasted hours. Then, suddenly, you don't care, it's not worth wasting electricity, it's failing, and it's a trick to get money - Surprise meter twitched, barely.
But hey, at least it's better than Rym calling everybody kids again - which makes him, as best I can tell, one of those old people he keeps complaining about.
Side note - It came up in the geekchat last night as an amusing idea - If not finishing the bars actually gets the portal 2 release pushed back.
Quick update - we're at 46.96%, and we've finished kick it drop that beat like an ugly baby, and The wonderful end of the world. AAAAAAAA is 97 percent done, and will be finished within the hour. Rush and Cogs are at roughly 50%, and are the next highest- not paying that much attention to the percentages or estimated times, I've seen that yo-yo all day, while the progress bars steadily climb and potatoes steadily appear. Current focus is Rush, followed by cogs.
It seems like once we reach a certain number of potatoes, GLaDOS will have enough power to overclock the CPUs.
It seems to me that people are not doing the busywork fast enough, so now Valve is going to bend their arbitrary system to make sure the game releases at the time they had planned all along.
It seems like once we reach a certain number of potatoes, GLaDOS will have enough power to overclock the CPUs.
It seems to me that people are not doing the busywork fast enough, so now Valve is going to bend their arbitrary system to make sure the game releases at the time they had planned all along.
It better not be on sunday right before I go to sleep, or my rage will be uncuntainable.
On the site, "computations completed for launch" is around 2/3 done, so I think the game will be released relatively early; I guess the estimations of 10-15 hours ahead of schedule are probably accurate enough.
I don't think they're giving you two copies of the game that can be used simultaneously.
They are giving you two copies, but the problem with using both at once is not so much a problem of them stopping you, but being able to log into your steam account from two devices simultaneously and play a game. However, I'm pretty sure if you pick up the PC copy by linking your PSN account to your steam account, get the game, and then de-link your accounts, you still keep the PC copy.
I'm actually becoming less and less interested in Portal 2 the more it becomes apparent that the sole purpose of the ARG was to get more people to buy indie games.
I'm actually becoming less and less interested in Portal 2 the more it becomes apparent that the sole purpose of the ARG was to get more people to buy indie games.
I'm no less interested in portal 2 - the game is still going to be the same - but I'm certainly not really invested in the ARG that much anymore. The development that the main part of the ARG - the bit that isn't buy/play a bunch of games from us - isn't over did provide a little interest, but really, An ARG that ends in "And, yeah, buy these games to win at the ARG!" is poor form. Most ARGs are explicitly marketing, but very few is the marketing the point of the game within the game for a reason.
I'm no less interested in portal 2 - the game is still going to be the same - but I'm certainly not really invested in the ARG that much anymore. The development that the main part of the ARG - the bit that isn't buy/play a bunch of games from us - isn't over did provide a little interest, but really, An ARG that ends in "And, yeah, buy these games to win at the ARG!" is poor form. Most ARGs are explicitly marketing, but very few is the marketing the point of the game within the game for a reason.
I really dislike ARG in general. First of all, I hate the fact that the genre is still titled "alternate reality game" when the vast majority of games called ARGs were not ARG at all. They're all just puzzles and secrets on web sites that are also advertisements. The only reason I was even slightly interested in the Portal 2 thing is that I may have been able to play it today. As I'm headed to bed, we know that isn't going to happen.
If you want to know what a proper ARG should be like, you should research this game. EA's Majestic. Yes, it was a game with pre-written puzzles that you solved to figure out a mystery. However, it did actually attempt to alter your reality. You gave the game your phone number, fax number, email, AIM name, etc. The game would then deliver the content to you via these normal communications media. You could almost actually fool yourself into thinking you were part of a suspenseful movie-like plot, but for real!
That's what makes an ARG an ARG. Not the fact that you solve weird puzzles. The puzzles aren't even necessary. What is necessary to be an actual ARG is to immerse yourself in the illusion that something is happening in the real world, and you are a part of it.
You get a message from a mystery man that says you have to head to Penn Station at 3 o'clock. You actually go to Penn Station and you get a phone call. The person on the phone actually talks to you and guides you to a book store. In a specific spot there's actually something there! Of course, for the sake of safety and such you know the game is a game. But a really really good ARG could be so good that it could fool you into thinking that it's a real thing that presented itself as a game to fool you into going into it, but it's actually not a game at all. Or is it?
If you want to know what a proper ARG should be like, you should research this game. EA's Majestic. Yes, it was a game with pre-written puzzles that you solved to figure out a mystery. However, it did actually attempt to alter your reality. You gave the game your phone number, fax number, email, AIM name, etc. The game would then deliver the content to you via these normal communications media. You could almost actually fool yourself into thinking you were part of a suspenseful movie-like plot, but for real!
I remember there was a really successful ARG back in 2004 called I Love Bees that really got people into it - there were a bunch of real-world interactions, like posting numbers that turned out to be GPS coordinates and times (among other things). If you went to the coordinates at that time, you would find a pay phone that would ring, and characters from the story would talk to you, and ask for or give information. Sadly I didn't participate myself, but I've listened to the audio drama, and know people who did take part - it sounds like it was an awesome time (not to mention it was successful marketing, as well).
I really dislike ARG in general. First of all, I hate the fact that the genre is still titled "alternate reality game" when the vast majority of games called ARGs were not ARG at all. They're all just puzzles and secrets on web sites that are also advertisements. The only reason I was even slightly interested in the Portal 2 thing is that I may have been able to play it today. As I'm headed to bed, we know that isn't going to happen.
That is somewhat true, though I would say Vast majority is somewhat of an exaggeration, it's fairly accurate. However, I would put forward there there are some ARGs which while clearly a marketing gimmick, have a defined story line, and have a clear start, middle, and end - For example, Institute for Human Continuity and ilovebees. In fact, right up until valve pulled the "Play these games for a chance of early release!" card, Potatofoolsday was shaping up to be one of the best product ARGs that we've seen for quite a while - but, unfortunately, they had to pull that bullshit instead of running it out with a big finale, like ilovebees or the Dark Knight ARG did.
If you want to know what a proper ARG should be like, you should research this game. EA's Majestic. Yes, it was a game with pre-written puzzles that you solved to figure out a mystery. However, it did actually attempt to alter your reality. You gave the game your phone number, fax number, email, AIM name, etc. The game would then deliver the content to you via these normal communications media. You could almost actually fool yourself into thinking you were part of a suspenseful movie-like plot, but for real!
Also, another good one was Perplex city, which was run for the sake of itself. And I don't need to research EA's Majestic - I didn't play, but I watched it as closely as I could, and helped out where I could. Eagle eye Freefall was even better again.
That's what makes an ARG an ARG. Not the fact that you solve weird puzzles. The puzzles aren't even necessary. What is necessary to be an actual ARG is to immerse yourself in the illusion that something is happening in the real world, and you are a part of it.
It's a little more complex than that, but I'd take some time to get my ducks in a row research wise and to figure out exactly how I want to put it - I'd rather not go off half-cocked.
You get a message from a mystery man that says you have to head to Penn Station at 3 o'clock. You actually go to Penn Station and you get a phone call. The person on the phone actually talks to you and guides you to a book store. In a specific spot there's actually something there! Of course, for the sake of safety and such you know the game is a game. But a really really good ARG could be so good that it could fool you into thinking that it's a real thing that presented itself as a game to fool you into going into it, but it's actually not a game at all. Or is it?
You have to be sure it absolutely is, you can't forget the "It's just a game" component. One woman signed up to an ARG sort of thing, and they fooled her a little too well, because she successfully sued them for essentially stalking her and freaking her right the fuck out.
I'm actually becoming less and less interested in Portal 2 the more it becomes apparent that the sole purpose of the ARG was to get more people to buy indie games
I'm looking forward to seeing how much those indie guys made in all of this. For some of those games I'll bet it was more than all previous sales combined.
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Also, effort is - since there isn't much of an organized way going about this, apart from some potatofoolsday ARG players - being distributed across most games, not single games. I'm surprised it's going as well as it is - and don't forget, getting potatoes helps too.
But of course, you're in for it, till you suffer one slight setback of a few wasted hours. Then, suddenly, you don't care, it's not worth wasting electricity, it's failing, and it's a trick to get money - Surprise meter twitched, barely.
But hey, at least it's better than Rym calling everybody kids again - which makes him, as best I can tell, one of those old people he keeps complaining about.
Side note - It came up in the geekchat last night as an amusing idea - If not finishing the bars actually gets the portal 2 release pushed back.
I don't think they're giving you two copies of the game that can be used simultaneously.
Fucking Valve.
If you want to know what a proper ARG should be like, you should research this game. EA's Majestic. Yes, it was a game with pre-written puzzles that you solved to figure out a mystery. However, it did actually attempt to alter your reality. You gave the game your phone number, fax number, email, AIM name, etc. The game would then deliver the content to you via these normal communications media. You could almost actually fool yourself into thinking you were part of a suspenseful movie-like plot, but for real!
That's what makes an ARG an ARG. Not the fact that you solve weird puzzles. The puzzles aren't even necessary. What is necessary to be an actual ARG is to immerse yourself in the illusion that something is happening in the real world, and you are a part of it.
You get a message from a mystery man that says you have to head to Penn Station at 3 o'clock. You actually go to Penn Station and you get a phone call. The person on the phone actually talks to you and guides you to a book store. In a specific spot there's actually something there! Of course, for the sake of safety and such you know the game is a game. But a really really good ARG could be so good that it could fool you into thinking that it's a real thing that presented itself as a game to fool you into going into it, but it's actually not a game at all. Or is it?