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Post by thegenii on Dec 4, 2017 16:14:10 GMT -5
It reads like the MPC missed a whole lot of requirements in that list.
Might be time for a new piece on Boing Boing.
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Post by wortelboer on Dec 5, 2017 14:21:50 GMT -5
I was not part of the Kickstarter...but I have to say this about MPC - when you ADVERTISE this: "Filigree in shadow is currently ready to go into production; the tale has been written and all of the artifacts and other physical items have been designed and prototyped."
and then don't deliver what you promise...and back pedal and then try to say that:
"With this there must be some latitude: in the process things will be tried, and if they don't work, solutions will be found and other avenues chosen. This was the case with the artifact in this story. When my colleague previously referred to how "some elements of interactivity became untenable" she was saying that the creative team and our production folks, despite a valiant effort, could not be satisfied with that extra interactive bit mentioned in the campaign."
They clearly flat out lied in their Kickstarter campaign as the all of the artificats and other physical items had not been designed and prototyped...and it was clearly NOT ready to go into production (as evidenced by the long delay after the Kickstarter campaign completed and how different it was from the final product).
This is the reason why I cancelled my pre-order of Hunt for the Forgotten Tombs. I don't trust them.
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Post by The Mad Mermaid on Dec 7, 2017 0:06:44 GMT -5
Beckett, I'm only a little familiar with C&C. I tried to get into Volume 3 and Volume 4, but it's just not my cup of tea. I cannot recommend the first two volumes enough - even if one would not be interested in solving the puzzles at all, they make for a far more compelling read than the later ones. If you cannot be bothered at all, there still might be one certain article that might prove quite interesting to you... I agree wholeheartedly. The first 2 volumes were splendid! In Volume 3, the entire tone changed, and not for the better, in my opinion. Suddenly the engaging articles in 1 and 2 were replaced by stories about dead people interviewing each other, sing song-y poems and articles where alliteration seemed to be more important to the writers than the actual content. I gave Volume 3 a fair shot, but I actually couldn't even finish the final issue, and I cancelled so I wouldn't have to suffer through more of the same in Volume 4. Even with the addition of all the extra little bits and baubles accompanying the issues, it just didn't feel worth the cost anymore. Volumes 1 and 2 were like reading The Smithsonian, whereas Volume 3 was like The National Enquirer.
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Post by The Mad Mermaid on Dec 7, 2017 0:15:12 GMT -5
Well, mkarrett, if it did speak to you, I'd think you'd be afraid ... very afraid. It would, at the very least, fulfill the "interactivity" promise.
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Post by The Mad Mermaid on Dec 7, 2017 0:39:45 GMT -5
I was not part of the Kickstarter...but I have to say this about MPC - when you ADVERTISE this: "Filigree in shadow is currently ready to go into production; the tale has been written and all of the artifacts and other physical items have been designed and prototyped." and then don't deliver what you promise...and back pedal and then try to say that: "With this there must be some latitude: in the process things will be tried, and if they don't work, solutions will be found and other avenues chosen. This was the case with the artifact in this story. When my colleague previously referred to how "some elements of interactivity became untenable" she was saying that the creative team and our production folks, despite a valiant effort, could not be satisfied with that extra interactive bit mentioned in the campaign." They clearly flat out lied in their Kickstarter campaign as the all of the artificats and other physical items had not been designed and prototyped...and it was clearly NOT ready to go into production (as evidenced by the long delay after the Kickstarter campaign completed and how different it was from the final product). This is the reason why I cancelled my pre-order of Hunt for the Forgotten Tombs. I don't trust them. Wow ... so they've flat out lied. That's atrocious. Do they really think that in 2017 people don't save things for future reference? You can't publish the fact that you have everything prototyped, and then go back and say that, oops, it didn't work like we thought it would, and expect people to not catch on and not catch you in the lie! This really infuriates me. Do we have any actual legal recourse on this? Because I would be very on board with any action taken at this point. This just adds insult to injury after they pulled the Cold Signal rug out from under my feet, but in retrospect, and knowing what I've learned here about the personnel changes (which answers my questions about the decline of overall quality at MPC), I'm glad I didn't bust my ass to pull together the money for another experience.
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Post by wortelboer on Dec 7, 2017 9:09:07 GMT -5
I was not part of the Kickstarter...but I have to say this about MPC - when you ADVERTISE this: "Filigree in shadow is currently ready to go into production; the tale has been written and all of the artifacts and other physical items have been designed and prototyped." and then don't deliver what you promise...and back pedal and then try to say that: "With this there must be some latitude: in the process things will be tried, and if they don't work, solutions will be found and other avenues chosen. This was the case with the artifact in this story. When my colleague previously referred to how "some elements of interactivity became untenable" she was saying that the creative team and our production folks, despite a valiant effort, could not be satisfied with that extra interactive bit mentioned in the campaign." They clearly flat out lied in their Kickstarter campaign as the all of the artificats and other physical items had not been designed and prototyped...and it was clearly NOT ready to go into production (as evidenced by the long delay after the Kickstarter campaign completed and how different it was from the final product). This is the reason why I cancelled my pre-order of Hunt for the Forgotten Tombs. I don't trust them. Wow ... so they've flat out lied. That's atrocious. Do they really think that in 2017 people don't save things for future reference? You can't publish the fact that you have everything prototyped, and then go back and say that, oops, it didn't work like we thought it would, and expect people to not catch on and not catch you in the lie! This really infuriates me. Do we have any actual legal recourse on this? Because I would be very on board with any action taken at this point. This just adds insult to injury after they pulled the Cold Signal rug out from under my feet, but in retrospect, and knowing what I've learned here about the personnel changes (which answers my questions about the decline of overall quality at MPC), I'm glad I didn't bust my ass to pull together the money for another experience. That is my take on it....they would argue differently and that is just my personal opinion. I'm sure they will say that a prototype is not an end product and further testing of the prototype deemed it would not work well...or something along those lines. Had they communicated with people about the situation - explained it and apologized UPFRONT about the changes, probably folks would not be as upset. It is the fact that they don't feel the need to communicate when they make changes, pull products, or make mistakes.. I think that is the real issue and what burns people the most. All that said, on a personal note, I have decided that I'm not going to post any more negative comments on the MPC on the forum. I think enough have been said and going forward I'm going to focus on the positive.
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Post by Todd on Dec 7, 2017 9:49:04 GMT -5
I know that I have been, in no small way, a principle fomenter of disappointment in Filigree. But I don't really support lighting the torches and brandishing the pitchforks (i.e. calling the lawyers).
To look at it from another direction, how much did that lack of interactivity in the artifact diminish the value of this experience for you? If MPC hadn't made that promise in the Kickstarter, how much would you have been willing to pay?
List price for this experience is $350 US Dollars. If I recall through the Kickstarter, we paid about $250 US dollars. Ultimately we got a good deal on what we received when viewed alongside current pricing.
Yet if you still feel that you didn't receive an experience value in line with what you paid, it might be worth putting a dollar value on your disappointment and taking that value up with MPC. I can't speak for them, but in my line of work, customer retention is highly prized and, when possible, offering in-store credit not only appeases the angry customer, but assures a future purchase.
But personally, disappointment in multiple aspects of the experience aside, I do feel that the value of what I received was in line with what I paid.
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Post by thegenii on Dec 7, 2017 13:22:07 GMT -5
I thought, artifact aside, that Filigree was one of the better experiences: there was a lot of material and much to work through. (The "aging" issue didn't bother me much.)
However, the artifact as produced was incongruous and disappointing. I had a hard time believing what I was seeing when I slid the crate open. Casting a hunk of resin costs a lot less than finding a company to hand make either a wooden stereoscope or a magic lantern. And then there is the matter of the stereoscopic cards to be printed, or the lantern slides to be made.
Like most things in life, Filigree turned out to be a mixed bag.
One can always vote with their wallet. That moment of decision will come for me if the next two experiences (already paid for) aren't highly engaging, and lead to an exciting conclusion in the form of an artifact that registers high on the "cool" level. With the many negative changes made by the MPC, and promising ventures like the Armchair Detective Company and The Wilson Wolfe Affair on the horizon next year, I believe others may share my thoughts.
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Post by distantsmoke on Dec 7, 2017 20:13:39 GMT -5
I am not a fan of the experiences overall. I joined MPC for the C&C. I have bought a few experiences, but as Todd has said elsewhere (I think it was Todd), I am at a point in my life where I do not have a lot of use for hunks of this or that material to sit around the house. I have to dust this shit. I liked the Weeping Book, because the artifact was itself a puzzle. I can now share it with friends and family. I admit I enjoyed Filigree in Shadow, and do not regret buying it. I was not significantly irked by the failure to exactly produce ephemera to match early discriprions. The "real" blueprints come to mind. The Demon Jar and John Augur were not as exciting for me as they were for others. But again, I chose to buy them based on information available at the time.
If you have a problem you should take it to them directly. I have always given them feedback, both good and bad, as well as indifferent. The anger I am sensing here should be expressed to MPC, if for no other reason than to give them the opportunity to make it right.
I have no problem with people (or multiple people) expressing negative thoughts or feelings based on their "experiences" with the Company (see what I did there). That is how many of us make our own buying decisions. And sharing information that the Company has changed, either the Company itself or a product, that MPC has not made public is a public service in my opinion. But to continue to beat a dead horse until even the glue factory doesn't want it, is unseemly and multiplies negative emotions.
I would ask Todd to consider locking this thread, and allowing new buyers to start a fresh thread without the extra-ordinary (I put the dash in there on purpose) emotions that MPC Kickstarter events seem to generate. Something to consider only. Or some other solution. I will end this with the comment that after reading all the animosity generated by the Century Beast Kickstarter, I decided not to purchase that experience either. And it was mostly the Kickstarter comments that made that decision for me.
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Post by Beckett on Dec 8, 2017 8:20:18 GMT -5
Personally, I think that in the past we have been able to let our dead horses lie when all had been said an done. It is a bit unfortunate that the discussion about the contents of the Experience itself has become much more about the reception thereof, though, I will admit that much. But I would argue that, this being a bit of a tipping point for some of us regarding their active membership with the Mysterious Package Company (if we are indeed given a choice in the matter), this is a discussion well worth having. And for me, at least, this is not about giving feedback to the Company themselves - I will do that through the proper channels - but about exchanging thoughts with the people around here.
In the past I have more often than not come down on the side of understanding and patience with the Company in this type of discussion, but I never thought that the people who were disappointed or angered should stop talking about it to the community if they felt the need to - only that, at times, they would do well to moderate their tone a bit.
That said, if there is a consensus that we are darkening the mood around here, I will be happy to shut my hole.
To end this entry on a more positive note: I have always maintained that I rather liked The Century Beast. The story seems a bis disjointed at times because of its specific format, but I was happy with the overall Experience and the Artifact as well.
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Post by phill on Dec 9, 2017 14:40:50 GMT -5
I cannot recommend the first two volumes enough - even if one would not be interested in solving the puzzles at all, they make for a far more compelling read than the later ones. If you cannot be bothered at all, there still might be one certain article that might prove quite interesting to you... I agree wholeheartedly. The first 2 volumes were splendid! In Volume 3, the entire tone changed, and not for the better, in my opinion. Suddenly the engaging articles in 1 and 2 were replaced by stories about dead people interviewing each other, sing song-y poems and articles where alliteration seemed to be more important to the writers than the actual content. I gave Volume 3 a fair shot, but I actually couldn't even finish the final issue, and I cancelled so I wouldn't have to suffer through more of the same in Volume 4. Even with the addition of all the extra little bits and baubles accompanying the issues, it just didn't feel worth the cost anymore. Volumes 1 and 2 were like reading The Smithsonian, whereas Volume 3 was like The National Enquirer. I did exactly the same. Loved the first 2 volumes, persevered with volume 3, but in the end didnt bother doing more than glancing at the final issue. I got the first issue of volume 4 just to see if they'd taken note of the feedback, then cancelled when I saw that they'd gone even further in the other direction. And after backing Century Beast & Filigree, being lied to both times and getting no response to my questions, I'll never back another of their kickstarters.
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