Perplex City Updates

The Heat Sensor interface at Ascendancy Point’s Eclipse security system was recently updated with a notice:

26th August 268:
We are testing a new live technical support facility with automatic configuration based on user location. This facility will be available for testing on Wednesday 31st August from 5:20pm to 7pm GMT, with access numbers being announced shortly beforehand.

What does it all mean? Who knows? Be sure to contribute to the discussion and stick around on Wednesday to find out.

• Discussion: at Unfiction

Recent days have brought us a flood of information. Since the last time we posted an update, the following things have occurred:

• Scarlett added a “secret” section to her website. Clicking on some white-on-white text next to her picture on the homepage brings you to Scarlett’s Story, an archive of the email she has sent so far.
• The Salk Family website posted some memories written by friends and family of Pietro.
• Scarlett mentioned Pietro’s wife’s favorite type of flower on her blog.
• These bits of information unlocked two passworded directories in the Salk logs, revealing more conversation between Salk and the mysterious “Advisor.” There is still one left to unlock.
• Some of these logs hinted at another password-protected URL for Ascendancy Point.
• Smart thinking by Unfiction user Perplexed gave us the username and password, unlocking a rather nifty looking Java application that lets you review heat sensor logs for certain floors in Ascendancy Point. More information is available in the Wiki.

So if you have been waiting until “something big happens” to become active in Perplex City, now’s your chance! Download the 3D heat sensor viewing application and help us sift through the data. One of those red blips is The Advisor.

Earlier in the month, there was a news blurb in The Sentinel mentioning an account analyst for Comprendo Finance getting caught stealing money. Like many of the “key authorization required” excerpts, it was easily ignorable. The latest news in this unraveling story is quite interesting–partly for the story itself, but mostly because it reveals a Comprendo Finance URL that looks to include an account number in it. Previously, we have seen a similar account number in the Salk logs (scroll about a third of the way down.) Now we know the exact format of the URL and only need a username and password.

• Article: at The Sentinel
• Discussion: at Unfiction

Since our last modblog post, Scarlet has returned to her job at The Sentinel and performed two Sherlock Holmes operations. The first was alluded to on her blog, but both are only really detailed in email. You did sign up for her mailing list, right? If not, head over to her site and put your name in the “Get Email Updates” box.

The first email, a copy of which is posted on Unfiction, describes her late-night office activities of sneaking into Pietro Salk’s desk and finding a connection between Reynolds ionizers (some kind of military technology that Kurt was unable to find information about and might have been traced in the process) and the person/place/thing/word “Viendenbourg.”

The second email, also copied to Unfiction, talks about her research into Viendenbourg. Bumping into a mysterious old man at the Museum of Perplex City who discreetly slipped her some information, we find some kind of connection between Viendenbourg and a small village near the Tanraga mountains along with the cryptic words “Viendenbourg. Before everything changed.” It is a good thing that Scarlett is going camping there in a few weeks!

• Discussion: at Unfiction

Perplex City has added a new meta-site to its repertoire. The Perplex City Forums are for discussion of the Puzzle Cards. The forums are organized in categories by card color, and include separate forums for discussion of each of the currently released cards. There is also a separate forum for coordination of card trading, if you are so inclined, and an announcement post about the intended usage of the in-game boards.

In other news, the main Perplex City site has also been updated to link to the forums and to include a Frequently Asked Questions page. Our thanks go out to Mind Candy for the shout-outs on both the main site and the forums.

• Discussion: UF-PXC Forums Update, UF-PXC Forums Poll
• New Site: Perplex City Forums Alternate URL: pxcforums.com
• Updates: Perplex City

On August 2nd, those who have signed up for updates on the Perplex City site received an email from Sente, alerting them that the Perplex City puzzle cards were now available for sale (previously available for pre-order only) on Firebox.com. Sente also indicated that the first 100 to respond by ordering cards would receive something “special” along with their orders. Sure enough, those who ordered cards shortly thereafter have begun accepting shipments including special postcards, copies of the 24 Hours in Perplex City travel guide, and (more importantly) special loose editions of the #089 - Forever Foe card, personally signed by many of the Mind Candy employees, along with Sente’s signature “S.”

Not only that, each one of the signed cards is hand-numbered in the lower right-hand corner with a certain number out of 100 (as in 36/100) and in the upper right-hand corner is a single letter or number, written in pencil. Judging by the Group 333 card code, these letters and numbers, when strung together in order, will spell out something exciting and new! If you’ve recieved such a package, please head over to the Wiki, and add your bit of the code to the list!

Please note that some of those who ordered cards early also received copies of the postcard and travel guide, but only the first 100 orders after Sente’s August 2 email contain the special signed and coded puzzle cards.

• Discussion: UF-Puzzle, UF-Sente's Email

Well, hi there. A few things have happened since my last update. Hopefully my non-ARG schedule has returned to semi-normal and I’ll be able to update this more frequently… but who knows. So, what has happened in the last week?

Let’s start with the Sentinel. I think I’ll bullet the updates. Just cuz I can. So there. Nyah.

• More twins born in PC. 8% growth seems a little steep.
• Youth protest the city housing prices. Sounds like earth. I feel their pain.
• PCBC troubles. Looks like there is an internal fight about just who should lead the banking institution. Or not. Depends who you talk to.
• Our own Cookster gets a View from Earth. This time discussing acceptance of Keys… both in PC and on earth.
• A PC family was saved by a local woman after the family’s 14 year old son managed to capsize their boat.
• Madame Bianca is new. Hmmm… no more crime for me. Sigh.
• Also, the Sentinel has updated their upcoming events calendar.
• Finally, in non-linkable news, Alejo and Aurora seem to be house hunting. It’s nice to know that this couple is finally settling down.

Phew… One site down, a few more to go. On to the people of PC’s blogs:

Violet reports that she had a quick run-in with Aiko while visiting her dad. This could lead to an interesting confrontation at some point. Hmmm.

Scarlett is trying to figure out what to spend her birthday money on. Kite keycharm…. sounds like those dangly things for on your cellphone to me.

Finally Kurt…. who is slowly breaking my heart. First he reports that he didn’t win at the plane competition… and at the end adds a sad little line… that he’s going out for lunch with a girl from crypto…. then, only a couple of days later, he writes again… this time to deny the fact that he and Violet are an item. The only way he will be truly happy is to admit his feelings for her…. he went to a cult for her! Knelt in mud for her! Saw Gyvann! They belong together. (And if not with her… with someone that can… uh… see him for his true self worth…. even if it might be a long distance relationship….)

Alrighty. I think that’s all the updates. If you notice any spelling mistakes, link problems etc, please look for me in #syzygy or e-mail me… I’d like to know if you guys find this useful.

• Discussion: UF-Sentinel-Twins, UF-Sentinel-PCBC, UF-Sentinel-View, UF-Sentinel-Rescue, UF-Sentinel-Protest, UF-Scarlett, UF-Quirky, UF-Kurt-Plane, UF-Kurt-Violet
• Updates: Sentinel, UF-Sentinel-Upcoming, Quirky, Scarlett

Well, here we have it… ARGfest weekend…. and more updates from PC.

First of all, hi to those of you lucky enough to be attening ARGFest… for the rest of us, there is a webcast of events for tomorrow here. Mind Candy will have a presentation at 9:30AM EDT. Here’s the full schedule.

Friday link roundup… but where to start? Let’s start with Violet… who has posted for the first time in a few weeks. Looks like she has been pretty busy at work, and now has picked up a young harasser asking about brotherhood documents. Hmmmm.

Next, on to the Sentinel…. There’s a discussion of the biography of Isabella Levenay. Oooh… gossip in the fashion world.. always fun to read.

Seej has had an article published as the latest view from earth column. He discusses Culture Clashes - the similarities and differences between neighboring cultures.

Quick note on the sentinel that Joya has *finally* admitted that she is pregnant… now… who is the father… hmmmm……

Finally, looks like PC wants more of our assistance. The Sentinel is reporting that ad space can be had for free, although, it doesn’t really explain what the contest is to win the space. Also, Open Design is soliciting designs for existing Perplexcity companies.

• Discussion: UF-Violet, UF-Sentinel-Levenay, UF-Sentinel-View and Ads
• Updates: Violet, Sentinel, Open Design

The main Perplex City website has undergone another transformation. While much of the information is already known to followers of the game, there’s some clarification over our prior discoveries and some tantalising glimpses of how the leaderboard element will finally take shape. There’s even a surreptitious link in the top-right-hand corner to this very weblog! Gee, we’re all verklempt…

Two quick updates for those of you without their eyes superglued to the forums…

A new website! Kurt, one of the puzzle-card scribes at the Academy, hid his website address in the semacode background of this puzzle card, leading to The Path Of Least Time, his vaguely under-the-radar (you guessed it!) weblog.

In other news, players have discovered that the current crop of cards are part of an “advance release”, with only 66 of the 256 cards currently on sale. There’s no indication yet of when the full, 256-card deck will be made available. Oooh… you tease, MC!

• New Site: Path Of Least Time