Octoberville - Mystery, Intrigue, and Frustration

I moseyed to Octoberville, now in its fifth year, to see what the fuss was about.

It's a popular spot, I'll give it that. The sim regularly had 30-40 people in it, and was often substantially lagged. A greeter at the telehub asked that I maintain an ARC under 600 (which I did - just barely - by going bald, until I found some older hair that had minimal effect on my ARC). I'm not convinced that ARC has that big an impact on lag, but hey, it's not my sim, so I didn't mind complying. Others were not so willing.

Inside the detective's office (below), one obtains a HUD that, among other things, tracks the objects found and, if one manages to complete the hunt, adds one's name to a billboard of those who did so - which already included our own Emilly Orr and Fawkes Allen. Yay, you crazy, obsessed, compulsive people!


One hundred objects are on the list of items to find - some of which are not revealed until other steps are taken. Oddly, some, such as the train ticket, are available in multiple places. Others cannot be collected until other steps first occur.

Worse yet: the items do not stay put. At first, I thought it was my poor memory playing tricks on me, but I later saw an item and, not five minutes later, saw the same item a meter or two away from its original position. Fiendish or frustrating? You make the call.


One must solve certain puzzles along the way, including discovering tricky ways of opening doors or uncovering passages. Most of the ones I encountered were not too difficult but, as I never managed to finish the hunt, it's possible I never ran across some fiendish ones.

Something of an unnecessary annoyance: one of the tasks is to "bob for apples" at ten locations and to return the retrieved apples to a collection spot. A handy little basket - men, take note, you will not look terribly masculine carrying this basket - keeps track of progress. Unfortunately, the basket can handle only one apple at a time, so one has to return to the collection point each time.

I'm coming to the conclusion that hunts, no matter how cleverly designed, are not my thing.


No one ever said that this would be an easy business. Just look - walking through flames to find what I need! Thank goodness for the asbestos suit...