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The End is Ny: Ny Takma Explores Dead Languages and Possible Planetary Destruction

November 7, 2006 / Jessica Price

Eden, Shangri-La, Mu, Lemuria, Tir Na Nog, El Dorado, Lyonesse: lost lands have fascinated audiences as long as humans have been telling stories. So it’s probably not surprising that the most famous of them, Atlantis, has finally gotten its own ARG.

On September 30, Unfiction players received an email directing them to a website which warned that the end was near, and showed videos of what appear to be an exploding planet. Attempts to make sense of the site’s content led to a hunt for Hank Morgan, a man obsessed with the mysterious language of Atlantis and searching for answers in the Bermuda Triangle. Hank has a tragic history: his obsession cost him his relationship with his daughter Kendra, and drove his wife to suicide.

Through contact with Hank, his faithful friend (and ladies man) John, and a linguist named Bryan Aristos, players were introduced to what appears to be the game’s central puzzle: translating the Atlantean language.

Unfortunately, the reality doesn’t quite live up to the allure of the concept. Lanti is not a language, merely a word-level substitution cipher. Therefore it’s not a solvable puzzle: players are limited to guessing words from context and waiting for the PMs to drop more vocabulary in their laps. Nevertheless, the audience has been eagerly dissecting the cryptic texts, producing both a wiki lexicon and a translator. Perhaps the game will spawn some Lanti catchphrases that will spread around the community.

The romance of a lost language, hints that Bryan may not be trustworthy, and intriguing symbols and Atlantean references to Kendra and Hank have brought together a close-knit but welcoming community of players to unearth the answers.

Catch up with the story so far at Unfiction, visit the player wiki to get a look at the language, or pop into #nytakma on irc.chat-solutions.org to chat with players.

ARG Netcast, Episode 3

November 6, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

It’s already Episode 3 of the ARG Netcast series. Once again, this week offers the comedy stylings of unfiction’s Sean C. Stacey, the politically-charged folk songs of Giant Mice’s Brooke Thompson, and the gospel hip hop of M.C. Jonathan Waite of ARGNet. Subscribe to the ARGNet feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

Game News and Topics of Discussion

No response from Mind Candy regarding Perplex City yet, but the Sentinel is back up and us Earthlings are being looked down upon. Oh, those Perplexians.
AV wraps up, and the Puppetmaster comes out of hiding.
konamouse of the unfiction forums helps out the Three Blind Mice as they try to make sense of the Puzzle of the Week, Sammeeeees’s “Free the Five”.
Ny Takma introduces a new character. Trust him at your own risk.
Ocular Effect — is it rising from a Near Death Experience?
Cassie is Watching, Cathy’s Book, and Edoc Laundry chug-chug-chug along.
Hallow’s End launches just in time for Halloween, but we need more information, and you need to send it to us. Yes, you.
Studio Cypher will release another ARG soon, see descry.us for more details.

Chat tonight with John Little, puppetmaster for Waiting for AV

October 31, 2006 / Brooke Thompson

Waiting for AV came to a frustrating end last night, leaving players wondering just what had happened and if their efforts to complete the game’s ritual were successful. This morning, players woke to learn that while they did manage to complete the final ritual, doing so resulted in the death of Shamash, a player-turned-character.

Not without criticism after starting with graphic imagery and then struggling to adapt to the players, the game generated a small, tight-knit group of players who waited patiently through moments in a game that seemed as if it might end at any moment. While the end-game didn’t bust the climactic scale, the players report that they enjoyed the time that they spent together and are pleased to see such a small independent effort come to a successful conclusion.

John Little, puppetmaster of the effort, has updated the Altus Veritas website with a thank you to his players, and will be participating in a Puppetmaster Chat this evening at 9pm EDT/8pm CDT in #av on irc.chat-solutions.org.

Find out more information at Altus Veritas and the unforums. For those that would like to participate in the chat, you can use the ARGNet chat applet or connect through your favorite IRC client.

ARG Netcast, Episode 2

October 29, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

Episode 2 of the ARG Netcast features Sean C. Stacey of unfiction, Brooke Thompson of Giant Mice and Jonathan Waite of ARGNet. You can now find the netcast on iTunes, by the way — search for ARGNet and subscribe!

Game News and Topics of Discussion

As we reported earlier this week, Perplex City gets more VC funding. Also, is the ARG portion of Season One over? As well, will a new writer (Mathilde Madden) bring a different view point to the Mind Candy team?
AV and Cassie Is Watching move forward with new content. How can players of CiW keep track of what is and what isn’t in-game?
Win a copy of Cathy’s Book! Listen to the netcast to find out how!
Konamouse at the unforums pitches in with a helpful Story So Far thread related to Sammeeees.
The 4400 fan-created ARG goes thud, according to the puppetmaster. Why do games go under, sometimes needlessly?

New Venture Capital For Perplex City, and the “Earth Link Locked Down”

October 27, 2006 / Brooke Thompson

Mind Candy, the team behind Perplex City, has announced that they have secured an additional $7 million in funding from Accel Partners, Index Ventures, and NewMedia Spark. The funding shows confidence in the growing company and their ability to build and develop new forms of entertainment such as Alternate Reality Games and comes in advance of a major expansion in 2007.

The announcement brings with it great news for all of us involved in that seemingly never-ending hunt for the missing cube. No, the link between Earth and Perplex City is still locked down, Earlywine is still the Council Leader, and the Cube has not yet been found — this news is even more exciting. There is more Perplex City on the way! It is official. The second season of the popular game will be driving us mad sometime in early 2007. They also promise that there are loads of new Perplex City products in development including books, video games, and mobile content.

The UK-based company is also expanding beyond Perplex City and is currently working on a new puzzle brand that will be aimed at a younger demographic. With the creativity and level of depth shown with the universe surrounding Perplex City, we can only assume that children everywhere will have their imaginations ignited and their minds broadened â€“ much to the alarmed delight of their parents and teachers.

Congrats go out to the team! We canâ€™t wait to see what you have in store. Oh, and FYI, faithful readers — we have an inside track into why the story is where it currently is, and perhaps some preview secrets into Season Two, so we’re hoping to get some exclusive information out sooner than later. As always, stay tuned!

Live Games Network To Launch “The Prague Files”

October 24, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

Live Games Network, which we were pointed to thanks to a tip from c|net’s Daniel Terdiman, is a recently-founded company that “produces and directs games that let players live a fictional adventure for set period of time,” according to their web site. Their first campaign, titled The Prague Files, is set to launch on December 4th of this year, and will last for fourteen days. It looks like it will be a mysterious spy-themed game, based on the video preview you can find on the LGN site, and will require “a cell phone, an email address and web access” to play. There is a contest element, promising prizes such as XBox 360 and PSP game packs, as well as a one week trip to Prague for the winner and a friend, but the contest is limited to U.S. residents (except Maryland, Vermont and New Jersey). Oh, and it’s subscription based — according to the rules of the game, “once you have paid the subscription fee, there will be no refunds for any reason, including, but not limited to, lack of participation in the Contest.”

So, why do we care? Well, if this delivers what it appears to promise, this may be the type of interactive experience many of you might enjoy. If it has a story arc, coupled with interactive features and puzzles, in a real-time environment, then that might mean it’s an ARG, even though the site doesn’t refer to the game as such. The Training link on the page refers to a game, DeltaOneZero, which was concluded in December of 2003, that was described as “one of Australia’s first cross-media, web based gaming experiences.” However, with the subscription model (which requires a credit card for payment, incidentally) intact, will it reach as large an audience as it could without the pay-to-play aspect? And will a worldwide audience embrace a contest that can only be won by an American participant which is being put on by a relatively unknown upstart company? I guess we’ll find out in 41 days.