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[grandmasterstab]

Posted.

[furikku]

I wouldn't worry about it being a cult- while it's got wiggety imagery, there has been very little so far to indicate that it's not on the level, and nobody we've interacted with has at all shown the kind of behaviour commonly found in cults. We're encouraged to seek outside information, for example.

It's most likely either a game or an interactive story.

That being said, I've never been comfortable doing wiggety stuff with icky things as suggested for the ritual, so I'm staying the heck away from it. Even if this is all fake, it's either inviting bad stuff into one's presence, or (from a skeptical point of view) encouraging oneself to think in a harmful manner.

Probably no permanent effects, but definitely not the healthiest idea ever.

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[Sonrisa]

[WiteRabit]

Yes. This is way too... disorganised for a psychological study or a marketing campaign (unless it changes tact sometime soon).

And it appears as if ilovetofix didn't quite realise how spooked out some people have become by this whole affair, judging from his warning regarding the "summoning" tonight:
http://thehappycube.proboards34.com/index.cgi?board=hackjobjohnny&action=display&thread=1172679716
(which I would love to take part in, but it'll be the middle of the day here in NZ. Hardly the right setting to invoke feelings of fear... )

I can see the point in trying to get people to do this. Making such feelings arise gives people a far greater sense of involvement - after all, it's the creepiness of the videos that turned (most) people on to this in the first place.

Why people are quite so worked up over this is a bit beyond me - fear in a safe environment is quite a thrill - and it's a good way for you to discover your own fears and then have a nice forum to discuss them with people who are interested afterwards. And if you are truly frightened of this entire concept, merely find something else to do. Let the people that enjoy this type of thing enjoy it.

Gah ... I realise this is kind of disjointed, but I'm at work and don't have enough time to sit down and make it gel as nicely as I would like - but I'm pretty sure I got my point across.

[ThingerMajinger]

My main concern is people getting trapped in the fear. Yes, he is warning those not strong enough to do it, to not do it. But you know people will do it. And what if someone ends up getting hurt?

[Esquire]

What is going on here?

[WiteRabit]

Oh. What's the IRC channel?

And I assume it's on efnet?

[prettydang]

I've been lurking for a couple days now, I've actually read all 70+ posts here and all of them over at HC. I was just about to sign up and really get involved, but then love asks for this ritual. Me? No. No. NO.

I've been sleeping with the Bible under my pillow these last few nights ...this is some creepy garbage. I've never participated in an ARG before, but after reading up on them, this seems totally different. My first thought was, some creative person is experimenting with a new kind of storytelling...awesome!

But this ritual is cultish. I know people say it's far to well-educated to be a crazy cult, but I think that means underestimating cults. (Also, as an aside, religion's enemy isn't science...a lot of religious people realize their deity created the world and thus, created science...it's only some who see them as opposites. </soapbox>)

If you're participating, take extra care, OK? Have a friend or roommate at standby that you can call in case of emergency, alright? This strikes me as either something very cultish (I'm getting sort of freaked out by the constant reference to Satanic things, especially with the backmasking songs stuff...I had a heart-attack at the whole "little tool shed" thing, that's creepy poo all by itself! ), or else it is just a game that is threatening to possibly go a little too far.

Of course, I have anxiety disorder . I can't imagine doing something like that and not having a panic attack. You guys know what you can handle: Just be extra careful. I'll be thinking good thoughts at you and hoping my imagination and I are just overreacting.

[Christian Synthare]

The more I read about this, the more I am convinced that this has a lot to do with the work of Neil Gaiman, especially the Sandman series. Others have said this, but there are too many similarities for me to discount them.

1. The stories - Sandman is all about stories, as Gaiman has said in several interviews, the effect they have on the world. The dark children from certain types of stories.

2. The muses - Calliope figured prominently in Sandman, as she was

[Kem2000]

Hmm, good work there Synthare...

Seems too good to just be a coincidence,

So, i wonder if we are dealing with something by Gaimen, or maybe this was inspired by him...

Probably worth asking about on the HCP forums...

[Are Roses Red?]

author?

[Phaedra]

Hmm, a lot of ARGs are influenced by the players. And a lot of puppetmasters start out trying to limit the player influence over the story to a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure set of binary choices, I think, but if you read accounts about the design process, most of them end up having to make a few unexpected twists and turns and tap dance a bit because of what players did.

If you're interested, you may also want to check out the ARG(s) associated with LonelyGirl15 -- there was also a great deal of player control/collaboration allowed in that universe.

[furikku]