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EdricGames — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 08:07:38 CST

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The Reindeer Games 2006

EdricGames — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 01:25:26 CST

The Reindeer Games 2006 was a puzzle trail created by yours truly. It involved ten puzzles, spread out from December 5th to December 24th, of increasing difficulty. The trail began with an email from Snowball McJinglebell, the central character, to many different people. The email led to a blog (http://www.the-reindeer-games.blogspot.com), which then led to a forum with the puzzles on it (http://threindeergames.proboards80.com). The first hint to the password was given on Snowball's blog, and this allowed players to access the first puzzle. When they had solved it, they sent answers to Snowball, who then gave a clue as to the second password. And so on.

Along the way, players interacted with the Gingerbread Man, a bookbinding Elf named Marcus Treelight, a toymaker named Holly O'Mistletoe, Mrs. Claus, Santa himself, Frosty the Snowman, and an original character named the Candy Cane Kid.

The Post-Game Chat will be held in the chat room linked at the top of the forum, at 4:00 p.m. on December 30th. Hope to see everyone there!

By the way, I'm working on a guide to the puzzles, and when it's done, I'll let you know.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Publicity For The Reindeer Games

EdricGames — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 08:41:20 CST

Alternate Reality Game Network Article: (with a mistake... see if you can catch it.)
http://www.argn.com/archive/000504ho_ho_ho_ya_grinches.php

UnForums Discussion Thread:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17640

Mention On A Blog Called Gag Rule: (if you want this link taken down, let me know)
http://www.chlotrudis.org/colford/

Reindeer Games Book?

EdricGames — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 08:35:35 CST

Near the beginning of the games, a character named Marcus Treelight began to post chapters of a story entitled "The Fifteen Days of Christmas." This faltered out and died, which was my fault; I couldn't get some of the chapters to upload from my PDA, and fell far, far behind in the writing of the story.

So, Marcus and Snowball McJinglebell promised players a book based on the Reindeer Games. The book will integrate Marcus' story with Snowball's puzzles.

They set a release for February 2007, although in thinking about it I think an October release would be better for many reasons (I hope no one gets to angry...) First, it would give me much more time to revise the story and make it the best possible. Second, I'll have more time to decide just how I'm going to mix puzzles, solutions, and hints in with the story. Third, there's a slight (don't hold me to this) possibility of the book holding important information for the next season of the Reindeer Games (which I am planning to hold.) Finally, releasing the book closer to Christmas would make much more sense for gift purposes... :P

And, yes, I am planning to sell this book at cost. I won't make any money off of this whatsoever.

3. Character Profiles

EdricGames — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 15:11:57 CST

Miss Corinn/Tabitha Plessing: Players were first introduced to Miss Corinn through a question on Yahoo! Answers which has since been removed due to accusations of spam. The site that was sent to unFiction, then, was Miss Corinn's. She was a central character to the game and gave players advice on what to do when they asked for it. It was Miss Corinn that first let the word out that the PhoenixFire Corporation existed. Also, because Miss Corinn lied and cheated to make certain predictions come true, she made herself some enemies, namely Frank Dawes. Miss Corinn was eventually revealed to be Tabitha Plessing, the granddaughter of the man who founded the PhoenixFire Corporation. Miss Corinn is missing and presumed dead after the fire that destroyed the PhoenixFire Corporation Headquarters.

Frank Dawes: Players got to know Frank through his testimonial on the Free! Psychic Readings homepage, which contained a hidden link to his blog. The blog address changed soon after, though, due to technical issues. Frank was angry with Miss Corinn because she got him fired from his job and set him up with her sister, who only pretended to love him because Miss Corinn told her to. He created the Victims of a Psychic website and led the initial fight against Miss Corinn. Katrina Plessing was captured by Miss Corinn and her henchmen, and when Frank received an email saying they would release her upon confirmation of his death, Frank killed himself. He returned briefly to speak with players (and Lucy) through Katrina herself, who he convinced to drink from the Lake of Departed Sorrows.

Lucy Middleton: Players found Lucy Middleton through the website 43things.com, on which she had a profile. One of her 43 goals was written in Vigenere cipher, and Frank Dawes was the only other person who shared that goal. Lucy's brother was killed by the Coven of the Black Crow, which started her on her quest for revenge. She saw her brother and Frank's friend Cal killed by the Coven, and the Coven was not happy. They threatened her and forced her to flee Utah to Pennsylvania, where she stayed with Frank. When he left her she was terrified. On the night of Jakob Middleton's and Frank's shared birthday, Lucy broke into the PhoenixFire Corporation's headquarters and witnessed the Coven about to sacrifice Katrina and her little brother Jakob. Lucy perished in the fire that destroyed the PhoenixFire building.

Katrina Plessing: Katrina Plessing was once Frank's girlfriend. Miss Corinn, Katrina's twin sister, set her up with him and made it seem like an accident. When Frank found out, Miss Corinn captured Katrina and held her hostage in the PhoenixFire Corporation's headquarters. She was given a computer that could only access Blogger, so she wrote her garbled and muddled thoughts on the Internet for all the world to read. To pass the time she encoded little messages for her blog readers to find. Towards the end she finally became aware of her situation and begged Frank Dawes to save her, although he did not. Miss Corinn gave Katrina pills that allowed her to enter the Silver Garden, which was revealed to be just a movie-set type location in the PhoenixFire building. Frank's spirit convinced Katrina to drink from the Lake of Departed Sorrows, and when she did he was able to enter her body for a brief period of time. Miss Corinn found out and beat Katrina severely, and she remained relatively quiet in the final days of her life. Katrina is missing and presumed dead in the fire that destroyed the PFC HQ.

Cal: Cal was a minor character who never interacted with players. He lived in Utah. Frank asked him to go to Pa's Steakhouse, the place where the Coven liked to congregate. Cal was captured and killed by the Coven.

Jakob Plessing: Jakob was dead during the game, but his journal factored into the alternate reality significantly. He saw visions of the things that happened. He was also the one who founded the PhoenixFire Corporation, although in its earliest incarnations it was not an evil group. On November 17th, Jakob posessed a Middletown teenager and forced him to set fire to the PhoenixFire Corporation's Headquarters. He then added one final entry to his journal, explaining his life since death, before finally passing into the next life.

Sarah Plessing: Sarah Plessing was Jakob Plessing's wife. She was a skeptic, but when Jakob appeared to her as a ghost, she kept her promise to him and formed the PhoenixFire Foundation.

Jakob Middleton: This Jakob was Lucy's younger brother. He was kidnapped by the Coven early in the game, and Lucy gave him up for dead. When she broke into the PhoenixFire Corporation in the final days of the game, they were reunited briefly before both were killed.

Luisa Lemke: Luisa was a member of the Coven of the Black Crow. She visited Lucy under the guise of a reporter and asked her questions about the night her brother was kidnapped.

Jason Christopher: Jason was a young teenager who lived in Middletown, NY... across the street from the PhoenixFire Corporation's headquarters. He was posessed by Jakob Plessing on the night of November 17th and set fire to the PFC HQ. He also wrote a journal entry under the influence of Jakob Plessing, and posted it online for readers to see. Jakob has since released his hold on Jason, who is unaware of what happened. Jason has decided to stop posting on his blog due to the possibility of it linking him to the fire.

Katie Christopher: Katie Christopher is Jason' sister.

Erik Hewor: Erik, a geeky 20something, worked at the PhoenixFire Corporation. He met Lucy once, and offered her the position of Event Coordinator for the event that took place November 17th. She didn't take it. Erik Hewor anagrams to I WORK HERE. Players were able to interact, in a limited fashion, with Erik through Miss Corinn's "F!PR Social Networking Site." Erik died in the fire that destroyed the PhoenixFire building.

Shirl Awerooke: Shirl basically has the same job as Erik: PFC receptionist. She spoke with Lucy on her second trip to the PFC, and introduced Lucy to Victor M. Stucerese. Shirl, as well as Erik, liked reading Miss Corinn's books. Shirl Awerooke anagrams to I ALSO WORK HERE. Shirl is missing and presumed dead in the fire that destroyed the PhoenixFire Building.

Victor M. Stucerese: Victor is the head of Customer Service at the PFC. Lucy notes that he is somewhat robotic, although he seems at first more lifelike than Erik and Shirl. Victor M. Stucerese anagrams to CUSTOMER SERVICE with an extra T. That was a mistake on my part :( Victor is missing and presumed dead in the fire that destroyed the PFC building.

Jessica Updike: Jessica Updike is the Director of Employment at the PhoenixFire Corporation. Jessica is missing and presumed dead in the fire that destroyed the PFC building.

Lloyd Ginsleps: Lloyd is the Secretary of Funding at the PhoenixFire Corporation. His last name anagrams to Plessing. Lloyd is missing and presumed dead in the fire that destroyed the PFC building

Alia: Alia was a circus performer at the same circus where Jakob Plessing worked. She was the subject of his first vision, and ultimately fell to her death the next day.

Jakob ????: Jakob was a friend of Jason Christopher's. He was the one who told Jason to get a Blogger blog.

Kyle DiSoto: Kyle was a firefighter who entered the destroyed PFC building and witnessed the breaking of the Silver Lake. Lucy briefly posessed his body and spoke with players one final time.

Joe ????: Joe was a firefighter who entered the destroyed PFC building and witnessed the breaking of the Silver Lake.

((Players: If I've forgotten anyone, please let me know!))

2. Still Free! Psychic Readings

EdricGames — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:36:23 CST

Development on SF!PR has finished.
-------------------------------

time remaining

Still Free! Psychic Readings will feature a whole new storyline that will delve deeper into the mysteries uncovered in F!PR. Best of all, the game will require only a very basic knowledge of the first F!PR game, which can easily be obtained by

a) reading around this website, and
b) speaking with players of the first game while you're playing!

---------

Here's a preview of what's to come:

More information about the mysterious Miss Corinn, and her motivations for getting involved with the Coven!

More information about the twisted Plessing family!

More information about the mysterious Silver Garden!

A brand new cast of characters (and some old favorites)!

A brand new storyline!

Ceiling cat (of course!

A slower-moving plot, so missing a few days won't completely lose you!

Exciting chats with characters!

-------------------------------

Be watching the old websites for more information.

1 . Story Summary

EdricGames — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:24:30 CST

The Night People followed the misadventures of one Alan Allen, who was visited by mysterious beings who turned out to be demons. At first Alan thought his visitors were archangels, because of a variety of clues pointing toward this, but it was revealed through a climactic event at an asylum that the night people were, in fact, demons, and the golden ones that Alan was also visited by were angels.

Players were first contacted by Alan Allen through email and AIM, and he asked them for their help. Before long a MySpace website for Alan's sister and sister's boyfriend were found, and a sibling rivalry flared up: Katy Allen didn't believe her brother was being visited, and she thought he was insane.

One night Katy called the local insane asylum, and they came and took Alan away. She posted a link to the asylum's webpage, which led in turn to a password-protected site by a character named Christian Platt, the asylum's historian. Upon cracking the password, players learned of a man named Franklin Moyt who was admitted to the asylum long ago- for seeing visions of Night People. They were put in contact with a man who refused to provide his real name, but was eventually called Mark. He claimed to have been visited by the night people also, and he posted a family tree that he was supposedly given by the dark creatures who came in the night. Players were surprised to find Katy's boyfriend Carl on the list.

A mysterious blog supposedly from the future appeared on Katy Allen's Myspace, leading players (and Carl) to believe that she was going to kill him on December 8th. A variety of connections to this date were discovered, including a mysterious phrase in Enochian that was repeated by both Alan and Franklin Moyt when they were in the asylum.

TO BE FINISHED SOON! If anyone would like to help, send me an email at edricgames@yahoo.com

1. Story Summary

EdricGames — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:21:48 CST

UnFiction has a great "Story So Far" thread for F!PR, at www.unforums.com, up to a certain point.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A QUICK SUMMARY OF MOST OF THE GAME, CHECK OUT ARGnet's NETCAST, EPISODE FOUR at http://www.argn.com. THEY GAVE A GREAT SUMMARY OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED UP TO THAT POINT. THANKS, GUYS!

My summary coming soon.

The Night People

EdricGames — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 17:01:13 CST

The Night People was an Alternate Reality Game that ran from November 22nd to December 12th, 2006.

Click the links on the left for more information.

Free! Psychic Readings

EdricGames — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:38:26 CST

Free! Psychic Readings was an Alternate Reality Game that ran from October 16th to November 19th of 2006. It made ARGN.com's list of What's Hot in the world of Alternate Reality Gaming, and was a frequent topic of discussion on their weekly podcast. Click the links on the right to navigate the F!PR information of this site.

Welcome. If you're seeing this website, it means the Free! Psychic Readings ARG has concluded. On behalf of the entire Edric Games team (ahem... me), I'd like to thank you for playing. I had a great time puppetmastering and getting to know everyone through the characters I created. I hope you enjoyed the game! I was very pleased with the turnout it received. While you're here, look around the site for:

Biographical information about... me, your PM.
Behind-the-scenes information about F!PR
A preview of my next Alternate Reality Game
A survey about Free! Psychic Readings
Much, much more! (Ok, not MUCH more, but some other stuff too!)

Have a good time exploring! I'm hoping that this is just a temporary website (I've got a flash one in the works), but who knows. I might just stick with this. It's REALLY easy to edit, and not a lot of hosting hassles. And by the way... I wouldn't really bother trying to apply as a writer on this wetpaint. I'm not gonna approve ya.)

Puppetmaster chat's over! Thanks to Ruuku, it will live forever in the infinite reaches of cyberspace, for future generations to enjoy until yada yada blah blah blah... http://hali.pri.ee/ruuku/Chat-Log.txt

4. Player Survey

EdricGames — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 11:18:09 CST

Please, fill out this survey. I'd love to hear your feedback on F!PR, whether it's positive or negative. Please, please please be honest with me.

NAME USED WHILE PLAYING:
RATE F!PR'S FINALE: (scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best)
RATE F!PR'S PUZZLES: (scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best)
RATE F!PR'S STORY: (scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best)
RATE F!PR'S CHARACTERS: (scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best)
WHICH CHARACTER WAS YOUR FAVORITE:
WOULD YOU PLAY ANOTHER OF MY GAMES: (Yes/No/Depends on Subject)
COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS:

Write as little or as much as you'd like! Please, in true F!PR fashion, copy/paste the form into an email and send it to edricgames@yahoo.com.

And remember, do it good, or Ceiling Cat will getcha.

2. Contact Info

EdricGames — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:41:26 CST

There are several ways you can contact me.

EMAIL: edricgames@yahoo.com
AIM: edricgamez
uF: johnlockeguy

OK, three. How many more do you want?

I'd love to hear from you!

1. Game for Local Library

EdricGames — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:14:14 CST

Edric Games is currently developing an Alternate Reality Game for the local library, involving puzzle cards hidden in books. Each puzzle card contains a simple cipher, riddle, word puzzle, etc. and a link to an internet site.

This site has puzzle-solving tools, a forum for posting card answers, and blogs for characters purporting to be local teens. The teens have decided to create this elaborate game for their friends, because "Milford is too boring," so they decided on this mode of delivery.

When the answers to the puzzles are put together, a riddle is revealed, and the first to answer the riddle wins a prize. A live event is also planned.

This game will be hard to play unless you live in my town, but I'll list the websites here when everything is ready to be launched, so you can follow the story and web-trail if you'd like.

1. Biography

EdricGames — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:55:08 CST

Edric Games is basically run by me, Eric.

I'm really into Alternate Reality Games... I've only ever played one ARG that semi-worked, though. The Lost Experience. The other two I've been involved with imploded... Cassieiswatching and the 4400 fan ARG. Which, contrary to speculation in the ARGNETcast, was not made by me.

I loved to play ARGs, and you can definitely say I fell under the category of GameJacker. In fact, one of my gamejacks has its own page on LostPedia... I'm not sayin' what though. I, along with almost everyone else playing, attempted to gamejack Cassieiswatching, too. That didn't work so well, though... Then I stumbled on the UnForums and realized that normal people, not big companies or folks with a studio and lots of money, actually made their own ARGs. I didn't have to take control of someone else's property any more... I could do my own thing! So, I did. The rest, as they say, may become history some day. No more gamejacking for me.

I'm definitely interested in a future in ARGs. I'm still pretty young (ok, then, if you must know... I'm less than 20) so I have the option to someday do this professionally. Since F!PR was a single-PM job, I had to make all of the websites as well as act as the characters. I'm thinking about getting a buddy of mine in on the next ARG I make, but who knows. I'm developing it myself, but maybe I'll have someone help me execute it.

My three favorite hobbies are writing, the internet, and acting, so when I discovered the world of ARGing I realized that this was exactly what I could do with my life. Being a puppetmaster, especially a single one, allows me to do all of these things simultaneously. It's a dream come true, to be honest. It's great. I love it. Hurrah. Yay me. Etc, etc. Basically... I like it a lot.

Click the CONTACT link on the left to send me an email!

2. In-Game Sites

EdricGames — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:50:12 CST

http://www.psychicreadings.tk
http://www.psychicpoems.tk
http://www.victimsofapsychic.tk
http://www.phoenixfirecorporation.tk
http://www.victims-of-a-psychic.blogspot.com
http://www.cursetheblackcrow.blogspot.com
http://www.putting-out-the-fire.blogspot.com
http://www.these-sounds-even-in-the-haze.blogspot.com
http://www.43things.com/person/frankdawes
http://www.freewebs.com/silvergarden
http://www.43things.com/person/lucymiddleton
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frankdawes
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucymiddleton
http://www.emailswithmisscorinn.wikispaces.com
http://www.victimsofmisscorinn.wikispaces.com
http://www.victimofpsychic.proboards104.com
http://freepsychicreadings.ning.com

PLAYERS: Did I miss any? Let me know!

3. Game Creator Sites

EdricGames — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:47:22 CST

http://www.4orty2wo.com
This is the site for the creators of THE BEAST, ilovebees, and Last Call Poker, among several other, smaller, games. It's pretty cool to check out, giving bios of the major PMs.

http://www.xenophile.ca/main.html
This site is the one for the guys who did the ReGenesis Extended Reality Game as well as Ocular Effect, which seems to have died. :( It's worth a look, but I don't know if there's really anything spectacular there.

http://www.studiocypher.com
Not exactly an Out-Of-Game website, but kinda. This is where you subscribe to play Studio Cypher ARGs, and where you can get a heads-up on the Studio's latest Multiplayer Novels.

http://www.virtuquest.com
VirtuQuest has created a bunch of ARGs in the past, and they've got another one coming up soon. This is their homepage... check it out! It's got all of their old games archived as well as press releases and things from their head PMs.

http://www.edricgames.wetpaint.com
*cough, cough*

2. Puppetmaster Blogs

EdricGames — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:46:55 CST

http://www.giantmice.com
GiantMice.com is Brooke Edwards' blog. You can hear her weekly on the ARG NetCast, and she was the PM for Metacortechs as well as LockJaw. She's got a really impressive resume as well as a few great articles on ARGing.

http://www.mysdirection.com
This is Steve Peters' blog. He works for 4orty2wo Entertainment and was a big PM during Last Call Poker. He's got a pretty cool blog. It's not all about ARGing, but it's gaming in general. I'd give this one a checking-out.

http://www.seanstewart.org
Sean Stewart is a sci-fi author who was part of the PM team for The Beast and ilovebees, and he works for 4orty2wo Entertainment also. He's got a really neat site... if you're looking for a glimpse behind the curtain of the first two HUGE ARGs, then this guy's got it. He also wrote the recent ARGish book, titled "Cathy's Book," which has several websites/phone numbers tied in to it.

1. Meta Sites

EdricGames — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 11:45:23 CST

http://www.unforums.com
UnForums is the leading forum out there that's keeping track of all of the current Alternate Reality Games. It rocks.

http://www.unfiction.com
UnFiction is UnForums' parent site, although this one is updated far less frequently.

http://www.argn.com
ARGNetwork, as it's called, is the leading site for ARG News on the web. They have a weekly NetCast that discusses a little bit about the most important ARG News out there, which is really fun to listen to for fanatics like myself. They have a team of really talented writers who cover various ARG-related news.

http://www.immersionunlimited.com
This forum is a lot slower than uF, but it's got just as good information when it does happen. A lot of the posters here also post at uF, so it's up to you to pick which you like better.

http://www.deaddrop.us
As far as I know, this site is dead and has been for a while. No pun intended.