DQ Clues

[mvhayes1982]

A couple things. First off, I love this event. My best friend and I give it a try each year and consider ourselves somewhere between the "in it for fun" and "in it to win". While our main reason for participating is solving the clues and running the routes, we do enjoy the Haunts and I must say that this years were much better than last years. Good job! The one suggestion I would have is to ask the DQ's along the route to leave their signs turned on. This is more a matter of safety than convenience. It just seemed that the clues on the DQ signs were impossible to read without creating a traffic disturbance.

The other thing I would like to suggest is probably a bit too much to ask. It seems as though this could be more fun if there were two or three different levels of clues. A Novice, Pro, and Master level or something like that. We'd love some harder clues and maybe a longer route. I realize this would require triple the work that you already put into it. (As well as triple the prizes.) While I realize it's unrealistic, I just wanted you to know.

I appreciate the hard work and p***ion you put into this event. It's definitely one of my favorite experiences of each year. I did the Clarksville route last night and am headed out to do the Hurstbourne route tonight. (Growing up in PRP, I try and avoid the Dixie Hwy location every other year. The knowledge of the area makes the first half of the clues not quite as much fun.)

Thanks again!

[Poetrywriter828]

We loved the DQ clues this year. They helped any time we got a little turned around... but I do agree even though the clue book warned they were hard to see... they were really hard to read behind the trees... But thanks for the extra bit of help. After the 3rd hard to see DQ clue we ended up pulling in the parking lots of the DQ's and walking up to the signs so I'm sure people thought we were crazy but Oh well! We were in it to win it!
Thanks for another great year!

[joebulleit]

Thank you both for your comments and suggestion regarding the DQ Boards. Actually, I have lobbied for this exact thing for years with DQ. The folks at DQ are GREAT to work with and would do (almost) anything to help, but they can't keep the reader boards on past closing time (11PM). The reason is that the reader boards are tied to the same circuit as the drive-thru boards. To keep 1 on means keeping both on, which would indicate that they are still open (past 11). We test each route after the clues are posted to make sure (that while sometimes difficult to see) they can be read with the light off. In a case where we don't feel it's possible, we give you the DQ Clue in the book as well.

One option for you, if the boards are a problem, is to start earlier. All the boards are on until 11PM, so if you start before 8:00, you should be able to hit them all when they're still lit.

As for the suggestion regarding different clue levels: I have wanted to do this for a long time. You're right, though, it WOULD be a lot more work, but I would love nothing more than to sit down and "match wits" with the very best Danger Runners out there. It's a very fine line we walk to keep the clues challenging enough to be fun, while keeping them "solvable" for most everyone. Despite the work involved, the biggest reason I don't offer "levels" is the backup it would create at the Start Gates while each car decides which set they want ("how hard are they?... Can I see a few clues to help me decide?.... We can't decide whether we want the easy or hard ones..., etc, etc). If you have ever been to a Danger Run Gate at 9:00 or so on a Saturday night, you'll know exactly why I can't afford this type of slowdown.

I thank you again, though, for the suggestions. Please keep them coming. If you're a Danger Run veteran, many of the improvements you have seen over the years have come from suggestions directly from our customers like you.

[mvhayes1982]

It's awesome to know that you feel the same way about the "levels" of clues as I do. I didn't even think of the logistical issue at the start gates. One thing you could possible do is offer a "return customer discount" for customers who do the Danger Run more than once in a year. I'd love to be able to go to the other two start gates after doing it once and pay like, $5 to $10 a person just for the clue book, without admission to the Haunts. This would let those of us who are mainly in it for the "Run" to get as much Running in as possible each year, while perhaps adding a little extra revenue. I'm making the ***umption that the majority of the cost per person is for the Haunt tickets and that once you hit a certain number of paid users you've covered your overhead of clue books and staff costs etc...

It was sadly funny how many people looked at me like i was crazy when I told them I had done the Danger Run this past weekend. I'm sure there are plenty of us out there doing our best to spread the word, but there are still so many people who have NO CLUE what your wonderful creation is all about.

Thanks,
Matt Hayes

[citrontj]

I do kinda like some of the thoughts mentioned here. yes sometimes the DQ signs are hard to read and it can trip ya up, if ya read the wrong side of the sign ;-)

I also think the "runners" thing about discounted for multiple runs after the first would be interesting. I'm sure that would bring me out a second or maybe even third time to try a different book or a different start gate would be fun. I'm not to fond of haunted places, but don't mind them once after one danger run tho i would have my fill of them. But i love working the clues out. (i wish there were more events like this throughout the year, it fun mentally).

As for the hard/easy saga, one thing possible is to create a third line or split the lines and clearly label (i repeat clearly so as people don't cause back up in the lines b/c they didn't read the signs). and you get whichever book goes to the line you went in. Maybe you could even offer just the hard books at one specific start gate as to keep that type of issue down. (or maybe this could even somehow be tied back to the multiple runner thing that was already mentioned above). I dunno just trying to add some thought

[joebulleit]

By all means... Keep those "thoughts" coming. After all, one of our main objectives is to make Danger Run the event YOU want it to be. The main challenge with the repeat runner discount to is prevent abuse. I have no problem offering repeaters a discount, but we would have to verify that they ARE indeed repeat customers.

We have some things in the works that *may* make this possible. In the meantime, please keep sending us your ideas and suggestions!