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Post by verdantfruu on Dec 16, 2017 9:24:13 GMT -5
Credit where it's due: while i designed the vast majority of the volume 3 puzzles, i worked with a talented designer (and great guy!) at the MPC named Kris Forge, and the One Good Turn puzzle was entirely his design. Kris was instrumental in keeping me in check, and ensuring that i didn't introduce too many "booze-soaked" (ha! love it) puzzles into the mix. He was my sobriety coach.  Prior to my stint at the MPC, i ran an escape room company called LockQuest in Toronto. The one thing i found very interesting was that the deciding factor between victory and defeat was diversity. It wasn't (perceived) IQ. i had teams full of doctors, lawyers, engineers, and phd candidates play my game, and they didn't always escape. i had other teams of average Joes and Janes, across a spectrum of ages and backgrounds, who fared much better. Quite often when i test other people's puzzles for group events, i swear up and down that certain puzzles are way too difficult, and that no one will ever solve them, and hooboy, they'd better implement massive changes or else... and then i show up to the event, and nobody has any real difficulty. It was just me. They think differently. The other factor for success in my escape game business was leadership. The most effective teams were the ones in which one, maybe two people (in a 12-player group) took effective control, and delegated tasks. "You two, search that corner of the room. You three, take these components and solve them. We'll meet back here in five minutes." That's what i really like about the format we've got going here, where a few folks are able to organize and direct the puzzle solving effort, mining the diversity of minds. It's great. It's so great. Let's keep it going with something new! |
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Post by phraca on Dec 16, 2017 9:44:35 GMT -5
Prior to my stint at the MPC, i ran an escape room company called LockQuest in Toronto. Was that by chance the one featured in Games magazine a few years back? Oh, and I am also in on your new endeavor. |
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soulspath
Assistant
Vault 1 - Open, Vault 2 - Open, Vault 3 - Open
Posts: 54 
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Post by soulspath on Dec 16, 2017 10:13:38 GMT -5
Sounds interesting!
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Dec 16, 2017 12:49:08 GMT -5
Cautiously in.
Ryan, you sounded surprised that CnC had been cancelled. If we may ask, when was "recently parted ways?"
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Post by verdantfruu on Dec 16, 2017 14:14:13 GMT -5
phraca - we weren't featured in Games (there are many, many escape game companies around the world!), but we did get a very good write-up in the Toronto Star: www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/11/28/its_not_easy_to_escape_the_book_club_killer.htmlthegingerbarrister - what must i do to convince you to throw caution to the wind? What are your reservations? Lay 'em on me. The MPC and i recently parted ways two days ago, on Thursday. That's when i learned about the CnC cancellation, but i waited until they had officially announced it to introduce myself. Anyone who makes his living creatively is used to being precariously employed. Throughout my time at the MPC, i have been thinking about what sort of venture i might like to start in the event that i found myself formerly employed. i am not just blowing smoke when i say that i adore this community in the people in it, and that i have been itching to come out of stealth mode talk to you all not as Bernard, not as Andrew McCabe, not as Verdant_fru, but as Ryan Henson Creighton: someone who would like to design neat story-driven and interconnected puzzles for you to enjoy once again. |
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Post by chrisu on Dec 16, 2017 14:25:34 GMT -5
Count me in, as long as you don't mind shipping to Europe...😆
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Post by karangela on Dec 16, 2017 20:10:21 GMT -5
I’m interested as well. It is nice to hear from a puzzle designer. Volume 3 was awesome!
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Post by ww12345 on Dec 17, 2017 7:00:31 GMT -5
I’d be in too!
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Dec 17, 2017 18:51:23 GMT -5
phraca - we weren't featured in Games (there are many, many escape game companies around the world!), but we did get a very good write-up in the Toronto Star: www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2014/11/28/its_not_easy_to_escape_the_book_club_killer.htmlthegingerbarrister - what must i do to convince you to throw caution to the wind? What are your reservations? Lay 'em on me. The MPC and i recently parted ways two days ago, on Thursday. That's when i learned about the CnC cancellation, but i waited until they had officially announced it to introduce myself. Anyone who makes his living creatively is used to being precariously employed. Throughout my time at the MPC, i have been thinking about what sort of venture i might like to start in the event that i found myself formerly employed. i am not just blowing smoke when i say that i adore this community in the people in it, and that i have been itching to come out of stealth mode talk to you all not as Bernard, not as Andrew McCabe, not as Verdant_fru, but as Ryan Henson Creighton: someone who would like to design neat story-driven and interconnected puzzles for you to enjoy once again. To start, your puzzles were diabolical, maddening, and ultimately, a helluva good time. I humbly thank you for introducing me to a new way of puzzling that I had yet to experience. I am cautious because I feel I have lost all zeal for an endeavor that requires yet another leap of faith on my part. I was willing to give V4 of CnC a shot based off of the goodwill engendered by V3. I, and others, feel extremely let down. Not because the shift in content was by any means your fault, to be clear. I just mean that despite your impressive pedigree, I am not immediately persuaded that the halcyon days of magic and fulfillment are easily obtained again. I may be rambling, but, to be transparent, I am curious to see what you are suggesting. Perhaps then I will not be a Scrooge and may be more open to your idea(s). |
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Post by verdantfruu on Dec 17, 2017 21:50:22 GMT -5
i'm working hard to have something ready for you. Not a completed product, but an explanation of what i have planned, and some questions that i'd love you to help answer. One key difference between my approach and that of other companies is that i'd prefer to speak to you honestly and directly, without couching anything i say in a character or in-world/in-game speech. My name is Ryan Henson Creighton. i'm a married father of two who lives just outside of Toronto, and i've been developing games and puzzles for 17 years. As Doctor Who once said, look me up.  Let's save mystery and intrigue for the actual product! |
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Post by elroyjetson on Dec 18, 2017 10:45:14 GMT -5
I really enjoyed you work with CnC and I'm looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve.
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Post by jackoat on Dec 18, 2017 12:22:50 GMT -5
I'm in too.
Volumes 1 and 2 were great for the "story". I was immersed in the secret society and wanted to help the community protect the artifacts and solve the mystery. Volume 3 was an incredible ride with interconnecting puzzles that always seemed to go one layer deeper.
verdantfruu, thank you for your part bringing the story to life. I too am located just outside of Toronto and hoping to make the meetup next year.
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Post by verdantfruu on Dec 19, 2017 8:22:10 GMT -5
A few of you have been asking me about whether or not absolutely all of the puzzles in CnC have been solved by now. Apart from Harvest Time (which is starting to finally unravel), i couldn't think of anything you had missed... until last night! One of the most exciting puzzles to develop was the infamous horse puzzle from issue 2.4. You may recall that Todd solved it in some sort of Archimedes-like fever dream "aha" moment. But to the rest of you who aren't Todd, perhaps you felt a little like the solving logic was too crazy a leap, and that that the puzzle was a tiny bit unfair. For what it's worth, there was an additional clue in the paper that literally spelled out what you were meant to do. It's been two years, and i remain very surprised i was able to slip this one under your fiendishly scrutinizing, puzzle-solving noses! |
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Post by Beckett on Dec 19, 2017 8:57:30 GMT -5
I am always up for piling more unsolved puzzles onto my Puzzle Pile of Shame! Count me in!
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Post by centaurofattn on Dec 19, 2017 9:31:29 GMT -5
By "solving logic was too crazy a leap," do you mean the expectation that anyone would solve it without the curios? Because yes, I regret not being Todd so that I was in on CnC sooner but I think the clues in the ad were adequate. If there was something in the paper that would allow us to solve it without that, then I'm excited to find it. Otherwise, missing a clue for how to solve it doesn't seem like a missed puzzle; just an unneeded step. Kind of like how all of the liturgical and time references led some of us to Harvest Time (Joan of Arc, vesper, Northanger Abbey, monastic, time, etc). It wasn't your intention, but somehow other clues helped us to solve the puzzles. With many minds come some unique thinking patterns it seems. On a similar note, I had a few people who thought my picking of words out of horoscopes and playing smash n grab with them to find the IF was a leap too. Was there a clue that would have led someone to do that? Edit: Also, shout out to phill, who I seem to recall found that two ads fit nicely over each other. Tried to find that logic process in the Sitting Room archive but it looks like it didn't make it (may have happened in a different page of it or something). |
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