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Evermore (the next preview) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-09-12 10:17:55
Edited:
2022-11-18 05:44:42
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

In case you need a refresher, this immediately follows the first half posted here 

Also I know what you're thinking, the first TEN parts were 67 minutes long and the next TWO parts are 55 minutes long.... and yeah haha that is true. By "first half" I just meant the first 10 parts out of 20 on my numbered list. I've tried to trim the 2nd half down a lot but it's just meaty, I think it takes a long time to try to articulate why something like gameplay doesn't work

Files

Evermore parts 11 & 12

Comments

Paulie Paul

Even though I've already watched all of the later, final Evermore content (main channel and bonus content (Return to , Ghost Of)) it's enjoyable to watch these previews as I work my way backwards through the timeline. This time I'm reminded how infuriatingly, blatantly fake that whole Buzzfeed video was! Argh.

Jenny Nicholson

Uhhh mmmmaybe a bit over 3 *that emoji that's grimacing*

Ben Sherwood

The whole experience seems very depressing. It feels like they should either shut down or get some more investor cash otherwise it's just slowly dying. By 2024 there will just be a single room with a guy in a top hat greeting guests "well done, welcome to the guild" and then they leave.

Clouds in the Sky

Re: "Unsettled dirt" (40:48-41:04)- you can't really hear anything in that footage, is that intentional?

Daveed Ben dov

Wait, let me get this straight. Is it a rock that looks like a face or a face that looks like a rock?

Andrew Hill

I'm personally going to watch this 2 million times

Luis

Over 3 hours of fresh content this month! We really are spoiled 🤠

bingo bango

i really like your outfits for the evermore videos so far

Nick Holland

Thanks again for an interesting and engaging video. The analysis of the gameplay and the various approaches over time was great. I have to say that I agree that Lore/Aurora ’19 was the park at its best. Mythos ’21 was probably the park at its worst. It has improved in the past year or so, but not up to the ’19 level yet.

Madeleine

GO JENNY!!! I cannot wait for this! And I can’t wait for you to get to enjoy the satisfaction of it being done!

Luis

"The Baggins Family Vlogs" 🤣🤣

Lauryn Goates

i cackled at 'the baggins family vlogs'. the entire evermore saga is so fascinating to me, and your outfits are absolutely iconic.

Jenny Nicholson

The ceo did try to court investors at some point, then when he couldn't find any basically changed the narrative to say he'd always preferred to fund it himself because he doesn't have to answer to anyone. Interestingly there were rumors for awhile (and very blurry photo evidence) that Kanye had come and been shown around the park as a potential investor, but it doesn't seem like anything ever came of that

Meaghan Duncan

The fairy garden and the whole "no tree cottage" situation feels like something that could be easily fixed without as much financial commitment-- fairies are tiny, yeah? Build it all in miniature. Have a tickle trunk area where kids could put on wings and wands and flower crowns and run around for a scavenger hunt. I'm literally building their spring program in my mind right now, somebody hire me!

Gemma

"Are you part of a guild" "What are guilds?"

IHateBerwald

Jenny gives out precious consulting advice to struggling businesses…Jenny For You

Andrew Sasala

Loved this, especially the bit where you used a puppet for an Evermore spokesman, and also talking about OmegaMart, I was there a month ago and it was amazing!

MW

Probably because I recently re-visited but like near me in Indiana there is a place called Conner Prairie and I feel like its what Evermore wants to be, except instead of fantasy themed it's historical set in the 1800s Indiana. But it's really well done - even if you go on a day with fewer actors (off season) all the houses are still open and you can just go in and look at all the things. And they usually have some sort of special event going on and you can interact with the characters as much or as little as you want (when we went there was a funeral happening at 2pm and before then you got to hear all the backstory from various characters) (it is educational like you are learning about history but it is also fun) and yeah I feel like it would not take much to turn that idea into a fun interactive fantasy park so it's really sad that Evermore failed so hard

soph

this video is legendary

Woody Sims

JENNY MY SECRET BIRTHDAY WISH WAS FOR YOU TO RELEASE MORE OF THE EVERMORE VIDEO AND IT CAME TRUE YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!!!!!!

MW

also yes all the meow wolf locations are amazing!!

Becca Yaga

This must have been SO much work for you and I really appreciate all you've done! I'm new to amusement park analysis but Evermore is nearby and it's really helpful to hear your reasons why it doesn't work and how it could work better.

Ham

"We'll respect their tarp."

Madeleine

“What are guilds?” 🥶 ICE COLD Reminded me of the parts in the first preview video where guests would be like “… do you have a quest for me?” And they’d be like “hah! A quest? That’s like something in fairy tales!” or “A quest?! You want to do good, lad?” Throughout the years, I’m seeing a theme of actors trying to create realistic gritty vibes by subtly negging guests who ask them for things. 😵 (I don’t blame individual actors at all — I think this is a training failure)

Marissa Collins

It feels like a lot of the critique of the Evermore gameplay is a cousin of the Star Wars hotel gameplay critique -- didn't you say in that video that your choices didn't seem to affect the storyline at the SW hotel, and you couldn't get the storyline you wanted by e.g. offering to help First Order officers? Just bad gameplay in both instances.

Jacob Yeavello

Looking good! Really tight sections here!

Anastasia

Yay, more Evermore deconstruction!!!! Knowing nothing of the park beyond your video, it sure sounds like the planners discounted the need for, like, experienced writers & game-masters to develop interesting activities and connected story threads.

MJ (edited)

Comment edits

2026-10-07 18:00 I was trying to figure out what makes this video so compelling, and I think I've put my finger on it - it feels like a prompt for creativity: if YOU had to design a fantasy-themed adventure park on a limited budget and make it compelling for both new and returning guests, how would YOU do it?
2022-09-12 17:34

Becca H

I am so excited to see this! Thank you so much!!

Tommy T

drop the link to that kirby sis

Luis

YES! And even in those brief moments between new videos the replay value of the old vids is phenomenal. Definitely the best bang for your buck!

AK Barratt

I guess the theme turned out to be "fire hazards"...

Porge

Yeah if explicitly asking for quests is the only way to get a quest (which is an understandable approach to avoid giving them to guests who don’t want them) then your worldbuilding needs to normalise that as a thing that people do in-universe! Being passive-aggressive about it undermines one of the core fantasies of high fantasy RPGs: the idea that society runs on this system of perfect mutual aid where you can travel the world and support yourself by doing fun miscellaneous tasks for the locals

Porge

Imagine if the Evermore park somehow reignited the Taylor-Kanye feud

Jen Canary

I cringed at that — for the performer because yikes

Skylin.

I recognized it immediately from the "things to do at home" video haha

Brittany Rees

Have you been to Sleep No More? I coincidentally just went this weekend.

Spencer Hastings

The vibe is very different but the idea of walking around and following the story in an immersive environment reminds me of Sleep No More in nyc.

Spencer Hastings

YES SUCH SLEEP NO MORE VIBES except less scary lol.

Adhesive Moth

"Bring me gold." This has very similar vibes as to when Jenny was playing the VPD game, going around asking for money to inappropriate characters. I love it.

Isaac Lawton

Really great look when your four-year old theme park is already decrepit and falling apart.

Steph K

This is really funny to see after how amazing Phantasialand looks. The whole unfinished vibe reminds me of the Lost Island park that opened this year. Have you heard about that one? If so, what are your thoughts? I heard the dark ride is pretty good.

Sean McCreary

I bet you already know but when you cut to your video of the family trying to find the dirt audio is missing. Thanks for sharing the preview!

Laura Wilcox

As a native Utahn and a past theater kid, I actually know a few people who worked there. The whole thing makes me really sad because it seems like the actors really loved the role-play aspect of working there. It sucks because something in this realm could be really fun. I saw in a FB post that some of the actors are still meeting and doing their own adventures and larping after being laid off in 2020, but that was almost a year ago so who knows now. I think any potential the park had died in 2020 tbh.

Jenny Nicholson

Yeah exactly. It's been over a year since our trip and my friends and I have had many long conversations about a million separate things that went wrong

Jenny Nicholson

Yeah or if there was some degree of yes-anding and if they really didn't have a quest to hand out, there should be a gruff in-character way to say "ask so-and-so" But that would require some degree of park organization - certain characters always having a quest that season, other performers having some awareness of which performers that will be and where to find them. And it definitely seems like each performer is just turned loose in the whole park, with no instructions

Jenny Nicholson

Lost Island is weird! I don't really know its backstory, I think it's cool they tried to give it a backstory and bespoke decorations to make all the prefabricated rides match. Something weird and barren about it tho. The buildings remind me of a kids playset where the sculpting looks kind of detailed but the paint is just one coat of one color. And no plants anywhere, I don't even think they're growing in I think they don't have any It is nice they did one dark ride

Trevor Atwood

Oh my god, that's what it's reminding me of - people posting their fixes for GoT s8. The palpable frustration of obvious solutions being ignored.

Matt Grippi

Lmao at the guy who is just straight up rude and doesn’t even know what a “guild” is

Ampersandrew

🖐️🤔 Does it look like a rock?

Dan Gibbins

I did not expect this place to get so soundly upstaged by my own city's Heritage Park. There may not be that many activities at Heritage Park, and no rides that wouldn't have existed in the 1900s, but at least every building has stuff in it. At least there's always something to look at. And a pretty great bakery instead of theme park nachos. Now that we've dug into the park's failings, I'm excited to see where parts 13-20 take us, and if maybe the tree puppet comes back, I love it. (And, okay, maybe I'm the only one who was excited by the Ginny Di cameo, but I stand by my reaction.)

Kate B

Really interesting video, I’m excited to see the whole picture! Super entertaining and well explained, as always. “Baggins family vlogs” was a great touch. I watched the first teaser before and am still dumbfounded by their decision to do “the night Evermore went dark”— it feels like yelling “fire” in a crowded theater! I can’t imagine they’d do it again, though.

Ali Anne

I can see all the hard work put into all your videos but the Evermore video is spectacular. I love your make up look in these newly shared parts! Thanks for pushing through your editing frustrations. You made my night with the new content.

Michael

So glad you are continuing to work on this. The earlier previews were great.

Bear

Can't believe how engrossed I am with the Evermore story after watching these previews.

Clem Ellis

carpetbagger is a legend

Mouskemeg

So, I’m a local and I went with my kids this past spring during their Easter event. First time I ever went. It was such a surreal event because it really was like being dropped into this cool town to explore, but realizing you couldn’t actually explore and that no one seemed to know what was going on. They had some cute things to do for the kids. The concept was a dragon egg hunt and there were a bunch hidden. We did have fun trying to find them, and you could ask characters where to look if you got stuck. You had to use your phone (or as they whimsically called them, your magic mirror) to take pictures of each egg as evidence, and there were like 50 eggs hidden in various locations. If you got half of them you got some candy, if you got 45 you got a dragon scale. Neat! In concept…as we walked around looking, they had fairies and knights running around who clearly had a plot line going where they were at odds. The knights were hunting the fairies and you could theoretically choose who to help, but not really because they wouldn’t leave their zones so the actors were constantly trying to redirect the little kids who were “helping” fairies escape or knights hunt. A weird elf couple asked my daughter her name and hinted that they would write it in their book, and that if she did they would owe her a favor in exchange for her name. It was a pretty significant FEELING beat but then nothing happened and when we saw them later to ask for help finding eggs it never came up again lol. They did have the dragon tamer guild out and about, and there was one running around urging us all not to panic if we heard roars because the situation was totally under control. I kept thinking something would happen because his panicked interactions with other characters seemed to escalate, but then nothing did. There was a lady with a baby dragon that was pretty cool. When we finally got most of the egg pictures, we went back to the hobbit house place for our prize. There was a big line, but it was ok because we had scoured the park wanting a dragon scale instead of candy. After waiting to meet with the grand wizard who would verify whether our quest was successful, we got to the front of the line where a lady handed my kids two pebbles from a cup without checking their magic mirror pictures, and then ushered us out of the room. My girls were very unhappy that they did all that work for two random rocks 😂 they did get some of those trinkets you mentioned from the fairies, which were little glass beads, and there were lots of animals around and a little market with clearly local artisans selling pretty unique things. But overall it was sadly underwhelming and I thought that the actors were pretty great, but there just wasn’t any tangible way to involve us in the experiences. I wasn’t sure if the little stories the actors were kind of portraying we’re real canon plot lines I could pursue, or if the poor actors were just doing what they could to make it interesting. If they were purposeful story beats with participation opportunities then I didn’t know how to engage properly I guess, or they just weren’t ever given a satisfying progression aside from “are you on the fairy side or the knight side?” and that was about it. The knights gave my family a quest to find the fairies and show them their location, and when we came back to do it they just…wouldn’t go with the kids? My daughters were frustrated because they were trying to engage with their little mission and it seemed like we weren’t supposed to DO the quest actually. So it was like…wait were we supposed to find fairies and show you or not…? Confusing. I chalked it up to being because it was a special Easter event but maybe that’s just sort of the vibe 😂 Little remnants of quests were everywhere but when we asked about them no one seemed to know anything so… In conclusion I have 50 random photos of dragon eggs hidden in trees on my phone and NO DRAGON SCALES, DAMMIT

Mouskemeg

He did come to the park! Not sure about the investing but I know because he ate at the local bbq place right down the street from it and then went to the park, and everyone I knew who happened to see him there lost their collective minds and our phones were all blowing up with the grapevine news that Kanye was at R&R BBQ and went to evermore. He also performed a random religious concert at a mall in salt lake during the Mormon general conference weekend and it was very weird.

Mouskemeg

Yes! And as someone who feels entirely stupid asking for a quest in the first place, if I get negged for asking I won’t do it again. I’m willing to bet that most average guests would feel some level of awkwardness so you have to foster their participation like a lil baby bird.

MW

That's so upsetting!!! Also...pebbles? So neither dragon scales nor the bare minimum candy??? I would've been so mad as a kid

Jaz Mei Luo

"But they don't Because they can't Because the gold doesn't matter Because the system is broken Because the game doesn't work .... anyway" 😂😂😂

Jenny Nicholson

I think there are LOADS of guests like that. Even in just the vlog channels I've seen there's a lot of people shyly approaching actors while their friends giggle nervously behind them. And when the actor says "what the 'ell are ye talkin' about" because he's playing a rogue or whatever they're likely to just take it at face value and give up

Jenny Nicholson

I've heard that the original storymaster was the ceo's child who's into cosplay

Jenny Nicholson

I've heard of a lot of new quests involving taking phone pics as proof, which 1) imo is bad for immersion in a way that collecting QR codes in an app and it tracking your progress for you wouldn't be. (Rfid tap points would be even better but a bigger upfront cost to implement) and 2) is such an inefficient way to end quests! Having to scroll through your photo roll and show each one to an actor. Especially with people showing minimum 25 photos oh my god But yeah your experience sort of sums up ours too. You get this sense of futility where even when you come across a story beat you can already tell it isn't going to culminate in anything. Like characters will mention feuds but you'll never see a battle, they'll mention cool beasts which aren't in the park, etc

Camilla

When the full video drops, i am making a big bowl of popcorn and pouring a big soda and not moving from the couch till its over

Mouskemeg

I was really trying to hype up the rocks like “ooooh look kids, they’re probably rock dragon scales, wooooow!” but they weren’t tricked. I think they maybe ran out of the real prize? I still don’t know what happened with the wizard thing because when we got there it seemed like the wizard characters were really there, but that was at the beginning when no one had finished finding eggs yet so it was pointless. I assumed the line to get your prize was because everyone had to scroll through pictures but I guess not? I don’t even know. I REALLY wanted to like evermore and waited years to go hoping it would be finished but…womp womp. They really could just rope off some of the more unfinished sections and have very specific events for kids to recoup some cost. Like “hey kids, it’s the spring fairy fest! Come join us in the town square for fairy face painting!” or do a farmer’s market style local artisan fair. We HAVE those in Provo and they’re cool. Just do one in evermore! People will go, you guys, have local food trucks come, idk SOMETHING. I think that’s what the Easter event was supposed to be but it was confusing and not focused enough. I still want evermore to work but they just make so many baffling decisions and are notoriously litigious rather than reactive to criticism so I have little hope.

Mouskemeg

It’s frustrating. Like is this a magical fantasy land where quests are part of the norm or not? I already feel like an idiot asking this hooded man about a magic quest, and now I know even he thinks I’m an idiot too 🙃 Have the rogue lean in and say, “I’ve heard tell of a secret hidden in the crypts, and I’m willing to pay for information” and then plan to have another spooky character by the crypt that you can interact with who will tell you a ghost story about treasure or something. It would be FREE to implement, I don’t understand why they don’t do this. Just coordinate a Google doc for the actors with some go-to storylines. The reward of solving a minor mystery would be enough for me.

Mouskemeg

Why am I so mad about this lollll.

Madeleine

Thank you for sharing such an in-depth account of your experience, this was so interesting to read!

Anastasia

ghsgjdsioghekl OF COURSE

Mr. Creosote

You're getting a little lazy not to wear a costume for the video.

Lily Hibiscus

From now on, I will assume that all storage buildings are probably full of Snakes and Buzz Saws.

Lily Hibiscus

That part made me wonder - with many guests being dressed up in similar quality costumes, how are people to know who is an actor and who is another guest? Lord Lenscraft there just looked like a guest...

Joy Wood

"Jenny Nicholson: Undercover Theme Park Boss". (I would gladly watch that series!)

Jack Brannelly

Here’s where I learned that at some point one of my college professors was “Games Master” at Evermore…

Renee Tapia

I need to see a tour of the binder of park maps! I love collecting stuff like that

James ShinHito

So what I’ve learned from the Evermore saga is that if we want a full and finished Evermore we need to go to THE GRID and ride the loud indoor Go-Karts 10,000 times?! I think THE GRID the true secret hidden quest of Evermore?! It all adds up!

James ShinHito

I want a tour of the binder so badly! I used to collect the park maps starting from my first visits to Disneyland and Six Flags Magic Mountain in 1995. My grandmother lived in SoCal so it was a cheap-ish summer vacation, and so I had park maps for both parks from 1995 to about 2006. I recently went looking for them at my parents place and learned the box was thrown out due to a Marie Kondo purge by my mom. I just kicked myself for not taking that box with me when I went to college! 😭

Stephen Gillie

"They must have known the money they had was all they would get until they opened and started turning a profit." That's not the Startup mindset. Tech bros expect that they can just beg the investors for another round endlessly, and that profits won't be expected for the first decade. It's how Twitter is run. "A business doesn't just run out of money as a surprise." Some videogame companies do, when they learn that the investors eventually say "no".

Stephen Gillie

About the gold - "They can't make it look cool or people will steal it." - That's free advertising that they're missing out on. If metal coins are too expensive, use cardboard or thinner with a fancy pattern and the Evermore logo. Call it Evergold? And each one that's stolen is a free advertisement for the park, lost in a parking lot or pinned to a wall or left on a car seat.

Markus D

I don't understand how this can be so difficult. Like... just have actors know who is on their shift, have some characters that just stay in one place for quests, PLAN QUESTS AHEAD OF TIME!? There are so many weird, tiny problems that feel like part of basic business organization.

TepidSpiderLegs

This should be one of the voting options for the next ramble. Let the people decide Jenny!

Michael DeBellis

Jenny is so wonderfully cool. If I bought 8 tickets and they gave me credit for 1, I would be screaming obscenities!

SweetAlissum

One of the thing that really strikes me in these videos is they don't give their actors any direction. None of them know how to react in the negative to a question from a guest without sounding so rude. The clip Jenny showed in the first preview where the guy goes, "A quest? Like saving a princess? Sounds like fairytales to me." That's whimsical but is kind of rude since asking for 'a quest' seems like very clear guest parlance for wanting to participate in the LARP story and the actor didn't "yes, and" that in any way. The guy in the glasses also similarly shuts down Jenny's group in this preview. They could at least direct people to where to go in character when they can't help. It's a shame because I have so much love in my heart for character actors so I don't want to be unkind to them. I think it's just a management failing that you need to screen for/train for how to say no while keeping the experience in tact.

Jenny Nicholson

Yeah agreed, and I can think of many ways to help even if they're the "gruff" character or if they're the wrong character to ask. Like "Another charity case, sounds like you're lookin' for the innkeeper, she's always handin' out odd jobs." Or "I don't know about a quest but I'll make you a wager..." But even just doing that would require some structure and planning, otherwise the characters would have no idea who to send you to or what tasks to give you beyond what's in their immediate line of sight lol

SweetAlissum

Exactly. There are so many ways to approach it in character. That's all why I ding overall management of the park and not the actors. You'd need management to actually bother to project manage the LARPing elements and I don't blame the actors for not knowing what to do without that.

Gothshark

As a seaworld ticket seller/guest relations worker (and just as someone who lives in Florida), hearing “the tickets go from $15 to $34 per person. To local Utah people they claim this is very expensive.” made me giggle lol. Meanwhile tickets for entry in seaworld is $125 per person and it’s one of the cheaper parks in Florida 😭

Frita Gee

This is so funny to me. What is the gold even for