The return of Dear Alf

[Connell]

So, as promised, Dear Alf has made a comeback! OWI are looking for questions on Twitter;

It's almost time for a new Dear Alf column! Ask your questions here or send them over to community@oddworld.com #DearAlf

— Oddworld Inhabitants (@OddworldInc) January 9, 2017

Nice to see this feature return. Always enjoyed it back in the day.

[UnderTheSun]

This is a good sign in terms of fanbase connection.

Reckon he'll talk about the AR?

[Xavier]

I asked explicitely about the ARG, we'll see if he picks it up:

Hey @OddworldInc I've got a question for #DearAlf : where do you know @edmudokon from? Also how can we help him? cc: @SPIRITOF1029

— Xavier De Coster (@zulag) January 9, 2017

[Connell]

http://www.oddworld.com/2017/01/dear...-and-stranger/

It's here! Lots of reference to Ed! Sounds like things are on the horizon. In hindsight this probably didn't need it's own thread since it's basically turned into an ARG discussion, but I figured it'd be nice to have a new topic round here haha.

[Gunnr]

Alf answered my question. ^_^

[Never Sleeper]

I'm pretty sure what Ed's Role might be in the new game. Because the original intro of Exoddus is a bit rushed through the appearance of ghosts telling Abe what to do, it might be Ed who has fled from Necrum Mines and tell Abe and his pals about the situation.

I get also the feeling that Ed could be a companion which allows local coop gameplay. That would be awesome with no limits!

Otherwise Ed could be also a little blind Mudokon guide in Necrum Mines but I would prefer the first two arguments above.

[Vlam]

I'm pretty sure what Ed's Role might be in the new game. Because the original intro of Exoddus is a bit rushed through the appearance of ghosts telling Abe what to do, it might be Ed who has fled from Necrum Mines and tell Abe and his pals about the situation.

I get also the feeling that Ed could be a companion which allows local coop gameplay. That would be awesome with no limits!

Otherwise Ed could be also a little blind Mudokon guide in Necrum Mines but I would prefer the first two arguments above.

Well, you do have some imagination!

[Never Sleeper]

Well, you do have some imagination!

And you can quote amazingly well.

[Vlam]

I mean: there's no evidence that Ed will appear in Soulstorm. He's similar to Crig the Slig.

[Never Sleeper]

Okay, Alf has said in this message:

How’s Ed?
Ed’s in danger and he knows it – Ed’s one brave Mudokon, even though it might not look like it right now. Ed’s got an important job ta do and just needs a bit of help to get it done.

and

Do you know where Ed might be, Alf?
I’m not sure but I’d love to find out! It sounds like Ed needs some help and I think I know just the guy…

Because Alf is saying that Ed might need help is for me the indication that he is the bearer of the message to inform Abe about the situation in Necrum Mines and maybe an optional character to play with.

I'm pretty sure he is not one of the Mudokon spirits because for this purpose exist spirit 1029.

[Vlam]

I know. But Alf (given the fact that he can break the fourth wall in "Dear Alf") doesn't mention "Soulstorm" explicitly. Therefore, it's far more likely that Ed is linked to the ARG (which could actually be set before the events of Soulstorm).

[FennecFyre]

Fascinating stuff. I'm really interested to see what Ed's role in Soulstorm is going to be, though I do like the idea that he's the one that finds out about the bones and relays it to Abe.

Would Abe and Stranger be pals? (Asked by: Evan, on Twitter)

They’re very different, but they’re both heroes right? They’re both nice guys, too. Though Abe might drive Stranger insane with his constant yappin’. Stranger never was one for small talk.

Stranger secretly a big ol' softie on the inside confirmed.

Do you know where Ed might be, Alf? (Asked by: Gunnrisfunnr, on Twitter.)

I’m not sure but I’d love to find out! It sounds like Ed needs some help and I think I know just the guy…

I expect this just means sending Abe (and possibly Munch and his fuzzle armies) to go help Ed, but given that there's also a Stranger question included in the bunch...IDK man if Stranger makes a cameo in Soulstorm I'm gonna scream.

I'll go kill myself now

[Nepsotic]

I expect this just means sending Abe (and possibly Munch and his fuzzle armies) to go help Ed

If Munch makes an appearance in SoulStorm I'm gonna scream, but not for the same reason you will.

[kjjcarpenter]

Munch will not be in Soulstorm. The two games—Soulstorm and Munch's Oddysee—might as well be in different universes at this point. Munch needs to be reintroduced into the new universe before (and if) he has an important role to play.

Stranger won't be there either. He's on the other side of Mudos, and busy looking after his Grubbs. I wouldn't expect Stranger (or Fangus) to ever have a role within Abe's story. Oddworld is huge, and I'd imagine Lanning would like to maintain that illusion, which is why Stranger only had a fleeting connection to the Abe games, via fuzzles, the Octigi family, a single vykker, and Mudokon Pops as well as slogs in the remake.

It's classic world-building: Establish two or more independent storylines that run concurrently in the same universe, and suddenly you have a very fictional world evolve into a very tenable and complex world. The moment Stranger crosses over into the Abe games, however, is the moment the world feels a little bit smaller, a little less real.

[Nate]

So there was, what, just a few hours between Alf tweeting for questions and posting the answers? Next time he should wait a bit longer, until he gets some interesting questions. Then take a bit longer to come up with better answers. Back in the day, Alf would generally be either informative or amusingly evasive. I didn't feel like this was either of those.

Basically, this feels to me like they wanted to poke the ARG back into life in a hurry and couldn't think of any other way to do it.

[OWI_Alex]

So there was, what, just a few hours between Alf tweeting for questions and posting the answers?

6 days, actually.

https://twitter.com/OddworldInc/stat...19525753786368

Basically, this feels to me like they wanted to poke the ARG back into life in a hurry and couldn't think of any other way to do it.

We wanted to bring back Dear Alf. If most of the questions were related to Soulstorm, to us that's a good thing.

[Xavier]

Also Alf's is going to answer some more questions next week, it's up to us to ask questions about other stuff

I expect this just means sending Abe (and possibly Munch and his fuzzle armies) to go help Ed, but given that there's also a Stranger question included in the bunch...

I think he was simply referring to Abe here.

[OWI_Alex]

Also Alf's is going to answer some more questions next week, it's up to us to ask questions about other stuff

[Varrok]

I can honestly say that if I had a question for Alf, I would've probably missed the deadline. Constructing a good question can sometimes take some time for me, and I didn't notice it's a thing untill, like, just a few days before it ended.

[Nepsotic]

Constructing a good sentence takes fuckin years for you Varrok

[Xavier]

I can honestly say that if I had a question for Alf, I would've probably missed the deadline. Constructing a good question can sometimes take some time for me, and I didn't notice it's a thing untill, like, just a few days before it ended.

Like I said, Alf is going to answer questions again next week. How much time do you need? A month ?

[Varrok]

Like I said, Alf is going to answer questions again next week. How much time do you need? A month ?

What I mean is, some people have busy lives and they might postpone asking/making the question for a bit, and most of them don't immediately know there's gonna be a "Dear Alf" soon (it's not happening on a regular basis; how long has it been since the last one?), and I think 6 days might not be enough. Not by far, but still.

[Vlam]

Like I said, Alf is going to answer questions again next week. How much time do you need? A month ?

Actually, good old "Dear Alf" was once a month.

[Xavier]

So? How is this relevant ?

[Manco]

Actually, good old "Dear Alf" was once a month.

Actually, it was weekly between August 2013 and July 2014.


Do you think if we just ask Alf what the solution to the ARG is that he’ll drop us some clues?

[Nepsotic]

He's talking about old Dear Alf.

[Gunnr]

Just ask an oddworld related question. Any question -_- Maybe look over the old dear Alf entries and find one that hasn't been answered, if you've got time, just throw one out there on the fly what's the worse? No need to over complicate have some fun

[Vlam]

He's talking about old Dear Alf.

Exactly. Like Nate said, there has been a decline in quality:

Next time he should wait a bit longer, until he gets some interesting questions. Then take a bit longer to come up with better answers. Back in the day, Alf would generally be either informative or amusingly evasive. I didn't feel like this was either of those.

[kjjcarpenter]

Exactly. Like Nate said, there has been a decline in quality:

I think the problem is that Alf is sardonic by nature, skipping around any actual reveals by poking fun at the content, the audience, or himself. This is entertaining in small doses, but it can become tiresome, especially considering we haven't actually had any new story content in almost twelve years now. Also, his quips so often break the fourth wall, or spin off into unrelated tangeants, that it's hard to decipher the in-universe facts from the meta-fiction.

Of course, Dear Alf is not supposed to be gospel; it's meant to be a fun way for the fans to interact with Oddworld via an informal and cheeky forum. But what can be said at this point that hasn't already been reiterated a thousand times? I'd love to ask a question, but like Varrok, I'd probably need a week to think of one worth anyone's time.

Hopefully with Soulstorm on the way, Alf will have new and interesting content to bounce off and sneakily crticise.

[OWI_Alex]

I think the problem is that Alf is sardonic by nature, skipping around any actual reveals by poking fun at the content, the audience, or himself. This is entertaining in small doses, but it can become tiresome, especially considering we haven't actually had any new story content in almost twelve years now. Also, his quips so often break the fourth wall, or spin off into unrelated tangeants, that it's hard to cipher the in-universe facts from the meta-fiction.

Of course, Dear Alf is not supposed to be gospel; it's meant to be a fun way for the fans to interact with Oddworld via an informal and cheeky forum. But what can be said at this point that hasn't already been reiterated a thousand times? I'd love to ask a question, but like Varrok, I'd probably need a week to think of one worth anyone's time.

Hopefully with Soulstorm on the way, Alf will have new and interesting content to bounce off and sneakily crticise.

All of the above is exactly correct. We're well aware you guys are wanting new and interesting things to talk about. Very soon we think that'll be precisely the case.