- WFGeppetto
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- Exalted Heroic Member
Posted by: Recon Number 54
Posted by: x Foman123 x
...Needless to say, after that, there were no more real names or addresses used for the duration of the ARG.
A riddle wrapped in an enigma surrounded by a mystery.
Maybe this is the real ARG?
Sorry, that was probably in really poor taste.
No, that was simply funny. I (I think I speak for the others in this thread) am not as picky, or as easily offended as this particular thread may lead you to believe.
This is what I get for going to work. I've gone and missed some actual action.
- As for the petition: You are correct. That would indeed be in poor taste, and I really don't want anyone to get the impression that I am attacking Bungie specifically, or as a whole. The reason much of my phrasing, and arguements are as provocative as they are is simply to gain the attention of interested, and important parties. I am directing most of my frustration toward Bungie for two reasons:
1 - I don't know where else to go, or who else to ask.
2 - The ARG (check Bruce's Wiki for more information) was mainly hosted on B.net. I suppose that is the best way to put it. The initial email had Microsoft all over it. I am not certain that it had the Bungie logo anywhere, but included in the HTML was a link to the Halo 3 site. After a brief visit at HBO, Ajutant Reflex then posted solely in the Bungie.net forums, and (correct me if I am wrong) actually sent Foman a PM within these forums. Almost the entire dialogue created and followed by AR, and subsequently the "identity" that replaced him took place in the B.net forums, much of which was in the Halo 3 forum. Foman created Compound Intelligence very early in the ARG's beginnings, and it is to my knowledge, the largest group anywhere on the internet dedicated to solving the IRIS ARG. Our group (CI) is based within Bungie.net trying to solve an ARG developed around a game developed by Bungie, and we have been using Bungie's forums to try to cipher the clues left on Bungie.net to try to solve this Halo 3 based ARG.
Did I mention Bungie enough there? Again, don't misconstrue this, I am not trying to whine, or be an annoyance to Bungie, or more specifically the Moderators of these forums. I simply do not know where else to go.
My major purpose for this thread is to elicit a real response from some parties that may be concerned with helping us find some closure to this project. As I type sentences such as that last one, I realize I sound like someone who is claiming to deserve something for time I volunteered. With all of it's flaws (I don't intend to go into them here) Iris was still quite exciting, and it offered lots of fun fodder for speculation into the haloverse. I'd do it again even if I knew that the results were to be the same. I will not begin a petition. Those comments were made out of frustration from lack of response. Until now, Achronos has been the only one trying to field our questions. I am already more at ease simply because someone else has taken notice, and seems to show some diplomacy, and perhaps concern.
I do not want anyone to get the idea that I will, or have ever intended to seek any kind of legal action in any way. I am seriously a huge fan of Bungie's, and mainly of Halo in general. I love the updates, the setup, the tongue in cheek humor, the high level of interactivity that crosses over with Bungie's games, I could go on. Bungie is awesome, and after trying my hand as a moderator, I must say that generally, you guys are awesome, and I would not have you think otherwise. The problem is, while Bungie may not have dropped the ball directly, the Bungie name is plastered across everything IRIS, and the only other name I have is Microsoft. If you were in my position you would be bothering Bungie, as well.
I am not here to complain about the fact that my cereal box didn't have it's prize. I'll leave the hair splitting and legal jargon to Foman, he's much better with that. I personally spent many, many hours working on solving the IRIS, and trying to help maintain a focused, and intelligeble forum group in CI (along with the other moderators of course), so I suppose I am a bit biased. That combined with the fact that I did indeed unlock the fourth server, only to be forgotten by the "package handlers", probably makes my frustration a bit more virile than many others. This is probably where some of the "tone" you mention is derived from. I don't intend to give the impression that I hate Bungie, or these fourms, or that I will cause any serious problems about this incident (I would only make a fool of myself if I were to try). I am quick to illustrate my thoughts, and feelings concerned with this, however.
For me, this is not a matter of getting what you deserve. Naturally, I'd like "my" stuff. More importantly, I try to maintain a certain level of integrity in my personal life, and I try to reflect those attitudes within the forums. If you manage to find people who are familiar with me here, they should vouch for my level headedness (I'm pretty sure). When I make a promise, or even allude to the idea that I have anything to do with a project, be it in my proffesional settings, or on a personal basis, I try to make sure that no matter what, those expectations are met. The last thing I want is for someone to be able to say that I didn't do my part. In this particular case, Bungie is the only name we know to look up, and is the party that is most involved, and has/had the most to benefit from the entire project. With no response from them, we feel that their name has been tarnished, and either they are unaware, or unconcerned. With no more than that, and a return address from a small division of Microsoft, where else was I to turn.
Your huge lack of knowledge surprises me. For us, IRIS was a pretty big deal. We even suspected that forum ninjas, or Bungie employees might be spying on our forum group to check on our progress. I am astounded that anyone in the forums, has so little information about this. Don't read into these comments too much; I am not accusing you of anything, I am merely surprised.
The focus here, in my opinion, is the fact that we have all seen Bungie as a wonderful place, that was seriously dedicated to it's fans, and worked very hard to deliver whatever was expected, and desired by the fans. Changes in the forum format, fun updates, podcasts, cool things to participate in like the Gallery caption contests, the webcam game (whur'd it go?), and many other things are evidence of this. From our point of view, after all the fun we've had on B.net, and all the cool events Bungie held, when IRIS got cranked up, we all figured it for one of the biggest, most immersive, coolest ways for fans to participate in a Bungie endevour that reached farther than anything else we've seen from Bungie other than it's games. Naturally, we were pretty disappointed when parts of the ARG went a bit wrong, and further frustrated by the sudden stop in package shipping. After all of that, the utter silence that followed was pretty insulting. Since nothing was ever said, many people PM'd members Bungie, and asked why, what, where etc. The most thorough response that I know of was something to the effect of "Bungie didn't actually run the ARG, and Microsoft's marketing department handled the packages."
I feel that the right thing for Bungie to do would be to find, and send the missing packages, while simultaneosly posting a news release on the site. I understand that there are many coplicated hurdles to overcome that may make that very unlikely. Now, really all I hope to get, and what I do expect, is for someone from Bungie to at least recognize the problem, and sympathize with our frustrations. So far, your tone of careful contradiction, and concerned questioning, is far and away the most positive thing that I have seen or heard on the matter to date. I'd just like to stop hearing people say that we are whiners, and at least acknowledge the fact that we got the raw end of the deal. I'd especially like to hear from a paid Bungie employee.
Thank you very much for you time and concern, Recon. If you have any requests regarding this thread, either post them, or PM me, and if it is benificial for us all, I will edit any of my text that you feel could be misleading (within reason - as if you guys couldn't do it yourselves). I sincerely hope that if your level of knowledge on this matter is indicitive of the Bungie staff, and not just it's moderators, that one or more of you will take enough interest in the ordeal to check out how IRIS played out. Truly, whether you guys know it or not, IRIS participants consider this project part of Bungie history.
In some cases, I have taken the liberty to speak for other posters in this thread. If you disagree with my statements, please post with clarification of your own position.