[surfzoned]

DjinnTradingCompany

[Sylvia]

pipakin wrote:

I've been going over other possibilities with the extra P, but it may just stand for the "Picador" on the title page as Sylvia pointed out back on page 1.

When I did my first search for the book there was another version by a different publisher. I can't seem to repeat that search, though. But the second P, imo, meant "Picador," the Publisher, to make sure we used the correct version. But you know how these puzzles go, it could mean something entirely different. The hardcover edition has a different publisher but if the first p means paperback and there is no other paperback edition with a different publisher then we would not have needed the second P. So, who knows.

As for the ARG thing, maybe we could give ourselves a witty little title. For example:

• Amazing Reckoning Gang or Group
  
• Abstruse Resolvers Gang or Group
  
• Amazing unRavelers Gang or Group
  
• etc.
  

Motto:
"No mystery is to big for the AR Gang/Group. We can reckon, resolve and unravel any perplexing situation you find yourself in. When your mystery calls for the best then call on the experts, the AR Gang/Group. This Is Not A Gimmick. There Is Now A Grand Solution."

Probably not practical, but sounds good. It would be easier for PM's to contact a mystery solving group without referring to us as game players.

Oh well, consider me Sylvia, official member and founder of the AR Gang.

[mortality]

Quote:

also note that djinn productions (mentioned on the whitechapel site) is the production company behind autumn county.

Djinn/AC: It's unclear how much they're going to continue blurring the line between the real Djinn Productions and the in-game Whitechapel Foundation. A Calvin appears in the Autumn Country stories. And he's on the WCF board, plus he's the name used to register the WCF domain and the Djinn Trading Company domain. I think that marks those as clearly in-game.

Djinn Productions is registered by Jack Valle, an employee of the real world company. Jack Valle also registered Djinn Productions other website, Visual Fiction. That's the delineation between IG/OOG, right now, as far as I can tell.

Has anyone tried the phone number for Djinn Trading Company? ...yellowpages says it's the actual number for the men's apparel store.

Gameplay Meta: I don't presume to make the choice for anyone else, but I would rather not play this one as myself. Looks like we have the freedom to figure this out for ourselves. Maybe we just keep each other informed about our decision?

[wkelly42]

re: Gameplay meta --

I try to play all the ARGs I'm involved in as closely to RL as possible (an exception was OpDyla, when I tried to play a secretive, slightly arrogant 'problem solver', and was told my help was Unwanted when I registered. Learned my lesson there). Especially in this case, since we've been recruited because we play games, I think that's appropriate. I always like more TINAG in my games.

[konamouse]

The characters came to you knowing you are ARG players. Makes it really easy to "be yourselfs" in this ARG. A very plausible reason for the characters to contact "strangers" with their problems (which can be tricky in other games - why would a complete stranger send you an email about helping him/her with a mystery or a missing person, etc).

Nothing wrong with continuing that premise (of being ARG players).

[pipakin]

mortality wrote:

There's a whole segment to the Autumn Country stories titled "Djinn." Could have been part of that. Autumn Country extends back to 2002, so some things could be re-purposed.

also note that djinn productions (mentioned on the whitechapel site) is the production company behind autumn county.

[mortality]

There's a whole segment to the Autumn Country stories titled "Djinn." Could have been part of that. Autumn Country extends back to 2002, so some things could be re-purposed.

[Rogi Ocnorb]

The street address and phone number cross reference to a men's clothing store. But, in Syracuse and not Albany.

Quote:

Christopher's Men's Store Learbery Centre, 401 N. Salina St. Syracuse, NY 13203 315-422-2267

It probably wouldn't be a good idea to send anyone there, as all their assets were auctioned off on November 16th.

Maybe someone now has the time to do that ARG they've been planning for almost 3 years.

[mortality]

Autumn Country Meta/Spec: I don't think Autumn Country is a red herring. I think we can be fairly certain this game takes place in the Autumn Country framework. Whether it's directly related to any particular Autumn Country events is another matter.

Gameplay Meta: Given your input I'll continue to be a PI with an ARG habit. That explains certain talents we have and leaves room for us to choose how we interact with WCF. It also let's us be creative when explaining how we all know each other, whether it's just from games or from investigations.

My reply to Ethan

Quote:

Dear Ethan, Maybe it was a good call. You could say I'm an investigator with an ARG habit. You'd think that chasing down leads during my day job would turn me off doing the same in my free time, but I enjoy the thrill of discovery from solving the unsolvable. Some of the people who are looking at this I know through work, some through the hobby. I am always astonished at how useful the skills from the hobby are in real life. Some of the gamers are truly remarkable, equal to any of the pros I encounter. You wonder why they aren't agents for some clandestine government service. I wonder what Christopher and Djinn had to say about me. As for the puzzle, I'll field your questions in reverse. The people who run the games are called puzzle masters. They take great pleasure in blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. There's a reason it's called "Alternate Reality Gaming." So yes, some of them do "throw this stuff out into the real world just to see what happens." It's so common that even TV shows, video games, beer companies and even perfumers have created puzzles. So, this note could be a game. Could be real. You can never tell without following the clues. And yes, the clues can be remarkably complex. Some puzzle masters love torturing players with absurd ciphers, anagrams, and even exotic languages. Puts your typical ransom note to shame. I'm glad you appreciate our insight. I hope it can produce some results for you. Best wishes, Mort Kuolevaisuus Freelance Investigator

[cyberus]

pipakin wrote:

interesting. http://djinntradingcompany.com leads to a page under construction that points to another page (which doesn't respond for me), http://www.mujionline.com/default.html The interesting part is that seems awfully close to http://www.djinnproductions.com/ did we get a peek behind the curtain here?

In the original email, Patel mentions an associate at Djinn productions pointed them this way to seek help with the letter. It may just be 2 webmaster buddies linking to each others' pages.

[pipakin]

interesting. http://djinntradingcompany.com leads to a page under construction that points to another page (which doesn't respond for me), http://www.mujionline.com/default.html

The interesting part is that seems awfully close to http://www.djinnproductions.com/

did we get a peek behind the curtain here?

[noam]

For what it's worth, the whois information for whitechapelfoundation.com differs from whitechapelfoundation.org. On 09 Sept 2007, there is a news post on their website saying how they switched. Here is the information for whitechapelfoundation.com:

Code:

domain:                          WhitechapelFoundation.com created:                         27-Jan-2005 last-changed:                    11-Jul-2007 registration-expiration:         27-Jan-2008 nserver:                         ns29.1and1.com 74.208.2.4 nserver:                         ns30.1and1.com 74.208.3.4 registrant-firstname:            Calvin registrant-lastname:             Michaels registrant-organization:         The Whitechapel Foundation registrant-street1:              401 North Salina Street registrant-pcode:                13203 registrant-state:                NY registrant-city:                 Albany registrant-ccode:                US registrant-phone:                +31.54222267 registrant-email:                calvinSPLATdjinntradingcompany.com admin-c-firstname:               Calvin admin-c-lastname:                Michaels admin-c-organization:            The Whitechapel Foundation admin-c-street1:                 401 North Salina Street admin-c-pcode:                   13203 admin-c-state:                   NY admin-c-city:                    Albany admin-c-ccode:                   US admin-c-phone:                   +31.54222267 admin-c-email:                   calvin@djinntradingcompany.com tech-c-firstname:                Calvin tech-c-lastname:                 Michaels tech-c-organization:             The Whitechapel Foundation tech-c-street1:                  401 North Salina Street tech-c-pcode:                    13203 tech-c-state:                    NY tech-c-city:                     Albany tech-c-ccode:                    US tech-c-phone:                    +31.54222267 tech-c-email:                    calvinSPLATdjinntradingcompany.com bill-c-firstname:                Calvin bill-c-lastname:                 Michaels bill-c-organization:             The Whitechapel Foundation bill-c-street1:                  401 North Salina Street bill-c-pcode:                    13203 bill-c-state:                    NY bill-c-city:                     Albany bill-c-ccode:                    US bill-c-phone:                    +31.54222267 bill-c-email:                    calvinSPLATdjinntradingcompany.com

It seems that 401 North Salina Street does not exist.

[pipakin]

I think, now that I look more into it, that AC is a red herring of sorts. I've been going over other possibilities with the extra P, but it may just stand for the "Picador" on the title page as Sylvia pointed out back on page 1.

Another interesting thing to note on that entry is it is missing the space between the ":" and "JG"

[cyberus]

Re: =)

[petunia]

Welcome to the madness, pipakin

From what I can tell, Autumn Country is a sort of interactive story that has been going on for quite a while. I don't think it's been updated recently, but I may be wrong.

mortality, I was wondering about that second P too. Maybe we're supposed to do something different with the Janissary Tree reference.

Ethan knows we play ARGs, and I'm strangely okay with this skirting so close to the curtain... so far. This could get very interesting. Anyway, he doesn't know what any of us do in RL, so if you want to act like a PI with an ARG hobby, I say go for it. Me, I think I'll just be an ARGer and see how far they go with TINAG, trying to pull us into their "real" world. ^^

As to Ethan's question, I don't really see a PM leaving a note like that at an actual paranormal-investigation agency. But I don't know anything about PMing, so... yeah.