'Automated ACAAN' by Mystery Mark (Cards+Video Download, 2012)

[MysteryHand]

The host is crashed tzihb ! You must wait for a little. The owner company of Mark's host is busy !

[Wyattsb]

Originally Posted by tzihb

Soo.. Honestly, when will the instructional video be available? I am usually quite patient, but I feel like you are kidding me

There are some slight difficulties, but you'll get an email soon with instructions in it to download the video.

[Resilience]

In response to the above post about not getting the tutorial yet.
I don't know what's going on either I got my cards and now have no idea where or how to find the downloadable tutorial...let me know if you receive any more info about this
Thanks

[MysteryHand]

How is the host Mark ?

[Admin]

About half of the people who got this product have been able to access the web page and instructional video through their It's eStored account. For the other half, we are having issues. We do our very best to have it all solved.. and it should be solved within 24 hours from now.

Our sincere apologies for the wait to those who cannot access it yet.

[Mark]

And voila.
All done exactly in time.. for once.

[AlexW]

For some reason I cannot access my It's eStored account. When I click the link, there is a webpage error that says, "Internet Explorer cannot read this webpage format HTTP 406".

[Admin]

Originally Posted by AlexW

For some reason I cannot access my It's eStored account. When I click the link, there is a webpage error that says, "Internet Explorer cannot read this webpage format HTTP 406".

Hey Alex,

For the weirdest reason, the server crashed completely and now is running again though quite instable. We are working on it.

Please check the e-mails regarding the error as well.

Sorry for the inconvenience!

[Mark]

The crash has been solved. Reason? Apparently Kenny here started the 698 MB file download over 25 times a minute for over half an hour, totally using up all connections and more after 14 minutes. Not much we could have done about it as basically it has the same impact as a true DDoS attack. We might recode the site so that the download fails with so many heaviness going on, but we might have to set up a plan for this first because it is kind of tricky making sure others won't accidentally have their downloads fail as well.

Kenny, please try to download the file normally just like everyone else. We suppose you have been using some filthy sort of download accelerator, or there is something really wrong with your connection but in this site's statistics your connection seems to behave normal so we doubt that is the reason. At the It's eStored download statistics, your connection shows up to be insanely wild though.

[MysteryHand]

OK OK ! I will use Google Chrome to download files from Itestored !

[johnnygri]

Sorry Mark. Now I've received the cards and the video, I believe the product description is somewhat misleading. I was looking for a new version of ACAAN that reproduces the classic effect as described in your product description:

The spectator selects any playing card and number, and will find their card at the selected position in the deck.

I think it is fair to say that's pretty reductive.

I think the following is more apt:

The spectator selects any playing card via a cut. A number is chosen by cutting to a random card and using its value. The spectator will then use the lookup card to find out how many cards down they must count to in order to find their chosen card.

If that had been the description I think I'd have passed on buying this because it wasn't what I was looking for.

Mark I think you should put a performance video up somewhere for people to watch to allow them to make a more informed decision before purchase. I'm sure many folk will love your take on the effect.

Cheers

[Mark]

Hey Johnny,

I'm sorry and surprised to hear you found it misleading. The very next paragraph of the product description actually starts off with the fact that "both the card and number are selected using the deck with any of the included 'ACAAN' cards". As you might remember, the original product page also stated exactly that, with the full presentation on top of it, making clear the spectator does indeed select and not name any card and number for that the human mind is unreliable and cannot possibly think in a random way. You actually bought it from that web page, not from here.

I also hope you understand why we have and will not put up a performance video. This is the exact reason why we grant every buyer offline performance rights, and not online ones. Apart from it not being fair for any buyers if we would put up a performance ourselves while they can't, many magicians would recognize the principles as these "have been used by magicians for decades" and then would probably not get the product because they think they wouldn't get anything out of it.

I can honestly say that to laymen, the effect and experience are usually the same as the ones with the "classic effect", plus that with the standard patter you automatically rise above all other 'ACAAN's out there. Please don't forget the 'Any Card At Any Number' has been released many times, in almost as many ways, and often without the spectators naming the card and/or number as well. They are still selecting any card and number regardless of them not naming it, don't you think?

So yeah, sorry for any misunderstanding. I'll make sure our product manager gets to read your opinion too though, but I really doubt any changes will be made for that the description seems to mention everything it actually should mention. I hope you still got something out of the product though.

[Majikku]

Originally Posted by johnnygri

Sorry Mark. Now I've received the cards and the video, I believe the product description is somewhat misleading. I was looking for a new version of ACAAN that reproduces the classic effect as described in your product description:



I think it is fair to say that's pretty reductive.

I think the following is more apt:



If that had been the description I think I'd have passed on buying this because it wasn't what I was looking for.

Mark I think you should put a performance video up somewhere for people to watch to allow them to make a more informed decision before purchase. I'm sure many folk will love your take on the effect.

Cheers

Johnny,

Obviously, it's frustrating when a product doesn't reach your expectations, but aren't you being a bit unfair? The description claims that the spectator gets a free choice- and that's what they get. The point is to mildly outline the effect, not to give a completely exhaustive description of the trick.

Also, from the extract of the description you chose to use as the basis for your argument, you indicate that you were expecting a routine in which the spectator selects any playing card and number, and that the card is at that number. But that is exactly what this product is.

I am sorry that you're disappointed, but I have personally bought the product and was very happy with it. It is exactly what it is said to be and there are a lot of usable things included. I think to call the description misleading is incorrect, and that perhaps you should more carefully select and read about the effects you really want.

Thanks,
-Majikku

[johnnygri]

Originally Posted by Majikku

The point is to mildly outline the effect, not to give a completely exhaustive description of the trick.

In my opinion, with the wealth of effects on the market, magicians require an exacting description from the outset.

Originally Posted by Mark

They are still selecting any card and number regardless of them not naming it, don't you think?

Personally, not quite.

Originally Posted by Mark

So yeah, sorry for any misunderstanding. I'll make sure our product manager gets to hear your opinion though, but I really doubt any changes will be made for that the description seems to mention everything it actually should mention. I hope you still got something out of the product though.

Thanks for taking my feedback constructively, I wish you the very best of luck with this and future products.

Cheers

[Wyattsb]

Originally Posted by johnnygri

Personally, not quite.

Do you really think so? I'd love to see you elaborate on this.

[Mark]

So apart from johnnygri, any other feedback or comments on this product? Thanks!

[Wyattsb]

Originally Posted by Mark

So apart from johnnygri, any other feedback or comments on this product?

Great DVD Mark, it had been a while since I had seen a tutorial from you, and it was quite refreshing. Its quite hard to not say the same things for all of your products, but the sheer amount of information and ideas in all of them, for that price and production quality, makes yours and the rest of the DSZ team's products by far the best.
As for the DVD itself, the two parts that stand out for me is the main ACAAN, which is particularly smart, with a ton of variations; and I really enjoyed the section on false shuffles too, a couple of which I immediately began using.
Overall: 10/10