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Post by oeternalis on Mar 20, 2018 12:04:59 GMT -5
To say that I've had various degrees of success with MPC would be an understatement.
I've discovered MPC with the Kickstarter for Century Beast and backed without knowing anything about the company because the promise of an unfolding story by mail was very intriguing. I got the Diamond experience, which on a student's salary was a huge investment. I ended up getting almost everything (I never got my Personal Note) after a couple of delays and I like the experience. I'm not a huge puzzle solver so I might have missed some things but in the end I was satisfied enough to back Filigree in Shadow with the Seance, but more on that later.
Everyone was always raving about Curious and Conundrums and I jumped all in, buying the Curio Catch Up Volume 1, Curio Catch Up Volume 2, and a subscription to Volume 3. This was a mistake (for me). As I said I'm not a great puzzle solver, and I was left baffled as to where to start with my now huge pile of newspapers. This is on me and not on the product itself. I might go back and try to piece the story, which everyone seems very keen on, at a later date but I'm not sure.
The only entirely positive experience was when I gifted Under the Ceiba Tree The Curse of the Werejaguar to my mother. She went through all the usual phases of annoyance, confusion, fear, and anger (debating at one point to ask a friend in the RCMP to look up who was sending her strange things). When the reveal finally came, she ended up being very happy about the whole thing and the artifact now sits proudly in the living room. She was considering gifting an experience to said RCMP friend, I'm not sure she ever did.
There was the whole Vulcan Tooth disappointment, but since I got a full refund promptly that wasn't a big deal.
My real problems with MPC started with the Filigree in Shadow. I submitted a picture for the Seance on the website and got my first two mailings without any problems. My third mailing was supposed to be sent out on the 27th of October. On the 4th of December, I sent them an email asking about the delay. I was the informed that the picture I supplied contained "two people" (it didn't) and that I needed to supply one "from the knees up at minimum", which I find highly doubtful after seeing the pictures posted on this forum of only head-shots or even cats for the Seance. I have sent them another email and am waiting to see what comes of it, but I have now lost hope that I will receive what I have paid for (as I understand, the paper craft house at the end of the experience is a Kickstarter exclusive and I highly doubt there is still one sitting in the warehouse waiting to be sent out to me). Also, since the new website, my ticket for the stand for the artifact has disappeared.
I was really tempted to get the Demon Jar with the discount, but after reading on Facebook and here what is currently happening at MPC with the lowering quality, layoffs, and probable liquidation of all their stock I can't stomach to give them any more of my money.
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Post by Todd on Mar 20, 2018 12:20:51 GMT -5
I'm so sorry to hear of your frustration. There was a time when we would assure you that MPC would make things right for you. Unfortunately, those of us who are long time members no longer recognize the company.
I will say this much, the Concierges at MPC have demonstrated to me, time and again, that they really do have the customer's interests at heart. They want you to be happy with your experience, and will do what they can to see that you are.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a disconnect between the Concierges and the Powers that Be at MPC. The Concierge may give you an answer that, to the best of their knowledge, is true, but later find out that the entire situation was much different than they understood. It's very frustrating. But if it is true that they do not intend to go out of business, and I still take them at their word on that, then they should still have a keen interest in fixing Filigree for you.
Many of us here, though, are particularly enamored of the first three volumes of Curios & Conundrums. If you choose to embark on that adventure, we will help you every step of the way.
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Post by wortelboer on Mar 20, 2018 12:27:30 GMT -5
I second Todd's comment about the fact that you will find lots of help here if you work on the C&C adventure. I will add that I think the best place to start is with the Crossword Puzzle.
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Post by oeternalis on Mar 20, 2018 12:30:14 GMT -5
Thanks Todd, I might take you up on that offer of help.
It's just so frustrating. I really wanted to love this company and I keep getting disappointed, and every time it makes it a bit worse. I'm really glad that the only time it worked flawlessly was with the gift. I will wait to see what the Concierges can do for me.
I guess I just wanted to vent a little.
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Post by Todd on Mar 20, 2018 12:41:34 GMT -5
Venting is permitted. Welcome.
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Post by dmikester on Mar 20, 2018 12:55:09 GMT -5
Filigree's timing, especially the post-Kickstarter production period where the Artifact changed from what they had promised backers, coincided directly with the behind-the-scenes turmoil that led to the company devolving into the shell of its former self that it is today. Filigree was clearly mishandled, and while I got everything more or less on time, I'm not surprised that there were mishaps with deliveries for some. As far as I know, no one got the stand delivered on time, and I am amazed at the photos I've seen of it; it legitimately looks identical to picture frame stands you can purchase on Amazon for about $20.
I do want to second Todd's statement about the Concierges. When I discovered MPC in mid-2016, I realized that I really wanted to purchase all of the Experiences at once, and my dealings with one of their Concierges, Allen, were incredible and arguably the best extended customer service I've ever received. He was extremely responsive, helped coordinate the various shipments, and when a couple of mailings went missing at various points, he immediately sent me new copies. I can't speak for all of the Concierges of course, but Allen was incredible, and if you can somehow request him, he will likely try to help set things right. Unfortunately, it now seems that the company is very disorganized and having huge trouble with customer communication, so this may require a large amount of patience from you (certainly more than I would likely be willing to have if I had the issues you've had).
I will also third the offer to help with C&C. While some of the puzzles are very difficult, the ones from Volumes 1 and 2 are pretty manageable and are remarkably clever and original. I love helping people with them and hope to be able to do the same for you if you'd like.
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Mar 20, 2018 13:39:51 GMT -5
I too will no longer part with any of my money for any product from the company (even though The Demon Jar was the one experience remaining I did want to try). I bought KiY recently; I am midway through the experience.
I too was stymied with the sheer volume (rimshot!) of newspapers that came with all three Volumes of CaC. However, I started with Vol. 3, and I was so happy I did. Immersive, infuriating, and so much fun. This Forum, as well as the IRC Chat, were very helpful. I suggest you keep going. You'll be glad you did.
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Post by thegenii on Mar 20, 2018 14:11:10 GMT -5
oeternalis, do NOT give up on getting what you paid for. Send them an email every day if you have to (just copy and paste). Eventually they will send you what you paid for. I am not at all convinced by their claim that the MPC is not going out of business. Every single thing they're doing points to a company in liquidation before possible bankruptcy.
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Mar 21, 2018 0:42:12 GMT -5
I may have gone slightly overboard with their latest FB post re: The Demon Jar. Thoughts?
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Post by Geodus on Mar 21, 2018 5:14:12 GMT -5
The "We have a message going out tomorrow to address the 'rumours'" response seems like you might have forced their hand.
I guess we shall see what the purported message is tomorrow.
On a side note, the style of the prose in the response seems like someone is trying too hard to write in the style of previous communiqués and failing.
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Post by wortelboer on Mar 21, 2018 6:33:34 GMT -5
I will note that the Vault is back. I would have thought during the response that the MPC rep. would have mentioned that...because that is HUGE to many people. Maybe they will address it today in whatever message they are going to post...if they do indeed post something.
And I hope for once whatever they post is not vague and cryptic, but clear, concise and to the point as to what is happening and what the future is going to be...but knowing MPC for the last year...I'm not holding my breath.
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Post by squirrel on Mar 21, 2018 7:16:16 GMT -5
I think you nailed it. Their response about internet rumours being unreliable is a bit ridiculous and disingenuous. We cracked the vaults, we can read the writing on the wall.
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Post by thegingerbarrister on Mar 21, 2018 7:43:47 GMT -5
The "We have a message going out tomorrow to address the 'rumours'" response seems like you might have forced their hand. I guess we shall see what the purported message is tomorrow. On a side note, the style of the prose in the response seems like someone is trying too hard to write in the style of previous communiqués and failing. I highly doubt that one disgruntled MPC member's FB post prompted a response that quickly. But, stranger things have happened...fingers crossed.
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Post by Todd on Mar 21, 2018 7:55:34 GMT -5
I've been trying to think of analogies to what MPC is doing now, assuming that they are going to become a Murder Mystery Loot Crate.
At first I was thinking it would be like Cadillac announcing that, effective next model year, all they would make would be lawnmowers.
But then I started thinking of how dedicated their fan base was. Surely we were more of a fandom than Cadillac owners.
MPC has effectively said "Oh, you like Curios & Conundrums? Well we're cancelling it. You like the Experiences? Well, we're archiving most of them. Furthermore, the one you bought last week because we were threatening that supplies were low? Well we're knocking $100 off the price this week."
I mean, that's like Gene Roddenberry saying "Star Trek has a small, loyal audience, but it's not sustainable. In the next episode, we will put the crew in a time warp, and trap them on 1960s Earth. Then, we will destroy the Enterprise, stranding them there, and the entire crew will join the police force, and we'll turn the show into a police procedural just like Dragnet. Then, we'll stop showing re-runs of the episodes that came before the re-imagining."
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Post by dmikester on Mar 21, 2018 9:28:56 GMT -5
Well, to be fair, that does sound like a potential Season 3 Star Trek Original Series episode... The response to thegingerbarrister's message on FB is just incredible to me. THAT'S how you respond to polite, articulate, and disgruntled customers? With a haughty, overwritten, accusatory post that of course is vague as always? Ryan's posts here about how the Powers That Be at MPC actively disdain their fandom seemed too bizarre to be true to me at first, but everything that they've done since the end of Volume 3 with canceling C&C and now selling off their entire inventory is evidence of it. Note of course that they take no responsibility for these "rumors" starting despite them of course happening because of their business decisions and terrible lack of communication this year. Perhaps they're trying to provide a case study in how to display the worst attitude possible towards customers?
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