Last Saturday, Perplex City took to the streets in a real-world event that involved both a ground team and an online team. Starting with a trail on an in-game site, players had to coordinate efforts to track the Third Power and obtain a highly valuable keyword. However, after collecting all of the puzzles and meeting back at a central location, players discovered that there was a mole within their group. To top it all off, the mole made a daring escape via helicopter (yes, HELICOPTER) and players were left with what must have been one of the most exciting ARG experiences in their lives. Matthew Turnbull, an active participant on the ground team, gave us permission to reprint his account of the day’s events:
Tag: live event (Page 6 of 8)
This past weekend, Last Call Poker hit Washington D.C. with a live game of Tombstone Hold ‘Em. A crowd of 25 took part at the event, which included a poker tournament and a small favor for Lucky Brown, creator of Last Call Poker.
The games took place at Historic Congressional Cemetery near RFK Stadium in D.C. where participants were greeted by a pointy, fuzzy-headed girl acting as the liaison for Lucky and drizzly rain. There, they were given chips for the tournament, instructions for tournament play, and the opportunity to peruse the historical section of the cemetery to be used during the game. Players met at the chapel in the center and were introduced to the cemetery and its history by the Chairman of the Board. Among the more flavorful members of the cemetery are John Phillip Sousa, J. Edgar Hoover, and some early members of Congress. Following the introduction, the tournament began and “tables†of 4 to 5 pairings were sent off to duke it out in Hold ‘Em. Winners of the tournament include UnFiction members LouMac, Cortana, and Rowan.
The sequel to Project Gateway is up and running, with a very slick design and some interesting real-world interaction thus far. Atrophied, a member of UnFiction’s forums, gave us a quick reference to all that has happened so far:
Clues from emails led players to a dead-drop at Providence College in Rhode Island on the 24th of September. The dead-drop gleaned a leaflet and CD containing an archive of the original PG1 website (including flash movies, audio files, etc.).
The next big event was an email from [email protected]:
Quote:
I think… I think it is time we talked.
Come to #historyneverdies on irc.chat-solutions.org. I know you know how to get there.
Sunday night. 8:00 PM EST.
If I were you, I’d start formulating good questions. I will only answer certain ones.
-The Historian
Sunday refers to Sunday, September 25th. A transcript is available at unfiction.
This chat then lead players to another real-world meeting, this time with an author at a book signing at the Colonial Mall in Harrisburg, PA. The author was Stephen Pytak (mentioned a couple of other times up to this point in the game). He gave us a letter from Shadown to Rowen Darkblade (both of PG1 fame).
Thanks Atrophied, it sounds like things are going well. I can see from the forum discussions that many players are enjoying this game thoroughly.
ARGN recently recently broke a story regarding the emergence of the trailhead for Falling In Time. Apparently, this was not only a new game, but the second coming of one of the first group of widely played g-roots games, entitled Project Gateway. While allusions to the past game and its characters have already been made through various sites hidden within the trailhead, it remains to be seen whether or not the game will pick up where the first game left off, or whether the game will only use the first game as a remnant spark to an entirely new fire. While the trail is just heating up, there is an expected real-life encounter to take place at Providence College, in Rhode Island, this Saturday (September 24). Regardless of what turns up, this game looks promising, and you can count on ARGN to keep you up to date as the game unfolds.
As reported Thursday, two seperate real world events occured this weekend within the ARG The Art Of The Heist. However, in an interesting turn of events, only one retrieval mission was a success. Players of the game were ecstactic as the New York interaction with DJ Will Star went off without a hitch, and shocked as the mission at the Coachella Music Festival was a complete bust.
Community members bagsbee and rose were front and center at The Scratch DJ Academy on Friday night to meet with Will Star, who teaches at the academy. The package was received and, once opened, another valuable SD card was available for the players to look over.
Yesterday’s real world event in Atlanta, part of the Art of the Heist ARG, turned out to be an adventure of sorts, as three ARG community members played crucial roles in the story and provided more drama and intrigue in the game that continues to blur the lines between reality and Alternate Reality.
The three ‘retrievers’ who play on the Unfiction forums (Valkyros, Meghan, and j5) met with in-game character Nisha at a restaurant early in the day, where they were given a mission: obtain an SD card from the inside of an Audi parked at a nearby dealership. The three players devised a plan:
Excerpt from Valkyros’ account of what happened:
The plan was straightforward, I was to proceed first to eyeball the site and provide security overwatch. Meghan was then to saunter in and corner the salesman posted near the A3. Nisha suggested that Meghan steer him to the $129,000 A8 parked in the northernmost corner of the show room. Once this was accomplished, J5 would enter showroom and get in the relatively untended A3. From there he would rifle the car and hopefully locate the SD card.
The actual retrieval process by j5 was like something from a James Bond movie, while online players watched the scene via webcam:
Excerpt from j5’s account of what happened:
I did a once around and entered the driver’s side door. Once in, I immediately started looking in the obvious places. I opened the armrest, found an accordion panel and slid it open, “nothing†I felt around the steering wheel “check under the floor mats†Nisha suggests in my earpiece. Right about the time I start lifting floor mats, a tall man in a white dealership shirt approached and introduced himself, holding out his arm at full length to shove his hand into the window of the car. I took him to be the GM of the store based on his presence, so I shook his hand and introduced myself. He asked If I had any questions or needed help with anything or if I was interested in a brochure. “As a matter of fact, a brochure would be great, can you locate one for me?†Once he was gone, the search began again in earnest; I was sliding seats all the way back in their tracks, removing ashtrays, pulling off panels. Nisha continued offering suggestions and asking where I had looked.
The mission was a success, as J5 found and retrieved the SD card and then met up with Nisha and the other players at their rendezvous point.
With the high profile theft of an Audi A3 from a car show, and this intense mission, this game has quickly become one of the most impressive games in ARG history. We can only hope that Art of the Heist continues to blow our minds as the story unfolds.
Trailhead
Discussion at Unfiction
Trail
Chat in #heist
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