// Aporia News 2.5

In spirit of trying to keep everyone up to speed with the happenings within the game, I wanted to give a little something to our players. Many of these facts may be common knowledge to some players, while others may just be learning it.

Fact 1: A number of players have put together a good resource of information regarding the game at the aporia agathon project wiki: click here. The resource requires input from the players and some information may not be 100% correct - that’s just a disclaimer though a quick glance of everything seems pretty accurate at the moment.

The rest of this post may be considered spoiler information for some so I’ll make you expand a page to tread the rest

Fact 2: We’ve promised to send mailings out to people who registered for the game. I have heard some comments regarding the fact people have not received them. We’re not yet ready for that stage of the game. Currently players are experiencing the earliest stage of the game which introduces them to a storyline that builds up the universe for which this reality resides.

Fact 3: Our audience was introduced to quite a few characters prior to July when we promoted the game through promotional videos and letters the players found during the lagtv event. One of these individuals, Barret Harper, is a military doctor who served in the Army during the second world war. One of his duties took him to a Nazi prison camp where he met a young girl who he aided through an ailment she was facing. Recent documents show Barrett as a member of the Air Force, an event that happened in 1947 when the Air Force was officially formed.

Fact 4: Diego is going to a school with Jan, Mary Kate, and Elisandra. His sister, Isobella, doesn’t go to school with them but is friends with many of Diego’s friends. Isobella and Sarah thought they were being attacked by a man in a park.

Fact 5: This man turned out to be Michael Surry (Mikey) who is a private investigator who had stumbled across the wrong “Sarah” during an investigation. He had been hired by another Sarah’s parents to find out what weaknesses she had (if any) with her online social networking profiles. His investigation brought him to Isobella and Sarah, who when scared really boogered his mind. I can’t get too much into why this has happened yet as much of it is speculation, but I can say pay attention to the videos and listen to what’s being said (even if you have to watch them over again).

Fact 6: There have been 5 organizations the audience has been exposed to. The first is the students (who beyond being students intend to start up a student organization: SEALs) who the players have interacted with on youtube. Second is the mysterious Awlyn who players have seen reference to, but are still learning who and what they are. Third is the Dragon Council who are the governing body for the Awlyn and are very strict in every faucet of the awlyn life (these three organizations are tied to each other somewhat). Fourth is the rebellious group run by Amun, who helped Mikey overcome an ailment he faced after confronting Isobella and Sarah. Fifth is the organization that has been involved in the abduction of many awlyn over the years (recently connected through Barrett to the US Government via the Air Force).

Fact 7: Eyegasm-design.com plays a big role throughout the game in keeping information connected to one source. This is done in an effort to help keep confusion through gamejacking to a minimum. When players find characters or websites throughout the game there will be some sort of connection through either eyegasm-design or other methods to verify they’re supposed to exist within the game. As players find characters on Youtube, they’ll be added to the favorites/subscriptions of the aporiacme account.

Fact 8: Players discovered a cipher wheel (I call it a Shadow Wheel) which is similar to the Jefferson cipher wheel. We had intended on finding a supplier to make a wheel for purchase by our audience, but we could not get the price under $200. Fortunately players have made a software version of the wheel ( Available here through the player wiki). The wheel is used by Amun’s organization to send super-d-duper secret messages to each other. Thankfully players figured out how to use it themselves so they too can take part in the process.

Fact 9: As the developers of the game, we’re trying to make the game as accessible to players everywhere as we can. Fortunately there are ways we can do that through the game mechanics without having to go to every city players are in and do live events. Unfortunately these game mechanics haven’t started playing out yet. As players get the mailings we are sending out (soon), they’ll be able to register for a website and begin taking part in those game mechanics. This may require some players who find themselves lurking and watching the game unfold to become a little more active than they may be accustomed to.

Fact 10: Around the time the mailings are sent out, Jason Chrest will be interviewed by LagTV to discuss some of the atmosphere players should expect as the game develops. We’ll talk about SLA’s game mechanics while avoiding any particular aspects regarding the story the players are being confronted with. This interview will happen live on one of the Monday or Friday shows at LagTV. Be sure to check them out whenever you have the opportunity to.

We’re really enjoying our time with the game. We’ve been trying to keep the game at a moderately slower pace for the many people who have registered for the game and mentioned the fact they were new to the genre. We welcome these new faces and the 400 or so other people in over 30 countries who have been keeping up with the game. We love you guys and you all make the time we put in everyday much easier to do. We look forward to continuing the experience with all of you for the next several months.