This idea originated in Contests in general. We are still looking for people to talk on this subject as a whole. Pop on over and join us there too…
http://www.drunkduck.com/community/view_topic.php?tid=56477&cid=236

I created this thread to plan out how to run a scavenger hunt properly. If you have an idea please let us know. :) This is not about who will be part of it or anything like that (that's a secret) but should work more as a community planning area. At the end, I shall announce a call for participants at which point you can respond by PQ and keep your identity a secret.

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One possible way is to have a Ring Master, responsible for the visible aspects of the game, like public clues and coordination. There would be several comic artists to come forward privately, some would give true clues and some would give false clues. You would have to use the public clue to find the right author/comic and then they would give you the next clue. Maybe a tiered sort of thing, like 3 possible paths at first, then 2, then 1 and the person to PQ their answer first is the winner? The public clues work a s a sort of fail safe, they will come more slowly than if you do the leg work on your own, but it will be more obvious of a point to the right clue giver for those having trouble puzzling out the riddle.

For this option we would need around six secret participators, one amazing riddle writer, and one ring leader for each game. This would also allow others to take over if one person isn't able to run it for more than one game. We would need to decide how the game should be paced. Also, each game could be sort of themed. If people really enjoy finding hidden objects, then that game could be based around such a premise. There could be a murder mystery where the clue givers take on roles instead of riddles and you must piece your way through the crime.

Does anyone else have an idea? :) Is there a particular theme you would love to see? How long should each game last? Are there any fantastic riddle writers among us? What sort of prize could be offered? Custom art? Reviews, advertisements, guest art? Just generate ideas. :D

I don't understand what we'd be supposed to be looking for

That's part of the discussion. It could be specific comics. It could be items on certain pages. It could simply be finding the right person. There are all kinds of options with a scavenger hunt.

So I can think of two ways of doing this:

1. we give players a list of items/people/clues and then give riddles about what users/comics have them hidden in, then people have to look for them a bit like wheres wally.

2. or we do the opposite and give players a list of users/comics and give them riddles about what they have to find.

those may sound dumb but I believe in keep it simple.

The prize…. taking part and having comics involved is a form of promotion anyway. Guest art or comics would work best I suppose.

One way would be to set up a scavenger hunt comic with the clues in it, this could have specially created art that has clues in the art as much as riddles.

Each of these will lead to a word/letter/image, with all these together it leads to the location of the “Treasure” Obviously it can't be the actual treasure/prize but maybe it would lead them to the person who would provide the guest art/comic.

just a thought…

@ Call Me Tom:

Nah, that's not dumb at all! Straightforward and simple are the best way to go with lots of games like this. You said it in a way that is easy to understand which I was having trouble with, lol. Thanks for the input!

Genejoke:

I really like the idea of a Scavenger Hunt Comic! I'm jealous that you thought of it first. I was thinking about drawing little pictures and scenes to help illustrate, but a comic makes way more sense, lol.

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So Lets use a food themed “object” hunt to simplify things and I'll use Modest Medusa, Charby the Vampirate, and Persona 3 FTW as examples.

The Game Leader would announce a call for participants and interested comic artists would respond by PQ. Then a theme and objects and the pages they're located on would be agreed on. Riddles would be written, pages would be drawn and the game opening announcement would be made with the first clue.

The first clue will hopefully lead contestants to Modest Medusa. Jake would then have a riddle that would be all about the specific page we're supposed to find and hints to his object of choice, a Chocodile.

A new clue would be issued through the SH comic, one that should this time lead to Charby. Amelius would give out her riddle about her object, Sausages.

The final SH clue would lead to P3FtW, where Strain's object, Cheesecake, would be found.

The first person to PQ all three objects and page numbers would win.

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We would need to decide how many objects each person should have and how many stages of the hunt their should be. Really, that could all change depending on game and how many people respond, though, so its something each Game Master should probably address on their own. Also, it should be clearly marked and understood if the comic artist is supposed to upload a riddle page into their comic (which would be deleted after the game time) or clearly marked in their author's notes.

Also, how long between each clue? Is a week too fast or too slow?

Does anyone have an opinion on what the first theme should be? Murder Mystery? Hidden Items? Statements taken out of context? :)

I think it's just a matter of picking one you think can be fun. The first scavenger hunt will be something of a learning process so maybe school based…

Find the Items would probably be the easyist to do so we might want to start with that. Learn to walk before we try running youknow.

Alright, well I'll work on ideas and then post a sign up thread sometime next week after the possible change over site bugs are worked out. :).

Coincidentally, I was recently thinking about a web-comic scavenger hunt as a forum game too. I was going at it from a much simpler angle though – just a list of images, image combinations, and unusual words for people to look for then post links to once they find one. Then whoever completes the list first wins.

For example, one item might be “monsters kissing” or “an apple” or the word “pow” – any instance of these on a DD comic page would count, that is, these wouldn't be items specially planted/created for the sake of the game. Anyplace you find it on a DD comic page is fair game (except in your own comic).

Players post links to their finds, and a judge could keep a master stickied scorecard, confirm discoveries, and disqualify duplicates. It would probably work best if no two players could use the same source to make it more of a race and prevent players from benefiting from another's discoveries.

The game could be a slow, ongoing thing as people keep an eye out for items on the list during the course of their normal reading habits. Or it could be a more cut-throat race.

That's as far as my thinking went on the subject. Your more elaborate approach might be more fun.

(Wow, posting in the new redesigned forums is surprisingly, annoyingly weird.)

Snevilly wrote:
Alright, well I'll work on ideas and then post a sign up thread sometime next week after the possible change over site bugs are worked out. :).

Let me know if you'd like anything in the newsposts or in a quackcast. :] Heck, with the quackcast you could record an mp3 yourself and we'd play it!