Live in-character event?

[deagol]

http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic ... 521#373521
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic ... 535#373535
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic ... 551#373551

I have two concerns:

Safety: if this is not being organized by you guys, I think it would be in your best interests to make that clear, and disassociate from it as soon as possible. I'm sure you realize the risks you run if people go there thinking this is an official event. At best, I'm sure there'd be a lot of pissed fans.

Discretion policy: if you are organizing this, what does "do not share this message or speak with anyone at any time about the seminar" mean? Will you remove those threads, as well as this one?

Thanks.

[ApotheosisAZ]

Agreed. deagol knows what he is talking about here. This looks like a nasty attempt at a gamejack. Do not allow this sort of thing to progress into something dangerous.

[Samara]

I have to say that it seems a bit odd.

[crazylainey]

http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic ... 535#373535
http://lonelygirl15.com/forum/viewtopic ... 551#373551

I have two concerns:

Safety: if this is not being organized by you guys, I think it would be in your best interests to make that clear, and disassociate from it as soon as possible. I'm sure you realize the risks you run if people go there thinking this is an official event. At best, I'm sure there'd be a lot of pissed fans.

Discretion policy: if you are organizing this, what does "do not share this message or speak with anyone at any time about the seminar" mean? Will you remove those threads, as well as this one?

Thanks.

Completely agree. Last thing that is needed is a bunch of people running to some random location in SoCal to try and attend some HoO event if it is an attempt at a gamejack.

Also, the timing of the event seems extremely weird and last thing that needs to happen is a bunch of kids who should be in school ditching and getting into an EXTREMELY dangerous situation.

[Esteed]

Whoa, big red flag here. Is it possible this could be an event being organized by the Creators? Sure. It's highly unlikely, and I don't think the Creators have anything at all to do with it, but it is possible in the strictest definition of the word possible. While I know ARGs have had drops in the past, I'm unsure of whether there's been an actual live event in which players would meet people that were "in character". It's an interesting idea, and if done right could be a cool aspect to an ARG.

It's also incredibly dangerous and terrifyingly easy to use to draw in crowds of gullible people. IF any game were going to do a live event like this correctly, there would need to be very clear markers of it being an event organized by the creators/puppet masters. I don't see such markers here. I see a potentially very dangerous situation and no real reassurance from anyone in authority that this is for real. In other words? I see a giant red flag with the words, "DO NOT GO!!!" written all over it.

To anyone considering going: Remember watching a horror movie and screaming at the characters not to go into that one room, or not to look back? This is exactly the same. Don't do this. Seriously.

[Gidget]

glad to see this is being taken care of. Well said deagol!

[Broken Kid]

Well, please disregard my previous message. I now hear that this is an actual Hymn of One event organized by the HoO. This was confirmed, and so there is no gamejacking or fan-fiction.

That being said, now I just wish I could go!

[Libra]

NVM ty BK for letting us know it's real

[Broken Kid]

I mean I understand hackers can do that sort of thing, but if it's hackers then shouldn't The Creators know about this ASAP?!?!

Turns out, it actually was the Hymn of One! So no hacking involved!

[Libra]

Haha I got your message just as I posted mine.

[deagol]

I'll copy-paste my thoughts from the other thread:

I think they've taken this important step in a very irresponsible manner. Here's just a few reasons:

1. I would've never used email, I would use forum and comments PM's. Of course, HoO isn't supposed to be privy of this site, but that's another issue.

2. You never, never say "oh don't tell anyone" and expect it to remain secret. It never happens, and it only introduces distrust, division, and deception within the community.

3. You figure out a way to make sure everyone in the community is aware of this being official, and clearly communicate the OOC objectives and the motivation behind it. A simple announcement by the creators would suffice.

4. You announce this early in the morning, so that you are available to field any issues that come forward in a timely fashion.

5. You don't jump right away on the first week of your brand new ARG and throw this logistically complex event on the community, no matter how much you've planned it. The players also need to plan.

6. Rules of engagement need to be discussed and agreed on, potentially disruptive behavior needs to be foreseen, fully specified, and somehow enforced by the whole community.

7. Again, sharing must be encouraged at every level. Understandably, direct participation in the event would have to be limited, but then those that can't participate need to be assured that information about the event will be available, and everyone'll have total access to whichever insights come from it.

8. I will give the benefit of the doubt and assume no minors have received the invite. That's just common sense.

9. Security needs to be guaranteed for all players, and this is not paranoia or exageration. I'm sure they've thought of this, but they have to realize that they have no control over who's going to show up there, and what some people are prepared to do to make themselves the center of attention. It'd be very naive to hope that there's no one in LA with misguided, or, God forbid, malicious intentions.

I think I'll stop here and let people think about these, discuss, shoot'em down, add their own, or ignore these concerns, whatever rocks your boat.

Good luck and I really hope this has been thought out throughly.

I just want to add that Esteed expressed really well what I'm trying to convey here.

[longlostposter]

This is listed on Craig's List, and is also called an audition. Some of our forumites are going to be in a vid! Yay!

[Esteed]

Okay, so this is official.

Huzzah!

Got that out of our systems? Good. The need for concern is far from over. We know that this isn't intended as a lure into some kind of dangerous situation. Unfortunately, intent is only part of the equation. How easy would it be for people to get hurt during this event? Someone being stupid is their own fault. But someone that has an accident while pursuing this, that's a different story. Waivers would have to be signed before the event went down, if the Creators want to cover their asses. Minors being involved would make this thing even more complicated.

Another point has already been covered by Deagol, but I just wanted to touch on it as well: Sharing of information. If there are clues given, if there are objects received by players, it is imperative that the clues be shared and the objects be described and photographed from multiple angles. If a phone number is given to the players that attend, that phone number must also be given to those that don't attend, or it gives the players that were able to attend an advantage.

[ShardinsKitten]

I would like to see the official word FROM the creators.

No offense BK, but I'm just one of those people that want it from the horses mouth so to speak.

Also given that this is an OPEN forum, and craigslist is also OPEN so anyone with internet access can see it all. Everyone should listen to deagol. Anyone can now see this invite which means anyone could show up. You should always show extreme caution whenever meeting people off the internet.

Didn't the creators learn anything when everyone got all pissed off because Op didn't call everyone and only called a few people? Are they planning one of these in every state?


This just has bad idea written all over it.

[ApotheosisAZ]

I'd like to apologize here for crying "gamejack."

Having said that, I'm sure the people organizing this event have done everything to be certain of the safety of those who decide to participate.

I'd also like to agree with everything deagol stated in his post.

If BK says this is the real deal, then that is good enough for me to know it is.