Homesuck: Vriska Rising

[Kim]

Well, then I'm just completely confused, instead of only a little.

[Loyal]

Originally Posted by Solid Snake

I just don't like these interactive

Because it's not like we've been invited to come up with suggestions to direct how the story goes to some degree.

pseudo-gaming shenanigans.

Everything John does is plagued, for better or (far more often) worse, with pseudo-gaming shenanigans. The captchalogue, the strife specibus, and more. Homestuck is all over the pseudo-gaming shenanigans and doing what needs to be done in spite of them.

[PCD]

I'm actually with Snake on this one. I mean, I think the new system is fun, creative, and shows a lot of cool thinking on the designer's part. But I personally prefer the more linear style that they had before.

I mean, this first day was pretty cool, getting to go around and explore, but it might get tiresome if it keeps up over the whole game. Obviously, I can't say I know how he's going to be doing the rest of it, but I'm just not one hundred percent feeling the new system right now.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Loyal

Because it's not like we've been invited to come up with suggestions to direct how the story goes to some degree.

No, you're misconstruing my point. I'm not debating the general concept of whether MSPA ever was or should be "interactive." I'm saying this particular formula just doesn't jive well with me -- it's more a technical complaint than an artistic one. The concept of actually "playing" as John is doubtlessly creative, inspired and required a great deal of effort on the creator's part, but it doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. MSPA's comparatively linear formula worked wonders for me before, and why 'fix' something that isn't broken?

The narrative structure is just a tad botched insofar as, if I do not invest the necessary time to actually figure out the 'game,' I'll eventually read the next update and be confused as to exactly what's going on (as I won't have gotten there.) I like the concept of interactive flash 'gameplay' for a future MSPA project, but I think with this concept you either have to go 100% (ie, all the updates in this format, none in the more linear novel-esque style) or 0%.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by PCD

I mean, this first day was pretty cool, getting to go around and explore, but it might get tiresome if it keeps up over the whole game. Obviously, I can't say I know how he's going to be doing the rest of it, but I'm just not one hundred percent feeling the new system right now.

It seems fairly obvious that he'll be back to standard format, and stuff like this will just be in-betweens. Reasoning?

1. By his own admittance, he is hella slow at flash.

2. If he wasn't going to, we'd probably have been able to talk to TG during this instance.

[Mirai Gen]

Snake is basically saying that MSPA likes to mock and parody point-and-click adventures but was still about storytelling in a action-and-response way. To try and tell a story in a linear form, the new exploration doesn't work.

I'm actually with him - I spent the whole time clicking on random stuff wondering what I had to do to advance the story, because I wanted to know what happened next. It was cool as hell but it'd have been nicer to be isolated in a new story.

[Solid Snake]

Yeah, I think Mirai understands my point.

Basically I just thought of an apt comparison in that it'd be like if Rich Burlew updated OOTS with an interactive flash gameplay segment instead of a traditional strip. On the one hand, controlling Roy or Belkar would be pretty damn cool. If the content weren't canon to the story, I probably wouldn't mind it. But if Burlew were to say "the content here is critical to the storyline, but it's just a one-off thing and we'll be back to linear strips soon, starting off where the gameplay ends" I'd be a bit peeved. I care too much about the story of OOTS (and the story of MSPA, for that matter) to want my narrative flow interrupted by a newfangled game with a lot of canon, integral content I might 'just happen' to miss.

And again if Homestruck had tried this format from the very beginning -- if the entire story was just one massive interactive flash game -- I'd probably love it. But here it feels as if MSPA's creator is just meshing a bunch of 'cool' styles together into one gigantic, unorganized pile. Yes, the individual components are cool -- the new music pieces rock, these interactive exploration sequences (based on their individual merits) are awesome -- but if the author doesn't present a coherent plan as to when and how the stuff is utilized, it comes off as jarring and disruptive.

[Kim]

I still think you're both a couple a crazies.

[Mike McC]

I don't believe this will be a one-off thing. Will it be frequent? Who knows. However, this gives us an introduction to The Voice, as well as a few clues here and there.

But with all of the clickable things, there's only a handful of important things to note.

1) The oily splotches in John's room, the kitchen, and Dad's study.
2) The 'eyes' seemingly taking John's Dad and the bunny in the box.
3) Power and Internet are still established, despite there being nothing to connect to in this void.
4) That The Voice was not the Harlequin Sprite.

All pretty much very noticable when wandering about.

And a few potentially important things.

1) The clock on John's computer reads ??:??
2) The trick handcuffs in the tree out back.

Still noticeable, just not quite as obvious.

Now, onto the analysis. The Voice seems to be a rather gruff fellow. You know, wandering deserts can make people a bit gruff, I'd think. So, I'm theorizing that The Voice is the Wandering Vagabond.

[Kim]

I just assumed that the voice represented us as a player, but you could be right.