While things are simmering on medium heat in the world of Alternate Reality Gaming (we are in the midst of an in-depth look into Catching The Wish, so look for that in the next few days), we’d like to toot our own horn for a brief moment. In June 2002, “The Godfather” Steve Peters launched this site as a place where people could hang out and talk. Today, the Alternate Reality Gaming Network is not only alive and kicking, but taking great strides towards the future. There are a few projects that are being explored for development, including the ARG Archive and podcast interviews, so we hope our fifth year of existence proves to be another great year. Thanks go out to all of you who keep coming back and supporting our site!
Category: Announcements (Page 11 of 16)
In an ongoing mission to keep this site functional and relevant, we will be making some minor changes to ARGN in the next few weeks. Most of which will go unnoticed by the untrained eye, but some will be evident. The content and focus of the site will remain the same. We have already implemented two changes — the move to a new version of our publishing software, and the addition of comments (time-limited and moderated) to our articles, which started on April 11. We appreciate your ongoing support as we tinker with the way the site operates — feel free to contact us if you have issues with the web site functionality.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to recognize three new staff members who have joined us in the past month — Will Bagby, Marie Lamb, and Michelle Senderhauf. All three are long-time ARG community members with experience behind the curtain as game developers, and we are very fortunate to have them on board.
At this time, we would like to make a very personal statement for everyone who follows this site or has toiled in our archives from time to time.
Playing an Alternate Reality Game is hard work, but its even harder reporting on one. Real life takes a back seat to the importance of getting the news out to our valued reader base. I’ve personally made many sacrifices — skipping hip replacement surgery, for example — to make sure that the word about ARG gets out there to the masses. Love is, and always has been, my motivation, but now it’s time to come clean.
The Alternate Reality Gaming Network has a new home on the World Wide Web. We do not anticipate any disruptions in service, but if you happen to come across any problems with the site, please use our Contact page to let us know about the oversight.
One of the features of our new host is a locally-controlled ARGN Announcement List. If you were already on the list, you should be receiving an email in the next few hours with a verification link. If you were not already on the list, you can subscribe here.
As some of you may know, I’ve been on hiatus from around here since July, when I took a break from running ARGN to duck behind the curtain to work as a designer for Last Call Poker, the latest project by 4orty2wo Entertainment.
Incredibly, it now looks like my hiatus has become permanent departure, as I’ve been asked by 4orty2wo to continue working with them on future projects. As it’s really not possible to do both at once, I’m turning the ARGN keys over to Jonathan Waite (jamesi), who, along with Sean Stacey (Spacebass) partnered with me on the ground floor to get ARGN (and thereby the ARG community as we know it) off and running.
We as a community set out to raise public awareness for this cool new genre, and it seems we have succeeded far beyond our wildest hopes. What began as an innovative campaign for AI: Artificial Intelligence went on to become loosely known as the This Is Not A Game thing (as coined by Elan Lee) and then Alternate Reality Gaming (as coined by Spacebass over at Unfiction), a term which now is used definitively for the genre.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of you who have really helped make ARGN a success. This includes both our readers and our Staff Writers, who have been doing a bang up job. What began as a backup forum on my company’s website when Y! Groups went down during Lockjaw has become ARGN and its network of sites, most notably Unfiction, which has become the nexus of discussion of all things ARG-related. I’m excited to see what new sites will be added, and how ARGN will grow and change under Jon’s leadership.
Speaking of Lockjaw, if you are a player/puppetmaster/fan today, then you owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Karetao team. For the record, if it weren’t for them and Lockjaw, the first grassroots game produced after The Beast, then the momentum started by The Beast would have been totally lost; the players, community and genre itself scattered to the winds. While Elan Lee, Jordan Weisman and crew are the definitive founders of the genre as we know it, it was Karetao who kept it alive.
I’ve enjoyed my time at ARGN and in the community immensely. I’ve made some great friends, and met some truly wonderful and fascinating people, and had a great time doing it. It’s been a privilege.
Thanks, everyone.
Now, secure any loose articles you may have brought with you, keep your hands and arms inside at all times, and make sure your lap-bar is down and locked. Enjoy your ride.
…Dispatch.
Perplex City has released a second wave of 66 puzzle cards this week, doubling the number of available cards to 132. Contrary to earlier reports, the new cards will be mixed in with the existing ones, rather than packaged separately, but we’re told the new cards will be more plentiful. The original online retailer of the cards, Firebox, is celebrating by offering five packs for the price of four… but you’d better hurry, as the deal closes at midnight GMT (6PM CST) tomorrow tonight! (Sunday 27th November, that is.)
The collectible cards each feature a puzzle that can be tackled independently, and players can enter their solution on the Perplex City website, earning Perplex Points for a place on the leader board. Some cards have also been found to contain messages hidden using special inks – only time and sharp observation will reveal if the new batch of cards contain similarly obscured clues.
It has also been confirmed that there will be two further waves of cards, each comprising 62 cards, due for release in 2006. Snappy!
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