The Dark Knight The Oracle Post (Universal)

[cinematheque]

AS OF 4/27/08 8:41 P.M. EST:

Right now we are planning on using IRC clients based on the Gotham Speakeasy (http://www.gotham-speakeasy.com/?page_id=8) for the Oracles. You can access these through any IRC Client as well. The Flash Speakeasy will still be available for lounging during the game; however, all Oracle chat through the Speakeasy should try to go through the IRC Speakeasies. The main Oracle Speakeasy is #speakeasy and all city-specific rooms will be something like #tdkchicago or #tdksanfran--THERE IS A MASTER LIST OF CITY-SPECIFIC SPEAKEASIES BELOW. If you need to get into a city-specific room but find you can't, ask someone about it in #speakeasy and you should hopefully get an answer.

For more detailed instructions on how to go about using this, see my post about it here: http://forums.superherohype.com/showpost.php?p=14667059&postcount=71

And thank you, thank you, thank you nerium for the Speakeasy. You're the best!

MASTER LIST OF ORACLE SPEAKEASIES:

Main Room: #speakeasy
Chicago: #tdkchicago
San Francisco: #tdksanfran
Boston: #tdkboston
New York: #tdknewyork
Philadelphia: #tdkphilly
Kansas City: #tdkkansascity
Sao Paulo: #tdksaopaulo
London: #tdklondon
Toronto: #tdktoronto
Dallas: #tdkdallas
Seattle: #tdkseattle
Los Angeles: #tdklosangeles



THE ORIGINAL POST, 4/26/08 6:18 P.M. EST:
Well, there's a lot of us who are already attached to specific on-the-ground goons or on-the-ground groups, but there are also a-plenty who are currently unattached. I think this would be a good place for people to shout out if they're unattached and would like to be an Oracle.

Geographically I don't think it matters much--a lot of people have been saying that they're trying to pick teams they're closer to, but as far as I'm concerned it makes about zero difference where you are unless you have a strong working familiarity with any one of the locations. But I mean, I'm in Arizona and I'm a Chicago team Oracle.

Anyway, also there's been a lot of talk of a chat going on simultaneously for just the Oracles. People have been concerned with which format to use--AIM, Y!M, IRC, and so forth. It makes me nervous using any of these formats because, 1, lots of people don't have them, and 2, with the exception of IRC, I think, you generally need to be specifically invited to rooms in order to actually get in (sometimes this is false...if anyone knows a reliable way to get a permanent AIM chat that can be linked to, please tell me, but as far as I know this is somewhat impossible due to the number of various AIM platforms--AIM, Trillian, iChat, Adium, and so forth).

I'm really for the creation of a private room on the Speakeasy http://www.gotham-speakeasy.com. No, you won't be able to scroll up, but in this game I don't think dwelling in things that have already happened is a very good idea. If you spend too much time searching for something that has already happened in chat logs, you'll lose track of what's happening in the now.

I think a communal Oracle room in the Speakeasy would be fine--we can lock it to Oracles only as well, and should we make the decision to split up according to city instead of pooling all our collective universal intel, that can also be easily done.

I mean a chat is definitely in order to make sure that if we get stuck, we can get each other out of our ruts and go forth. I think if we think of it as team Superhero Hype versus team Everyone Else, working together as a board should be ultimately more efficient and beneficial for everyone here involved.

Lastly, anyone got any specific things you think we ought to do to prepare? I was trying to look around for some brainteasers and stuff so I can get in that mode of being able to de-code riddles and other such things the Joker's done beforehand.

Anyway, if you guys want to chat more about this in real time, check out, again, nerium's beautiful Gotham Speakeasy: http://www.gotham-speakeasy.com

 

[SekhmetRose]

I think the more and more I think of it the more and more I'm for a chat room on speakeasy more then anything. Sure scrolling up would be nice but in a situation where your searching for something you can, like cinematheque said, get lost and not only slow down general progress but also lose your current train of thought.

But instead of one communal Oracle chat I'm more for a chat room for each city if that's possible..

 

[Andrizzle]

I believe that each hunt will be tailored to each city. Cities in the same timezone going at the same time trying to solve different puzzles in the same place will be hectic. Further more, having the option to scroll back would be very important if a puzzle requires you to repeat an answer from a previous puzzle. Also, unless a change is able to be made, the speak easy is accessible by everyone, and could very well have noobs wandering in asking what is going on.

For these reason the Chicago oracles will be using an AIM chatroom that will only be shared with Chicago oracles. The fewer people all working on the same puzzle together is a better idea than everyone in once place posting about separate cities at once, IMO. But, when it comes down to it, I'm not a chicago oracle, so I'm not going to be using any of the systems. If the chicago oracles decide among themselves that they would like to use a different system, that's fine by me.

 

[SekhmetRose]

AIM it is then...I'm so confused...Just someone try and keep me posted on the Chicago oracle information...I won't be on for much of the night tonight...So yeah..

 

[Alixyveth]

Another reason it would be good for the Oracles to be around the respective areas is that there might be clues specific to the city, and in this situation, the Oracle may be able to help better.

But, it doesn't really matter to me, as long as we have Oracles in the first place.

 

[Andrizzle]

As it currently stands, Chicago is in need of six more oracles. If you're reading this, cannot make it to a city, and will be free for a couple of hours starting at around 4:30 CDT please stop by the Chicago thread and volunteer!

 

[Alixyveth]

...Whoa, Andrizzle, why do you guys need so many Oracles? Are you doing one for each person?

 

[Andrizzle]

...Whoa, Andrizzle, why do you guys need so many Oracles? Are you doing one for each person?

If we can. I don't know the situation of other cities, and if they need them more than we do then by all means people should go to them.

But, we'd like as many people working together on ours as we can get, so I'm just putting the request out there. Right now we've got 18 goons and 12 oracles signed up.

 

[DanTheDevil]

I like the idea of a universal thread. Maybe this could be a place where only answers to puzzles should be posted, so if a group is behind, or if the same puzzle gets used in several cities, people can more easily solve them. I will be an Oracle for Seattle, most likely, since they are very short on them.

 

[cinematheque]

I believe that each hunt will be tailored to each city. Cities in the same timezone going at the same time trying to solve different puzzles in the same place will be hectic. Further more, having the option to scroll back would be very important if a puzzle requires you to repeat an answer from a previous puzzle. Also, unless a change is able to be made, the speak easy is accessible by everyone, and could very well have noobs wandering in asking what is going on.

For these reason the Chicago oracles will be using an AIM chatroom that will only be shared with Chicago oracles. The fewer people all working on the same puzzle together is a better idea than everyone in once place posting about separate cities at once, IMO. But, when it comes down to it, I'm not a chicago oracle, so I'm not going to be using any of the systems. If the chicago oracles decide among themselves that they would like to use a different system, that's fine by me.

I do NOT think this is a good idea. AIM has the exact same shortcomings as the Speakeasy--occasional lags, sometimes people get booted off, and it gets hectic. The Speakeasy, however, is accessible by a link. Organizing all the Chicago Oracles into one AIM chat is going to be punctuated by repeated people getting kicked off AIM, joining up halfway through and trying to get into the chat...we'll spend half the time trying to make sure that there are people in the chat. The Speakeasy allows separate rooms. We can make separate rooms per location, and we can lock them, with the added bonus that people can be in several rooms simultaneously.

Nobody will be scrolling up. It will be impossible. The game moves fast, and trying to find a past hint is going to slow us down, not speed us up. The Comic-Con game went forwards--you didn't have to repeat any steps. I've talked to other Oracles and they seem pleased with the Speakeasy as well.

I'm trying to say this as authoritatively as possible. Organizing a massive AIM chat would've been possible if we had done it ages ago, but as it is, it won't work the same way that a Flash chat that everyone can access without an invitation would. Once you get into the Flash chat, you can be invited to the specific rooms.

The only place I can see this falling down is if the Speakeasy can only have so many rooms at a time--I'll have to ask nerium about this. But as it is, there will be no time to scroll up. The point of having a chat is so that we can pool our knowledge. If we need something repeated, it would therefore be more efficient to ask each other, and since we're all working on a team, there would be no reason for us not to help each other out.

The Speakeasy is far more straightforward than AIM and it offers all the same benefits except chat logging. Running through a chat log in the middle of the game would just be stupid. I think this will work, and other Oracles that I've talked to seem to be in agreement. Don't worry--we can handle this. I'm going to send nerium a PM right now to investigate what the specs are on the Speakeasy.

I just know that AIM will be disastrous. If there were only three or four Oracles, it would be doable, but if you're trying to match Oracle:Goon, an AIM chat is not going to work. The Speakeasy was created exactly for this purpose.

 

[cinematheque]

I like the idea of a universal thread. Maybe this could be a place where only answers to puzzles should be posted, so if a group is behind, or if the same puzzle gets used in several cities, people can more easily solve them. I will be an Oracle for Seattle, most likely, since they are very short on them.

I agree that this is a good idea. I think that we should make that a policy for when the game starts--this is a no-nonsense thread to fall back on during that time.

 

[vanman0254]

I'm a Boston oracle, I would brush up on your cities geography and history. Also look into your historical figure attached to your city. Also look for places for people to park, meet, etc.

 

[Alixyveth]

I have to agree with cinema - AIM chat would also require that everyone be pestering each other to be invited to the chat, etc. The Speakeasy is the logical choice to me because it can be bookmarked and the fact that people can do designated rooms while staying connected with all of the other Oracles. It seems to be the most efficient choice.

But again, I will be on the ground and will take instructions from anyone who happens to pass them along to me, so it's up to the Oracles which format they want to use.

One other thing, though... I don't really see why certain cities "need" Oracles any more than other cities. This isn't a city vs city competition - we're all working towards the same prize here. I figure, as long as everyone can get help from the Oracles somehow, that we'll be good. But I don't feel that any particular city needs more help than anyone else.

That's my $.02, take it as you will.

 

[cinematheque]

One other thing, though... I don't really see why certain cities "need" Oracles any more than other cities. This isn't a city vs city competition - we're all working towards the same prize here. I figure, as long as everyone can get help from the Oracles somehow, that we'll be good. But I don't feel that any particular city needs more help than anyone else.

That's my $.02, take it as you will.

I definitely agree here. I think we as Oracles need to make sure that we're not leaving other cities in the dust. There are fewer Oracles than I expected there to be, but I also think some people will start to come through as it gets closer to the game. It would probably be a good idea for us to make sure that we help out everyone, because if a city only has like, one Oracle, and that Oracle goes out of commission for whatever reason--dead phone, emergency, what have you--that city is screwed. We gotta make sure we get behind all our fellow Hypers.

I'm a Boston oracle, I would brush up on your cities geography and history. Also look into your historical figure attached to your city. Also look for places for people to park, meet, etc.

I think this is a brilliant idea. I'm gonna check some of that stuff out and surf the Google map of the area, see what's around.

I also think that maybe we should brush up on our true crime history--the SD game asked two pretty tough trivia-related questions (what did the three women have in common--Jack the Ripper--and what was the name of the lawyer who shot himself during that trial?).

I'm gonna look for a good place to get some brain teasers to get us in gear.

 

[Blueninja33]

If you find anything that'd be great! I'm more or less new to this, but I want to do my best because we need a couple more oracles for our Chicago team. I'm also looking up some Dark Knight info cites just in case there are references made to it in the hints.

 

[cinematheque]

So I talked to nerium who said that she would check out more on the max the chat could hold later--but when it first opened up, it had 130 people or so at its height and it still functioned. I doubt there'll be 130 Oracles around, and even with Oracles + curious people combined, I think we should be okay. But she's checking it all out. She also says she thinks she can change how much info is available when you scroll up so we can have more things backlogged. I'll let you guys know if new details arrive or anything changes as soon as it's worked out.

As it stands, I know Chicago is gonna have a room in the Speakeasy--it'll be a private room, so PM me if you want the password and details. It'll be obvious which room it is come Monday; I mean, it's gonna say like, "Chicago Oracles" or something, so I can't see how it could be very confusing. Anyway, I'll give you the password in a PM, and if you lose it or the Hype goes down, you can PM me or someone in the Chicago Oracle chat in the Speakeasy and we'll invite you in.

Additionally, I plan on being in the Speakeasy main room on the day of. You can't be in two rooms simultaneously with the same name--for example, I couldn't be in the main Speakeasy room AND the Chicago Oracle room simultaneously as "cinematheque"--but you can be in two simultaneously if you've got separate windows and separate names, so for example, if I had two windows open, I could be "cinematheque a" in the Speakeasy main and "cinematheque b" in the Chicago Oracle room.

If it looks like we'll need it, I think there could also be a separate gen Oracle room. I know each game'll probably be different according to location, but I suspect some details will be the same (like I think the riddles might be the same, but directions to different locations will be different). We'll kind of have to wing it at that point because we have no way of finding out the details until then, but it can be easily done.

I also have no qualms with coordinating rooms for other cities if it needs be, but, it's pretty easy. I mean anyone in the Speakeasy can create a room.

So, if you're on Chicago's team and you need the password and deets, message me. If you're on another team and are confused, or something, message me as well. I've been in the Speakeasy since day 1 and I love it to pieces so I'm happy to clear up anything I said that might have been confusing or awkward.

 

[BlueLightning]

I am going to be an Oracle of Dallas, but I am gonna be on the net all afternoon so count me in.

 

[Blueninja33]

If you guys want to check it out, there are several "Why So Serious" Groups on Facebook.

 

[Tonymosello]

Im willing to text back and forth or call. I live in St. Louis so preferrably either Chicago or K.C. I do ask that when the extras are given out. That you send items that you have multiples of. I will gladly pay for postage. Im not asking for much, BUT I DESPERATELY WANT SOME SWAG, ESPECIALLY JOKER SWAG. I HAVE EVERYTHING BUT NO JOKER SWAG. We could also trade for some Harvey Dent campaign stuff. I have tons of it. Please reply or send me a pm.

 

[Ekricket]

Hey, here is something that might be worth checking out - The organizers of these events most likely would have had to get a permit. In this day of Homeland Security they want to know anytime more than about a few dozen people want to get together in an organized way. I am sure to get the permit you would have to provide notice to any affected businesses at least 24 hours in advance, as well as provide some Security, some First Aid, and list what your intentions are, show you have adequate parking, an assembly area big enough, etc....

More importantly you would most likely have to list any routes you are going to take if you assemble in an area and then start marching around. Nobody will put up with a 300+ people mob assembling in an area, and then starting to march around wherever they please - you got traffic to worry about, peoples property, etc..... Especially if they all dress alike and are wearing matching face paint (think gang related activity).

So if The Oracles want to start on some prep work, this might be a place to start. Public Records searches might help, or if you know someone who works in a County office in your area maybe they can tell you what to look for. If anyone gets anything going on this post it here so the other cities can look in similar location for similar documents.

 

[ThePunchLine]

Damn. When is there going to be something for Australia!

 

[DanTheDevil]

Hey, here is something that might be worth checking out - The organizers of these events most likely would have had to get a permit. In this day of Homeland Security they want to know anytime more than about a few dozen people want to get together in an organized way. I am sure to get the permit you would have to provide notice to any affected businesses at least 24 hours in advance, as well as provide some Security, some First Aid, and list what your intentions are, show you have adequate parking, an assembly area big enough, etc....

More importantly you would most likely have to list any routes you are going to take if you assemble in an area and then start marching around. Nobody will put up with a 300+ people mob assembling in an area, and then starting to march around wherever they please - you got traffic to worry about, peoples property, etc..... Especially if they all dress alike and are wearing matching face paint (think gang related activity).

So if The Oracles want to start on some prep work, this might be a place to start. Public Records searches might help, or if you know someone who works in a County office in your area maybe they can tell you what to look for. If anyone gets anything going on this post it here so the other cities can look in similar location for similar documents.

I think TOO much preparation takes away from the fun of the hunt. I mean, if you already know the final destination, what's the point of taking the long route?

 

[Ekricket]

I think TOO much preparation takes away from the fun of the hunt. I mean, if you already know the final destination, what's the point of taking the long route?

I was always a good Boy Scout - Be Prepared! I don't think it will be that difficult - I can't believe they would set all this up, gather 300+ people, paint their faces, and then deny them at the end because they can't answer a trivia question.

But on the other hand, if 600 people show up, and they will only take the first 300 who get to the right spot, wouldn't you want to be as prepared as possible?

 

[jokersbf]

im a la orcle

 

[QueenChaos]

Reporting into the Oracle thread here, good idea to keep us all sort of in line. It seems i'll be working with Seattle somehow.
And, i'm gonna try and check that info out Ekricket, just in case. Good stuff