unforum

[Black Ops Spook]

Behold Revelation....Game Off?

[Black Ops Spook]

Let me first say that I am recently come back to the world of ARG's. The last one I was a part of was EA's Majestic. At that time I was working for EA in QA and was a tester for Majestic, among other projects. I was realy sorry to see the game implode because I thought it had a lot of potential but hey, the decision wasn't mine to make.

I just recently stumbled upon the UF sight and got back into the wonderful world of ARG's. Because of the timing of my ARG rediscovery the only game I could find that was just getting started was Behold Revelation. I jumped in last Tuesday, the 25th, and it seemed as if the game had just started. I had missed a conversation with The Provider but was sure that another one would be taking place within the next few days. Well, by Saturday, the 29th, we hadn't heard or seen the PM at all. A lot of people were getting a little fed up with the lack of activity, especially since the game had just started, & we had picked over every shred of info the PM had left in his first conversation looking for a trail to follow. Someone posted a message on the Bravenet forums trying to inform the PM that people were getting antsy & thinking of quitting. Then, lo & behold, on Saturday evening The Provider appears in the IRC room dedicated to BR. No announcement or anything, just pops up in AIM and then drops into TheRoom. So of course people were asking questions, speculating & trying to get some more clues.

Now, as I have said earlier, I wasn't there for the first conversation with the PM but I did go back & read the log. It seemed that The Provider that showed up the second time was less informed & more....distracted than what I had seen from the log of the first conversation. He was also a lot less informative & was a little short with some of the Fold. It was also noted that the IP location was different than from the first time he showed up. The first time it was NYC, the second time it was Orlando. It also came to light that the IP location address was identical to one of the people who was supposedly OOG. There had already been speculation that this person was actually IG but it had also been argued that since that person had posted to UF as the OOG character then they couldn't also be IG.

So, the PM leaves and of course there's a lot of talk flying about as to what to do next. And then one of the players drops a bomb. According to this person, while they were in the bathroom coloring their hair, their sister had logged on to their computer, guessed the PM's AIM pw, guessed the PM's IRC pw and had logged onto both & then had come into the IRC room as the PM.

Now, I am willing to suspend my disbelief to a point in order to participate in a good ARG. But, IMHO, that's just too much to ask people to swallow. It looks to me like once it was noticed that the IP location of the second PM was the same location as the person who was already under some suspicion for being IG came out, then that person had to scramble and try & come up with a way out. In the process of trying to cover things up that person was rude & condescending to another player and generally handled the whole situation badly. Add to that the fact that if that person was indeed IG and was posing as a regular person in the IRC room then they definitely shouldn't have gone to UF and posted as their OOG self. It's also been stated by some that the person in question was the one who originally pointed people to the BR site by starting a thread on CL. Additionally it's been discussed that the way the person accidentally stumbled on the BR site to begin with ("I found it when I was looking for something correlating with the bible on teomas oddly enough.") just doesn't make sense. Evidently some people have tried to see if they could reproduce the discovery of the site by using the same parameters as the person who originally "discovered" it and they have had no success.

In closing, let me say that I am not trying to imply that I know for a fact that the person in question is actually the/a PM for the BR ARG. I'm simply putting down in words a little synopsis of my experience with BR and what I have seen, as well as some of the things that have been discussed. It remains to be seen whether BR has a future or not. I find it unfortunate that my first foray back into the world of ARG's has been such an unsatisfactory experience. I know that I'm far from alone in that category, as I've seen from doing some reading of past ARG's & the people that participated in them. Looks like I'll just have to see how the whole BR thing is resolved & set my sights forward for the next ARG that is starting soon.

Regards,

BOS

[ladyindigo]

I've peeked in at ARGs as far back as the Beast, but never followed one all the way through or stuck around, it was always an on-and-off thing. I've not even been in the BR chat yet but I was looking forward to the next time The Provider got on AIM so I could get in on this game.

I've always gotten the feeling that there was more going on with that player than one could say. Everyone playing this game got the trailhead THROUGH her, and she says she got it through a random search. That does seem extremely unlikely to me; did they speed the game up because it was found, otherwise? How else were they planning on advertising the game around? And suddenly she just knew where to go about it even though she'd never played ARGs before? If she's not a PM I highly suspcted she was connected to the game. And the story she gave about the chat does seem equally implausible.

Thing is, I don't know if we've got the whole story either. You do say the Provider seemed different, that him coming in this time was unannounced, etc. The IP address is different this time. So looking at it from her side of things, why WOULD the IP address suddenly be different even if she'd been IG all along, and why would the Provider sound like a different person? Maybe this player, if she was the Provider at the time, was temporarily taking him over from someone else? Or maybe she is telling the truth.

In which case, though, why would she blow up like that? I know she's been accused of being IG before, and that has to be frustrating, but the best way to draw suspicion away from yourself whether you're OOG or not is to answer questions you could easily get the answer to, right? And why isn't she hightailing it back here apologizing for blowing up and providing answers to what she was asked, after she's cooled down a bit? I think she owes us that whether she's IG or not, and considering I get the feeling she's IG at this point I'm not going to play either way until we get that explaination. I figure a game that already has such basic holes in its system can't be the most enjoyable ARG anyway, but the PMs on this one are welcome to prove me wrong.

[Ofiuco]

And more importantly, if you didn't know anything about ARGs, why would you post a trailhead on Chronosis Labs? :>

Smacks of IG character to me. Of course, it makes sense for an 'oblivious', player-like character to get frustrated at being treated like a part of the game. Because from her point of view, she's not.

[cjknight06]

i think its time to start discussing in this thread agian

[wisdomwarrior]

I think that the game is going well for those who wish it to be so.

[Black Ops Spook]

Yeah, all 2 or 3 of you.

You're honestly going to sit there & try to say that the game is going well. Who are you trying to convince, everyone else or yourself? I don't know if you're naive, blinded by infatuation or just incredibly incompetent. Oh wait. That's right. According to you Tay is the smartest person in the game and you're the second smartest. Or is it that you're the smartest and Tay is the next smartest? It's hard to tell because you've made both of those claims. Either way it's clear that you think that Tay and yourself are mental giants compared to everyone else participating in this sad excuse for an ARG. Or are you going to try and deny that you ever implied that? And before you go trying to say that I'm making things up let me refresh your memory, in case it's a little foggy.

<WW> welcome back tay
<Tay> Thank you
<WW> youre most welcome
<Tay> Mmkay...So will somebody fill me in as far as what are some speculations?
<WW> id be interested to know what you think
<WW> you are probably the brightest one here
<WW> so what do you think
<WW> cuz you are probably the brightest person here next to me

And let's not forget all the times you have commented on being the smartest person in the room during rounds of trivia. Of course I guess that's an easy claim to make when you're sitting within arm's reach of a bunch of trivia books. But why is it when I asked you about your IQ you turn humble?

thewisdomwarrior: but with the paranoia thats running rampant through the fold, why would i do something like that
BlackOpsSpook: lack of intelligence
thewisdomwarrior: but im the most intelligent person in the room
thewisdomwarrior: so that scenario doesnt float
BlackOpsSpook: so, what exactly is your IQ then?
thewisdomwarrior: high enough to know that it probably doesnt make a difference to you what i tell you it is
BlackOpsSpook: well, for someone that takes every opportunity to let people know how smart he is why would you balk at yet another chance?
thewisdomwarrior: ive told you once, and you didnt accept it
thewisdomwarrior: why would i want to waste my breath again
BlackOpsSpook: riiiiiight
BlackOpsSpook: that's never stopped you before....

And since I'm on the subject of inconsistencies let's discuss your view of the BR parody site. When you & I were having our little chat you didn't seem to mind it much, you even said it was funny.

thewisdomwarrior: i mean, i came here today and all of the sudden everyone know everything about the poor girl
BlackOpsSpook: yeah, well she pretty much brought that on herself
BlackOpsSpook: constantly insisting that she's not IG
thewisdomwarrior: true, but i still think that other site is wrong
thewisdomwarrior: funny, but wrong
BlackOpsSpook: then copping an attitude and talking down to someone who called her on her screwup
BlackOpsSpook: that's not the way to try & fix things
thewisdomwarrior: did you have all the answers at 15
BlackOpsSpook: she's 15 (or 17, depending on which website you look at)
BlackOpsSpook: no, but I would even attempt to try & do an ARG, make the mistakes that she made & then insult the player's intelligence by trying to lie her way out of it.
BlackOpsSpook: wouldn't*
BlackOpsSpook: no, I didn't have all the answers at 15, but I did have the sense to know what I could & couldn't accomplish
thewisdomwarrior: thats true

So, according to that, it seems like you acknowledge that there were mistakes made and that the parody site was amusing but wrong. So why is it that when you and "PrincePhil" were talking it was a completely different story?

< WW> i think that parody site is terrible
< PrincePhil> its not too bad
< PrincePhil> the effect of it has sucked arse
< PrincePhil> but the site itself isn't that bad
< PrincePhil> hardly shakespeare but kind of funny
< PrincePhil> why do you say its terrible?
< WW> it just invokes anger
< PrincePhil> yeah
< WW> you dont kick a person when they are down
< PrincePhil> well thats how i was raised too, but it seems its not the uf way
< PrincePhil> ou gang up and beat the child with sticks when they are down
< PrincePhil> remember when that solo effort crashed a while back
< PrincePhil> the 13 year old
< WW> this is from adults mind you
< PrincePhil> that was shocking
< PrincePhil> yeah
< WW> just makes me sick
< PrincePhil> well i guess its the internet thing
< PrincePhil> i hope people wouldn't treat kids like that in real life
< WW> yeah, people feel they can hide behind the cloak of the internet
< WW> i think they do
< WW> such a base response like that
< PrincePhil> if you saw a gang of adults picking on a kid on the street, you'd step in though rith
< PrincePhil> right?
< WW> yeah
< PrincePhil> i feel kind of bad for not stepping up properly
< WW> hard to step up when you dont know who it is
< PrincePhil> true
< WW> cowardice
< PrincePhil> yeah
< PrincePhil> uf like bullying kids
< WW> i mean we have no proof that tay has anything to do with any of this
< PrincePhil> ah come on
< WW> for real
< WW> im being honest
< WW> sure, circumstancial evidence has been piled up
< PrincePhil> ok
< PrincePhil> we have definative proof, but the evidence suggests shes definatly complicit with the pm at least if not a pm
< PrincePhil> sorry we have no definative proof
< PrincePhil> missed out the No
< WW> im just saying, that we dont know for sure
< PrincePhil> you are technically right, if we go on facts
< WW> its like some have went out of their way to ruin this experience for me
< PrincePhil> me too
< WW> i would feel violated
< WW> a bunch of adults go looking for my info
< WW> and then post it
< PrincePhil> yeah
< WW> and talk about it
< WW> and make fun of it
< PrincePhil> gang of em ripping shreads out of me using my real name of all things
< WW> s-s-s-s-sick
< WW> if you are easily annoyed, then you shouldnt be here
< WW> this game is a choice
< PrincePhil> yep
< PrincePhil> just walk away if you don't like it
< WW> if someone is annoyed, they can leave
< WW> true
< PrincePhil> some kid is giving up thier time to entertain us for free
< PrincePhil> and all people want to do is tear them a new one for it

Ok, let me address a few thing that I have issue with.

1.) So, which is it WW? Do you think the parody site is funny but wrong, or do you think its terrible and it makes you sick? It seems your opinion of it all pepends on who you're talking to & how you want them to perceive you. So why not set the record straight?

2.) Trying to make an analogy between someone making a site lampooning what is obviously a rapidly failing ARG and a group of adults beating a child with sticks is completely ludicrous and sad. If you honestly think that's the way adults would behave in real life then you aren't nearly as intelligent as you'd like to make everyone think you are. Then there's the issue with posting personal information and how it's just done for the sake of being vindictive. I'll tell you what, if a person doesn't have the smarts to make sure they have all their bases covered & that any information they wouldn't want being made public can be accessed by anyone with the smarts to do a little backtracking, then that person shouldn't be surprised when it happens. And they sure as hell shouldn't be running an ARG. Oh wait.....I forgot. We have no proof that Tay is the PM for BeholdRevelation. Which brings me to my last point.......

3.)You say in your conversation with PP that we have no proof that Tay has anything to do with the game. But in our conversation it's another story.

thewisdomwarrior: i know that tay kinda messed everyone up by saying she was not IG
thewisdomwarrior: and by being PM or at least part OM
thewisdomwarrior: PM

Come on. Either s%#t or get off the fence. You've known for a while that Tay was involved but you continue to blindly play her champion and lie to everyone else. It also appears that PrincePhil knows something about what's really going on. Or else he just assumes that the person running BR is a kid.

< PrincePhil> some kid is giving up thier time to entertain us for free
< PrincePhil> and all people want to do is tear them a new one for it

But then how do you make the leap from "some kid" giving up their time to run an ARG to people wanting to tear Tay a new one?

The inconsistencies continue to grow. So please, tell me how again how well the game is going.....

[CreativeEmbassy]

Athena, the great goddess of wisdom says: Hello Beyond Revelation players! You would do right to be nice to each other! Also, try starting with a commercial ARG first, THEN try playing a grassroots game. Your experience would be much better!

Viva Athena!

[matalanifesto]

haha. sorry just had to add my 2pence worth. BOS, I know you've had enough time in the irc channel to grasp the meaning of what I'm gonna try and convey, but that last converstion you posted, just take a deep breath, relax a little, and consider this line:

[jamesi]

[wisdomwarrior]