|
|
Post by helenahandbasket on Mar 26, 2016 7:12:38 GMT -5
For people who have finished, I'm curious what you thought of The Raven. Be sure to format spoilers properly.
|
|
|
|
Post by bladedraconis on Mar 26, 2016 13:51:21 GMT -5
For people who have finished, I'm curious what you thought of The Raven. Be sure to format spoilers properly. How do I format spoilers again? |
|
|
|
Post by helenahandbasket on Mar 26, 2016 18:52:31 GMT -5
When you reply, in the formatting bar at the far right there's an icon of a guy with his finger to his lips. Highlight your spoiler text and click on that icon. In the alternative, if you're on a phone or doing quick reply and don't have the formatting bar, you can do it in html by typing [ spoiler] text to hide [/ spoiler] and that works to give you the spoiler box with your text to hide inside when you post (but leave out the spaces within the brackets, I only did that so you could see what to type). If you have trouble, remember that you can edit your post if the spoiler doesn't work the first time. Using the html for spoilers works like this.
|
|
|
|
Post by Senator on Mar 26, 2016 22:13:02 GMT -5
It was my first experience. And I enjoyed it. However, I approached this with my mind set as I would an actual investigation. My college background is in criminology, and I did an independent study on serial homicide. I wanted to look at victimology and focus on the similarities on the way the other victims were found. But we couldn't because we weren't given that info. There were some pieces of evidence we were given that I didn't see come into play at all. Which leaves me with questions. 1. Did the Raven keep her panties as a trophy? Other trophies mentioned weren't so intimate. No panties were mentioned in the deceased affects.
2. Why have an unbroken zip tie? There were no mentions of ligature marks on the body by the coroner. The FBI file says he overpowers his victims, and subdues them. At the point of becoming evidence the tie would have been cut, and marks on her wrists or ankles or whatever.
3. The description of the wounds on the body were flipped from left to right on the drawing on the body.
4. For a small town, the unsub would need to be able to approach them without raising suspicion. The unsub would also need to be able to come and go from the homes (for scenes where the bodies were found at home) and be parked outside the homes long enough to not raise suspicion. The suspect who was the handyman/fixit guy is a better unsub for that reason.
5. The pictures of the Raven showed someone with a wider, clean shaven jaw (it peeks out at the sides of the mask) and has blue eyes. The actual Raven per the Reveal, was not that person. The person matching THAT description was the lawyer, I think.
6. I believe the coroner's report said that rigor mortis had set in on the last victim. I don't believe that the report gave the relative stiffness plus body temperature of the victim, which would have given us a window as to when she was killed. As in, if she was warm but stiff, she would have been dead 3-8 hours or so. Cold and not stiff would tell us she was dead for more than 36, which when considered with post mortem lividity, we could have better been able to figure out if she was killed at a secondary location, which the FBI file says he is suspected to do. That amount of time would tell us how close to the deposit location of the body his kill site is.
So those would be my nits to pick.
That being said, the point of this experience was to solve riddles and clues, not to investigate this like a real cop. For that, it was a fun few days and I had a good time noodling it out. |
|
|
|
Post by helenahandbasket on Mar 27, 2016 9:17:03 GMT -5
What I like about these escape room in a box things is that they have a beginning, a middle, and an end. They're very different from C&C -- It's more like a very short MPC experience, but with puzzles to solve. I made a tactical error on Archon and raced thru it too fast. This time I took my time, only a little each night for a few days. I really went thru the materials, re-read some Poe, and figured out who I thought did it and why. But, as Senator pointed out, there were a few ambiguities. I had my best guess, but it wasn't 100% iron clad. I thought the nods to Archon were priceless! And, to you C&C types -- the lost keys ad was obviously part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy engineered by Cedarian  I solved The Raven's password first. There was a lot of suspense solving my way thru the Raven's file, but I was right! Yay! These puzzles were an improvement over the ones in Archon, which is a plus. On to the Annabel file... I would have never been able to open the Annabel file if someone hadn't told me exactly where the password was. That voice makes my ears bleed and I had given up on his rendition of The Raven after about a minute. I was figuring the Annabel file was either The Raven's explanation for why he chose Annabel, like something more than the name, or maybe what the name means to him, or something like a letter that walks thru every gleeful detail of how he did it, maybe even explaining why she's not wearing panties (I noticed that too!) and how he eluded the police. Maybe even the name of his next victim or the Poe work from which the name will be taken. Lots of options for that file, the anticipation was killing me! So I listened to that stinking voice reading The Raven not just once, but twice... but I got the password! Yay! Now for the big payoff... After all that imagining and sacrifice, I have to say actually opening the file was a huge letdown and a very anti-climactic way for me to end The Raven. Spending another hour looking for the Easter Egg or hidden text I had convinced myself must in there SOMEWHERE didn't help. I guess it's my own fault for solving the raven file first, but there wasn't anything that made it seem like it would matter. In Archon, it made absolutely no difference which of the two files you opened and solved first. Anyway, I think both mysteries so far have been fun and I'm looking forward to Coraline. They're a good complement to C&C. I think they'll continue to improve -- this is only their second monthly mailing, so I think they're still getting their bearings and figuring out their niche, making improvements, etc. I'm liking how all the things in Forrest City are connected to each other, it's like getting caught up with old friends! |
|
|
|
Post by Senator on Mar 27, 2016 9:44:47 GMT -5
Anyway, I think both mysteries so far have been fun and I'm looking forward to Coraline. They're a good complement to C&C. I think they'll continue to improve -- this is only their second monthly mailing, so I think they're still getting their bearings and figuring out their niche, making improvements, etc. I'm liking how all the things in Forrest City are connected to each other, it's like getting caught up with old friends! Totally. I think that the tactic I chose was not the right "tool" for this particular experience. I think it is a fun diversion between the quarterly drops from C&C. For a second mailing, the detail that they went to is really, really impressive. Like, I loved all of the little evidence stuff and the purse contents. |
|
|
|
Post by drrook on Mar 27, 2016 10:33:55 GMT -5
I really can't wait to get home on Tuesday to dig in to this stuff . You guys make it sound a lot of fun
|
|
|
|
Post by bladedraconis on Mar 27, 2016 15:51:46 GMT -5
I completely agree with you, Senator! I enjoyed the experience myself, however I found it to be extremely predictable and somewhat confusing. I wanted to see a connection between the victims and discover more of a story line. I was curious to find out what really happened and HOW it happened - not just Raven's identity.
To be honest, I knew who the Raven was by just skimming through the suspect profiles. The funny thing too, I was praying for it to be someone else to make it more interesting. But nooooo, it had to be him :/ Not to mention, that he doesn't fit the profile of a true sociopath.
I wish there was more we could do as well. I'm left with many questions.
|
|
|
|
Post by helenahandbasket on Mar 27, 2016 19:32:48 GMT -5
Well, The Raven is supposed to be a recurring story line, I hope we'll find out more next time -- maybe how he was a great man of the theater and he gave an Academy Award performance to maintain such a benign profile? Then he went unhinged when he was playing the lead in, "Nightfall With Edgar Allan Poe." Then he went right to work with all that experience with stage make-up and appliances, he had the know-how to change his appearance dramatically! I mean, this time he was O'Neal, but who knows who he might turn out to be next time... Wow, maybe they'll hire me to write the next installment! Again, it was fun and I hope the improvement trendline continues, I'm really looking forward to Coraline (which is a creepy story to begin with...). |
|
|
|
Post by drrook on Apr 8, 2016 14:50:21 GMT -5
I've finally had some time this evening to go through this stuff . Solved and put away . Great fun. But really I sort of only had 2 suspects from the start . Really enjoyed the riddles and Websites and the emails . They sent me down a blind alley for a while . The whole thing reeked of quality . I even Rang the no. At the end . Kinda creepy . Just hope my phone bill don't take too much of a hit . Ringing from England remember Basically , well worth the money . I am looking forward to Coraline even more now |
|
Mar 1, 2020 11:20:08 GMT -5
vm.tiktok.com/ZMerT2raT/
Mar 9, 2021 13:18:36 GMT -5
vm.tiktok.com/ZMerT2raT/
Mar 9, 2021 13:18:36 GMT -5