ARG: Acheron-New

Phillip Vector is a hoax - see Interaction section for more

TheCreator@forums.unfiction.com — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 16:14:23 +0000

moved to interaction it is in game....

Time to archive?

addlepated@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 20:36:49 +0000

Mods, is it time to archive?

Explaining Myself

MageSteff@forums.unfiction.com — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 17:28:35 +0000

THEY CALL ME PASTABAGEL

I think I have to explain myself more clearly. My complaint about Acheron is not that PM or BTS people were posting in the forum, but that they were doing so in such as way as to guage when the "community" solved a puzzle and was ready to move on to the next one. The problem with this is that you had to follow the forums in order to play the game.

What I mean is that Acheron was unplayable if you didn't read the forums. There were too many insiders driving the pace at which community solved the puzzles, and participated in chats and emails, that I could not solve the puzzles on my own. Something would happen to change the game, like a new IRC chat that I didn't know about etc.

I guess my complaint is that Acheron was too community based an interpersonal, whereas the matrix game (and the Beast) were not. Those you could play by yourself. Acheron is like a MMORPG without the graphics. That's great if you like that kind of thing, but it's not, in my estimation what and ARG is supposed to be.

THEY CALL ME PASTABAGEL BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT

LIMERICK CONTEST WINNERS

alogicnamedjoe@forums.unfiction.com — Tue, 24 Feb 2004 17:53:43 +0000

Stepping in to help out in his accustomed style, Bill, who is the 2001 season Tom Brady* of Acheron, helped me pick these winners :

THIRD PLACE
grumpyboy for

romiles was the name of the man
who at UF did not have fans
when he came to IRC to play
grampyboy liked to say
"W-H-A-T-ever dude! Talk to the hand!" O_o_/

SECOND PLACE
lurker for
my pick:
there was a young lady named lurker
who once was a diligent worker
‘til she found meg and jake
and the tail eating snake
now her office would like to transfer her…

bill's pick:
there once was a fellow named jake
who with meg, a giant baby did make
on this happy event
send them a present
perhaps garlic, a cross or a stake

FIRST PLACE
alogicnamedjoe **

my pick:

Help Me Grumpyboy, You’re My Only Hope:* A Limerick

*please feel free to read a very subtle homage to Carrie Fisher into this title

The message from Stanford was well scripted:
NRU transcript needed with all courses listed.
But, thanks to Reggie and Jake
And that lawyer named Lake
The damn thing arrived all encrypted.

bill's pick

A plaintive plea to Craig Becker and all those fine people at HCRD:

The idea was both frightening and sublime:
Subvert physics to prevent historical crime.
But, before reality starts to unravel,
To Super Bowl XXXVIII you must travel
And poke out my eyes at halftime!

(maybe this one should be called "Janet & Justin: Could You Decide?")

PRIZES: Everyone should PM me here the address to mail stuff or, even better, join the chat in #unfiction so we can all talk to you.

NRU merchandise is here:
http://www.cafeshops.com/NRU_Book_Store

and acheron merchandise (sorry LC, i forgot this stuff during the haiku contest) is here:
http://www.cafeshops.com/acherononline

____

* for the non sportsball fan of which we have a few: in 2001 Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots stepped into the role of starting quaterback after injury sidelined the original starter Drew Bledsoe. Brady, a second year player, went on to lead his team to the 2001 superbowl championship.

** special note to alogicnamedjoe: just noticed you live in Vancouver, home of the 2004 Argfest, may we count on your attending some, if not all, of the festivities?

Game of Life Puzzle resurrected

bill@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 23 Feb 2004 05:33:50 +0000

Didn't see this posted yet anywhere from the chat...

The Game of Life puzzle is back up in reggie's blog for us to solve.

http://hexeditor.blogspot.com/

BUMPED: PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN

Flynn@forums.unfiction.com — Sat, 21 Feb 2004 16:40:54 +0000

THEY CALL ME PASTABAGEL

Well, well, well, look who we have here. I was all but certain Magesteff was a PM, but not addlepated or the others. That's why I stopped playing - too much community manipulation. What tipped me off?

Magesteff's personal page (linked to off the profile for her login). It identifies her as maintaining the FAQ for alt.sleep.disorders. And what befell the characters in the game? They couldn't sleep. That's why I asked meg in my email to her whether jake had trouble sleeping. It's seemed to be at once a really big deal (they kept mentioning it) but never really led to a clue.

It was a fun game though, and I can't imagine how much prep and work went into it. You should all be very proud.

And now, what you've all been waiting for.

The Ultimate Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Have you ever noticed how homemade cookies get hard just a day or two after you bake them?

:idea: Here's a tip from the PastaBagel Kitchen:

Put a slice of ordinary bread into the jar or tin with the cookies. You'll find that the moisture in the bread fills the jar, keeping your cookies tasting fresh. When the bread gets dry, just replace it!

Now all your friends will just rave over your cookies!! (But your secret's safe with us!! ))

COOKING TIPS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE PASTABAGEL HEAVY MANUFACTURING & MINING CORPORATION AND ITS WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARIES TICKLE BUNNY! THE BUNNY WHO LOVES TO GIGGLE AND BANG-SEXXXO PORN TRAFFICKING CO. LTD.

DISCLAIMER: PASTABAGEL BEARS NO LIABILITY OR ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ANY FOOD POISONING, INFECTION, REACTION, INFESTATION, INVASION, OCCUPATION, COLONIZATION, INCARCERATION, PROBATION, REPROBATION, DEPRESSION, DISEASE, MALAISE, ENNUI, AUDIT, OR CHANGE IN MOOD OR PANTS ARISING FROM ANY USE, ABUSE, MISUSE, GOOSE, CHARTREUSE OR REFUSE RELATING TO THE AFOREMENTIONED PRODUCT, SERVICE, OR OPINION. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. SHARE AND ENJOY.

So, what game should we play next? Spin the bottle?

THEY CALL ME PASTABAGEL

Acheron PM chat transcript

Varin@forums.unfiction.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2004 18:09:13 +0000

Here's the very long transcript from the final Acheron PM chat this evening. Once again, thank you to everyone who made this possible. I'm sad it's over but happy it happened!

Acheron credits

MageSteff@forums.unfiction.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2004 17:21:51 +0000

http://www.acheron.us/aboutus.htm

/me de-pantses the PMs and gives noogies to BTSs

Good work guys.

Acheron PM Chat - (what questions do you have?)

Slyfox@forums.unfiction.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:44:10 +0000

hey all.

We've had a number of requests to do a postgame PM chat.

We're tentatively scheduling it for this Thursday (2/19) at 10:30 PM Eastern in #acheron on Chat-Sol.

See you there.

EPILOGUE

Flynn@forums.unfiction.com — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 21:02:50 +0000

A change to the page at http://www.inanimatereason.com/caretaker/index.html

Wow!!

If 'tis done... (A review from the peanut gallery)

bagsbee@forums.unfiction.com — Wed, 18 Feb 2004 19:12:52 +0000

First of all, let me just say that I still hold out hope that we'll hear from Harker/CT and that Becker will respond to Magesteff 's email offer to catch and disarm Jake.

But if not, and the game has ended...

Well, some background first. I was mostly a lurker, pretty much a nonentity in the Acheron community. :) I followed the plot and puzzles carefully, attended a few chats, and made a couple of speculative guesses and research posts now and then, most of which were ignored -- and no, I'm not complaining, 'cause they were probably very ignorable! :D (Although, despite my general uselessness as a player, I take a little pride in the fact that I'm on record as not trusting Jake/SHIFT as early as our very first chat with him, LOL.)

The first time I ever got "involved" in an actual group activity (albeit in a minor minor way) was, by pure serendipity, last night ... when, as if compelled by forces unknown, I wandered into chat yesterday in time for the final puzzle wrap-up, the fateful decision to send CT back, and the timeline shift to a universe where callousness, greed and a dude with a rather creepy God-complex prevailed.

All this is a preface to my following "FWIW" comment: in my own humble position as an audience member/sometime participant, I really really enjoyed this ARG !!!!

From the pre-game, which was clever and appropriately intriguing, to the launch and early segments in which we met poor screwed-up Reggie, lonely Meghan, and the enigmatic Caretaker; from the frustration of "play chess with Turk" to the helplessness of watching Reggie get bullied by the "gray people" to the sudden reappearance of Jake; from uncovering the truth about SPECTRUM to the birth of the DevilBaby ... acheron was a wild ride.

Was it a successful one? For me, at least, the answer is "absolutely!" The premise and storyline offered many intellectual concepts and moral dilemmas to contemplate. The puzzles were varied, hard, and IMHO well-integrated with the plot (i.e., not just games-for-games' sake).

The "architecture" of the fictional universe -- the unique websites, documents, phone contacts, images, programs, packages, near-misses at ARGfest -- aptly fulfilled the "immersive" promise of immersive gaming. I mean, geeze, think about all those phone numbers and domains the PMs created! Not to mention all the stuff (press releases, emails and messages/notes written for New River U, CoyoteDispatch, HCRD, Neotech and Becker's desktop) that wasn't even plot related, instead added to the game merely for "atmospheric" purposes to create a realistic universe! My mind boggles at the ingenuity and perspiration that went into these careful, detailed "extras." They may not have gone directly towards unravelling the plot, but these nuances brought the people and places in Catalina, Arizona to life.

Finally, perhaps most importantly in an ongoing drama, the characters' personalities and plights were altogether believable, captivating and emotionally gripping. The fact that some players are down-hearted and outright depressed by the ending is understandable. We placed our trust in the wrong man, and by so doing we may have sent Harker to oblivion, led Reggie to an early grave, failed to prevent Meg's suicide, and -- good grief! -- perhaps enabled the birth of the Unholy Beast who'll reign over us as the Last Days engulf the world in hellfire!

That's an awful heavy responsibility placed on the shoulders of a bunch of folks who just wanted to help out a missing guy & his wife!

But it's a measure of the PMs' skill and success that many so closely sympathized and connected with Reggie/John, Meg, and Harker. It says a lot about the players that we were able to care. But it says even more about the PMs' talent at building characters, imbuing them with individual personalities and "voices," and -- even harder -- sustaining them not just in static emails and blog entries, but within live chats and IMs. As a writer I'm incredibly impressed with the effort and adroitness they've displayed, not to mention awed by their improvisational skills.

So ... for putting everything together -- the drama, technology, cryptography, originality, historical research, psychology, and much much more -- and creating a fun, frustrating, scary, sobering and emotionally satisfying experience I'll remember for a very long time, I offer the PMs of Acheron my most vociferous praise and sincere gratitude. I hope you guys take a bow in public! And please please give us a post-mortem chat! :)

And for being incredibly adroit at discovering, uncovering, researching, decoding, hacking, calculating, decrypting, and interacting with both the characters and each other ... I applaud the Acheron players themselves, folks like Steff and Rose and Addlepated and konamouse and Lazarus_Long and so many more whom I've watched in sheer awe. You are all amazingly smart, creative, daring and funny.

Sure, we all basically caused the hastening of Armageddon. But hey, it was a crapshoot. Better luck next time! :D

But I still wanna know what happened to Harker, what the Game of Life puzzle was all about, who the hell was Seraphim, whether Meg was successful in killing the little hellspawn, the identity of that injured chick who looked just like konamouse , the purpose of the badges some players received, and whether Jake actually went so far as to murder Reggie/John.

-- Kira (choie)

Final email to CT

rosebud@forums.unfiction.com — Mon, 16 Feb 2004 14:25:18 +0000

I sent this Saturday or Sunday - given the interest in my flirtation with CT, which I think evolved in to a trusting companionship in which he felt safe talking to enaxor and me about reality, philosophy and fear - I post this for general interest. What he thinks about our relationship, you'll have to ask him. :D

hey. thanks for being there for us, for me and my
friends, and for our last, long conversation. i needed
that. you warned me to be prepared for anything,
sometimes that's not so easy. i don't know why this
Dire Straits song reminds me of you, but it does,

"Just the way that her hair fell down around her face
And I recall my fall from grace
Another time another place"

Your true friend,
Rose

OT : how do I really feel? (do I sound a little bitter?)

Myssfitz@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 15:06:42 +0000

One last quote for the road (it's Bob Dylan):

I'm walkin' down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where I'm bound, I can't tell
But goodbye's too good a word, gal
So I'll just say fare thee well
I ain't sayin' you treated me unkind
You could have done better but I don't mind
You just kinda wasted my precious time
But don't think twice, it's all right

It's been fun guys.
:)

Giving due credit and thanks

MageSteff@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 04:37:10 +0000

::wry smile::

I admit I am not competely satisfied with the choices we made at the end...

However, The PM's and people behind the scenes deserve a LOT of credit for persevering in the face of real life obstacles, and bringing Acheron to a conclusion and not letting it implode on itself as it threatened to do a few times.

Thank you guys, you have my admiration and respect for that.

Very Silly Spec about Baby Billy Bob

aiesha_anonymous@forums.unfiction.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2004 01:55:10 +0000

Okay, so something (other than that creepy picture!) is troubling me a bit about Jake & Meg's ummm bouncing baby boy, and I feel like 'bouncing' some weird spec off you all. I tend to be wrong in most guesses so take this with a big container of Morton's Salt. :)

Here goes. I think we all agree that the kid looks like a cross between Eddie Munster and Rosemary's eponymous Baby, right? But isn't it a little unusual that neither Jake nor Meg seems all that worried -- or even fazed -- about having a DevilBaby?

Sure, according to Meg's blog, she observes that the baby "roars" and has "long fingers," and looks around in a disconcerting way. But she doesn't sound particularly concerned by all this, much less even weirder things such as his black/red eyes and pointy ears! I mean dang, she seems more upset about the lack of email companionship than her apparently having given birth to Satan's Spawn.

And then there's Mr. Starkey. Jake proudly puts the baby's photo up on his blog without so much as a slight reference to its unusual features. Huh?

Even Caretaker, in his recent chat, takes little interest in DevilBaby when one of us directly mentions the kid's odd appearance. In the log, enaxor says something like, "we've seen that weird-looking baby," and all CT says is basically a casual "yes, I saw the blog posting" before moving to a different subject.

That's it ? Not "I saw the picture too, and I find his obvious deformities disturbing"? Not "Yes, I saw it, and I don't quite know what to make of this occurance"? Not even "Oy, tell me about it dude, that's one scary looking freak"??

I don't get it. And like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous non-barking dog, it's the very absence of these expected reactions that seems (to me, at least) unsettling, if not an outright clue. I admit it could just be a writing flaw by the PMs, but ... maybe not. Maybe not.

So I guess my utterly bizarre and probably easily-debunked speculation is this: Is there any possibility that in this timeline/universe, DevilBabies are normal? For that matter, is EVERYONE a bit ... devilish, shall we say?

For example: why is Meg giving birth already when she only just found out she was pregnant a couple of months ago? There was speculation here to the effect of, "apparently she's been pregnant for longer than OldMeg from the other timeline," but I don't see how that could be, since Jake had been in a coma almost a year even in this timeline, right? <-- (I'm probably completely wrong about this, in which case trout me.) Which I guess is probable, but ... what if here in this universe/timeline, gestation for DevilBabies is normally short?

This is all off the top of my head, and you guys probably already mentioned it in IRC. Since I almost never get to chats I always miss the good stuff! :D Anyway, it's just that as a writer, I pay a lot of attention to characterization in ARGs, and throughout Acheron I've been impressed with how carefully each character's personality and behavior have been developed.

But Meg and Jake (and to a lesser extent CT) seem "off" here. Their reactions are awfully calm, even disinterested, for a bunch of seemingly normal people dealing with a disturbing, monumental event (i.e., having your much-anticipated firstborn child turn out to be ... well, a hideous and scary freak).

Sorry for babbling ... :)