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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!) » The Haunted Apiary (Let Op!): General/Updates
[SPEC] We are definitely still in Pre-Game
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BoonIsha
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Joined: 31 Jul 2004
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 		[SPEC] We are definitely still in Pre-Game
I was reading back through Dana's blog when i came across this...


Quote:
In the meantime I will check in as often as I can and wait the nerve-wracking, tedious wait with you until whatever is going to begin on the 24th begins


Anyone else think she is saying that all of this isnt really gonna start until the 24th? She even calls it a nerve-wracking, tedious wait, which i think pretty well sums it up. ive noticed that alot of people on the forums are getting snippy, arguing with each other and what not. id say this is a pretty good description.

and notice she says "whatever is going to BEGIN on the 24th BEGINS" <- id say that she is saying it wont start until the 24th for sure.

comments anyone?


boon

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:11 am
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Revealer
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 		I was thinking that same thought this morning. Seems like a very long set up to me, though. I too am getting a bit annoyed at the "copy and paste" story style so far. Don't get me wrong, it's still very interesting but I feel like the little old lady from the 80's Wendy's commercials yelling, "Where's the beef?!"

At least the almost daily correction of the coordinates does give me hope that things are finally moving faster.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:05 pm
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jbd
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 		I had guessed long before we knew about coordinates or that the Real Game wouldn't start until the big timer went off.

As far as the buildup being slower than The Beast, I presume it's just a marketing strategy. Consider the recent Penny Arcade plug -- if we were already two weeks into a full game, that would drag a lot less people in. (I never really got into Cloudmakers because by the time I heard about it the background was too unwieldy to handle.) As things are, it isn't too hard to catch up.

Also, we already have enough volunteers to visit at least half of a set of 220 locations. Would we be able to pull that so quickly if the pre-game was short?

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:09 pm
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BoonIsha
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 		but i was kinda hoping for a blog update today at least...but its looking like it wont happen until tomorrow....gosh this seems really "nerve-wracking and tedious"

boon

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:12 pm
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GunsmithCat
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 		well I wouldn't say "definitely", but it is a good catch. "probably" ?

Course, she might just mean "the events of that day begin" ... or a simple english mistake. But it surely ups the ante. Plus there seems to be too much missing from the plot to wrap things up in less than a week.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:12 pm
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 		Re: [SPEC] We are definitely still in Pre-Game
Quote:

We are definitely still in Pre-Game


Since nobody responded in the last post I made about this...

'Pre-game'? Nonsense. Since this is a Bungie-themed puzzle, there's no 'beginning' or 'end' to it. Puzzle presented, puzzle analysed, done. Same with ILB.

Unless you're claiming ILB will last after what it is an advertisement for becomes more public...?
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:36 pm
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Anton P. Nym
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 		Why not? Smile Folks are still debating stuff in the Cortana Letters and the Halo Transmissions, and that's five years ago and three years after the release of Halo.

I like the idea of Aug.24 being the kickoff for a MAJOR publicity blitz... the timing is about right, and it'd give us enough time to unravel more puzzles while the publicity of this builds and builds until late October.

Plus the die-hard ARGers are right... there hasn't been much roleplay yet. Another two months or so would really give some time for real interactivity after Melissa has built her voice.

-- Steve hopes that there'll be more, 'cause we've got less than half a story right now.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:35 pm
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parm
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 		Re: [SPEC] We are definitely still in Pre-Game
BoonIsha wrote:

Anyone else think she is saying that all of this isnt really gonna start until the 24th? She even calls it a nerve-wracking, tedious wait, which i think pretty well sums it up. ive noticed that alot of people on the forums are getting snippy, arguing with each other and what not. id say this is a pretty good description.


My feeling is that this is all still pregame, too.

So far, we haven't actually had the chance to "play" the game at all: we've been given various pieces of information, but in decoding/assembling them, it's just been giving us a story. We haven't had any direct influence in the progress of the story yet, and it feels very much like we're just being drip-fed back story information in preparation for the launch of the real thing, perhaps (probably?) on the 24th.

There has been vast, vast amounts of speculation going on, but none of it has actually led anywhere in terms of progressing the game. People have constructed hugely elaborate theories as to what various parts of the story mean, analysing it in terms of mythology, maths, biology, Bungie lore and far more besides - but none of it has actually allowed us to progress further in the game: we are still entirely dependent upon the PMs for progressing things to the next stage (unless anyone figures out a deeper meaning behind those blasted GPS coords, that is).

Fundamentally, we are not interacting - which is what games are all about, right? - and therefore I don't believe we're actually ingame yet.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:29 pm
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Scumbag
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Anton P. Nym wrote:
Folks are still debating stuff in the Cortana Letters and the Halo Transmissions, and that's five years ago and three years after the release of Halo.


True, but we're not getting new ones. That story had a beginning and an end, and we do now what we did with them then - understand them.

Quote:

I like the idea of Aug.24 being the kickoff for a MAJOR publicity blitz... the timing is about right, and it'd give us enough time to unravel more puzzles while the publicity of this builds and builds until late October.


This is what I'm guessing as well. The ARG is the springboard for a conventional publicity thingie.

Quote:

Plus the die-hard ARGers are right... there hasn't been much roleplay yet. Another two months or so would really give some time for real interactivity after Melissa has built her voice.


Confused

Roleplay? Its a Bungie Puzzle, for Vivec's sake.

Quote:

'cause we've got less than half a story right now.


Looking historically at the Letters and Transmissions, thats really all we're bound to get. After all, how much of the Letters, for example, actually meshed with what Halo's story was? How much 'story' was important in the Letters?

The answer is, very little. Its the puzzle that is the prize.

Quote:

we've been given various pieces of information, but in decoding/assembling them, it's just been giving us a story. We haven't had any direct influence in the progress of the story yet...People have constructed hugely elaborate theories as to what various parts of the story mean, analysing it in terms of mythology, maths, biology, Bungie lore and far more besides - but none of it has actually allowed us to progress further in the game: we are still entirely dependent upon the PMs for progressing things to the next stage


Welcome to a Bungie Puzzle. You don't 'progress the story', you decipher what you're given. We never interacted with the Letters. We didn't interacted with the Transmissions. While not Bungie's, we sure as sin didn't upload a new Terminal, either.
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When I first got there and asked about I Love Bees, the attendant said I must be looking for some other theater... I said, "er....Halo 2 Preview Event?" and suddenly he understood what I meant.
fphzont jnf ynhtuvat

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:11 pm
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Lex Vella
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 		Yeah, the older Bungie puzzles have had no player/reader involvement what so ever.

This one is a whole seperate breed from the Cortana Letters, I think. It can't all just end on the 24th, that would be rather abrupt, wouldn't satisfy the ending needed. There is the issue of phone numbers and emails though, these are unique from other Bungie games, and seem to encourage involvement.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:11 pm
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Knight Hawk
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 		If you do remember though, this is a whole different animal because as with The Beast and other ARGs, physical things were given to the ARG veterans of this site. And Dana has interacted with Xnbomb and other veteran ARGers. The big difference with this one is that it wasn't just randomn contacts sent to Bungie fanboys. This was something being sent to someone not affiliated with anything aside from ARGs. Bungie wouldn't act that way if this was just a marketing ploy and nothing we could control. There also has been stenography hidden in pictures that we have seen, and puzzles for us to assemble (the Dana "Killer.jpg" picture progression assembly is definitely a puzzle) and now this GPS stuff. Also by Dana leaving when we tried to hack her personal life and then returning, prompting the SP to e-mail us a bigger clue, I think this is definitely an ARG we can solve.
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:39 pm
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Scumbag
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Quote:

It can't all just end on the 24th


I think I inadvertantly implied that that it would end on the 24th, for which I'm sorry for.

I do disagree that this is a different breed than previous puzzles. IMO, this is merely a puzzle on a much larger scale. I mean, christ, they sent it to ARG folks here.

Think about it, as if you're Bungie. You've created ILB as the Cortana Letters of Halo 2, after a major interest in the Enkidu Terminals.

Only little problem - another Bungie Puzzle would only reach the people who have researched the previous ones. Halo 2 is going to be big. It needs a big puzzle.

Whats the best way to make something bigger? Bring other communities into it.

Now, whats the most similar to a Bungie Puzzle?

ARG fans. Sure, ARGs are quite different than Bungie Puzzles (as this thread attests to with people assuming there would be interaction), but their processes are kinda the same.

So, Bungie sends small hints to people who are into ARGs, like this forum. Physical things, something to make them think its an ARG or something. Its no matter what they think, really, because by the time they realize its a Bungie Puzzle, they'll be too hooked to stop.

They immediately start thinking about ILB, putting their stuff together a little.
Then, the URL is referenced in a Halo 2 ad. Bungie fans. They learn about ILB. They learn about the ARGers, who think this is some ARG or something. Regardless, they got a good start.

All of a sudden, you've got ARGers analysing every inch of the game from a neutral perspective. You later have the Halo fans, bringing with them years of knowledge of everything from Pathways Into Darkness to Halo. You've got the new blood examining theories, and the old blood pruning those theories into possibilities.

And what, then, do you have?

A Letter that makes the old ones look like they were written in crayon. A Transmission that makes the old ones look as if they were sent out on a 14.4 modem. A Terminal that makes the old ones look as someone simply copy pasted paragraphs from PiD/Marathon/Halo and put them online.

(Not that they were, I loved em, I'm just saying)

What do you have? The largest Bungie Puzzle ever.
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When I first got there and asked about I Love Bees, the attendant said I must be looking for some other theater... I said, "er....Halo 2 Preview Event?" and suddenly he understood what I meant.
fphzont jnf ynhtuvat

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:52 pm
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strifey
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 		I don't think this is your "typical" bungie puzzle. I think this is a full blown ARG. Why? Because they gave it to the "ARG" players first Smile Heck, in the beginning I think there was only like 10-15 people mailing Dana...and then came the fateful Halo 2 to ILoveBees ad. Coupled with the "AI" clue, I think this is a "Beast creator" ARG with the Bungie writer's story. Best of both worlds Smile I think we got the first clues so we could help the Bungie puzzle folk with the transition.

Is this pregame? Hope so. If not, it was sorta fun while it lasted.

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:07 pm
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Scumbag
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Quote:

Because they gave it to the "ARG" players first


What better way to get ARG players interested if they don't know its simply a Bungie Puzzle until they're hooked?

Remember when some ARG people thought ILB had nothing to do with Halo?
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When I first got there and asked about I Love Bees, the attendant said I must be looking for some other theater... I said, "er....Halo 2 Preview Event?" and suddenly he understood what I meant.
fphzont jnf ynhtuvat

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:39 pm
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Tarrsk
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Scumbag wrote:
Quote:

Because they gave it to the "ARG" players first


What better way to get ARG players interested if they don't know its simply a Bungie Puzzle until they're hooked?

Remember when some ARG people thought ILB had nothing to do with Halo?


Just because some ARG people were wrong about that doesn't mean they're also wrong about ILB's ARG-dom. Back when that POV was still being aired, there was very little evidence to suggest that ILB was in fact Halo-related. All we had at the time was the presence of the URL in the Halo 2 trailer, and as many people pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean that the ARG is based on the Halo storyline itself. Once the more specific Halo references started to appear, you'll notice that this POV quickly died out. There's nothing wrong with changing one's mind based upon new evidence (in fact, I would argue that such an open-minded mentality is laudable, and is absolutely crucial to the success of any ARG player community).

Incidentally, when did "Bungie Puzzle" become terminology worthy of capitalization? Scumbag, no offense, but as a fellow Bungie fan, I think you're way off on this one. The one thing that we can count on regarding Bungie's little side-games is that they're unpredictable- the Cortana letters were the first email-based "Bungie puzzle," and once that was done, the email-only medium was discarded. Certainly, Bungie has their running jokes, but to claim that ILB is merely the Cortana Letters Redux, and thus will fit some sort of existing paradigm, is self-limiting at best.

Simply put: there is no such thing as a set of rules for a "Bungie puzzle." Frankly, based on their past record, I would say that it's far more likely that Bungie (now that they have financial backing from the largest software corporation in the world) would choose to do a full-blown ARG over repeating previous successes. It would certainly be more interesting, for them as well as for us.

Here's hoping that the game really kicks off on the 24th. Smile

PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:42 am
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