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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » Old News & Rumors
King Wanted?
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xnera
Veteran


Joined: 03 Jun 2006
Posts: 79

 		King Wanted?
Billboard seen in Chicago area
Hello, Unforums. Haven't been around since Perplex City ended. Nice to see you all again. Smile

I'd like your opinion on this. On 12/30 we were driving north on 294, around the vicinity of O'Hare airport, when a billboard caught my eye. If memory serves correctly, it had a black background, with a faded image of a castle behind some text, and a shield & sword off to the right. The text might have said "Your castle is waiting", but I don't recall this for certain. It was something to the effect of either a castle waiting for you, or a search for a king. There was a website address at the bottom... www.kingwanted.com

I saw another billboard on our way home, heading south. I think it was just north of O'Hare when I saw it. This billboard was just the web address in white text on a black background.

My first thought was that it was an advertisement for an upcoming movie. And if I had just seen the billboard that just had the web address, I probably would have left it at that. But the other billboard, with the images, piqued my interest because the graphics didn't seem professional enough for a movie ad.

So I checked out the website. Apparently, a development company/builder is building a castle in the suburb of Oak Brook. Shocked If this is true, then I MUST see it when it's finished!

And yet, I have my doubts it is true. First, there's that same amateur feeling of the website. It doesn't look like something I'd expect a professional business to produce. There's also no mention of which builder is behind this, and I'd think if it was true then they'd really want to splash their name all over this for the marketing/PR opportunities. The companies sponsoring the project all seem to be real, because they return Google hits.

What really makes me believe it is fake is that the first Google hit for "Paul Iwanski", the name of the company President listed on the Developer page, is for an actor. Hmm. Granted, this actor only did one movie, and that was back in 1982, but I still think this is suspicious.

I'm not getting any good Google hits on "castle oak brook" (other than for the Enchanted Castle, an indoor entertainment center similar to Chuck'E'Cheese but catering to a slightly older crowd). If this was really a true project then I'd think there'd be some news items about it.

So, this definite appears to be some kind of social experiment at the very least. I'm hesitant to call it an ARG at this point, because I don't see any puzzles on the page anywhere. I didn't fill out the contact form (a bit too shy for that). I don't have much experience in ARGs, though, so maybe I'm missing something. What do you think?
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 11:38 am
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Lola66
Boot

Joined: 30 Dec 2005
Posts: 21

 		Doing a whois results in:

Registrar: TUCOWS INC.
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Dates: Created 19-apr-2007 Updated 19-apr-2007 Expires 19-apr-2008
DNS Servers: NS7.IXWEBHOSTING.COM NS8.IXWEBHOSTING.COM

I was referred to whois.tucows.com; I'm looking it up there.



Registrant:
Paulina Gajowniczek
1031 Lunt Ave
Schaumburg, IL 60193
US

Domain name: KINGWANTED.COM

Administrative Contact:
Gajowniczek, Paulina ****@pyzikmasonry.com
1031 Lunt Ave
Schaumburg, IL 60193
US
+1.8473521476
Technical Contact:
Gajowniczek, Paulina ****@pyzikmasonry.com
1031 Lunt Ave
Schaumburg, IL 60193
US
+1.8473521476




Going to pyzikmasonry.com yields a site for a construction company in IL.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:23 pm
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WrathMonkey
Boot

Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 10

 		Well, we know Pyzik Masonry is real, the author already said that he searched for the sponsors (of which Pyzik Masonry is one), and found that all of the sponsors were real.

The website creators, http://www.cherryoneweb.com/ is a real website, for real companies, so I think it's safe to assume they might actually be building a castle.

PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 12:59 pm
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xnera
Veteran


Joined: 03 Jun 2006
Posts: 79

 		So, just a poorly designed website, then, it sounds like.

Thanks for the opinions! I'll have to keep my eye out for this castle. Sounds cool to me.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 1:56 pm
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Palm
Unfictologist


Joined: 06 Jun 2007
Posts: 1360
Location: North of Key West
xnera wrote:
So, just a poorly designed website, then, it sounds like.

Thanks for the opinions! I'll have to keep my eye out for this castle. Sounds cool to me.


Did you see the concept drawing of the castle? http://www.kingwanted.com/west.html

I am familiar with Oakbrook, and it seems a fitting house, but why would a builder speculate in this housing market? Unless they started the castle before the market fell out and now they have to come up with a creative marking plan to sell it.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:18 am
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CbeyondMatt
Guest


 		KingWnated
It is being built near the corner of York road and 31st in Oak Brook. I drive by it on my way to work every day.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:52 pm
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Punchline
Veteran


Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 143
Location: Western NY

 		I'm going out on a limb here and calling this one shady. Unless the pictures on the site are 'concept' pictures, they're very obviously computer generated, and when entering contact info you're told that they will contact YOU. Either it's the beginning trailhead of something cool, or else some kind of joke.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:55 am
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SirQuady
Unfettered


Joined: 15 Jan 2006
Posts: 576
Palm wrote:
Did you see the concept drawing of the castle? http://www.kingwanted.com/west.html


Concept drawing, sadly. Would've made a sweet beginning for an ARG, methinks.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:15 am
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natas
PHP Ninja


Joined: 06 Oct 2007
Posts: 3177
Location: Northwest Indiana

 		Ahh oh well I entered my contact info anyway. We'll see what happens.

PostPosted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:15 pm
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