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Post by wortelboer on Dec 28, 2017 10:13:26 GMT -5
I enjoyed all the articles. I solved all the puzzles this morning, so I didn't find them too difficult...just the right amount of a challenge for me. I really enjoyed the issue. I haven't really spent time looking at the curios and am saving looking for hidden messages until tonight or tomorrow (so I have something to look forward to).
At least C&C is ending (so far) on a positive note.
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Post by dmikester on Dec 28, 2017 19:32:19 GMT -5
Well, I disagree, especially considering that this is the final issue. I've been trying to keep from voicing my dissatisfaction as much as possible in order to maintain a positive atmosphere here, but I think it's worth voicing it now. The writing was OK but boring and unfunny despite many attempts at humor, and the puzzles at first glance seem fine but uninventive (not going to have a chance to solve until later tonight). They also put about as minimal an effort as possible into the curios, with the pewter artifact in particular being plain and nondescript. There's also one letter that seems to be a deliberate middle finger to us (the one about how SOME people like the easier puzzles and redesign). If this is the quality level we can expect from Murder For Sale, count me out.
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Post by mkarrett on Dec 28, 2017 22:32:47 GMT -5
I'm glad you liked the last and final C&C Wortelboer. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for unboxing but I have this feeling that the Creators kinda threw their arms in the air and did a "welp" with C&C and gave up.
I mean...the pewter thing looks like a creepy turd. 😣
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Post by dmikester on Dec 28, 2017 23:35:49 GMT -5
I'm glad you liked the last and final C&C Wortelboer. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for unboxing but I have this feeling that the Creators kinda threw their arms in the air and did a "welp" with C&C and gave up. I mean...the pewter thing looks like a creepy turd. 😣 Not to mention the ghastly seams on either side of it. Quality control is clearly way down.
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Post by iamlost4815 on Dec 29, 2017 0:23:52 GMT -5
I'm glad you liked the last and final C&C Wortelboer. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for unboxing but I have this feeling that the Creators kinda threw their arms in the air and did a "welp" with C&C and gave up. I mean...the pewter thing looks like a creepy turd. 😣 Not to mention the ghastly seams on either side of it. Quality control is clearly way down. Agreed. The seams on it are pretty noticeable. I haven't read the issue yet but is there any indication of what it is supposed to be? An giant ant hill? A tentacle?
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Post by phraca on Dec 29, 2017 1:00:12 GMT -5
Which MPC experience does this issue go with?
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Post by winginsue on Dec 29, 2017 1:44:25 GMT -5
HI all, I'm brand new to Curious and Conundrums. Just got Countdown to Oblivion, now are you saying that this is the last issue? Should I go back and order the previous issues for Volume 4? I read most of the paper when I got it today. I haven't started solving the puzzles yet as I'm still at the point I'm trying to figure out what to do. Thanks
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Post by mkarrett on Dec 29, 2017 2:15:22 GMT -5
Which MPC experience does this issue go with? I haven't done all of them but something with Apocalypse. Maybe Risen? Edit: I think that was the tie-in for issue 3. It's also possible MPC stopped doing that Experience tie-in.
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Post by craigrj on Dec 29, 2017 3:43:16 GMT -5
HI all, I'm brand new to Curious and Conundrums. Just got Countdown to Oblivion, now are you saying that this is the last issue? Should I go back and order the previous issues for Volume 4? I read most of the paper when I got it today. I haven't started solving the puzzles yet as I'm still at the point I'm trying to figure out what to do. Thanks Hi, yeah it's the last issue of CnC in its current form - this particular volume is a world apart from last year's volume three, but as for what to do next, try these questions for size: Did you enjoy Countdown to Oblivion? Did you like the bits and pieces in the box, the format of the box itself, the contents of the paper? Try the puzzles, are you happy with the difficulty level of them? Do you like having step-by-step answers to these sorts of thing online? Once you've answered these then: - If you answered YES to all of these, then order a previous issue and ask yourself the same questions - if YES again, then repeat. - If you were a MAYBE or NO, then I'd recommend ordering the volume three catchup omnibus instead - these do not come in box, and there is no pewter artifact, but there is a story threading through from issue to issue, there are more puzzles, and there are deeper levels to many of the puzzles plus a meta puzzle linking the whole of volume three together.
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Post by wortelboer on Dec 29, 2017 6:35:48 GMT -5
I'm glad you liked the last and final C&C Wortelboer. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for unboxing but I have this feeling that the Creators kinda threw their arms in the air and did a "welp" with C&C and gave up. I mean...the pewter thing looks like a creepy turd. 😣 Not to mention the ghastly seams on either side of it. Quality control is clearly way down. LOL. I guess I should qualify my response. I went into this volume with ZERO expectations...in fact I went in with negative expectations. Comparing any issue in this volume to any of the previous volumes is going to automatically result in a profound sense of disappointment. So over the past issues I had to adjust my expectations. To do that, I simply chose not to compare them at all to previous issues. Hence my disappointment was tempered. While I do agree that the sense of humor and play was missing, the articles were informative and the writing decent. The puzzle formats were unique for some of them and none of them were broken and I enjoyed solving the more challenging ones. The one word solution for the Crossword, I have a 5-letter word that fits and the space is for a 4-letter word. I'm not sure if I am missing something or if MPC had a typo, but I know the right answer to the Metapuzzle. I won't say that it is broken, I am hoping I'm just missing some step. The curios I hadn't looked at when I wrote my first impression. I agree they are not worth the cost. The pewter figure is not even something I would bother to display. With the glaring seams, it looks cheap and half done. If C&C were going to continue, I would indeed cancel. The curios are a waste of money. I would buy the paper, but would only be willing to pay 1/3 of the price. F As a parting note, I want to give kudos to the artist who each month created the cover art for the issue. The artwork created by Michael Custode for each issue is always excellent. I will miss seeing his work.
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Post by billfelty on Dec 29, 2017 10:36:41 GMT -5
HI all, I'm brand new to Curious and Conundrums. Just got Countdown to Oblivion, now are you saying that this is the last issue? Should I go back and order the previous issues for Volume 4? I read most of the paper when I got it today. I haven't started solving the puzzles yet as I'm still at the point I'm trying to figure out what to do. Thanks I’m still amazed that there been no official announcement to current subscribers that C&C is ending. Sure the “coming soon” postcard is there but it doesn’t say it’s a replacement. Or even clearly state what it is. The lack of communication regarding all this (and the multitude of Behind-the-scenes changes at MPC) is really confusing.
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Post by Todd on Dec 29, 2017 10:55:07 GMT -5
HI all, I'm brand new to Curious and Conundrums. Just got Countdown to Oblivion, now are you saying that this is the last issue? Should I go back and order the previous issues for Volume 4? I read most of the paper when I got it today. I haven't started solving the puzzles yet as I'm still at the point I'm trying to figure out what to do. Thanks I’m still amazed that there been no official announcement to current subscribers that C&C is ending. Sure the “coming soon” postcard is there but it doesn’t say it’s a replacement. Or even clearly state what it is. The lack of communication regarding all this (and the multitude of Behind-the-scenes changes at MPC) is really confusing. As I understand it, MPC wanted to make sure that it's most fervent fans knew about the change before we sussed it out on our own. You'll notice on the MPC website that you cannot subscribe to Curios & Conundrums any longer. We'd have been talking about that here if we weren't already in the know. I expect that there will be a joint announcement next year when they are prepared to do so, both of the end of C&C, and the beginning of Murder For Hire, or whatever its name ends up being. I wouldn't be surprised if they give us a heads up here first. We shall see.
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Post by dmikester on Dec 29, 2017 11:36:06 GMT -5
Yeah they stopped doing the Experience tie-ins with Clockwork Mutineers, and Brain Butchers barely tied into Risen. This doesn’t tie into anything (well, actually, given the theme and one of its puzzles, it may end up tangentially tying into Rise of the Cult).
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Post by thebardess on Dec 29, 2017 17:08:52 GMT -5
Well, I disagree, especially considering that this is the final issue. I've been trying to keep from voicing my dissatisfaction as much as possible in order to maintain a positive atmosphere here, but I think it's worth voicing it now. The writing was OK but boring and unfunny despite many attempts at humor, and the puzzles at first glance seem fine but uninventive (not going to have a chance to solve until later tonight). They also put about as minimal an effort as possible into the curios, with the pewter artifact in particular being plain and nondescript. There's also one letter that seems to be a deliberate middle finger to us (the one about how SOME people like the easier puzzles and redesign). If this is the quality level we can expect from Murder For Sale, count me out. I agree, dmikester. I haven't gotten a chance to do any of the puzzles yet, but the curios with this issue are by far the most disappointing of Volume IV, which is really saying something. There's definitely a sense that they just stopped trying, kind of a "Well, it's the last issue, why bother?" feel. And I've felt for a most of Volume IV that the letters from subscribers section seems to be there mostly now to kind of shout at us "See! Some people like it! It's not that bad!" (To which I always mentally reply, "Mmh-hm. Are you trying to convince me or yourself?") I've been subscribing to C&C almost since the very beginning (my first issue was "The Feline Nemesis," way back in Volume I). I *loved* it. It was by far the thing I looked forward to the most in the mail. When I knew delivery day was near, I would wake up every day and literally have butterflies of anticipation in my stomach as I stalked the mailbox. I am not at all exaggerating when I say there were times I actually cried when my issue didn't arrive, and I knew I was going to have to wait at least one more day (or worse still- a weekend!). When it finally did arrive, I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning, jumping up and down with excitement, and torn between wanting to dive into the whole thing all at once and slowly savor it. One of the reasons I helped develop and write up the Beginner's Guide on the wiki was to try and fill that gnawing, horrible gap between issues. I was there in real time when Vaults I and II were opened (I myself was the third person in Vault I). I immersed myself in the Sitting Room, I obsessed over the Bridge Letter, I helped cracked the Second Broadcast, and when the MPC held the gold coin giveaway in Volume III, I went the whole nine yards and used my antique fountain pen to write a multi-page letter with a fantastic backstory about the lost tomb of Nefertiti, and a desperate plea for help to be delivered from the avaricious clutches of dastardly Egyptian slave traders. All of that is gone now, with Volume IV. I'm not excited anymore, I don't hover over the mailbox, heck, I can let the box sit unopened on the dining room table for three or four days before finally getting around to looking at it. I don't sift through the curios, holding each one carefully like a small treasure, marveling at the craftsmanship, wondering what role this mysterious artifact plays in the story or what curious message it holds. I'll forget for weeks that I haven't solved one of the puzzles and can't even be bothered to read all the articles any more. There's no story to immerse myself in, no thrill, no sense of excitement, no epic saga of warring societies...the whole thing feels rote and half-assed. I love C&C, I really do. I miss what it was, I grieve for the old days, and in spite of everything, I'm sad that it will no longer continue. But if this is what it's come to, perhaps it is for the best that it be put out of its misery and leave us with the memories. It's too bad they couldn't end on a high note, but I'm sure Andrew McCabe would be the first to agree that things don't always go the way you might wish in life. So tonight, I'll pour a glass of wine, raise it to the memory of our dear friend Bernard and the once-glorious Sitting Room, and say farewell to C&C, to the OSS and the SZ, to Andrew, and Horace, and all the rest. It would be grand if it could all continue as it once had, but in the words of a poet far more eloquent than myself, "nothing gold can stay." R.I.P. Curios & Conundrums We'll always have Morocco.
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Post by karangela on Dec 29, 2017 19:54:11 GMT -5
I think it is interesting that a Hell Mouth pin was included in the box. Perhaps it is a comment on our persistent complaints about Volume IV.
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