Author: Steve Peters (Page 19 of 25)

Original Owner, Godfather of ARG
Steve was the creator and original owner of argn.com. After three years of authoring articles, Steve moved on to bigger and better things at No Mimes Media. During his time here, Steve was also one of the puppetmasters for the popular ARG Project MU. He is affectionately known as the Godfather of ARG.

Letter to the Editor – “I, Puppetmaster”

June 25, 2004 / Steve Peters

ARGN has received a good number of opinions about our recent opinion piece entitled “I, Puppetmaster.” Here’s one:

There has been much discussion on the article â€œI, Puppetmasterâ€ and I would like to take a moment to add my opinion to some of the assertions made by that article. Please note I said â€œopinions,â€ which in no way reflect the opinions of ARGN or any other ARG related site. I am only offering a different point of view.

The author of “I, Puppetmaster” put forth that:
In a not-so-perfect ARG universe PMs are often challenged to keep their identities secret but are seduced by the interaction with players to reveal themselves. Itâ€™s not difficult to seduce PMs, especially if they donâ€™t have a corporate shield to hide behind and donâ€™t have a lot of experience being published and appreciated for their creativity.
â€¦
What sets the anonymous PMs apart from the PMs who canâ€™t resist identifying themselves and interacting directly with players? Why are the anonymous PMs able to retain their discipline and professionalism while others succumb to socializing with players and taking their bows (in some cases) before the game has even begun?

2nd Anniversary Puzzle Trail Completed

June 21, 2004 / Steve Peters

After three days of intense puzzle solving, a select few intrepid ARG’ers completed the 10 puzzles that comprised ARGN’s 2nd Anniversary Puzzle Trail. Dozens of players speculated, researched and contributed solutions to the puzzle series that culminated with tribute puzzles to Chasing the Wish, The Beast, Lockjaw, and finally Push, NV.

Puzzles were contributed by former puppetmasters, who were coaxed out of retirement to resurrect some old favorites. Special thanks go out to Scott Rossi (Plexata), Bill Shaw (Acheron), Jonathan Waite (JMX), Dave Szulborski (Chasing the Wish), Dan Carver (The Beast) and Derek Jensen (Lockjaw) for providing quality, fun, and sometimes nostalgic challenges.

To show our appreciation, we’re awarding prizes to the first players to have completed the trail, which required emailing a specific address here at ARGN. In order, the first three to cross the finish line:

1st Place – Omnie
2nd Place – JustinCase
3rd Place – Danman_d

Omnie will receive her choice of any item at the ARGN store, plus a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate, while JustinCase and Danman_d will each receive an ultra-cool ARGN sticker to adorn their favorite CPU. Congratulations go out to everyone who played. Maybe we should make this an annual event. Let us know your thoughts at [email protected].

Finally, for those of you who were following along, the trail consisted of 10 puzzles:

Puzzle 1 (The Beast)
Puzzle 2 (Lockjaw)
Puzzle 3 (Plexata)
Puzzle 4 (Metacortechs)
Puzzle 5 (Metacortechs) [user: malvolio / pass: innerdolphin]
Puzzle 6 (Acheron)
Puzzle 7 (JMX)
Puzzle 8 (Chasing the Wish)
Puzzle 9 (The Beast)
Puzzle 10 (Lockjaw)

All the spec and solves can be found in this Unfiction thread. Great job, everyone!

ARGN Marks 2nd Anniversary

June 12, 2004 / Steve Peters

kloo This month marks the Alternate Reality Gaming Network’s Second Anniversary!

It’s amazing to think it‘s been two years, already. What began as a single message board has become a network of multiple sites dedicated to the promotion and growth of Alternate Reality Gaming as a genre. This last year has seen successful ARGs come to completion, two ARG-Fest-O-Cons in Las Vegas and Orlando, and solid growth of the community. Thanks go out to ARG Planet, Cloudmakers, DeadDrop, Martha’s Boarding House, MetaUrchins, Unfiction, Varin and Jamesi for helping to build the biggest and best community of ARG afficianados around!

Now, it wouldn’t be an anniversary without some sort of celebration now, would it? So, we here at ARGN have been working on a little way to say thanks for all of your great support, and hopefully give you a little fun in the process. The result is a little walk down memory lane, if you will. We wanted to give those of you who’ve been around a while a little a bit of nostalgia, and those who are new to all this a little taste of what you may have missed. Consider it an homage trail.

Plus, there’s a little bonus: SWAG!! The first one to reach the end of our little trip down memory lane will receive their choice of any item available at the ARGN CafePress Store, along with a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate. Two runners-up will receive a spiffy ARGN Sticker (I know, try to contain yourselves).

“So, how do I get started,” you ask? Well now, that’s a really good question. 😉

[Edit: Discussion, hints and spoilers can be found in this discussion thread over at Unfiction.]

Mythos Agency

June 10, 2004 / Steve Peters

ARGN received a cryptic email today from the “Mythos Agency.”
Since the email requested that we forward it to whomever we
thought would be interested, we offer it here for your investigation.

Please keep in mind that we can’t vouch for Mythos Agency’s credibility at this point, but it does look rather interesting:

To Whom it May Concern,

You have been invited to join the Mythos Agency. As an agent of the Mythos Agency, your job will be to investigate cases assigned to you and your fellow agents. We have been watching you for some time now and we believe that you have what it takes to make it to the next level.

As you work on cases, you will [be] observed and points will be assigned to you based upon your performance. You will not be alerted to the status of these points unless you make it to the next level. Please keep in mind, that though you will need to work with your fellow agents at times, you will always be in competition with them for points, so watch your back.

To that end, you will need to create an alias for yourself in order to partic[i]pate. This alias must include a name, E-mail Address, and AOL Instant Messenger Screen Name. These items will be used both in your search for information and in communication with your fellow agents. Your alias may be more complete than this, but must at least have the afore mentioned items. To clarify the above, whether you do so publicly or discreetly, you will ONLY communicate with your peers via this alias.

Finally, we trust your judgement, so if you feel that someone else would be well suited for this position, feel free to forward this letter to them as well, but do not forget… the more agents present, the more competition that you will have.

To Join the Mythos Group, go to: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Mythos

After joining, please post your alias information, but not your real name, to the group. The first case should be posted shortly, or as soon as several other agents join the group.

Congratulations on Your New Assignment and Good Luck!
Mr. Myth

[Edit: There is already an initial assignment up on the site, Case #0, which has to do with tracking down the John Kerry/Jane Fonda photo hoax. OK, I admit it, I was curious enough to actually install AIM. :/ ]

MayDay Mystery: ARG in Real Life?

May 29, 2004 / Steve Peters

A single post on the unfiction forums has opened the door to a fascinating story dating back some 20 years.

At the University of Arizona, a series of ads has been placed in the school’s newspaper, the Arizona Wildcat. These ads have shown up every year around May 1st for the last 20 years or so, and seem to be cryptic puzzles relating to some sort of secret counterculture organization. Bryan Hance, the former webmaster of the Wildcat, noticed the ads, and has been trying to track down what’s been going on ever since. He is chronicling his findings at www.maydaymystery.org.

The story is summed up in an article at the Northwest Explorer. Is this real? Is a secret organization communicating and recruiting new members using this technique, or is someone merely spending lots of time and money on what amounts to be just a huge intellectual puzzle?

Website: www.maydaymystery.org
Related Articles: Arizona Wildcat
Discussion: Unfiction Forums
Google: Search Results

AWARE To Launch June 15th

May 27, 2004 / Steve Peters

Word comes to us that AWARE is poised to go live on June 15th. Pushing the envelope of ‘established’ ARG boundaries, AWARE has already been causing a flurry during its pre-game phase.

So far, some innovative ideas have caught players off guard. From fellow players on Unfiction being kidnapped (thus proving to be in-game characters) to the game’s fictional company advertising for jobs on a realworld jobs website, AWARE looks like it may have many surprising turns in store. In addition, the use of these techniques has provided fodder for much animated meta-discussion among players.

It’s seems that AWARE has finally established its universe and the rules that will govern it. The game has it’s own in-game message board so players will have less of a problem knowing who’s real and who’s not, thereby avoiding some of the suspicion and paranoia that seemed to be setting in at first.

It will be interesting to see where this game goes, what with the geo-political climate of the world right now. It’s seems to be clear that players will need to choose sides somehow, and may have to live with serious (in-game) consequences for their decision.

Trailhead: ruaware.org
Discussion: Unfiction’s AWARE Forum