Tuesday, January 01, 2008

New Year, New Lost ARG!

Well, this came out of nowhere.

Yesterday, Oceanic Airlines re-opened for business (http://www.flyoceanicair.com/), promising to take me places I've only imagined in my dreams (a place where I can watch the final 48 episodes of Lost right now while sitting in a pool of Skyline Chili?)

Their website features a video that is spliced with images that say FIND815.COM, and a video of a new character in the Lost universe named Sam:

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He tells us that Oceanic Airlines officially gave up their search for downed Flight 815 (even though they allegedly performed the "biggest search in history"), and declared the 324 passengers onboard as deceased. But that doesn't sit well for our boy Sammy, who was in love with Sonya, a flight attendant on Oceanic 815. Visiting http://www.find815.com brings you into his world, and starts us down the path of the next ARG (Alternate Reality Game / Distraction for the Lost Uber-Nerds of the World).

I won't give too much away here so that you can enjoy it for yourself, but the first two puzzles to solve are pretty easy (but I will mention that the trick to the first one is that you have to zoom in a LOT before it will let you click on anything in the picture - that should save you ten minutes of frustration that I encountered when starting).

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But here's the really exciting part - it looks like this ARG will only be lasting five weeks... which will pretty much coincide with the start of the fourth season of Lost... and by the looks of things, my early inclination is that this ARG is going to explain who the NPBers are (Not Penny's Boaters).

Are they members of the Maxwell Group? Who is the Maxwell Group? How do I get into their website?! So many questions. A few intriguing points from the story so far...

  • James Clerk Maxwell published a series of equations on magnetism back in 1861, creatively titled "Maxwell's Equations". Is it possible this Maxwell Group has been brought to the Island out of a desire to study the "unique magnetic properties" there?
  • Naomi and Anthony Cooper mentioned that the wreckage from Flight 815 had actually been found, and that the bodies of all the passengers were there as well. So does that mean this ARG takes place in the days immediately after the crash (September 2004), and the wreckage is actually found sometime before Naomi / Cooper's arrivals on the Island (December 2004)? How would someone actually stumble upon this wreckage after the search party is called off?
  • Where is the money and power for this conspiracy coming from? To be able to fake a plane crash (with bodies!) would require an insane amount of resources - and what would be the purpose? To protect the Island from outsiders? Would Dharma still be protecting it even after the purge? Is Oceanic Airlines now in cahoots with Dharma (agreeing to call off the search party), or just an innocent party accidentally involved?
  • Sam is able to get some pretty good summary information about a lot of Survivors, and he's just some average guy. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the Others were able to get their full life biographies, since one can assume they would have a lot more resources than Sam at their fingertips.
  • Sam's room looks an awful lot like Jack's flash-forward room - full of maps and notes of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the website, the next chapter of the ARG starts up in 26 hours. Until then, discuss... and if you're going to discuss, remember that we've got a sweet Message Board setup for more in-depth discussions. I've created a post specifically for this ARG here: http://facethewoods.com/lost/index.php?topic=210.0

(Fun fact - due to the wacky proxy rules for my workplace internet, I can get to the Blog - but not the comments section, which means that any mid-day thoughts will be posted / questions addressed on the Message Board only. Another added perk to use it!)

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the head ups Brian and happy new year to you and all and let us have a wonderful new season of LOST!!!

So, the sunda trench ha? Found this also about it on NatGeos website:

"...Sunda trench, a subduction zone that runs 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometers) from Myanmar (Burma) south past Sumatra and Java and east toward Australia. The trench runs roughly parallel to the west coast of Sumatra about 125 miles (200 kilometers) offshore."

Anonymous said...

This is almost too good to be true:

http://www.freewebs.com/shipwreckmate/

entry #6 is the Black Rock, a gold mining (dynamite) and slave trading ship (shackleS) from the late 1800's. That totally fits with the costume that Cane Defector guy wore.

Is the entry real or is it a plant?

Andrew Steger said...

I called the number on the .pdf from the flyoceanicair.com website: Oceanic Airlines Contact:
Georgia Cavanagh (818) 460-5520. It plays a recorded message then gives you an option to check your voicemail by entering the mailbox number and password. I obviously don't know either yet, but it's definitely something to keep your eye on.

Anonymous said...

Btw, dont you guys think that the OCEANIC airlines LOGO looks like an island surrounded for some sort of protection????

Anonymous said...

Does Sonya looks a bit like Claire, or am I just crazy here? ;)

Alec said...

Eighth Annual Weblog Awards are taking nominations:

http://2008.bloggies.com/

Head on over and vote for Brian's site in the Entertainment category!

Anonymous said...

Brian,

Can you post at some point the things you are finding out from the game for us poor souls who can't get to it for some reason?

Brian Leonard said...

Hope (and others)--if you can get here:

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Find_815/Chapter_1

...it's a full step-by-step summary of what's been going on so far. But it ruins all the fun if you *can* play the game and haven't. So I suggest only using it if you can't play the game or if you think you're caught up and want to review what's happened so far. Chapter 1 should end tonight (1/4).

the Other Brian

Brian said...

Chapter 1 is officially complete! Our boy Sam is on his way to Jakarta to hop aboard the Christiane I to travel to the "deepest part of the ocean".

What are the odds that he's on his way to Lost island? I'd say fair... although I don't think that this ship would necessarily have the high tech technology / helicopter like Naomi had - do you?

Anonymous said...

I know this bonus materials for hardcore fans, but will Sonya and Sam ever be mentioned on Lost?

Anonymous said...

Hello all..Here is a link to an interview with Matthew Fox....It is spoilerish so dont read if you dont wanna know. ENJOY!!!
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20169281,00.html

Anonymous said...

Interesting stuff. I don't know how much longer I can wait until the premiere. Do we know whether or not there will be a lead-in type recap episode?

Brian Leonard said...

Phishpac,

Yes. There will be a lead-in recap broadcast at 8 PM before the 9 PM premiere.

Jason said...

Anyone else having a hard time getting into Chapter 2 in the new LOST ARG?