Announcement about the Hunt opening
Jan. 12th, 2010 09:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedusorThis was just sent to all Mystery Hunt teams. If you haven't gotten it by e-mail, you may want to make sure to pass it along to the rest of your team. Feel free to link to this post.
In recent years, there has been increasing dissatisfaction among Hunters with the effectiveness of sound amplification in Lobby 7. The size of the crowd and the echoes in the room tend to make it very difficult to hear what's going on. This year, we're trying something new to get around the problem. This is not a puzzle; I speak as an event coordinator trying to deal with a logistical issue rather than as a puzzle constructor.
Below is a link to an audio file. When you come to Lobby 7, please ensure that you have a copy of the file, a device to play it (such as an iPod or a laptop), and a set of earphones. At noon, there will be a visual countdown to a loud sound; when you hear the sound, press play. If for some reason you have difficulties playing the file or find yourself at the wrong point in the audio, ask someone nearby to share an earphone.
The audio is intended to accompany the opening skit, not to be heard alone, and it contains no puzzles. Listening to it now will not give you any advantage over other teams; it will only spoil the experience for you. This is an honest attempt to address a very common complaint about the Mystery Hunt. I hope you will do your part to make the event a success by refraining from listening to the file ahead of time.
http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/huntopening.zip
There was a lot of discussion about this among our team before we decided to go ahead with it. I'll post more about that decision after the Hunt. In the meantime, I really hope this goes well. Good luck to everyone participating, do your best to resist the temptation to listen beforehand, and see you Friday!
In recent years, there has been increasing dissatisfaction among Hunters with the effectiveness of sound amplification in Lobby 7. The size of the crowd and the echoes in the room tend to make it very difficult to hear what's going on. This year, we're trying something new to get around the problem. This is not a puzzle; I speak as an event coordinator trying to deal with a logistical issue rather than as a puzzle constructor.
Below is a link to an audio file. When you come to Lobby 7, please ensure that you have a copy of the file, a device to play it (such as an iPod or a laptop), and a set of earphones. At noon, there will be a visual countdown to a loud sound; when you hear the sound, press play. If for some reason you have difficulties playing the file or find yourself at the wrong point in the audio, ask someone nearby to share an earphone.
The audio is intended to accompany the opening skit, not to be heard alone, and it contains no puzzles. Listening to it now will not give you any advantage over other teams; it will only spoil the experience for you. This is an honest attempt to address a very common complaint about the Mystery Hunt. I hope you will do your part to make the event a success by refraining from listening to the file ahead of time.
http://web.mit.edu/puzzle/www/10/huntopening.zip
There was a lot of discussion about this among our team before we decided to go ahead with it. I'll post more about that decision after the Hunt. In the meantime, I really hope this goes well. Good luck to everyone participating, do your best to resist the temptation to listen beforehand, and see you Friday!
