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ARGN’s First Anniversary

June 10, 2003 / Steve Peters

A year ago this month, the ARGN site was launched. What started as a makeshift forum to cover when Yahoo Groups went down has become the premiere network of independent Alternate Reality Gaming sites. Combined with affiliates Unfiction, Cloudmakers, DeadDrop, ARG Planet and Martha’s Boarding House, ARGN sites have a combined membership of almost 10,000 people from around the globe!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already. After beginning by providing player forums for Search4E, ARGN’s forums went on to grow and survive a shill controversy, huge traffic from being featured on the Push Nevada site, and even a Denial of Service attack (we must be doing something right!). Since June of 2002, ARGN has received over 22 million hits.

Over the last year, ARGN has hosted PM chats, interviewed folks behind the gaming scenes, and has been featured in numerous publications, such as the New York Times and Slashdot.

So it’s been quite a busy year, thanks to all of you. And the best is yet to come! We have some very cool things planned for this next year, things you definitely won’t want to miss, so stay tuned!

Thanks a lot, everyone! Here’s to another great year

Something Strange in Smallville?

May 21, 2003 / Steve Peters

We’ve been hearing persistent rumors of something going on over at the official Smallville television series site. We got this tip from an alert ARGN reader (who is also a former Cloudmaker):

Regardless of whether or not you follow the show, you can find clues to the game on this page in the Smallville Ledger. There, the text all but explains it’s a game. Other material includes the Chloe Chronicles, web content of one of the show’s characters investigating some mystery. These videos are available on the WB’s website. InÂ those videos, there’s a common thread which may link up all of these to a game much like the Beast.

We’re still undecided about this, but it seems to be definitely worth checking out.

Website:Smallville Ledger
Discussion: Unfiction’s News and Rumors Forum

Acheron Pre-Game PM Chat on May 28th

May 20, 2003 / Steve Peters

The folks behind the upcoming ARG Acheron (www.acheron.us) have announced a PM chat to talk about their upcoming game, scheduled to launch this summer. Acheron PM William Walrath will be in attendance as a representative to answer any question and give us a preview of what’s in store.

This moderated chat will take place on Wednesday, May 28, 2003 at 9:00 pm EDT / 6:00 pm PDT in #acheron on irc.chat-solutions.org. For browser-based access, java IRC applets can be found at http://www.acheron.us/chat.html or http://www.unfiction.com/chat.

Stop by Acheron for more information, and watch the forums at Unfiction for further details.

She’s a Flight Risk

May 15, 2003 / Steve Peters

An interesting article in Wired on May 7th tells of an interesting blog (aflightrisk) by Isabella V, a supposed heiress on the run from her family. “On March 2, 2003, at 4:12 p.m., I disappeared,” the journal starts. “My name is Isabella V. I’m twenty-something, and I am an international fugitive.”

Discussion as to whether this is all a hoax is approaching a fever pitch. There are many blogs and boards discussing this whole thing, and even Isabella herself has posted in various places outside of her blog to plead her case.Â Most of the current speculation and discussion can be found in the comments at the flightrisk blog, and at The Agonist.

So, is flightrisk an ARG? A Hoax? A viral marketing campaign for a novel? It is interesting that the Wired article mentions The Beast, so it really makes one wonder. ARG or not, Isabella seems to be screaming “This is not a game!”

Blog 1: aflightrisk.blogspot.com
Blog 2: aflightrisk.com
Discussion: Unfiction’s News and Rumors, The Agonist Bulletin Board

Teleport, Anyone?

May 3, 2003 / Steve Peters

The other day, we received a couple very odd emails, along with a subsequent package in the mail. The contents of the package and the corresponding website have become a somewhat serious obsession around here, as we just don’t know what to make of what we’ve found.

The email simply said “TELEPORT is a multidimensional transport system powered by a network of consciousness exploration units, or trips,” and gave a web-address: www.redkore.com. We then received a subsequent email offering to send us one of these ‘trips’ to explore. A few days later, a ‘trip package‘ arrived which consisted of several cards, a plastic holder, something that can best be described as a refrigerator magnet, and a lanyard, but no instructions. Odd, indeed. We have absolutely no clue what this is about or where it’s heading, but it certainly is intriguing. We’ve been playing around with these cards, scrutinizing the patterns to no avail. The only clues we can find are in the meta tags of the Redcore website, which include keywords such as astral projection, teleportation, and (most notably) Alternate Reality Gaming.

Redkore’s site includes forums, some info, and a store where trip packages can be purchased for $19.95. A press release states in part: “…TELEPORT is powered by a network of 18 consciousness exploration units, or trips. Trips work by attuning the intellectual, imaginative and intuitive centers of the user’s consciousness. While each person comes to understand a trip in a unique manner, one of TELEPORT’s most intriguing qualities is that each trip generates an objective portal which is the same for everyone. This means that people can use a particular trip to engage group transports, exploring wild landscapes together even when they might be separated by significant time or distance in the physical world. Of course, TELEPORT works just as well for individuals who like to fly alone.”

Definitely a big WTF? factor here. Who knows where Teleport will lead, but we’ll keep you posted.

Website: www.redkore.com
Discussion: unfiction’s Teleport forum

ARGFest-o-Con Provides Fun, Mystery, and a Name for a Game

April 27, 2003 / Steve Peters

About a dozen denizens of the ARG world converged on Las Vegas this weekend for a semi-casual get together. This was the first time that we know of where players and even producers of various games have done anything like this, and it was great to get to meet people who were only previously known by their online personas.

Attenders expected surprises, and they weren’t disappointed, as they suddenly found themselves in the middle of a new game launch! Upon checking in to their hotels, a few folks were given packages from Stephen Lake, who is a fictional character in the ARG that had been dubbed L³. Players were sent on a scavenger hunt around Las Vegas that included a round of drinks courtesy of Mr. Lake, a search of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and a trip to the Hard Rock Hotel.

Ultimately, they ended up with a package containing a note and about twenty mini-CDs. The clues on the disks led to the discovery of Acheron. Acheron, to which L³ was a apparently teaser, will be launched this summer. Full Story…

The main event of ARGFest-o-Con was a party at a secret location somewhere in Las Vegas. In order to find the place, partyers first needed to meet a “man in a white hat” who would then give them instructions on how to complete a mini-quest, which ended up at the location of the party. One puzzle solve would lead to the next clue, and so on, and the first to reach the destination won a small prize.

The winner of this mini-scavenger hunt, called “Martha’s Mystery Tour” was Unfiction member DanmanD (pictured at right) who received an official ARGN T-Shirt and free dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was,Â incidentally, the secret destination. Not only was DanmanD the youngest person in attendance, but in my book he also gets the Most Dedicated ARG’er Award, and his father Peter gets the Most Dedicated Dad Award, for accompanying his son on the 12-hour bus ride to get to Las Vegas!

Unfiction member Diandra was also presented with an ARGN T-shirt for being the first to complete the online portion of the journey. CabalAgent23, the man behind Chasing the Wish then surprised us all withÂ commemorative CTW shirts, mugs and even frisbees! The evening culminated with a limo ride (courtesy of

Diandra) to the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Congratulations to DanmanD, and thanks to everyone who attended and made ARGFest-o-Con an unqualified success!

A complete walkthrough of Martha’s Mystery tour is posted here.