When I first arrived I set up a private chat with Cinderella Caffarelli, another avatar in my class. This was important so that we were able to communicate about strategies and simply to find each other in the house. It also helped to communicate with her because at one point we were split up and I let her know how Madeline was doing and she let me know the status of Roderick.
After we were greeted we moved into the where a conversation started up. Roderick explained how Madeline experienced unrest due to her sickness. Roderick's concern for his sister came across just as I imagined it in the story. Also their banter back and forth was very appropriate. Roderick revealed things like "Madeline sometimes is difficult to awaken when she does fall asleep and it seems as if she is dead" and Madeline scolded him for telling his guests about this fact.
Next I was able to find out about Roderick and Madeline's parents, which was my "secret task". I received all of my information on the parents from Roderick. First in the library Roderick explained how artistic his family was, which includes his parents. Mentioning of his family allowed a way for me to ask about his parents. Roderick explained how his mother died ten years earlier and ever since then it has been difficult to manage the finances and he is unable to leave the house. Not only was Roderick affected financially, but he also said, "Her death was a terrible blow to me". He then proceeded to move to another room and show us the picture of his mother and the wreath of her hair that hung above the picture. Pictured below is a shot of Roderick showing us these two things.
Not only did Roderick talk about his mother, but I also asked him about his relationship with his father. Roderick stated, "Lord Usher was not one to be warm or affectionate with us." He also explained how his father was more concerned with the family reputation than anyone's happiness. The next piece of information I gained did not fit with the rest of his story. Roderick claimed that his father died 7 or 8 years ago, but he also said that he died before the mother did. Seeing as how his mother died 10 years ago this statement was not correct. However, this was the only flaw that I found in the actor's stories and can easily be fixed. The last fact I found about the parents is that they are both resting in the crypt in the basement of the house. This above all seems incredibly spooky and unsettling.
After speaking with Roderick for a while, I went to explore the basement in order to see where Madeline might get buried so that I could possibly come to her rescue later. I found her empty coffin and then heard her first piercing scream. Not knowing what was going on I quickly flew upstairs. However, on the way up I got stuck in some area. This may have just been Second Life lagging, but I did find some sort of ball that I could click that allowed me to teleport to anywhere in the house. After hearing Madeline's scream I knew I must go to her room. I found her lying on her bed. I waited until she got up and then began speaking with her (pictured below).
The conversation with Madeline consisted mainly of my attempts at trying to keep her calm. I have lots of experience with this after working with kids since I was a young teen. I figured that if I "baby-sat" her, she would be unable to do anything harmful to herself or others. I suggested we go downstairs and she said that their servant could get us some tea (pictured below). Tea seemed like it could hurt! If anything it would calm her down more and allow us to chat. This is when I had my idea of suggesting that Madeline and Roderick come to stay with me for a while, at least until she regained her health. Madeline agreed, but said she would have to ask Roderick for approval. This was exceptional role-playing because women in that time period would never make decisions for the family. Ultimately, Roderick shot down the idea, but this conversation bought us enough time to keep both of them from doing anything dangerous. Given an opportunity to stay longer, however, I don't think this distraction would have lasted much longer.
My beta test goal was to see how the House reflects Poe's tale and what could be improved to make it best fit the mood of the tale. First of all, the stonewalls and also the fabric patterned walls were amazing. They, along with the rugs, really made the house look very authentic. It was really very close to what I had imagined in that respect. I realize that furniture costs money, but there was definitely a need for more of it in some of the rooms. I also think some of the rooms at this point aren't necessary. The feeling of a big house is given off by the size of the rooms and some of the other rooms just make maneuvering confusing. I liked the objects in each room that provided clue, but as a side note, some of the clues were not much help to me. I had no idea what I would do with a pistol with no bullets and couldn't think of another use for it. Also the maps did not orient me very well so I ended up just roaming around and finding things on my own. This may have caused me to miss parts of the house but it was easier. Overall, the mood of the house was spooky and very similar to Poe's tale, especially when I had my avatar in "midnight" mode.
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