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Bob's game Kickstarter

cabel said:
I've always been kind-of fascinated/concerned/amused by this guy and his life and work, and I was kind of enjoying reading his epic and undoubtedly truthful http://bobsgame.com life story...

...right up until the part where he accidentally suffocated a kitten, at which point I realized, you know what, think I'm good. That said, I'm glad to see some self-reflection. Good luck with everything, Bob.
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Somehow... I missed this part. Was it part of that huge-ass wall of text and images on his website? When did this happen???
 
The Real Abed said:
Somehow... I missed this part. Was it part of that huge-ass wall of text and images on his website?
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Yeah, it's in the enormous story. He bought a new kitten, he got stoned, the kitten woke him up, this made him angry, he put it in a glass bowl (?) in a closet, it died. Same day.

In the past it was easy for the internet mock this guy for being naive and trying this crazy game project and being so weird etc. But there was always a hint of "maybe this isn't so funny". Now it's absolutely clear there are serious, serious mental issues at play. I take the write-up as a good sign, and I genuinely hope he can find a good place…
 
Some people never learn to finish anything. A smaller subset are encouraged by well-meaning idiots who think spiraling scope is the same thing as boundless creativity. Then there's Bob, who seems to have convinced himself of that, to the most extreme degree imaginable. This guy is seriously troubled, and funding his madness will make things worse, not better. Backing his Kickstarter for any reason is a terrible idea -- you still won't see this game completed (because that would mean the end of his life's meaning, or his own twisted ideal of fulfillment) and at worst, it may just fuel his descent and stretch out this farce even longer.
 
I got a kitten, named it Mew, and accidentally killed it the first night I had it. I was stoned, and it woke me up somehow. I got angry and put it in a big plastic bucket in the closet, half asleep and confused. In the morning, it was dead- it had suffocated. I panicked and told my roommate I had stepped on it. I felt absolutely horrible about it and pushed it out of my mind, trying to forget what a monster I was. It shoved me further into a haze.
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zRYsW33.gif
 
If he isn't really crazy, he is good at getting attention. It seems like Bob could be making alot of money with his programming skills. What else should Bob be doing? Kickstarter seems like a proper move.
 
That engine he made for the DS game looked legitimately impressive. He really should've worked with people who actually could create a game with it, though. Or just licensed it, it looked like someone could've done good stuff with it.
 
I was never able to tell what was going on when this was going on the last time, and that's still going on. Is he for real?
Ok yeah bobsgame.com makes one lean towards yes.
 
I went back and read more of it. Yeah, I don't know. I skipped down a bit.

He basically has a complete psychotic / paranoid schizophrenic break about 2/3rds of the way through, it's pretty tough to read. It's street-yeller level.

Also, at one point Bill Gates, no kidding, apparently called the police to check on his welfare after he sent a number of crazy e-mails to him.

I liked this part:

I really shouldn't have watched "Big Bang Theory." It begins and ends with a bell ding, Pavlovian mind control. I kept trying to skip the intro at just the right point so I wouldn't hear the ding.
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(There are a lot of reasons to not watch Big Bang Theory but that's a new one to me.)

There's a second cat that gets hurt, too. :(

In the end, spoiler alert, he winds up homeless, basically living out of his car, a Safeway, and a 24 Hour Fitness, eating discarded food, sometimes stealing food and feeling bad about it, and trying to code his game and set up this kickstarter.

The story of Bob's Game is no longer funny, or cool to mock, or clever performance art, or a viral trick, or anything: what's abundantly clear is the story of Bob's Game is the story of a very smart person inside a very broken person. This guy needs legitimate professional assistance, a lot of talking to a lot of people, as soon as possible, or I'm afraid the story is going to end very poorly.

There's nothing I can do but worry. :(
 
Hes apologized for his cave story claims

I have been requested to post a retraction: I once said in a period of great frustration that there was a minigame in my game "larger than Cave Story." This is false, though I certainly intended and planned as much. The minigame in question was a mess of sloppy and incomplete platforms with no polish at all, and even then was not larger than Cave Story when I made the claim. (Or even now.) Cave Story is a very well made and very well polished game and it is most certainly an unfair and untrue comparison, which I regret making. I was just frustrated at that cruel cartoon someone drew based on a lot of unfair assumptions. I now understand why it was drawn. It worked, I lost my composure and integrity. Now, however, I feel sorry for someone with that artistic talent who uses it for that means. (Not that I was much better at that time!) I forgive you, please use your talents for good.

We actually create our shared perception of reality through our collective subconscious, it is a mass hallucination created in our hearts- we can indeed alter reality itself! "There is no spoon!"
 
Shit, this has thrown me back to 2008. I entirely forgot about this game.

The fact that this still hasn't been finished is worrying, I also forgot how insane bob was. Back in the day, I simply thought that his crazy behavior was all fake and viral marketing, but now six years later I'm legitimately worried, this man really needs profesional help.
 
cabel said:
The story of Bob's Game is no longer funny, or cool to mock, or clever performance art, or a viral trick, or anything: what's abundantly clear is the story of Bob's Game is the story of a very smart person inside a very broken person. This guy needs legitimate professional assistance, a lot of talking to a lot of people, as soon as possible, or I'm afraid the story is going to end very poorly.

There's nothing I can do but worry. :(
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It's hard to say how much of that long winding story has any basis in truth or not, though. Especially once the societal brain washing and psi powers and "we are all wizards" parts kick in, as that seems tied to events in his videos about the game.

Blurring the lines between developer and game were things he's done plenty in the past, and honestly that'd be the best case scenario here. I mean he'd still be pretty crazy and stupid to think trying to convince people you're a homeless psychotic is a good tool to promote your video game kickstarter, but it'd be a better alternative to him actually being a homeless psychotic.
 
Reading his story, I have absolute faith that not a single dollar will go towards any type of recreational drugs.

Backed

No, of course I wouldn't back this
 
Holy Shit, I just spent the last 30 minutes (at work) reading his website and my scroll bar was not even 20% down the side of my browser. I cannot stop reading though as it is both utterly fascinating and truly tragic.

I am truly at a loss of words based on what I have read thus far.

All I can really say is Good Luck and I hope he somehow finds some kind of peace.
 
Really interesting story, but far too many warning signs to back financially even for $20. Hope the story has a happy ending, whether the game gets made or not.
 
Currently its just over $2000 and he has promised to do an AMA on reddit so that should help get funds up.

But hes gone even more cult leadish on his site

"I don't even want this Kickstarter to succeed. I don't want people to play my game unless it sets them free from wanting to play anything. I don't really want to do any of this stuff. I just want to burn my last card and go wander off into the desert and face nothingness- That's the real final boss right there, starving in the desert. What if I win that? What else could possibly be meaningful afterwards? "
 
BroBuzz said:
Who is this guy?
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A few times, just for a moment- when I had nothing at all- I became a guy like Jesus, and this time I could actually handle it. I can do it again. I just have to accept the responsibility of what I am. That's the tough part. It's a lot of responsibility!

What does that actually get me, though? Do the credits roll? Probably not, it just means I am the ultimate cult leader and I can attract all the souls I need to a righteous cause. By necessity my intentions must be absolutely pure, so there's really no moral issues there. I'd prefer that we were all set free from insecurity, but then society won't work. That is really what I'm trying to do here.
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Hope that clears everything up!

Also be sure not to support this project, because Bob doesn't want you to support it.

I don't even want this Kickstarter to succeed. I don't want people to play my game unless it sets them free from wanting to play anything. I don't really want to do any of this stuff. I just want to burn my last card and go wander off into the desert and face nothingness- That's the real final boss right there, starving in the desert. What if I win that? What else could possibly be meaningful afterwards?

What else can I fix? Say I become God and I can manipulate society as I see fit. I've been trying to beat this game the whole time, and suddenly I have the level editor. The campaign itself immediately becomes completely pointless. Say I break down society and make us all Gods. What's the point? Now there are seven billion Neos flying around. Everyone is totally secure and has total integrity, and there is no market for vice or distraction. The economy doesn't really work anymore because nobody is buying anything, and nobody needs to work anywhere. What exactly are we all going to do?
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cabel said:
There's a second cat that gets hurt, too. :(
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Just read that part, sounds like he's physically abused or killed three or four different cats. If he's telling the truth then he really needs help and you're right it's not a joke anymore. I'm hoping he's a master troll but I suspect he's not.
 
He's not actually crazy, it's just lame performance art that inexplicably revolves around the video game industry. You know, important stuff. If it gets funded I'll be disappointed because it means there are a lot of pseudo-intellectuals with money to burn.
 
Reading that wall of text makes it pretty clear this guy is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and his internet shenanigans have crossed the line from mildly amusing to worryingly psychotic.

This man needs help as soon as possible or this is going to end very very badly. I am legitimately worried and if I had the option to pay to 'unback' this kickstarter, I would for as much cash as I can spare.

And claiming 'performance art' is not possible at this point, his rants are as textbook schizophrenic as they come.

This is actually ruining my day. I hope the guy gets the help he clearly needs as soon as possible.
 
krrrt said:
This man needs help as soon as possible or this is going to end very very badly. I am legitimately worried and if I had the option to pay to 'unback' this kickstarter, I would for as much cash as I can spare.

And claiming 'performance art' is not possible at this point, his rants are as textbook schizophrenic as they come.
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Exactly how I felt (up above). Anyone who claims this is "performance art" is almost certainly just to make themselves feel better about witnessing the slow, gradual meltdown of a human being. This is no act. Read that entire, giant, rambling story, from start to finish, and there's no other conclusion.

(One other side thing I was just thinking about. In his story he confesses to breaking into churches with a friend and stealing money — a crime for which he was never caught, but was reported on in the local papers. What's the statute of limitations on something like that? Then again prison is the last possible place this guy should end up, because that would almost certainly be the end of him.)

Good luck, Bob. :(
 
cabel said:
Yeah, it's in the enormous story. He bought a new kitten, he got stoned, the kitten woke him up, this made him angry, he put it in a glass bowl (?) in a closet, it died. Same day.
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What a stupid piece of shit. This is absolutely infuriating. I wish nothing for this human trash then the worst.
 
Why's he trying to build a fucking van instead of renting a shitty apartment and throwing the money towards utilities? This guy's certifiably crazy and either needs to fail or succeed beyond reason.
 
New kickstarter funding levels

$5-$7 gets you a bobs game business card

$500 gets you to design a NPC sprite

$1000 gets you a page of bobs notebook

$6667 gets you a custom made arcade machine
 
He really doesn't get how kickstarters work huh?

A $5 tier limited to 50 people is barely worth adding as far as how much it could raise towards his goal.

And still 0 updates since the campaign started.
 
He's updated his manifesto again to clarify that he is not acting crazy:
A quick clarification, I am not and do not wish to be the "Andy Kaufman of gaming." I'm not joking about anything. Everything I have discovered and said here is completely true. I don't care if my Kickstarter fails; even if I am homeless and it's my last chance, I'm not selling out to make a buck. People can laugh at me or consider me a spectacle- I don't mind, but it's not funny. I am here to spread a message and to attempt to save your soul.

I am completely celibate/abstinent and substance-free. I quit drinking coffee and smoking months ago. I run 5+ miles a day and lift weights 5 days a week. I eat almost exclusively natural and nutritious foods- fruits, kale, spinach, cottage cheese, yogurt, hemp seeds, chia, etc.

Spiritual power/magic/psychic energy/etc is absolutely real and it affects reality itself. If you don't understand what I've said here, the world is not what you think, and you would be wise to learn from my story and practice with me, and I sincerely hope it can be helpful to many.
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And he started a reddit post, which is going about as well as you'd imagine.
 
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