Morgan in the chatroom

[RotavatoR]

BOOM. There she was. This was so incredibly unexpected xD

At what point did you get the idea of using the chatroom (something we created as an alternative means of communication) for your ARG? I thought it was absolutely brilliant

[Scarab]

BOOM. There she was. This was so incredibly unexpected xD

At what point did you get the idea of using the chatroom (something we created as an alternative means of communication) for your ARG? I thought it was absolutely brilliant

I too would like to know the answer because that moment was nothing short of absolutely BRILLIANT

[Pixelmage]

Oh god the horror... Seriously... That was both awesome and frightening... The chaos... Absolute chaos...

But seriously, that you guys did acknowledge it as a canon tool was awesome. Sorry if I forced your hand there, creating another place you had to keep track of... But I regret nothing. It was what brought us so close to each other. I mean, we did talk a lot in the forums, but it was the real time silliness that really cemented the Tram. So I'm really happy I created it, along with Scarab, Kariese, Adell and Zup after the Pup Quiz.

[Rick Healey]

Well, I'll let Dana handle the bulk of this one, since she handled the lion's share of it.

But one thing I wanted to note about the chatroom - for all your paranoia about it, we actually made a standing rule that the Cabal would not send spies into the chat. We wanted you guys to feel secure about the place you created for yourselves.

[Krika]

Knowing that would likely have been nice, given the rampant paranoia.

But that's nice to know in retrospect.

[Rick Healey]

Knowing that would likely have been nice, given the rampant paranoia.

But that's nice to know in retrospect.

The problem, which we even realized at the time, is that there was no way of letting you know that without just completely breaking out and saying it out-of-game, and we wanted to save such announcements for major things, like preventing total derails. For all that we felt bad about the paranoia, it wasn't actually breaking anything.

The closest to an explanation that I could ever come up with was to have Mr. A handwave some sort of way to keep them out... except that the rule about the Cabal also kept Mr. A and his proxies out as well (because there was a legit reason to not want him spying on you as well). So we just kind of hoped that you'd notice that the chat room was never spied on by any character, and that the only entrant did so openly.

[Dana]

Part of the reason we did it, actually, was intended to show you guys that the Cabal would only be in the chat under their "real" names. Or at least names that would easily identify them.

But it came down to this: you guys wanted to have some interaction with them, and there wasn't a way to get you onto Pheeble. Pheeble was intended, btw, to be a system that archived all chats afterward, but also the place where they did their chatting.

So we talked about it for awhile. How could we get the players interacting with the Cabal in a meaningful way? I suggested the chat, and many of us PMs were against it due to the rampant paranoia on the forums and in the chat. As I continued hammering away at an explanation as to why it might calm your nerves, though, I managed to convince everyone that it would be AWESOME.

That's when the conversation turned to, what should be done with the chat? We figured it would have to be the start of a more open path of communication, which is also when we decided to make a Morgan email. And so I drove around Los Angeles until I found a place with wifi that I had never been before so that I could have an unrecognizable IP address, opened the Skype chat with all the PMs in it, and logged in a Oberon

(By the way, this is why Connor and I got the NYC and SF echoes. Otherwise, the wall piece hunt couldn't have started, an this chat would have been delayed forever.)

[Tom]

Dana thought it would be awesome; she was right. I thought it would make paranoia worse; I think I might have been right, too.

Whether it was ultimately worth it, as a plot development, is up to you guys.

[Pixelmage]

Whether it was ultimately worth it, as a plot development, is up to you guys.

I would pass a second go. Thank you very much. Too much chaos, but perhaps that's just my sense as one of the admins of the chatroom afraid of wrecking the event with complete and utter chaos.
But as far as an One Shot, super Wham Episode goes? It was AWESOME. Direct and real time interaction, revealing a character we've all been anxious to interact with... Really. It was awesome. So yeah, it was totally worth it.

[narrativedilettante]

Dana thought it would be awesome; she was right. I thought it would make paranoia worse; I think I might have been right, too.

I think both of those are true.

It was exciting and cool and shocking and one of the most amazing moments in the game. And contrary to what may have been intended, it gave the impression that the Cabal could show up at any time, and I wouldn't have trusted them to always be open about who they were when they went on the chat.

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

As far as paranoia goes... As soon as we knew the Cabal was a thing, I for one was interrogating every new person to walk into the chatroom that I didn't recognize from the forums in PMs... I'm sure a lot of people here can attest to that firsthand (totally friendly, non-threatening interrogations, except in the two cases where the person fairly immediately revealed himself to be a troll).

So I don't think Morgan coming to the chatroom made *my* paranoia worse, if only because it couldn't get worse... though if I'd been on, I probably immediately would have subjected "Oberon" to the same PM-interrogation. That would have been funny.
"Please identify yourself. We welcome newcomers to the chatroom, but we don't like anonymity, and I don't recognize you from the forums." "Really? You don't recognize me? Because I'm Morgan le Fey."

[BlackWolfe]

I'm sure a lot of people here can attest to that firsthand (totally friendly, non-threatening interrogations, except in the two cases where the person fairly immediately revealed himself to be a troll).

I can vouch for that, and that you weren't the only one. I popped into chat under a silly name of silliness and got immediate "Who are you and what are you doing here" responses.

[Scarab]

Funny thing, when I first saw the name Oberon I for some reason assumed it was the Phantom... I have no idea why I thought he was Oberon when I was only of the people who figured out Morgan Le Fay's connection to the fairy Oberon in the first place. There is no facepalm emoticon around here. We need one.

[BlackWolfe]

Funny thing, when I first saw the name Oberon I for some reason assumed it was the Phantom... I have no idea why I thought he was Oberon when I was only of the people who figured out Morgan Le Fay's connection to the fairy Oberon in the first place. There is no facepalm emoticon around here. We need one.

Have a facehoof: /)_<
Available wherever non-alphanumeric characters are sold!

[Scarab]

Funny thing, when I first saw the name Oberon I for some reason assumed it was the Phantom... I have no idea why I thought he was Oberon when I was only of the people who figured out Morgan Le Fay's connection to the fairy Oberon in the first place. There is no facepalm emoticon around here. We need one.

Have a facehoof: /)_<
Available wherever non-alphanumeric characters are sold!

Thank you, the facehoof is appreciated >.(\

[Victin]

Funny thing, when I first saw the name Oberon I for some reason assumed it was the Phantom... I have no idea why I thought he was Oberon when I was only of the people who figured out Morgan Le Fay's connection to the fairy Oberon in the first place. There is no facepalm emoticon around here. We need one.

Have a facehoof: /)_<
Available wherever non-alphanumeric characters are sold!

Thank you, the facehoof is appreciated >.(\

...

Is Facehoof the Pony's Facebook?

[Genndy Oda C.O.G.]

No, I'm pretty sure Facebook is the same in all places where the primary lifeforms have faces.

[BlackWolfe]

No, I'm pretty sure Facebook is the same in all places where the primary lifeforms have faces.

Actually, there's a pony facebook theme called "Ponyhoof", so Victin's not far off.