It’s always disappointing to see an Alternate Reality Game pull up roots and disappear before its intended endgame. So far we have seen a handful casualties in 2006, and we are adding Another Contest Worth Entering to that list. Rumblings of an implosion came late last week, when UnFiction community member Chewy shared an email he received from the ACWE Puppetmaster team. While the email originally states that the team would be taking a two week hiatus to re-evaluate the situation, the latest word is that the game is, indeed, over.
Author: Jonathan Waite (Page 28 of 37)
Jonathan Waite was an innocent lurker when The Beast hit the Internet in 2001. From his temporary residence in Jeon Ju, South Korea, he was immediately captivated by the lush environment that had been laid out before his feet. Moving back to his hometown (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) in July of the same year, Jonathan continued to be involved in the burdgeoning genre of Alternate Reality Gaming, getting into Plexata and finding a voice on the forums dedicated to the game. Once Lockjaw hit in 2002, there was no looking back. Jonathan adopted the alias 'jamesi', started a fansite called GuysGuise, and the rest is history.
Jonathan can currently be found as an administrator on Unfiction's forums, as well as co-hosting the ARG Netcast audio show. In the past, he has been involved with Smirkbox, a humor site that focuses on the realm of ARGs, as well as actively creating and maintaining JMX, a puzzle trail website that is currently working (yes, still) on a second run.
As a freelance developer and consultant, Jonathan has worked on such games as Ocular Effect (for Fallen on ABC family), Reach the Future (aka Holomove, for Microsoft), Enitech Labs (for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX) and Monster Hunter Club (for The Host by Magnolia Films). He is happily married and has two wonderful daughters.
After several successful chats last fall, the aspiring Puppetmasters hanging around the unfiction forums tricked Brooke Thompson into setting up a very ambitious online chat series aimed at helping potential Puppetmasters, whether they’re looking to develop grassroots (indie) or professional games. The two month long series (every Sunday until April 25) will follow game development from the earliest stages of team development to game launch to the rising of the curtain at the end.
For those unfamiliar with Brooke, she is an experienced Puppetmaster most widely known for her work on Metacortechs, Lockjaw, and the “quickstart guide”. She is also a contributing staff member here at Alternate Reality Gaming News. She is someone who is constantly “in the know” in matters involving ARG, and this is a great opportunity for those out there who want to take a serious look at creating and developing an ARG.
Puppetmasters, both experienced and aspiring, are encouraged to attend and to bring their questions, thoughts, and experiences with them. As always, privacy and discretion will be addressed and if there are points or questions that one would like to raise anonymously, you are welcome to forward them to Brooke before or during the chat. Players are also welcome as games are ultimately designed with their interests in mind.
Chats will be held in #pmchat on irc.chat-solutions.org at 2100 UTC (4:00PM EST) every Sunday. If you do not have an IRC client, you can always head over to our Java chat platform to join in. For more information, such as the schedule and how to access the chat, please see the #pmchat announcement on the Unfiction forums.
Welcome to the island. What started as an email has now turned into Renata Isle, a new grassroots ARG. The game went live yesterday with new links appearing on an in-game security site (which, at the moment, is unavailable). There was a very active audience playing the pre-game, so here’s hoping the real deal doesn’t disappoint.
Note: The trailhead site is not working properly in Firefox browsers. For those having difficulties accessing the main site, you can get to it directly here.
:: Discussion at UnFiction
For those of you who want to get in on the ground floor of a new and exciting gaming experience, this might just be the thing you need. Thanks to a tip, ARGN has learned of an “online role-playing game” called Stranger Adventures that will launch on Sunday, February 19th with a pilot series that will last a week. Shortly after the pilot series concludes, the Stranger Adventures series will continue it’s first “season” in 10 installments, to be offered bi-weekly. For players in the United States, there is an added bonus to playing the game in the form of a cash prize for those lucky enough to crack a 10-digit code central to the story.
According to the tip we received, “The weeklong pilot, as well as the following series, will unfold Sunday through Saturday. Each episode will feature its own central character (the “Stranger”) and clues to a 10-digit code that the Stranger needs the players’ help to identify. The clues will not require any specialized expertise and will piece together like a puzzle. The first player to crack the code will win the grand prize of $25,000; the second prize of $10,000 will be divided among every viewer who breaks the code before time runs out. The value of the prizes will progress weekly as the audience grows.”
On Friday, February 10, a new show popped up on the rotation at the Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania radio station. WLHU Toxic Radio was host to “Alternate Reality Radio” which is hosted by well-known community member The Creative Embassy (aka Clinton Judy). On the debut show, the discussion topic was “What is an ARG” and, from what we hear, the program was very interesting. The show also includes a lively music selection.
You can listen live each and every Friday at 5 pm EST (10:00 GMT) by going to their Shoutcast and listening to the streaming audio with your favorite player.
If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck, right? Wrong, according to Pherotones Intimacy Expert Myra Vanderhood. After we reported on what appears to be the start of an Alternate Reality Game, we received this email from the good doctor:
Dear ARGN Community,
Thank you so much for your budding interest in Pherotones, the amazing ring tone secret from Denmark that can spark sexual attraction.
It has come to my attention that some members of the ARG community are carefully scrutinizing the Pherotonal Record in the mistaken belief that it holds clues to a new, evolving Alternate Reality Game.
While I am flattered by your attention, I am sorry to say that there is no game afoot.
Pherotones.com is not the portal of a game, and my weblog, “Discovering Pherotones” contains nothing of interest beyond my own thoughts and impressions as I gather evidence to prove my hypothesis.
You will not find a Puzzlemaster like Dave Szulborski behind this particular curtain, and there is no Ian Yarborough here for us to moon over.
The only way to actually participate in the Pherotones experience is to try them for yourself, and, if you wish, to report your “anecdotal evidence” to my weblog, “Discovering Pherotones” (pherotones.blogspot.com). There is no prize offered, and the only thing you stand to gain from your input is the satisfaction of knowing you have, in a small way, advanced the cause of Pherotonal Science.
Thank you for your attention,
Dr. Myra Vanderhood, Intimacy Expert and Founder of Pherotones.com
So, will this end up being another Redkore fiasco, or is this the start of something big? For now, we’re content to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
generation loss
postcurious
giggleland
curators request
welcome home
scp afterworld