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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Ephemeral » CF: Studio Cypher
[Trailhead] Studio Cyphers
Moderators: ndemeter, Varin
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Thenre
Veteran

Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 87

 		I thought I had escaped making complicated explanations about time travel and recurring perons to idots after Ideasfest had ended!!! NOOOOO!!!! Kidding...of course. You MIGHT be right...but i think its going to be a government conspiracy deal (erasers being governmental coverrup agents) or something like that. When we're both wrong...just so they can spite everyone with something entirely random...I'm going to hang my head in shame. loma.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 6:02 pm
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Randall Jhen
Greenhorn

Joined: 27 Feb 2006
Posts: 9
Location: St. Helen, MI

 		Massive site update.

Instead of just saying "Join us," the front page now says "enter." I haven't followed that link yet, for there's another one under the text about Hachita, NM, and the Philadelphia Experiment.

Clicking this link...

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
... takes you to http://www.studiocypher.com/cyphers -- with an S. The page explains what the Cyphers are, and it has Join Us, Cases, and Training links.

After you join, the Training link takes you to four separate codes that you need to solve. The first is a rotation cipher, the second a Queen Mary cipher, the third a book cipher, and the fourth a Vigenére cipher. Each solve gives you a little bit of background to the members of the Cyphers.


Answers to the above are as follows:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Rotation cipher: CYPHERS

Queen Mary cipher: CYPHER SECRETS

Book cipher: CHUPACABRA

Vigenére cipher: LANE WOKE IN AN EMPTY HOUSE


PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:00 pm
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Rogi Ocnorb
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 4266
Location: Where the cheese is free.

 		Major let-down.
_________________
I'm telling you now, so you can't say, "Oh, I didn't know...Nobody told me!"


PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:27 pm
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Preon neKaskth
Boot

Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 16

 		Some random observances form the new updated site.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
It's official: Kevin is not human. He is "K3V1 the humanoid super soldier" according to the solve page of the first Rotation Puzzle Page.

Cyphers have "dealt with time-travelers no fewer than three times!".

Do you think they read these forums??

Oh and Kevins digital image is a blue cat, reminds me of the Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Explains the constant cat references.

Other Points of note include, the mention of Burke being Kevin's special friend and their definitely being a someone behind the scenes giving instructions to Shunyata, oh and an agent called Eliza.


PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 9:33 pm
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nuala76
Decorated

Joined: 01 Apr 2006
Posts: 229

 		From the new sign-up page:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Soon, you'll be able to become a Wakeful Agent on this month's adventure for a nominal fee.



I'm disappointed.

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:10 pm
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Thenre
Veteran

Joined: 07 Jun 2005
Posts: 87

 		this is like being a kid on his way to the candy store...and then finding out it burned down when he got there

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:44 pm
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial
nuala76 wrote:
From the new sign-up page:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):
Soon, you'll be able to become a Wakeful Agent on this month's adventure for a nominal fee.



I'm disappointed.


Spoiler (Rollover to View):
By becoming a Wakeful Agent, you'll gain additional access to the Cyphers' world.


Looks like there will be a two tier set up to the agents.


Spoiler (Rollover to View):
By at least one of the folks who did Ares Station as a thesis project. Maybe he wants to try out the pay for play model, with some information available to everyone, and people who pay the fee are given first crack at new information. Not particularly my cup of tea, but then, neither is pay to play Everquest, and it is popular.

_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 10:57 pm
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albatross
Kl00


Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 42
Location: Ankeny,Iowa

 		i know not alot of you think that this is going that great, but i just want you all to know that this is going to dominate! Good luck out there!!

Make Good Choices!! Shocked


ps-keep an open mind, people.....this is just the begining!!

PostPosted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 11:49 pm
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Synchronicity
Veteran


Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 83

 		I don't have a problem with pay-to-play. Having run a MUD for 11 years, I know that we're talking HUGE amounts of time invested by the DMs. ARGs, from what I have seen, are even more demanding than MUDs. PMs are expected to answer emails, post to IG forums, and advance the game - all in character and on a daily, if not hourly basis.

If you are looking for a really really good game, compensation has to come from somewhere. In a pay-to-play scheme, the gamemasters are beholden to the players and their priority is to deliver a gaming experience satisfying enough that the players will come back next month, and pay again.


Otherwise, sponsorship has to come from somewhere else. In that case, the corporate sponsor gets the corn and the players get the husks.

Or we get assaulted by pop-up Viagra ads on every IG page.

StudioCypher has indicated that the price for each game will be less than ten bucks. Jeeze, it costs me $10 in gas just to drive to the local video arcade these days.

If this month's game is not worth the price, then I won't play it next month. As a DM, I can pretty much assure you that StudioCypher is well aware of that - they *must* deliver a satisfying game experience.

regards

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:47 am
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial
albatross wrote:
i know not alot of you think that this is going that great, but i just want you all to know that this is going to dominate! Good luck out there!!

Make Good Choices!! Shocked


ps-keep an open mind, people.....this is just the begining!!


That is why there is going to be a first ever Pre-game PM chat!
_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 1:03 am
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Jaded
Veteran


Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 72
Location: Somewhere in that grey area of a shadow

 		gahhh

I was soo looking forward to this...


I dunno, I hate playing something that has a free tier and a pay-for tier...

because I'm a cheap bastard, I always feel diminished, like I'm losing something

but hey...if someone here is paying for it...and assuming he/she posts the info...

we can all join in and have fun

I won't be able to participate in the chat...I have fencing practice

buuuut, I hope somehow we can find a way to have it all be for free

*smiles in denile*

Confused
_________________
To be or not to be is a question of insecurity. Know thyself.
~
Playing: Geist
Played: What is the Silence

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:59 am
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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?


Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial
Jaded wrote:
...because I'm a cheap bastard,
...

Confused


If nothing else this will show one way or another how viable this business viewpoint is. I've made no secret in the past what my personal viewpoint is in regards to the two-tier solution... Maybe this group can find a way to package it that will work for me... Either way, just like PPX and the map/puzzle cards, I'll be watching to see how this does financially. ARGs are not once size fits all, or even one size fits most.

Anything that I can call research is good!
_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead


PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:22 am
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Synchronicity
Veteran


Joined: 07 Apr 2006
Posts: 83

 		One more thought ...

Perspective:

Ten bucks will get me two lattes at Starbucks. If the same ten bucks will buy me an engaging, interesting game that I rush home to play every night for about a month, Folgers in my kitchen ain't so bad Wink
_________________
"Apply thy intelligence to these matters, and thou wilt not fall into error; but work seriously and without negligence, until thou hast seen the end of the Process." Codex Marciannus

Playing: StudioCypher
Reading: The Jesus Papers

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 4:00 am
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catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee

Joined: 25 Sep 2002
Posts: 4109
Location: Silicon Valley, CA

 		tiered fee system
I can relate what happened over at www.TheStone.com with their pay-for-play model. (It is strictly a puzzle site, not an ARG, but the community reaction might be insightful.)

The free tier there is really just a sampler. You can play 9 puzzles to see if you like the style of puzzles before buying into it, but you cannot read the player forums. With a one-time payment, you get permanent unlimited access to the site. You must be logged in to see the puzzles and to access the community. (This business model might have been good for a short-term fixed set of puzzles, but in this case they were releasing the promised 216 grid of puzzles over time.)

The puzzles after the 200 mark were coming out at the rate of only 1 release every 2 months. New players continued to buy in and still had to start out at the beginnning and work them in ordered groupings, but the oldtimers continued to support new members who needed help along the way.

After more than SIX years of running the site for a loyal community who felt entitled to free continued access, the site announced that were approaching the end. It was declared that the last six puzzles were going to be reserved, and a Tournament set up. Participation in the Tournament was optional, but the puzzles would not be available to the rest of the community until someone won the Tournament. Oh, and you'll have to pay to enter the Tournament.

The community exploded. Granted, a lot of the backlash was due to them changing the terms and conditions of our ongoing "free" and unlimited access without warning. No one was being forced to pay, yet there was a sense of entitlement about it, that others who did pay shouldn't get that advance peek at the puzzles we would all see eventually.

People divided into camps. Some jumped on board immediately, hungry to reach the culmination of this game we've played for so long. Some were realistic that the economics of this game were out of whack all along, and paid their entry fee as a way of giving back thanks for the ride. Others ranted in the forums, made empty threats about lawsuits, and alienated anyone who tried to defend the site owners. Some refused to pay out of protest, but later broke down and joined the Tournament, maybe out of curiousity or just frustration at having nothing else to do without new puzzles to play. Most people thought that the Tournament players would gobble up the last six puzzles and have it over with in a month, and that we'd all have a good laugh pretty soon when the full access was granted to the rest of us.

And another six months passed.

The Tournament is still running, but the site has removed the link for new people to join it. The players in the Tournament have reported little or no progress, having solved only 1 of the 6 puzzles. They report that the hype may have been misplaced, and that the rest of us will be disappointed when we finally do gain access. Some have even shared images of the puzzles with outsiders.

The Stone has a small tight-knit community with almost nothing to do now but wait. We're loyal, maybe because the site has been loyal, continuing to run with no visible means of support for all these years. There was a brief suggestion, several years back, of turning The Stone into a yearly subscription model, assuring the existing members that they would be grandfathered in and never have to pay. But even then, it divided the community.

I'm not sure what the moral is. Maybe it's that whatever you do, make it clear from the very beginning what the pay structure will be, and stick to it. Oh, and make that higher tier worth paying for, no matter how low the cost.

PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 2:58 pm
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lpilker
Boot


Joined: 18 Jan 2006
Posts: 35

 		wow! hadn't heard anyone else talk about The Stone in a long time!! Greetings fellow Stoner! (and now The Stone is free... though I STILL don't have an Other! grrrr...)

As a relative n00b when it comes to ARG's, I enjoyed the "training" puzzles... it was nice to have, all in one place, a very simple explanation of a few major ciphers and how they work.

The one thing that is bugging me, is... what about those "Congratulations" pages? They seem funny... especially that one with the weirdo poem that repeats the word Yeah several times. is there more to them?

PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 12:38 am
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