unforum

[Cloverfield92]

This viral was pretty.. underwhelming. A good viral helps deepen the lore of a film and this one failed to do that.

[MongoLikesCandy]

Full document contents of the Dallas briefcase.

[darkeyedone13]

[phenexfirf]

Ditto

[catherwood]

they should just pay us to attend

[invisibo]

PDF of Richard Parker's documents

[vicvega]

Late reply

[vicvega]

free screening

[Tseug]

somewhat OT: dress up as Spidey, get a free burger

Though I am still upset about being late, I'm glad that it went to someone that was actually interested in the ARG. Too many times I've heard about or seen some random person got the drop who was only interested in trying to sell it rather than take part in the ARG. I believe this was the case with a few of the Joker bowling balls from the TDK viral.

Since I don't think I've posted the full details of my failed attempt to secure the drop, below is my story. The tl;dr version is I left late even though I had the ability to leave early and that is what caused my failure.


I originally planned to be downtown early morning Thursday ready for the event. Unfortunately, it turned out that I had to work Thursday as I wasn't able to work on Tuesday. I came on here to offer my suggestion of the Museum of Science and Industry as I figured being on or near the museum campus might be a good guess. Shortly after that, my boss realized that it was going to be a slow day and so I was able to leave work at around 11:30. I planned to stop at home, then head straight downtown and revised my plan to go and park at Navy Pier and wait so that I would be able to quickly jump on Lake Shore Drive and head North or South depending on the location. This is where my plan fell apart. I decided based on the (seemingly) random locations that the location may end up being any random university campus as well, so why would I leave and waste all that time just to find out I was at the wrong side of town and arrive 5 minutes too late. Had I stayed with my plan I would've been parked at Navy Pier waiting for the location by 12:15 at the latest. My self-defeating attitude made me wait until 12:50, so on our way towards Navy Pier, I got the location and started navigating. The entire drive was spent refreshing the page to see if anyone had picked up the package yet. Bad traffic on the highway as well as my alternate route when we decided to abandon the highway for hope of a faster side-road worried us, but with each refresh I saw that the package was still there. As we were driving North on LSD, I noticed two young women very casually walking up the sidewalk towards the building and was worried that they might be trying for the drop, and even worse that they might not even be interested in the movie or the ARG but just wanted whatever it was to try and make a quick buck. I do want to stress for anyone who reads this and takes offense: it's not the fact that they were young women that had me worried, it was the way they were calmly and slowly walking towards the door as if there wasn't a sense of urgency to the action. As it turned out, they must have just been passing by and decided to stop in and look around as they were only there for a few minutes before leaving while I was inside talking to the marketing rep and Vic.

As our car pulled over next to the building, I leapt out and ran for the door still hoping I would be the lucky one as it had not been claimed yet according to the website. What seemed like a few seconds, but in reality was probably only a fraction of one is what followed. I pulled the door, but it didn't open at first, and I realized I had to actually depress the handle to open it. As I swung it open I looked straight ahead...but there was no front desk, only what appeared to be stairs and a wheelchair ramp. I then looked to my left through a doorway, but again didn't see anything that looked like a desk. As I was turning to my right, I heard the words from the front desk attendant which I don't think I'll forget for a while. "Here you go." There may have been a congratulations in there as well, but everything was pretty much a blur at that point as I instantly realized: this was the closest I had ever been, and the reason I came in second was my decision to leave later, even though I had the ability to be there early. I jumped on unfiction to update that Chicago was done and then asked the marketing rep a few questions before talking with Vic a bit on our way out. The drive home was filled with us stating all the many reasons that we were late, but ultimately it all comes down to one thing. If you are able to be ready and waiting for some type of drop for an ARG, don't decide to wait until the last minute to leave, because you will definitely not be the first there. I much prefer the feeling of staying at home and being a little upset that I would've possibly been the successful person to get a drop, or arriving minutes late to see a crowd of people all interested in the ARG and talking with the person who succeeded about where they were and whatnot. Arriving as the second person, less than a minute or so after they succeeded, as they are claiming their reward...that's the feeling that I will try to make sure I don't have to feel again too soon.

[vicvega]

I know that pain.

[Bizzaro]

[MongoLikesCandy]

"I find that if your city is later in a dead drop list you can surmise where yours is going to be"

Not true in my case. I figured the briefcase drop was going to be a science museum or university science building. Both wouldve been at least a 20 minute drive. Luckily for me the address was at the public library about 10 blocks from my office. I couldn't NOT go.

The guy working the info desk played like he had no idea what I was talking about. About seven other people showed up too late. Everyone else was a little disappointed but were still really excited along with me. One guy helped me go through everything and photograph the puzzles.

A really cool experience.

[GuestUser17]

Nice to see new members

[djchristensen]

You had some good points man, when there is a drop, and I have raced to many, it all comes down to who is closest. I don't know how many drops I planned and plotted for, only to be beat by someone who works a block away or lives just down the street. It On top of that 42E has a habit of stating a drop will be in Phoenix, but use one of our surrounding cities for the drop. The last one for the lab coat was showing Phoenix, but it was found in Scottsdale. I have taken many days off to await coordinates to rush off and get the package, and that is one of the most exhilarating pieces of the games. During the Package drop at the beginning of this campaign, i was able to get to 2 of the five drops in phoenix, and the first drop was COINCIDENTALLY a few blocks from my office. Sad but true, but it usually is who is closest.

[MongoLikesCandy]

djchristensen: I don't feel too bad for the guy who came after me. He was actually waiting at the museum that I originally thought it was going to be at. They pulled a fast one on us and switched it to a local library. But he got the Lizard lab coat in New Orleans.

GuestUser17: I'm not necessarily new to the game. I lurk a lot, because I usually am too late figuring out the puzzles to be much help. Why comment if I can't add anything beneficial? But I think I'm hooked now.