The Stone

An internet-based pay-once-to-play-forever puzzle game which contains treasure hunt-style puzzles. You can try some sample puzzles at www.thestone.com or www.thestone.net.

As of this writing there are 48 puzzles available on The Stone, but you won't have access to all of them immediately. As you solve puzzles, gradually more are made available to you; in theory, the easier ones are made available first. Players who stick with it eventually catch up and solve most or all of the puzzles available, but they slowly add puzzles over time.

Most of the puzzles have a single word or short phrase for an answer; variations are sometimes accepted, and most puzzles have some "close" answers for which you'll be told you're on the right track.

The puzzles are Javascript-based. A few puzzles use Flash but provide non-Flash versions. Some of the puzzles are multi-part; you'll solve an easier part (like reassembling an image, playing Mastermind or Memory, etc.) and then you'll be given the question you have to answer, or if you were already given it, you'll get a clue. On the other hand, on some puzzles you'll never get a question to answer, but just a set of clues, mostly visual.

Search engines are your friend for The Stone. This is a game that really harnesses the power of the internet, as without it, the amount of research required would probably turn most players away.

There is an overriding theme of mystery, the unexplained, etc. "Time is the answer" is one of their slogans, and this theme often shows up in the puzzles.

The Stone formerly cost a one-time fee of about twenty U.S. dollars. This fee paid for the pendant (zinc sealed with plastic), booklet (black or white) and all external packaging. The pendant packages were available at the Museum Company and various toy shops. They were also available for purchase from the Abject Modernity company website: Abject.com. At one time, Abject Modernity was offering silver Stone pendants, earrings and various other toys - mostly children's games modeled after The Stone.

Abject Modernity was then hit with some financial woes. During their times of trouble, they stopped releasing puzzles with the same frequency and vacated their former company headquarters in Canada. The was no word from the Stonekeepers for a number of months and for a great lenght of time there were no new puzzles, which caused some of even the most loyal players to quit. Finally, there were some sporadic signs of life (a few cases ofcensorship and an updated welcome page). A few puzzles were even released, though controversially, one of the puzzles was simply a rerelease of a free sample puzzle.

With the resurfacing of the Stonekeepers (or at least some of them), there have been some changes in the style of puzzles being released, as well as in the fee for entering the game. The puzzles have become in a lot of ways more vague, but at the same time easier. The thread connecting them to the metapuzzle, which may or may not have even existed, is no longer as clear as it once seemed to be. The newly released puzzles don't require the same amount of digging through the facts as most of the earlier puzzles did. If anything, they are simply a way for the Stonekeepers to prove to the players that they are still there.

It is no longer a single fee to buy entrance to the Enigma. There is now a yearly subscription fee of nineteen dollars and ninety-nine cents. Anyone coming into the game now will have to renew their membership each year, while veteran players (who entered the game using the code on a physical pendant) still have lifetime membership. There are still pendants for sale in some locations, and current players of the Stone eagerly buy them up for friends and family.

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As of 7-3-02 The Stone servers were moved, and the Commons were repaired, but there still has been no word from any SKs or Rod. The last puzzle released was Company.

As of 8-15-02 The Commons have been dead for a long while, and error messages abound during login (if you can even manage to login). No contact with the SK's has been had.

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2003 Update:
There have been a number of new puzzles released, the bugs on the site seem to have been fixed and the Commons is once again jumping. Though I've checked repeatedly, there hasn't been any IRC activity to date, though the Uncommons is still regularly used for player to player communication outside of the site itself. I was recently in touch with Rod, and he is well and obviously contactable, so if you're excited about the new puzzles, drop him a line and let him know. Happy playing!

I've this creeping
Suspicion that things are not
as they seem
Reassure me
Why do I feel as if I'm in too deep
I've been praying
For some way to show them
I'm not what they see
Yes I have done wrong
But what I did I thought
needed be done

I swear

Unholy day
If I leave now I might get away
This weighs on me
As heavy as stone and as blue as I go

-c h o r u s-
I was just wondering if
you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head
won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's
what you want
If not I'll go
I will go alone

I'm a long way
From that fool's mistake and
now forever pay
No, run
I will run and I'll be ok

-c h o r u s-
I was just wondering if
you'd come along
To hold up my head when my head
won't hold on
I'll do the same if the same's
what you want
If not I'll go
I will go alone

I need so
To stay in your arms, see you smile, hold you close
And it weighs on me
As heavy as stone and
a bone chilling cold

I was just wondering if
you'd come along
Tell me you will

band: Dave Matthews Band
album: Before These Crowded Streets

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The Music

The Stone first opens up with the intense yet haunting interplay of string melodies played by the Kronos Quartet, and on the album the strings are a bridge from the previos song, Halloween, and The Stone. The strings build up to a quiet but tense climax, which drops into silence. A single guitar soon covers the void with a riff comprised of quick single notes, which is repeated, building in volume to then be joined by Boyd Tinsley with a similar melody on the violin. Right at about 1:15 Dave adds his vocals while at the same time the song drops into a Gm chord before finishing out the entire guitar arrangement that comprises the verse.

The chorus is basically a 4 chord repetition that provides a happy contrast to the dark overtones of the verse. However, at the end it drops right back into a quick crunching guitar riff that is reminicent of the intro, yet harder. It flows seamlessly back into the verse.

The outro of The Stone is played many different ways depending on which version you're listening to. On BTCS the chorus is repeated without words, joined more heavily by Tinsley and the Quartet on strings, and Leroi Moore on horn. When the song fades, there is a little mini song on the same track to bridge between The Stone and Crush. Though the song is quite short, it's a very uplifting jam played by the band and premiere banjo player, Bela Fleck. It serves as a refreshing break between two somber songs. When The Stone is played live by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, the outro is the same structure as the chorus, but Dave sings Elvis Presley's much covered song, Can't Help Falling In Love With You over it.

The Lyrics

This is just one man's interpretation, but The Stone is a song about the past and the regret that can come from dwelling on it. The beginning of the song seems to take the past as being present, and the character in the song is filled with anxiety over it because of what must be done. The later verse then looks back on the past, and though the actions done on that fateful day were completely necessary and would be repeated if done over, they still hold a large stone's weight of guilt and pain.

The chorus is just a call for someone (friend or lover) to join the character, amidst all the madness, as they continue to go through life. Life is chaos, but we all walk forward anyway. In one version of The Stone, Dave chants 'let it fall in/let it fall out' over and over as the song ends, which symbolizes resignation with the strife that life can be.

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Song Number: — 58 —

Available on:
—Before These Crowded Streets
—Listener Supported (CD)
—Listener Supported (DVD/VHS)
—The Warehouse 5, Vol. 2

First Played: 18 April 1998

Songwriters: David J. Matthews (guitar), Carter Beauford (percussion), Stefan Lessard (bass), Boyd Tinsley (violin) and Leroi Moore (horns)

Track Length: 7:28 on BTCS, #7

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G U I T A R  T A B L A T U R E

Intro
E:-------------------------
B:-------------------------
G:-----2-------------------
D:---------3---5-5--2-3-2--
A:-5-----------------------
E:-------------------------


Verse
E:----------------------------------------------------------------------
B:----------------------------------------------------------------------
G:-----2--------------------3-------------------2-----------------------
D:---------3---5-5--2-3-2---x---5-5--2-3-2---------------3--0--2--------
A:-5------------------------1----------------5-----3--1-----------3--0--
E:--------------------------3-------------------------------------------



Chorus/Jam
E:--------------------
B:--------------------
G:--5----5----5----5-- 
D:-/3----2----3----2-- 
A:------------5----3-- 
E:--------------------


After Chorus Transition
E:-------------------
B:-------------------
G:-------------------
D:-------------------
A:----7-----5-----8--
E:-5-----8-----6-----

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