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BioWare's teaser linked to 'Seeking Henna' ARG mystery
Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare teased fans with a brief trailer that may or may not be a new project named "Shadow Realms." The developer sent emails with the teaser video and a link to a "You've Been Chosen" website owned by EA that featured the phrasing "The time is near. They are watching. Your power is rising. Cologne, Germany. You've Been Chosen." That website isn't the only one registered to EA, however, as BioWare's teaser has been linked to a "Seeking Henna" alternate-reality game of sorts. As detailed by Dulfy.net, the Seeking Henna website includes a police report and a blog with some letters being underlined, indicating a code of some sort for fans to crack. The other site in question is for the "Woods-Watson Institute of Higher Learning."
The Secret World's new ARG opens signups for loyalists [Updated]
A newsletter sent yesterday to current and former players of The Secret World invites them to sign up for the game's upcoming Black Watchmen alternate reality game, which is due to officially kick off in September. Here's the hard pill to swallow for those of you used to the B2P nature of TSW: The ARG isn't free. Players who sign up will be funding the game's previously announced Crowdtilt crowdfunding campaign and will receive a year's worth of ARG gameplay and missions and a special in-game outfit for $20 ($10 off the normal fee). Massively's MJ explored the ARG in detail just a few weeks ago. Enjoy the trailer below! [Thanks to Dengar for the tip.] [Update: It turns out that if you're a lifetime member of TSW, this deal is even sweeter: Not only do you pick up the in-game goodies, but you get a free sub to the ARG for a year.]
Chaos Theory: Grand plans for The Secret World's Black Watchmen ARG
Last week we revealed that a new persistent alternate reality game is in the works from Human Equation, the studio that brought us the pre-launch and End of Days ARGs for The Secret World. But that little introduction is just a drop in the bucket compared to what the company has planned for the community. Human Equation has bought the license to operate the Black Watchmen IP from Funcom, and that means TSW players, fans, and puzzle-enthusiasts have much more in store for them than they realize. Although a major premise behind an ARG is figuring out clues and discovering information over time, I sat down and chatted with Andrea Doyon, the chief innovation officer (aka puppet master) for the ARG to bring you the scoop on those very plans. Check out all the details in this exclusive interview, including future job possibilities, and get a peek at two never-before-seen pieces of concept art.
The Secret World fans get a persistent ARG
If you've wanted to get in on the ground floor of an Alternate Reality Game tied to The Secret World, the time is now! A brand-new ARG developed by Human Equation has just entered the scene. Focusing on the Black Watchmen, this ARG differs in that it will be a persistent, complete game with features (such as a class system and NPCs) designed in partnership with Funcom. However, players will have plenty of real-world and online puzzles to work through as well. Check out the official site now to start on the first mission; the second mission unlocks tomorrow, March 20th. Then stay tuned to Chaos Theory for an upcoming interview with the creators for even more details about this new game and what they have in store for this IP. [Source: Human Equation press release]
The Secret World mysterious box stumps community [updated]
A series of mysterious forum posts might be a new alternate reality game for The Secret World. The posts show a honeycomb cylinder with a note and SD cards inside that was sent by a fan to Funcom. The note reads, "To unlock the truths of the void, one must offset themselfs [sic] from the tenements [sic] of known reality." On the SD cards were very small files with a few letters and numbers in each. The studio made the files public, and the players have responded by investigating what appears to be a community-led ARG. If a Massively reader can crack the code, make sure to share with the entire class! [Update: This was sent in by a fan, not the developers. Made changes to the story accordingly.] [Thanks to Ehra for the tip!]
Google's Ingress adopts achievement system, awards badges
It's been a while since we have heard any news about Google's mobile alternate-reality MMO Ingress. But that silence has broken: A new update is rolling out and should be available to all players in the course of a few days. This update includes scanner performance updates as well as a new system of badges that players can earn to show off their achievements. This new achievement system -- not unlike the famous merit badges earned by scouts -- awards players for such things as exploring, building, and hacking. Ingress also recognizes players for more unique achievements with such badges as Mind Controller and Seer. [Thanks to SpaceCobra for the tip!]
Chaos Theory: Player projects enhance The Secret World experience
One of The Secret World's most unique elements makes it ripe for producing immersive experiences, even outside of the game. Set in the modern real world (as opposed to the fantasy or even sci-fi themes prevalent in our MMOverse), a game can more easily blur the line between logged in and logged out. Players can, and do, generate ways to be a part of the game while still out and about in the real world. Today, I'm going to shine a spotlight on two of these projects that use very different methods to continue immersion beyond actual gameplay. In January, one TSW fan ran an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) for fellow players. Using Twitter, the forums, email, and even in-game characters, this player orchestrated a full-on investigation for participants to work through. And just recently, a new site offering to immerse players more deeply into the game through imagery was beta-launched. Both projects further player involvement in the world of the game -- the stories, the conspiracies, the histories, and the surroundings -- beyond the actual game. Both received support from Funcom in their efforts to expand the fans' experiences. And both are definitely worth checking out, so I sat down with the creators to get the scoop on the why, the how, and the what's next.
Destiny ARG begins: 'Distributed, synchronous effort required'
A Bungie release wouldn't really be the same without an alternate reality game to get pattern-obsessed conspiracy nerds/internet detectives (read: us) all worked up and obsessive, and thus Destiny's own ARG has officially sprung into life. Destiny, in case you're just joining the party, is Bungie's new original IP of which we know very little, beyond the fact that some leaked concept art places the game on a ruined future-Earth orbited by a massive, spherical alien ship.Perhaps more obvious in its implementation than some of Bungie's previous ARG efforts, the new jam requires the user to "begin by aligning the day's pattern to the light," which is to say, arrange a pattern of eight diamonds into the correct configuration, thus granting access to the site in full.Once inside, the user is presented with some delightfully cryptic information: A small section of a larger geometric pattern/glyph on the left, an abstract matrix of dots on the right, and at the bottom of the page, a message. "Your node will remain active for 5 minutes, but may be reactivated as necessary. Distributed, synchronous effort required."Depending on the number of active users viewing the site at any given time, the image on the left will either be more or less obscured/legible. Likewise, the dot matrix on the right will be populated with more or fewer dots, based on current traffic. Once a sufficient number of users are online, a screenshot the dot matrix can be analyzed for information in Photoshop or similar. Yesterday's matrix, for instance, revealed a file extension that, once placed onto the end of the site's URL, rewarded studious sleuths with a large image and passage.Games such as this typically evolve as time goes on, so the complexity of the puzzles and the amount of technical skill required to solve them is likely to increase on a daily basis. There's also no indication of what happens after the seventh day, but we're eager to help find out. And, by "help," we mean "read forum threads and get excited when smart people solve things for us."
Join Bungie's ARG and work toward possible Destiny reveal
Not a lot of concrete information is floating around about Destiny, an upcoming game by Bungie. We do know more will be revealed at GDC next month, but a new ARG on the Halo creator's website hints that more may be revealed even sooner. How soon? Possibly next Monday: A row of numbers splayed across the top counts down from seven, and clicking on the next descending number each day changes the displayed weekday. After the first task, the ARG appears to require the efforts of multiple players to solve; the second puzzle spells out "alone will not be enough." So if you want to get in on unlocking the mysteries of the ARG, study the second puzzle's clue after the break and head over to Bungie to add your contributions to the mix.
The Game Archaeologist: EA's Majestic
"This is not a game. Or is it?" Conspiracy theories and paranoia were hot with pop culture in the 1990s, largely thanks to movies like The Net and TV shows like the X-Files, which had the tagline of "I want to believe." With the rise of the internet during the decade and the fantastic leaps and bounds technology had been making, people were not only experiencing new ways to play games but also growing suspicious that these tools could have a sinister side. It was into this niche that EA stepped to create an ambitious $20 million project that would fuse massively multiplayer interactivity, the growing variety of technological mediums, and conspiracy theories together. The project was Majestic, an alternate reality game (ARG) that would be the most expensive and highest profile attempt to date. It generated great amounts of interest and publicity, had a promising start, and then flared out hard by the end of 2001. Considering how ARGs and MMOs have crossed paths since, most recently with The Secret World, I wanted to take a closer look at an attempt to develop a game that would run parallel in many ways with the industry that we love today.
Chaos Theory: ARG expands The Secret World
If there is one thing that many MMOs have in common, it's in-game events. Just about every title has a least one event, often centered around holidays, where players do special tasks in-game and receive special gifts. The Secret World is no different, most recently running an apocalyptic event with Mayan zombies for players to trip over. But who says all events have to actually be in-game? Certainly not Funcom. Among the other hooplah over the supposed end of the world last month, The Secret World fans were participating in the game's latest Alternate Reality Game (ARG). Set out in the real world, the ARG let anyone -- player or not -- experience the ambiance of TSW investigation missions by solving a set of conspiracy-laden tasks and receiving in-game rewards. While the first ARG was via Facebook, this one utilized email, a special website, and even text messages and tweets. Some missions were solo events, while others required the world-wide community to band together to complete. And there's nothing like a common goal to bring folks together (even in some unexpected ways!). Didn't have a chance to play all the way through? It's not too late; the situation room is still open. Go ahead and put your thinking cap on and prepare to be drawn into a world of conspiracies, whether you play TSW or not.
The Secret World ARG heralds the end of days
With the end of the world almost here (it's December 21st, don't you know), who else would be on top of the apocalypse than The Secret World? Funcom's conspiracy MMO is preparing to launch another alternate reality game (ARG) themed around the end of days and TSW itself. Players and visitors alike are invited to sign up for the upcoming game. At the very least, you'll need to surrender your email address, although Funcom would like your Twitter handle and cell phone number as well. While you're on the website, check out the creepy whispering going on. Could this be the first clue? While we don't have specifics about what the ARG will entail, we do know that there are several in-game rewards for participants. These rewards include a monk outfit, XP potions, a survival outfit, and an invitation to a special celebration event with the devs.
Introducing Ingress: The MMO by Google
Google has joined the MMO scene. The company revealed its new massively multiplayer online alternate reality game, Ingress, yesterday. Players of this new game will be able to capture and defend virtual control points known as portals, but they have to actually get themselves to the proper meatspace location in order to do so. According to the game's trailer, which you can check out just below the cut, scientists have unleashed havoc on the world in the form of a mysterious energy source that gathers around certain locations -- and it's up to players to choose a faction and try to set things straight. Ingress is currently in closed beta and available only to Android users at the moment. There are plans for an iOS version to come. You can sign up for a beta invite and get more details at the official site.
Funcom kicks off new Secret World ARG with strange video
Everybody loves an Alice in Wonderland metaphor, and Funcom is no exception. The studio kicked off a new alternate reality game for its upcoming MMO, The Secret World, and it's littered with White Rabbit references. The game starts with a very short video in which a woman on a cell phone talks about a six-year-old case. This is followed up with the instructions to go to Funcom's website, click on the background, and type in "33" to start the ARG. Just... be prepared for anything if you do. We don't want to spoil it, so we'll leave it at that and encourage you to watch the video after the jump. [Thanks to Kaitlyn for the tip!]
The Secret World ARG launches as social experience winds down
The Secret World's Secret War social experience has run its course and come to a close after an exciting five weeks. More than 250,000 people participated in the war, rallying to the cause of their chosen secret society, filling forums with discussion and theories and welcoming each new War Challenge as it was rolled out. Along the way, players have been unlocking items for use in TSW, with a special few winning the opportunity to have their name in-game and an even more special few winning a trip to visit the dev team. But that's the past, and now the glorious present awaits you. Three new videos have made their way onto The Secret War's page and each one holds a clue. The clues lead to different puzzles (one for each secret society) for players to solve. That's about all there is to know about these puzzles so far, but we're promised that they are "the start of a very exciting adventure" for participants -- so pull out your tinfoil hats and get crackin'! [Source: Funcom press release]
Trion dev posts ARG messages on RIFT forums
Trion is taking a page out of The Secret World's ARG book if a new dev post on the RIFT forums is any indication. A company representative has taken to posting poetry, cryptic messages, and even a numeric user handle on the title's official boards. Thus far, RIFT fans believe that the user name 3 3228466 787 is code for three-faction PvP (or possibly three-faction RvR). Is this a herald for a third RIFT faction, factional changes, more races, or something to do with the mercenary system? We're not sure. We are sure it's entirely coincidental that Trion is doing this on the same day that Funcom has lifted part of its press embargo for The Secret World, a three-faction MMO that has been marketed via similar ARGs since 2007. We'll update the post as more info becomes available. [Thanks to Jeff for the tip!]
Amnesia follow-up teased with ARG, more clues
Fans have been working around the clock since a new teaser site appeared for Frictional Games' suspected follow-up to the acclaimed indie horror title, Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Not only has the blurred image been revealed as a freaky tunnel entrance, with what looks like a limbless corpse (ew), but fans have tracked down the latest hint, which leads to a tower in Seattle called Smith Tower. Inside that you'll find The Chinese Room, named after the furniture it houses, donated from the Empress of China herself. Speculation suggest the new game may have some connection to China and its history.Fans have also uncovered an interactive feature on the site, which has since revealed the picture above (called "fragment_ebola.jpg"), and a coded series of letters: "P F C I N C M I O I S G G."Some guess it to mean "GIF PICS COMING," which would suggest more clues are on the way. Research is being headed up on this forum thread, so have at it. Our contribution? The letters above can also be rearranged into "SICCING OF GIMP." You should probably download everyone's favorite image editor posthaste!
PAX 2011: Funcom discusses The Secret World's PvP, ARG, and more
Funcom had an impressive presence at PAX Prime 2011, and along with that presence came a wealth of information about its upcoming horror MMORPG, The Secret World. In addition to showing off the Polaris five-man instance, the team also highlighted a new solo mission demo and revealed some new information about the title. From missions to PvP to character progression, the team had a lot to say. For the full details on both small- and large-scale PvP, skill progression, and the game's ARG and puzzle elements, head on past the cut.
The Secret World offering players beta access via the Secret War
In spring of next year, players will get to enter The Secret World and start facing off against all of the horrors lurking just beneath the surface of modern life. But if you're intent on delving into the game as soon as possible, you probably want to be in the beta more or less yesterday. Funcom is giving players a chance to do just that after they sign up for the beta via the Secret War ARG, which will let players explore the factions and start to rise in ranks... and, of course, secure a beta spot. Following the registration process, players will be taken to a portal that offers a personality test to determine which of the three major factions fit their outlooks. (Or said players can pick outright.) From there, the game is on... but in the shadows, as always. You don't need to do anything else, but you can start taking part in your society's efforts to recruit others, and players who reach the highest rank in the chosen society will be granted automatic access to the beta when it goes live. Sounds mysterious and underhanded -- just the sort of thing you'd expect from a game about the dark days ahead.
'Blow your minds': The Secret World dreams of large-scale PvP
While the big news from The Secret World out of Gamescom was its April 2012 launch window, that's not all the developers had to say about this creeptastic title. Ragnar Tornquist opened up to Ten Ton Hammer about the game's epic large-scale PvP fights between the three factions of the Dragons, the Illuminati, and the Templars. Unlike The Secret World's smaller PvP battlefields, the warzones are persistent with a much larger population. So instead of waiting for a match, experienced players can hop right into a warzone for the glory and honor of their faction. In the warzones, players can capture respawn points to help out their faction and work on their secret society ranking while doing it. Tornquist said that the first warzone is in a Chinese city, although it doesn't have a name yet. Tornquist stated that the game should provide players with "several hundred hours" of PvE experience, not to mention the title's PvP and optional internet quests that will have the dedicated hunting through websites for arcane clues. Funcom's project lead thinks the total sum of The Secret World will be unlike anything we've ever seen before: "When the story and the respective events are ready to show off, we are going to blow your minds."
