Difference between revisions of "Beginners Guide"

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Not long after, a huge bombshell is dropped: a group calling itself [[Ccfabg.org|Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham]] releases testimony from GPD officers that Harvey Dent bribed and blackmailed them into testifying against innocent cops. However, not all is what it seems. [[Josephcandoloro.com|The founder of CCFABG.org]] seems to have shady ties of his own, possibly connected to the police as the [[Gothampolice.com#March_30.2C_2008|corruption in Gotham's police department seems to run deeper.]] On his [[Trustgarcetti.com|campaign website]], Roger Garcetti calls for Dent's withdrawal from the race due to allegations that he bribed decorated GPD officer [[Francis Notaro]] to falsely testify against his fellow officers. Dent denies all allegations, but his support is waning. Even though a few familiar believers still stand by him despite the negative attacks, [[Thegothamtimes.com/media/jlevine/public#Rachel_Dawes_video|moves have been made to prevent their voices from being heard.]]
 
Not long after, a huge bombshell is dropped: a group calling itself [[Ccfabg.org|Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham]] releases testimony from GPD officers that Harvey Dent bribed and blackmailed them into testifying against innocent cops. However, not all is what it seems. [[Josephcandoloro.com|The founder of CCFABG.org]] seems to have shady ties of his own, possibly connected to the police as the [[Gothampolice.com#March_30.2C_2008|corruption in Gotham's police department seems to run deeper.]] On his [[Trustgarcetti.com|campaign website]], Roger Garcetti calls for Dent's withdrawal from the race due to allegations that he bribed decorated GPD officer [[Francis Notaro]] to falsely testify against his fellow officers. Dent denies all allegations, but his support is waning. Even though a few familiar believers still stand by him despite the negative attacks, [[Thegothamtimes.com/media/jlevine/public#Rachel_Dawes_video|moves have been made to prevent their voices from being heard.]]
  
In Dent's defense, an investigation into the Notaro allegations is currently underway, which implicates [[Joseph Candoloro]] (the founder of [[Ccfabg.org]]), [[Albert Rossi]] and the mob, [[Francis Notaro]], the [[Gothampolice.com|GPD]] and Garcetti's DA office in the cover-up in the murder of a possibly innocent man, in which Notaro received the [[Gothampolice.com#March_30.2C_2008|Gotham Medal of Commendation.]] A [[Thegothamtimes.com/media/jlevine/public#Notaro_Interview|soon-to-be-published Notaro interview]] with Times reporter [[James Levine]] threatens to blow the top off of the whole affair. In fear of [[Gpdiad.com|Internal Affairs]] as well as [[Gothampolice.com/secureinternaldocuments#Wiretap_.28IA8234971.29|the mob]], Notaro [[Gothampolice.com/secureinternaldocuments#Bank_Statement_.28IA8376121.29|makes plans]] to leave Gotham with his family.
+
Amid the political mudslinging, owners of the Joker cell phones are [[Rent-a-clown.com#March_30.2C_2008|contacted]] and given "secret letters." This led to a [[Clowntravelagency.com|new recruitment exercise]] on April Fool's Day that involves the retrieval of bowling balls and cell phones from bowling alleys across the world. Once all were found, the Joker asked his minions to [[Acmesecuritysystems.com#Delos|hack into the website of the ACME security company]]. But this proved to be a trap: Jim Gordon proceeded to call those who attempted to hack into the system and told them they must help the police or face jail time.
  
Amid the political mudslinging, owners of the Joker cell phones are [[Rent-a-clown.com#March_30.2C_2008|contacted]] and given "secret letters." This led to a [[Clowntravelagency.com|new recruitment exercise]] on April Fool's Day that involves the retrieval of bowling balls and cell phones from bowling alleys across the world. Once all were found, the Joker asked his minions to [[Acmesecuritysystems.com#Delos|hack into the website of the ACME security company]]. But this proved to be a trap: Jim Gordon proceeded to call those who attempted to hack into the system and told them they must help the police or face jail time.
+
In Dent's defense, an investigation into the Notaro allegations began, which implicates [[Joseph Candoloro]] (the founder of [[Ccfabg.org]]), [[Albert Rossi]] and the mob, [[Francis Notaro]], the [[Gothampolice.com|GPD]] and Garcetti's DA office in the cover-up in the murder of a possibly innocent man, in which Notaro received the [[Gothampolice.com#March_30.2C_2008|Gotham Medal of Commendation.]] A [[Thegothamtimes.com/media/jlevine/public#Notaro_Interview|soon-to-be-published Notaro interview]] with Times reporter [[James Levine]] threatens to blow the top off of the whole affair. In fear of [[Gpdiad.com|Internal Affairs]] as well as [[Gothampolice.com/secureinternaldocuments#Wiretap_.28IA8234971.29|the mob]], Notaro [[Gothampolice.com/secureinternaldocuments#Bank_Statement_.28IA8376121.29|makes plans]] to leave Gotham with his family. But after his partner Cisneros and his family are [[Josephcandoloro.com#April_13|killed in a car bombing]], Notaro snaps and takes hostages at Rossi's Deli, causing a [[Ibelieveinharveydent.com#Press_Conference|Harvey Dent campaign press conference]] to be cancelled due to the police response. Before the situation can elevate into something worse, Harvey Dent enters the building and successfully convinces Notaro to let the hostages go and surrender to the police.
  
 
Currently, the [[Gothamelectionboard.com| Gotham City online voting system]] is being set up so that participants may vote in June.
 
Currently, the [[Gothamelectionboard.com| Gotham City online voting system]] is being set up so that participants may vote in June.

Revision as of 18:57, 13 April 2008

Introduction

The Dark Knight ARG is an alternate reality game created by Warner Bros. and 42 Entertainment to promote The Dark Knight, the upcoming Batman movie directed by Christopher Nolan. Unlike most online games, an ARG includes an immersive storyline the players are characters in; in the case of The Dark Knight, all players are citizens of the fictional Gotham City. An ARG requires searching for clues to continue the story on the Internet, on the phone, and at real-life events. Activities in the Dark Knight game have included:

Once an objective in the game is completed, all participants are rewarded with new TDK promotional material, such as trailers, pictures from the movie, and posters. Those who participate outside of the Internet have received items like newspapers, clown masks and cell phones.

The story (so far!)

The ARG timeline presumably begins immediately after the conclusion of Batman Begins, when Lieutenant James Gordon tells Batman about the existence of a theatrical murderous criminal who calls himself the Joker.

Since Gotham City DA Carl Finch was killed during the timeline of Batman Begins, Roger Garcetti is elected to act as DA. Along with Rachel Dawes, a new hotshot lawyer named Harvey Dent makes up the prosecution team as Assistant District Attorney. Dent immediately begins work to clean up police corruption in the city, inspiring Gotham citizens to make the website Ibelieveinharveydent.com in May 2007.

A mysterious figure makes his own site mocking the Dent support, deforming the image of Harvey Dent at Ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com. By inviting online participants to submit their emails, he gradually revealed himself on the site as the Joker. When this was done, he erased everything on the page save an encoded message: "See you in December."

In July, the Joker emerges again at the San Diego Comic Con looking for recruits to cause public havoc. A massive scavenger hunt across the city begins as a mob wearing clown makeup, working with friends online, wanders across San Diego and wreaks havoc according to the Joker's directions. The game ends when someone standing in for the Joker is driven away by possible gangsters, who kill him shortly after. The Gotham authorities believe that the threat is eliminated, but the Joker assures his followers that he is alive and well.

On Halloween, the Joker prepares a new recruitment game by having hopefuls look for prominently displayed letters on buildings across America to discover his motto: "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules." He then encourages participants to take group photos of themselves dressed like him in public, for his amusement.

As a reward for playing the game, the Joker sends all the participants a copy of The Gotham Times. In it, the reader learns about the growing mob war in Gotham, Harvey Dent's actions to curb police corruption, and Batman's ambivalent place in Gotham society. In the newspaper itself, the Joker publicized a recruitment email address in a classified ad, and makes a parody website of the newspaper at Thehahahatimes.com.

By submitting tips to Harvey Dent's police corruption website, the participant becomes privy to a sting operation involving two police officers who are then caught in the act of accepting bribes. The operation goes wrong and a shoot-out occurs, in which one of the accused officers die. In the interrogation of the surviving officer afterwards, it is clear that Gotham police officers feel threatened by Harvey Dent's actions to crack down on corruption, as well as the pressure of working in such a crime-ridden city.

In the meantime, the Joker is once again making his presence known throughout Gotham, inviting participants into more games via the email address that he publicized in the newspaper. The games culminate in December, in a final recruitment exercise in the guise of a carnival game, which whittles down the field to 22 recruits on the ground carrying cell phones, awaiting the Joker's future orders. He invites all other hopefuls to "meet him," keeping his promise of seeing them in December.

As the Gotham City elections in June approach, the support for Harvey Dent escalate at Ibelieveinharveydent.com. Dent himself calls each one of his supporters asking them for help to get him elected as Gotham DA. Fellow supporters are asked to spread the word by giving away campaign materials and submitting photos and video of themselves campaigning.

They are rewarded with copies of a new issue of The Gotham Times. In it, Harvey Dent officially announces his candidacy for Gotham District Attorney, opposing Roger Garcetti (who plays dirty politics) and Dana Worthington. In addition, there are yet more articles about the ongoing mob war, various GPD mob-related investigations, and the cumulative effect of such violence on Gotham citizens, even including widows of the involved mobsters. There are also updates to events that have occurred between the two issues. Batman has found some ardent support among civilians, and Karl Breitup's death resonates within his family as well as his company. Finally, it is clear that the events that took place in Batman Begins have not faded in time - Arkham Asylum is under fire and many inmates who escaped the asylum during the Narrows Attack have never been found. Still, most of the focus is on the upcoming race for Gotham DA.

Not long after, a huge bombshell is dropped: a group calling itself Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham releases testimony from GPD officers that Harvey Dent bribed and blackmailed them into testifying against innocent cops. However, not all is what it seems. The founder of CCFABG.org seems to have shady ties of his own, possibly connected to the police as the corruption in Gotham's police department seems to run deeper. On his campaign website, Roger Garcetti calls for Dent's withdrawal from the race due to allegations that he bribed decorated GPD officer Francis Notaro to falsely testify against his fellow officers. Dent denies all allegations, but his support is waning. Even though a few familiar believers still stand by him despite the negative attacks, moves have been made to prevent their voices from being heard.

Amid the political mudslinging, owners of the Joker cell phones are contacted and given "secret letters." This led to a new recruitment exercise on April Fool's Day that involves the retrieval of bowling balls and cell phones from bowling alleys across the world. Once all were found, the Joker asked his minions to hack into the website of the ACME security company. But this proved to be a trap: Jim Gordon proceeded to call those who attempted to hack into the system and told them they must help the police or face jail time.

In Dent's defense, an investigation into the Notaro allegations began, which implicates Joseph Candoloro (the founder of Ccfabg.org), Albert Rossi and the mob, Francis Notaro, the GPD and Garcetti's DA office in the cover-up in the murder of a possibly innocent man, in which Notaro received the Gotham Medal of Commendation. A soon-to-be-published Notaro interview with Times reporter James Levine threatens to blow the top off of the whole affair. In fear of Internal Affairs as well as the mob, Notaro makes plans to leave Gotham with his family. But after his partner Cisneros and his family are killed in a car bombing, Notaro snaps and takes hostages at Rossi's Deli, causing a Harvey Dent campaign press conference to be cancelled due to the police response. Before the situation can elevate into something worse, Harvey Dent enters the building and successfully convinces Notaro to let the hostages go and surrender to the police.

Currently, the Gotham City online voting system is being set up so that participants may vote in June.

How to participate

  • Trying to hack into Acmesecuritysystems.com gets your email and phone number put on a Gotham Police watch list. This will probably lead to the next phase of the virals, so sign up for police informant duty!
  • Joker-related games have initiated from humanresources@whysoserious.com, a recruitment email address from the Joker. As of December 2007, the initiating participant list has been whittled down to 22 people carrying cell phones, but emailing that address could still get you on a mailing list for future use. Many participants with cell phones are users of forums such as Superhero Hype! so any news on phone-related activity will be posted online in a timely manner.
  • Do you think you just found the next viral site? If it isn't linked to by a site already known to be in-game, then run it through the GoDaddy WHOIS Database. If the website is registered to Domains by Proxy in Scottsdale, Arizona, then it could be in the game; if it isn't, it isn't part of the viral.