OpAphid announcement

[gemma]

From the Phorum

Dear Fans,

We want to clarify the connection between OpAphid and lonelygirl15. Simply put, OpAphid is supplemental material that adds to the lonelygirl15 experience. It is not required viewing. If you watch lonelygirl15, you will experience an engaging, compelling story, full of plot twists and character development. You will not be left out if you choose not to play the OpAphid game (the official ARG). If you choose to play the game, it will provide you with a much deeper experience and allow you to solve puzzles. We are trying to appeal to a broad swath of fans... both casual viewers, and hardcore gamers. We think we can do both. If you are not up to speed with OpAphid or ARG's, feel free to catch up in the forum.

Email any of us anytime with questions (Miles in particular is happy to talk at length about how cool OpAphid and the new site features are).

Enjoy!

The Creators

i couldn't see this posted over here anywhere, and wasn't sure where to put it. feel free to delete or move it if its not in the right place.

[lesbrent]

ummm. yay! ? WHAT? puzzle solving? Who's OpAhid?

kidding. Seriously, how many fans are actually into that whole thing? A dozen? More?

[hyemew]

This explains why a few days ago they brought on an "OpAphid admin".

[gemma]

I really don't know how I feel about all this.

I don't want to hate OpAphid without giving it a chance but it just doesn't pull me in like LG does.
Plus its got significantly darker subject matter than LG (yes I know its not exactly Quentin Tarantino material but still) which goes against what they said about CIW.

[lesbrent]

I like the dark side Gemma. I find OpAphid weird though, not dark. Has anyone watched those videos and went, oh yeah, NOW I understand?

Hey those gamers can feel free to do their thing. Pick up/drop offs whatever floats their boat.

Kinda like how there was a LOST ARG over the past summer on the net. When all the pieces of the puzzle were put together, you ended up with like 60 clips that when put together was another "training" video in a hatch that didn't tell you anything vital to the story at all.

I just find this kinda well disappointing. Maybe it isn't for real ARG'ers.

[gemma]

Oh I love the darker stuff too! Haha, it just seems all mismatched because of their original statement about CIW. Its like they really don't know where they are going with it all.

And yeah, its more strange than scary, I just don't see what 'story' there really is to clutch at. Some puzzles maybe, but they don't really offer much plot advancements, just the satisfaction of solving something. Maybe I just don't 'get it'

[milowent]

gemma said:

From the Phorum

If you choose to play the game, it will provide you with a much deeper experience and allow you to solve puzzles.

puzzles? yesterday i was swallowing in despair and self-hatred, but some sudoku saved my life.

[Terryfic]

I can't possible see how they can stay on the fence with this for very long. Either they have to include special plot details for the OpAphid people or they will get frustrated that they aren't learning anything about Bree, but if they do that all the regular LG fans will be upset because they don't want to have to deal with all the silliness of playing a live action D&D session solving lame anagrams across the internet.

I totally agree with you Jay, they really need to expand the scope of the game. But I can’t see that happening and I am pretty positive that this is total amateur hour, not only because OpAphid doesn't really look very interesting but they couldn't even get the most basic fundamental rule of how a ARG has to be run. This Is Not A Game. It is kind of hard to keep that sentiment when you keep calling it the official game.

Am I the only one that is afraid the UnForums and the Phorum is going to clash again, much like they did when everyone thought CiW was official?

[trash180]

lesbrent said:

ummm. yay! ? WHAT? puzzle solving? Who's OpAhid?

kidding. Seriously, how many fans are actually into that whole thing? A dozen? More?

A dozen very vocal active posters. I guess I don't mind as long as they don't take over EVERY conversation with their game. The CIW got out of hand pretty quick. One would hope that with seperate space for it on the phorum that it shouldn't interfere with straight story discussion. Of course, what do I care, eh? I'm hardly on the phorum anyway.

[gemma]

milowent said:

gemma said:

From the Phorum

If you choose to play the game, it will provide you with a much deeper experience and allow you to solve puzzles.

puzzles? yesterday i was swallowing in despair and self-hatred, but some sudoku saved my life.

haha this had me in stitches.

karma for milowent!

[lesbrent]

What a bloody mess the other phorum is becoming. There really are just about 20 active posters. Craziness!

[noasinger]

OMG, it's just so surreal to imagine Miles being happy to talk at length about anything. Terry and I used to practically have to do VOODOO to get him to respond to us, and this was back *before* the unpleasant and regretted rants.

[gemma]

he was obviously too busy dreaming up the rich narrative threads running through OpAphid!

[lesbrent]

yes, this is snarky ...

Maybe it will be Amanda Goodfried answering emails as Miles

[skiba]

A much, much better (and more accurate) summary of OpAphid and Tachyon from over on the phorum:

Reader’s Digest Version Narrative
OpAphid made their appearance by posting a video response to Bree’s “My Difficult Decision”. In this video Op praises Bree for sticking with the ceremony and turning Daniel away.

Op then turned her sites on Cassie with a series of videos that openly mocked the specter. Through this series of videos a phone number was discovered that lead to a voicemail from Op asking us to be prepared.

One of OpAphid’s information gather facilities was broken into and while most items were found in the park by Op’s people, we were asked to double check. At this point we found the first drop items that lead to the discovery of Tachyon, a double agent who had infiltrated OpAphid’s regime. Tachyon had grown restless in her mission and bolted early much to the dismay of “Mom and Dad”.

When the items were recovered, the recovery team also received 2 phone calls. One from “Brother”, Tachyon’s partner and another from Op. The first call was an attempt by Brother to contact Tachyon and failing that, gather information about her where…abouts. The followup call was a pass/fail message from Op. Loyalty = Pass. Turning over info = Fail.

Others also received these calls later and it was discovered that the phone Op had used for the VM puzzle was Tachyon’s that she had lost while undercover.

Tachyon’s ran North through Bakersfield to Santa Nella. Here Tachyon leaves more clues for Brother. She is presumably hitchhiking at this point. There is a copy of the Thelemic text “The Book of The Law” and a bookmark indicating Tachyon’s opinions of this text. Also in the drop, a video of Daniel following Lucy.

Craigslist posts travel through Merced and Modesto and reveal more messages from Tachyon to Brother Notable: “Thelema a of ?” which implies that Thelema might not be the only religion that Op has it’s fingers in. There is also a message to pass along
”HE NEEDS TO KNOW HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN ON TO HIM IT IS NOT LIKE THEY JUST STOP TRACKING SOMEONE”

Tachyon’s travels now take her to San Francisco. This message is meant for the people who have been getting to drops before Brother. “Take Warning”, Nancy Drew’s Guide to Life (full of spy tips), “Who watches the watchers?” and the big one, five photos of Daniel at the ceremony.

Since Tachyon’s cell phone has been under Aphid control, she’s needed a new phone line. Brother has come though for her…the puzzle was long and involved math. Sometimes it helps to come in late.

Brother tells us he is also being followed, hence the man who knew too little routine. He also dials in his youtube account.


---

Note that the last Tachyon drop also hinted that Tachyon might be the girl Gemma mentioned who disappeared with her family.