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[sp103]

EMH-Disappointment

[Bartok]

Re: EMH-Disappointment

[TheWorld]

Well in their defense, the EMH crew have lives....and people complained about MH being gone for 7 months but most went right back to it after that. I mean it takes time to film stuff and come up with a concept. At least they answer a few things for us, unlike MH.

[G.I.R]

Before I start, let me reiterate something I always have to tell people. MH started out as an ARG, but they abandoned that to turn it into a traditional story. Don't compare an actual ARG to a story, that is comparing apples to oranges.

1: You obviously haven't followed a true ARG. They are notorious for adding a whole lot of elements. Take Cloverfield, they had Jamie Lascano's videos, the tagruato website, the teddy/jamie blog, the tidowave website, the whistle man's letters, and so much more. You don't get into an ARG unless you have the time for one.

2: Lol I don't remember TTA interacting with the viewers, or putting them through trials and such. Also HABIT has not hijacked their youtube and added videos. The tweet and delete was a new aspect. Those three that you mentioned are things that are usually found in ALL slender stories.

3: They aren't perfect. They are bring in themes from the original Slender story and expanding them, ie the whole thing with Slender man and kids, and the slender sickness messing with their lives. They are kinda losing steam, yes, but then again they are just college kids doing this shit for fun.

They are trying, a bit badly, but they aren't a complete disappointment. They do have their moments. Whining won't help much.

[Ouroborus]

the way it was set up, I did and still think that the Trials were/are means to keep us occupied while they regroup/film and plot out the rest of their story.

I'm more than willing to see where this is going.

[SolDL]

Let me be the first to say 'lurk moar'. There's an entire forum full of ARGs here. Believe me, EMH isn't even particularly complicated compared to the majority of them.

[Kor]

I actually think EMH has been a major improvement over the MH storytelling formula in a variety of ways. While the dark, anxiety-ridden atmospheres of MH are no longer around, we instead get a story which is ironically both more action-packed and more deeply character-oriented. In MH, the characters of Jay, Alex, Tim, et. al. aren't particularly central. Until Season 2, the characters seemed to be as much plot devices themselves as anything else, with no particular depth or interest beyond being there as victims to entities beyond their understanding. MH is the more Lovecraftian of the two tales. Much like Mr. Lovecraft's mythos, the main characters of MH are the antagonists, TTA and Slender Man; just like Lovecraft's characters were there to provide a means for shining a spotlight on his cosmic eldritch abominations, one can't help but feel that Jay and Alex are pretty much just there to shine the spotlight on the insanity that is the Slender Man. This is not at all a bad thing.

EMH, meanwhile, seems much more character driven. One can actually relate to, feel for, and be engrossed in Jeff, Evan, Vinny, and even Alex (endearingly dumb as a brick though he is). This may just be me, but judging by other forum posts, it does seem to have had that effect at large. Another area where this pattern continues is in the histories of both the main and supporting characters, mostly via Corenthal's reports, which paint in broad strokes what we can only anticipate to be the underlying causes of why things suddenly went Slender on the guys. Where MH simply took a bunch of film students making a horrible movie and decided to throw the Slender Man at them, EMH has created interesting characters and given them an actual reason to be in the situation that they're in.

Quite frankly, even if EMH does end up falling apart, I still have to love it for doing something so completely different in formula and feeling from MH. At this point all SlenderVlogs/Blogs/Stories share a good deal of everything, having to draw from the same shared pool of memes, backstory, and cliches.

But I think EMH really did take it new directions. HABIT isn't just some masked fiend gone Slendercrazy, but seems to be deeper psychologically and is embedded in the pasts of our main characters. While the Slender Man myth doesn't seem to have taken a "leap forward", its advancement has been both more subtle and more interesting than the humongous archetyping mission that MH undertook. Just give it some time. Either it will fall apart under the strain of its own ambition, or I think it will once more do some massively impressive things. I'm hoping for the second, as everything so far seems to be a giant set-up for some massive reveals and character action.

[elizibar]

1) If you lost interest that long ago, why are you trolling everyone *now*?

2) HABIT can teleport? Can you show me that in a video somewhere, because I totally missed it.

[Filibuster Pickwaddy]

Posting a dissenting opinion is trolling now? Interesting.

I agree with what Ouroborus said about the trials being a stopgap so to speak while the EMH crew writes and films entries I just don't think it's a particularly interesting choice. I felt it broke any sort of momentum the series had going (and, really, before the HABIT/trials malarkey, I felt the series was quite entertaining).

I also highly disagree with the notion that the EMH crew answers things for the viewers as opposed to MH. Neither series is all that forthcoming with information and sometimes I wonder if that's the problem. Maybe EMH (and TT and every other Slendy vlog) don't want to reveal too much in regards to Slenderman and what it is in the fear that they'll contradict MH who got the whole Slendy vlog thing rolling. But then again, maybe not.

I'm actually hoping that the EMH crew rattled off 3 or 4 awesome videos in a row and hook me back in but I'm very skeptical based on what they've produced in the last couple of months.

[RatheadSyndicate]

EMH is doing just fine. "Convoluted" does not necessarily mean the same thing as "obtuse," and is not necessarily pejorative. It's the word I would use to describe EMH. It's convoluted. But it's a lot more engaging than Marble Hornets.

It's a matter of taste. What do you want? Do you want a tasty Pabst Blue Ribbon or a more robust and complicated beer like a Mt. Holland or a Flying Dog. Do you want a three course meal topped off by a $50 Fillet Mignon, or do you want a really well made grilled cheese sandwich? Do you want to read Micky Spillane or do you want to read Thomas Pynchon? Do you want to watch a Troma movie or a David Lynch flick? All of those are excellent choices (well... maybe not the Troma movie), but they are excellent for very different reasons. Just because something is challenging or complicated doesn't mean it's directionless, just as a narrative's simplicity doesn't equate to stupidity.

The question is not, "How did they start to suck so bad?" The question is, "Can they tie all these threads together in a convincing way?" If they can, I will have been a very happy participant. If they can't, hey, you were right, they didn't know what they were doing. But I'm going to stay optimistic.

[SickSlickMan]

I don't have that much experience with ARGs (or any, if LG15 doesn't count), but I gather that the point of them is just to generally be spaced out and confusing, and it's the point of the viewers to try and figure things out.

Yeah, EMH is frustrating. You know what else was frustrating? Lost. And I'm not just talking about the plot in general. The copious amounts of commercials one had to endure for just one episode was asinine. During the early years, there were these gaps in between episodes ranging in weeks, sometimes even a month. You were lucky when they finally released one. Episode airings didn't start getting more consistant until season 3. The writer's strike back in '07-'08 cut at least three or four episodes from season 4's list, so there's a part to the story that no one is ever going to know about. when the show ended, it didn't answer everything, and most people were pissed at that. Me, I feel like they answered everything I wanted to know, so I was happy with it.

But that is what a real Lost fan had to endure for six years. If he can put up with that, he can put up with just about anything. So I can put up with EMH being a bit on the slow side, because they put on free entertainment and it's enjoyable to watch.

[SlenderSniper]

OMFG!!! Seriously?!?! I have benn around saying this since the whole crap STARTED! Okay, yeah at first it was okay. I could enjoy the exercise going into some awful fate for the guys, but firstly, I hated their characters. Everyone loved them, but I looked at them as one of those guys that are so pompous you just want to deck them. Secondly, when CYSTW came out, that was it for me. Everyone told me, "No, it isn't that complicated, it will still be great, you're just being stupid!" It was and is too complicated.

What if I don't like the CYSTW blog, let alone understand it?!?!? I never actually read about the SLENDERMAN one freaking time! Then came the twitter, and the live feeds, and the shirts, making it all dumb as hell! And as for people saying the actors have lives, I don't see how! They update their twitter like three times a day, and they have some of the most convoluted video cutting ever! That takes time, and for what we're getting, it is a waste!

I have always disliked EMH, but I was criticized for it, so it's good to know some people agree now. It is, and for me, WAS a great disappointment for a while.

[Lewa]

[TheNightmareComplex]

People have opinions, etc., etc., arguing will get us nowhere, etc., etc., if you don't like it don't watch it, etc., etc.

[Lewa]