THE GAME HAS BEGUN

[MontyServo]

Well, I happily relinquish my crown to the two new Fans of the Month!

I guess I was way off base with my guess.

I also understand now what they were looking for.  They weren't looking for a guess, they had specfic hoops in mind that they wanted us to jump through.

I think that all this 'implanting hints in HTML' will just drive off the less HTML inclined of us.  I think they should stick with the sort of puzzles that everybody will have an equal shot at, without having to be a "web guru".

Now how come I didn't get a copy of Glitter when I won Fan of the Month and solved the Star Wars puzzle? 

[Steve-O]

No, no, it was definitely more fun than frustrating for me, though I can't speak for the rest of the puzzlers.

In the interest of providing some explanation for my previous, generalized whining, there were two places where I thought the puzzle was more frustrating than it needed to be:

1. Being pointed to the somethingawful interview before that interview was posted, especially since there was no clear indication on the site that the interview would be posted the next day.  This left most of us thinking that there was something else at the site besides the interview we should be digging for, so we effectively wasted a bunch of time poring through the entirety of somethingawful, a chore that I personally think should be added to the Geneva Convention's official list of banned tortures.  If there had been any sort of indication that we should simply hold our horses, that could have been avoided.

2. The leap from the interview page to asparagus.html.  I actually think this is a fine puzzle, but overly frustrating when there's nothing in the clues to indicate we should be looking for something along these lines.  Personally, when I'm at a site like somethingawful, I instinctively avoid moving my mouse around too much, lest I stumble upon one of those -,.^%?? obnoxious pop-up advertisements that are peppered throughout the text.

Please understand that I enjoyed the puzzle and appreciate all the hard work the crew put into it.  I simply present these in the interest of providing constructive criticism.

I know all too well that there's a fine line between being helpful and being the kind of douchebag who bitches about free content.  So I hope you understand that I'm coming from the side of the line opposite douchebaggery; or at least, I'm trying to.  If you catch a whiff of vinegar on the breeze, I wholeheartedly apologize.

[torgosPizza]

All good points, Steve-O. Thanks for the comments. Although just FYI I did say "Mike Nelson is the key" after people were stumped and most still did not investigate his photo in the SA page..

In any event, now we'll give you guys some time to rest, since the next big puzzle like this won't be for at least a couple... days. Actually who knows when the next one will be - we haven't even thought about it yet. But we will keep all the feedback in mind for when the next one arrives.

Glad you still enjoyed it, even if it was brain-crushingly hard / frustrating at times.

[Pak-Man]

Yo, Torgza! What was the deal with the time codes in last night's clue?

[mrbakasan]

I immensely enjoyed it overall.  I know absolutely nothing when it comes to html, so I was a bit lost during those discussions though.  What really amazed me, was how an accurate translation of the Korean actually was a very strong, albeit entirely unintentional, clue to what the movie actually was.  Anyway, I'm utterly pleased with the announcement and feel that it would have been a bit underwhelming to have done a 20 questions for such a monumental rifftrax.

Good show, mods!

[torgosPizza]

Yo, Torgza! What was the deal with the time codes in last night's clue?

Those were just the times (in Military Time) I received DaPenguin's clues in my messenger client...

[Steve-O]

Although just FYI I did say "Mike Nelson is the key" after people were stumped and most still did not investigate his photo in the SA page..

Yes, you did, and the helpful nudges you guys give out are great.  I was just suggesting that it should have been in one of the initial clues, pre-nudge.

[torgosPizza]

Yes, you did, and the helpful nudges you guys give out are great.  I was just suggesting that it should have been in one of the initial clues, pre-nudge.

Good call. Now that you mention it, I wish we had done that too. Figures huh?

[Steve-O]

Yes, you did, and the helpful nudges you guys give out are great.  I was just suggesting that it should have been in one of the initial clues, pre-nudge.

Good call. Now that you mention it, I wish we had done that too. Figures huh?

Yeah, well, that's hindsight for ya.

I've played enough adventure games to know that it's tough to find the right balance between transparently easy and unknowably obscure.  Overall, you guys did a great job, and we had fun.  So thanks.

[Bob M.]

Speaking for myself and my girlfriend (who likes word jumbles and gave it a try, even though she isn't a MST3K/Rifftrax person), we thought it was pretty cool. It was frustrating like any good puzzle. I wish I'd known it was a scavenger hunt up front, but all in all, it was very inventive, so nice work, as always Legends Folks

Looking forward to more wild goose chases and Riffs

[Bob M.]

Oh, and I hope you guys upgraded your servers, because that was probably the most frustrating part of the whole day

[Msampo]

I'm hardly in a place to complain, since I was a huge hindrance, but I guess my problem with the way this went had to do with the (later) comments from dapenguin. Apparently they WEREN'T actually clues? Other than the first one, which sent us to SA (and I plead guilty to being CERTAIN that you would not send the game out into the wider internet, my bad) they don't seem to have been directly related to the puzzle, just kind of commentary and advice.
The problem is that, in the past, DP's comments were successfully dissected for clues that helped solve the puzzle, and many of us assumed we were to do this again--leading to many many posts of wild speculation and straw grasping. YOU can't be blamed for our over-enthusiasm, but maybe it might be good to fine a way to indicate that the messages are just advice and general info, and not meant to be torn to shreds for meaning?

Sampo (or not...what do I know?)

[torgosPizza]

Oh, and I hope you guys upgraded your servers, because that was probably the most frustrating part of the whole day

This is the first thing we noticed today, and we are currently upgrading our hosting situation. We'll keep you advised of any downtime - which will be hopefully none.

[Minnesota]

I was observing for the first 30 or so pages and the puzzle seemed hard and I wasn't even sure I could trust the guesses. It's funny that something awful did hold the clue. So who guessed it right? Did anyone get it? (I'd rather not read through the posts again and the others that I haven't read)

[Bob M.]

Oh, and I hope you guys upgraded your servers, because that was probably the most frustrating part of the whole day

This is the first thing we noticed today, and we are currently upgrading our hosting situation. We'll keep you advised of any downtime - which will be hopefully none.

I can only imagine you the hit you guys took  over the last 24 hours... growing pains, and all that