Mystery Ship: Final Thoughts

[WesternOutlaw]

If any of you have any questions or comments in regard to the final ending of Mystery Ship, please post here.

[Hinckley]

I'm so glad there was a real creature. I wish he would've killed more people. Great fun, Brickster. Thanks for running a cool mystery! *wub* *wub* *wub*

[Scouty]

What will happen to all of the crew?

The end was kind of...a cliff, where we don't know what happens to anyody, besides the fact that Bennie is a monster and all of this is real (fictional).

Overall, it was fun, but the end kind of sagged a bit, as not many were playing.

I really enjoyed it, I just wish we could have concluded it a bit more.

Certainly alot of fun! :-)

[Hinckley]

What will happen to all of the crew?

The end was kind of...a cliff, where we don't know what happens to anyody, besides the fact that Bennie is a monster and all of this is real (fictional).

Overall, it was fun, but the end kind of sagged a bit, as not many were playing.

I really enjoyed it, I just wish we could have concluded it a bit more.

Certainly alot of fun! :-)

Well, the boat was back in the harbor, I'm sure everyone's fine and you and your little cohorts got your comeuppance.

I liked the ending. I had a feeling TheBrickster would do something creepy, although I wasn't quite expecting what we got... :-)

[WesternOutlaw]

I'm so glad there was a real creature. I wish he would've killed more people. Great fun, Brickster. Thanks for running a cool mystery! *wub* *wub* *wub*

Thank you Hink. I must admit that I enjoyed the beginning very much, but as less people were posting, it became more difficult to keep my interest. I had taken down my actual set a number of weeks ago and was unable to take any new pictures.

You made a very good Captain, and I think if it had not been for you, Scotty, the Skipper, Diver Dan, and Bennie, the ending would have been very difficult. I kept it goinfg for the sake of you and the other final participants. It was a bit long, but it had a lot of story.

I've enjoyed it, and one never knows how these stories will work out over an Internet forum. I think this was successful - maybe just a bit long.

Thanks for the feedback.

B

[Scouty]

I thought the length was about perfect. 10 exciting Chapters!

I just loved posting in this, but I'm going to miss it. A whole month used to posting aboard the mystery ship.

The quoted ending was cool.

[WesternOutlaw]

What will happen to all of the crew?

I really enjoyed it, I just wish we could have concluded it a bit more.

Well, that's another story now... I don't think a Part 2 would be fun. Next time, something completely different.

I was honestly trying to wrap this up. I was having difficulty keeping it going with just a few characters left. It's hard as I have to write for the others - like Mr. Mason.

I thought the length was about perfect. 10 exciting Chapters!

I just loved posting in this, but I'm going to miss it. A whole month used to posting aboard the mystery ship.

The quoted ending was cool.

Thanks IS. You certainly conveyed a lot of energy and motivation in keeping the story going. If I ever do something like this again, I would definately want you participating.

When this was first going (first few weeks), I wanted to make it more like a cliff-hanger, every week. It didn't work out that way as people were posting so frequently. People complained that it moved too fast, but that's what made it fun (at least for me).

I liked the ending. I had a feeling TheBrickster would do something creepy, although I wasn't quite expecting what we got... :-)

That was intentional. I couldn't give it away and wanted a real surprise/twist ending.

--------------------------

And on a side note, Mystery Ship generated over 1,350 posts. Now I need to rest.

[Siegfried]

Comments;

• I expected that none of us would survive this experience so I am a bit surprised.
  
• I didn't like the usage of the set number as a code number, but that could just be me getting annoyed that I didn't work it out!
  
• Like Hinckley I was glad that in the end there was a real monster.
  
• I think the length was good, but as you say, people got busy and stopped posting and thus the story had trouble moving.
  
• I loved it when you included Lego scene setting shots.
  
• Sorry for being a smarty pants in regard to ship stuff.
  

Questions include;

• Did the boat people know their back story from the start? If so, who else did? I knew nothing....
  
• Did we miss any other things that we were supposed to pick up on?
  
• Mr Masons code seemed to be a red herring to me. Did I miss something there?
  
• It seemed to me that you designed it so each character had a backup. Am I right?
  
• The ship and the rust/bad condition; was this supposed to be in regard to bad maintainence or something else?
  
• Was the story 100% set it did it change depending on what we did? Were there multiple paths?
  

I'll try to think of more later! :-P Thanks very much for hosting this. It was an interesting experiment that I was glad to be part of. *sweet*

Edited October 7, 2007 by Sinner

[Hinckley]

The paper with the D-7...

I think it would've been cool if you would have tied Manny's myths into the creature at the end...that is just me though. I like a little more foreshadowing, even when it's a big surprise twist.

...and what was stolen from the chest after Bennie was scared with the mask?

[Scouty]

...and what was stolen from the chest after Bennie was scared with the mask?

Wasn't it the creature costume?

[Hinckley]

Wasn't it the creature costume?

not if bennie had just been scared with it... *wacko*

[Shadows]

Um... let's see here.

Thanks to everyone, especially TheBrickster for putting on a fine show!

Now... what the hell was up with that ending? It felt so ... sudden. I liked the crazy Bennie angle, it fit him well, and having the harbour master actually be whatever the hell those things are supposed to be was nice, but it just lacked something in flow (I know that irregular posting situations contributed to that and couldn't be avoided).

I liked how Sinner solved the code, but beyond that it didn't seem like the players had a fair chance to figure anything out on their own without being led to it directly. Somehow it felt like traveling from one fixed point to another, even though it went in a lot of directions inbetween, it was still a straight trip. If, for example, during the part where the cargo was being examined, the Captain had asked to look at #5, the story would have just changed the important one to #7.

I think what went wrong for me is my expectations. I was looking at this as interractive fiction instead of a play within a limited range of possibilities. Really my fault on that.

All of that said, I still loved a lot of it, especially those of you who put so much effort into the project and hope to participate in one myself one day. Then I'll probably have a better understanding of just how difficult it must be to pull this off.

Overall, I'd give it *y* *y* *y* *y* out of 5. Definitely worth following and better than anything on TV, by far. X-D

[Siegfried]

I think what went wrong for me is my expectations. I was looking at this as interractive fiction instead of a play within a limited range of possibilities. Really my fault on that.

Actually that was one of the questions I missed! Thanks; I will add it to my collection! :-P

[Hinckley]

I liked how Sinner solved the code, but beyond that it didn't seem like the players had a fair chance to figure anything out on their own without being led to it directly.

|-/ I think we all did a nice job deciphering the clues we were given...

:-P

[El Bucanero]

Thanks alot for this great story Brickster! I enjoyed reading, and sometimes, participating!

But it did go rather fast, it was hard to keep up with the story. And I didn't find alot of opportunities to post things... I hope I did what you wanted me to do Brickster!

G

[UniqueBuilder]

Great story, Brickster! *wub* Da capo! :-D

I really liked all the members' personalities, especially Hinkie and Otto! :-D The crazy Bennie thing was a good ending.. :-)

But..

Why did you have to finish it while I was SLEEPING ?? *sing* Why, oh WHY ?? :'-(

[oo7]

I apologize to The Brickster and all the rest of you for my recent absence, I couldn't post this last week as I had an extremely hectic schedule. I was planning to catch up on this weekend but it looks like part ten started and ended while I was asleep. I can say with much confidence however it was really fun when I was able to participate. I loved the story line too and the Lovecraft stuff, you did an excellent job with arranging that, thank you once again, Mr. Brickster! *y* *y*

And I too agree it would be more exciting if people died a little more frequently. Perhaps a central perplexing enigma like the older mysteries incorporated would be cool as well.

[Sir Dillon]

A big thanks to Brickster for doing this, and everyone who participated. *sweet*

I would sort of like to know what happened to the crew at the end, but besides that I thought the ending was okay. I thought maybe a few more people would be killed by the end, but it worked out fine without that... I'm mostly disappointed I wasn't around when it ended.

Oh well, I had a blast with this story. I really liked that we each played a different character, as oppesed to just ourselves. I'm really glad I was able to be 'brought back' after Stinky died. :-)

I thought the fast pace was good, but I'm sorry that not everyone was able to play with it going so fast.

So thanks again Brickster, you did a great job with the story, especially when you had to post for everyone. :-D

[WesternOutlaw]

Oh, I'll answer some of your questions, but I almost forgot to share the individual character bios. Here they are. Each person received one of these before the story. Each of you were encouraged to play your part:

Captain Maxwell Macleod: Captain of the Sea Ghost. Captain Macleod is a huge

[Scouty]

Here are my "inside stories":

Bob "Skipper" Hale:

"I have secretly made one of the members of the crew aware of the plot. He will be trying to make himself known to you as subtle as possible. Please do not reveal the plot to anyone.

PS. Remember, you are not interested in helping this ship, merely getting the valuable cargo into your fishnet.

CC. Diver Dan"

I'm still confused by what the "CC." stands for *wacko*

"The mystery is unraveling. With this new bit of information, Gene will most likely snitch you out. Once he does, you will blame Diver Dan on the entire plot to follow the ship and steal the mysterious cargo. He will in turn blame you. Neither of you killed Stillman though."

I decided to blame Geno instead of Dan.

"Hold your thoughts. I will be ending Chapter 9 and starting Chapter 10 in just a moment as the conclusion."

"You are in the brig, but you can yell to the crew. They will get back on the ship to check the cargo."

And Finanlly:

"You can hear the men talking. The Minnow's ship number is 6441, from Deep Reef Refuge."

Exciting stuff. So now I get that I was supposed to bring the item back to the harbor master.

[Corvus]

Here are mine. One was lost, sorry. :-$

You did not see who hit you, but as you recall, you heard a "sloshy" sound. Who ever or whatever hit you was wet. You also remember the scent of fish in the air before falling.

(does that mean I hit myself? *wacko* )

The voices in your head are telling you that something vile and "sloshy" is in front of you murking through the fog. It is evil, it is a killer. It gurgles water from the deep. You must stop it before it gets the others!

You will strike at one of the other characters to stop the creature. You need to tell me who it is though. I will let you pick, and you will probably kill him.

You can act out like you've already done so in part 4, but don't indicate what you are about to do. It needs to remain a mystery to the others.

Just tell me who and I will write it into the story. They will not know it is you because of the fog.

Let me know.

I randomly chose Stinky. :-$

You are out near the Cargo Hold in the fog and someone or something is calling out your name.

Slosh... Slosh... Bennie... Bennie... Slosh! Gurgle...

Please do not respond in the thread until I give you the que.

You can come back any time now. The "sloshing" is gone.

Your plate is ringing again. It hurts! It's the creature. He is aboard the Minnow and he is calling for you through the radio. You want to SMASH it!

Stop the R I N G I N G in your head!

S L O S H...

S L O S H...

S L O S H...

Stop the R I N G I N G! RADIO! SMASH!

--------------

You will go out on your own. You will sneak on board the Minnow and smash its radio. As soon as you break away from the crew, this is what you will do.

Hope you're having fun! SMASH!

What would you like to do next as the voices are getting more intense?

I'll let you decide this time.

I chose to cut the Minnow loose. Cool boat though. :'-(

Most of the mystery is about to be revealed. Once the Creature suit is found, it will set off Bennie. He will drop to the floor and begin crying. He will admit that the creature has been talking to him through the plate in his head, telling him to do bad things. He will make sounds as if he is the Creature and he will threaten to kill the crew like he did Stillman - to destroy the creature. He will also admit to cutting the rope to the Minnow hoping it drifts away. He will loose it completely and have a complete break-down.

Have fun.

OK, They've discovered the mask. You've got the finale' before I end Chapter 9 and wrap up this whole mystery.

Have fun with it!

I never noticed how many times you said "Have fun!" :-P

I think the mystery turned out well. I wasn't the happiest with my "acting" at the end, as I had set up this grand idea that didn't turn out... But I'd do this again. It was a lot of fun. *sweet*

[Hinckley]

So if Bennie went with the harbor master in the end, is he a creature or just a guy who got hit on the head...if he was creature all along, what was his motivation to kill anyone? Why would a creature work on a ship...to protect the obelisk I assume, but did he know he was a creature? *wacko*

[Siegfried]

I had a few.

Sep 2

When you look at the main engine valve and gauges (to examine the engine), you will discover that there has been damaged caused by something striking the metal (perhaps a hammer). Feel free to share this w/ the crew.

Sep 9

You recall Mr. Mason, the 1st Mate, giving you some sort of book before departure. You did not look at it, but think you gave it to either Load Master Mike Handy or Mechanic Jack Tupp???

Sep 10

You are currently in the Engineering Room (alone), still trying to fix the engine. I would ask that you not respond in the thread until I give the que.

Sep 10

You can come back to the galley any time. Still did not get the repairs complete though.

Here are mine.

I'm a bit jealous actually. :'-(

[Scouty]

You know, if I had the time and pieces to do it, I'd want to make a brickfilm based off of this. It's all that so interesting to me. And a very creepy ending too :'-( :-) .

[WesternOutlaw]

You know, if I had the time and pieces to do it, I'd want to make a brickfilm based off of this. It's all that so interesting to me. And a very creepy ending too :'-( :-) .

Thanks IS. I think that's the nicest compliment one could provide. I'm glad you enjoyed it and had a chance to participate.