Animated short - RUIN

Wow - this is a great post apocalyptic short - I hope more of this story will be done!! go give it a look see

RUIN from OddBall Animation on Vimeo.

Gavin's Strange Code and Email - world of depleted

Well, I have been swamped with this and that, but, finally getting back to things I love to do and play with, including World of Depleted.

There are three things I am playing with

1. My next two stories. One is the next installment in my Business series - I will post it here in a couple days in a rough draft form, anyone willing to read it and give me opinions and help with editing it :) pleassssseeeee :o)

2. Strange email from Gavin

Got an email from Gavin a little bit ago (from the account which I am still trying to figure out what the name means - any ideas)? but I digress - the subject line read:

Rift..*&&@!!@89o8#!##...mail...

There was one word

Meta.

and there was only a QR code attached. When I scanned it - the following popped out

Book of Enoch. Beta Israel.

Read Metadata.

ok - so, I finally figured out how to read metadata of image files (yeah, ok you seasoned ARG players, I know that is a skill you do in your sleep, still, I am giddy I managed to do this, and will be going back and looking at all images and codes now) but as mentioned in this post I read the metadata on the QR code and came away with this.

Soooooo what do people think? It looks like Fred was spot on in his discussions (on the Facebook group and other places too) - hmmmm France, that has been mentioned a few times, so did he make it there?

3. Strange codes from the DVD

ok - so, I ordered a World of Depleted DVD (check here if interested http://worldofdepleted.com/archives/1837 ) and it, among other things, has some secret clues.

from my DVD QR code

Mamadon exists in your time.
Her goths rob graves.
Find D.S. in the city over-the-rhine,
where chili meets pasta.
Call her.
Say the shadow phrase.
She knows where I'm at.
Her tribe will help.

Fred Koskin shared his too, which I am going to share here as any and all help to decipher these and figure out the next piece to Gavin's story would be appreciated.

from QR Code

You must be creative enough to think outside of a box with seven levels!

m_ayo_ra=_.vgom_sherbadherabdoer_veone_iernnhcs_s

Sooooooo - we have some pieces of a code, a box with seven levels (is that seven part of a encryption key we need) and the odd Gavin email.

I think I might post some of this over in Unfiction forums to see if anyone has ideas about the code

but if anyone else has ideas.... I wonder if this links directly back to Gavin's last message or not?

Willy Wonka remix

Ok this is so oddly bad and catchy - hehe - it's my new ringtone and no, I will not admit how many times I have now listened to it

thanks to http://io9.com/5892278/gene-wilder-picks-up-the-beat-in-this-surprisingly-awesome-willy-wonka-remix?

TapJoint and SXSWesteros

So, two new narratives, events, games, interesting way to tell a story can across my Twitter scanner this evening and both look fun, although one is better lending to my time than the other.

Also, something very, very interesting is the diminished turnaround time between the story being introduced and fans taking over and setting up shop (aka discussions on unfiction, working the wiki and more) to take advantage of a story - are readers/story users finally starting to really groove to alternate story delivery and beginning to make connections to make the story better and to keep it flowing?

I hope the answer is yes... also, I have to admit, I am not a crack puzzle solver, so middle level puzzles/interaction projects are more accessible to me, and it seems like more of these types of projects are starting to come out (part because mainstream has caught this form finally, part because people are better at making this type of story and part because it has finally really moved into the fan realm - meaning - just like the first sets of fanfiction being a form of entertainment made by fans, for fans rather than a professional, fan ARGs, transmedia narrative and shared storyworlds are starting to be made by fans.

All of which means, more story to explore :) so the two stories

The first is Tapjoint - http://tapjoint.com/

I've only looked at it a little, been intrigued, giddy, frustrated and then slowly drawn in (well until I had to go back and finish a work project) ;)

This article provides a good overview - http://www.argn.com/2012/03/telegraphs_to_an_alternate_world_with_tap_joint/

Here is a wiki already up for sharing of code and story - http://tapjoint.wikia.com/wiki/Tapjoint_Wiki

And here is a mobile option that also has a way for us keyboard lovers to better enter - http://tapjoint.com/mobile/

I recommend start at the official site first and see how much you can suss out on your own. Then read the ARGNet article and from there use the wiki and even better, contribute to the wiki

The second is a Twitter mashup/interactive with the SXSW conference

SXSWesteros - http://sxswesteros.wordpress.com/ and https://twitter.com/#!/SXSWesteros

Essentially as you can find at the wordpress site, this is a "role-play" AU fiction, not sure what name to use - narrative.

from the site -

#SXSWesteros asks the question: What if a similar event was held in the Seven Kingdoms?

What sort of panel discussions would there be?

What kind of keynote addresses? What parties? What mischief?

To play along, simply act as if #SXSWesteros is happening… and YOU are there.

Tweet about what panels you see. What parties you are attending. Who is hanging out with whom.

Make sure all of your posts include the hashtag #SXSWesteros.

A neat way to make a conference that much more interactive and fun!

So - give one or both a try. For now, I am off to tap in some more code.

Black Letter Box puzzle game

this looks really interesting, but alas $60 is not something right now I can part with. I wonder how well this will do. The idea of having the puzzles delivered is cool and I wonder if there will be connections between players or if all players are essentially going through the same puzzle?

I wish, to, there was a transmedia/puzzle site kinda like trip advisor that could be used to rate people and organizations that run these events, especially as more and more are popping up - kinda part catalog for what is out there and part user comments about whether the person/group is valid, delivers good product, etc.

Hmm - is there a transmedia/ARG/stuff like this ratings site out there?

I started to rate things with my transmedia maps - maybe I should go back to that.

Anyhoos,

here is the game - let me know peoples if you play and if you know of a ratings site.

http://www.blacklettergame.com/faq.html