Mystery Killing at Digital Leisure’s Casino
by Phoenix, HSM team writer
I have to say I was not as surprised as some may have been to see a murder right here in Home.
It seems the crime wave at the Digital Leisure hotel has escalated into pixilated bloodshed. Home authorities and Digital Leisure are keeping hush-hush about any clues or suspects they might have. Though I have no proof, it’s a safe bet this has something to do with the break-ins at the hotel. A few months ago I wondered where the updates at the casino would go next. The headlines never read “casino dealer and chip girl arrested for burglary.” I wonder, will they read shady blackjack dealer Manfred and his accomplice Justine the chip girl arrested for murder instead? It’s definitely an inside job!
My question is this: how will Digital Leisure tie the two crimes together, or will they even tie them together? What’s really going on at the Casino? Where are these wonderful baffling updates taking us in Home? I for one am excited to see. I can’t wait yet again for the next update at the seedy hotel room. I love a mystery and it seems over at Digital Leisure they do too. What better tradition to follow in Home than a mystery? Home’s high-water mark, Xi, was a mystery that played out over several weeks — and now we have another ongoing one. It has a different flair about it, but it fits where Home is today, in terms of being established with users and their favorite hangouts. Why not a murder in a seedy hotel setting? It seems Digital Leisure has taken up the next home mystery challenge. I’m hoping this one will be just as exciting as the first one.
Digital Leisure, in case you don’t know, are the developers responsible for the Dragon’s Lair Personal space, the Old West Saloon personal space, and the Paradise Casino public space here in Home, as well as Space Ace for PS3, Dragon’s Lair for PSP, Dragons Lair II: Time Warp (PS3),and Fast Draw Showdown (PS3). There are a number of their items available for Home residents to purchase as well from them.
I recently wrote an article about coming Home again. I had been away awhile and upon my return everything looked different — crisper, clearer, and yes, it was like some things were new to me. I wasn’t certain if it was the updates I missed, or just my own anticipation of what I’d find new now that I was back in Home. Well, the Casino is one place I know that something is changed. There’s that chalk outline and the crime tape in my hotel room that wasn’t there the last time. Did I miss the Home CSI team as well? As soon as I saw the message of the day, I went straight to my room. I thought another break-in had occurred; boy, was I surprised — and damn well amused to see it was even better then I had hoped. A Home whodunit?! Excellent, Digital Leisure!
One of my favorite games as a kid was Clue. I loved the part where the clues were checked off. Now I’m wondering if there be clues to find, and hints as to who was murdered and by whom? Maybe it was Mr. X with a pistol, or Miss Z, with a stiletto heel? Will there be other crimes or changes to our hotel room? Is there a crime syndicate at the Paradise Casino? Is the criminal element from the Godfather II public space trying to muscle in at the Paradise Casino? I am eagerly awaiting the next update to this mystery. Will the victim be a hotel or casino employee? Was it the shady blackjack dealer or his flirty little chip-girl squeeze? Does Digital Leisure plan to have a serial killer at work in the hotel? So many questions to what’s going on at the Casino hotel room.
I think that the developers have something really good going on here. They have raised the bar with their updates, and as HSM has discussed previously, it’s an excellent example of asymmetrical marketing. We can see how the space changes, and it’s regular enough to keep you interested, but not too often to bore you. These guys have found a way to stay in touch with the residents of Home. They gave us a free space, and then they slip in, make changes to it, and keep it fun and interesting. Though the furniture is baked in and it’s a small space with not really much to do there at first glance, they have come up with a plan to keep their space in our minds. When we first got that space the curtains didn’t move; they do now. There was a flood, and standing water, that splashed when you walked through it, floating furniture, and then soggy carpet and mold.
Next we had the burglary, drawers were pulled out and ransacked, the bed was torn apart, pillows on the floor, my night stand was a wreck… and now after everything settled down at the hotel, business as usual… there’s a murder. WOW!
What next? I hope to see a line of suspects and mug shots. I hope they have interesting names like, Louis the Louse, or Big John the Bookie, Sammy the Squealer, something crazy and outlandish. I would love to know when the next update will be, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise of it. Whenever I sign on to Home now, I quickly scan the message looking for Digital Leisure Hotel news.
Kudos, Digital Leisure; keep it up. The hotel room capers are fun and worth the wait.
August 8th, 2012 by Phoenix | 12 comments
Phoenix writes poetry and is a photography enthusiast, along with writing for HomeStation Magazine. She is currently studying for a BFA in Creative Writing and BA with concentration in Photography. psn ID phoenixstorm21
youtube.com/user/phoenixstorm21
I hate this space!
:):)
I love this space!
I’m neutral amount the space!
I loved the article, though. Good read!
Thanks Kassadee!
I think it is very amusing to see what they are doing. I agree with Norse, it would be interesting to see what people would do if they burned down a building on Pier Park or some other public space then watched the reactions as they put up a construction site to rebuild something. Will be interesting to see where this goes.
I’m sure if the fire was on going… it would draw a crowd. The eyewitnesses could report see a demon warhorse in the vicinity just before the blaze.
Is it really going anywhere? I was under the impression that DL just happen to know what tickles its audience, and just do these things for fun really. The beauty of all this is that Home can get a little stale at times and these little things are good for keeping things fresh. nDreams shake their Aroura islands about from time to time too, which keep my camera whirling pretty much every time I visit the place just incase someone’s graffiti’d Stapler again or something.
More Home devs would do well from this idea of constant change within their spaces. LW do rather well with their showcase space too.
Oh, and I love my mankey, dirty, seedy hotel room! The chalk lines really work with the *ahem* “theme” I have going in there right now lol
I hope it is going somewhere…It does offer a chuckle to those of us that find the hotel room both gross and intriguing. Yes the other two developers do offer changes,this space is so scuzzy, it’s humorous though.
When this murder mystery arrived, I was hoping that Digital Leisure would make a game out of it, in which avatars could search for clues in their hotel rooms and the casino itself, and each clue would help bring the community closer to solving the mystery. But so far, all it seems to amount to is an aesthetic change in the hotel room. I personally felt it should be more than that.
Thanks Alan for your comment,
I too have hopes for the same. I hope they do update with clues and possible ways for the community to solve the mystery.That would be so cool. Here’s to hoping.