The Early Birds

NAME: AngelicWarrior Commander

ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: Role-playing, doing hunts,

member of Blood Lines Vampire family.

HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Responding to a question
asked on an online interview.

Hey, remember all those early entrance and free HUDs that went out before the official start of Buried? Did you wonder whatever happened to those people and what it was like to get an early entrance?

Yeah, me too. So I talked to them to see what their experience was like, if they thought it was worth it and all that and well ... their responses really weren't too surprising.

Clearly, if you're trying to win a free HUD and early entry into a MadPea game, it's because you already have an idea of how fun the games are. I'm speaking now not just as staff writer, but as a person who has played the games and always been in love with MadPea events.

If you lost track, there were 10 early entrant winners, and I had the privilege of talking to eight of them to see who they are, how they did, and what they thought about getting into the game ahead of the crowd.

NAME: Asa Vordun
ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: Tweaking landscaping at
her home, photography and editing those photos she takes.
HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Responded to a FaceBook
ad about a photo competition for Buried, and won!

As you might guess, because of the random nature of how these prizes were awarded, we had a wide spectrum of winners.  In their spare time, the winners enjoy doing everything from finding other hunts, shopping, clubbing, landscaping, some build and even do photography professionally.

The one thing they all seemed to have in common, is why they were so glad that they got to start Buried early: Less lag!

NAME: Jessy Cinderflame
ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: Building, creating, sim-
hopping, or hunting. Enjoys spending time with family and
friends.
HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Entering and winning
the second raffle.

As Asa Vordun put it: "As the start of the game took place at Homestead the early access guaranteed stress free surroundings for the kick start of the game... no lag, no frustrating hitting of the TP button.You know, all the stuff."

She did add, though, that it was nice to start the early access at the same time as the other early entrance winners. "What was great too, all the people who were there at that time, were great - happy, excited and chatty," she explained.

"Having that advantage saved my blood pressure from rising!" said Raina Jewell.

NAME: Kara Trapdoor
ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: Exploring, listening to live
music, blogging about various aspects about SL including
machinima, decor, shopping and more.
HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Entered and won the
photo contest put on by MadPeas.

The early entrance held some additional advantages for Jessy Cinderflame, too. "My computer is not very good on over-crowded sims so it was great being there without having to fight for every step I took," she said.

Whether it was because of the advantages that early access brought to them, or because of the nature of the game, all of the Peas who got early access finished the game in relatively

short time -- usually in just a few hours.

Now that they've played, I asked them what they thought of the game (and don't worry, I avoided spoilers for those of you who haven't had a chance to play yet, hehe).

Of course, players enjoyed the interactive nature of Buried, with players becoming immersed in the search for Lily, using the "C-me" app on the "Lilypad" HUD, going on a virtual geocaching adventure.

Being Raina's first-time adventures with MadPea, she said she felt like she was on a Mission Impossible style adventure.

Others enjoyed the island, of course: "I enjoyed exploring the islands, looking for something or information to use elsewhere in order to get what you needed to progress," said Kara Trapdoor.

NAME: Vivena Resident
ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: Photography, studio owner,
landscape photography, exploring.
HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Entered and won the
MadPea photo contest

Vivena, who also appreciated the island, added

that she enjoyed the use of logic to try to solve the problem at hand. "I love the interacting parts of Madpea hunts and using logic to achieve things," she said.

Marina agreed, saying that finding the objects "gave her a great feeling" because in order to do so, she had to figure out the maps on the HUD.

AngelicWarrior Commander specifically mentioned the social aspect of playing such an interactive game with a group of Peas.

NAME: Koosh Lilliehook
ACTIVITIES IN SPARE TIME: RP, building, creating,
spending time with friends
HOW SHE GOT EARLY ENTRY: Entered and won the
raffle contest.

"My favorite part of BURIED was the new friends that I met along the way," she said. "Rushing to the finish line and ignoring the people around you in a fun interactive game like this is a mistake.  I often run into friends I met on previous games, and even though we haven't talked since the last Mad Peas game it is just as if we had never been apart."

And of course, there's the whole story of Buried, too.

Koosh Lilliehook said she enjoyed "seeing how the story played out as things were found
over time."

So as Buried continues on until the end of March, these early-access winners will return to their clubbing, building, photographing, RP-ing lifestyles until the next hunt that MadPea puts together.

Can we expect to see these players at the next adventure?

Their answer was a resounding, unanimous: YES!