Ok for the moment this is only a placeholder for an upcoming ARG I will probably play next month , since there will be plenty of time with no Lost or major series episodes running .

Quote :

Synopsis : A young woman, Nicole Almeida, is brutally murdered and the police have no suspects, no murder weapon and no leads. Navigate secrets and conspiracies reaching from the grimy depths of Perplex City to its most powerful corporations, and help Violet discover the murderer - and the motive.

If you're interested you can sign up to be informed of the opening by newsletter here : http://www.perplexcity.com

You can also wander around in the huge world of perplex city , read about the now finished season one or catch up on the running 2nd season .

ETA : Btw , Perplexcity is the only paying ARG I know of , season 1 winner got a 100,000£ prize (about $197,000) although I don't know if "The Missing Piece" will have a prize .


Perplex City Web Sites :

Trailhead :
http://www.perplexcity.com/

In-Game :
http://www.perplexcityacademy.com/
http://www.perplexcitysentinel.com/
http://www.perplexcitypost.com/
http://www.apolytoninstitute.com/
http://www.pauldenchfield.com/
http://www.violetunderground.com/

Helpful :
http://perplexcitywiki.com/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.perplexcitymap.com/  

--Last edited by manar on 2007-05-20 22:21:44 --

My bad "The missing Piece" IS the 2nd season of Perplex City which will begin in june ... what people are playing now is a prequel or a warm up to it . I'm a bit excited because from what I'm seeing this ARG is going to be very professional .. and also because many things are going on already . Anyway let's go with my first glimpse into the story :

It looks like the first hint was a video on perplexcity.com that was playing from march until late april , I can't find any valid link to the video now but here is the excerpt :

Quote :

Violet: Hi. I’m Violet. Y-you know how sometimes you go out at night, and you find a bar, and you have a few drinks.. and then.. you hear a gunshot, and someone starts screaming, and the police turn up and drag you down to the station? …Look, just watch this.    [PCAG program, applauding]    [NEWS FLASH]    We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news.    Alice: Hello, I’m Alice Marker.    Mike: And I’m Mike Hathaway. Reports are coming in of a bizarre and brutal murder at a local night spot. The unidentified woman was killed, in what looks like a premeditated and very public attack.    Alice: For the latest, we can cross to our reporter, Cambria Styles, who is at the scene. Cambria, what’s the situation?    Cambria: The victim was shot with a banned pre-war weapon in the VIP area of the notorious Missing Piece bar. The injuries sustained by the victim are said to be quite horrific, and certainly when I arrived here, I saw bystanders covered in what looked like the victim’s blood.    Alice: Do we know any more about the victim?    Cambria: The police aren’t releasing her identity just yet. Indeed, they don’t seem to have any leads or any suspects. However, sources within the department have told me that high profile names from the city may–    Alice: Cambria, I-I’ve.. just been handed some… further information and… pictures…. of the… *looks quite ill at seeing the pictures*    Mike: *glancing at Alice every now and then* And… that’s.. all we have time for. Keep an eye on your key, we’ll be bringing you more updates as we have them. Until then… good bye.    Violet: So that’s how it started. How it ends… that’s up to you. I need your help. Together, we’re going to track down the killer. Care to join me? Look me up.

on May, 4th was the first post on Violet's Blog :

http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/drips.html

The puzzle was solved and her 2nd post : http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/leaker.html serve to present an eccentric scientist who happens to be the source for the leak , Violet also mentions the unusual delay in the postal system .

Another post on the delayed parcels : http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/more_delays.html presents new website : http://www.perplexcitypost.com/

the big heads at unforums decided to email Ralph Kerrigan who wrote this article on http://www.perplexcitysentinel.com/ (official perplex city newspaper)

Quote :

Ralph Kerrigan Perplexian Rules Our esteemed Council Leader, Nathan Earlywine, soared into office last autumn by advocating traditional Perplexian values. We should reject the questionable influence of Earth, he said, and focus on the culture and heritage our ancestors have built for us over many hundreds of years. For a time, he even succeeded in freeing us from the data link to Earth, with the hope of fostering a renewed interest in our youth toward the city that gave them birth. Now, though, despite the significantly decreased level of involvement the Earth has in Perplexian affairs, we discover that the idle attentions of our youth have moved on to new pastures. The strains of popular Earth artists such as Tom Jones and Mozart may still be heard on our streets, to be sure. But now, too, the Xia-Hifan game of "puzzle karaoke" has caught our collective imagination; Harbin cooking methods such as smoking meat over smouldering tea leaves has become the haute cuisine; and Allerdun is becoming a popular holiday spot. But does this mean that we have rejected Councillor Earlywine's insistence that we become reacquainted with ourselves? No, very much no. This curiosity toward the novel and different is anything but an abandonment of traditional Perplexian values. Indeed, the drive to explore the world around us, to understand, to seek knowledge about all things - this is the thing that inspires us to dabble in Harbin cuisine, to play Xia-Hifan games, to listen to the music of Earth. We have not failed to recapture the spirit of Perplex City; indeed, we never strayed from it.

and got this reply :

Quote :

The address is ralph.kerriganSPLATperplexcitypost.com . Do you know every morning the Postmaster General himself is asking me what's being done about these delay reports? Do you have any idea what that's like? My whiskers are so very singed over this 'parcel delays' rubbish, I can hardly see straight anymore. If you think you know the post system better than me, then be my guest and try to prove it. Have a go at our demonstration system yourself - http://www.perplexcitypost.com/secure/ext/demo14 . It could take a couple of days to set it up for where you're based, but it'll be done soon. Just be sure to tell all of the other yapping complainers and certain scandal-mondering newspapers that there's nothing to be found once you're done. Ralph Kerrigan Senior Vice Adjunct Postmaster General Quality Assurance Division Perplex City Post "Perplex City Post never sleeps, so you can rest easy."

forwarding back this to violet resulted in a new blog post :
http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/post_office.html

Which brought a lot of tries :
http://pxcpost.dabbledb.com/publish/pxcpost/452776a2-4847-4b7e-90d3-1302bb95a452/status.html

and again a post from Violet :
http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/apolyton.html

So it looks like someone is delaying the parcels that look like those usually sent to Apolyton Institute .. new website found : http://www.apolytoninstitute.com/

Violet received next an email from an apolyton institute employee :
http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/apolyton_again.html

So BBC Radio 1 ? some suggested this could be connected to http://www.pauldenchfield.com/ blog and his "Frozen Indigo Angel Mystery" :

Quote :

There's a cover-up at the BBC to do with the words 'Frozen Indigo Angel. I was fired because of them, and now I need your help to investigate this. Check out my first video.

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq2lNC7q_hc


LOL this is getting complicated , and more so when our big heads get this :

Quote :

I think i may have stumbled on something here, bare with mw while i try to explain: I was scouting about after rdknight mentioned FIA and looked at a few forums when i found this: http://www.unofficialmills.co.uk/com...t=6555&page=90 If you look at that puzzle, it looks like braille. When coolmark18 translated this, he got: silbur ngri77 sminin g.co_ so seeing that, i thought of silburn griggs mines!!!!! Typing www.silburngriggsmining.com into the browser took me to the website. i thought this was strange as all season 1 websites had been closed!! So... This means the mines might play a part in this now. What do you think?

Now let's not jump on it that easy , though : http://www.silburngriggsmining.com/projectfia/

Anyway emailing Paul Denchfield , this reply was received :

Quote :

Having trouble with all this. FIA is part of some subliminal messaging scheme - and the guys behind it are from a place called Perplex City.

Also in his website , a new post :
http://pauldenchfield.typepad.com/paul_denchfield/2007/05/a_long_story_sh.html

Cyrus Quinton ? eh ? Well how fortunate .. the same day (May 14th) we got a new post from Violet :
http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/like_a_bad.html

on May, 15th
New post from Paul :
http://pauldenchfield.typepad.com/paul_denchfield/2007/05/morning_all_fee.html

New Puzzle from Violet :
http://www.violetunderground.com/archives/2007/05/layers.html
and solution :
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/208/499835776_045225c25a_o.jpg

.. and another one from Paul :
http://pauldenchfield.typepad.com/paul_denchfield/2007/05/challenging.html



hmmm I'm like halfway now in the walkthrough so I'll get more in the next post ... oh my goodness and this is ONLY the prequel ?!!!  

--Last edited by manar on 2007-05-20 22:23:25 --

Place Holder

Another place holder just in case , because God knows I might need it

Manar, I have to admit I haven't fully looked into all the background stuff you posted.  I have one question up front: can we play as team, as we have done with the OWA and TLE stuff?  To me, that makes it so much more enjoyable, and also possible for someone with meager skillz to still be a part of it.