|
Post by dmikester on Jan 11, 2018 10:23:18 GMT -5
I don’t think it’s needed, as all it would really be is giving away the answers to puzzles. I mean I guess you could create entries for the characters, and there are some red herrings/Easter eggs in the visual and puzzle design of each envelope that could be cool to document, but those are also often there to trip you up, so highlighting them could potentially give some puzzles away. Just my two cents. Hmmm, that's fair. I guess I was thinking more of a 'this is HOW you solve them' rather than giving straight answers. Like for a cryptogram, ok, know the most common letters and letter pairings, which letters are likely to be doubles, etc. Maybe with different hint levels like: For 1 (i): Spoiler level 1: even if the symbols aren't letters you can still have a cryptogram Spoiler level 2: Common letters in the alphabet are... Spoiler level 3: Look at the pictures, they may help you solve the cryptogram Spoiler level 4: The first word is the picture: LEAF. I really like documenting how things work - I have a whole notebook of the carefully written out explanations of individual puzzles, because I like to keep the originals in good condition to loan them to friends. Also an excuse for my washi tape obsession Who knows, I may just do a blog on blogspot or something. Ah ok, that makes a lot of sense actually. Now that I think about it, I know that Jack is pretty relaxed about the whole answer process (I remember being nervous about submitting my answers to him only to discover that he was just glad people were submitting anything at all and he was fine with multiple attempts), as he wants people to engage and interact with the puzzles and get the most out of the experience. Yeah, then I'd say go for it after contacting him, and I'd be happy to help out!
|
|
|
Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Jan 12, 2018 12:11:17 GMT -5
Hmmm, that's fair. I guess I was thinking more of a 'this is HOW you solve them' rather than giving straight answers. Like for a cryptogram, ok, know the most common letters and letter pairings, which letters are likely to be doubles, etc. Maybe with different hint levels like: For 1 (i): Spoiler level 1: even if the symbols aren't letters you can still have a cryptogram Spoiler level 2: Common letters in the alphabet are... Spoiler level 3: Look at the pictures, they may help you solve the cryptogram Spoiler level 4: The first word is the picture: LEAF. I really like documenting how things work - I have a whole notebook of the carefully written out explanations of individual puzzles, because I like to keep the originals in good condition to loan them to friends. Also an excuse for my washi tape obsession Who knows, I may just do a blog on blogspot or something. Ah ok, that makes a lot of sense actually. Now that I think about it, I know that Jack is pretty relaxed about the whole answer process (I remember being nervous about submitting my answers to him only to discover that he was just glad people were submitting anything at all and he was fine with multiple attempts), as he wants people to engage and interact with the puzzles and get the most out of the experience. Yeah, then I'd say go for it after contacting him, and I'd be happy to help out! I've just emailed him. Will hope for the best. I love the community here but I want to be a signal boost of a sort for his work as well. I was sad when the CnC wiki seemed to peter out after season 2.
|
|
|
Post by dmikester on Jan 12, 2018 12:33:21 GMT -5
Ah ok, that makes a lot of sense actually. Now that I think about it, I know that Jack is pretty relaxed about the whole answer process (I remember being nervous about submitting my answers to him only to discover that he was just glad people were submitting anything at all and he was fine with multiple attempts), as he wants people to engage and interact with the puzzles and get the most out of the experience. Yeah, then I'd say go for it after contacting him, and I'd be happy to help out! I've just emailed him. Will hope for the best. I love the community here but I want to be a signal boost of a sort for his work as well. I was sad when the CnC wiki seemed to peter out after season 2. You know, it's funny with the Season 2 stuff on the Wiki. I was doing the Real-World References stuff here for Season 1 and while it was a lot of work, it was manageable, and going through the puzzles wasn't too daunting. But somehow when it came to Volume 2, it became a huge amount of work. I think everything just got more complex and multi-layered with Season 2, both in terms of puzzles and content, and I ended up getting exhausted from the work and abandoned it. So I understand why the wiki wasn't updated, though it's a worthwhile project to take on at some point for sure.
|
|
|
Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Jan 12, 2018 23:46:07 GMT -5
I've just emailed him. Will hope for the best. I love the community here but I want to be a signal boost of a sort for his work as well. I was sad when the CnC wiki seemed to peter out after season 2. You know, it's funny with the Season 2 stuff on the Wiki. I was doing the Real-World References stuff here for Season 1 and while it was a lot of work, it was manageable, and going through the puzzles wasn't too daunting. But somehow when it came to Volume 2, it became a huge amount of work. I think everything just got more complex and multi-layered with Season 2, both in terms of puzzles and content, and I ended up getting exhausted from the work and abandoned it. So I understand why the wiki wasn't updated, though it's a worthwhile project to take on at some point for sure. I thought the wiki was amazing - especially for those of us who came late to the party, lived nowhere near a bridge in Toronto, etc... Also, Jack wrote back!! Firstly, thanks for checking in about this! I’m really flattered that you’d like to curate a space online to chat about the project!
As far as the content goes, I really like the way Curios has beneath-the-cut options for spoilers and an IM function if people want to whisper other tidbits to each other. Largely, mystery is central to the project but more than that, it legitimates the art prizes by starting from the assumption that the person working through the puzzles has only what is given on the page to help them.
In truth, however, I came up with the art prizes as a way to begin a conversation with the readers. By far my favourite part of the project is getting feedback of all kinds because it helps me fix, improve and steer it to bigger and better things.
So it’s actually quite fortuitous timing that you’re thinking of setting up a space now as I was just thinking about how beneficial a discreet space online and, in fact, a walkthrough guide would be for generating conversation. As for the conflict with the art prizes, I’ll be announcing in March that all remaining editions of the prizes can be claimed but no more will be made, which will allow me to focus on this year’s prizes.
I’m also going to create a little guide for all of 2017-18’s puzzles as a PDF and make it available for free online to ensure it’s obviously now play-for-enjoyment only (because there’s no need to drive yourself nuts anymore unless you really want to!).
So given that March is only a couple of months away, and you peeps on Curios make up a decent proportion of the dedicated readership anyway, I see no harm in sharing that info and/or having those discussions in the meantime! Beyond March, it may get a little murkier re: prizes as I’m hoping to start trading in bigger retail numbers but if I’m being honest, I think 99% of readers just want the satisfaction of cracking it themselves. And if a self-published witchcraft-themed puzzle story really did have the potential to become an international overnight success then these discussions would be inevitable anyway, right? For some reason that doesn’t worry me, though!
And finally, can I help with anything? Happy to provide artwork/signal boost/whatever if you’d like!
This is awesome. Going to start the wiki now. Excited!
|
|
|
Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Jan 12, 2018 23:55:58 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by neutronstar on Jan 13, 2018 9:13:40 GMT -5
This is amazing. Thank you so much. I love these puzzles and sometimes I find them really challenging. This resource is much appreciated.
|
|
|
Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Jan 13, 2018 14:44:02 GMT -5
This is amazing. Thank you so much. I love these puzzles and sometimes I find them really challenging. This resource is much appreciated. I'm glad you like it! I'm planning on putting more detail into it tomorrow. Today was mostly getting the formatting and proof of concept down. It's fun, too, to go back and 'relive' the puzzles, and all the rabbit holes I went down on my way to solving them. The neat thing about Wikia, too, is that multiple people can edit, so if you get to a puzzle and want to add the story, you can! I'm just trying to leave off the last solution on all of them for now, given what Jack has said about limited prizes, etc.
|
|
|
Post by squirrel on Jan 13, 2018 17:39:21 GMT -5
This is amazing. Thank you so much. I love these puzzles and sometimes I find them really challenging. This resource is much appreciated. I'm glad you like it! I'm planning on putting more detail into it tomorrow. Today was mostly getting the formatting and proof of concept down. It's fun, too, to go back and 'relive' the puzzles, and all the rabbit holes I went down on my way to solving them. The neat thing about Wikia, too, is that multiple people can edit, so if you get to a puzzle and want to add the story, you can! I'm just trying to leave off the last solution on all of them for now, given what Jack has said about limited prizes, etc. It's looking really good!
|
|
|
Post by neutronstar on Jan 16, 2018 9:34:41 GMT -5
Just received another November issue instead of the December. Also, the envelope was slit open on both sides and curiously, also included was a random v page. I sent an email to Jack to have the December issue sent.
|
|
|
Post by craigrj on Jan 16, 2018 10:35:26 GMT -5
Would that v page not be the corrected version? The original had an error on it, and so he did a replacement....
|
|
|
Post by neutronstar on Jan 16, 2018 10:58:34 GMT -5
Would that v page not be the corrected version? The original had an error on it, and so he did a replacement.... Not sure, I haven't heard back from Jack yet. But am glad it was included if that's the case. But I still need the December issue.
|
|
|
Post by dmikester on Jan 16, 2018 11:27:02 GMT -5
I got a corrected v page along with November, so maybe he sent a duplicate mailing by mistake? I still haven’t gotten December either, though there’s always a significant delay between the U.K. and USA delivery times.
|
|
|
Post by squirrel on Jan 16, 2018 11:44:31 GMT -5
I'm still waiting on Dec too. So it hasn't even made it across the Irish Sea yet.
|
|
|
Post by Yasoda Dei Conti on Jan 21, 2018 0:00:39 GMT -5
Still no December for me, and the gov't shutdown probably means not for a while yet. Time to continue to stare meaningfully at November...
|
|
|
Post by lee82 on Jan 22, 2018 15:21:59 GMT -5
Just discovered this through the forum and tempted to go all in with the first year. How's the learning curve if you're new to their puzzles? Do you need puzzle experience or does it teach you as you progress?
|
|