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Post by edwardm on May 26, 2016 12:20:29 GMT -5
I don't like how the recipient of adventure mailings is usually tied into the story line through some distant relative. This just seems too suspicious to me and raises too many red flags. How is the sender able to trace me to this distant relative if I'm not able to? If I'm an heir why aren't other relatives getting this mailing?
For an adventure mailing I am currently creating I was thinking about designing the mailings so the recipient isn't connected to the story at all. They are getting the mailings due to a shipping mistake.
A seller is auctioning off items obtained from (an estate, or storage container, or something...) and a buyer (whose last name and first initial matches my recipient) has purchased several items. The mailings will be addressed to my recipient (first initial last name) and inside along with the story artifacts will be an invoice from the seller to the buyer. The invoice will include the buyers first name which is different from my recipient. I think this will indicate an honest shipping mistake without too much hand-waving or explanation.
Also on the invoice will be an email that can be contacted for issues. The email will have a vacation responder set up to say they are unavailable for a few days and will get back in touch soon. I think that will satisfy the recipient until the entire story is told.
Any other ideas for how a recipient is getting mailings that doesn't seem too strange?
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Post by Memosinstilettos on May 26, 2016 12:47:57 GMT -5
For a wedding gift from our fabulous neighbors we received a "geocaching" date. We were given sealed envelopes and sent on this journey with coordinates, instructions and when to open each envelope. In the envelopes were instructions on what to do next and one item: restaurant reservations (the meal was prepaid), tickets for bike hire to cycle around downtown, wine tasting etc..
We had the best time (even though it rained on our bike ride and I wore a dress and heels), but is the most memorable gift from our wedding (in fact the only gift I remember).
I guess what I am saying is, it is OK to know who it came from, it is all in the presentation of the gift. I know about the MPC and the fact it is not "real" but I would still be totally over the moon to receive a package.
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Post by edwardm on May 26, 2016 13:31:39 GMT -5
That sounds like a really awesome gift.
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Post by Beckett on May 26, 2016 14:23:40 GMT -5
I do believe that the best choice of story hook depends greatly on the personality of the intended recipient.
Personally, I am baffled by the amount of people who seem to completely and without question buy into the premise of the Experience. Let us be frank: The Curator and his Coterie do a beautiful job, but the artifacts rarely hold up under scrutiny. But there was actually a report of a person who got sp frightened that they ended up burning the Weeping Book (an action that would have reduced my to a Weeping Mess had I been the gift-giver).
If your intended recipient is this accepting of the mailings' premise, you might be better off using a tried and true story hook like the hitherto unknown relative. If your subject fully buys into the story of the mis-delivered goods, they might immediately return the package or refuse to tamper with it at all.
What I believe the Mysterious Package Company are doing is to make it unmistakeably clear that the letters are actually intended for the recipient and, more importantly, never ask for anything in return. The inclusion of an invoice, an indication of the contents' value might spook the recipient into mistaking a thoughtful gift for a scam.
It is difficult to come up with a truly believable excuse for sending unsolicited mail to another person without hinting that they have been signed up for a service like the Company.
My brother is currently awaiting the final mailing of one of the curated Experiences, and in an interesting twist, it has yet to explained how he got chosen as the recipient.
I find this solution quite elegant - the sender sends him these items without directly giving away their identity or their reason for doing so. This adds another layer to the mystery and eliminates the need to open with a suspicious explanation before the story has really drawn in the recipient.
Look at me, rambling on and on. That's what long train rides will do to you.
Who are you creating this mystery for, if I may ask? Is it tailored to a specific person or are you looking to send it to different people?
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Post by edwardm on May 26, 2016 15:07:09 GMT -5
I am also surprised by the number of people that seem to buy into the Experience without question but I am designing this for a relative who will probably think it a scam or junk-mail if using the distant relative hook. If it ends up working well I was planning on making it a kit for others to get - with some assembly required to keep the cost low.
The recipient returning it might be an issue... maybe don't include a return address? I don't think one is required for first class mail in the US.... but that in itself might be suspicious.
Not wanting to tamper with it... I figure most of it will be loose open items like news clippings, tickets, open old letters, that would be easily examined without feeling like you are messing with something you shouldn't. I would think typical human curiosity would get most people to poke around.
Invoice may be the wrong word... maybe packing slip would be better? Something that doesn't list price or suggest money is due?
Thanks for your comments - I appreciate them.
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Post by Geodus on Dec 1, 2016 20:46:49 GMT -5
I know I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but I've been thinking about this idea myself lately, so I've got a few ideas about how this might work without invoking the long-lost relative gambit:
1) The Sender claims to have some kind of psychic premonition that the Recipient is a suitable person to receive the information/artifact. I think MPC does this for some of their experiences.
2) The Sender claims to have met the Recipient in a past/future life. This would work with stories involving time-travel.
3) A variation on 2 -- the Sender is acquainted with the recipient in an alternate universe but has somehow ended up stranded in this universe. Perhaps they are friends, allies, or even rivals of the Recipient.
4) The Sender claims that they have a mutual friend (who has asked to remain secret) with the Recipient, who has indicated that the Recipient is a trustworthy agent.
5) The Sender claims that there is something significant about the Recipient's physical address (perhaps it is at a convergence of Ley Lines), and therefore, they are writing to them to warn them or ask their assistance.
6) After sending the Recipient a small artifact (with no return address or sender information), the Sender claims that the artifact was sent in error to the wrong person/wrong address, but now it is too late to return, and thus begins the story.
One think I'd like to see is more hooks to the attributes of the recipient - travel history, place of birth, occupation, school, hobbies, etc. If I were creating bespoke experiences for people, I'd ask for a social media link to the recipient if it were available/public. There are so many interesting things you could do with experiences (many bordering on creepy) to make them more personalized.
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Post by centaurofattn on Dec 2, 2016 13:26:11 GMT -5
I'm working on something similar for my best friend that I am hoping to kick off for Xmas and then continue once a month until next Xmas for the reveal. Where I get tied up is that I'm her only friend in my geographic area so even going a few post offices away to mail would give away that I am the one sending everything. Because of that, I was trying to figure out how to still keep it interactive but its a difficult puzzle in itself. Here are some options: 1) Start out by explaining everything and have it be less mysterious and less "you're part of the story." Ex: Hey there, I have a fun long form tactile story for you. Here is part one. Another part coming soon! 2) Set up some reason why everything has to come to me first. Ex: I discovered a time traveling cabinet in my office at work and now I can send and receive messages for you. 3) Find friends all over the US/World that I would mail packages to with some funds to then re-mail it to the recipient (groan). 4) Just save myself the trouble and by an MPC experience haha (just kidding)
Of course one of the best parts about a DIY experience is that the recipient gets actual hand written notes and stuff. Though if you take photos and such, it could be a fun quick buck on Etsy or something afterward.
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Post by Geodus on Dec 2, 2016 14:53:46 GMT -5
You can also look into commercial re-mailer services. You send them packages inside a bigger envelope, they open them, and re-mail the contents. Do a web search for "remailing service". I found several.
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Post by centaurofattn on Dec 2, 2016 14:58:55 GMT -5
You can also look into commercial re-mailer services. You send them packages inside a bigger envelope, they open them, and re-mail the contents. Do a web search for "remailing service". I found several. Ha! Who knew? Figures someone would be enterprising with it, and the reasons why people would use it are neat too. Thanks for sharing!
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Post by charlesdegrey on Feb 15, 2017 18:25:28 GMT -5
Hey Centaurofattn, can we get an update on your mailing adventures?
Were you able to get it up and running by Christmas?
(If not I totally understand, currently 13 months late on my adventure's kick-off.)
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Post by centaurofattn on Feb 15, 2017 19:18:31 GMT -5
I DID! In fact she got past the first mailing and she has received the second mailing as well. It has a thread of it's own on here if you wanted to see the fun details of how that is going.
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Post by charlesdegrey on Feb 15, 2017 20:06:00 GMT -5
I DID! In fact she got past the first mailing and she has received the second mailing as well. It has a thread of it's own on here if you wanted to see the fun details of how that is going. I do! what is the thread called?
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Post by centaurofattn on Feb 15, 2017 21:03:51 GMT -5
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Post by charlesdegrey on Feb 16, 2017 11:32:28 GMT -5
Started reading it over last night. Played your text based adventure game. Will keep reading the posts today and try to gather some feedback.
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Post by centaurofattn on Feb 16, 2017 13:44:22 GMT -5
Don't stress to much on the text based game. That ship has sailed and I'm not editing it anymore haha. Talk about a lot of effort. Made me appreciate a certain other game way more (if you can imagine).
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