Newsgroups: rec.games.int-fiction,rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: nntp.gmd.de!newsserver.jvnc.net!newsserver2.jvnc.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu!ceforma
From: ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Christopher E. Forman)
Subject: Re: My comments on the entries
Message-ID: <1995Oct8.220147.368687@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu>
Date: Sun, 8 Oct 1995 22:01:47 GMT
References: <44tbuj$fpa@agate.berkeley.edu> <okRJqOC00WB6Mu6AQL@andrew.cmu.edu>
Organization: Illinois State University
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Followup-To: rec.games.int-fiction,rec.arts.int-fiction
Lines: 40
Xref: nntp.gmd.de rec.games.int-fiction:10021 rec.arts.int-fiction:8579

Michael Kinyon (mkinyon@peabody.iusb.indiana.edu) wrote:
: I chuckled only once or twice and ended up not caring much for it at all; this
: was my number six.  It has been interesting to see that many on the other
: side of the Atlantic liked it even though they have never seen the TV show.
: I don't watch TV and had no idea what the opening (in the text file (and why
: wasn't that just absorbed into the game?)) and the ending were all about.
: That type of context-dependent humor just has no appeal for me.  Also, I felt
: sorry for the kid whose (admittedly very bad) game was being trashed; to me,
: there seemed to be a streak of cruelty in the send-up that I just couldn't
: forgive.

While I agree that my MST3K entry wasn't for all tastes (familiarity with
both I-F and the show itself is necessary for maximum enjoyment), I simply
have to comment on your last sentence regarding the cruelty involved.

Yes, I'll be the first to admit I was quite mean in my send-up, but this
sticks with the premise of the show -- the movies watched by Mike and the
'bots are so bad they deserve to be made fun of, and the characters show no
mercy.  In attempting to mimic the show as closely as possible, this was my
strategy as well.

The way I see it, Matt Barringer decided to whip up a make-money-fast
scheme.  He got ahold of a copy of AGT and managed to learn the bare
essentials necessary to scrape together what he could pass off as a game.
However, just by playing through the game, it's blatantly obvious how
poorly done it is.  This leads me to one of two possible conclusions:
    Either  1) Matt uploaded his game without playtesting it at all,
               which is bad,
        Or  2) He playtested it, but didn't care enough to expend any more
               energy to improve it, which is worse.
In any event, he didn't simply stop with a bad game -- he willfully chose
to upload it for all the world to see.  IMHO, this game didn't just ask to
be made fun of -- it got down on its knees and begged for it.

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it.  Everyone who sent me feedback thought it
was hysterical.
-- 
C.E. Forman                                      ceforma@rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu
Read the I-F e-zine XYZZYnews, at ftp.gmd.de:/if-archive/magazines/xyzzynews!
* Interactive Fiction * Beavis and Butt-Head * The X-Files * MST3K * C/C++ *
