unforum

[ofiuco-nli]

Perhaps you must answer in the form of a question.

[Melonie]

I don't understand why people are telling me to block him, it doesn't make sense to me. If in fact he is a stalker, why would I get rid of any more evidence of that? If he lives in the same town as I do, blocking his emails won't change a thing, he'd still stalk me.

I don't know if it's an ARG or not, I don't even know what an ARG is.

[Max Steele]

[Esteed]

Has this person done anything besides send strange emails? If not, I wouldn't immediately assume that this person is a stalker. It's certainly a possibility, but a rather extreme one if all he/she has done is send a few vaguely cryptic emails.

That said, if this isn't an ARG and this person has displayed other stalker-ish qualities and behaviors, it's fairly obvious that you should get the police involved. Although if it isn't an ARG, I wonder what that would mean for those of us that actually emailed this person.

Melonie, an ARG, for future reference, is sort of like one of those murder mystery games people sometimes play at parties. The players are given puzzles in the form of riddles, codes, and even interaction with the characters in the story, and each solve advances the story or possibly brings about a new puzzle all on its own. ARGs are games, but whereas D&D has you take on the persona of a character you create, in ARGs, you as a player are a character in the drama. Perhaps a better way to word it is that the line between character and player is obliterated. The things that happen in an ARG may take place in the future, in a far off world, etc., but the basic principle is that regardless of how fantastic the setting, these things are really happening. It's a suspension of disbelief on the part of the players, but at the same time, the players all acknowledge in that "wink wink, nudge nudge" kind of way that it's a game.

The potential problem here is that these forums are Out of Game, or OoG for short. Characters in ARGs are not supposed to post here. The forums are for the players to work in an OoG capacity to solve the puzzles and ponder over the interactions.

A metaphor for this could be the Wizard of Oz. Viewing the Wizard from outside his curtain, he appears grand and powerful, and you act accordingly. When the curtain has been pulled back, you find out the truth, that the Wizard is merely a man, and your behavior changes accordingly. Now what would happen if you were behind the curtain with the Wizard? You would know his secret, but in order to prevent others from finding out, you have to go along with his act somehow.

ARGs are sort of like that. There is a curtain behind which the people running the game hide. From there, much like the Wizard, they tell their stories and dole out their puzzles. For true enjoyment of the game, we must act as if we're unaware of this curtain, or what goes on behind it. However, we as players have our own curtain, of a sorts, where we can stop suspending our disbelief and work on the puzzles under the pretense of being Out of Game.

And that was probably more longwinded than necessary, heh.

[Melonie]

Max, why would you say I was a part of an ARG if I didn't even know what it was until it was just explained to me? This isn't about an ARG, it never was. I'm just trying to figure out if this is a stalker or not, that's all I want to know.

This guy has sent me some pretty crazy emails and lives in my area. Or at least says he does. I don't know how he'd know where I lived otherwise, I've never given out my location online. The state, yes, but that's it.

I only replied to one of his emails, we're not playing a game or anything, I just want to figure out what is going on. If I was playing one of these ARG games and spamming the forums with it, then I'd completely understand what you mean Max, but we've told you that it is not the case, yet you still act like it is. You never once tried to be nice about it either.

Edit: Thanks for the explanation Esteet, I understand a lot better now.

[Esteed]

No offense intended, Melonie, but if it isn't an ARG, then you were given bad advice from whoever told you to post it here. I'm not entirely sure what you think we can do to help you if this person is a stalker. If he/she isn't a stalker, then you don't really need help, because you can just block the emails, ignore them, or delete them when they show up.

However, the fact that this person has replied to several of us with riddles makes me wonder. Were it not for those replies, I'd say this was probably the wrong place for you to post this, but those replies indicate that there's more than just some prank/creepy stalker guy thing going on. After all, why would he/she/it respond to perfect strangers if you were the target?

[Melonie]

I had no idea what this forum was about, I assumed you were all good at tracking people or something. I was told to post it here, so I did. I'm sorry if I've violated any terms and conditions.

[Esteed]

Eh, no harm, no foul. I still wonder why this person replied to other people. Any chance you have AIM? You can find my AIM name in my profile, as well as my email, so feel free to contact me if you're not sure whether you should keep posting stuff here.

[Melonie]

Ok, sounds good. I'll add you to my list on aim. I can't really sign in right now, I have some things i need to do, but I'll be on in a couple of hours though. If you're not online then I will try again sometime soon.

Thanks for being so understanding. This whole ordeal has been really hard on me, much more than most of you probably realize. At first I was a little paranoid, but not really scared. After I discovered that he lives in my town I started to get worried.

But anyway I'm probably not even supposed to post all this here anyway since it's an ARG forum. I'm sorry about burdening everyone with all of this.

[Jackofspades]

prank

[Esteed]

I'm still thinking it's a game. If not a full-fledged ARG, it's at least ARG-like. Think about it, she says she was directed to post this here but hasn't yet posted who gave her this advice. When emailed, this mysterious person responds without one hint of surprise that strangers are sending emails asking about this "game". My theory is that the PM anonymously sent the first message to a friend, and then, acting as if they were clueless, gave this friend advice about posting the information here. Kind of sneaky, but you have to admit, it's a somewhat clever method of trailhead delivery.

[Dunn_Stealth]

Hah like I'm a character.

I'm just trying to help, I;m not playing out a role or doing anything I was asked, I haven't even tried to play the game. I'm just continueing to try and trace him, I have a friend which I believe can help me out.

[ElGameR]

Oooookay then....

I am going to give my opinion of what is going on here -- again, this is only my guess at the situation, and could be entirely off track. I will do what I can to back it up with what little evidence we have.

Much like Esteed said,

I think that Melonie could be telling the truth, and she is an inocent girl who has been forced into this. This could be an ARG, and the PM could be a friend / acquaintance of Melonie's (Unknown to her). The PM could have thought of a as yet unused, to my knowledge, somewhat cruel way to launch an ARG; Scare somebody into thinking they are being stalked, and then suggest (out of game) that they post what they have on unfiction, to try to get help.

If this is the case, Melonie has nothing to fear, and could probably walk away now without any danger to herself, or the ARG that is unfolding.

As for the other mysterious person in this thread, Dunn_Stealth, who seems to have regestered just earlier today, and has only commented on the issue at hand: He could very well be the PM, or a close friend thereof. He seems to just be attempting to get us hooked into helping Melonie, rather than questioning if this is all in game, or OoG. Other than him seeming more than a little strange, at one point he said:

[Jackofspades]

internet headers

[Esteed]

I sent a reply, "Are you a dream?" since mine indicates night, and this is what I got:

A dream of which is not uncertain
Enter a room and close the curtain
Leave it be a certain way
Kill the One doth he say