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| Slug Shrine sign between the campus bookstore and McHenry Library (as of 01/02/2019) |
Dawn and I belatedly learned of a Fall 2018 alternate reality game (
ARG) run by UCSC students in ARTG 129 - "Special Topics in Game Design", when we passed a shrine near the Mission Bell Marker between the campus bookstore and McHenry Library.
Note: for a five minute recap of the ARG activities, please read the image at this link (accessed 01/07/2019 and archived below):https://goucsc.weebly.com/whats-this.html
SHRINES
Slug Shrine, #3 (photos taken 01/02/2019)
Note: the glass canning jar (along with the notebook and pen) was no longer present.
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| Slug shrine bowl support detail: top of branch has what looks like an inverted clear plastic bowl with a yellow banana slug inside resting on tinfoil. Hot glue seems to have been used to affix the bowl to the top of the branch as well as several more yellow banana slugs to the branch itself (note: it appears several slugs have gone missing, leaving behind the hot glue uesd to affix them). One branch holds a medium-sized wicker basket by three rope strands; one strand has a blue, oval-shaped, laminated piece of paper with the number 3 |
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| Bottom half of the slug bowl shrine, showing the brown fabric wrap binding the branches, as well as the rope tie-off |
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| Detail of wicker bowl contents: one brown rubberized slug, a note from a visitor, and various tree debris (cone, needles, etc.). In the background is the sign with the QR code. The number 3 on the tag is visible in this photo |
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| Rear of the sign (blank) |
Koi Shrine, #2 (photos taken 01/03/2019):
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| Koi statue with a solid white base overlaid by patterns of both orange and black, on a painted blue base resting on a medium-sized stone; a ring of fake flowers surrounds the simulated blue water |
Koi statue with a solid white base overlaid by patterns of both orange and black (note: it has golden eyes), on a painted blue base resting on a medium-sized stone; a ring of fake flowers surrounds the simulated blue water
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| Koi statue, sign, glass canning jar with notebook and pen, and wicker basket with QR code and glass stones |
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| Koi statue, sign, and jar |
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| A clear glass stone from the basket |
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| A stone and the koi shrine effects: statue, sign, wicker baset, and glass jar |
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| Glass canning jar with notebook and pen; the number 2 and an image of a koi guardian are on the front of the notebook |
Turkey Shrine, #1 (photos taken 03/24/2019):
We found the turkey shrine on the south lawn of Stevenson College, near a grove of redwoods overlooking the OPERS complex and with a view of the Monterey Bay (as hinted at in the video!)
This was shrine #1, as indicated on the notebook in the glass canning jar and on a red laminated tag attached to the shrine made of yarn and wood.
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| Rear of the turkey shrine, showing detail of yarn and sticks |
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| Closeup of turkey statue with a brown body, blue face, red wattle, and feather plumage, sitting in a wicker basket filled with red glass stones |
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| Turkey statue and shrine, with a better view of the feather plumage |
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| Tent stakes holding bowl in place |
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| Rear of the sign (blank) |
Deer Shrine, #4 (photos taken 05/12/2019):
We found the deer shrine on a path between Crown and Merrill just above where Hagar Drive meets McLaughlin Drive, in a small depression, partially obscured by tree branches (
exact location).
This was shrine #4, as indicated on the notebook in the glass canning jar and on a green laminated tag attached to the shrine made of what looked like papier-mâché in the form of a deer head and antlers.
The deer head and antlers seems to have weathered poorly and separated into two pieces. A wicker basket at the site contained what seemed like a plaster base covered with small, smooth stones, into which two faux flowering branches had been inserted. The faux branches may have supported the deer head and antlers at one time (?) When we arrived the deer head was shrunken and difficult to identify.
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| The deer shrine, as seen from the path: branches obscure the sign |
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| A green glass stone and some of the deer shrine effects: wicker basket, faux flowering branches fixed into what looks like a plaster base covered with small, smooth stones |
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| Papier-mâché deer head, wicker basket, sign, glass canning jar containing a notebook and pen, two faux flowering branches |
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| Rear of the sign (blank) |
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| Front of the sign reads, "Please take one rock & write in the notebook : )" |
OTHER SHRINES:
Each shrine had a number, with four numbers in all: 1, 2, 3, and 4.
- Turkey shrine, #1
- Deer shrine, #4
- Koi shrine, #2
- Slug shrine, #3
It seems game organizers may have helped direct players to shrines by email hints.
WEB SITES
The ARG seems to have had two web sites:
- Initial site (linked to by poster QR codes?): Weebly web site
- More information web site (linked to by shrine QR codes?): UCSC Student Web Site
Note: content was added throughout the quarter, but I think this represents the order, based on a close read of the post-game newsletter image.
UCSC STUDENT WEB SITE
The shrine sign's QR code leads to the UCSC site of student Yaoshun Yu (accessed 01/01/2019;
via):
https://people.ucsc.edu/~yyu35/Guardian
- The student site has a YouTube video uploaded on 10/26/2018 (accessed 01/01/2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWTZYDan7QA
- Selecting button "Find Out The Truth" and entering password "midas" (via the page source code) redirects the user to a second Weebly web site (accessed 01/01/2019): https://goucsc.weebly.com/
- Selecting the icon in the far lower-right and entering password "2143" (via the page source code; note: these also represent the numbers from the four shrines on campus) changes the page in three ways:
- Koi picture at the bottom changes to "front.png"
- Guardian picture at the top changes to "back.png"
- Plays 4m15s audio file "audio.mp3" (accessed 01/01/2019)
- Intro music: full of tension,
- 1st phone call conversation: a Kresge frat brother, Brett (Brent?), calls the mobile device of another frat brother, Chad, who has not arrived to the frat house party
- A drunk Chad answers, reports he's somewhere near Stevenson College and was chugging beers with cows, passed out, then woke up next to a turkey (the turkey Guardian?) who he has successfully communicated with who will lead him back to the Kresge frat house (1st phone call ends)
- 2nd phone call conversation: Brett calls Chad again, after the other brother has still not arrived
- Chad's phone answers, but we hear the turkey gobble first, then we hear Chad's voice, very drunk (drugged?) reports the turkey has led him to the Porter koi pond
- Chad decides he wants to take a dip in the koi pond to sober up
- It seems unclear, but the drunk frat brother begins cursing and seems to struggle, as though underwater (2nd phone call ends, with implication drunk frat brother drowns and/or is murdered by ... the turkey or koi?)
- The audio ends
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| Front |
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| Back |
- Front reads (sic), "To My Frat Agent Hatbeks WANT Midas ded! Reward wil falow"
- Is Hatbeks an anagram (?)
- Both pages crumpled as though found/discarded (?)
- Back has a map of the area around Porter/Kresge Dining Hall:
- Trees
- An "X" in red ink (where to take the fish (?) where people should go to find the next clue (?))
- Steps leading to Porter/Kresge Dining Hall
- Bowls, a local cafe
- Koi pond with fish
- U-shaped driveway near Parking Lot 125
- It appears a commented-out JavaScript easter egg script on the web site may have once been active: https://people.ucsc.edu/~yyu35/Guardian/easteregg.js
- By pressing a combination of numbers (namely, 2, 1, 4, and 3), it would activate the following audio file, which seems like the same file as above (Audio.mp3), but without the intro music: https://people.ucsc.edu/~yyu35/Guardian/FratBois.wav (accessed 01/01/2019)
WEEBLY SITE
As of 01/02/2019, the Weebly site's menu has two sub-pages (accessed 01/01/2019):
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| A recap: The Decoder Tribune |
Both sites have plain text rendered in font "OldenForest-Regular", to obscure the meaning. Note:
the font file description (viewed in
BirdFont editor) indicates UCSC student
Athene Yip created the font in October 2018, using
FontForge 2.0. Nicely done!
REDDIT
Organizer's posts on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/user/MidasAgent
The group's
first post on the /r/UCSC/ subreddit seems to have been on 10/26/2018, showing a faux-historical photograph of the original Guardians:
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| The Original Guardians, in black and white |
The Guardians performed in-character on campus:
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| The contemporary Guardians, as seen near the campus bookstore on 11/02/2018 |
It seems unclear if any other videos/media exist of the ARG events (?)
The ARG culminated in a celebration for Midas the koi fish on 11/30/2018, by trees near the Porter College koi pond:
Note: it seems the class professor briefly jumped into
a conversation on 10/31/2018 to re-assure students after alarming reports of what seems like an unrelated masked person on campus.
By the time we learned of the ARG, almost a month had passed. On 01/02/2019, we walked to Oakes College and looked for the shrine (sign?)
reportedly on Oakes Drive, but couldn't find it. We also walked to the
carousel on science hill and didn't see anything. So, either it was removed, or the recent wind storm wrecked it, or (?)
Reddit searches:
Guardian:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UCSC/search?q=guardian&restrict_sr=1
MidasAgent:
https://www.reddit.com/user/MidasAgent
Midas:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UCSC/search?q=midas&restrict_sr=1
ARTG 129 - Special Topics in Game Design
Professor A.M. Darke posted a class photo on Instagram, on 12/10/2018:
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| ARTG 129 class photo, with ARG graphics on the rear walls |
The 1080-pixel photo shows graphics from the ARG in the barkground, but unfortunately does not have enough resolution to offer further hints. : ) They seem like a great bunch.
Midas the Koi
Midas was an 18 inch, 20 pound Hikari Ogon Japanese Koi gifted to the UCSC in 1995 by David Swanger, an education and creative writing professor. The year 2018 marked the 15th anniversary of Midas' untimely death, on May 20, 2003. Those responsible were prosecuted and found guilty, and the Delta Omega Chi fraternity was ultimately kicked off campus.
Questions:
- What did the flyers look like? Note: the "The Decoder Tribue" (accessed 01/08/2018) seems to have a low-res image in the first column
- What did the celebratory shrine look like, on 11/30/2018? Note: the "The Decoder Tribue" (accessed 01/08/2018) seems to have a low-res image in the last column
- Do videos/photos of the live events exist?
- Does "Hatbeks" mean anything?
