The following comments were emailed to us back in 2003. The positions are the positions they all held at the moment of our email exchange:
"Sounds like you're on to something here! I really enjoyed playing this. Did you ever read those old make your own adventures? It seems like the tree structure was like that, but the way you put it together really draws you in. Very elegant solution. Nice job."
Alex Jarett
Chairman, IGDA Online Games Committee
"I've now played the first 3 levels a few times.
Very nice engine and excellent branching story craft!"
Richard Garriott
NCSoft Executive Producer
"I quite liked the story at AlterAction.... although I didn't spring for the full text (_), it gripped me enough to play through it several times, if only to see if I could manage to bed both women without getting caught (in the free episodes, at least)...I still quite liked this--and liked also that, unlike Story Space and similar initiatives, it's building on the fundamentals of pulp fiction to create interactive narrative--attempting to cast it as a popular rather than a high art. "
Greg Costikyan
CEO, Manifesto Games (current title)
"I did get a chance to look at your site and play around with the new samples as well. I think there are some definite possibilities here."
Tom Pollock
Director of Programming
Chaos Media Networks
"I realize that the content of your stories is based on pulp fiction, but that said, the interface and design is impressive--very clean and intuitive. The pacing is also very good, and so I'm not surprised that you are having success in attracting subscribers. It is interesting to me that you rely on a well-known presentation format (the graphic novel), rather than, say, "immersive" 3-d graphics. This goes along with some thinking of my own about the relationship of playability vs. realism. Anyway, congratulations for finding a very "playable" approach to this kind of content."
Henry Lowood
Curator for History of Science and Technology Collections, Stanford University.
"I really like both the concept and the execution and I think it has lots of promise to become a successful delivery device for interactive story. (Successful as defined by enough people buying it and using it.) I've played through MASQ about 5 or 6 times. I was very interested to see how my choices might affect the story progression differently, and I was also interested enough in the story (and the payoffs to want to explore alternate paths. In telling others in the "biz" about Alteractions (which I have) the most innovative and interesting thing that I have been pointing to is the use of time, and the exciting time pressure that one feels to make choices. I think this is the strongest and freshest feature of the experience, and I found it surprisingly effective."
Greg Johnson
Founder Toe Jam & Earl
"I've taken a look at you site, and I think it's really impressive. Great design, and a good concept. I also think it has possibilities in the mobile space.
Whichever way you decide to go, I wish you luck. To answer your original question, yes I do think AlterAction makes sense in the mobile market, and further to that, If marketed correctly, it stands a good chance of bringing in some serious revenue. "
Jim Blackhurst
Creative Director
Hailstorm Entertainment Limited UK
"I took the preview tour of your site, and it looks interesting. Certainly the most intriguing interactive fiction I've ever heard about."
Hal Barwood
Project leader at Lucas Arts Entertainment
"I took a quick look at the first two episodes that you have put together. Very impressive. It reminds me a little bit like the choose your own adventure stories that I used to read and enjoy.
I think what you have built looks very promising, and I really do think that you've got something that may be very successful, and I really hope that it is. As an industry this is another way to introducing the casual gamers to paying for electronic entertainment, and the more people that are willing to do that, the better off we all are."
Brian Robins
Software Engineer-Worlds Appart. Business Models section editor IGDA Online Games White Paper
"In playing with MASQ, I found the process surprisingly engaging. I say surprising because at first as I was looking at the intro I thought it looked like an adult 'choose your own adventure', and in a way it is, but it moved along nicely and the real time aspect is good. Masq is the interactive graphic novel we've been waiting for. It is surprisingly satisfying and great fun!"
David Riordan
Director Digital Media - Triadigm
"I like what you've done so far. I've always felt that graphic adventure games (and much of Noah's earlier work) were pointing the way towards true interactive storytelling. You've included one of the key aspects that have not generally been in adventure games; that of forced pacing, which makes it more of a television/film experience. Having a mechanism that proceeds no matter what makes it accessible for those who merely want to watch, yet makes it also work as a more interactive, immersive experience."
Douglas Kay
President Mondo Media
