My plan to save Roderick’s life and sanity was simply involved convincing him to go outside the house. In the original story the narrator fails to present the outdoor option as a way to cure Roderick’s untitled illness. Basing my plan on the cliche idea that a person is a product of their environment I concluded a drastic change of environment could cause a drastic change in a person. In this case, a major part of Roderick’s problem, the illness, was the dreary environment surrounding him and all the pressures of function within it. As the friend summoned by Roderick, Fierce took a different approach than the friend presented by Poe in the original text. She approached him in high spirits and maintained a positive outlook regardless to how negative or dreadful Roderick made his situation seem. Even when dealing with Madeline’s “woe is me” type attitude, Fierce never showed signs of pity for the situation. Essentially my strategy was to recreate the “friend” character as a person who did not give into their gloom or entertain their negativity.
I tried to explore the house for clues explaining the cause of Roderick and Madeline’s madness. When in the sitting area I found an entry from Roderick’s journal from Oct. 31, 1847. Oddly enough the entry was written the same day as Samhain, a pagan holiday during which time dead ancestors visited living loved ones. The entry also described Madeline’s frequent sleep walking and how he feared she would eventually bring harm to herself. The final line of the entry said, “I must ask the servants to remove the ladder that leads to the attic from her room.” Previously to discovering the journal Roderick expressed how he felt the presence of his mother within the house. The feeling was distracting to him and often kept him from sleeping. His deep concern for Madeline’s sleep walking also made sleeping difficult. I concluded that the extreme lost of sleep along with constant worry for Madeline’s well being and fear of his deceased mother’s presence was the most pressing issue on Roderick’s health more than a physical illness. His plan to remove the latter in Madeline’s room made it seem like the latter imposed some type of danger. Using that as a clue, I ventured up the latter while in Madeline’s room. Once I climbed up the latter, I found myself in a very large open room with a skeleton and many stacked boxes.
Near the skeleton was another note, a poem by Roderick to his mother titled “Visit of the Dead”. The poem encouraged falling victim to the worry, depression, and fear in order to attain solace in death. The fact that it was located by a skeleton hinted that perhaps the skeleton was his mother's. If that was the truth, then his constant feeling of her presence is justifiable because her remains were resting in the upper chamber of the house. The presence of the letter by the skeleton added to the complexity of discovering the root of Ushers madness. Figuring out how the poem ended up by the skeleton might be more valuable then trying to decode its meaning. The House did not offer enough evidence or clues to explain the presence of the poem so I assumed Roderick put it there himself. If that was the case, then his madness might be contributed to the shock of seeing a skeleton in his own house and not having the sanity to remove it.
The House of Usher was the first time I experienced a beneficial educational simulation in Second Life. Details like the rats and ravens living within the house really played into Poe's gloomy theme and made the simulation more realistic. The distinct fashion of the time period was portrayed vividly in the costumes (Kudos to the designer!). As simple as it sounds, the whole visit was fun, believable, and captivating. I found myself reacting to the sudden screams and surprise appearances of Madeline just as if it were happening outside of my computer screen.
I can't identify any drastic changes that would make it better because I haven't had another immersive experience that surpassed it. Considering all the terrible glitches in Heritage Key's King Tut exhibit, The House of Usher already is at an advantage by providing for a smooth experience without the distractions of technical difficulties. Filling the house with furniture and other items would make the house seem more broken in and old. Making the rats actually scurry rather than glide is another minor detail to work on. While I was in the attic above Madeline's room that rats appeared to be ice skating rather than using all four little legs which I figured was matter of scripting. Even in its early stages the Usher experience was effective in allowing for creativity and flexibility to the story. The most important thing Usher needs now is time to perfect and enhance the base it has already created.
