Talk:MIT Mystery Hunt

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Contents 1 Possible Copyright Violation? 2 User:65.96.180.247's statement 3 Rewrite 4 Memorable Events? 5 Correct Name for the Hunt?

[edit] Possible Copyright Violation?

It appears that a large chunk of this page's text was taken directly from http://www.mit.edu/~puzzle/huntintro.htm. While no author is explicitly stated, no permission seems to have been given either.

True - however, as ownership of that page (and the rest of the site) changes from hunt to hunt, it's not clear who would own that text. I was part of the team that owned the site in 2002, when it had pretty much the same text on it - can I give permission? DenisMoskowitz 14:51, 2004 Aug 30 (UTC)

[edit] User:65.96.180.247's statement

Most of this text was a copy of this page, submitted without permission, as far as I know (I'm on the Hunt contact list, but perhaps the authors of the page queried or knew the original author directly.)

In any case, someone should address this.

It was originally submitted by an anonymous user, so we can't ask them, and the "original author" of the hunt intro page is probably lost to history at any rate. Do we need to rewrite the whole page? DenisMoskowitz 17:56, 2004 Oct 18 (UTC)

[edit] Rewrite

I just submitted a complete rewrite of the Mystery Hunt article. The article which appeared previously was taken almost verbatim from the official Mystery Hunt web page. I tried to keep all the information that was there, and I added a link to the official web page.

Robbie

[edit] Memorable Events?

I think this section should be taken out entirely... Most of these events are memorable/interesting only to the few teams actually involved, and don't have much bearing on the Hunt as a whole. If people feel they should be memorialized, the proper place would be on the Hunt website. Otherwise, this page will basically become another wrap-up session, with every team feeling the need to tell their "funniest" story about the wrong answer they pursued.

• (previous was by User:68.42.71.28)

I agree - there should perhaps be a place to put hunt history, but this is not it. (And this from the discoverer of "Be Noisy".) DenisMoskowitz 14:17, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

I disagree; the use of the memorable events section is to give a sense of the personality and aesthetic of the Hunt, and I think the section does a good job of that. 68.49.189.252, 22:56, 6 October 2005 (EST)

The "Phys plant" event didn't even really happen! They don't give a sense of the "personality and aesthetic" of the Hunt, they make it sound like the participants are the self-absorbed type who think that every one of their personal little in-jokes must be important to the rest of the world. If you want to give an idea of the Hunt's personality, put up more information on the structure and puzzles involved, like the everyone-works-together puzzle at the start of last year's. Perhaps a "Hunt Innovations" section could track some of the more interesting and clever twists designers have given to the event. 68.42.71.28 15:01, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps "Notable Puzzles"? Something that would give actual flavor. But "Notable Events" definitely must go. DenisMoskowitz 20:04, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Correct Name for the Hunt?

The name "IAP Mystery Hunt" is neither the most useful, nor the most common, name for this hunt.

USEFUL: "IAP" is a term that's unknown to people outside the MIT community, while "MIT" is familiar throughout the world. If someone wants to get information about this hunt, they're more likely to find it under the name "MIT Mystery Hunt".

COMMON: In my experience, this hunt is more commonly called the "MIT Mystery Hunt". The "MIT Mystery Hunt" is also the "official" name, as it's been listed for years at the top of the main page of the hunt's web site.

SUGGESTION: Rename this Wikipedia entry to "MIT Mystery Hunt" and make "IAP Mystery Hunt" point to that entry.

Eric-Albert 19:48, 2005 Oct 19 (EST)

Done. :) DenisMoskowitz 16:13, 20 October 2005 (UTC)