It's Finally Over!

This is the place to discuss thoughts, theories, and speculation concerning Bzzt! Arg

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thereIwasn't
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by thereIwasn't »

Dagoonite wrote:I do NaNoWriMo every year, once every couple of years I do something huge for 40k peeps (more in line with the canon than this) with drabble in between, and generally whenever I'm not occupied with something else at the time.
Dude, you do NaNo?! What's your UN on there? After this little game I'd be interested at looking at the other stuff you've written.
ZackDark
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by ZackDark »

Dagoonite wrote:
ZackDark wrote:Mostly, all I have to say is: THANK YOU.
No, THANK YOU! Seriously. I know exactly how often you checked the board. You have no idea how often I said to myself "Oh, hey! It's Zach! HI ZACH!" It's an odd little morale boost, but one that was greatly appreciated.
;)

Glad to be of your assistance. Most of the time I was so entertained by thereIwasn't, Carver and Psycho that I didn't even try to interfere. They were on an awesome row. It was like reading a great book, but been forced to read it one paragraph at a time. Remembers me of the first time I read The Name of the Wind...

Also, is there any chance you could post the planned "scenes"?
Dagoonite
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Dagoonite »

thereIwasn't wrote:Dude, you do NaNo?! What's your UN on there? After this little game I'd be interested at looking at the other stuff you've written.
I don't like to share most of it, honestly. NaNo is for me more for learning how to write a novel. I'll be honest, I'm a short story kind of guy. I find an emotion, a character, a situation, something that I want to bring to the table and I run. I get it done, I get it out, and I move on to the next thing. After I play a game some more.

My NaNo stuff is the odd things. Japanese monster hunters, a post-apocalyptic society that lives in a mall and has no idea there's an outside world, a bounty hunter into self-cannibalism... Most of it comes out as pure crap.

I have a story journal on LJ (hush, once upon a time it's all there really was for "social networking" and I don't feel like cashing in on the latest craze when a site suits my needs just fine) that you can find with a little work. It has some of my more readable stuff. Unfortunately, I don't post much there, either.

I'm, like, the poster child for self-doubt or something, I swear.
ZackDark wrote:Glad to be of your assistance. Most of the time I was so entertained by thereIwasn't, Carver and Psycho that I didn't even try to interfere. They were on an awesome row. It was like reading a great book, but been forced to read it one paragraph at a time. Remembers me of the first time I read The Name of the Wind...

Also, is there any chance you could post the planned "scenes"?
Hey, if people had fun, then it was all worthwhile. Believe me, there was a LOT of fear going into this project. A lot of thinking that people were going to eat me alive for not sticking to canon. The fact that people did enjoy it means I did at least a few things right here and there.

Maybe? I might be willing to? I mean... Some of the stuff I have here is so different than how things ended up. Radically different. One of my favorite scenes is Raschad planting himself outside of the doors to the bridge as people go crazy. It was designed to be broken up over a good period of time. He starts out unarmed. He has a pistol and a couple of bodies. He has a shotgun and an assault rifle next to him, an empty pistol, and a few bodies. He's cradling Wolfe's body, and has built himself quite a barricade of bodies. Finally, Security has everything under control again and start climbing over the bodies. They find Raschad and Wolfe propped up against the wall... and Raschad points the pistol at them. It's only after they shoot that they realize it was empty.

It has a completely different flavor and feel to it than what the game turned out being, but it has enough emotion that I'll always love it. I might recycle it some day for something else.

You guys didn't kill Raschad! You unlocked an achievement!
ZackDark
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by ZackDark »

Dagoonite wrote:You guys didn't kill Raschad! You unlocked an achievement!
*boo-bleep*

:P
Carver
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Carver »

Wow, sorry to be late to the party. My job has me away from a computer from 6:30am to 4:30pm. I really wish I could've been involved more, but the job made it difficult. I actually wrote that infamous speech on my phone during my lunch break at work.

Speaking of which, sorry about that speech, haha. Didn't realize just how much it'd muck up things for you. I'm good like that, lol. I was just doing my best to stay in character as who the Captain had grown to be at that point. I've done my fair share of theatre before and was having a ball trying to allow my version of the Captain to evolve alongside everyone else's version of him. On the subject of acting, I'd like to throw in my hat and offer my services as a voice actor as well if you ever need one. I consider myself to have a very broad range and my friends laugh their asses off at my impression of a Halo 3 Brute screaming "HE WAS MY LOVER!". Apparently it's spot-on.

I just want you to know, I loved every second of this. When I realized it wasn't official canon, I almost walked away from it, but by that point you had my curiosity piqued. Considering I have ADHD, this speaks volumes of your skills as a writer and master manipulator. You honestly reminded me of "The Writing Writer" from the Coheed and Cambria/Amoury Wars fiction. That kind of all-encompassing manipulation and plot management is definitely to be lauded.

Thank you for a wonderful experience. You have my gratitude and my respect. I hope my bits of insanity and my unorthodox methods didn't ruin anything too badly.

Again, sorry for screwing up your plot-line so much...

Ok...not THAT sorry. It was pretty funny. ;)
Carver
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Carver »

Dagoonite wrote: I'll be honest, I'm a short story kind of guy. I find an emotion, a character, a situation, something that I want to bring to the table and I run. I get it done, I get it out, and I move on to the next thing. After I play a game some more.
I'm with you on the short stories thing, my friend. I minored in Creative Writing in college with a concentration in poetry and flash fiction. The longest fiction I've ever written was 14 pages...double spaced. I like to keep it as short as possible without sacrificing substance. Ironically, when it comes to my normal conversational writings and even speaking in real life, I tend to ramble on and on and on...and on. Oh well, such is the eccentricity of a Humanities whore. *shrug*
Vandle Valsher
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Vandle Valsher »

Bravo! That was very well done. Unfortunately, I don't really have much to offer in the way of ARG's like this so I just stayed on the sidelines.

Carver was my favorite Captain. I liked Hive, Muldoon, Raschad, and McAllister.

Boo! I just finished watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya today as well! That's two interesting universes coming to an end in one day. I hate this day!

Seriously though, until I read your post I was still undecided as to whether this was fan-fiction or something that 343I was doing. It was that good!
Dagoonite
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Dagoonite »

Carver wrote:Wow, sorry to be late to the party. My job has me away from a computer from 6:30am to 4:30pm. I really wish I could've been involved more, but the job made it difficult. I actually wrote that infamous speech on my phone during my lunch break at work.
WHEN DO YOU SLEEP MAN?! I started to do the pre-bedtime post because of you.

I'm not going to quote each section, but I'll still address everything.

No apology needed for the speech, honestly. I had a blast doing this, and even that was a lot of fun for me... especially two days later. Imagine my poor roommates, settling down, the dog snoozing, they have their tea, about to watch a romantic movie... just to hear me scream "CARVER!" at the top of my lungs.

They're the ones you should apologize to. Especially since they don't play video games.

If I ever do another ARG or anything that requires voice acting, I now know where to ask. Everybody seems very supportive here, thank you all.

I expected people to walk away when the obviously non-canon bits were flaunted. Heck, before the conversation about moving it to the ARG forums came up, I had a nice email conversation with Wu about it. The last thing before I collapsed for the day that I saw was him telling me that "OOPS! The ARG forums are open now, so it's up to you." I believe I spent seven minutes staring at the screen before shutting down the netbook, muttering "I'll handle this when I can brain."

You didn't ruin anything. Nobody did. There's a difference between something being ruined and something requiring more work. I enjoyed this challenge. You don't grow in a skill unless you work at it, and writing is no different. I had to stick my neck out a bit, and I think I can apply the lessons here to future projects. Plus, any time that I'm struck speechless for over a minute is a moment that's worthy of happening!

The longest I've ever written that wasn't for NaNoWriMo, it was pointed out to me that I breached the 60,000 word mark, but I wrote that as what was effectively a series of short stories that mutated into something unfathomable. But, again, it was for a different fandom.

Honestly, I kind of do have an idea for another ARG, this one more in-line with canon, but it'll have to wait a while. First I have to get ready for the stuff in May, then I need to do some different short story stuff for a while to recharge. Plus I really want to get better at Reach -- I finally beat it on Normal here the other day. I am not a skilled man...

After that, though, I might get in contact with you for some voice work.

...oh god I'm walking into the viper's den again!

Finally, I feel your pain. Often, I'd do a final quick review of what I'd typed and realize that I'd talked about everything except the topic at hand. I'd do a quick scramble rewrite... just to realize I'd done it again. Sometimes I didn't catch it until it was far too late. I like to make with the yak-yak.

I always liked Asimov because he could make two people sitting in a room talking carry the same level of excitement as a good action scene. I've always wanted to do that. Then again, I so dearly wish I could make a short movie out of Foxtrot's final run. I can see it all in my mind, from the hallucinations to the leap of faith over a chasm, from the long sprinting down darkened corridors to showing how the two of them fought their way through an area thoroughly infested with Covenant, to Myung dragging him to safety as blood freely flowed from every orifice and he convulses.

OH LOOK I'M RAMBLING AGAIN!
Dagoonite
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by Dagoonite »

Vandle Valsher wrote:Bravo! That was very well done. Unfortunately, I don't really have much to offer in the way of ARG's like this so I just stayed on the sidelines.
I saw your name a few times and was curious. And there's no problem with being a casual watcher, in my opinion. I do that all the time with ARGs myself. I'm not good with puzzles, I'm afraid.

(Side note, thank you Erica, Dave, and Phil for your work which will sadly never see the light of day.)

Wait, somebody liked McAllister? Ha! I let a lot of her stuff fall to the sidelines because I didn't think people were interested, and she served as pretty much a support role for the player that eventually got taken over by Hive and Helen. You just made my day!

Thank you very much for the kind words. I wish that I could get a job working for them, but for now, I can only hope that they continue in the fine tradition with the universe. I have no doubt that they will. It's part of the reason why I did this. A thank you to Bungie, and a warm welcome to 343i. (Though I'd like one or the other to tell me why I can't be F484 on Reach.)
ZackDark
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Re: It's Finally Over!

Unread post by ZackDark »

Dagoonite wrote:I always liked Asimov because he could make two people sitting in a room talking carry the same level of excitement as a good action scene. I've always wanted to do that.
I know, right? I had just finished reading "The Gods Themselves" when you threw this ARG at us. I can say that, to keep me enthralled like this after reading such a great novel, you, sir, excels at what you do.
Dagoonite wrote: Then again, I so dearly wish I could make a short movie out of Foxtrot's final run. I can see it all in my mind, from the hallucinations to the leap of faith over a chasm, from the long sprinting down darkened corridors to showing how the two of them fought their way through an area thoroughly infested with Covenant, to Myung dragging him to safety as blood freely flowed from every orifice and he convulses.
Hm, somehow I think that it was better off in written form. Maybe an audio-only would also be exciting, but, somehow, I feel that had it been in audio-visual form, it would require a helluva job from the director to have the same impact it had.
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