9
Jul'08

Twenty Questions with Double Twenty

   Posted by: thebruce

G: Can you name one or two of your favourite moments from this project?

M: I have near endless favourite things… I could write volumes just on this question alone. I’ll mention a few…


1. THE COMMUNITY — YOU GUYS ROCK!!! All of the players that got involved made up a very special group of people. Without sounding overly sappy, Tania and I bonded deeply with the players that were active on the boards. As creators, we are vulnerable on many levels but the player-verse NEVER ceases to blow me away and always comes through. With TSD, I was never disappointed and always inspired and motivated by those that chose to be active. My hat is off to each and every one of you.


2. The HETFET HOTLINE was HILARIOUS and a great example of fun for both player and PM. It was Tania’s idea and I’ve got to say, it was a fantastic one! We had so much going on when we deployed the HOTLINE, I was a little nervous we were going to experience overload but as it turned out, things worked out magically! When we couldn’t answer the phones, callers left this amazingly cool ‘eye witness’ messages (that we still have actually ;) When we did answer phones, our assistant Dave and Tania had an absolute ball interacting directly with the players… heck, I even answer a few myself and it was a riot! I hope everyone out there enjoyed the HOTLINE as much as we did.

3. The petition is also worth mentioning here – it was fantastic to see the community come together over a green initiative like that. It is signed every day by new folks that find the ARG as well! It’s a very positive by-product of this ARG and one that will have a real impact on a real cause.

4. Early on, Hexjohn took the time to start a new thread, thanking us for the work we were doing behind the curtain — it was an awesome boost for us. Several of the other players piled on to support the notion and it really helped fuel us mid-deployment, when very long hours are necessary. It was GREAT and here is a VERY HEARTY thanks back to all of you for making this experience what it was!

5. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention Mycroft’s in-ARG ARG! I’ve never seen anything like that before… an unsolicited symbiotic player created ARG hatched within a commercial ARG! It was a truly inspiring effort and although I wasn’t able to participate myself, my hat goes off to him and those that played. I also love that he’s a history teacher! Teachers are typically so undervalued in our society, so let’s all give Mycroft and his fellow teachers some much deserved kudos!

6. Somehow, players decided there was a ‘mole’ among them – which left me in stitches because that discussion went on for pages in the forum. To this day, I have no idea where that spawned from but it was fascinating to see that level of paranoia unfold within the community. I remember asking Tania – ‘where are they getting this stuff from?’ and she had no idea either. We took great pride in the fact that no one behind the curtain EVER pretended to be a player in the game on our (or any other forums). The entire community was authentic to the last player – you guys were completely self powered!

G: Can we expect to hear more about Lexi? Is she human? Is she safe?

M: Lexi is fine … just check the HETFET gallery :) It’s safe to say that she is able to cross into the other realm, as she now has a command of the gearway system. It would appear she is something more than human — perhaps a link between humanity and the mystical creatures that inhabit the inner-world? I think our players had a strong sense all along about her origin… I’ll leave it at that :)

G: Is there anything else you might like to say or share in closing?

M: Speaking for myself and on behalf of my team, we want to thank the player community from the bottom of our hearts. An ARG is nothing without its audience and in fact, the players often shape the personality of the ARG itself. I got lucky with our audience in OE and lightning struck twice because the TSD players were just as brilliant – in fact maybe even more so because we had so many beginners on board with this ARG that really seemed to immerse themselves deeply into the fiction and experience.

Big thanks to TheBruce for creating an amazing fan site for the ARG and HBII film – as well as to Pikachuchu and sowasred2012 for all of their hard work creating equally cool and unique fan sites!

Finally, there are many out there that I didn’t call out by name but that helped to shape this ARG into what it became – you are all the true heroes in this experience. I hope to see you guys soon in the hallowed halls of my next creation! I am honoured you chose to spend your time participating in The Secret Device!!


A big, hearty thanks once again Matt, Tania, and Double Twenty for providing a memorable experience. The campaign certainly pulled me deeper into the Hellboy mythos, so in my case it was a success :). Thank you greatly for taking the time to answer these questions.

Now we’d like to open the floor for followup community questions and feedback, since obviously not every burning question has been asked and answered here :). Matt has expressed a strong desire to hear from everyone and give a personal response. So head over to this HETFET forum thread, and post any questions you may have for Matt or Tania. Perhaps… maybe… an actor or two may also be willing to answer some questions. It’s worth a shot! When time permits, the team will review the questions and personally respond (it’s a busy life, being in the entertainment industry!)

Jennifer Cambra (Lexi), Geoff May (Wikibruce), Dan Trachtenberg (Tight Films), Matt Wolf (Double Twenty)Jennifer Cambra (Lexi Lloyd), Geoff May (Wikibruce),
Dan Trachtenberg (Tight Films), Matt Wolf (Double Twenty)

Pages: < Prev page [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]

Tags: ,

Categories: ARGs General, Puppetmasters

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

2 comments so far


 1 

Great interview. Thanks for taking the time to pull it all together. Sounds like a wonderful overall experience.

July 31st, 2008 at 7:34 am
Michael
 2 

Very interesting. I’ll reccommend my friends to visit you. Will it be continued?

August 24th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

One Trackback/Ping

  1. Tying up loose ends in fairyland | ARGNet: Alternate Reality Gaming Network (beta)    Oct 13 2008 / 10pm:

    […] and the community, and has a passion for producing entertaining products and experiences. The full interview with Matt Wolf and Tania Thiele can be found at my blog Wikibruce.com. Look for more projects to […]

Leave a reply

Name (*)
Mail (will not be published) (*)
URI
Comment