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[lednerg]

Possibly. But this isn't how ARGs are generally ran. So... don't pay anything. Let it fall on it's face.

These people have been entertaining us for free and owe us nothing. In fact, they're giving away a lengthy section of their FMV game to you at no cost. I don't get this whole "we were betrayed" attitude people are copping, coming off like a bunch of snarky, self-entitled drama queens. it's almost become the default reaction to anything unexpected anymore; it's beyond passé.

Who made the rules about how ARGs are supposed to be run? Advertisers? Let me go cry in the corner because someone took the ARG model and did something they weren't supposed to with it. Were people this upset about This is My Milwaukee? Come on now. Also, let's not pretend like we were all planning on participating in a "real" ARG scavenger hunt - you weren't going to do shit and you know it. TiMM had about a half dozen people at its conclusion, quite less than those who had been playing along online.

Instead of that, we've been given an interactive online ARG in the form of a 90's FMV, presented from within it's own alternate reality. Yeah, It costs money to continue, but you can easily find someone to gift it to you since that gives them a "Senator" ranking in the game. The fact that people are acting so insulted about being asked to help pay for actors and artists all the sudden is hilarious - go cry me a river.

As far as expecting something and not getting the exact thing you wanted goes... well, whose fault is that and how big of a deal is it, really? Is shitting all over an independent game that you didn't play supposed to prove something? It's like saying "don't ever try to make something new because I only accept exactly what I expect."

 

[TGMIII]

Instead of that, we've been given an interactive online ARG in the form of a 90's FMV, presented from within it's own alternate reality. Yeah, It costs money to continue, but you can easily find someone to gift it to you since that gives them a "Senator" ranking in the game. The fact that people are acting so insulted about being asked to help pay for actors and artists all the sudden is hilarious - go cry me a river.

As far as expecting something and not getting the exact thing you wanted goes... well, whose fault is that and how big of a deal is it, really? Is shitting all over an independent game that you didn't play supposed to prove something? It's like saying "don't ever try to make something new because I only accept exactly what I expect."

I don't really see people getting insulted, sure there's some people out there over reacting, but for the most part I just get the feeling that people aren't interested. What was revealed, for now, is personally just less interesting than what I thought it would be and I feel like it's made worse by the content of the build up but this is just me personally and maybe I'm wrong about the content of the PB channel and it all ties into something. Synydyne owe nobody anything, I hope its a success for them and I still might buy in at some stage but as of right now I'm willing to wait and see how it pans out.

Who made the rules about how ARGs are supposed to be run? Advertisers? Let me go cry in the corner because someone took the ARG model and did something they weren't supposed to with it. Were people this upset about This is My Milwaukee? Come on now. Also, let's not pretend like we were all planning on participating in a "real" ARG scavenger hunt - you weren't going to do shit and you know it. TiMM had about a half dozen people at its conclusion, quite less than those who had been playing along online.

Pretty pointless saying this since I'm sure you're well aware of the fact that most people wouldn't have been able to personally take part in the hunts due to where they lived. For all your talk of snarkyy, self-entitled drama queens, you're doing a pretty good job yourself.

 

[Partial Gamification]

These people have been entertaining us for free and owe us nothing. In fact, they're giving away a lengthy section of their FMV game to you at no cost. I don't get this whole "we were betrayed" attitude people are copping, coming off like a bunch of snarky, self-entitled drama queens. it's almost become the default reaction to anything unexpected anymore; it's beyond passé.

Who made the rules about how ARGs are supposed to be run? Advertisers? Let me go cry in the corner because someone took the ARG model and did something they weren't supposed to with it. Were people this upset about This is My Milwaukee? Come on now. Also, let's not pretend like we were all planning on participating in a "real" ARG scavenger hunt - you weren't going to do shit and you know it. TiMM had about a half dozen people at its conclusion, quite less than those who had been playing along online.

Instead of that, we've been given an interactive online ARG in the form of an 90's FMV, presented from within it's own alternate reality. Yeah, It costs money to continue, but you can easily find someone to gift it to you since that gives them a "Senator" ranking in the game. The fact that people are acting so insulted about being asked to help pay for actors and artists all the sudden is hilarious - go cry me a river.

As far as expecting something and not getting the exact thing you wanted goes... well, whose fault is that and how big of a deal is it, really? Is shitting all over an independent game that you didn't play supposed to prove something? It's like saying "don't ever try to make something new because I only accept exactly what I expect."

I don't know about all the other drama queens, but I bit because this seemed like it was either something I'd like or something I would need to have contacted the authorities about (who wasn't a little alarmed when that other site popped up[?] - not the creators' fault). This was the first I'd heard of ARGs and if people like it - engage. Its just not for me. I have a soft-spot for artists that are trying to follow their passion but can only go so far as to say that this: as a contemporary art project, it was interesting up until the request for money came, they just lost me there. Its a gimmick to hook peoples' interest and then ask for payment along the way, the first video is a free sample and that's super-cool they gave that away. Its not morally wrong to ddo what was done, just off-putting to me. I can understand that it would not have gained as much popularity had their been an initial fee to participate (as a spectator of P.B.'s channel - it was a cleaver tactic). Since it is a group of creative individuals, I would hate to see the project "fall flat on its face." I just personally feel mislead - and that's my fault for having ungrounded expectations. There is no reason to be upset, it is and was, what it is.

Its not the ARG lednerg, its me; I just need to see other games.

 

[lednerg]

I'm not saying anyone has to like anything. If you don't like FMV games, or think this one is dumb, then fine. It's sort of like something from Adult Swim, which I understand isn't everyone's cup of tea. Anyway, that's not what I'm reacting to. My issue is with the snarky articles and comments which dismiss the game outright based on seemingly everything except for the actual content of the game itself.

They dismiss it because it isn't a commercial for something -- as if that's a problem. They dismiss it because the creators had an installation in a NYC gallery -- so what? They dismiss it because it's fake, made up in the last minute because the war in Syria that PB was warning about was cancelled -- seriously. They dismiss it because the loon who wrote the PB = BSG article is now claiming she was set up by the villainous creators -- no, she sucked at critical thought. They dismiss it because they're not updating horse_ebooks anymore -- eh. But most of all, they dismiss it because it was "supposed to" be free like an ARG, even though it isn't really an ARG -- it's a FMV game with hours and hours of content and a slew of characters.

Actors, artists, writers, camera and sound crews, programmers, webmasters, etc don't work for free. Since this isn't a commercial for something else, it is completely reasonable for them to charge people at some point to recoup those costs. If that doesn't sit well for you. then don't ever play shareware games, I guess. Remember, we live in a time where it's fine for devs to beg customers for money before a game is even made.

On a lighter note:

http://www.vice.com/read/horse-ebooks-and-pronunciation-book-explain-their-digital-conceptual-art

 

[User 100115]

That's basically where I am at. I don't really enjoy that type of humor, and was hoping it would continue along the darker seeming storyline, but each to their own! I am sure a lot of people are enjoying it, it's just not for me.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

I got a kick out of the first episode and I want to encourage more artists taking risks with their work, but man I just don't think it's really something I want to pay actual money to continue. I feel bad for the two that their current phase of the project was completely overshadowed by disappointment, but I think I see how the complete tonal shift has turned so many off after the cryptic and haunting two accounts.

 

[TGMIII]

After spending a bit more time with first impact I think I'll actually have to take back what I said before about the tone and content of the PB videos being misleading, at least somewhat. A lot of the BSB characters are referenced and even some of the sentences from the PB videos are either direct lines from BSB or again references.

Apparently the number that was given out for horse_ebooks2, that was closed later the same day, output morse code when someone phoned it after the line had been closed. Most people who tried got a mailbox but one person has said to have gotten morse code.

I've played through first impact a bunch of times now and I'm constantly finding new things and endings, I actually like a few of the characters and the tone in general but there's just something missing for me. I think in the end curiosity will get the best of me though.

 

[Jackben]

Just a small update I ran across this morning, for anyone who still has this in their subscriptions, but especially for lednerg:

Turns Out The Bear Stearns Bravo Guys Are Kinda Dicks, Lied To Daily Dot Reporter For Months

According to Dunn, once she’d tracked down Bakkila and asked him to comment on his involvement with the Youtube account, he literally broke down crying and begged her not to release any information she’d discovered. Over the course of the next few months, he also told her that he and Thomas Bender were being backed by a big-name company and had invested $40,000 of their own money into the project; then he claimed that the company had mysteriously dropped out two weeks before he was scheduled to meet with Daily Dot staff members to discuss things, and that he’d had to create a new conclusion for the PB countdown on the fly.

Which, of course, isn’t what happened at all. Instead Bear Stearns Bravo launched as it was intended — not a big-name franchise tie-in but an ARG, which Bakkila had previously denied was going to happen. Even worse, the game itself stars many of Dunn’s friends in the New York comedy scene, who presumably had all been instructed to lie to her about their involvement as well.

Dunn recounts the entire ordeal on her personal Tumblr, summing it up like this:

The best part is they cried to me about hurting their careers and appealed to me not to get them sued or laughed at by the Internet, telling me to have empathy for them, and then coldly did exactly what I protected them from, to me. I took pity on them after ruthless emotional manipulation involving friends of mine that I’ve known for years, who were in on it.

The cold, calculated, and cruel (with no remorse, not even a quick email to explain/apologize or to say, hey this was just a fun project, sorry we had to burn you even though we have friends in common, no hard feelings) way they regarded me and handled this gives me chills. These are not good people having fun with a game.

Bear Stearns Bravo’s first installment is available for free on their website, but also has a deeper level that requires a credit card and $7 to access. Dunn has publicly asked her readers not to support the project any further, which we might just take her up on. After all, they did kill our favorite surreal Twitter feed in the process. Poor horse_ebooks.

horse_ebooks was the real victim here, IMO but it's also shitty that the ARG had such a flat and inappropriate tone to its climax. Also that, you know, they were dicks and lied about the whole thing to that journalist, basically humiliating her for no reason but to cover their own stupid indie comedy project.

 

[lednerg]

Just a small update I ran across this morning, for anyone who still has this in their subscriptions, but especially for lednerg:

from co-creator Jake Bakkila:

I apologized to Gaby privately on Wednesday, and I'm only responding publicly to clarify some details. To be unambiguous: The blame is 100% mine, I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I lied to a journalist because I was nervous and fearful, information we'd kept secret for years was leaking and it was just an emotional reaction.

People were calling Tom's private line, wanting to know more about Pronunciation Book, and tracking him down in real life. We felt like we were under siege, and under these conditions, it was harder and harder to ignore people, and so we tried anything to just get attention away from us. So I told an initial lie, just to keep the press off our back for a little while. As lies often do, the initial lie demanded more lies to justify it.

None of it was done maliciously, and none of it was done to mess with anyone. I was exhausted and irrational and just wanted to keep a secret. Which does not mean that it didn't hurt, of course, and I'm very sorry that it did, and sorry that I lied. I should just have ignored people trying to investigate.

Ultimately, it was a crazy week, and a lot of the response has been emotional as a result, both good and bad and simply confused. I hope that my apology helps people who were hurt by this, and I ask that people who loved the launch/H_e/everything don't troll those who do not, I really don't want this to be some low-level flamewar. I imagine, like was said earlier, that no one will give a crap about this next week.​

 

[Jackben]

A worthy apology at least. RIP h_e

I imagine, like was said earlier, that no one will give a crap about this next week.

Probably the most accurate summary of the entire climax.